Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America
The forward march of time is an unrelenting constant in all of our lives, and this January has definitely proven that with just how far behind I’ve fallen with everything on this site; the least of which being these most recent issues of the IDW Sonic comics. The first issue of Imposter Syndrome turned out to be a breath of fresh air and ended up being one of the best issues the series had produced in a while, but we’re not here to talk about the follow up to that one as the mainline Sonic issue came out first and we’ve got to bring this rather tedious arc to an end before we can get to the good stuff. Does the Forest Fire arc manage to end on a high note, or does it intend to finish as it started; thoroughly mediocre? Let’s find out!!
The crisis as the end of the last issue where Belle, Tangle, the lost boy, and the friendly Bad-Nik were all falling to their death, gets resolved rather expediently as they manage to wrap themselves around the giant log with Tangle’s tail. I don’t really want to get hung up on this because it is an endearing quality of Tangle’s design, but I’m curious if the idea is that her tail is always that long or if it stretches out like she’s got Plastic Man powers on one specific part of her body. They’ve only gotten more and more exaggerated with it over time, but it’s an example of one of the series’ strengths which is its carefree attitude and prioritizing fun over practicality. Sadly the series will occasionally get in the mood to go overly serious and spend a year watching characters miserably trudge their way through a Zombie Apocalypse, but the adventure and carefree spirit are what really hold my interest in this comic.
Tangle would go missing three months later after a failed attempt to take a modified bottle rocket to the moon.
AEW Rampage is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
Another week, another episode of Rampage to put the cherry on top of the Dynamite Sundae! We’re still a little bit behind here, but that just means more AEW for me to watch! Let’s get started!!
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Trent Beretta Vs. Adam Cole
Trent is accompanied to the ring by Best Friends while Cole is accompanied by Young Bucks, Red Dragon, and Britt Baker
Oh hey! It looks like Trent finally figured out what his last name is! I guess we can put that mystery to bed, but now he has a new problem to solve which is how he’s gonna beat Adam Cole; especially given his impressive winning streak and the half dozen people around the ring backing him up? First thing I noticed in this match is that Adam Cole is really good at what he does because you rarely, if ever, see him as a small guy despite being shorter and less cut than most of his peers. His charm, swagger, and fantastic wrestling skills make it impossible to see him as anything but a top star, but this match did a great job of somehow making Cole the one fighting form underneath. Similarly, Trent has a darn good physique and a decent amount of size to him, but it rarely comes off as intimidating given the goofy gimmick of the Best Friends. Here though, Trent is a beast and he is tearing Cole apart in the opening minutes of this match. Cole is no slouch and is keeping pace with the guy due to his skills as a wrestler and by focusing on Trent’s vulnerable neck, but for most of this match it plays out like it’s his to lose. This is mostly due to Cole going for the Panama Sunrise after every brief hope spot he gets and each time it gets reversed by Trent; either by throwing Cole off which sends him soaring in the air, or by turning it into a devastating move like the Saito Suplex. The most sustained offense that Cole manages to get is after landing a terrifying Avalanche Brain Buster on Trent as the action gets pretty even between the two after such a devastating move. Lots of big moves back and forth with Trent hitting a Pile Drive on the Apron and Cole continuing to focus on the neck with a Back Breaker and a Canadian Destroyer, but Trent eventually manages to reverse another Panama Sunrise attempt into a Strong Zero which should be enough to win the match. He goes for the pin, but Nick Jackson puts Cole’s boot on the ropes; an act that creates total chaos as everyone outside of the ring starts brawling. Adam Cole hits a low blow on Trent while Ref Remsberg is distracted, and this allows Cole to hit the Boom Knee Strike to the back of Trent’s head and his very sore neck. Cole goes for the cover and gets the pin to win the match to the consternation of Best Friends and the delight of all the factions on Cole’s side of the ring! This is the kind of match that I love to see on Rampage; perhaps a little light on stakes, but more than enough fantastic back and forth action to get the crowd going and to pump us up for the rest of the show! The only thing I was not a fan of was the putting so much emphasis on Trent’s recently repaired neck throughout the match. I get that we all know about Trent’s surgery and that wrestling is supposed to only LOOK like it hurts, but I’m not sure how comfortable I am at Trent taking moves like that. It’s like whenever Danielson takes a bunch of headshots; I know wrestling is staged, but that’s still not a reason to start tempting fate.
