Moody, Author at GeeksHaveGame

June 17, 2023June 19, 2023

THE FLASH [4DX Review] – Bright Lights, Dark Knights.

Right off the heels of the amazing 4DX experience that was Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is The Flash, arguably the most “violent” time ever had in those moving seats. Perhaps it was punishment to moviegoers for their 10-year toxic relationship with the DCEU. That, or a way to distract us from CGI that seems to be the talk about what’s wrong with the latest DC flick.

While I’m no expert on Computer-Generated Imagery, I didn’t find any of the movie’s effects distracting, or bad, and they seemed to accurately depict the whole Cosmic Treadmill time-warping, space-time continuum mumbo jumbo that’s expected in a Flash movie just fine. That’s the kind of stuff nerds have been familiar with in Doctor Strange and Spider-Man: No Way Home. 4DX definitely enhances these moments of speed, with powerful air fans and plenty of seat gliding moments. But, guys! The fight sequences in The Flash have me wondering while I’m still able to walk. Since this one has Batman, OK… Batmen… plus a Supergirl, there are a zillion punches to the back and lots of rocking and rolling in your chair. Like I said earlier, it was punishing — but the twisted, fun kind of punishing. Sorta.

If this was my first time doing this dance in 4DX, I’d say the chair movement was “a lot” — no lies there. It’s way intense. But a movie about TWO Flash’s who time-warp and travel at unforeseen speeds is going to have insane 4DX effects, especially when you throw in a Batmobile — or two — plus a Batwing and an army of superpowered aliens into the equation. The Flash certainly doesn’t hold back when it comes to action, as there’s tons of it. Just don’t be surprised if your keys and wallet go flying out of your pockets (oh, it’s happening — I heard the clang of keys bouncing off the floor near me) or your popcorn flying and soda spilling from your hands and cupholders. The moments with Batman ’89 (the always fun Michael Keaton) in the Batwing are definitely 4DX highlights, especially when the cockpit spins on screen.

Of course, this being The Flash there’s lots of running and the 4DX seats capture those moments well. It’s the constant seat shifting and rattling that are a bit much; I’m now super curious to see how all the warp-speed time shifting comes off in the panoramic sequencing of ScreenX — which seems to be a better fit, literally. That said, all of the classic 4DX gunfire effects are put to excellent use, with air puffs that shoot to the left and right of your dome with additional “fire” around your ankles. Also ramping up the intensity were flashing lights, which thankfully didn’t disappoint for the namesake of the flick. There’s not a whole lot of fog effects (which were the only weakness in the latest Transformers 4DX experience), and I guess nothing to smell when moving at the speed of sound.

As far as the movie itself, there’s a reason I saved those thoughts for the end (“LOL, crying laugh emoji, etc.”). Let’s face it: the DCEU is polarizing — it always has been. You’d never know it, but many geeks have Man of Steel as their favorite superhero movie of all time (my lips are sealed). But, ever since the mixed reaction (or extremely loud, vocal minority) for that one, it has been a tumultuous ten years to say at the very least. It doesn’t help that The Flash‘s leading man is a trainwreck in real life; Ezra Miller is a PHENOMENAL talent, and his performance here as TWO Barry Allen’s is an absolute landmark. But, it’s almost as if it doesn’t matter; you’re going to 1.) hate-watch this movie, 2.) not watch this movie as the box office numbers show (but still call it “trash”), or, 3.) actually, put your judgements to the side for 2.5 hours and enjoy/appreciate/fairly critique this movie — and especially Miller’s performance — for what it is. There has to be a reason the one didn’t get canceled despite how batshit looney the leading man is IRL.

The Flash also sports lots of cameos — new, old and some incredibly surprising. It’s almost a perfect send-off for the DCEU with James Gunn waiting in the wings to takeover, reboot and put his Suicide Squad/Peacemaker sensibilities to a higher scale. However, we still have Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (a lost film that has absolutely NO buzz going for it; stay for the end credits if you care), and Blue Beetle (a movie NOBODY asked for, but we like the kid from Cobra Kai). At least to me, The Flash is the end of the DCEU as we know it, with a come-full-circle, climatic bring-that-shit-back battle between the two Flash’s, Old Man Bruce II, our new Supergirl (an awesome Sasha Calle) and General Zod (yes, Michael Shannon) and his we’re-not-Kryptonion-but-we-are super-troops. The Flashbacks are heartbreaking, but it was hard to feel any sort of emotional sympathy with Barry (cause.. Ezra) and the way the DCEU has been handled or criticized in the last decade.

That said, The Flash is a great superhero movie with a literal groundbreaking performance from an extremely toxic lead, a near fantastic finish to a frenetic decade of the DC Extended Universe. It’s also a Flash movie through and through, with elments of Mark Waid’s run on the comic as well as Geoff Johns’ Flashpoint sprinkled throughout. There’s tons taken off the page, so kudos to screenwriters Christina Hodson and Joby Harold for doing their homework. Promoting this as a “Batman” film was also brilliant and I absolute do not blame WB for the bait-and-switch there. Bat-sells. Just be prepared to be in for an actual space-time continuum of time if you see this in 4DX.

Movie = 4/5
4DX = 4/5

-Travis Moody

June 14, 2023

R.I.P. E3 2023 [Showcase Ranking] – Who Won This Whole “Summer of Game Fest” Thingy?

Kids.

This is complicated.

This time of year for us crazy hardcore gamers used to be called “E3 Season”, named after the now seemingly deceased annual mega video game convention — Electronic Entertainment Expo (better known as E3). Every bit of gaming reveal news, trailers and gameplay was always grouped under this easy as hell to remember, reference and say moniker.

Now, these past 10 days have been labeled or awkwardly described as a cross between famed games journalist Geoff Keighley‘s Summer Game Fest and IGN‘s Summer of Gaming. Then you’ve gotta throw in a 2 week early PlayStation Showcase from Sony (thanks for that…), Microsoft‘s annual Xbox Games Showcase and smaller digital pressers like the Ubisoft Forward, Capcom Showcase, and, heck, a full blown Final Fantasy XVI Pre-Launch Celebration that felt like an entire evening on its own.

There are others (PC Gaming Show, Devolver Digital, etc.), but the aforementioned video game showcases and digital pressers are the ones I watched and shall rank. Strangely, there’s no Nintendo Direct this time of year, but they likely own 2023 already with landslide GOTY winner, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, so there’s absolutely no need.

