Josh's Media Reviews

Sunday, 21 June 2026

Hunchback of Norte Dame Review Celebrating 30 Years of this film

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Review

To celebrate 30 years of this classic Disney film from the Renaissance, here is my review of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Based on Victor Hugo's novel the Hunchback of Norte Dame it's about a man with kyphosis named Quasimodo voiced by Tom Hulce, a kind hearted man who wants to see the world, have friends, and live in the real world, but his cartaker Count Frollo forbidens him and tells him the world would treated him horribly because of his deformed back as he would be a monster in their eyes.

He lives in Notre Dame in Paris, rings the bells, and has gargoyle friends Victor, Hugo, and Laverne. Voiced by Charles Kimbrough, Jason Alexander, and Mary Wickes.

Also, Hugo is in love with Esmerelda’s goat, Djali, for some reason.

Fun fact: these three are named after Victor Hugo and his wife. In the film, he talks to them, and a lot of people say they should have just been in his head, and they shouldn't have actually helped Quasimodo during the final battle, but it's a Disney film. Now the gargoyles encourage Quasimodo to leave Notre Dame, but Count Frollo won't allow it.

Now, Frollo is one of the best Disney villains, if you look at my top Disney Villains. He adopted Quasimodo after he killed his parents and was advised by the archbishop to raise him as his own. However, Frollo tries to hide him and is not a good father to him. He is a judge who believes that he is doing god's work by killing the gyspys and burning innocent people. Frollo was one of the darkest Disney villains, showing no remorse and having a lust for Esmerelda. The great Tony Jay also voiced him because the song "Hellfire" was epic and evil to the core.

Now, in the film, we meet Phoebus, voiced by Kevin Kline—a knight who Frollo hires to take out the gyspys and keep order. However, Phoebus is a noble knight and would never do that. Phoebus was one of the coolest characters in the film. He showed that even though he fights for law and order, he won't kill innocent people, and he knows the difference between right and wrong. He is also in love with Esmeralda, and he becomes a brother to Quasimoto.

We also meet Esmeralda, voiced by Demi Moore, a beautiful Romani woman who is trying to end the hate her people face and speaks out against the injustices inflicted by Frollo. She also had a pet goat named Djali, whom Hugo is in love with it.

Fun Fact: Esmeralda was actually named a Disney princess, but after the film didn't do well at the box office, they unmade her a Disney princess. When she meets Quasimodo, she teaches him that the world is not as cruel as Frollo makes it seem. Unlike in the original book, she doesn't die, nor does Quasimodo. Quasimodo falls in love with her, but he's not sure she has those feelings for him, since she cares about him and treats him like anyone else.

Now Quasimodo wants to go to Topsy Turvy, a fun event Frollo hates, but he decides to go, being encouraged by his gargoyle friends. He goes to Topsy Turvy and meets Esmerelda.

When she meets him, she's friendly and thinks he's wearing a mask, but she doesn't know yet.

However, the first time Quasi met someone who didn't judge him by his hunchback. It was love at first sight for him, but we know they don't end up together. However, if you watched Hunchback of Notre Dame 2, we all know Quasi finds love with someone else.

During the festival, she dances, and Frollo, as you know, develops a lust for her even though he can't because she's a gyspy but we later hear that awesome hellfire song.

Now, what made Hunchback one of Disney's darkest films wasn't the hellfire song, but when Quasi is being humiliated and beaten. To see a main character of a Disney film being abused and treated like crap is something that would make us all sad for them, like when Cinderella's stepsisters ripped her dress.

This scene is so cruel to him. I wonder why Esmerdila stops this, and we get this scene.

We all know the theme of Hunchback is not to judge someone by what they look like, but by their actions.

Later, Quasi befriends Esmberllda and develops feelings for her, although she can’t return those feelings. She loves him like a brother and becomes friends with Phoebus. Later, Quasi and Phoebus see what type of man Frollo is, and both go against him. One of the most incredible scenes is when they plan to burn Esmerelda. Quasi, who has given up despite Victor, Hugo, and Laverine encouraging him to save her. When he sees her life endangered, we get this epic scene.

This was epic, and we all quote this line.