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TBS
We’re back with more AEW action, albeit action that’s over a week old. January’s been a rough month and the week-long power outage coupled with the bonus Battle of the Belts show that AEW threw at us, it’s been hard to find time to get up to date, but that’s a problem for another day as we’re here to focus on this one show! Let’s get started!!
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The show starts with Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly coming out to talk about how awesome last year was and how great 2022 will be; Cole in particular bragging about not being pinned or submitted yet which means he’s undefeated as a singles wrestler. The party gets cut short however as the Young Bucks come out with Brandon Cutler to confront Red Dragon (Fish and O’Reilly) as both teams are going to be chasing after the Tag Team Titles. Cole is stuck between the two groups to try and make them all play nice when Best Friends come out with Orange Cassidy to throw a match at this powder keg that’s already primed to go off. Naturally, a brawl ensues and Cole hits a low blow on Orange Cassidy which causes Kris Statlander to jump in, but then Britt Baker runs down to the ring and Curb Stomps Statlander. With her out of the way, she holds down Cassidy while Cole gives him a few kicks and the Boom Knee Strike before sharing a kiss in the middle of the ring. The fact that Cole and Baker are a couple has been brought up before on the show, but this is the first time they’ve been in the ring together since his arrival. They announce later in the show that they will have a Mixed Tag Match with Cassidy and Statlander, and frankly, I’m excited to see it!
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CM Punk Vs. Wardlow
Wardlow is accompanied to the ring by MJF
I’m a little surprised that Wardlow didn’t come down with Shawn Spears considering how integral he’s been to Wardlow’s matches up to this point, but I guess MJF wants to get a view of the carnage and didn’t want to share floor space with one of his cronies. Carnage, by the way, is exactly what we get here as Wardlow is twice Punk’s size and probably half his age. Punk manages a few shots in the corner and goes for a GTS, but Wardlow shrugs it all off and easily overpowers his opponent. He tosses Punk around for a bit and throughout the commercial break until he’s ready to set him up for a Powerbomb, but Punk escapes and hits a Roundhouse kick to the head. He gets a few more kicks and a bunch of clotheslines which do little more than stumble Wardlow, but then he hits a Springboard Clothesline that finally knocks the big guy to the mat. I hope that minor victory was sweet because Wardlow is upset now and finally hits the Powerbomb after a distraction from MJF. He hits him with another, and another, and a fourth, and a FIFTH! Wardlow is finally ready to pin him, but MJF has to rear his ugly head and demands that Wardlow hit him with even more Powerbombs despite CM Punk being a pile of putty on the mat. Wardlow rolls his eyes and hits him with a few more Powerbombs, including one Powerbomb through the timekeeper’s table, but that’s still not enough and MJF demands a ninth one. Wardlow reluctantly picks him up to do it again, but Punk quickly rolls him over into an Inside Cradle and keeps Wardlow down just long enough for the three count to win the match out of nowhere! Punk rolls immediately to avoid the wrath of Wardlow, but the one who is really wrathful is MJF who gets in the ring and gives Wardlow a serious tongue lashing; complete with shoves and finger jabs to the chest! Wardlow has had enough of this and grabs MJF’s arm whose eyes start to grow huge, but Shawn Spears finally makes his appearance and runs in to quickly act as peacemaker between the two. Wardlow walks out without taking another shot at MJF, but he’s definitely ticked off as he storms up the ramp. I can’t say that this was the match I was expecting to get, especially given how many Powerbombs Punk was able to sell for Wardlow, but I enjoyed it quite a bit! Sometimes you can get away with an unconventional style and pace if it serves an interesting story, and I think the impending breakup between MJF and Wardlow is one of the stronger ongoing storylines they have at the moment.