1. XBOX GAMES SHOWCASE x STARFIELD DIRECT

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK: Bookended by arguably the greatest deep dive E3 presentation of all time (yeah, hyberbole, I’m going there), Xbox gave their players the summer Showcase they so desperately needed to give.

They opened with Playground Games’ long-awaited Fable (Day One Game Pass) and finished with 45-minutes of Starfield. Unless you’re a Sony fangirl/boi and keep trolling on the 8 years in the making Bethesda title being console locked at 30 fps, you’ve got to take your NASA helmet off to Bethesda Softworks and God Howard. Starfield looks like 5 games in one with its interplanetary exploration, spaceship travel/dogfighting, intense character creation/progress, mega Mass Effect-level dialogue decisions, much improved FPS/3PS combat, ship building, base crafting/farming, etc. Speaking of Todd, he was especially candid in a near 30-minute follow-up interview with IGN. Even if you don’t YET own an Xbox Series console, don’t miss ANY of the Starfield Direct.

LET’S NOT FORGET: a yearning to play Cyberpunk 2077 (again, or for the first time), thanks to a hella impressive Phantom Liberty expansion, starring Idris Elba and a returning Keanu Reeves (out September 26); Obsidian’s Avowed wasn’t set to be a star in this showcase, but I still wouldn’t sleep on it (Game Pass, baby — out in 2024); Compulsion’s South of Midnight received Microsoft’s seal of approval from the jump, so let’s hope it leads to more jeers from just a “Happy Few” on Game Pass; and inXile’s Clockwork Revolution turned some heads (or is that hands?) with its new steampunky, Bioshockesque Game Pass manipulator.

XBOX FIRST: to show off Massive’s Star Wars Outlaws (2024), a surprise new IP from Persona devs with Metaphor Re Fantazio (2024) and Persona 3 Reload (next year on Game Pass), RGG’s Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth was the funniest trailer of the season, too. In all, Xbox showed off more “Sony” type games than Sony did less than 2 weeks prior. Way to go, Phil. We forgive you for RedFAIL and all of 2022.

Xbox Showcase = 4.75/5 Whiskeys
Starfield Direct = 10/5 Whiskeys

2. FINAL FANTASY XVI PRE-LAUNCH CELEBRATION

Yeah, a singular game earned my second spot in the Summer Gaming of RIP E3 Game Fest thing. Actually, almost a single man won this spot. I give you new Square Enix CEO, Takashi Kiryu — whom I wish every other CEO was like on the planet. If so, we’d be living in so much happier times! Kiryu took to the stage at the tips of this FFXVI pre-release shindig and won the crowd over with childhood stories that have never been more relatable or even flattering from CEO-to-peasant. “One of us! One of us!” should have been the chant following the hardcore gamer/school-slack turned Square Enix success’ amazing opener.

That said, the Square Enix team did a wonderful job deep diving into every important aspect of the next Final Fantasy — from gameplay details to an incredible live-action trailer to the title’s score — kicking off with Creative Director Kazutoyo Maehiro and Localization Director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox.

FANTASY OF THRONES: the art direction and dialogue tone inspired by HBO’s Game of Thrones, Active Time Lore — a new system that allows players to gain information/lore on the current characters/setting in the current scene, and the fact that PlayStation players were able to download the FF XVI demo just hours (!!) after the celebration. I’ve consumed, finished, and ultra loved the 2-hour Prologue and I cannot wait to head over to Best Buy on June 22nd to pick up my steel case edition.

If only that super, huggable, loveable and stupidly expensive Torgal were 50% cheaper ($120 for a PLUSH! DUDE!), I would’ve been hard-pressed to give this game showcase a higher grade. All in all, a big recommend for modern day Fantasy fans.

4/5 Highball Whiskeys

3. UBISOFT FORWARD

Ubisoft seems to have the most bizarre Summer Games/E3 presentations, pressers, digi showcases year in and year out. While 2023 for Ubi was certainly no exception, beginning with a Just Dance thing and having some good ol’ boys drone on about Skull & Bones (which, I don’t even know what is anymore.. is it out?), there was a lot of decent to unpack here in the near hour and a half of hard-to-understand French accents and continuous push to do too many things at once.

SPEAKING OF TOO MANY: Why there gotta be so many Assassin’s Creed games, yo! We have Mirage, which I think is the mainline title, since looks like a 4K update of the old AC games. Then you have the long-awaited set-in-China Codename Jade, which is.. a mobile game. R.I.P. And Nexus is a VR game. Also R.I.P. Okay, okay — I know there are audiences for that; it just ain’t me, pimp. I’m also not sure if Mirage is for me, because I suck at stealth, and this is a return to stealth, and I really loved the intense open world combat of Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla (although, I didn’t dive in that one as much as I wanted). Sorry, but this is the least excited I’ve been about the franchise pre-Origins.

OUTLAWS WE RIDE: Really digging the Watch Dogs/GTA vibe set in Star Wars galaxy of Star Wars Outlaws. Without this game, this year’s Ubisoft Forward might be better off called Backward. But, I’m real thrilled for Massive (The Division devs) because this is the Star Wars game we never knew we wanted–and supposedly you can fly anywhere whenever within reasonable limit. Gameplay looks solid with cutesy alien companion assists and commands, and the dogfights certainly aim to rival that of Starfield.

TIDBITS: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is at least something new, a cartoony Metroidvania whose art style didn’t overwhelm; And, what in the DUNK was that presentation for the Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix anime? Great ambition, love the look of Netflix Castlevania appeal, Adi Shanker — but, man. But at least the Forward kicked off with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. I’ve never been an Avatar person, but this looks solid and far more ambitious than we imagined for a movie tie-in title and features online co-op. December 7th is a safe release date, too.

3.25/5 Blue Milk Whiskeys.

5. PLAYSTATION SHOWCASE

Spider-Man! Spider-Man! Literally, the only thing worth top-billing from the typically strong Sony summer shows this side of a surprise remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, which, when released, will be 20 years after its original iteration. Awesome. But, past Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (which looks amazing, spectacular, sensational thanks to Insomniac), there was NOTHING from Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, or even Bluepoint and Housemarque. Just.. weird. Maybe they saw their chief competitors so extreme on both sides of the spectrum (Nintendo winning the year no matter what with Zelda, and Microsoft losing forever with.. everything) that they took this “Summer of Gaming” for granted. And, releasing a “Showcase” 2 weeks before the usual E3 time is further proof of that.

