Mark's Reviews

     The first episode of the amazing Nickelodeon anime-inspired cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender is called Boy in the Iceberg and it's fantastic.      The animation is beautiful, I love it. Also, the episode introduces the great characters and the charming world of this great series. Aang, the main character, has a childish and often silly attitude, which makes sense as I believe his character is around 12. Despite that, he is immensely charming and quite charismatic despite his youth. Katara's kindness and passion shine in this episode while her brother Sokka's humor and sarcasm are quite amusing. Zuko is a compelling antagonist obsessed with restoring his honor, while his uncle and mentor, Iroh, is quite laid-back.     This whole series is family-friendly as it is a children's animated series; however,  having seen the whole series before, I know from memory it is geared more towards fairly older children as it has mild animated v...

     Super Mario Bros 3 for the NES is a fantastic game and easily one of the best games in the platformer genre. As Super Mario Bros established with great success the side-scrolling platformer on consoles, Super Mario Bros 3 perfected the formula. It looks great despite being only an 8-bit game with seamless animation and fluidity. The controls are great, even though I was playing on the Nintendo Switch using a Switch Pro controller so that might have made a difference.  But I remember playing this game on the original hardware and I recall that Mario controlled very well on the NES controller as well.      Going back to the graphics, the sprites and backgrounds all have amazing detail for being rendered in 8-bit. It's amazing,  I think in some respects it might look better than some Super NES games.     The soundtrack is also great with catchy and fun, as well as sometimes ominous and spooky music.       The gamepl...

     The Underdogs is a documentary/comedy narrated by actor Ryan Reynolds and the first episode is called Superzeros.     The footage shown is a breathtaking and honest view of the animal world focused on the underdog animals that might be overlooked. This episode is about unusual animals with amazing powers.     Its a very fun and sometimes funny portrayal of animals in nature but its often very gross. Not a big fan of the gross stuff, but its a great documentary. Its both informative and entertaining and Ryan Reynolds narration is witty and charismatic.        This is not a documentary for kids, especially younger children. Its full of sexual innuendo and references. It is also very gross in parts with lots of poop.       Overall this is a great episode and good nature documentary in my opinion. Still, did it really have to have so much poop? I give this episode a 9 out of 10.

   I added S+ Tier and I am redoing the original Tier list for 1937-1968. Also have changed the score on some films. S+ Pinnochio 10 Sleeping Beauty 10 Jungle Book 10 Lady and the Tramp 10 Bambi 10-I think this was in a slightly lower position last time. Its a masterpiece though in every way and one of Disney's most heartwarming stories. 101 Dalmatians 10 Cinderella 10 Peter Pan 10-I think I ranked this very slightly higher last time. I love it and still think its S+ Tier but the prejudice against native Americans is very offensive and noticeable.  Snow White 10 Fantasia 10-rank it higher than last time, its a 10 and S+. Yes some viewers won't like it but its an absolute masterpiece in quality. S tier Alice in Wonderland-10 ranking it higher. Yeah its not the most cohesive story but its so fun and unique,  I love it too much for it to be less than 10 and an S tier film A tier Dumbo-9.5 I think this is slightly higher than last time. I hate the racism but I love the h...

Tier list for Disney films from 1970 to 1999. This era is the so-called Disney Dark Age and Renaissance era. S tier + added because some of these films are so good they deserve a special category and because otherwise like 60 to 70 percent would be S tier. Some of them I might promote or demote from original score. If so, I give brief reason. S tier + Lion King 10 Beauty and the Beast 10 Alladin 10 Tarzan 10 Little Mermaid 10 Hunchback of Notre Dame 10 Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 10 Mulan 10 Fox and the Hound 10 S tier- Robin Hood 10 originally 9.5 because of animation reuse but it is so charming and fun and heartwarming,  I think its 10 and high S tier Hercules 10 Rescuers 10 Rescuers Down Under 10 I changed it from 9.5 to 10. Yes I still like the first one's story better but the animation is so beautiful and McLeach is such a great and underrated Villain. Oliver and Company  10 I love this movie so much for its humor and heartwarming plot. Originally 9.5 because Sykes...

   The first episode of this animated series is split in two. The first half is Rollercoaster and the second half is Candace loses her head.      They are both fun introductory stories that introduce funny and charming characters and imaginative plots. If I had to choose I prefer Rollercoaster.      Dr. Doofenschmirtz' segments with Perry the Platypus as his arch-nemesis I find particularly engaging and funny.     The other part of the plots are about the titular characters creating or plotting and than implementing bizarre inventions or ideas of some kind while their quirky older sister try to bust them.       This is a very family-friendly show aimed at children and I can't think of objectionable content of any kind.       Overall I like these two stories that make up episode 1 but prefer episodes that have only one story which is better developed. Dr. Doofenschmirtz is delightfully quirky and ec...