Pig and all the images you see in this review are owned by Neon
Directed by Michael Sarnoski
There are so many movies from 2021 that I’m disappointed I didn’t get around to with this being one of the more glaring omissions. Nicolas Cage has been my favorite actor for quite a long time, but the last few years have really seen a resurgence for the guy as he’s dominated the mid-range and indie scene with a series of really interesting and creative movies. Not all of them have worked of course (Willy’s Wonderland felt like a novelty taken too far) but they always find a way to be interesting, and the idea of Nicolas Cage going after the people who stole his pig is the kind of premise you just can’t pass up on! Will Nicolas Cage strike gold once again with a quest to find his very cute pig, or is this yet another mess that even Cage’s unbeatable charisma and acting chops can’t salvage? Let’s find out!!
A man named Rob (Nicolas Cage) lives alone in a small cabin in a forest in Oregon. He has no electricity, no phone, and interacts with as few people as possible; just the way he wants it. His only is his pig who provides a modicum of companionship and also sniffs out truffles which Cage trades for basic supplies via a bratty rich kid named Amir (Alex Wolff) who doesn’t understand this mountain man’s ways but is more than happy to take those truffles off his hands. Everything seems to be going fine for Rob until his house is invaded and he’s bashed over the head while they steal his pig away. With the last thing he cares about in this world taken from him, Rob has to return to society (specifically Portland) with the help of Amir to track down the people who took it. Throughout this journey, Amir learns more about this strange man in the woods and the life he ran away from all those years ago, and perhaps there’s more to this pig theft than simply finding truffles. Will Rob and Amir track down the pig-nappers before the trail goes cold? What is waiting for Rob in Portland once he gets back there, and will he have to confront his past before he can hope to see his little buddy again? If you had a pig that adorable, wouldn’t you go to the ends of the Earth to get it back?
“It’s just you and me, Pig. You, me, and this magnificent hair.” *Snort-Snort* “Of course it’s real! Why would you even ask that!?”Continue reading “Cinema Dispatch: Pig”→
January is still proving to be a rough month across the board, so we’re gonna continue our look back 2021 with a few more movies that I missed! Will some of them be contenders for the end of the year lists I’ll be putting together very soon? Let’s find out!!
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Being the Ricardos
Being the Ricardos is owned by Amazon Studios
Directed by Aaron Sorkin
Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) are about to have a rough week making their show I Love Lucy when a local news station accuses Lucille of having ties to the Communist Party. Couple that with tabloids about Desi’s behavior, fights with the network over content, and a director that really gets under Lucille’s skin, and there may not be a show to put on by the time it goes to air! Can Lucy and Desi smooth through all of these problems without alienating the people who help them make the show, and is there more at stake than their careers if things go badly?
Aaron Sorkin has always been fascinated with the inner workings of organizations that carry a lot of public weight; places where hiding the turmoil behind the scenes is just as important as anything else they are doing. It seems almost natural that he’d turn that fascination even more inward with a movie about the field he’s most familiar with, television productions, and while there are some Sorkin-esque flaws in this movie, I think the material has steered him into making one of his best works. Lucy and Desi, at least as they are portrayed in this movie, are fascinating characters with deeply compelling inner lives, and the movie makes no bones about singing their praises throughout. Whenever they clash with the network over their creative vision for the show, it’s played with reverence as these victories did end up revolutionizing television and American culture, and Sorkin definitely uses this story to indulge in his favorite topics. Strong men and women with sharp tongues and even sharper wits sticking it to the old guard to make way for the next generation is well-worn territory for him, but the fact that he’s drawing from real things that other people did tempers that enthusiasm and so it comes off as genuinely important rather than mere wish fulfillment. Now that’s not to say he doesn’t exaggerate in places as the film does lack a certain sense of authenticity. Clothing, technology, and even a lot of the attitudes do fit in with the time period, but it never quite feels like a period piece with Sorkin’s dialogue being what it is, and the overall look and feel of the show just feels too modern. I don’t know if there are HD transfers of I Love Lucy, but I’m guessing they don’t look this crisp and they certainly weren’t shot in widescreen. Still, even if it’s a bit showy in places where it probably wasn’t in the real-life story, Sorkin’s overly enthusiastic style fits with themes of