(ree:watch review) - Stranger Things: Season 1 - 4

So, I wanted to rewatch the entire series of Stranger Things because although I know this is a good show from the first time I watched it, but as we are approaching the final season coming soon, I was wondering two things, a) does this show still hold up as a great story with great characters set in a time that feels authentic to the actual time, and b) is this show worth the hype it first received, has it died down and should we even be looking forward to the final season? From season 1 to season 3, this show has its moments where it dips slightly, but it definitely holds up, and I'll tell you why.

Season 1

We are introduced to Will Byers and his friends, Mike, Lucas and Dustin. We first meet Will with his friends playing the board game, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D for short), but as it is getting late, the kids are asked to leave Mike's house. On his way home, Will gets run off the road and abducted. The following day, Will's mum, Joyce, asks Will's brother Johnathan about Will's whereabouts, but when he does not know, Joyce asks Jim Hopper, the town's Sheriff, for help. A townwide search and investigation is initiated, but the more they look for Will, the less it seems likely he is alive. Moreover, Joyce, distraught from the disappearance of her son, seems to think that Will is still alive and talking to her through the flickering lights in her home. Will's friends Mike, Lucas and Dustin also search for Will on their own and end up bumping into Eleven, a little girl with extraordinary powers.

The show grabs you with Will's disappearance. The what, the how and the why. The kids are intriguing because they are kids who play a fictional board game and seem to relate the game to real life, which actually works in their favour in the understanding of what is going on and what to do. Plus they are just kids being kids, which is nice to see. With Joyce practically coming across as though she is losing her mind through grief and Jim Hopper trying his best to keep the town calm and assist Joyce in her missing son, different sub-stories arise and conclude at the end when Nancy, Johnathan's crush, finds a hole in a tree that leads her to somewhere unknown. Not to mention, the star of the show, Eleven, a little girl who somehow has powers to move things at will.
It is like watching 'The Goonies' with a horror element to it. Something that feels authentically like the 80s but doesn't feel forced. This show doesn't scream, "ooo look, we are in the 80s, look how 80s this is, isn't this just typical 80s?". What I mean is, yes, as an audience member watching, you know it is a period piece set in a time that is not present day, but everything feels natural from the acting, to the wardrobe, to the sets and even the dialogue. There is something about the direction, the performances and the execution of the entire first season that if it does not appeal to you in any way, chances are, it never will. Also, the music is second to none. Everything seems to fit like a jigsaw puzzle of everything nostalgia and 80s, and the horror element to the show, though light and not gory, is a nice touch.

Season 2

So if you enjoyed season one, you are back for Stranger Things 2, where the kids are excited to get to the arcade and play the games inside until they realise a person named Max has beaten Dustin's high score. Upon investigation, Max turns out to be a girl who has moved to Hawkins with her brother Billy, so while the kids try to investigate who Max is, Eleven goes on a mission to investigate her past and finds another person similar to herself, whom we are introduced to in the first opening scene. Also, as it is Halloween, Hopper keeps hearing of a Pumpkin Patch where it seems that all the vegitation is rotting so he goes to investigate to get down to the root cause, the kids are kitted out in their Ghostbusters outfits, having fun, but Dustin captures a creature to be his pet, and Will keeps having these episodes where he is alone and something is calling him, only to realise Will has not quite been the same since season 1.

The show has great sound design, great visuals, great music and great acting. Wynona Ryder is an actor from the 80s, and they also pulled in Sean Austin from 'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Goonies' fame into the story, along with the guy from Aliens, Paul Rieser. It only feels right seeing these actors from the 80s, and the portrayal of their characters is something that does not feel forced or at least, it did not seem gimmicky having them in the show. The story here centres around Will Byers and Eleven as usual, but we are trying to find the connection with Will, with Dustin and his pet, with Eleven and this other person, with Lucas and Max and what Jim Hopper is investigating. There could be a reason behind all these linked events and the other events happening in the town because Hawkins is definitely having a problem, and the kids, Hopper and Eleven need to come together to figure out what it is and stop it. The episodes with the other kids slow the show down a little, not quite to a halt, but other than that, the season holds up very well, and there was even a moment I got a little emotional this time around. I see where they were going with Eleven's storyline as it helps to flesh out her past, but the execution felt a touch sloppy, and the pacing and change of scenery is jarring.

