The Jungle Book | Gryphon's First Impressions

   

It feels weird being back to this, seems only yesterday I posted my thoughts on the casting for 2 Jungle Book movies that were coming out in the coming years. 1 down, 1 to go. 

First, I need to mention that I LOVE Disney's The Jungle Book. It was one of the movies that I watched the most as a kid, in fact I must have rented the VHS from Blockbuster all the time. It's not quite my favorite Disney animated movie, but I'll always have a soft spot for it. Since then Disney has tried to do several more adaptations of The Jungle Book (all of them in live-action), but none of them have come close to being as good as the animated version.
So when I heard about this new movie coming out, I was a bit worried. Then I saw the cast list, I got excited. I saw the trailers, I heard 'The Bare Necessities', I got REALLY excited. I just saw this movie yesterday, and I loved it so much!!!

 There was not a bad character in this movie. As I predicted the voice cast knocked it out of the park. Bill Murray was excellent as Baloo, Ben Kingsley did a great job as Bagheera, Scarlett Johanssan was good as Kaa and Idris Elba gave a haunting performance as Shere Kahn.

But the casting choice that concerned me the most was Neel Sethi as Mowgli. Child actors can sometimes break a movie, but not Neel. I really liked him, he never came off as annoying to me and his acting came off very natural (which is tricky to do seeing as how he was acting to almost nothing), I wouldn't mind seeing him in other movies.

Another part that I liked was the inclusion of the Wolves. One thing that always confused me about the original film was how the Wolves were not a big part of the story as they were in the book, they were in the first part and then never showed up again.
For this one, someone must've been like: "Oh yeah! There are Wolves in this story, let's use them!" and they did. Very well.
I loved the character Raksha (played by Lupita Nyong'o), Lupita gave such an emotional and caring preformance. It was actually a little sad to see her have to let go of Mowgli. She doesn't want to, but the threat posed by Shere Kahn is just to great.
Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) is also a good character, playing the stern leader of the pack but also a genuinely caring father for Mowgli.

OK, we need to talk about Christopher Walken as King Louie. He was freakin' AWESOME! I loved this character. Walken gave him kind of a Marlon Brando-esque demeanor and when he started singing 'I Wanna Be Like You', it was even better then I imagined it to be! Also, his scene had a Cowbell in it, that was just brilliant!

And yes there are songs in this movie, Baloo and Mowgli sing 'The Bare Necessities', and be sure to stay during the credits to hear Scarlett Johansson sing 'Trust in Me', which sounds like the theme to a James Bond movie. And the Score itself is cool too, in fact it was Walken that convinced me to buy the Soundtrack to this movie.

I guess the last thing to gush over with this movie would be the special effects. I mean, my god, the CGI in this film by WETA is INCREDIBLE! The Animals all look so photo realistic everytime they're on screen and the movements are so fluid. And I'll bet you'd never guess that the Jungle in this movie is all made out of sets on sound stages. I'm convinced WETA can do no wrong!

Bottom line: If you loved the original animated movie, you're gonna LOVE this version. It is by far the best live-action adaptation Disney has done to date and I was smiling like a little kid all throughout the entire film. Bring the kids and have a great time feeling like a kid again as I did.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

If you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, Be sure to give my FB page a like to see updates and other related stuff. Thanks for reading!
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Thoughts on the Godzilla Resurgence Trailer

So in the midst of working on my post about Captain Phasma, I saw that a trailer for Godzilla Resurgence just popped up on the internet. So being the die-hard, giddy fan that I am, I stopped what I was doing and checked it out. And...

I'M BACK!!!

WOW!

I was not expecting to get this good a look at Godzilla, but this trailer shows him off in all of his newly formed glory! At first, I wasn't sure about the idea of a Godzilla that looked basically zombified. Seeing it in action though has warmed me up to it. The arms are still weird to me though, hopefully I warm up to those like I did with 2014's 'Brontosaur feet'.

I am also extremely happy to see that Toho is still using the traditional guy in a suit method that has been famous thoughout the 60 year history. And actually, I thought in some scenes he was actually done with CGI, however there are those saying that it is a suit with enhanced CGI effects on it. I'm sure there will be some parts where Godzilla is digital, but the fact that I couldn't tell if an effect is digital or practical? That is PHENOMENAL! I know it seems silly, but it doesn't look like an effect to me, it looks like...well, GODZILLA!
So, kudos Toho! I really hope to see more Godzilla movies done this way.

