There have been numerous animated versions of “Batman”. My favourite is easily “Batman: The Animated Series” but “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” was also very enjoyable. I was also less impressed with the series “The Batman”. “The Batman vs. Dracula” is the film based on “The Batman” cartoon series. Like the show, it has all the right ingredients for a good rendition of the character but just never quite pulls it off.

Batman faces a sinister new threat when vampires start drinking the blood of the citizens of Gotham. It isn’t long before the Dark Knight realises that he is up against Dracula himself. How can Batman possibly compete against this supernatural being?

Batman is okay here but don’t expect to find out anything about the character that you wouldn’t find in countless other “Batman” films and tv shows. Dracula is actually pretty disappointing. What is good is that the film also gives us a few of Batman’s traditional foes. We get both the Joker and the Penguin. They are both relatively enjoyable to watch. I never really cared for the animation style of “The Batman”. I know it’s a stupid complaint but the thing I dislike about it the most is the shortness of the ears on Batman’s costume.

“The Batman vs. Dracula” has some mildly entertaining action sequences but a lot of it is quite underwhelming. The story is fairly bland, the Dracula character could have been a lot better and a lot of the film’s jokes just fall flat. It’s definitely not the worst “Batman” movie out there by any means and if you love “The Batman” series, I think you should check this one out. However, if you’re new to animated “Batman” movies, please do yourself a big favour and hunt down a copy of “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm”.

The “Undisputed” franchise has a strange history. The first film had a theatrical release with big stars such as Wesley Snipes (“Blade”). It was not especially well received but the series has gained popularity with later direct-to-video sequels featuring Scott Adkins (“Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing”, “Ip Man 4: The Finale”). To date, “Undisputed III: Redemption” remains the most popular in the series.

Yuri Boyka (Adkins) joins violent inmates from around the world in a Georgian prison for an illegal fighting competition. He soon discovers that the tournament is being rigged as he will have to face off against fierce opponents while been subjecting to hard labour in-between fights. He also must overcome his weak knee, which makes him more vulnerable than ever.

Adkins is totally believable as the hardened Russian inmate. Boyka is a man that wants to fight because he knows he can be the best. His Russian accent is pretty darn convincing. I was significantly less keen on the American fighter, ‘Turbo’ (Mykel Shannon Jenkins “Double Jeopardy”). Other fighters are from places including North Korea, Brazil and France. The athleticism of all the performers is quite frankly staggering as we see them dish out some serious pain. Adkins is the best here and he demonstrates why he is one of the most impressive action stars of the modern era.

“Undisputed III” reminded me quite a bit of films such as “Bloodsport”. Both films offer a thin plot but thrilling action sequences. This film routinely gets cited by martial arts fans as containing some of the best fight scenes and I can understand why. The fights in “Undisputed III” are among the most brutal that I have ever seen. Almost every move looks like it’s capable of crippling someone. You don’t need to see the earlier films to enjoy this.

“The Amazing Bulk” is a film so bafflingly bad that it practically defies logical explanation. I was expected a low-budget spoof of “The Incredible Hulk” but what I got was a movie so strange that it almost exists in its own realm.

Henry Howard (Jordan Lawson) is a scientist working to make a serum that will give soldiers new incredible abilities. He is frustrated by his lack of progress and faces losing his job so he decides to inject the experimental serum into himself. Now, whenever he gets angry, he turns into a big, purple monster. It sounds simple enough but the movie is littered with odd imagery.

One of the main things that makes this movie so weird is that all the backgrounds are computer generated. Everything from rooms in buildings to parks outside to the cars that characters sit in are all digital. The actors look unbelievably stupid as you see them jog on the spot. It must have been hard to always be working with a green screen. That being said, the acting is still terrible. There’s also some weird C.G.I. characters such as a monkey, a dog in a superhero outfit and a cowboy that seem to serve no purpose. The purple monster looks like Barney the Dinosaur wearing Tor Johnson (“Plan 9 From Outer Space”).

“The Amazing Bulk” is a totally surreal experience. There’s virtually no rhyme or reason to a lot of it. The special effects are so bad that the ones in “Who Killed Captain Alex?” looked better and that movie was made by a bunch of poor Ugandan villagers. If this movie had been made by a bunch of students for a class project, it would still have been lame but this is a real movie that you can really buy. “The Amazing Bulk” is like a cringeworthy sketch you would see on the internet but it’s feature-length.

Based on the popular “Family Guy” cartoon show, “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story” perfectly captures everything good and bad about the series. It’s definitely got a few funny moments but the writing is just so lazy and the animation is often lifeless. It’s never been as memorable as “The Simpsons” nor as biting as “South Park”.

