Second Playthrough

Let's just say unlike the first movie, The Raid 2 is a tad bit different. The first movie was kind of like 5 minutes of back story in the beginning, then everyone on set said "Go!" There was just non-stop action and the plot was kind of backseat. That's not the case this time around. With two hours and a half to work with. The Raid 2 offers a more deeper story.

The problem with action films and trying to including anything that remotely looks like dialogue is that it usually doesn't work. Same with The Raid. The movie isn't in English so there were subtitles to read, which is fine. But a lot of the time I found my self asking who are they talking about, and why are they doing this? 

So the movie does take place almost moments after the first movie so you definitely want to watch that before you watch this one. I mean seriously, why wouldn't you? Rama has escaped the building with all this info on the corrupt cops and goes to this undercover cop. Eventually it leads him to go undercover as well to weed out even more corrupt cops at the top, or at least I think. It didn't seem that way. In an almost Sleeping Dogs fashion, Rama goes undercover and earns the trust of one of the son of a big boss family, again I think.

I mean other than the story being hard to follow everything else about the movie was nothing short of spectacular. Although the fights are a tad bit more spread out this time, they also don't just feature Iko Uwais (Rama). There is a tad bit more character diversity this time for fight scenes. Fights include Yayan Ruhian who was in the first movie as Mad Dog which I thought was weird cause you know... if you saw the first movie, but he played a different character. This movie also features key fight scenes from both a chick that dual wields hammers and a guy who is pretty much like "Don't mind me, I'm just playing baseball." Ok he just uses a bat, but in ways that would make you say "Ow" upon every impact.

That being said, the fight scenes although they feel too far and inbetween at a point in the movie, except for maybe the last half hour where they again say "Go!" are just brutal and satisfying. Like in the first movie there are tons of cringe moments where you are just clenching every part of your body in agonizing pain. Hammer Girl really makes use of a hammer, guys remember it has a sharper end.

Spite every thing being so brutal, one of my favorite things as a fan of martial arts is that like in the first movie, Iko Uwais is able to keep complete form in these fights. It is just so flawless how Iko throws all these punches and kicks at blazing speeds you can see him keep complete form. There is just a perfect balance between speed, power, form and brutality in these fights. They are all brilliantly choreographed.

The music in this movie is just perfect as well. Something I don't really pay to much attention to but this movie was just scored so perfectly. I mean its all I can really say.

So can we take one moment, to talk about this man. Arifin Putra who plays the boss's son is an absolute beast of an actor. He absolutely hits the nail on the head in this performance. The whole son of big boss lord has been done. You know living under the shadow of your father kind of thing and wanting a legacy of your own. But Arifin just makes it work. You just hate to love him, then at one point you feel absolutely sorry for him, then you just don't know anymore. His ability to flip the switch from calm demeanor to rage induced monster. I looked up Arifin Putra he has like 4 movies on IMDB. This man barely acts, yet his acting is off the chart. His english too, perfect. Where did they find this guy?

So The Raid 2 is definitely another rip roaring body cringing good time. Action is so satisfying and you can appreciate the time and effort that went into this sequel. 95%

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is pacing nicely. With the new found news of Jojo's ability to summon a stand whenever he pleases hes just gonna you know... carry on with life normally and just head to school.

Dio isn't gonna let this stand (Har har) as Jojo soon learns that he isn't safe. After getting cut in the leg Jojo realizes that maybe Old man Jojo isn't spouting nonsense

The pacing so far is good enough for my taste. Seems like they aren't gonna rush this. They have introduced Kakyoin, another stand user out to get Jojo on Dio's orders.

Action scenes this episode were actually really cool. I love the animation work on Kaykoin's stand Hierophant Green. It's little things when you think about it. With the animation for the move Emerald Splash to the idleness of it when it moves it's tail thing. I mean coming from someone who played the old Capcom game. This means a lot.

Can't wait for episode 3 when the pace should definitely be going.

You know what the beauty of this series is? You do not have to watch part one or two. (Although you should) The first episode like most series is gonna be slow but you know what they did do with their first episode. They managed to clear up any back story you didn't watch within like minutes. They explained the whole deal with Dio and why he is back this time around.

The animation is amazing. When they started showing off the stands, you can just tell that was time well spent. Everything looks so nice and really keeps true to the art style of the manga. When both Star Platinum and Magician's Red showed up, how could you not get hype. 