The epic battle in the end was great, and I love Phoebus's speech to the people of Paris about Frollo.

Now in the end of the film Quasi and his friends defeat Frollo and Frollo's death is actually scary.

I remember seeing this scene; it scared me, but if you think about it, Quasi does imagine the gargoyles as real. So maybe the Gargoyles were always real, and this gargoyle is sending Frollo to hell for his horrible crimes.

The film ends with Phoebus and Esmerelda kissing and confessing their love. Quasi accepts it as he loves both of them and wants them to be happy.

As well, Quasi finally gets accepted and treated with respect and is a hero for saving the gyspys and the people of Paris from Frollo’s tyranny.

It's a heartwarming ending, unlike the book, where Quasi dies alongside Esmeralda. Their skeletons are found, and his bones turn to dust. This is a lot better ending. Overall, I love this film because I have a great time with it. It has some funny moments, some very dark moments, and some of the musical numbers like The Bells of Notre Dame, which, if you go to the real Notre Dame, you are going to sing that song I did when I saw it once, Out There, God Help the Outcasts, Topsy Turvy, and, of course, Hellfire. Also, the cast did a great job voicing their characters, and overall, this is a fun movie.

I give Hunchback of Notre Dame a 7 out of 10.

Fun Fact: Belle, Pumbaa, and the magic carpent make cameo appearances in the film.

Thursday, 18 June 2026

Batman Forever Review

Batman Forever was a film I used to watch a lot as a kid, and when I was a kid, I loved it, but as an adult, I see why Batman fans both love and hate this movie. Batman Forever is the third Batman film of the 90s, but Tim Burton left after complaints from parents about the movie being too dark, and McDonald's couldn't sell toys because of it.

That line was the moment fans realize they are going more family friendly, toy promoting, fast food promoting Batman film.

So Tim left, and Joel Shculmucer took over as director, and some fans were actually cool with it since he did make Lost Boys. Even though looking at it now, Sam Raimi would have been a better choice because I feel like he would have made it more family-friendly, he would have done it like the Batman animated series. Joel, on the other hand, made it more like the 1960s Batman.

When the film came out, many fans didn't like what they saw, especially the Bat nipples, which everyone, even Val Kilmer, agreed were stupid and unnecessary. Joel Schumacher defended them till the end of his days and told everyone to get out more.

The statues in Gotham City are also strange. It is odd that, in the first two films, Gotham is a regular city, but in this film it's more like Las Vegas with giant statues. I love how the Batman Lego movie made fun of the nipples on the Bat suit, calling it a weird phase.

The film explores more of Batman's past, and he must face off against Two-Face and later the Riddler. Val Kilmer takes over as Batman after Michael Keaton left because he did not like what Joel wanted to do, after reading the script. Fun Fact: Michael and Joel wanted to make a Batman Year One film, but Joel said the studio wanted a sequel, not a prequel. Val Kilmer did a good job as Batman, but I heard he had problems with the Bat suit, especially the nipples, and George Clooney could relate to that, too. He also admitted that he didn't read the script first when he got cast; he just did it because he was a huge fan. In another life, he got to play a Batman that's more serious and wore a better suit than this. I understand why he dropped out of Batman and Robin and went on to do The Saint, which was better by comparison.

One of the biggest scene stealers was the Riddler, played by Jim Carrey, and he was more of the star of the show. He was funny as the Riddler, and most of his lines are more memorable than Batman's. The Riddler worked for Bruce Wayne and wanted to create a device to read brain patterns and enter people's minds.

It is weird, and even Bruce said it raises too many questions. Now of course Riddler doesn't take this well and he goes crazy and kills his boss, he somehow makes it look like a suicide, and Commissioner Gordon just agrees it was a suicide. They should have investigated it more because that makes no sense. Like I mean come on if this were Nolan's Jim Gordon he would have question Riddler on why he was leaving because Riddler put on an act that he loved his boss like a father.

Two-Face, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is less tragic here and more of a Joker-type villain. Two-Face is supposed to be tragic: he was trying to help Gotham, but ended up corrupted and became a villain. This movie butchered that. Two-Face is better suited as a serious villain than a goofy villain and if they made him serious it would have been a lot better.

