Tag Archives: Disney Plus

TV Review: She-Hulk on Disney+

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By Andrea Alfaro

Now streaming only on Disney+, She-Hulk, becomes the next installment in the ever growing MCU franchise. 

Featuring cameos from fan favorite Marvel characters and a certain well known rapper, Meghan thee Stallion, this nine-episode series will be sure to keep you thoroughly entertained, despite its flaws.

We are first introduced to our protagonist, Jennifer Walters AKA She-Hulk, who is played by Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany. She is an LA based lawyer who just so happens to be the cousin of Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), everyone’s favorite green Avenger, Hulk. Due to a near collision with a spaceship Banner’s blood mixes with hers, prompting her transformation into a Hulk. 

After her transformation she is fired from her job due to an incident involving Titania (Priyanka Chopra), She-Hulk’s glamorous rival throughout the series. Lucky for her though she is employed to be the face of the Superhuman Law Division at GL and KH law firm. 

This new job leads to her representing past MCU villain Abomination, Emil Blonksy, (Tim Roth) in his parole hearing. He is a well known character to anyone who’s watched the Incredible Hulk movie, as he is Hulk’s past nemesis.

MCU fan favorite, Wong (Benedict Wong), also makes a cameo as both witness and client of She-Hulk. Wong is a character most recognized from the Doctor Strange movies. 

One of the most anticipated cameos however was of fellow lawyer and hero, Daredevil, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox). Murdock is most known for his own series, suitably called Daredevil.

This show makes She-Hulk her very own character despite her association with the Hulk. She isn’t a rip-off of him, but instead her very own stand alone character with her own story and personality. 

However, she seems to have not been treated with the same amount of care as every other Marvel character. Many complained before the release of She-Hulk about the character herself looking horribly made and obviously CGI’d. With all the criticism one may think they would improve her character design before the release, especially with the amount of money at their disposal. Spoiler alert, they didn’t. 

This makes it obvious that this show was rushed to be released before the CGI could be properly made to be up to the standard of other Marvel shows and movies. 

To sum it all up, despite its questionable CGI, She-Hulk is a fun show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s perfect for an audience looking for a decent comedy to binge. Some episodes can seem a bit unnecessary, but as a whole She-Hulk is a good show worthy of a chance.

Film Review: Hocus Pocus 2 on Disney+

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By Karissa Meno

3.5 out of 5 stars

The sequel to Hocus Pocus has been anticipated for years and is now kicking off this Halloween season, September 30th on Disney+. 

Hocus Pocus 2 is a Disney+ only special. Directed by Anne Fletcher with executive producers Adam Shankman, David Kirschner, and Ralph Winter. Production designer, Nelson Coates and set decorator, Andrew Baseman. The cast included the return of the incredible 1993 actors Bette Midler (Winifred Sanderson), Sarah Jessica Parker (Sarah Sanderson), Kathy Najimy (Mary Sanderson), Doug Jones (Billy Butcherson), and introduced a new cast with Whitney Peak (Becca), Belissa Escobedo (Izzy), Lilia Buckingham (Cassie Traske), Sam Richardson (Gilbert), Tony Hale (Jefry Traske), and Froy Gutierrez (Mike).

Thirty years after the first release of Hocus Pocus in 1993, the 2022 adaptation re-introduces the Sanderson sisters to the modern world of 2022 Salem. 

Becca is a high school student who, with the accidental help of her best friend Izzy, relights the black flame candle that brings back the legendary Sanderson sisters. Throughout that Halloween night Becca, Izzy, and Cassie attempt to stop the sisters from taking revenge on Salem. 

Summary:

The story opens with the young Sanderson sisters in Salem. They struggle with the town’s residents and their close minded thinking. The sisters eventually run away seeking to escape their neighbors, who attempt to separate them. While on the run they meet a witch who peaks their interest in witchcraft. Later on you can understand that the events of 1993 have already taken place when they cut to present-day Salem. Becca and Izzy head to school Halloween morning to talk about Becca’s birthday tradition. While at school you can see the struggling friendship between Becca, Izzy, and Cassie.

Since 1993, the Sanderson sisters have become town legends, with the all knowing Gilbert running the now Sanderson tour house. Later that night, with a gift from Gilbert, Becca and Izzy have accidentally brought back the Sanderson sisters. As the siblings try to get back into old habits, Becca and Izzy show them around “new Salem”, they show the sisters modern day life, but eventually they don’t want to shift into new habits and head back to their lifestyle. Even with the conflicts between Becca and Cassie they try to gain her help to send the Sanderson sisters away.