Season 3

It is now Summertime in Hawkins for Stranger Things 3, and the kids are enjoying the summer at the new mall until Will starts to act weird again (and at this point, this kid cannot catch a break). Scientists work on opening the gate, but Will has an infection, and the scientists run tests on him. Elsewhere, a creature begins to form and take possession of someone close to the kids, attacks a few townspeople and starts growing in size. Hopper feels a certain way regarding Eleven's behaviour since Mike is always around and they are practically inseparable. During an argument, under the persuasion of Max, Eleven uses her powers, forcing a divide in the group between the boys and girls. Hopper and Joyce seek help to investigate the Russians whilst trying to figure out what is wrong with Will. Dustin intercepts Russian communication leading the kids to think The Russians are upto something, so Dustin, Erica and Steve head out to solve it with Robin in tow and as more deaths and strange behaviour start to occur and the media seem to be covering up the truth, Jonathan and Nancy try to get to the bottom of it only to be attacked by what the kids call The Mindflayer. The kids figure out that they need to defeat the Mindflayer before it kills everyone in Hawkins, but to do that, they also need to close the gate the Russians were trying to open up, once and for all.

At this point in the series, it would seem Eleven can do anything, kinda, or at least what the story needs her to do, which is ok, but this season focuses more on her relationship with Hopper and her actions. The kids look so much older than they were in the first season, so some life-story plot points are accelerated, but the show stays consistent. The music, the visuals, the story beats and the characters, excellent as usual. Everyone is superb in playing their part, and it helps that we have grown with these kid actors. With the storyline, it also helps that the story stays focused on Hawkins rather than focusing on another town and another set of people, taking the focus away from the kids. The storyline with Steve and Robin is a little slow until Dustin comes in with the Russian interception messages, but the highlight of that storyline is Lucas' sister Erica, who is younger, smarter and hilariously funny as she starts with trying to game the system only to be caught up with the kids' shenanigans that could, at any time, turn fatal. The villain or puppet in this season is given a bit of a more sympathetic arc that leads to a fight with Eleven, but the acting from when they were introduced in the series has been great, especially their brief backstory. Season 3 ends with the kids achieving their goal, but at what cost?

Season 4

This time around with Stranger Things 4, we start with a flashback that leads to us seeing Eleven in the lab, and it has been trashed. Dr. Brennan (Papa) looks at Eleven and screams at her, "What have you done?" Shortly after that, we get to see kids and where they are in their lives. Everyone is in different places; some of the kids are in Hawkins, some are in Los Angeles, and we are introduced to a girl who is having some sort of trouble and goes to see one of the new characters in the show, Eddie Munson. Eddie is an older kid who runs a D&D group in Hawkins called the 'Hellfire Club', in which Dustin and Mike are a part of. Lucas is part of the Hawkins Basketball team, and Will and Eleven are in their new school, where Eleven is not having the best time. Johnathan is busy being recreational with his new friend, but when a girl dies in a horrible death in Eddie Munson's trailer, Eddie goes on the run. The police think it is him, the girl's boyfriend, who is also on the same basketball team as Lucas, thinks it's the D&D group, thinking they are a cult, and when even more deaths occur, Sam enlists the help of Eleven to help, but the army thinks it is Eleven who is the cause. Nancy, Steve and Robin investigate who Henry Creel is in relation to the murders, and whilst all this is going on, Joyce receives letters from Russia and seeks Murray's help to look for Hopper because she believes he is still alive.