A near-death experience appears to have a strong impact on the Stewie Griffin. He decides to abandon his wicked ways to avoid eternal punishment but his new behaviour does not last long. He then sees a man that looks like an adult version of himself on television and goes in search of this man. He believes this must be his biological father but discovers the man is actually a future version of himself.

I never really cared much for the characters from “Family Guy”. Here, Stewie is the main focus and that’s okay as he’s certainly not the weakest character on the show. He’s a baby but he’s also an evil genius that seems like he’s destined to be a villain in a “James Bond” movie. The other family members include the moronic father, Peter. I find most of the voice acting in “Family Guy” rather nauseating. The animation on the characters looks no better than the series.

I really dislike the writing style of “Family Guy” as they constantly cut to little skits. Honestly, it’s sometimes mere seconds between skits in this movie. The whole plot of the film is rather weak and it feels like a few episodes awkwardly stitched together. If you are a big “Family Guy” fan then I’m sure you’ll enjoy it but for everybody else, this is going to be underwhelming. It’s a shame because there are a few really funny moments here and there but the formula of the comedy becomes so predictable.

“We Wish You A Turtle Christmas” is a hilariously corny “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” Christmas special. It’s a musical with some painfully bad songs but it’s mercifully short. The whole thing only lasts twenty minutes.

In “We Wish You A Turtle Christmas”, the Ninja Turtles are getting ready for the festivities when they realise that they haven’t bought a gift for their mentor, Master Splinter. They decide to head out on Christmas Eve to get him a present. The whole time, they sing a variety of different songs ranging from opera to rap and get ready for the worst rendition of “The 12 Days Of Christmas” ever.

The outfits on the Ninja Turtles are even worse than the ones they had in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III”. In the cartoon shows and the films, you could always tell them apart because of their different personalities but here, they all act exactly the same as one another. Their singing is absolutely awful. Splinter looks terrible too. There’s no Shredder or Krang to fight. The only victim of any crime is you for having to endure the bad singing. There are some kids that appear in it but they don’t speak, they just join in with the singing.

“We Wish You A Turtle Christmas” will no doubt make you laugh at just how cringeworthy it is. It’s thankfully quite short so it’s not as unbearable as “Teenage Mutant Ninja III”. As far as Christmas specials go, this is far more tolerable than “Star Wars: The Holiday Special”. The singing here is the main focus and the songs are as annoying as can be. If you are desperate to see some guys in seriously unconvincing Ninja Turtles costumes rapping about pizza then “We Wish You A Turtle Christmas” will deliver. If you are a sane individual, you will look elsewhere for your entertainment.

Of all the “Looney Tunes” shorts, arguably the greatest is “What’s Opera, Doc?”. Directed by Chuck Jones, it’s another short that sees Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) pursued by Elmer Fudd but this one has a very unique look and style. As its title implies, this an operatic piece and it knows how to get an emotional response from us.

Elmer Fudd as Siegfried pursues the rascally rabbit that is Bugs Bunny in this Bavarian opera spoof. After being outsmarted and humiliated at every turn, Elmer Fudd will go all out to destroy his nemesis. This all culminates in a truly unforgettable ending.

Bugs Bunny is of course one of the greatest animated characters of all-time. Mel Blanc is on top form with the voice acting. He actually voices Elmer Fudd when he screams near the end. Elmer Fudd is absolutely hilarious. The costume he wears in this one has become almost as famous as his usual hunting attire. Their interactions are always a delight to watch but this one allows Fudd to show his true colours during the ending. We see that for all their fighting over the years, they maybe don’t dislike each other as much as one would think.

There are many incredible “Looney Tunes” shorts including “One Froggy Evening”, “Duck Amuck” and “Duck Dodgers In The 24 ½th Century” but this one will always be my favourite. I love the animation, the backgrounds are great, the gags are brilliant and the ending has to be seen. Some of the sequences actually reminded me a lot of parts of Disney’s “Fantasia”. Chuck Jones was a truly talented man and this is another classic from him. If you have somehow managed to miss this one then stop whatever it is you are doing and go out in search for this absolute masterpiece.

“Toy Story Of Terror” is a tv special based on the “Toy Story” franchise. The “Toy Story” films were always delightful so I went into this Halloween special with some fairly high expectations. I was significantly disappointed by what I got.

Woody (Tom Hanks “Saving Private Ryan”, “Big”), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen “Galaxy Quest”) and the other toys go to a roadside motel with Bonnie. When members of the group start disappearing, the rest of the toys must try to find them and ensure that they do not get left behind. I was really hoping for something more linked to Halloween.