Like I said above, Microsoft out-Sony’d Sony in this year’s summer of digi-pressers. That said, Sony has God of War, Horizon, Final Fantasy, Spider-2, Ghost of Tsushima, and 8 million other exclusives, while Microsoft has a dominant racing series and.. a whole lot of catching up to do.

3/5 Glasses of Spidey-Sauce

6. SUMMER GAME FEST

This show has “long covid” been an exhausting far cry replacement for the more appreciably compartmentalized E3. Back in the Before Times, you had Xbox Showcase kicking it off, typically followed by Ubisoft Forward, with EA Play (like, wtf happened to that?), Sony and Bethesda closing off the second day, with Nintendo owning that Tuesday morning as we wait behind hundreds of smelly gamers dying to crash the LA Convention doors to get 40th in line for a game they have to wait 6-hours to play. Oh, those were the days! Toss in a pointless Square Enix or Capcom stage direct here and there, and you had your E3.

Now, E3’s substitute, Summer Game Fest, I guess is.. a bunch of games — mostly small/unknown/indie schmindy stuff — from all developers, consoles (including the always annoying Mobile and PC-only), a bunch of celebrities, commercials/ads, interviews, movie things and celebrity/influencer jockying.

I DON’T HATE: The Game Awards, Summer Game Fest or Geoff. It’s just always AIGHT. This year, Mr. Keighley had the benefit of having Ed Boon on stage to show off an incredible Mortal Kombat 1 — a sequel/reboot that already has me forgetting about Street Fighter 6, which, like, just came out. Then, sure, he had Nic Cage talk to folks but it was a Dead By Daylight chapter, so meh. The Witcher Season 3 trailer was both sad and fantastic (yeah, I’m not happy about Henry either), but it’s not a game so there’s that.

BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT: there was a great pop from the crowd for Sonic Superstars — a 2.5D retro Sonic reimagined out this Fall; Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a return to the classic beat ’em style Yakuza, set between Yak6 and the hit Like A Dragon (November 9); a teaser trailer for the Twisted Metal tv show; and, finally, the game that saved Summer Game Fest — Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Holy heck, Geoff better praise Square Enix for loaning him this one. Not only is it gorgeous and dreamlike and everything we wanted it to be, the game will also release on 2 discs — unheard of in current day gaming.

The rest of the show has several hours.. hell.. days of filler.

2.75/5 Whiskeys.

7. CAPCOM SHOWCASE

“What the hell was THAT?” was the immediate response IGN game journo dude Max Scoville shouted when his Podcast Beyond hit the air post-Capcom Showcase. Yeah, man. Exactly. I have no idea. Pretty sure Capcom just wanted to be relevant in this Summer Games space, but this was.. nothing. No DMC. No Resident Evil. And barely a blip of its just recently released hit Street Fighter 6. They could’ve at least teased some future DLC or something for it, rather than a 2-minute recap of what we already knew. At least we saw more of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess (or, as my buddy Felipe labels the game: “Flowers May Cry”). I love the art style, it’s powered by the RE engine and seems like a very cool way to sink a few hours.

WE ALREADY KNOW, BRO: almost every game “showcased” here was already announced. Dragon’s Dogma 2 definitely had the most intrigue, with a lengthy gameplay reveal featuring NPC Pawns and details of the sequel’s sizable world. Dino hunter mech thing Exoprimal is out next month, but do you really care? It doesn’t look bad, but it’s not exactly pushed like the machine it could be. But what did look bad and incredibly boring (even one of the Beyonders claimed to have fallen asleep during this portion) was Ghost Trick. Yowzers. And before all that we got a moment of sadness with the announcement delay for Pragmata — a straight up hand-written apology, nonetheless. Classy, but I’d rather Capcom gave us a hand-written apology for this entire hour.

1.75/5 Whiskey Sours

8. XBOX EXTENDED SHOWCASE

Naw… I’m not even going there. Does this extended thing even count? The Games Showcase and Starfield Direct went SO GREAT that I’ll let this entire hour slide. At least Forza Motorsport had their own little mini demo direct on the side…

N/A/5 Whiskeys.

-Travis Moody

June 9, 2023

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS [4DX Review] – Royal Rumble.

Before we dig into the dopeness of the latest non-Bayverse Transformers flick, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, I’m here to announce that this is my 20th 4DX movie review. Whoo hoo! How perfect of a landmark, because Beasts might just be the greatest flick I’ve watched within the 4 Disciplines of eXecution.

Why? No need to attend the Transformers 3D Ride at Universal when you can just plop down to your local Regal Theater and feel as much movement in the rocking chair as you could on some crazy roller coaster. What separates Beasts from the 19 other 4DX flicks before? The RUMBLING. When Optimus Primal first steps onto the screen, the rumbling effects will consume you! Between our new Maximal friends, Primal and Rhinox, there’s more explosive power thundering under your chair than ever before — unless you consumed a super serving of the chili nacho fries, of course. That said, every explosion (and there’s a few of them, seeing how these are giant mutant robots duking it out over a space time conduit and, sadly, not golden discs) is a booming one. There was a lot of “ah sh*t” reactions from the moviegoing audience whenever any of the powerful laser shots, thruster gunfire, or booming bashes from super sized robotic animals had an affect on our back — and I promise 4DX power has never had so much of an impact.

Of course, air puffs are there to the left and right of your ears for every punch, shot, and kick. There are also numerous sweeping air effects courtesy of all the gigantic robot traversing throughout the Peru mountain locale, noticable lighting effects (as this was a weakness in some other 4DX films), and a more than usual multiple punches to the back of the seat. Unfortunately, the corner smoke/fog effect is still really weak — or shall we say limited — as mentioned in my Shazam 2 review). When it comes to fog or smoke, you obviously can’t go too heavy with it as smoke detectors going off in the theater could be catastrophic, and you obviously don’t want to obscure the sad folks sitting in the front two rows’ vision more than their own arrangement already has.

Just about other 4DX effect in Rise of the Beasts works, though, as highlighted when our would-be-carjacker-turned-hero Noah Diaz (played brilliantly by In The Heights/Hamilton‘s Anthony Ramos) is hilariously forced by Mirage (voiced by every hot woman ever’s ex-bf Pete Davidson) on a joyride from the police. That car chase involving mirroring Porshe’s and lots of twists, turns, and tumbles felt like something straight out of a theme park. It’s worthy of note to mention that Davidson’s Mirage is also the new “Bumblebee” scene-stealer in Rise, as our loveable yellow Bee takes the backseat (pun intended). That said, BB did get the loudest “pop” from the auditorium when Energon kept the resilient Mustang alive during one of the film’s finest fan-service moments.