We also got a look at the characters, some city destruction scenes and of course you need to have the scenes where the JSDF mobilize their tanks, battleships and jets to try and stop the Big G. I especially love the part where you see all these explosions going off on his body and he just looks like: "Hah! That tickled!"
And so far it looks like Godzilla might be solo this time around. If there is another monster or multiple enemies, I'm pretty sure Toho is keeping that under wraps. But if that's not the case, I won't mind it too much. It'd be kinda refreshing to see Godzilla in a film by himself.

Overall, I'd say this was a pretty good way to get fans hyped for what's to come! I know I am! Godzilla Resurgence opens in Japan on July 29th, 2016, hopefully it comes out in the United States soon after.
What did you think of the trailer? Are you excited? Let me know!

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

If you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, Be sure to give my FB page a like to see updates and other related stuff. Thanks for reading!

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How I'd have written and would write Captain Phasma.

As more was revealed about Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, a lot of attention was being devoted to one new character in particular: A metallic-armored, caped Storm Trooper named 'Captain Phasma' played by Gwendoline Christie.

Having a secondary villain in Star Wars is nothing new, having one be a female on the other hand, was. In fact as soon as it was revealed that Phasma was in fact a female, someone felt the right to complain that the armor she wore wasn't feminine, which was ridiculous. Looks aren't everything and neither is gender, I had no doubt that Phasma would be a memorable character and leave a long lasting impression in the Star Wars saga.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. She got pushed aside and was reduced to do little more than say a few lines, look pretty and sell toys. Thus making her the Boba Fett of Episode VII, which I found incredibly disappointing. There was so much she could have done in the movie. Like in the beginning, she could have been leading the charge in the attack on that little village in Jakku.

Or better yet, remember that scene with TR-8R?

Yeah, ^ That guy!

I'm gonna make a bit of a bold claim here, but just hear me out.

I think it should have been Phasma who shouted "Traitor!" then grabbed the 'electro-baton' thingy from the Riot Trooper and fought Finn. It could've ended they same way with her getting shot by Chewie's Bowcaster, however, she would've survived the blast on account of her armor. And then the film would've played out as it does.
Though I would've like a little more clarity as to how she survived the destruction of Starkiller Base since it has been confirmed that Phasma will return for Episode VIII in 2017.

I don't know what they're gonna do with her character but I do hope they make her more involved.
In fact, I came up with a little scenario of my own:

What if in either Episode VIII or IX, Phasma gets into a situation where she is forced to work with Finn to get out of a messy situation? And during this, Phasma asks Finn why he chose to renounce the First Order and Finn explains how he decided not to have his life ruled by oppression and death and about the power of choice. Phasma slowly starts to understand this, and in turn convinces other troopers to abandon the First Order and leads a coup against them. Thus reverting the Troopers back to whats left of the Republic and bringing peace to the galaxy.

What do you guys think? Those are just my thoughts. I can only hope something meaningful comes from this character. I leave it to Gwendoline and the filmmakers.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

If you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, Be sure to give my FB page a like to see updates and other related stuff. Thanks for reading!

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Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens - Blu-ray Review

 Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens was officially released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 5th. And of course, just like all big movie Blu-rays that come out, several different retail exclusives have to be released. And just to get this out of the way, I hate retail exclusive releases of movies! Having different covers and even Steelbook cases are fine with me, what bothers me is when the extra special features are split up among the different releases. In this movies case, Target had an exclusive supplement that you can only view by buying their exclusive Blu-ray set and entering a code that comes with it so you can then watch it on a separate Disney digital site that requires an account. Why not just put it on the disc? Or better yet, put it on every single release! Plus looking at it, the packaging looks thin and cheaply made. I would have gone with the Best Buy Steelbook addition, but it bothers me that the design of it doesn't match with the Steelbooks of the previous 6 films released last year.
So for this review, I will be looking at the standard Blu-ray/DVD release.

PACKAGING

Slipcover and Case Art look great and I love the touch of having a black case as opposed to the standard blue case.

On the inside you get the DVD on the left side and 2 Blu-ray's stacked on top of each other on the right. While I'm not the biggest fan of doing that, at least the discs aren't that difficult to take out.

BONUS MATERIAL 

The Star Wars movies released on DVD and Blu-ray have been packed with a ton of features, each release topping the rest. So does the bonus material in this set live up to those of the past? Well, yes and no. 

The hour-long documentary "Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey" is fantastic, going into aspects of the cast, crew and production as well as reflecting on the past and explaining certain decisions made in the film. I do find it weird how they feature Gwendoline Christie and talk about Captain Phasma a lot, seeing as how her character barely does anything in the film. 

"The Story Awakens: The Table Read" isn't what I thought it would be, it's not a full table read, it's mostly the new and old cast members talking about their experiences during the said read. I really would like to see the full cast script read or at least have a downloadable audio file, the idea of having Mark Hamil narrating the story feels me with joy. 