     Tarzan is amazing and its one of my favorites. It especially excels in visual storytelling most notably in its fantastic,  emotional,  and tragic opening.      Visually its one of the best looking movies I ever saw as it seamlessly blends computer animation with traditional 2d animated characters and everything is bright and vibrant and colorful.      The characters too are wonderful and its emotional story-telling about themes of family,  kinship,  and belonging is very poignant and relatable.     Speaking of characters, Kala, Kerchak, and of course Tarzan are fully-fleshed out characters that form bonds and despite Kala and Kerchak being gorillas are extremely human and relatable. The side characters are fun and funny, maybe not as top-notch as side characters in other Disney films but nor do they get in the way of the tone and narrative in the way some, with good reason, might accuse Mushu in the excellen...

     Disney's Mulan is an excellent story with a lot of heart and excitement featuring great characters, though I understand one tiny dragon named Mushu is quite controversial.       The visuals are top-notch and the soundtrack and songs are among the best with the songs 'Reflection' and 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' particularly memorable.      Mulan is one of my favorite female Disney protagonists, maybe even contender for top place of that category. She is not a passive damsel,  she is strong and smart and brave while still being cute, feminine,  and beautiful. Love her!    The other characters are good too, though Shan Yu is perhaps one of the less memorable villains he is a lot better than trash tier bad guy material like the awful Governor Ratcliffe. He is terrifying and looks very imposing, and he is quite vicious and heartless. He just doesn't have the depth of a Frollo or the wit of a Scar.    Beside...

     Wow Hercules is a fun movie. Its animated style is a huge shift to a more stylized animation that suits it and looks colorful and vibrant.       In terms of its music, I love the performance of the muses in a Gospel choir style thats very powerful and entertaining to listen too.    Its full of easter eggs and pop culture references which I find funny and charming, but other viewers might not like it and many might be missed by people who were born after the 1990s as some might have been a bit dated even at the time of release.      The characters are very compelling. Hercules is earnest with a huge heart that is as big as his muscles. Meg is charming and mysterious. Best of all, the villain Hades steals the show with his humor and charisma while still being a legitimate menace. He is a great bad guy, one of the best.    Family-friendly wise its for all ages in general and many kids I think will enjoy its colorful...

      Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of the darkest, most emotional and heartfelt films they ever made and its an absolute masterpiece and in my opinion one of their very best.      As one would expect by now its obviously top notch both in the quality of its visuals and even more so in its soundtrack,  which is amazing and rivals Lion King and Beauty and the Beast in its sheer awesomeness.      But beyond that its a bittersweet and emotional drama with great characters. The earnest and kind-hearted Quasimodo is extremely loveable and this makes the audience even more sympathetic to his plight.     Esmerelda is such a bold, confident, and extraordinarily sweet woman and perhaps one of my favorite leading ladies in a Disney film.       Phoebus, the noble captain of the guard, is actually one of the funniest characters on the film with his dry sense of humor.      The gargoyles are funny and cha...

     Pocahontas is a beautiful and majestic film accompanied by stunning music and songs. But the story is quite a bit weaker than other films of this era of Disney and the rather one-note or underdeveloped characters are probably the largest contributor to this.     Governor Ratcliffe is the worst offender by farcand actually might be the worst villain in a Disney movie so far in my opinion.       Greedy characters can be compelling or threatening villains.  Medusa and McLeach from the Rescuer films are great examples of this. They are both greedy but their unique cruelty and flair makes them great villains.       But Ratcliffe is pathetic by comparison and portrayed more like a buffoon than a serious threat.      Besides Ratcliffe most characters beside Pocahontas and John Smith's I feel to be underutilized or poorly developed. Yes there is only such much you can do in a fairly short animated film len...

     Disney's The Lion King is an awesome,  majestic, and inspirational film, a masterpiece in every sense of the word, and my favorite Disney film so far. I love it!     The opening of the film is sheer spectacle accompanied by the beautiful and inspiring song of 'Circle of Life'.     The characters are very fun, funny, likable and well-written. Well, the villains,  of course, aren't likable but they are great. The hyenas are funny and Scar is one of the most villainous and evil characters portrayed in a Disney film. He is also absurdly evil-looking and you can tell by looking at him he is the main bad guy.     Simba shows some of the most character growth and development in a Disney film I have ever seen as the viewers observe his realistic development from an immature and mischievous cub, to a carefree youth, to the mighty warrior and king he was meant to be.      Timon and Pumba deserve special mention as they are...