the movie and his specific brand of dialogue creates a clear delineation between the deep and flawed people who make the show and the more modest caricatures they bring to life in front of cameras. This is where the movie shines brightest, where these two people are darn near Herculean in their ability to solve problems, fight for what’s important, and smooth talk their way to getting what they want, but at the end of the day, when the cameras stop rolling and the lights turn out, they are still flawed people barreling towards an ending they are too scared to face. Desi is madly in love with Lucille and Lucille is just as passionate about him, but Desi also can’t help but hurt her in ways that she cannot ignore. This tension between the genuine love they feel and their uncontrollable selfishness (admittedly much more so with Desi than Lucille) is where the tragedy of this story ultimately lies and where the story is at its strongest. This ends up being a double-edged sword however as the movie feels the need to be about more than just that and so it feels a bit scattershot and overstuffed with subplots and characters that don’t have the impact you would expect them to given the prominence of certain scenes. The big red elephant in the room is the Communist allegations which are what kicks off the movie and you assume it’s what the whole thing is going to be about, but that ends up fading into the background as the network stuff and the relationship between Lucy and Desi end up pushing it to the background. It ends up being relevant only to the start and the end of the movie which is a bit of a shame as the fervor surrounding communism in the mid-twentieth century is certainly a frightening chapter in television history, but it at least ends on a very strong note and sets us up for a pretty big gut punch right at the end of the movie. It’s certainly a flawed movie throughout, but it’s entertaining from the first frame to the final curtain call, and frankly, something that walks with confidence is more interesting to me than something safe; even if the former trips over itself a few times along the way.
Battle of the Belts is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
AEW is not giving me a break, are they? I had a power outage for almost a week and am trying to catch up on all the shows, so why not put out one of their special episodes now!? Clearly, they were thinking of me when they made this decision (presumably they were unhappy with my less than favorable coverage of New Year’s Smash), but I will not succumb to their attempts at psychological warfare! I will do my darnedest to enjoy this special event! As long as the matches are good, of course! Is this an excellent start to the era of TNT special episodes, or are we trying to cram too much too quickly? Let’s find out!!
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Dustin Rhodes Vs. Sammy Guevara – Interim TNT Title Match
Dustin is accompanied to the ring by Arn Anderson
I’m not the biggest fan of seeing Sting get in the ring at this point in his career, but I do understand where people are coming from as I feel very much the same way whenever we get to see Dustin! Thankfully he managed to deliver a great match here with Sammy Guevara that honestly puts into sharp relief a few of the issues I’ve had with AEW in the last few months. The match isn’t without a few slow parts here and there, but it feels unique to the style we usually get in a typical AEW match and feeling fresh can sometimes pay far more dividends than overwhelming skill or bloodletting. Things start off nice and easy with some good running spots as Dustin gets an Arm Drag and Sammy gets a Hip Toss, but both are still feeling each other out, and neither wants to make a mistake. After a few minutes of this and a fun spot of Dustin getting winded while Sammy is relaxing on the turnbuckle, Sammy finally hits one of those Uppercuts that Dustin likes to do and follows up with a Drop Kick that sends Dustin outside the ring. We then get some okay action as Sammy tosses Dustin around the outside while teasing Arn Anderson, but the turning point comes when Dustin manages to smash Sammy’s knee into the ring steps which he has to deal with for the rest of the fight. This is where things start to slow down a bit and it feels like the crowd is turning on the match as Dustin rolls in and leaves Sammy to be counted out but then they do it again a few minutes later when Dustin is the one outside and Sammy is waiting for the count-out. You can hear the crowd start to groan on the second one, but it ended up working for me as it set up the big spots that immediately followed it; bringing us from a low point to a high point which is an effective way to maximize tension and to get the crowd to pop. Sammy might just have this in the bag but he gets impatient and hits a Double Springboard Dive onto Dustin which hits its mark, but it only causes more damage to Sammy’s knee. He grits through the pain however and throws Dustin into the ring where he hits an Enziguri and goes for a Springboard Cutter. EXCEPT DUSTIN CATCHES HIM AND HITS A CROSS RHODES FOR A TWO-COUNT!! Things only get more ridiculous from here as Dustin gets a Code Red, and Sammy hits the GTH; both of