Director Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) thankfully delivers a lot of action to this soft reboot/sequel that never drags, and the story is adequate enough for a Transformers movie. This allows our prime chacters Diaz, his little bro Kris (Dean Scott Vasquez), and determined deuteragonist Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback) more likeable and arguably more important than previous humans found in the Transformers movie space. Peter Cullen returns as Prime and Ron Pearlman‘s Primal channels the classic essence of Pete. I was also super thrilled not to see Megatron for the hundredth time, as the vicious Scourge (Peter Dinklage) makes more sense to the story and there’s no way any true fan of nerd cinema should experience Unicron via streaming service.

As a major fan of hip-hop’s golden era, I appreciated Caple’s 94 true school soundtrack (that features Method Man, LL, Digable Planets and lots of cues to cassette tapes, Tupac in Juice, etc.), although I was baffled when “Hypnotize” (1997) was the chosen joint from Biggie, and a current trap hip-hop joint boomed out the speakers during the film’s climactic battle. The pacing is great, the characters are fun, and the inclusion of the Terracons and the Maximals (from the the mid-90s Beast Wars animated series) added some much-needed spice to a SEVENTH Transformers movie. There’s also a wink, a nod, and a teaser to another of Hasbro’s homegrown property and where the future may lay within the franchise (YO J..!) . Do yourself a favor and spend a few extra bucks to witness this Rise in the confines of true joyride.

Movie = 4/5
4DX = 5/5

-Travis Moody

April 1, 2023April 4, 2023

WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND 2023 [Day 2 Review] – TJPW x ROH Supercard of Honor x Joey Janela’s Spring Break 7.

–Free WiFi (Hikari Noa/Nao Kakuta) vs Daisy Monkey (Suzume/Arisu Endo) – High speed tag team match that wasn’t so high speed but super fun for 11-minutes or so. – 3-3.25/5

–Janai Kai vs. Yuki Kamifuku – What I loved about most of these matches is that you had a split crowd for almost every match. Janai looked very strong with strikes with Yuki has the sassy, anime villain doll look going for her and the character work to back it. A fun 5-minutes for what it was. – 2.75/5

–Hyper Misao/Trish Adora vs. Yuki Aino/Raku – Hyper Misao is a superhero! She brought Trish a superhero mask! So cute. So funny. Trish is impressive, physically, with great strength and ring presence, while Misao is a comedic genius. On the other side, Raku matched Hyper with hilarious pillow spots (as a DANGEROUS weapon, as a dangerous version of the sleeperhold) and innocent timing. If you’re OK with Toru-Yano type gaga, you’ll love this. – 3/5

–Wasteland War Party (Max The Impaler/Heidi Howitzer) vs. Shoko Nakajima/Miu Watanabe – Awesome Giants vs. Minis match, or is it Kaiju vs. Mini-Jaegers? Miu feels like the third or fourth biggest star in TJPW, and she was way over and also showcased some immense strength against her far larger opponents (she also performed the “Cesaro swing” to Heidi!), while Shoko’s furry outfit is the cutest thing in the world. This was a super fun match that went into extra gears and told a great story. Tons of dives right in front of your front row yours truly, too! – 3.25/5

–International Princess Championship: Rika Tatsumi vs. Billie Starkz – A good little title match that never really got the time it deserved, with the 18-year old Starkz (who’s been on AEW Elevation/Dark before) showing so much promise. She’s the female Nick Wayne in terms of youthful hype. Rika is also very crafty in the ring. Crowd was into it. – 3/5

–Princess Tag Championship Match: Magical Sugar Rabbits (Yuka Sakazaki/Mizuki) vs. 121000000 (Miyu Yamashita/Maki Itoh) – The reason we’re all here, right! Maki is one of the biggest wrestling stars on the planet, and Miyu and Yuka have gotten a ton of exposure in AEW and ROH. I’m less familiar with Mizuki, but I definitely heard of her name and her style and frail size reminds me of Riho, especially with those twirling planchas (Whirling Candy!). All four come off as Joshi stars, although none bigger than Maki — between her entrance, look, attitude, facial expressions and bizarre in-ring style. This match had super heat and the work rate was also great. – 4/5

Matches = 3-3.25/5
Entertainment = 4/5

Overall = 3.5/5 Too Early For Alcohols

This show was all about Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s brand, the pageantry, the aesthetic and the crowd interaction. The best part about the 6 matches is that nothing sucked, and I was HEAVILY entertained even when mistakes were made and a grudge or title match would barely scrape 6-8 minutes. TJPW won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and it’s far less competitive than STARDOM; but it’s also unlike anything you’ve ever seen this side of DDT. It never reaches those (sometimes cringy) levels of gaga; it’s on brand with the Princess vs. Evil endeavors and you got good, crisp fun pro wrestling out of it. This was definitely my fav of the indie — i.e. WrestleCon, GCW Collective — shows I saw this past weekend, even when other cards had some significantly better matches. I’m a fan!

–Zero Hour Match: Jeff Cobb vs. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams – Pretty much a squash.. this makes FOUR matches in 5 events I’ve seen up to this time with Cobb. Just insane. Sadly, nothing really happened here. Glad I watched it on YouTube in the Uber over. – 2/5

–Zero Hour Match: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Willie Mack – OK, so this one was ALL ABOUT The Bet. Sure, we’re in LA and not LV; but a massive bet was placed at the Arts District Brewery. None of us wanted to miss a Takeshita match (especially against Willie!), but we had a dilemma: we had no idea what order the Zero Hour matches would take place. Do we leave now and possibly sit through 3 matches we don’t care about with expensive bad beer, or stay for one more fine pint of the city’s best IPA’s for half the cost and risk losing out on Konosuke? Well, had we left early and Takeshita didn’t wrestle yet, the round was on me. But since the group chose to stay and possibly miss our Japanese stalwart, my dudes both had to split on merch. So, of course, this match took place SECOND and we had to watch it on our phones in the Uber. I’ll show you the gift down below in the Spring Break review 🙂 – 3.25/5

–Zero Hour Match: Willow Nightingale vs. Miranda Alize – ROH is going to be a great home for Willow and Skye Blue, until they’re ready. – 2.5/5

