Bubblegum Crisis (1987-1991) OVA Review and Retrospective - Episode 4: Revenge Road

Revenge Road is the fourth episode of the original Bubblegum Crisis series. It's directed by Katsuhito Akiyama, Hiroaki Gôda, Hiroki Hayashi, Masami Ôbari and Fumihiko Takayama; and written by Toshimichi Suzuki, Katsuhito Akiyama, Shinji Aramaki, Emu Arii, Hideki Kakinuma and Ken'ichi Matsuzaki; with the voices of Yoshiko Sakakibara, Kinuko Ômori, Michie Tomizawa and Akiko Hiramatsu.

A gang of futuristic bikers are causing havoc at night. After they assault and injure a couple, the man wants to have his revenge and asks a tech-mechanic, the one Priss goes to to fix her bike, to have his car modified in order to get some payback. Meanwhile, The Knight Sabers train, eat together and pass the time since GENOM and their boomers have been mostly absent for a while, leaving them basically unemployed. However, when Priss gets attacked by a reckless mysterious vehicle and has an encounter with the hurt couple already mentioned, the girls set out to stop the now unyielding machine racing in the streets.

There's kind of a dry feeling of melancholy present throughout this episode, one that isn't foreign to Bubblegum Crisis considering the events of the previous episodes but sometimes the angst and levels of tragedy are extended and elongated further than before. The ending isn't truly happy but it's not a downer either, so it stays in a comfortable middle ground that remains a bit detached. You do feel for the new characters but they aren't meant to be charismatic or likable, they are more or less there just for the pathos.

The typical eighties jokes and pop culture references are present and the action is as wonderfully animated as ever, this time managing to feature car crashes, engines, detailed machinery and vehicle action that's as close to being perfectly illustrated and animated as possible, so it's not like the fun factor isn't here. 

I do feel like the writers realized that the girls don't really do much in this plot and decided to add an undeniably cool training sequence to have them do some awesome things on screen, even if the stakes are low. Other than that, we also get some nice interactions and good laughs with the gals, adding to our familiarity with the team, even if the episode itself is peripheral to the main storyline.

Overall, it is a good episode that shows how the technological advancements and the unforgiving mentality of this oddly dystopian future affects and harms the innocent.

Wildcat (2025) Movie Review

Wildcat is an American-British co-production, an action crime film directed by James Nunn and written by Dominic Burns starring Kate Beckinsale, Lewis Tan, Rasmus Hardiker, Alice Krige, Bailey Patrick, and Roxy Striar.

Originally titled Lioness, Wildcat is about an ex-black ops leader, Ada (Beckinsale), who reunites with her old partner when her eight-year-old daughter is kidnapped, forcing her to stage a dangerous heist against crime mistress Christina Vine (Alice Krige) in order to hatch a scheme to get her daughter back from the crime lord that has her child.

The film starts off with explosive editing and directing that gets you into the action quickly as a hook. However, this isn't just a cheap trick to grab your attention, there is an energetic quick pace that exists throughout the film, as well as a carefree attitude that makes things light. The hyperactivity of camera work and movement in some sequences break the dull talkiness of a lot of scenes that are in the middle of action set-pieces, ones that are actually quite solid and somewhat impressive with their staging.

Wildcat can be described as more stylish than substantial, with a slightly more playful tone and writing that seems very much self-aware of its condition of being a British action film that has its DNA in Guy Ritchie films but on a budget.

I will say that there's no real center of dramatic gravity to ground it in tone, there's barely any interaction between Ada and her child, so we don't really care for the central conflict. The constant flashbacks only mess things around even if they are important for backstory, and the fragmented chronology with somewhat confusing or simply disjointed or not needed time jumps is a bit jarring. To that you add that the real star of the film, while having her time to shine, doesn't really have the prominence and protagonism she needs, then you start to see the flaws and cracks. Beckinsale's sweet accent kind of makes up for some of the errors though.

The film is a bit more visually lively than usual, with interesting locations and less muted colors than the typical product of its kind. So it has a bit more going for it than what you would usually receive.

Recommended for the action movie buffs who enjoy a fun ride but not much else.