The Opinion:

A lot of people have asked me what my opinion is on Hocus Pocus 2, the only sentence I have been able to fabricate is, “It’s actually pretty great.” Obviously sequels can’t beat the originals, but Hocus Pocus 2 is a good enough sequel to correlate with the original.

While watching it I was enjoying and appreciating the effort put in by the new and returning cast members, as well as the set designers who really made the movie visually appealing to me. It doesn’t feel like they just put something together. I got the sense that they had been planning this film for months, maybe even years. 

I was a little disappointed with the absence of a certain talking cat from the original film, Thackeray Binx, but I did enjoy seeing one particular previous cast member, Doug Jones, who reprised his role as “Billy” Butcherson. 

A particular scene where Sanderson sisters began to sing, felt a little strange; it didn’t quite sit well with me. They did sing in the original, but I felt that they were so dedicated to focusing on the story and characters in the sequel that the singing just felt out of place within the storyline. Even though some of the characters were a little cliche the movie felt more mature due to their acting and the character’s personalities. I do believe that the true Disney and Hocus Pocus fans will love and admire the sequel this Halloween season. 

This sequel’s goal was to send a message to appreciate the people you have and the power that comes with having a good group of people around you. I wasn’t entirely sure of the movie’s theme other than focusing on the Sanderson sisters’ return. The most I could interpret was the importance of having people that you connect with even through hardship. 

Hocus Pocus 2 was an overall joy and an exciting experience to watch for the first time. This movie really made me want to buy a Roomba for the fun of it (you’ll understand if this convinces you to watch it).

What an amazing start to almost everyone’s favorite month, October!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021): Film Review

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By Karissa Meno

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid premiered on Disney+ on Friday, December 3, 2021 and was found all over Twitter that same day. Diary of a Wimpy Kid was definitely something different coming from the original live action Diary of a Wimpy Kid from 2010 and something to reflect upon with the book.

This Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Animation, and Color Force Production was directed by Swinton O. Scott lll, with producers Jeff Kinney, Bradford Simpson and Nina Jacobson. The music was composed by John Paesano with screenplay by Jeff Kinney. The cast contains the voices of Bradly Noon (Greg Heffley), Ethan William Childress (Rowley), Erica Cerra (Susan), Chris Diamantopoulos (Frank), Hunter Dillon (Roderick), Christian Convery (Fregley), and Gracen Newton (Manny). 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Disney+ Movie Trailer and Photos | POPSUGAR Family

The story starts off just like in the book and original movie: Greg is starting middle school soon. We are introduced to Rowley, Greg’s best friend who doesn’t get the concept of middle school and “acting his age.” We’re also introduced to Greg’s family, which, just like in the book and original film, contain Greg’s mom Susan or Mrs. Heffley, Greg’s dad Frank or Mr. Heffley, Greg’s older brother Roderick, and Greg’s younger brother Manny. The characters are animated to have the same physical factors as they do in the book with large heads and feet and skinny legs and arms.

Roderick gives Greg advice on how to get through middle school and is faced with the challenge that Rowley may not survive middle school (but trust me, no one does). They also must survive the famous moldy cheese. Greg starts to give subtle but not so subtle advice to Rowley on how to survive middle school. As they head into their new and uncharted school they try to get through the day as much as possible. After the first day, Greg hopes to help Rowley survive middle school for the rest of the year. Even though Rowley takes Greg’s advice for a few weeks, as Halloween approaches for the new middle schoolers, they fall back into certain aspects that lead them to be chased down by a few reckless teenagers trying to bully and take Greg and Rowley’s candy.

After Halloween, Greg has to deal with having no video and ends up giving Rowley a popularity mechanism. The day they go back to school, Rowley starts to gain new friends and become more popular like Greg wishes for. As Greg and Rowley grow apart and Rowley gains a new best friend, Greg starts to grow jealous and tries to make Rowley jealous in the process. After a few terrifying encounters with Greg’s neighbor Greg realizes that it was time to do right by Rowley and do what he wants even if people judge him (or run away from him either way). 

The movie itself had me confused when I would see the physical features of most characters. This new, short film is based on the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the events that happened are meant to sequence with the events in the book. In the movie, each event happened in a significantly different way. The animation was greatly significant as well as the coloring and other factors of the animation that made it interesting to watch. Some of the beginning and end storytelling was drawn just like it was from the book, which I always found nice to see. Some of the voicing matched up perfectly with most characters or sounded a little too young for “meant to be older characters.” Even though the movie happened very fast it all made sense and transitioned smoothly. As most people would say, the movie wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad (I just hope they don’t consider making a sequel).

Disney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid animated movie gets a new poster and sequel