TheRetroCritic

After the success of the last two Kung Fu Panda movies, a third instalment was inevitable and the first two being as good as they were, the pressure was on for Dreamworks to not mess things up with a soulless cash-in. The good news is that Kung Fu Panda 3 is definitely not that and is actually a very decent, worthy second sequel. This time, Po (Jack Black) is tasked by Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) to teach his team mates Kung Fu but, of course, that soon backfires. Meanwhile, evil yak Kai (J.K. Simmons) comes back from the spirit world with the goal of taking the "Chi" from every Kung Fu master in the land. He goes on a rampage just as Po's long lost father  Li Shan (Bryan Cranston) shows up to take Po back to the panda village and show him the ways of the pandas. Both plots eventually meet and, once again, Po will have to learn a bunch of valuable lessons to defeat the villain and become the master he was destined to become. It's a busy sequel and, in lesse

Review of the original Ghostbusters .

Who said the iconic "I'm Batman" line the best? The debate continues... For the original video: click here .

I talk about the original Ghostbusters after checking out the re-release. Boo!

I talk at length about sequel  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows . Turtle power!

I n this 68th episode of  The Big Rewind , we review  X-Men Apocalypse ,  talk about  Doc Savage ,  X-Men  and  Nick Fury: Agent Of SHIELD . CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE Email us here if you have any questions, requests or contributions:  bigrewindpodcast@gmail.com Or simply comment below :) Oh and you can also find us on  iTunes ,  Stitcher ,  Soundcloud  and  Player FM  where you can subscribe to the podcast and download every episode thusfar! @TheRetroCritic #TheBigRewind #SuperheroMonth retrocriticblog.blogspot.com thebigrewind.blogspot.com youtube.com/TheRetroCritic youtube.com/Cablogula

Critics may not have quite embraced the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie reboot but it nevertheless had enough Turtle Power to guarantee this sequel which sees our heroes in a half shell take on more larger-than-life baddies. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows makes a genuine attempt to bring to life familiar characters from the comics and cartoons, which is very refreshing. By playing the classic theme song during the end credits and introducing the likes of Bebop & Rocksteady, Krang, Casey Jones and Baxter Stockman, this movie certainly earns some big fan points. Some of these characters had never made it to the big screen so there's definitely something to be said about finally doing that for those nostalgic about the source material. If only the Transformers movies cared this much. The plot of this film sees Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett) influence Shredder, who has escaped from prison, to open a portal through which the Technodrome could come

After a sequel to The Punisher  could not get off the ground, studios finally decided to reboot the Marvel franchise with Punisher: War Zone . Ray Stevenson would replace Thomas Jane as the iconic anti-hero. While the 2004 film was a mild success at the box-office, it wasn't exactly the definitive Punisher movie as it lacked a certain edge and emphasis on action, something War Zone willingly delivers. Pushing the violence and gore up to 11, this reboot really tried to outclass both prior movies in terms of sheer brutality and, indeed, that mission was quickly accomplished. This Punisher is not for the faint of heart and critics back in 2008 were probably not expecting such a big difference in tone although anyone who knows the character and the comics knows he usually reduces bad guys to mush. The film sees Frank Castle lose a friend during a shoot-out with mobsters. He then takes out the leader by crushing him in a spinning pile of glass bottles but he somehow survives and pl

I talk a bit about Disney's new live-action sequel Alice Through The Looking Glass .

Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm was the only film based on Batman: The Animated Series to be shown in theatres and, despite receiving critical appraise back in 1993, its rushed release meant it was a flop. It would eventually gain a cult following on home video, though. The film sees Batman (Kevin Conroy, as ever) encounter a mysterious new vigilante called The Phantasm who has been settling scores with various mobsters around Gotham City. It's also something of a prequel as we learn more about how Bruce Wayne became Batman, his relationship with old flame Andrea Beaumont (voiced by Dana Delany) and The Joker's (Mark Hamill) involvement in The Phantasm's revenge mission. This is a tense, melodramatic, layered Batman story every bit as dark and stylish as the best episodes of The Animated Series. The look of Gotham keeps that retro, Tim Burton-esque feel and the whole thing is like a 1940's film noir romance with lots of action and a fascinating mystery thrown in.