Rip-Off Cover Art: Popeye the Slayer Man (2025)

 I'm not on board with the whole 'Character is Public Domain- Make them a Horror Villain' trend.

That said, I can't ignore it.

As such, I checked out the Trailer and then the Cover Art for the one about Popeye...

Why does this feel familiar?

Am I just reaching here?

Am I a...

I mean...you see it too, right?

*blows pipe*

I'll see myself out.

Fairly Tale: The Huntsman- Winter's War

 Are you ready for lots of Backstory?!?

If so, you're the Audience for today's Film- The Huntsman- Winter's War, the 2016 Sequel to the 2012 Film.  Of course, you notice what's missing from that Title.

There's no Snow White in this Snow White Sequel- save for a random Stunt Double's Cameo.  Weird.

This is from the rich tradition of such Sequels as Clyde: Origins, Frost vs. The World Crime League and Deadpool.

Wait- one of those is real.

The VFX Director- Cedric Nicolas-Troyan- steps up to Direct.  Will he have an affair with a Lead too?  He's since gone on to Direct...one other Film in 2021.

Bad omens.

Is this a Sequel that deserves more love or one that needs to get nuked for another 30 seconds to defrost?  To find out, read on....

Remember the Evil Queen Ravenna?

She's back...in a Flashback Scene.  Otherwise, you know, she's dead.

The Film- with Liam Neeson narrating- dumps a whole bunch of new backstories that are adjacent to the other Film, including a new Villain, the origin of the Huntsman and some retcons.

We learn that he was kidnapped by the Queen's Sister- Freya- who gained her ice powers when- let me check my notes- her Husband BURNS THEIR BABY TO DEATH IN ITS CRIB!

Damn!

She makes her own child army like some sort of African Warlord, which goes on until the now-adult Hemsworth here.

Him and a lady Soldier (Jessica Chastain) fall in love, which is a big no-no.

Freya doesn't believe in love- understandable- and makes them fight the other Soldiers when they plan to leave.

Freya puts a wall of ice between them and Hemsworth sees her stabbed to death.

He's supposed to be killed by the Soldiers, but they spare him (thus setting up how he is in the last Film).

Back in the Present, it has been 7 years since the last Film happened.

For some reason, the Magic Mirror is now suddenly tormenting Snow White('s double).

The Prince- in his one Scene- sends Hemsworth to find the mirror, which was being transported through the Woods and now is missing.

Along the way, he teams up with Nick Frost's Dwarf, Frost's Brother, two Lady Dwarfs and...his dead Wife?!?

Yeah, she wasn't dead.  They basically say that the ice wall showed them lies (she saw him run away in fear).

Speaking of not dead, it is supposed to be a big twist that Theron returns via the Magic Mirror...but she's in every piece of promotional material and Trailer.

Can she be stopped?
Can Freya turn over a new icicle?

I mean, you can guess, right?

A Film that is genuinely not terrible, but does have many issues.

The biggest one was actually addressed by Hemsworth later- the Tone.  He plays the Film like a mix of a fun Action Star (getting comically beaten up and doing one-liners) and a dour man.  It is more of the former this time.

The problem- him (and Nick Frost) are pretty much alone in that.  Everyone else plays this somber and serious.

Does that work?  No.

Visually, the Film does look nice.  The CGI looks a bit nicer, but also more obvious (if that makes sense).  Everyone has their own aesthetic, even if Chastain's is dark black.

The Plot is a bit of a mess, with the mix of Flashbacks, retcons and a finale which is about the same Villainess from the last Film.

I guess she's exempt from the 'only the fairest in the land can stop her' rule since she was revived via the Mirror.

For better or worse, the first Film had a consistent look and feel.

The Sequel is a big shiny mess that is also randomly bleak at times with no warning.

At least Charlize got practice for all of those Perfume Ads she does these days.

Next up, a return to my *physical* Film collection.  What will I dig up next?  Stay tuned...

Tubi Thursday: Snow White and the 7 Samurai (2024)

 Let's stick with the 'Updated Fairy Tale' Theme here and go to an old enemy...I mean, friend (?)- The Asylum.

Will this 2024 Snow White Film work where- apparently- Disney's did not?

Let's find out...

In Present Day Los Angeles, a Drug Kingpin (Eric Roberts) has a Daughter who wants him to go legit.

This is rendered moot when he's killed in literally the first 5 minutes.

Whoops.

Why is she called 'Snow White,' you ask?
Because her Dad was a COCAINE Kingpin.

No, really.

In the wake of his death, she gets the empire, but the Wife sends a (hunts)man to kill her.

Is that...B.A. breaking bad?!?

She survives, of course, but now the Wife is working to take over the whole Empire!

You know- his Kingdom!

Our Heroine is saved by a woman who turns out to be part of a group of Lady Samurais (with about 2 Asians in the group of 7) who call themselves Omninusha.

The Close Captions don't agree, as it always comes out as Onee-Musha.