Also thank god for the correction with Avdol's name. If anyone remembers in the English dub they did in like 1990 whatever they called him Abdul. Even the game called him Avdol.

Everything is still manly as hell, and judging from the preview they are going to take their time with this and let the story flush out. Not rushed like last season where they squeezed both Blood Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency into about 20 some odd episodes, or the old OVA where that was hilariously dubbed. This should be on your watch list this season. Seriously how could we live without you Jojo?

With being Slade Wilson he already has a plan. With this news the toll as definitely been taken on Oliver. He is slowly losing control of everything around him including his protege' Roy.

So can we just applaud how well Stephen Amell acting is. I can just feel the world crashing down on him. He has the perfect look of a man trying to keep it all together while everything around him is going terribly wrong.

I also like the inclusion of everyone else in the show. Things are finally starting to tie together. 18 episodes in and it finally feels worth it. Exciting stuff in this series guys. If you haven't started watching, definitely not to late to start. That ending too guys? Come on. Great episode.

Dan - These would by my favorite Pokemon whether it be competitively viable or not.

5. Darmanitan

Darmanitan was one of my favorite 5th gen additions. Simply because Darmanitan is the definition of power. Darmanitan hits everything freakishly hard and it is so satisfying to just hit Flare Blitz and watch this monkey wreck.

4. Quagsire

Quagsire is like... look at him. Quagsire is so content with life. He doesn't need anything but to just be there. Unaware of everything. Hur hur. His design is also so simple yet great.

3. Victini

I seem to like fire Pokemon. Victini should be the new spokemon for the game. This little bugger is all about one thing and that is victory. Look at the ears. They practically form an V. Also this little fella hits like a truck. I love UU.

2. Hawlucha

Did someone say mexican luchador pokemon? It's like they made Hawlucha for me. If you know anything about me and how I pick characters. They are either manly as hell, are the classiest of class, are boxers, or are luchadors. Hawlucha is perfect.

1. Meowth

The shocker! Meowth, seriously? Well I have two facts that will completely stomp anyone's reason for liking a pokemon. First of Meowth gave some real feels during the show. The episode where he learns how to talk. The episode where he falls in love. The episode where he tells how he really feels about trying to catch Pikachu. That cat has more character development than most shows on tv now. The last reason is, when my parents divorced, the only thing I had from my mom was a giant Meowth Plushie. 15 years later, damn I'm old... I still have it. 

Ryan: Welp. Can't live up to Dan's reasons (see: Meowth). Here is my top 5 picks nonetheless!

5. Bulbasaur

The one that started it all for me....literally. The PokeDex no.1 pokemon will forever be my favorite starter pokemon of all time. Plus I feel his personality was the best among Ash's "starter" Pokemon because it started off as a guardian of orphaned Pokemon.

4. Whimsicott

My two favorite typings (Grass and Fairy) meet in this little puffball of cuteness. It looks hecka mischievous and look at that confidence. It embodied speed, annoyance, and complete shenanigans (Prankster anyone?).

3. M-Gardevoir

Oh I loved Gardevoir when she first came out, but when Gen-6 rolled out with Mega-Gardevoir I was in love. If Hawlucha embodied the manliest of men and the classiest of class, then M-Gardevoir embodied elegance and female form. And her shiny...she's pretty much attending your funeral.

2. Gastrodon

This is the most ridiculously cute Pokemon ever. Like how can a slug be this cute!? Competitively speaking, Ground/Water typing with a Storm Drain ability essentially gives it amazing resistances (and a 4x weakness to Grass) making it a great pick. AND IT'S SO CUTE. LIKE IT'S PERMANENTLY FROWNING. Y SO SAD?

1. Dragonite

So I absolutely love the premise of the show. It is definitely interesting enough to warrant a watch. Where does the show title come from? The last of humanity living on a space station takes 100 criminals, mostly teenagers and ships them back to Earth to see if it is habitable. So off they go.

That being said, the characters on the show seem to be the main drag. They are either annoying or ugly. No seriously there is probably only three good looking people on the show. Seriously is this Revolution? That's not a terrible thing, its just if you don't mind looking at ugly people for an hour then by all means. But it's the CW... there are no ugly people on the CW.