Thank god The Dark Knight did it better, because Aaron's Two-Face is way better and same with Matt Reeves’s take on Riddler in The Batman film. Both villains got a major update.

Riddler and Two-Face team up and rob banks to fund Riddler's work, and the device is called the box, but it's a cone. There are some funny moments with the two of them and the scene were Two Face attacks Riddler's party was actually really funny. Also Alfred and Jim Gordon were played by the same actors and they do a good job.

Dick Grayson, aka Robin, makes his big screen debut, which Burton originally planned to do in Batman Returns, and he was played by Marlon Wayans there, but like Two-Face, they recast. Chris O'Donnell plays Robin, and he did a good job, but looking back, he was 24 years old playing a teenager, and it feels weird. If they had cast Elijah Wood or one of the actors from Sandlot, it would make more sense. Robin's origin is still the same, except he had a brother, and there is no family connection with Haley Circus, and Two-Face killed his family. When Dick finds out Bruce is Batman he takes the Batmoblie for a joy ride and I do like the scene where Bruce tells Dick that if he kills Two-Face, he will be no better, and his whole life will be revenge. That was a good scene because it actually teaches Robin that getting revenge will never make the pain go away. In the end, Robin doesn’t kill Two-Face, but Two-Face does end up dead at the end of the film.

We meet Dr. Chase Meirdan, played by Nicole Kidman. Dr. Chase is in love with Batman and wants to be with him, but she also has feelings for Bruce. That would lead to Bruce giving up being Batman to be with her, which has been done before, you know, the villains. Still, I liked Chase; she was an interesting character to have in the film, and they later made her canon in the comics.

I will give this film credit for exploring Bruce's origin and his path to becoming Batman. That was actually well done, showing his parents' death affected him also when Two-Face and Riddler attacked Bruce's mansion. I'm thinking, yeah, comic-book Batman would fight those guys off as Bruce Wayne; he wouldn't run away. Eventually, Bruce becomes Batman again and learns who the Riddler was. Dick becomes Robin and partners with Batman to save Dr. Chase and Gotham; there is even a deleted scene with Bruce in the Bat Cave, and it's really good. We get some fun action scenes with them, along with this funny meme.

There are a lot of plot holes and things that don't make sense in the film but despite that it's a fun movie to watch. The climax is kind of cheesy: Riddler has all those brain patterns in a giant cone, and Batman sets a target system, even though it is right there in front of him. Batman defeats the Riddler and Two-Face, saves Robin and Chase, and Chase promises to keep Batman's secret, and then we get the Dynamic Duo running.

We all know what this led to, and Joel apologized to Batman fans for Batman and Robin and said he wanted to make it up to them and make a darker film, which he had planned to, but it never happened. Instead we Nolan gave us a proper dark and gritty Batman film and was for the best.

Still, there were some funny moments in the film, and I love that song Kiss by a Rose. It feels weird to have that song in a Batman movie, but it actually does work. That song just works no matter what in any superhero film. Batman Forever is one of the nostalgia films from the 90s that was fun to watch, but nowadays, when you rewatch, you can have a fun time with how stupid it is, or look at it and say thank god for Christopher Nolan and Matt Reeves, because fans prefer a Dark Knight over 1960s Batman.

I give Batman Forever a 5 out of 10, and I would rather watch this again than Batman and Robin.

So many fans now want the Schumacher cut of Batman Forever, I'd be down to see it. After Joel died, WB and DC announced that his Batman films are no longer canon to Burton's. That's why they release the Batman 89 comics as their way of retconning his films. There are some fans who didn't like that as they felt it was disrespectful to Joel’s work and still consider it canon, but some fans are for it because, you know, they didn't like what Joel did, as he is the reason the Batman franchise died down until Chris Nolan saved it.

Sunday, 14 June 2026

My DCU Batman Rogues Fan Cast

My DCU Batman Rouges Gallery Fan Cast.

Here is my fan cast for the DCU Brave and the Bold Batman villains for projects.

So here are my casting choices for Batman villains of the DCU.

We are getting Clayface this fall so we already got that character cast. Even though I find it weird were getting Clayface before Brave and the Bold but hey as Gunn said once the script is ready they make the film.

Jamie Campbell Bower as The Joker