Reviews Archive for Dan Short


Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Honor Among Thieves doesn’t just succeed in being an excellent adaption of Dungeons & Dragons. It rolls a critical success on being downright fun!

The Legend of Vox Machina

The animated adaption of Critical Role is ultra violent and heavy on profanity. Yet the series is brought to life with majestic visuals, thrilling narratives, and colorful characters that make The Legend of Vox Machina a critical success.

Arcane

The animated series based on League Of Legends boasts a wonderfully emotional narrative, breathtaking visuals that mix CG and hand-drawn animation, and a delightful ensemble cast of characters, making Arcane a legendary show.

Inside Job

A very adult comedy whose fascinating exploration of conspiracy theories being real is merely a cover for chronicling the social life of its megalomaniacal and enduring lead, though at the cost of under-developing other characters.

Star Wars: Visions

The anime anthology series invites audiences to explore a fascinating new approach to the Star Wars mythology, presenting an exciting and unique look at the galaxy far, far away.

Helluva Boss

This is not a family-friendly show, pushing acceptable adult content to a shocking degree, but those willing to brave the fires of Beelzebub may enjoy the independently produced high quality animation, eccentric characters, and nice melodies.

ZooPhobia: Bad Luck Jack

While the characters and story echo Disney Channel programming, the independently produced short contains high quality animation and catchy songs, presenting a wholesome creature that is fun to watch and not fear.

Mulan

The live-action update to the Disney animated classic makes an admirable attempt at providing depth to the title character against strong visuals. But with everything else lacking excitement, it’s not quite “a girl worth fighting for”.

The Owl House

The Owl House tells a nice, fun premise with quirky characters and some really good animation while playing with fantasy conventions in bizarre fashion that’s a hoot.

Hazbin Hotel

Be warned: Hazbin Hotel is not a family-friendly show. Yet the independently produced pilot features high quality animation, wonderful characters, and catchy show-tunes that is worth checking in to.

Abominable

The narrative is very basic, almost to the point of being detrimental. Nevertheless, Abominable is a charming enough film with simple, yet beautiful animation, likable characters, and nice music.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

The story may not be as strong previous Dragons, yet Hidden World offers a compelling narrative, beautiful animation, great cast, and delightful score for a heart-warming conclusion.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

With an excellent diverse cast of characters, outstanding visual design and animation, and an emotionally wonderful narrative, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse just might be a game-changer in animation.

How to Train Your Dragon: Dragonvine

This graphic novel is on the short side and the art a little inconsistent, but the nice storytelling co-written by director Dean DeBlois is enough to whet fans’ appetites ahead of the third film.

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is a pretty good superhero movie and the best DCEU film to date, boosted by Gal Gadot’s performance and director Patty Jenkins’ storytelling.

Beauty and the Beast

While it manages to be good, the live-action adaption of Disney’s animated classic suffers from glaring flaws that make the film a disappointment given the hype and ambitions.

Legend Quest

Endure the rough start and one will find Legend Quest to be an exciting, dramatic adventure filled with scary creatures and fascinating mythologies to explore.

Trolls Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Lacking context due to its early release, one Can’t Stop the Feeling! that the Trolls soundtrack has an identity crisis and could affect the film’s enjoyment.

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV

Kingsglaive boasts the most impressive, photo realistic animation to date. But the narrative doesn’t live up to the storytelling standards of the video game franchise it is based in.

Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War is fun, exciting, and a compelling drama, making it arguably one of best superhero films to date.

The Loud House

The Loud House is a surprisingly nice little series that looks good. But the premise of a boy with ten sisters could end up being a burden if not tinkered with carefully.

The Jungle Book

It may be a remake of the animated classic, but this live-action version of The Jungle Book is a wonderful film that will leave audiences both young and old in awe of the visual feast it presents.

X-Men ’92 Vol. 0: Warzones!

X-Men ’92 is a faithful continuation of the Fox animated series. But its chaotic narrative will leave all readers quite bewildered.

Only Yesterday

After 25 years, the beautiful and dramatic Only Yesterday finally gets a well-deserved English dub and North American release.

World of Tomorrow

A fascinating short film about life that is both simple and complex.

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame: Studio Cast Recording

Though not perfect, this dark and enchanting take on the Disney animated feature is a pleasure to hear.

Dragons: Race To The Edge

Those new to the series may be confused, but Race To The Edge provides fans with quality storytelling and animation that make it DreamWorks’ best animated series.