Reviews

I have to try not to gush too much in this review. I've worked a graveyard shift for the last 10 years, so it seemed really fitting after finishing this that I had taken the day off to watch it at launch with my wife. My theory in my last review turned out true, yet false in a brilliant way. Rather than reckoning with Jake's death, this episode had me reckoning with the entire series. The ultimate adventure had plot points to tie up, but this one is just a total love letter to the entire series.

We watch Adventure Time regularly in my household, and I remember one day before HBOMax, my oldest came in while I was watching the minisodes on one of the DVDs, and was surprised she hadn't seen them (she was getting a little burnt out on our toddler's constant demands of Adventure Time being on) and it gave her a nice second wind. This episode of Distant Lands is a perfect culmination of everything that made the show what it was for the hardcore fanatics. I'm curious as to why they shuffled around the order, putting my favorite character's episode next, but it gives me hope they are going to make more. Who wouldn't love another round of Distant Lands? After Pep Butt, how about an episode about the pups? Graybles Infinity with Shermy and Beth?

Structured like theatrical cinema, not like an extended episode. Like many episodes of the show, however, it's a painfully slow-burn to an explosive (literally, in this case) final act. How they made this in secret is as mind-blowing as getting to see Jesse's story wrapped up 5 years later. What a privilege.

I was skeptical that they would be able to wrap everything up neatly enough to make for a satisfying conclusion in just the span of 45 minutes. But oh boy, did they.

I've been watching this show actively since 2012, when I was already 21. It hooked me immediately with its trippy content, balancing weirdness with genuine human emotions in an often really heavy way, while still retaining honest humor. This aspect was always there, but didn't start firing on all cylinders until season 4 when the plot literally thickens (for the seasons started running up to about four dozen episodes) and the genre officially became "high fantasy epic."

Don't let the "open-ended" crap going around fool you, this finale feels very much like the end. I wasn't as emotional during the actual episode, due to the narrative being more "shock-and-awe" than something just milking the fact that it was the finale. It's open enough for a reunion special down the road, but ultimately (no pun intended) this episode was a conclusion. And a very romantic, disturbing, and overall fitting conclusion it was. I've been emotional all morning. End of an era.

In terms of character development and storytelling, Empire may only be slightly better. The fan backlash is completely understandable, though. Especially if you spent three decades investing in toys and sticking them up on the wall, watching Ewok movies hundreds of times, and sucking dry the galaxy far, far away. I adore some of the parts of the expanded universe, like Shadows of the Empire and Knights of the Old Republic. I get it. I do. Those who played all the games and read all the books, did so because they couldn't get enough. Now, even with a freshly wiped slate for a creative playground, it seems many have finally had enough of the Star Wars. It began in '99 with the fan wrath invoked by the prequels, and will cycle on as generational shifts do. I currently still can't get enough, so keep 'em comin' mister Walt's-head-in-a-jar-jar!

I've had plenty of opportunities to watch this flick over the years, but always shied away, somehow led astray by its near universal panning. I just watched it yesterday, and ended up being so fascinated by what I had just witnessed, that I watched it again this morning. It's surprisingly well put together, with seemingly random elements coming into play later, while also somehow being extremely chaotic at the same time.

That's really what I found this picture to be in the end: a giant contradiction. I think because of mainstream audiences of 2001, this film wasn't ready to rear its ugly head. The dominating piles of scathing reviews are sure to keep it buried, but the cult audience it has now...with the power of intelligence and simple word-of-mouth...is surely bound to grow.

Anybody who's put off by cringe comedy or surreal humor should probably avoid it.