They are the remains of an elite group of fighters and defenders of peace.

They are shadows.
They are the night.

They are...kind of bad at this.

I'll spare you the Plot Twist this one time.  Sorry, not sorry.

The Wife is an expert fighter and fends off the other Omnimusha.

How?

She was one herself!

Where have I seen that exact Plot Twist with an elite group of female fighters before?

Can they stop her?

Can Snow White get her revenge?

To find out, stream this one now.

A pretty silly Movie that plays it 1,000% straight.

Consider the Plot- heretofore unknown Elite Samurai must stop an expert Fighter from taking over the Drug Cartels alongside a lady who has only trained with them for like a week.

Does that sound silly?  Yes.
Do they think so?  No.

Positives- there are some good fight Scenes, and they do mine some decent pathos out of this one.  It's not much, but the one-on-one fights are somewhere between a Direct-to-Streaming Film (like this) or stuff that tries to be John Wick.

The Pacing is the big issue as the middle is taken up by 'Let's Train Snow White' for ages.  It wasn't a great choice or execution.

Beyond just a silly pun Title, this one is alright, but not much more.  Speaking of that Title, it's one so old and obvious that even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon made it when I was a kid!

A pretty so-so Film with some decent fights and action.  It's just too bad that the same effort didn't go into the Script and Production Values that went into the sparring.

Fairly Tale: Red Riding Hood (2011)

 Never has a Tagline said so much as this...
'From the Director of Twilight.'

Look- dunking on Twilight is easy.  It's also fun.
That said, the Film led to many similar Films being greenlit and this sure is one of them.

A year before Snow White and the Huntsman AND Mirror Mirror, this one told an 'updated' version of a Fairy Tale.

Only it doesn't.  Little elements exist, but it is not REALLY that tale.

To find out how a Film about a little girl in peril in the Woods became a Twilight-style love-triangle Horror Romance, read on...

The Film tells the tale of a Village in the middle of the Woods.

They sacrifice their livestock to feed a dangerous Wolf from the nearby Woods.

Our Heroine- Amanda Seyfried- is caught in a love triangle between, say it with me, the Safe but Boring Hunk and the Dangerous, Bad Boy Hunk.

Things get worse when a human victim of the Wolf is made.

It is Seyfried's Sister!

This will both make more and less sense by the End.

They go out to kill the Wolf and one of the men dies.  Do you care which one it is?

They celebrate...until Gary Oldman comes in to kill the buzz.

He's a Werewolf Hunter (not the Film) and tells them that the Werewolf is Within (also not the Film)!

The creature attacks again shortly, wreaking havoc in the middle of Town.

It is oddly similar to the Scene with the Romani in The Wolfman from a year earlier.  Hmm...I wonder...

In the middle of things, the Wolf (which is giant-sized a la Twilight) talks to Seyfried via...telepathy.

Weird.

Throughout the Film, they try to justify casting Julie Christie and giving her nothing really to do.

She appears in a few Dream Sequences (thanks for that pointlessness) and apparently is led by a random line to investigate the Wolf.

Oh and she lives out of Town, not that it factors much into the Plot.

Seyfried is pressed to confess to 'witchcraft' and is used as bait for the Wolf.

Oh and a mentally handicapped guy is killed for no reason.  Joy.

Will she be the next victime?

No, she's saved thanks to a complicated plan involving her Dad (aka Mustache Dad from Twilight) and both would-be boyfriends.

One vanishes during the events, making him a suspect.

EIGHTY MINUTES IN, she finally puts on the Hood and goes into the Woods to Grandma's House.

It's a trap!

Just like the Story (for once), the Wolf killed her.

Unlike the Story, the Wolf is actually her Dad.  He killed his Daughter...when he found out that she was not his.

The Bad Boy Hunk rushes to save the day, but gets bit before the Dad is killed.  Now he'll turn (like this Film).

Depending which Version you watch (as this was released TWO TIMES on DVD/Blu-Ray), Seyfried either waits for him to return...or waits for him to return with his baby.

The End.

Honestly, how is this even an Adaptation of the Story?

I'm all for playing with the Story or deconstructing it.  You can do weird stuff with a Wolf/Werewolf Film.
Here are literally three different examples.

You could do a weird or dark Film based on Red Riding Hood without changing 90% of it.  The 10% that is accurate involves her eventually wearing the Hood and saying the famous lines...in a Dream Sequence.

That's it.

Make a weird YA Romance involving Wolves or whatever.  Just don't make it based on a famous Tale and change all of it.

When Gary Oldman can't save you, things are bad.

It is not nearly the worst one of these, but it is VERY forgettable.  It's only been 2 days and blanking on Plot Points already.

Take us away, Shot that proves how much you aren't Twilight...

Next up, let's hop back to the tale of the Huntsman...but not Snow White.  This one is either a Prequel, a Sequel or both.  Nobody knew then and I'll find out now.  Stay tuned...