A “QUICK!” Review of “Last Samurai Standing (2025)”

The premise of a Battle Royale but with Samurais is an incredibly fun idea!

The fight scenes are incredibly well-choreographed, bloody and a visual treat to watch! There is also some wonderful cinematography and it genuinely feels like they brought the Meiji era to life! The music score is also excellent. I found that all the actors did a terrific job and special praise has to go to Junichi Okada as the main character Shujiro Saga. He does a great job in bringing depth to the character and also performing the fight choreography.

While the story sounds generic on paper, I do love how they explore conflict between the old Samurai era and the new one while also handling some of the politics in a digestible way.

It does have a lot of generic tropes including the old broken down man, the young naive girl who can be quite annoying and overly silly bad guy.

However, I enjoyed a lot of this show and it is a great start for Season 1. I am most definitely looking forward to where this goes next!

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A “QUICK!” Review of “Spy × Family Code: White (2024)“

This movie is two hours of Spy X Family goodness! Everything you love from the show is in here: the fun family slice-of-life dynamic, the ridiculously fun comedy with wacky goofiness from lovable daughter Anya, the suave spy action from Loid, and badass fight action set pieces from Yor. The animation is mostly similar to the show, but there are moments in the final act where the animation is glorious! However, the story isn’t really much to write home about and the villain is very "underbaked” (pun intended). Overall, this is a very fun movie set in the Spy X Family universe. If you love the show, you’ll love the movie.

A Review of “Wicked: Part I (2024)”

I am not the biggest fan of musicals and it is the one genre in movies I rarely watch. I knew of the popularity of the Broadway show “Wicked” but I never brought myself to ever watch it. Now, there is finally a movie adaptation of the show. I did enjoy the legendary 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” and a prequel about the Witch is an interesting idea hence why I gave it a shot. Does this movie defy gravity or is it wickedly bad? Firstly, the production of this film is phenomenal. The song and dance numbers are all incredibly choreographed. It is impressively visually seeing close to 100 people all dancing in unison. The songs and dance feel very flamboyant and campy but it works in the film. In terms of the actual songs, I liked a fair amount of them, especially “Defying Gravity” at the end. I also appreciate how this movie uses lots of actual practical set design. It makes the world of Oz feel more real and believable. There are some genuinely huge-looking sets in this...

A “QUICK!” Review of “Until Dawn (2025)”

It’s disappointing that this film is “Until Dawn” in name only and doesn’t truly adapt the game. However, the time loop element is intriguing, and I did enjoy the group’s camaraderie. Unfortunately, the horror is generic and uninspired, and the visuals are equally dull, marked by flat cinematography. Overall, it’s a shallow film that delivers a lackluster execution of what could have been an interesting concept.

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