The Pliley Review

  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: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical Rating:   PG Synopsis: After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced. *** After the huge success of the first Moana movie I had high hopes for this one.  Right off the bat this was just as visually stunning and the water effects are just breathtaking. The biggest highlights for me were the introduction of the little sister and the same amazing dynamic between Moana and Maui, Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson. The vibe between them is just amazing to watch and each character feels genuine in their struggles.  I was slightly confused with the fact that the village is shown as still living on the same island as the last movie even though they made a big show of leaving at the end. I believed this indicated that the entire village were wayfinders but this ...

                                                              Season Two Genre:  Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Dinosaur Action Rating:   TV-Y7 Synopsis:   With so many questions still not answered Darius and friends follow the clues to find out what exactly is going on while facing new dangers, finding new friends - and discovering surprising revelations. *** It is so hard to discuss without spoilers but WOW. Another 10 episodes but more than one seemed like filler. Honestly, I was super disappointed with this season. The main cast of voice actors still did an incredible job so I think the writers dropped the ball on this one.  It was already precarious with the 1st season as there were already theories with alternative agendas and villains behind the villains. So going into se...

                                                    Season One Genre:  Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Dinosaur Action Rating:   TV-Y7 Synopsis:   Years after escaping the dangers of Isla Nublar, Darius and friends are living among dinosaurs again - all while processing a devastating loss.  *** I love Camp Creatous so I was excited to know what happened to the Nublar 6. This was not what I had in mind and I am not sure how I feel about it.  There are a total of 10 Episodes each running around 24 minutes each. I found this to be a good balance, yet with more detailed storytelling it could have been extended but I see they wanted to keep the same pace.  Each of the characters brought new life to their roles showing the maturity of the years that have passed since we last saw them. I was disappointed that th...

  Genre: Animation, Science Fiction Rating:  PG  Synopsis:  After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island's animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose. *** If you watched the trailer then you know most of what the movie entails, however, I promise it is way more than what you think.  Seeing the first trailer for this movie I thought it gave off Iron Giant and Wall-E types and I was not entirely far off.  Though I was hesitant to watch this one at first, The Wild Robot was a good story overall. Roz's journey felt very natural and did not come across as exaggerated, more than a robot in the wild would be. There are some very funny moments, mixed in with some very emotional ones.  There is cheer out loud moments and others that make you gasp.  Watching everything unfold from Roz's perspective was absolutely the best direction for this movie and th...

Genre:  Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Fantasy, Family Rating:  PG Synopsis:  When Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll and he has burned through eight of his nine lives, he launches an epic journey to restore them by finding the mythical Last Wish. Honestly, I am seriously shaken to my core by this movie. I love the Shrek movies and when I heard they were making another Puss in Boots I was not expecting much. The first movie was great, about a 7.5, but I wasn't rushing out to watch this one.  I was so wrong to wait. This movie has everything. Action, romance, fantasy, a great storyline, a terrifying villain, and an amazing twist. Once I finished watching it, my son and I had to watch it a second time.  I honestly could write a crazy long post just gushing about how amazing the villain of this movie is. Wagner Moura is a name I will most definitely be on the lookout for. His portrayal was just terrifying and awesome all at the...

  Genre: Action, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Science Fiction Rating:  PG 13 Synopsis:  When Superman and the rest of the Justice League are kidnapped, Krypto the Super-Dog must convince a rag-tag shelter pack - Ace the hound, PB the potbellied pig, Merton the turtle, and Chip the squirrel - to master their own newfound powers and help him rescue the superheroes. I went into this movie not expecting much really and I was greatly surprised. Even with the rating as I thought it would be PG for little kids. There are t wo after-credit scenes for those interested. The movie started off like most Superman-type movies do and honestly I wasn't mad about it. The main character of Krypto is just freaking adorable and his growth throughout the movie is heartwarming. The others were also amazing and played up to their respective animals well. Though admittedly a lot of the jokes were shown in the trailer.  The overall plotline and story made sense and the execution was p...

Genre: Family, Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Rating:  PG 13 Synopsis:  A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them, with the backup of his followers, the Minions. Let me be clear that I'm a huge Despicable Me fan, yet the minion movies are hit or miss for me. Considering the premise for this one I had high hopes.  The opening scene was awesome and the following credits were freaking hilarious. Little Gru is adorable and it was so nice to see Bob, Stewart, and Kevin again. The introduction of another specific minion was unnecessary and honestly in my opinion didn't help the movie.  Since most of us have seen the original movie we know some of what happens already, yet I was admittedly intrigued when I saw the trailer.  The plot was basic and even for a children's movie got a little eye-rolling towards the end. To remain spoiler free I won't say more on the end, but it really was for m...

  Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure, Drama, Family, Science Fiction Rating:  PG Synopsis:  Legendary space ranger Buzz Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure alongside ambitious recruits Izzy, Mo, Darby, and his robot companion, Sox. As this motley crew tackles their toughest mission yet, they must learn to work together as a team to escape the evil Zurg and his dutiful robot army that is never far behind. Interesting premise for the movie, as the movie Andy saw before his birthday party and his toy hero setting the stage for the original Toy Story. I'm not sure if it's accurate but it's easy to ignore as the story takes over.  Great writing, not too bad on the storyline. Being a kid's movie this one was pretty predictable and there was a section early on that seemed to be dragged out a little. It was really distracting that Tim Allen was not the voice of Buzz, though to Chris Evans's credit he did a great job with the character's mannerisms and attit...

Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure, Family, Science Fiction Rating: TV PG Synopsis: Teens attending an adventure camp on the opposite side of Isla Nublar must band together to survive when dinosaurs wreak havoc on the island. Previous seasons do need to be watched to understand the relationships between the group and what they've been through so far.  If you've seen the Jurassic World movies, including the most recent it will add some missing details but it's not necessary to watch them before.  I would recommend watching the Jurassic World Dominion movie before the last episode so that some revelations during the show will make sense and will avoid spoilers if you haven't seen the movie.  Season 5 is the last season so it had high expectations to finish with a bang and wrap up any loose ends. With a total of  12 episodes, this time around I did think it was the perfect amount, with the exception of Episode 5 which I thought was pretty much a filler.  Worse: ...