which are kicked out of and the crowd cannot believe it! Then we get Fuego Del Sol who comes out from under the ring (presumably sensing his best friend being in trouble) and sets up a table on the floor. Arn isn’t happy about this, and while he doesn’t dismantle the table, he starts menacing Fuego and chases him up the ramp. Still, with the table in place, Sammy drags Dustin to the apron and tries to hit a Spanish Fly that would send them both through the table and assuredly win him the match. Dustin fights back however and he manages to hit a Canadian Destroyer through the table in what is one of the most impressive and safe-looking table spots I’ve probably ever seen. Dustin hits the table flat on his butt and is protecting Sammy’s head as the table gently falls to pieces, essentially carrying them on their way to the floor, and MAYBE Sammy hit his knees a bit hard. Still, the crowd is going wild and Sammy is in a bad state, so Dustin throws him in… AND STILL ONLY GETS A TWO COUNT! With all that though, it’s clear that the end is near and so Sammy tries for a Sunset flit that Dustin reverses and they keep going back and forth on pin attempts. Sammy manages to keep Dustin down for a split second over three, and wins the match as well as the interim TNT Title! Oh, but it’s not over yet as Daniel Garcia runs in and IMMEDIATELY gets into Sammy’s face which causes the two to start brawling and the refs have to run down to break it up! This was a very good match and I think the key to it, as well as Dustin’s overall success, is that he’s not overexposed and so the matchup feels fresh. AEW has the roster for people to rotate in and out on a regular basis, so we shouldn’t see Danielson six times in eight weeks. Punk is actually striking a better balance as he’s here almost every week but it’s more often for promos than matches. I know that AEW wants to give the crowds the stars they want to see, and I’m thankful that so many of them came out when I went to see them live, but they could get a lot more mileage out of people if they expanded their TV roster more often.
AEW Rampage is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
The New Year proved to be a solid start for Dynamite on TBS, but now Rampage has to keep the fort down on TBS for the occasional SPECIAL EPISODE that airs on the network; including Battle of the Belts which is just one day after this show! Does Rampage continue to thrive on TNT, or were things better when both shows were on the same network? Let’s find out!!
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Jake Atlas Vs. Adam Cole
Now this is a match that I am SUPER excited about! Jake Atlas is yet another talented wrestler that WWE failed to find a use for, so now he’s here at AEW to show them just how big of a blunder they’ve made! IT starts off well with some quick action as Atlas is strong, agile, and talented, but Cole is not to be underestimated as his in-ring experience means that he can read Atlas like a book. There’s some good back and forth action between the two, but then Atlas goes for the top turnbuckle and Cole immediately knocks him off and follows up by throwing him into the post. Cole is firmly in control now and whatever Atlas tries to do to get out from underneath him is caught and rebuffed; particularly this one spot where Atlas tries for something that Kind of looks like a Springboard Coffin Drop (he’s flying backward with his arms stretched out), and Cole just grabs him out of midair and hits a Backstabber. This continues throughout the commercial, after which Atlas gets a Step Up Hurricanrana which gives him a bit of breathing room. Cole rolls out and Atlas hits a Drop Kick through the ropes before following up with a Suicide Dive. He then throws Cole into the ring and hits a Springboard Drop Kick for a two count, and the action goes back to a more even back and forth exchange. Cole goes for the Boom Knee Strike, but Atlas manages to hit Cole with a kick of his own and follows up with a move that I can only describe as a Pop-Up Pile Driver. He lifts Cole up as if he was doing a Suplex, but stops at the height of Cole’s arc and repositions so that he drops him down into a Pile Driver which gets him a two count. In trying to follow up on this, Jake goes for another Springboard move (this time facing his opponent), but Cole manages to kick him out of the air which unfortunately led to another injury for AEW. It’s not NEARLY as bad as Fenix’s arm going in the other direction, but it looks like Atlas messed up his knee when he planted it after this move; so much so that when Cole goes for the Panama Sunrise, he’s just not able to go up for it. Instead, Cole knocks him to the mat and puts him in an Ankle Lock submission and Atlas taps out immediately. The Not-Dispute Era (Fish and O’Reilly) come down to meet Cole and they’re about to pound on Atlas when Orange Cassidy and Best Friends come down to chase them off. If it wasn’t for the injury, I’d say this was a darn good showing for Jake Atlas who looks right at home in the AEW ring, but unfortunately, he may be out for a while if something bad happened to his knee. Two injuries back to back is not a good look for AEW, but hopefully, these are just two poorly timed flukes and nothing more.