"Building BB-8" and "Crafting Creatures" talk about exactly what they say they do.

"Blueprint of a Battle: The Snow Fight" is a fascinating look at the final Lightsaber battle on Starkiller Base. How they built the awesome set and choreographing the duel. Also what ever type of prop Lightsabers they used for the fight, I WANT!!! They look 100 times better then the current Lightsaber toys that have been released in the past months.

"ILM: The Visual Magic of the Force" covers the digital effects seen in the film, including the motion capture acting. 

"John Williams: The Seventh Symphony" goes into making the score for the movie composed by the legend himself.

There are a few deleted scenes included as well, most of which I can understand why they were taken out. One does stand out though, 'Jakku Message' I feel would have been a great early reveal for Leia had they kept it in. 

The only other supplement included is a look at the 'Force for Change' charity campaign. 

One disappointment from me is that my favorite types of features are not included in this release: an Audio Commentary track from Director J.J. Abrams and the Cast or a trailer collection. 

FINAL VERDICT

Overall this is a great release for a fantastic movie, the force is strong with this one. If ya loved the movie, pick it up.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

If you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, Be sure to give my FB page a like to see updates and other related stuff. Thanks for reading!

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Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice | Gryphon's First Impressions

-SPOILER WARNING!-
Disclaimer: This will not be a full review

At the time of this films reveal, fans went nuts. As more information and casting was revealed, fans began to worry. And after the films release, everyone including the fans seemed to utterly hate this movie.

I had a theory that this movie would be the 'Ninja Turtles' of 2016. What I mean is that while critics despised it, the vast majority of moviegoers found it to be an OK and all around entertaining movie.

While I have never been a Ninja Turtles fan, I found the 2014 movie I found it to be just that.

The general consensus of the public was that the movie was good, despite a few flaws, amidst all the negative reception from major media outlets.
I tried my best to just ignore it, look on this film with my own eyes and give it my personal judgement.

And I came away liking this movie.

The casting for this movie is excellent!
Henry Cavill is still good as Superman, as well as most of the returning cast from 'Man of Steel'. Ben Affleck absolutely owns the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Gal Gadot, while not in the movie for a lot of time was very good as Wonder Woman, I look forward to seeing her in the upcoming solo film. And Jeremy Irons, I felt was a good choice to play Alfred.
I think Jessie Eisenburg as Lex Luthor is the only real stumble when it comes to casting. He plays the eccentric, mad genius Lex Luthor is known to be, but the eccentric level is a little too cranked up to 12 and should have been lowered (especially in his last scene). He goes full on psycho, and my friend pointed out a fact that I agree with: Jessie Eisenburg would make a better Joker than Jared Leto.

The action scenes are great. The movie is called 'Batman V Superman', and the fight between them is awesomely brutal and suspenseful. While it could've been a bit longer, I was still satisfied. It makes me wonder how different the R-rated cut of this fight is.Then there's the fight between the three main heroes and Doomsday, which was also great. Speaking of Doomsday, not much of a spoiler since the trailer already gives it away (Thanks Warner Bros.), while he looked too much like a troll from Lord of the Rings, he was at least intimidating and had a powerful presence.
While I liked this movie, I already had a sense of how it would play out because of that stupid second trailer and I really hope Warner Bros. as well as other studios take note of this and make better trailers. Still, it wasn't as bad as the first trailer for a certain James Cameron movie from 1997.
I found the dream sequences that Bruce has throughout to be weird, but I could tell right away that they were just that. I'm still confused as to who that red guy was.
While I'm not a super comic book, know-it-all nerd, I at least know what comics they drew inspiration from. Mostly 'The Dark Knight Returns' and (Spoiler) 'The Death of Superman'. The fact that scenes in this movie are directly inspired from those comics is amazing and should make the mouths of those who are comic book junkies foam.

This would be a good time to bring up a point that the internet has gone crazy and lied about. Apparently, Batman kills people in this movie. Well, we only ever see him actually directly shooting at people with a gun in one of the aforementioned DREAM sequences, so that doesn't count. Do they mean the car chase and Batwing parts where he's firing cannons at the bad guy's vehicles? Because he did much of the same stuff in the Nolan films and I didn't hear any complaining. And that gun you see him holding in the trailers? Don't worry, it's just a grenade launcher that fires Kryptonite gas.

And about the Justice League teasing. It didn't dominate the film and I found it to be well done, the fact that Lex Corp had files on all these 'Metahumans' as they call them was a good touch. Seeing the teases of Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman along with Wonder Woman got me wanting to know more about them. 