Of course, it’s always great to have Hanks, Allen and the rest of the gang back voicing the iconic characters. We also have some of the characters introduced in “Toy Story 3” such as Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton “Licence To Kill”). We also have some new characters including Combat Carl (Carl Weathers “Predator”). I was disappointed that there were no toys based on Dracula or Frankenstein’s Monster. How can you have a “Toy Story” Halloween and special and not include them? Carl Weathers steals the show as Combat Carl; he would be great in a feature-length “Toy Story” outing. The animation on the characters looks as good as in the main films.

I really love the original “Toy Story” and the sequels are fun too so I really hoped that this would be a fun spin-off. It’s not bad but there was so much potential. Why even necessarily have them stuck with the restrictions of the regular “Toy Story” world, why not to do a complete fantasy like the openings of “Toy Story 2” and “Toy Story 3”. Young kids will probably really like it but it’s significantly less enjoyable the movies. Just go and watch the first one again.

“Space Ace” was originally released in the arcades back in the 1980s before making its way onto a ton of home consoles as well as home video formats such as DVD. Some may view it a videogame, others may think of it as more of an interactive movie. As a game, it’s nothing more than a memory test and as a film, everything is just whizzing by before you can even process what you are seeing.

In “Space Ace”, Ace is a heroic man facing danger at literally every turn as he searches for his girlfriend, Kimberly. Ace must save her from the clutches of the evil Borf. Of course, I have no clue why any of this is happening as it’s all so frantic.

You barely get a chance to know any of the characters. They are way too simplistic to be engaging. Normally, I’m not interested in the characters in a videogame as I just want to play but this is clearly trying to be a more cinematic experience and more of an interactive film than a regular game. If you are going to try and be more cinematic, you need characters that are not just barebones archetypes. The animation on the characters looks okay.

The animation was done by Don Bluth (“Titan A.E.”, “Anatasia”), who also directed this film. It looks alright but everything is moving so quickly that I could barely comprehend what I was looking at most of the time. If you make a wrong move, Ace dies a horrible death but everything is too fast for you to get it right the first time so this is just a memory game. This weird hybrid of videogames and movies barely qualifies as either form of entertainment. It occupies a strange realm between the two mediums.

“Robot Chicken: Star Wars” is the first tv special from the “Robot Chicken” sketch series. The show is known for its crude gags involving characters from beloved properties. This special obviously focuses exclusively on “Star Wars”.

Here we have a series of sketches spoofing the “Star Wars” franchise including both the original trilogy as well as the prequels. Prepare to see the characters of “Star Wars” like you’ve never seen them before. Get ready for Admiral Ackbar promoting a breakfast cereal, Emperor Palpatine trying to deal with some construction workers, the body of Darth Maul being cleared away by a caretaker and much more.

This special manages to incorporate a lot of characters from the franchise. Expect to see the big names such as Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. However, we also get some of the lesser known characters such as Boba Fett and Max Rebo so “Star Wars” fans will like that. George Lucas (“Star Wars”) also voices himself in one of the better sketches. My favourite sketch actually involves George W. Bush. The “Robot Chicken” Nerd of course features. However, most of the characters are not actually very funny and that’s a real shame. I am still impressed by the animation with the action figures. It’s a great style that helps set “Robot Chicken” apart from many other animated shows.

“Robot Chicken: Star Wars” definitely has some genuinely funny moments but a lot of the sketches fall flat. Some of them only last mere seconds so you barely get used to what’s going on before it switches to something completely different. The writing is just not good enough to keep you entertained throughout with so many gags failing to impress. Fans of “Star Wars” may get a chuckle here and there but it’s not the spoof you’re looking for. Try “Spaceballs” instead.

After mocking the “Star Wars” films, “Robot Chicken” turns to parodying the DC superheroes. I thought this one was a little better than the “Star Wars” one but I’m still not a big fan of a lot of the humour as we get a rude and crude look at some of the world’s most famous superheroes in action figure form.

In this special, we get a series of sketches involving Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and many other DC superheroes and villains. We have Batman repeatedly getting his back broken by Bane, Aquaman deciding to go rogue after constantly being made fun of, Sinestro shaving his iconic moustache and much more.

We get to see quite a nice variety of DC characters including the main heroes as well as a lot of the villains including Lex Luthor, Solomon Grundy, Brainiac and the Joker. There are also a few sketches that poke fun at some of the more obscure characters such as Mr. Banjo and Firestorm. The “Robot Chicken” Nerd shows up briefly. Most of the characters are not very funny. I really did not care for the Superman gag about the mind erasing kissing power from “Superman II” and felt that there was a lot more they could have done with the Superman character. The stop motion animation on the characters still has a real charm to it.

“Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special” has some really funny moments such as the sequences with Bane but so many of the gags are just lousy. There’s such a reliance on vulgar humour. I would rather see something wittier than really does a great job of spoofing the source material rather than just being gross. It’s a shame as I like the animation style a lot.