When I first watched this season when it came out, I remember loving it by the time I had finished it. I was buzzing from it, looking forward to where the series would go next. I loved the storyline with El, Max, Lucas and Nancy. The show has always been great in having different pockets of people working or battling with their own problems or individual tasks, to only converge at the end. This season did it in a way that strangely came together in an organic way, where El assisted Max, but Max had her friends dealing with one issue, and some of the friends were assisting El. Joyce and Murray were a separate storyline that also worked in parallel, but was a piece of the bigger picture rather than also in the fold with the others and that Vecnor, the main antagonist, has been trying to gain more power to reach into the real world. I remember "Running up that hill" was a huge song that wouldn't leave my mind after watching season 4 for the first time, and on the rewatch I came to realise, the song was prominent throughout the entire season but I could only remember it being part of a scene involving Max, but in fact, it played as part of the storyline as well as with a particular character. With that said, having not seen the show in so long, I forgot a lot of the elements, plots, and story beats that occurred, and on the rewatch, some of it was slowly coming back to me, and it felt refreshing to see. I do not believe I was confused the first time around, but on the rewatch, El being in the secret lab going through a scene, which was essentially a memory, confused me this time around, but I got there in the end with understanding what was meant to be going on. Plus Dr. Brennan never helped clear up his alliance with me. Was he good, was he bad, or was he whatever he needed to be to get the results he wanted?

The show holds up, it really does. The rewatch was to figure out if this show was simply hype and this 5th season is them flogging a dead horse and milking a franchise for all it's worth and whilst I agree there is an argument to be made about milking a franchise and through season 1 to 4 there were some elements that did not work and that also includes the storyline or El's powers or who the big bad is, this season is a slow burn where things slowly start to ramp up (just like the other seasons), but with these episodes being so long, there were moments I thought "when will it all converge and or kick off. Not that I was bored because it is funny, charming, suspenseful, scary, but the show keeps you very engaged. There is a possibility I were thinking there might have been more action, ie, deaths and battles, than I initially thought, since I watched it a while ago, but with that said, when it all does kick off, it is great. The moment El flexes is a great superhero moment. Even a simple "Hi" at a particular moment in the episode 'Piggyback' was great, especially at this point, you understand the history and backstory, which had been fully fleshed out in this season, with a complete backstory to the main antagonist. The line where she said, "I piggybacked from a Pizza dough freezer", was so earnest, when you think of how absurd it sounds, it can only make you laugh.

The music, special effects, and story it is all very well done. More special effects this time around and with introducing a new big bad who is woven into the story as well as it had been done is simply excellent. How it attacks people, which is highlighted with a sound and the visuals, it was definitely giving me 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' vibe, even with the use of Robert Englund thrown into the show to tie it all together. And I must say, I am slightly taken aback by how these abilities initially manifest within the context of the entire story in full, but I will say, everyone did a great job, although these kids are likely playing a little younger than they are, as they look all grown up in comparison to 3 seasons ago. Also, these kids must be really messed up for all the things they go through, and this season showed that there were stakes and some real emotional moments.

How season 4 ends is dire and it will be intersting to know how long after season 5 picks up after season 4 (how old these kids are going to look), but with Hawkins being the way it is, it is going to be all hands on deck for this final season because it is implied, Vecnor is still alive and may have an out which means Hawkins is doomed.

(film review) - Demon Slayer: The Movie: Infinity Castle

I started watching what we now call anime a long time ago. I used to go to the video shop and pick up what looked cool. They were all dubbed as well, so I did not need to read subtitles, and if I am honest, I knew nothing about anything. I cannot remember who put me onto Manga, but I enjoyed watching them. I want to say my first Anime I bought was not a manga, but my second one was. It was either 'Dominion Tank Police' the series or 'Guyver'. Maybe it was my Cousin because I'm pretty sure he had 'Akira', and at the beginning of Manga's, you have a fanfare of other Manga films, kinda like what Marvel does before it says Marvel Studios. Seeing glimpses of other anime got me interested in wanting to watch other Manga movies. But in the latter years of my life, I fell off Manga, couldn't understand why it was called anime, and I slowly tried to get back into it. With all the films and shows I watch, I do try to slide in some anime here and there. It was only my mate who told me about 'Demon Slayer', telling me I'd like it and that the show reminded him of the old manga's I used to show him. So I gave it a go, and he was correct. I watch the dubbed version with subtitles on Netflix, and although the shows are something near 25 minutes long, it was a little difficult to get into at first, but I got used to the flow and rhythm of the show eventually. This is my first time watching a version of 'Demon Slayer' as a film in the cinema, because you can watch it on Netflix (where I usually watch the series), but it is broken up, although a whole season might be movie-length, like this movie. So how did it fare, for me as my first time, well...I kinda liked it, but also didn't like it at all. I'll explain.