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TBS
It’s a New Year for everyone and a new channel for AEW! None too soon, if you ask me! The show has never dipped so low as to compare it to WWE, but there were some rough patches in the latter half of 2021 that had me hoping that a fresh start will kick things back into gear and give us the kind of wrestling show that we want to see from AEW! Does the move to TBS reinvigorate the show, or is it just more of the same no matter where you find it? Let’s find out!!
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Hangman Adam Page Vs. Bryan Danielson – AEW World Title Match
The last match felt a bit padded with the commercial breaks interrupting the ebb and flow of the action, but in the end, I think we got everything we needed to out of that match, so watching this one felt a little bit redundant. There really isn’t much of a status quo change or some new issue that they have to work through; it’s just a shorter version of what we saw last time. Now that’s not to say that the action isn’t great or that Danielson isn’t one of the best in-ring storytellers working today, but I didn’t find myself enjoying the sequel as much as I would have hoped. There still feels like there’s a bit of padding here as Danielson starts the fight by intentionally stalling to try and get Hangman frustrated. This goes on for a few minutes and is certainly a great way to start a match, but almost as soon as Hangman starts to fight back, he’s stymied by Danielson who tosses him arm first into the post, and so Danielson slows things down once again as he starts to work the arm over. Hangman gets a break from this after hitting Danielson with a Fall Away Slam, but Danielson regains control almost immediately when he drops Hangman into the ring steps, which is the point where the blood starts flowing and is another thing I’m ambivalent of. There’s a lot of blood in this match (Danielson gets opened ups as well) and there are a lot of head butts to make the most of it, and while I can appreciate blood and violence in certain contexts (the Street Fight on Rampage being a good example), it just felt really excessive here. I’ve been wary about Danielson wrestling for a while now, and seeing him with a crimson mask doing running Headbutts over and over again feels like taunting at this point. Aside from some slowness here and there and the worrisome violence, the action is as good as you’d expect. Danielson is keeping up a good fight and Hangman looks to be in trouble throughout, but every once in a while he’ll hit a big move that sets up a Buckshot Lariat. The first one is when Hangman catches Danielson mid-dive to hit a Deadeye on the floor. He tosses Danielson in and sets up on the apron when Danielson comes up with the most BRILLIANT strategy imaginable to avoid the Buckshot! He drops to the mat! I mean yeah, it sounds simple when you say it out loud, but very few people (including Kenny Omega) seem to realize that standing is the only way the move can work. Truly, Danielson is a master tactician in the ring! Hangman’s second attempt happens after a Moonsault to the floor, and while Danielson stays standing for this attempt, he manages to dodge it and hits his Running Knee Strike and gets a very close two count! Danielson remains firmly in control for a while here and even does that face stomp thing that he did to the Dark Order. Hangman fights his way out of it and lands a rather scary-looking Back Drop Driver that leaves Danielson dazed. Hangman goes to the apron, lines up his shot, and FINALLY hits the Buckshot Lariat which is enough to get the pin and win the match! Hangman retains his title, and in doing so delivers Bryan Danielson his first loss at AEW! I understand the reason behind having the last match be the longest match in AEW history, and I guess you need SOMETHING for the show’s big move to TBS, but it felt like a lot of the same stuff we saw last time, and the things they did add (i.e. the blood) didn’t make it feel any more important. Still, not a bad way to start the show and to start the TBS era of Dynamite!
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania and all the images you see in this review are owned by Amazon Studios
Directed by Jennifer Kluska & Derek Drymon
The Hotel Transylvania series is probably my favorite ongoing animated franchise of the last decade which SOUNDS like high praise, but there’s definitely a bit of backhanded-ness to that compliment. The first one is the only film I would classify as a masterpiece, and frankly, any animated series still getting theatrical (or theatrical-ish) distribution past the first sequel are becoming increasingly rare. Even Disney who have been churning out nostalgia bait for years now are at least keeps it diverse by giving each series one sequel or remake instead of putting all their eggs in one property’s basket, so while I can respect Hotel Transylvania for keeping itself going for as long as it has, each sequel is a bit more foreboding than the last, and the fact that Sony is opting to give this to Amazon Prime instead of going for a theatrical run (despite the films being huge moneymakers) is not what I would call a good sign. Still, the money is still there as the trailers looked very well animated, and the strange machinations of studio politics behind the scenes are hardly a barometer of quality! Does this manage to reach the dizzying heights of the original film, or are we dizzy because the franchise is in a tailspin? Let’s find out!!