Point is, I enjoyed this movie. While some things could have been handled better, they could have been a LOT worse. I think the only critic you should listen to about this movie is yourself. If you want to see it, see it! If your still unsure about it, then go ahead and rent it. And if you have no interest in seeing this at all, oh well.
I will more than likely buy this movie when it comes out on Blu-ray.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

If you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, Be sure to give my FB page a like to see updates and other related stuff. Thanks for reading!

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NECA ULTIMATE STRIKER EUREKA - Figure Review

Striker Eureka is not a master of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

In addition to being a huge Godzilla fan, I also have a passion for the 2013 movie 'Pacific Rim' and have a collection of the figures based on the movie from NECA. 

The first Striker Eureka (left) was released in the second wave of figures in October of 2013 (with a re-issue in June 2014). Then in April 2014, an 18 inch figure was released featuring greater detail and an improved sculpt, as well as light-up features. I myself however do not own any of the 18 inch Pacific Rim figures, mostly due to budget and space reasons. And now we have the newly released Ultimate Striker Eureka, which is essentially a smaller version of the 18 inch version minus the light up feature.

I gotta say, NECA did superb job on this Striker Eureka! 

The detail on Striker is simply astounding. Nowhere is that way more apparent than in the upper body, there are individual panels and added pieces and whereas the original figure had the incorrect insignia '2-01' on the left side of the chest, the Ultimate figure has the correct 'GN006' as seen in the film. They even managed to make the awesome logo with a bulldog chomping a missile look really cool despite being tiny. Overall the paint looks better and more accurate on Ultimate, The yellowish white pieces placed around the metallic blue body, as well as weathering effects really helps it stand out. It also has a few small touches of blue and red.
The articulation is pretty much the same as the original with a few changes. On the original, the head could barely move. Ultimate's head has a much wider range of movement, it can spin around a full 360 degrees and can look down, but not up. The Arms move in, out and can rotate at the shoulder, one new addition is rotation at the elbow. Also his hands can move forward and rotate at the wrist.
The torso articulation is alright, he can bend forward and side to side a bit and can turn left and right, but not all the way around.

One of the neatest features is that the Sting Blades actually can retract into the sides of Strikers arm piece. The blades can also be removed and reattached.

Detail on the legs also looks good despite a bit of paint slop on the red around the pelvic joints. But the legs can move forward and back, bend at the knees, and there is even rotation at the hips and knees. The feet can pivot really nicely, I bet that'll make ShartimusPrime happy.

Upon opening the figure it does require some assembly with the wing pieces, simply press them into the corresponding peg holes. 

Striker Eureka's wonderful accessories! Anti-Kaiju Missiles, Nuclear Payload piece and Missile Launcher chest attachment.

Here's a better look at the missile launcher chest piece.

You'll have to use your fingernail to remove the original chest piece and pop in the launcher.

Closer look at the missiles. 

The amount of possibilities for missile placement is countless, but no matter how you do it the effect looks great.

As for the Nuclear Payload piece, it looks great as well. And it attaches nicely into the peg hole located on the back. For the best results, I'd recommend removing the wings first and then twisting the payload piece in. Side note: do not hold the piece by the ends or you may risk breaking them off! Instead, handle it by holding the sides of the middle part. Reattach the wings, and Striker is ready for Operation Pitfall.

The Payload does add a bit of weight to Striker's back so unless you pose his legs just right, don't be surprised if he falls over.

Striker and 3 other Jaeger figures.

Comparison with 2 of Strikers opponents: Otachi and Leatherback

And standing next to 2 Godzilla figures. 

If there's one more thing I can praise about this figure it would be the FANTASTIC packaging! Which uses 2 of Striker's character posters from Pacific Rim's marketing campaign, while the window box flap contains a nice looking schematic of the Jaeger. This is some of the best packaging I've seen on a figure in a long time, NECA is really knocking these out of the park. I hope along with the newly announced Ultimate Lady Danger we also get Ultimate releases of Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha.

In the end, if the first Striker Eureka figure didn't do it for ya, I guarantee that this one most definitely will. This is a superb addition to NECA's Pacific Rim line, and I can't wait to see more. I'm especially looking forward to the Mutavore figure coming out very soon, a perfect companion to this Striker. Look forward to that review.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

If you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, Be sure to give my FB page a like to see updates and other related stuff. Thanks for reading!

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SH MONSTERARTS KING GHIDORAH (SPECIAL COLOR VER.) - Figure Review

Here I am trying to pose my figure and a head pops off! But that's not gonna stop me, lets do this!