So the movie picks up where the show's last season ends. Muzan Kibutsuji had spies around the Hashira compound, but the leader of the Hashira set a trap for him. When the trap is sprung, the Hashira come running, but Muzan teleports all the Hashira to the Infinity Castle, where all the floors and levels and walls move, and it is overrun with demons. Tanjiro, sworn to take revenge on Muzan for killing his family, must find his way through the Infinity Castle with his Hashira family and defeat Muzan once and for all. That is the long and short of it.

Just like the TV show, my understanding is that, this is a season or storyline, but it is uncut. We follow different characters, not just Tanjiro, and we get backstories of some of the characters and the ranking demons we are reintroduced to. Also, just like the show, there are some beautiful scenes and picture-esque imagery. Utterly beautiful. The music is great, just like the show, and so is the story, but other than the subtitles catching me off guard because this was not dubbed and took some time getting used to, I could not get with this as a film at all. It is likely because I had a long day and was a little tired, but ultimately, I believe I am used to the "cut" format, where the credits start to roll as soon as it starts to get interesting. Also, when I watch 'Demon Slayer', sometimes it is in the background and it is dubbed, subtitled, AND I have the ability to rewind whenever I like. I even watched the last two episodes before watching this movie but, reading subtitles after a long day, and having this film not broken up like the show started to wane on me halfway through. I started to get restless, and I felt myself trying to start the long blinks, but I kept repositioning myself in my seat and at one stage, I kept drinking my water to keep me alert. And some of the backstories just got a little boring after a while, where I think had I been watching it on Netflix, I probably would have had 80% concentration on it, having been able to utilise the options I have, or they would not feel as long because the show is usually broken up. I loved the film, loved the action, enjoyed most of the backstories, but I just feel the focus and attention needed from me after a long day, and the difference in the format the show/movie is presented, as well as the subtitles (just having to read), was that one-two punch that did not agree with me. Also, when hearing the dubbed voice acting sounding very different to what you know, does not give it any familiarity. I am honestly going to think twice about watching another Demon Slayer movie in the cinema again or at least watch the dubbed version next time around.

One last thing, though, I am not sure if the film does enough to give you a storyline where you can simply watch this movie and understand what is going on without having watched the show first. For example, 'Star Wars' Episode 4 is the beginning of a storyline, but the "middle" of the story, hence why it's called episode 4. For the most part, it is self-contained, as you meet Luke, he has heard of Ben but never met him. Luke understands there are these people called Jedi, and his father was one, sets out on a mission to rescue a princess, but gets caught up with fighting the galactic "police" authority of sorts and defeats them to rescue the princess and save the rebel base from being destroyed. That is a story within itself. With this, a bunch of students and teachers rush to help their master and find themselves teleported to a destination where nothing is normal, everything is moving, and there are demons everywhere, including high-ranking ones they need to battle and defeat as they make their way to defeat Muzan, all the demons' leader, once and for all. And to not give away the ending, there will be a sequel. So, like I said, really good and enjoyable, but the format is not for me, and this may not work for beginners as the film does not really allow for a 3 act story, any character growth and it could be the fact I did not watch a dubbed version, maybe I missed some bits, but the story as a whole does not seem to be explained. This movie acts as the beginning of a storyline within the main story to flesh out some new characters and give us some familiar faces, but if you are not clued into the show, this may well go over your head as a first-time watcher.