Dark Match (2024) Movie Review

Dark Match is a wrestling satanic horror action film written and directed by Lowell Dean, and starring Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg, Sara Canning, and wrestling star Chris Jericho. The film generated mixed reviews and some scepticism among people who dislike movies that feature WWE stars but eventually it was released to some notoriety in the streaming service Shudder.

In the late eighties, Nicky (Ayisha Issa), known as Miss Behave in the ring and a female wrestler working for a small promotion company named SAW, travels to a weird little village for a private event where dangerous cult members, lead by a former wrestler known as The Prophet, are to attend. Things escalate and the cult members become bloodsthirsty, sacrifices are made hoping to bring the devil to our world and now Nicky, along with a manager who she had a troubled relationship with (Steven Ogg), and other companions, must escape and defeat the devil worshippers.

The film's biggest dealbreaker to me is the fact that it's never really committed to its craziness and potentially delirious storyline and tone, it's all hampered by the fact that everything feels halfway done. I don't know if it's a budget problem but the fight sequences never reach any overblown crescendo or kooky intensity one would expect from the director of films like Wolf Cop, it's all muffled and flavorless.

To add to its imperfections, Miss behave is sidelined for most of runtime since she steps back to let Steven Ogg drive the story for a fair amount of the duration. This is hardly a major flaw as Ogg is very enjoyable to watch but it's all at the expense of the heroine's agency and predominance in the narrative throughline. I really wish it wasn't as timid with its violence and its characters. Someone needed to up the ante and add a deranged energy that could help it.

The retro grindhouse grainy and dirty style with colorful lighting and unclean visuals add a ton of atmosphere and convey the exploitation-like throwback attitude the film wants to portray and be faithful to but it doesn't properly elevate the insanity that a satanic wrestling movie should most likely contain to deliver the goods. No amount of color can save the plain and empty scenarios and sets. Barely any real gore, no sleazy nudity and it hardly rejoices in its filthiness enough to make it stand out in the sea of faux grindhouse flicks out there.

The wrestling ladies and their manic matches are fun and it has a funny ending (that also cops out) but otherwise Dark Match is a highly unremarkable horror/slasher movie that it's probably just a rental or a casual watch if you can stream it for free.

Shadow Force (2025) Movie Review

Shadow Force is a 2025 action thriller film directed by Joe Carnahan starring Kerry Washington, Omar Sy, Mark Strong, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Sala Baker and Natalia Reyes. It was written by Carnahan himself and Leon Chills. It's also the first film to be released by the new Lionsgate Studios.

Kyrah (Kerry Washington) and Isaac (Omar Sy) are two ex-special forces group members, one known as Shadow Force, who live peacefully after deserting since they fell in love and decided to leave that life to raise their child, Ky. Assassins are constantly sent after them by their former director/leader Jack Cinder (Mark Strong), but after an incident during a bank robbery both end up on the run as Cinder closes in on them as he assembles the remaining members of the Shadow Force.

The film mostly treads on known territory and displays a very high amount of cliches and stereotypes that one would expect from such a premise (parents who are agents with a kid who is mostly unaware, comedic sidekicks that don't amount to much, one liners and a lot of exposition regarding the organization they work for) but never actually does much with the concept aside from following the expected plot points and narrative devices that action films of this kind often employ. It's decently shot but a lot of its cinematography boils down to functional uninteresting shots with a cold and realistic color scheme that feels mostly bland and uninspired.

It all comes to life in the expected climactic battle that shows some forceful and intense brawlings and shootouts between the mercenaries and killers involved that actually makes it feel a bit more personal and familiar than one would expect. Every punch, kick and blow can definitely be felt as the director has proven to be very competent when it comes to action sequences both choreography-wise and cinematically-wise, there's even a very interesting game between the senses (sound and image) that it's linked to a character's disability that's actually a bit inventive and helps the film stand out a bit.

For the most part, the family conflicts are contrived and reach their peak way too early while the rest develops in a dehydrated and deflated manner that is bogged down by a slow pace and stale visuals. The main heroine is a bit entertaining but you don't get to know her quite well. In many ways, this is the opposite of One Battle After Another in the sense that these are parents with a troubled past trying to escape it (even with the mother dating the bad guy previously) but having it come back to haunt them, this time mom and dad fought for the bad guys unintentionally. 

Only for action movie buffs but not recommended for anyone else.