–Zero Hour Match: Stu Grayson (w/Evil Uno) vs. Slim J (w/Ari Daivari & “Smart” Mark Sterling) – The early arriving crowd was red hot for Stu, who recently returned to AEW and gave it his all in a war against Moxley. Will the Dark Order be ROH staples now? TBH, I think they’d be a great fit there; fun character but really good workers. I don’t know “The Righteous” but they made an appearance at the end to confront our boys. – 2.75-3/5

–AAA Mega Championship Match: El Hijo del Vikingo (c) vs. Komander – Word to the wise: you DON’T want to follow Vikingo. That said, EVERYONE (but the Zero Hour folks) had to follow Vikingo. And, as early as Komander is in his singles career, he delivered BIG TIME too. Like I mentioned in the barnburner these had with Black Taurus at WrestleCon, this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea — and I get it. SOME OF YOU ARE CRAZY. But, not nearly as crazy as these guys… and the amount of creativity put forth in this 15-minute plus opener was on another level. Super hot start to the show, and I felt bad for everyone afterwards. THIS. WAS. AWESOME. – 4.5/5

–ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Match: The Embassy (c) (Brian Cage, Kaun & Toa Liona w/Prince Nana) vs. AR Fox, Blake Christian & Metalik – Two things here: Brian Cage’s contract is up, and he wore very D-X/HHH-inspired tights. But his team won. The other? Good on Tony for keeping the show momentum going with a high-flying team in this spot. It’s a death spot, but at least it was all action for half the time given as the opener. Kaun & Toa Liona have a great look; if they improve their workrate they will be something to watch in the future. If not, they will end up like the Authors of Pain. – 3.25/5

–ROH Women’s World Championship Match: Athena (c) vs. Yuka Sakazaki – Yuka didn’t wrestle this same morning like she had a championship match later in the day! What a professional. And this was a perfectly professional woman’s title match, with some great dives from Yuka and awesome power from Athena. She hit her top rope stunner to victory, but not before a couple of great false finishes from Yuka and even better heel work from the champ. – 3.5/5

–ROH World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Mark Briscoe – Uncle Dave called this the biggest surprise over Mania weekend. Since I also said that Cody beating Roman wasn’t exactly a sure-thing, I might have to agree–other than seeing last year’s Mania weekend MVP Mike Bailey lose 4 matches in one day. So, yeah, after a super valiant effort from Brother Briscoe, he still didn’t get it done against Joe and got choked out in front of his kids, nonetheless. Great Redneck Kung-Fu and awesome relentless brawling and submission-based tactics from Joe. This was excellent, despite the not-so-happy finish. – 4/5

–Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia – Both of Tanahashi’s matches this weekend let me down, especially against a pair of my favorite wrestlers currently working for PWG. That said, this was still a fine match-up and the sports entertainer stuff from Garcia got some tongue-in-cheek heat from the ROH faithful. I’d like to see Garcia make a run in ROH, hence why losing this match did him no favors. Tana is well past his prime and didn’t need this, nor the Bailey win at Multiverse. – 3.25/5

–ROH Tag Team Championship “Reach For The Sky” Ladder Match: Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix w/Alex Abrahantes) vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett w/Maria Kanellis-Bennett) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) vs. La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush & Dralistico w/Jose the Assistant) – An absolutely AMAZING match that got overshadowed by the unfortunate ankle/leg injury to Dante Martin. Well, since Saturday, our Top Flight stalwart has been released from the hospital and appears to be very optimistic. That all happened during a nutty ladder bridge destroyer onto a table from Penta. The move was executed greatly, but Dante was overshot over the table and snap. It doesn’t sound like it’s broken, so thank God. Everyone here was excellent; I’m so happy to see Aussie Open working among the best tag teams in the world, Rush and Matt Taven stood out in particular otherwise, while the Luchas are beasts. If you can forgive the injury, this was a near-classic with FTR helping Mark Briscoe congratulate the winners. – 4.5/5

–ROH Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata – Maybe another major upset. Despite his pedigree as “The Wrestler” and one of the most dangerous strikers in the professional wrestling world of all time, Shibata wasn’t a lock to win the Pure title. This initially felt like a one-off, but now it’s clear that dude has a new home with Ring of Honor. I’m not sure half of the Mania Weekend audience ever had history with Katsuyori, but he def won some new fans with his dominance of Wheeler, who’s quickly becoming one of the best young heels in wrestling. Pure rules are weird, but both wrestlers made the most of it. – 3.75/5

–ROH World Championship Match: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Eddie Kingston – A very solid fight, a very solid war — that got turned up several notches when Eddie went into a third gear. I noticed the match shifted in several gears for our challenger; just when he looked too exhausted to keep up with Claudio, Eddie would turn it on — whether it was one-kicking out of a finisher or hitting a backfist from nowhere. The climax of the match was absolutely awesome and a bit shocking with a roll-up victory for Castagnoli, but I believe the right man at this moment won. Shibata came out to help Eddie from the pummeling of Claudio and Wheeler, but it wasn’t as effective an ending since we already watched Shibata battle Yuta just moments earlier. – 4/5

Matches (with Zero Hour = 3.5/5); (without Zero Hour = 3.75-4/5)
Entertainment = 4/5

Overall = 4/5 Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lagers

This was a very strong, very BOLD Pay Per View! The best matches featured Lucha stars, or, at least, Lucha-inspired wrestling, which gives you an idea of where the trend of great “indie” match is going. I say “bold”, because Briscoe didn’t win, Eddie didn’t win, Shibata did and CAGE did! So much for him leaving? But, it’s arguable that the roster for Ring of Honor is stronger with the Lucha Bros, Joe, Shibata, Claudio and Athena as champs. That’s a stacked line-up. Sadly, the horrific Dante Martin injury overshadowed another tremendous ROH PPV and, while I’m pulling for a super speedy recovery for the kid, let’s not overlook what TK and the brand accomplished on Friday night.