Ok no seriously. I feel like there isn't a strong enough lead to get behind. There is no one on the show you really know or would recognize. The 100 seems to revolve around 5 and half people. Let's just say as of right now, who they are don't really matter. It boils down to a great great premise with poor execution. It feels like a high school drama that just happens to take place in a post apocalyptic world.

It's a constant play for affection from each character, and all the while the power struggle that goes on seems not only one sided but completely unbelievable. Why would you side with the person that is stopping the help from coming? Seriously two episodes in, or in their time three days, they had next to nothing to eat. These "kids" cannot take care of themselves. So in the end they come off as immature and annoying.

I'll probably watch one more episode to see if it is truly worth watching, but as of right now it is hanging on a very thin thread. It's also a very big IF.

5. Golurk

Golurk is an absolute power house. This Kaiju killer comes with a staggering base 124 Attack stat, Golurk has no problems punching through walls. It's coverage is pretty good considering its ghost typing.  It gets a considerably nice move pool that compliments it's ability Iron Fist. With punches like Drain, Ice, Shadow, Thunder, Fire, and Dynamic, it's pretty easy to find moves for Golurk. Paired with a STAB earthquake Golurk punches through the likes of Slowbro, Metagross, Amoongus Dusknoir and Cofagragis. He also gets stealth rock...

Gypsy Danger (Golurk) @ Choice Band Ability: Iron Fist EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 Def Adamant Nature - Drain Punch - Ice Punch - Shadow Punch - Earthquake

4. Gallade

Gallade unfortunately didn't get a mega like its counter part Gardevior. What it did get is the ability to use assault vest. Paired with a really good base 115 special defense and some great typing for special attackers, slapping on an assault vest just means it takes special hits like a champ. Gallade also comes with a pretty decent movepool so it can stay in on most things that might take a resisted hit. With moves like Ice Punch, Leaf Blade, and Psycho Cut it can take out dragons, and bulky water types like Slowbro, Swampert and Suicune and even other common walls like Amoongus, Hippowdon and now Donphan. It's only downside is that it lacks physical bulk, but drain punch can sort of remedy that.

Justice (Gallade) (M) @ Assault Vest Ability: Justified EVs: 252 Atk / 56 Spd / 200 HP Adamant Nature - Drain Punch - Ice Punch - Psycho Cut - Leaf Blade

3. Flygon

With the introduction of Fairies into Gen 6, dragons were sure to be on the decline. People thought that Flygon got the worst of it. He was the premier dragon of UU but once mons like Salamence and Haxorus dropped to UU it was hard for Flygon to truly stand out. Flygon does however have a special niche. With access to Defog he makes a great pivot for any team looking to clear out hazards. With levitate it is immune to Earthquake and has great typing in Ground and Dragon, it can take special hits pretty well. Flygon remains as versatile as ever.

G-Dragon (Flygon) (M) @ Leftovers Ability: Levitate EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk Careful Nature - Roost - Earthquake - U-turn - Defog

2. Ludicolo

To think with permanent  rain gone some pokes would lose all effectiveness. Ludicolo doesn't care if there is no rain. Another assault vest pokemon, Ludicolo can take hits like surprisingly well. With a grass and water typing it takes a lot of common special attacks well. This includes a quad resistance to water a common attacking type. While very niche he checks a lot of walls and threats and it becomes a matter of prediction on your part. People do not know what to do in front of a Ludicolo. He can take a V-Create from a Victini uninvested in defense. Not bad if you ask me.

The Mighty Duck (Ludicolo) (M) @ Assault Vest Ability: Own Tempo EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk Mild Nature - Giga Drain - Ice Beam - Surf - Facade

1. Scrafty

Who the fuck is Mac Miller? With a x4 weakness to fairies in a tier where the only real scary fairy is Florges, Scrafty has nothing to really fear. Also paired with an assault vest Scrafty laughs at special attackers. Paired with intimidate, and base 115 in both defense and special defense, Scrafty can come in on almost any kind of threat and scare out its competition. The combo of intimidate to drop physical attackers and an assault vest to take special attacks well. Its just almost to good to pass up.

Mac Miller (Scrafty) (M) @ Assault Vest Ability: Intimidate EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef Adamant Nature - Knock Off - Drain Punch - Ice Punch - Poison Jab

Good luck guys in UU