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Reviews
Monsters vs. Aliens (2013)
Oddly enjoyable, but still not good.
There is no mistaking that this is an objectively bad series. From the horrendous animation, to the revolting gross-out humour, it is actually hard to watch. For the most part, I am able to handle gross-out humour - Bob's slapstick comedy is actually pretty funny at times - but Coverton, who is the alien with the most screen time, and his design, sound affects, voice, and behavior is extremely off-putting. His legs crackle when he tries to stand, and so does his mouth when he tries to smile. Too many times, I had to walk away from the show because it was making me nauseous. And the animation is just too underdeveloped - not necessarily incompetent, but there clearly was no care given. It almost reminds me of Toy Story 1 animation, but worse. For example, the main alien was supposed to be the same alien species as Galaxar from the film, but they look nothing alike. And although Galaxar's weird quirks from the film were pretty unique, the alien from the series is just gross. And the last issue I have is the story build; most episodes, the story cuts off immediately when the issue is resolved - the is no conclusion. I don't get that decision. Like, instead of clearly cramming two 10-min episodes into each 20-min runtime, why not just properly develop one plot and use the full 20 minutes?
However, with that being said, the series does have a certain charm to it, which made me watch every episode. I can't explain it. It's just enjoyable despite all its faults.
But it is definitely not for everyone.
P. S. I saw that someone else brought this up, and I agree that making Ginormica have the ability to go smaller is extremely lazy. Instead of creating some fun plot ideas, instead of creatively getting around her stuggles, or instead of just writing an interesting story conflict, they just cop-out in the first episode. It's a waste.
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010)
I don't understand why people enjoyed this so much - it was the worst version of this show I have ever seen.
This was the worst Scooby-Doo iteration I have ever seen. (SPOILERS - not worth avoiding, mind you) Not only did they entirely erase the whole "a monster is just a guy in a mask" baseline that this universe always represented, but the characters were unbearable. I've never had a problem with some Scooby-Doo iterations bringing up the supernatural - the Scooby Doo live action film is one of my favorites and it had ancient monsters - but the show took it to the extent where it makes your head hurt. And not because it's 'too smart', which is what I think they thought they were doing, but because it was just so ridiculously oversaturated and obnoxious. But at least I was glad I forced my way towards the last few episodes, because that's about when the characters become somewhat bearable. Seriously, Fred acts like a complete blockhead - to an unbearable extent - Daphne acts like some obsessed fangirl and keeps running after him, despite how they clearly aren't compatible, and Velma constantly makes intuitive leaps that make no sense - not to mention, she completely changes her outlook on life at the end of the show with no proper justification for it. Mind you, they are all 17, but they act like they are ten years old.
And then, FINALLY, at the last episode, literally everything was erased. I am not joking. The last 40 episodes? Yeah, they didn't happen. That's not funny, that's insulting, lazy, and infuriating. Please tell me that from the start, so that I don't waste my time watching those episodes.
The only props I can give the show is that, on the last episode, it seemed to hint that Velma was dating this girl (Hotdog Water), who I kept thinking she had chemistry with. But obviously, the "hinting" was the laziest form of LGBTQ representation out there, and I am not raising my score for that nonsense.
But, while we are on the subject of the girl's nickname "Hotdog Water," this reminded me of another issue with the show: the show makes fun of certain groups and classes of people so many times that it is INSULTING! And then, when everything gets erased by the end, the most horrible villains - one who were literally willing to murder their own son for treasure - gets their bad behavior erased, and someone who was bad but was redeemed gets all his good acts erased. Like, seriously?
Wow, the more I think about it, the worse it gets...