–Grab The Brass Ring DLC Match: Gringo Loco vs. Shane Mercer vs. Tony Deppen vs. Cole Radrick vs. Komander vs. Billie Starkz vs. Blake Christian vs. Alec Price vs. Jack Cartwheel – We missed the match because of the Uber craze leaving The Galen Center for ROH, but, from what I gather in other reviews and comments, this was a decent showcase but nothing like the Ladder Match we saw earlier in the day–especially since the winner (Blake) didn’t even have to climb a ladder to win… Glad this was the first match! – 3/5

–Tag Team Titles: Motor City Machine Guns vs. East West Express – Big upset here, as the already AEW signed Nick Wayne and Jordan Oliver took the GCW tag straps from the legendary MCMG! This was high-paced; def a passing of the torch match between one of the original innovators of tag team wrestling to the future. Maybe a little too soon for the kids to win — and the finish was definitely flat — but this is GCW where Nick Gage, Masha Slamovich and Matt Cardona have been/are champs, so you can’t be too upset. Lots of spots, dives and speed on display here. – 3.25/5

–Battle of WrestleMania Weekend MVP’s: Mike Bailey vs. El Hijo del Vikingo – Exactly what the match title (that I made up) says. Here, you have arguably the greatest indie performer in one weekend of Mania Weekend history (from last year in Dallas) in Mike Bailey to another guy who’s ready to take that mantle this weekend in El Hijo del Vikingo! While both guys were clearly exhausted and missed the connection on a few spots, it’s still Speedball and Vikingo and they still did the damn thing and turned out a Match of the Show in their (literal) sleep. – 4/5

-Bussy (Effy and Allie Katch) vs. Maki Death Kill (My Wife Maki Ito Moody and Nick Fucking Gage) – OK, here me out. Maki made me a Nick Gage fan, at least for one night. I’ve always been on the line as far as where I stand with the death match legend/lunatic, but this was insane fun. It’s garbage wrasslin’, but Maki made all the gory violence cute…and she was, indeed, the biggest star of the whole f’n show. I’m not sure whether I loved this or hated it, but I love Maki Ito and Maki Ito loves me, so there you go. Also, my 6’3 twin Matt Zack Ryder Cardona came out with a Cody jacket (something I bravely rocked at a GCW show) and beat the living hell out of Gage. It was a fun, violent scrum, and Effy and Allie might be the most ridiculous tag team of all time. – 10/5 (or, really, a 3.5/5 but who’s counting? Lulz)

–GCW World Title: Steph De Lander vs. Masha Slamovich – Overall, it appears the GCW “Collective” is OK with Masha as champion. But this impromptu championship match def took the sting out of the momentum of the zaniness we just witnessed for several reasons I won’t get into here. Even at face value (for whatever title or no title this was or could be for), this was just OK. Def not Masha’s fault, as Steph — in her street attire — didn’t do much to impress much more than her mouth (and I don’t mean that sexually). Big talk, little action. This was only 6-minutes so.. whatever. – 2.5/5

-Joey Janela vs. Kota Ibushi – This never reached great for one reason: I don’t think anyone believed that Joey could go a hard 24-minutes with Ibushi. Despite how hard they worked to put together a great match, it just didn’t make sense. Joey has his supporters and I’ve witnessed him have GREAT matches at PWG Battle of Los Angeles and even on the first night of AEW Dark against Omega, but something about the dude just doesn’t click besides the fact he gets to hand-pick his oftentimes legendary opponent every year at Spring Break and make a big deal about it. Don’t get me wrong; having Ibushi perform in front of a few hundred at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Hollywood was pretty damn cool. But after wars with Jay White, Okada, yadda yadda.. having to struggle a little against.. Janela is all the more baffling. That said, Kota looked great and hit all his spots. I’m just glad he didn’t get killed on an apron DDT — a move I would have stayed away from with his past. Still, this was a strong way to end a wacky show. – 3.5-3.75/5

Matches = 3.25/5
Entertainment = 3.75/5

Overall = 3.5/5

I believe I mentioned a year ago that Joey Janela’s Spring Break had taken a turn from a mostly fun, relaxed wacky night of comedy and surprises to a more serious wrestling show and this year’s seventh sequel in LA was no different. Other than Cardona and (to a lesser extend) De Lander, there were no real surprises here, and, minus a tamer than usual hardcore tag match, we didn’t get a whole lot of hardcore. Instead, we got talents like all the gents and ladies in the opening DLC match, MCMG, Speedball, Vikingo, and Ibushi. GCW feels more serious wrestling-based than hardcore/comedy now, which is a good thing, but it also takes away from what made Spring Break so special in the first place. Since Joey Ryan’s Penis Party blew its last load a few years ago, I was expecting more of a fun, party type of vibe attending my first Break than a “PWG With Pizza Cutters”. That said, JJSB7 still felt like nothing else I attended this past weekend, and, for that and my beautiful Maki Itoh (muah!), I have that to be thankful.

-Travis Moody

March 31, 2023April 2, 2023

WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND 2023 [Day 1 Review] – WrestleCon Supershow x Bloodsport 9 x Multiverse United.

–Blake Christian vs. Michael Oku – Very solid opener, with a good contrast of styles (high flying vs. grappling). Crowd liked both guys. Springboard 450 finish from All Heart, whose win was a surprise since he replaced Rocky Romero. – 3.25-3.5/5

–Bryan Keith/KENTA vs. Tom Lawlor/Christopher Daniels – The Fallen Angel was Lawlor’s mystery tag partner, while KEN FREAKING SHAMROCK was the special guest enforcer! The legend saved the match at the end with a face-off against Lawlor, as the match went on a little too long and felt a little too patterned. – 2.5/5

-Negro Casas vs. Ultimo Dragon – The legends had a great match, despite their age (63 + 56, respectively). And it didn’t hurt to have Chris Jericho open up with a hype video. Dragon sleeper puts Casas away after a very respectable 12-minutes. – 3/5

-Arez/Latigo/Laredo Kid vs. Rey Horus/Galeno Del Mal/Aramis – Def going to go down as one of those forgotten little gems from the 8 million shows in LA this past week. Crazy lucha libre dives and creativity for 11-minutes, plus the MASSIVE “Super Lucha” Galeno def stole the show with his size and agility. – 3.5/5

–TJPW 10-Woman Tag: Hyper Misao/Shoko Nakajima/Yuki Kamafuku/Mizuki/Yuki Aino vs. Raku/Nao Kakuta/Miu Watanabe/Riku Tatsumi/Hikari Noa – This was a super fun — and super helpful — preview of the TJPW show they were having the next day. Comedy, athleticism, personality. – 3.25-3.5/5

-Mike Bailey vs. Shigehiro Irie – This never really lived up to its massive hype, and the ground and pound finish felt flat. Coming off his MVP performance at least year’s Mania Weekend in Dallas and his BOLA 2023 (while Irie won 16 Carat Gold!) win, expectations were (unfairly) SUPER HIGH for Speedball this year. Maybe the workload was too much, as these two only went 10-minutes. – 3.25/5

