Knights of Guinevere (2025) Animated Pilot Review

After the unfair and sudden cancellation of the animated fantasy show The Owl House (2020-2023) showrunner Dana Terrance felt like she was mistreated creatively by Disney and all of their arbitrary rules and control over her project. This led her to partner up with the independent animation studio Glitch and the result was this ineffable cyberpunk mystery titled Knights of Guinevere, created by Dana Terrace, Zach Marcus, and John Bailey Owen (other creative minds of The Owl House)

Slightly based on Arthurian mythology and with fairy tale tropes and imagery, the show presents Park Planet, a floating amusement park-themed location that has an android princess named Guinevere as its mascot. All of this was a creation of a Walt Disney-like man for his daughter Olivia, who kept abusing Guinevere and keeping it on a leash, forcing the android to jump to the water below the planet, only for it to be brought back and fixed. Years later, two exploited workers, Andi (a park engineer) and Frankie (a factory worker and scavenger), find a shabby android model and discover something they shouldn't have.

Beginning with a somewhat beautiful or idyllic too-good-to-be-true world aesthetic, a slightly oppressive atmosphere underneath it it's quickly unveiled, it's stylish glamour then develops into conspiratorial peril as the protagonists uncover certain mysteries and have to fight for their lives in this cyberpunk and highly technological and mechanical semi-dystopian world.

Dana's criticisms of Disney are smartfully extrapolated into unleashed capitalism as the show portrays female (corporeal/human) exploitation by the system and media at the hands of corporations through the body degradation and deterioration of Guinevere, as well as the pollution of the environment that's also drained out of natural resources and littered with waste that's recycled in a never ending cycle. The show's worldbuilding is slowly but surely unfolded through the main characters' perspective and actions as we are introduced to different sections and settings, conveying their function in the world and the story's internal socioeconomic system, some of these are markets, workplaces, royal locations, etc.

This pilot has detailed artwork and well done animation that, while choppy at small fragments, really overcomes the dangers an independent studio could stumble upon. These talented craftspeople are put in charge of a captivating and bewildering  storyline that must be speculated about, that being part of the fun, while never feeling like an obligation as the answers I am sure will be properly revealed with time, as we have seen in The Owl House.

The pilot is a visual delight, featuring gorgeous expressive lighting and overelaborate and overstuffed visual design with attention to detail and highly ostentatious art direction when it comes to environments, characters and backgrounds.

The two contrasting (in design and personality) main characters are charismatic yet none of them truly fall into a stereotypical role that could become tiresome, they display more dimensions than one would think and end up becoming endearing very quickly. A lot of this has to do with the dynamic and lively voice acting, as well as the enriching details the storyboard artists and animators are able to implement through a character's actions or reactions. 

The series seems to have set itself as one of the best and more intriguing pilots of all time, particularly captivating audiences with just one episode. If you are in the mood for a creepy, marvellous and adult-oriented series that relies on plot and an unravelling mystery with astounding artwork and uncomfortable body horror then I can safely say you should check this one out.

Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow (1993) Movie Review

Cyborg 2 is a sequel to the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle Cyborg from 1989 produced by The Cannon Group, Inc. and directed by Albert Pyun. This sequel was directed by Michael Schroeder and produced by Sharad Patel, who took the project to Trimark Pictures. They ended up hiring a very young Angelina Jolie as the female lead, among the cast we also have Elias Koteas, Jack Palance, Billy Drago, Karen Sheperd, Allen Garfield and Renee Griffin.

The year is a dystopian 2074. A new and highly human android assassin prototype, Cash (Angelina), created by a robotics company (an American company engaging in a cybernetics war with a Japanese one) defects. She leaves her life of secret espionage and runs away with her combat instructor. Tracked by bounty hunters, the couple must fight to retain their humanity. 

The story of Cyborg 2 isn't anything special, I think it's unoriginal but potentially decent if the right writer touches it. The actual execution of its concepts isn't anything truly interesting in any way either and the characters themselves are plain and flat. However, if the weak plot doesn't drive you away, you are rewarded with some nice action scenes and a slightly emotional ending, at least one that you don't often see in this type of shoddy action sequel. There is some gold underneath all of its dullness.

I would say it’s saved by the astounding and well constructed art direction and its solidly crafted special effects, featuring detailed and convincing miniature futuristic city landscapes that are very reminiscent of Blade Runner and other classics. They enrich the visual designs and components of the film quite a lot. 

Jolie delivers a decent performance and does her choreographies quite decently as well. Her looks certainly do more heavy lifting than her actual acting but she is still not bad in this. Everyone else is just overdoing it or coming off as stale. 

As an action movie, the actual fights and shootouts are the real reason why you wanna watch this movie and in that sense it's not a bad flick to waste time with. You have some imaginative confrontations, such as the one with Jolie being yanked by a rope by her neck, a rope being held by a female enemy. The most memorable moment in the entire film.

Only recommended for hardcore sci-fi fanatics who enjoy viewing nineties action flicks more than a fleshed out storyline. You could do worse.

Zeiram (1991) & Zeiram 2 (1994) Movie Review

Zeiram is a franchise created by science fiction and action film director, art designer and artist Keita Amemiya. The main character, Iria (played by Yūko Moriyama), a female space bounty hunter, has become wildly popular among Tokusatsu fans and because of the success of the first feature film outing a prequel animated series was released in 1994, months before a sequel.

The first film is about a bounty hunter named Iria who, along with her partner Bob, catches intergalactic criminals. They travel to earth so they can get Zeiram, an extraterrestrial creature that could become a great threat to humanity. Two electricians (Kamiya and Tepei) help Iria fight the alien creature in a virtually constructed alternate dimension called a "Zone", where the battle for the fate of mankind will take place.

The script for the sequel is kind of similar with a few modifications here and there. This time, Zeiram is back in the body of a robotic supersoldier and summons new minions and threats the protagonists have to defeat.

Featuring abundant dynamic action, pretty fantastic practical special effects that bring to life the biomechanical H. G. Giger-like creature designs with the charm and spectacle one can expect from Tokusatsu, both Zeiram films deliver the goods when it comes to enjoyable and fun thrills and top notch VFX for a film of its kind.

There´s also some solid direction going on, with great shots, well done cinematography and fun fight sequences that entertain all throughout. I will say that the actual plots are perhaps a bit too uninvolving and dry, sometimes you feel like there's not enough dramatic force or character progression going on, even feeling borderline repetitive.

Another problem is that the character of Iria isn't the main focus of the movies and she sort of steps back from a lot of the runtime and more character development is given to the human male characters, who aren't awful but are far from interesting. I think there was a lot of wasted potential when it comes to Iria, she has the personality, the looks and the abilities to be a great heroine in media but it's all bogged down because there aren't any character arcs or personal conflicts going on with her. I understand that she is kind of non-human, but you can still do a compelling story with her. Her relationship with the human guys is also quite stale and too distant to work fully, but it's far from bad or incoherent.

I think that when it comes to production design, art design and just pure kineticism these movies have you covered because they involve all of the basic ingredients for a fun time with an action flick, especially if you are particularly fond of delirious japanese sci-fi with outrageous stunts and creature designs.

Check these movies out and have some fun with the cool Iria and Bob.