Much like the film series itself, the titular Hotel Transylvania has been going on and on for a very long time, so Dracula (Brian Hulf) has decided that it is time to retire and plans on giving the hotel to Mavis (Selena Gomez) and her husband Johnny (Andy Samberg) so he can spend more time with his new wife Ericka (Kathryn Hahn). Mavis and Johnny catch wind of this however, and Dracula gets spooked once he sees Johnny starting to flip out in his overly enthusiastic manner, so Dracula changes course and will continue to run the place; coming up with a lie that he can’t hand it over to Johnny since he is a human. Naturally, Johnny figures the only way to fix this is to turn into a monster himself, and oh look! Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan) happens to have some sort of crystal that turns humans into monsters and monsters into humans. Through wacky shenanigans and poor luck on Drac’s part, he and his monster pals Frank, Murry, Wayne, and Griffin (Brad Abrell, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, and David Spade) while Johnny becomes a lizard guy, and none of this can be reversed because the crystal broke. Instead, Johnny and Drac are going to need to find a new crystal which is hidden in a South American Rainforest, and naturally Mavis is kept in the dark about all of this because that’s how Dracula handles things despite three movies now telling him that’s not the best course of action. Will Johnny and Drac succeed in their quest for the crystal, and will Drac gain a newfound respect for Johnny along the way? How long can Frank, Murray, Wayne, and Griffin keep this secret from everyone else, and will Ericka and Mavis just sit around doing nothing while their respective husbands are missing? Speaking of sitting around and doing nothing, wasn’t there a kid in these movies at one point? Eh, probably not important!
AEW Rampage is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
Yes, we are still WOEFULLY behind here, but I’ll catch up on everything soon enough! Where the last Dynamite (at least the one I saw) was the final one on TNT, Rampage isn’t going anywhere is just gonna keep trucking along on that network to give us quick and easy wrestling action to balance out the more plot-heavy shenanigans on Dynamite! Is this another week of Rampage picking up the slack from Dynamite, or will we start to see the cracks in their formula, and perhaps they should try to shake things up as well? Let’s find out!!
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Darby Allin Vs. Anthony Bowens
Allin is accompanied to the ring by Sting while Bowens is accompanied by Max Caster
Caster I can take or leave, but I really like Anthony Bowens and I kind of wish they’d give him a bigger push. Now obviously AEW is pretty tightly packed so not everyone gets a real shot at the spotlight, but Bowens has got something special and I’d like to see him become a powerhouse; not unlike Wardlow, Hobbs, and Brian Cage. Tonight is not his night to win since he’s up against Darby, but he does put on a decent performance here. Darby gets an early lead that leaves Bowens frustrated and anxious, but that’s why Heels have guys on the outside to run distractions as Max Caster eats a punch from Darby which gives Bowens JUST enough time to land a punch of his own and toss Darby into the ring post. This starts the heat segment which comes to an end when Darby escapes a Vertical Suplex, but the fight is much more even as Bowens lands a few moves on Darby that are mostly there to show off how much damage Darby is willing to inflict on himself. Caster tries to run a few more distractions, but Sting finally gets up off his butt and takes care of him which allows Darby to land a Code Red followed by a Suicide Dive. He throws Bowens back into the ring, hits the Coffin Drop, and gets the pin to win the match. It would have been a fine match on its own, but then they do a post-match angle which kind of sours it a bit for me. Andrade El Idolo’s music hits and he starts walking out. He does nothing at all, but this is enough for Darby and Sting to gob at him for several seconds, so OF COURSE The Acclaimed sucker punch them and gang up on Darby! It’s not like AEW doesn’t know how to book Baby Faces as the feud between Hangman Adam Page and Daniel Bryan has been pretty solid, but too often they rely on old tropes about foolish Baby Faces and it gets old pretty quickly.
The Reviewers Unite 