–United Empire (Jeff Cobb/Aussie Open) vs. Time Machine (Motor City Machine Guns x Time Splitters) – The first of many terrific performances for Aussie Open and the first of 8000 matches this weekend for Cobb, another Mania weekend workhorse. Here, you had the 3 athletic heavies against the 3 super cruisers and the contrast made for a very entertaining match with great crowd buzz. – 3.75+/5

–AAA Mega Title: El Hijo de Vikingo vs. Black Taurus vs. Komander – Barring anything mind-blowing on Night 2 of Mania, this is a serious contender for Match of the Weekend. If Lucha isn’t your cup of tea, then this won’t be either; but, if you love wildly creative spots and extreme speed, this was it. The crowd went absolutely bonkers for this, with a buzz as big as many of the PWG matches that take place at the same venue (Globe Theatre). Dragonrana’s, reverse springboard rana’s, crucifix bombs, crucifix drivers, 630s, rope-walks — it was all here! – 4.5+++/5

Matches = 3.5/5
Entertainment = 3.5/5

Overall = 3.5/5 Modelo Especials

The Mark Hitchcock Memorial Show was really a show memorable for the main event. Other than the 6-man tag that led up to the AAA Mega Title festa, everything else was merely fine to solid. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it’s widely apparent that many of these non-WWE shows have to rely on a lot of foreign talent to get over. That said, I def popped for Shamrock, Ultimo and all the terrific Lucha talent. Speedball not having a blowaway match on the show def hurt the ratings, but hard to fault guys like him or Cobb who worked 3-4 times in one day. As AEW & WWE continue to eat up superb indie talent, I do wonder how “Super” can remain going forward…

-Calder McColl vs Jeff Cobb – As I just mentioned, Cobb & Bailey worked all three of these shows. Just insane! Now you see why Jeff opened this event, while Mike worked the fourth. Cobb won via powerbomb, which is simultaneously awesome and silly.. because a powerbomb likely wouldn’t have finished McColl in a pro wrestling match– but since this is a shoot, well, you know. – 2.75/5

–Erik Hammer vs. Calvin Tankman – I don’t know either guy. This was alright. – 2.25/5

–Marina Shafir vs. Killer Kelly – Shafir is perfect for this. I know her style doesn’t translate to excitement in the squared circle, but maybe she could arrange a ropeless match in AEW sometime. – 3/5

–Kota Ibushi vs. Mike Bailey – The legendary Golden Star of Japan hasn’t wrestled in almost 2-years, and the GCW Collective were in for a one-two treat this weekend from Ibushi. For the 7-minutes given (so Bailey could rush over to the Globe to take part in at least 2 more events on the day), this was superb with a trading of kicks, strikes and submission holds. Maybe the highlight of the match was when Kota apron-German suplexed Bailey from the floor into the ring. Just nasty. A Kamigoye defeated Speedball. – 3.5/5

–Bad Dude Tito vs. Yuya Uemura – Tito wins via anklelock. – 3/5

-JR Kratos vs. Harry Smith – Fairly solid big hoss match. – 2.75/5

–Johnny Bloodsport vs. Royce Isaacs – My dude Royce shoulda won! This was a great Bloodsport match with Johnny Zillion names showcasing some great mat work with the West Coast Wrecking Crew member. Isaacs tossed the self-proclaimed Bloodsport around with some devastating suplexes early on, with some hard knees in between. Johnny kept going for the arm before getting piledriven to oblivion. This should have been the finish, but after escaping a dragon sleeper, Johnny won via guillotine. – 3.25/5

–Jon Moxley vs. Alex Coughlin – Mox did a great job putting over Alex and his strength during the match, making it look like a struggle against his much lesser known opponent and some frustration set in. This one had some power moves and great striking, before Mox got the bulldog choke on for the win. – 3.5/5

-Josh Barnett vs Timothy Thatcher – This overachieved in terms of excitement, as both wrestlers’ resumes speak for themself. The upset felt massive on FITE TV so I can only imagine how it felt in the Ukrainian Cultural Center that evening. Barnett didn’t need the win, so good on him for putting Tim over– who tends to feel like the world’s toughest loser. – 3.75-4/5

Matches = 3/5
Entertainment = 3.5/5

Overall = 3.25/5

Despite the just “good” score, Bloodsport 9 actually overachieved. On paper, this card definitely felt one of the weakest in its Mania Weekend history — despite Ibushi on the slate for his first match almost 2 years. Barnett’s stars such as Moxley, Morrison, Cobb did a great job with their young and/or up-and-coming opponents and this card also didn’t rely to heavily on nostalgic or ex-MMA acts. It went the pure “bad ass” pro wrestler route and it seemed to pay off. Bloodsport is definitely the type of event that comes off better in person, I can imagine, but unfortunately it ran against WrestleCon. That didn’t stop Bailey or Cobb, but it def forced me to catch the replay today. Good show.

–Pre-show: Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd – 2.5/5

–X-Division Title: Rich Swann vs. Kevin Knight vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Clark Connors vs. Rocky Romero vs. Trey Miguel – All action, everyone “got their shit in” so to speak, with Miguel retaining. Fun opener. – 3/5

-Eddie Edwards/Tom Lawlor/JR Kratos/Joe Hendry vs. PCO/Fred Rosser/Sami Callihan/Alex Coughlin – If you’re a big New Japan fan, but not into Impact, this won’t please you too much; while there were some major Impact fans in the Globe on Thursday night. I didn’t expect to see too many of the like, but they exist! PCO and his undead gimmick was definitely the star here, while both Eddie and Sami seem VERY large since the last time I saw both of them. Covid did neither favors. This had its moments, but wasn’t crazy over. – 2.75/5

-Moose vs. Jeff Cobb – Arguably the third best match on the show, a statement that probably doesn’t excite too many diehard New Japan fans who’re curious about the event. WrestleCon originally promoted this as a New Japan show, which many of us figured it would be the American-based NJPW Strong; instead, it became Multiverse United, bringing both Impact and NJPW Strong together–which boosts NJPW Strong but not your traditional New Japan. That said, Cobb and Moose absolutely gave it their all, an amazement for Cobb seeing how he worked the two other shows I reviewed above. – 3.25–3.5/5

–Deonna Purrazzo vs. Masha Slamovich vs. Gisele Shaw vs. Miyu Yamashita – This show also became a tale of Impact injuries, with Mickie James sitting this one out with hurt ribs for commentary duties. There were some moments, and Masha was terrific. Deonna and the otherwise terrific Miyu never felt they were on the same page, while Gisele was steady. Not bad, not great. – 2.75/5