This King Ghidorah figure is based on his depiction in the original Japanese poster for the 1991 film "Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah"

Out of all the SH MonsterArts figures I've wanted to add to my collection, the one I wanted more than any other was Godzilla's greatest nemesis: The three-headed, golden, planet destroying goliath, King Ghidorah!
The previous SHMA Ghidorah, released in 2012, now goes for some really outrageous prices online. I myself almost considered buying one for $300 at an anime convention, but the better sane part of my brain told me not to do that. For months after that with all the re-releases Tamashii Nations had been putting out, I kept wondering weather or not Ghidorah would be next and hoping he would be. But with the Mecha-King Ghidorah out it seemed more than unlikely.
Then in mid 2015 I got the news I had longed for: King Ghidorah was being re-issued! Along with a new paint job and brand new accessories! From that point I began setting aside portions of my paychecks to ensure that I wouldn't miss out on it this time.
So now that I finally have the figure, how does it hold up? Well...

In terms of sculpt and detail, it's AMAZING!!! You can see it in the following pictures I'll post, but even they don't do this figure justice! Upon unboxing this guy, it felt as if I was holding Ghidorah himself after he had leaped out of my TV screen after watching Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah. Just look at the head above. The eyes, spikes, teeth and scales all look fantastic!
Articulation wise, each neck can curve left, right and forward, but not so much backwards. And the heads can look around pretty well and include a joint for opening and closing the mouth. One thing to note is that the lower jaw on each head wobbles a bit, so be careful.

Even the inside of the mouth looks great, along with a nice looking, sculpted tongue. Now the tongue can move up a little but, but I would not recommend trying to force it up any further.

As for the waist, it looks like it should move around a bit, but for some reason I cant get mine to move any. The joint feels really tight and I'm afraid to move it around at all for fear of breaking the figure. I don't remember Ghidorah's waist moving around that much in the films so I will let it slide.
The legs and feet have great movement. Moving forward and backward, bending at the knee and swiveling at the foot very nicely. The detail on the scales look awesome as well! I love the extra bright gold paint used, it really helps it stand out.

Same goes for the tails with a fantastic range of fluid movement! I love how the end of the tails look too, they look a lot like prickly pear cactus.
It makes me wonder why Ghidorah never uses them that much...

Now let's talk about that those wings...
They look great, and they can flap nicely. I myself can't speak for all who own this figure, but on mine, one of the wing joints isn't pushed in all the way, which looks weird and I'm very hesitant to try and correct it.

I love this figure very much, but I'm always very nervous when trying to pose it. One of the heads pops off when I try to move it. I can't say it enough: BE CAREFUL WHEN HANDLING THIS FIGURE!!!

King Ghidorah comes with many neat accessories. 

First up is this fantastic looking flight stand which does require assembly.

 Simply place Ghidorah on top of the clear piece which is molded to fit his neck, body and tails accordingly and the three-headed monster is ready to take to the sky and reek havoc.

Next up are the multi colored gravity beams.
 

It's common knowledge that Ghidorah's beams are all yellow, however this is the Special Color Version, based on the original poster for Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah (pictured further up), which I think is a very unique addition. However part of me does wish I had 3 yellow colored ones, Tamashii really needs to make it so you can order beam effects for other SH MonsterArts figures.

Regardless of that, the effects themselves look great and after some practice and careful balancing, hold up nicely on the accompanying effect stand (which also requires assembly). 

Off topic but when you place the stand upside down it looks like the Tripods from War of the Worlds.

One of the more interesting accessories included with Ghidorah is a model of the time machine used by the Futurians in the original film, which is known as 'KIDS'. It would have been nice if it also came with a scale model of the Mothership, which is known as 'Mother' 

(Get it?)
Regardless, for such a small piece, it looks very nice. 

It fits very well on top of a normal Tamashii effect stand. Just don't try jamming it in!

Based on how the wings are posed, Ghidorah can stand from 11" to 12", the wingspan alone is almost 16". From Heads to Tails the length measures 28".

Comparison between SH MonsterArts Godzilla (Birth Ver.) and Godzilla 2014 (Spit Fire Ver.).

And with SH MonsterArts King Kong and Gigan 2004.

Yes, the box this figure comes in is HUGE!

So aside from being overly cautious about handling this figure, I am still very glad I own it. It exceeded my expectations in terms of detail and looks fantastic sitting on my shelf with my other Godzilla figures and I highly recommend that you add it to your collection, you wont be sorry. And do it now! God only knows how much this guy will be in a few months.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

If you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, Be sure to give my FB page a like to see updates and other related stuff. Thanks for reading!

https://www.facebook.com/TheGryphonsLair/