The Pliley Review

  Genre:  Violence, self-harm, nudity, suicide, language, smoking Rating:   TV-14 Synopsis:   Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew explore a fantastical world of endless oceans and exotic islands in search of the world's ultimate treasure to become the next Pirate King. *** Before watching this series I had never heard of One Piece or its crew of crazy characters so I could not say how it differs from the anime.  In a way I am glad I had nothing to compare it to as I loved it. You can definitely tell from the outlandish nature of the characters, the oversized weapons and the action sequences that it was anime inspired but I feel it only added some whismy to a show that could have just been very bleak and dark in nature.  I really liked how each episode showed the backstory for each of the crew members and how they are introduced to Luffy and his quest. Each member of the cast, Taz Skylar as Sanji, Mackenyu as Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Gibson as Us...

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Fantasy Epic, Adventure Epic Rating:   PG Synopsis:  A young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again. *** I was not overwhelmed by the trailer of this movie, but thought I would give it a try.  First impressions of the movie felt very much like Nim’s Island. Single parent on an island, raising a child and something happens to the adult causing the child to have an adventure in the process.  With the rating it did become somewhat predictable to adults, however I believe that kids up to 14 may love this show. I think that adults should try to embrace the imagination of this as I know that most will have forgotten that feeling.  The cast did a great job with their respective characters but special shout out has to go to Marlow Barkley as Nemo and...

  Genre: Action, Sci-fi Rating:   PG Synopsis: The untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but who once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever. *** Any fan of the Transformers can guess where this story is headed, but is worth watching? I do want to give props to the cast as they did put their talents to good use and expressed the emotions of each character perfectly as they dealt with each situation that came up.  The animation was visually stunning and I appreciated the details that had some that only avid fans would recognize. Also hearing about the backstory of the transformers, and planet and some of its history was interesting to learn, while each robot design was beautiful in its own way.  Overall the movie was interesting, yet it was predictable on some key points that I do not think were supposed to be, and had story based moments that made no sense towards the end. It is hard to...

  Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller Rating:   TV-MA Synopsis: After a global pandemic destroys civilization, a hardened survivor takes charge of a 14-year-old girl who may be humanity's last hope. *** I will go on record immediately that I love this game and have played it through many times over the years. So when I heard about the TV show I was very excited.  I will admit that at first I was unsure about some of the casting choices, however it was clear very early on that each person played their parts beautifully. Both Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal did an amazing job in the lead roles. Gabriel Luna also played a great Tommy. Yet my heart could not stop the happiness when I saw the video game voice actors, Merle Dandridge as the same character  M arlene, Jeffrey Pierce the original Tommy as  Perry. And of course, the amazing  Ashley Johnson, the original Ellie, playing a new character of Anna and last but definately not least, the...

  Genre:  Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Dinosaur Action Rating:   TV-Y7 Synopsis:   The Nublar Five finds themselves in Italy, near the border, after a plane crash involving a cargo dinosaur and a familiar face, while coming to terms with Brooklyn's actions.  *** After the end of season 2 I was not looking forward to this season, but I am so glad I gave it a chance. The voice actors did a great job at continuing their growth and embodying their characters very well. Dealing with the aftermath of season 2 there is a lot of talking and as my hubby pointed out, a lot of teen angst, even though I'm pretty sure the characters are supposed to be in their early twenties. I did defend them on this front as the situations they were dealing with would throw off people much older. Just keep in mind a lot of talking. With all the storylines and talking, this does leave room for a few dinosaurs but not enough in my opinion. Though I did appreciate another connection to the...

  Genre: Sci-fi, Adventure Rating:   PG-13 Synopsis: After a war between humans and machines, robots lost their freedom, people lost themselves in tech, and Michelle lost everyone she loved - or did she? *** Hearing about this movie I was very intrigued to see where it would go. The answer all over the place.  Right off the bat, the movie is visually beautiful and the fight sequences between everyone is just amazing.  Props to human characters played by Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Stanley Tucci and Giancarlo Esposito. Each one brought their character to life in a very real way and performed perfectly against so much CGI. And while the characters were likeable, well the ones you were supposed to like, and you were cheering for the good guys, they could not help the writing or the storyline from crashing out in the final act. Without spoilers it is hard to discuss the storyline in more detail, but I will say that the storyline was very strange and t...