–Tag Team Titles: TMDK vs. Motor City Machine Guns vs. Aussie Open vs. Bullet Club (Chris Bey/Ace Austin) – Aussie Open were arguably the non-WWE Tag Team MVP’s of this weekend, and they put on another great display. I’m thrilled for these guys who’ve been around the globe, putting in the work and feel like they’re now finally getting their due. Everyone did their thing here — fun stuff. – 3.25-3.5/5

–KUSHIDA vs. Lio Rush – Rush replaces Impact champion Josh Alexander and the match arguably got all the more exciting for it–but that depends on your taste. I love the contrast here between the submission grappling of KUSHIDA and agile flying of Rush, who can still wrestle and strike with the best of them. My MoTN here. – 3.75/5

–Strong Openweight Title: KENTA vs. Minoru Suzuki – I enjoyed this match for what it was, since it felt like the most “New Japan” match on the card. Suzuki played super babyface while KENTA did what he does as a heel. There weren’t a whole lot of wrestling moves or bumps, as the majority saw these two legends exchange a multitude of strikes and submission locks. So long as you’re okay with that, you’ll enjoy this. – 3/5

–Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Mike Bailey – Let’s be real. Will Ospreay’s injury — more than Alexander, James, etc. — crippled the quality of this card. Multiverse United could have wound up a WrestleCon show, where everything is fine leading up to a killer main event. Bailey and Ospreay had potential to be a 5-star match and easily the Match of Mania Weekened. But, sadly, it didn’t happen and you could have a worse replacement that the legend Tanahashi. But this isn’t the same guy from even 3-years ago. Throw in a tired Bailey (who, like Cobb, worked every match I’ve reviewed on this Thursday), and this wound up still really good but nowhere what could’ve happened with Will. And Speedball could’ve used the W here more than Tana!- 3.5/5

Matches = 3/5
Entertainment = 3/5

Overall = 3/5 Santa Monica IPA’s

This show was MID. I feel bad for my fellow wrestling buddies I attend shows with since we had a dilemma: NJPW/Impact or DDT? Well, we KNOW New Japan more than DDT Pro (a product I haven’t followed since the beginning of the pandemic), and none of us three were “Impact fans”, if you will. But it’s New F’n Japan! In the same venue as the WrestleCon Supershow that ended just an hour or so before… Yeah, we wish we did DDT–but we wouldn’t have been saying that had Ospreay not got hurt. While great to see some big names (Tana, Suzuki), this show just wasn’t enough to live up to the brand we all know and love. Multiverse United definitely missed the likes of Zack Sabre, LIJ, Okada and Ospreay. Maybe next time.

-Travis Moody

March 19, 2023March 20, 2023

SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS [4DX Review] – Taste the Rainbow.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a fairly fun follow-up to the original “DCEU” film — especially in the 4DX format. By now, you’ve likely already read critical and social media thoughts on this superhero sequel that mashes everything from classic late-70s Superman flicks to the core of curious oddball sibling films we cherished back in the 80s to the magic and sorcery of the Hatter Potter saga. Heck, one of the kids has a Goonies shirt on. If one thing’s for sure, director David F. Samberg has no problem hitting things right on the nose, and maybe all the heavy foreshadowing and not-so-eastery Easter Eggs are really just part of the point.

Now, I mention 4DX, because I initially had mixed feelings about the format in the first act. With loads of magical power sequences and a the clear lightning bolt logo (again, The Flash comparisons are brought up from Billy Batson right away), I was expecting some pretty serious lighting effects. Well, thankfully, as the film goes on and the battles become more serious and more epic — and they sure are, as most of the fights take place in flight and are “super” thrilling — the lighting/lightening effects have more of an impact. There’s a reason for that, but telling you about the film’s most massive nemesis would spoil it. I still think the 4DX lights could have been more profound, but I’m happy to see the gradual impact. The weakest effect in the fourth dimension was the smoke. WHO WANT THE SMOKE? I sure did, but the little dust clouds that popped up a pair of times in just the left and right front rows do little for, like, 98% of the audience.

As far as the movie-going crowd, the theater was packed. Families and children filled most of the seats at my local Regal cinema, which is both great for 4DX attendance and the future of DC. People still care about superheroes who aren’t always so “Marvel-ous”. While I’m not so positive about its lasting box office, with middling critical scores and imminent releases like John Wick 4 and Super Mario Bros waiting to pounce dat Fury — I’m happy for Zachari Levi and company for a job well done. Shazam!‘s sequel has a nice balance of child-like innocence and charm, and a great deal of stirring action sequences that wonderfully utilize the moving chair effects. I’ve never felt so many seat-rattles as in Fury of the Gods, and the timing of chair movement was among the best I’ve ever experienced. There’s a lot of boom, but not anything anyone who’s ever experienced the lightest rides at Disneyland can’t handle. The greatest part about 4DX is that you never know if anyone is kicking your chair or it’s an effect, so it’s hard to get mad.

Shazam! 2 might come across like your standard fair superhero film, and I can’t disagree that superhero movie fatigue is a real thing; but this “Fury” provides plenty of heart and a genuine sense of care and family, and it’s far more poignantly touching than expected. A pair of scenes got me choked up, then again, I’m often as big a baby as Billy in his silly red suit. It was nice to see Jack Dylan Grazer really steal the show as Freddy Freeman (yeah — not the Dodgers’ first baseman, Freddie), who easily had the best comedic timing in the film, while Lucy Liu appeared to have a (literal) cartoonish blast as Daughter of Atlus Kalypso. Dame Helen Mirren‘s Hespera was absolutely wonderful and the banter between the three daughters was hilarious and offered far more gravitas than your usual comic book movie villainy. The CGI is extraordinary throughout, a near thrill-ride when experienced in 4DX. My fav moments in the chairs are moments of gliding flight and rumbling chases, and there’s a ton of that– especially with scenes containing mythical creatures that do battle alongside the heroes and gods.

In the end, Shazam! Fury of the Gods won’t change the genre like James Gunn plans to do in the years to come. But it might steal your heart if not your money, and you’ll be happy dishing out a few more bucks for the premium experience in 4DX. The only thing missing was the taste — or at least the smell (do they have a smell?) — of Skittles. SHAZAM!

Movie = 3.25/5
4DX = 3.75-4/5

Overall = 3.5/5 Soda Pops.

-Travis Moody

P.S. There are two end credit sequences. Hilarious that I was nearly left alone from a packed house for the final end credit sequence, but maybe they knew better than me since it has something to do with the questionable future of this film franchise…