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Natsu, Lucy and the rest of the Fairy Tail guild are tasked with recovering the titular magical staff before it can be used for a deadly summoning ritual. FAIRY TAIL: DRAGON CRY is just another one of your average shonen anime flicks, the kind where the real stakes are very, very low unless it is a beefed up series finale, and that's okay. It offers up all of the standard overblown action, goofy comedy, and sexy fan service a budding otaku could want and keep them majorly entertained. As someone with no experience with reading or watching the popular anime creation created by Hiro Mashima, only plunging quite hard back when he did Rave Master, I was able to understand everyone's special magical gifts and have a pleasant blast seeing them unfold in bombastic duels of wizardry. But I do have to admit that I was rolling my eyes at several points in the work. The biggest issue against the picture is, well, its straightforward anime film conventions. I know I was giving the movie a pass for its well-worn design but my critical mind can only suspend so much. All of the cliches you expect in these kind of films are here, from the taunting mid-bosses to the power of friendship to the close romantic calls to the drawn-out death of a major character that's obviously a fake-out. Also not helping in its favor is that a much better handling of a shonen anime film, complete with finer storytelling and a deliciously rich animated environment, came earlier in the year with ONE PIECE FILM: GOLD. And finally, I just absolutely loathed the starter antagonist. The first half of the film tries to build up this dastardly mustachioed villain and his horrific power of mind control but he's a charisma-less pushover that will have you begging for the real baddie to please stand up sooner than later. Though I'm satisfied to enjoy the film decently enough, I will say that FAIRY TAIL: DRAGON CRY did bequeath what is to be one of the best/worst movie theater experiences this year. The surprisingly populated crowd was filled with anime junkies and cosplayers, all of whom were squealing and shouting "Kawaii!" or "Kiss!" during the heartwarming parts and marking the hell out when one of the heroes bust out their most powerful attacks. They were also the only ones that can decipher the film's stinger, which caused me to just scratch my head and shrug while they were delightfully shocked. I rolled my eyes several times at this ecstatically gullible fandom yet it was a welcoming reminder of my past devotion to the animated exports of Japan and the sheer raw excitement it can generate when hanging out with other likeminded fans.
FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5
Poison Ivy and Floronic Man (who?) have teamed up in order to create and unleash a deadly virus that would cause the entire world to became one giant garden utopia. Batman and Nightwing are on the case but they need the help of reformed criminal Harleen Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn, for some reason. BATMAN AND HARLEY QUINN could have been a fun ride with its titled costumed antiheroes punching and chuckling about were it not for its awful script, annoying fan service, and its absolute refusal to justify its existence beside continuing DC's gravy train of Batman-themed cheaply animated films for the home video market. The film surprisingly reveals itself in its opening stages to be set within the landmark DC Animated Universe, as the world and the characters retain their designs from the polarizing but still highly acclaimed The New Batman Adventures. Unfortunately, screenwriters Bruce Timm and Jim Krieg then stomp on the goodwill of nostalgia and bring forth a glorified television script stretched out to 70 minutes that's so rancid that it makes you wish you were watching a feature-length adaptation of "I've Got Batman in My Basement" or "Critters". Batman, Nightwing, and Harley not only fart around Gotham acting like total idiots instead of foiling the barebones evil plot, they literally fart around; at one of the most infamous points in the film, Harley proceeds to hotbox the Batmobile thanks to some nasty buffalo wings and Batman's refusal to make a pit stop. When the film isn't padding itself out with a useless subplot with unknown comic book figure Sarge Steel, an extended dancing sequence, and two full-length musical numbers, it proceeds to lovingly exploit the sexual features of Harley. This isn't a total surprise for the character as her more promiscuous side has always been hinted at or outright pointed out in the original animated series but wow, the makers just love to shamelessly showcase as many shots of her panties and butt that they can get away with while holding on to that PG-13 rating. However, the gravest offense this movie brings is its catastrophic finale. The film concludes with a very slow reveal of a potential deus ex machina, proceeds to painfully expose it to be a total farce, has one of the heroes come up with a simple solution to all their problems and then boom, straight to credits. No joke. I'm not kidding around when I say that this probably is the worst movie ending of 2017.
Despite all my misgivings at its putrid script and my downright hatred for its pathetic denouncement to the picture, I still had some very minor enjoyment with BATMAN AND HARLEY QUINN. Most of the pleasure comes from Melissa Rauch, who does a pretty damn fine job as Harley. She received much scorn from hardcore fanatics when she, not Arleen Sorkin, was announced as playing the popular female supervillain for this film, further exasperated by the fact that Kevin Conroy and Loren Lester were reprising their roles as Batman and Nightwing respectively. Once you see and hear the comedic antics and dramatic moments she pulls off here, it's safe to say that Rauch certainly proved herself as a formidable voice for the cute but deadly jester. Though the comedic script is mostly a shaggy dog, I did at least like some of the jokes, namely the always reliable Batman reaction shots. I also got a kick out of the return of the phenomenal relationship between Harley and her b.f.f. Poison Ivy, which is given a nice twist when the fists coming flying in the last act. And finally, there's absolutely no Joker at all in the picture! Thank the gods that Bruce Timm and the DC Animation crew didn't drag him out for a cheap pop. Your mileage may vary on its chaotic humor, crappy storytelling, and gratuitous titillation but at least BATMAN AND HARLEY QUINN has a few good things to keep it from being the next KILLING JOKE.
FINAL REVIEW: 2 / 5
