Maybe the best season opener so far for 2008. It really had all the things I like about the show, and served as a great "coda" for the series.
My favorite character, by far, is Casey. He had some awesome moments in this episode. I like his fondness for Chuck, and the fact its not overdone. I also love that we will never know if Casey would have actually followed his orders and killed Chuck. Also? Love Casey's apartment with its secret spy stuff.
The only thing I don't like about the show is the Buy More silliness (especially when it doesn't involve Chuck himself). The cage match battle wasn't really funny, and Morgan continues to grate. The inclusion of the Buy More staff in the opening credits has me fearful. I was hoping for LESS of that element, certainly not MORE.
But all the stuff with his sister and Captain Awesome> awesome. That stuff really works for the show. I love Chuck's relationship with his sister. It's 100x more interesting than Morgan. And I love his interplay with Awesome. I hope they live together for the rest of the season.
Oh, and Chuck's first date with Sarah was very cute.
Showing posts with label season premiere. Show all posts
Showing posts with label season premiere. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
HEROES: Third Season Premiere
I'm still watching, but..... yeah.....
There's an EW review that points out many of my own thoughts....
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20228188,00.html
Here's just one quote:
"All too often, the characters behave not as they should, but as the plot needs them to"
That just about says it all... why didnt Peter time dump a day before Nathan's speech and just try to talk him out of it? Why does HRG guy leave classified level5 files on the kitchen counter?
and Hiro with his destiny and quest (back to my nit that Hiro is sometimes borderline retarded)-- why not start some super-power research center? Why would Hiro want to start another quest after all the death, hurt and pain he's seen? Did he already forget about his dead waitress? Why would Hiro's father grant Hiro access to a file he didn't want him to see? (maybe you're saying, "Hiro's father knew Hiro wouldn't obey that"... well, if so, why not just be direct about it? Why leave it to chance that Hiro just might obey the warning?
EW says it better than I:
"''I don't want to be a sentinel. I want to be a hero,'' says Hiro Nakamura, a man who has endured much — the deaths of family members, the loss of his first true love, the precipice of Armageddon — and should know better. That's what experience does: It teaches us. Instead, with his late father's company at his beck and call, and the world at his fingertips, he's pouting like a bored rich kid with a dead DS. Our greatest heroes of fiction are that great because they never want to be heroes. They don't want glory; glory is forced upon them. They rise to a challenge, not recklessly wobble about looking for one. And when their quest is done, they'd be pleased as punch to return to a normal life. All they want is a normal life. There's a fine line between looking for a destiny and coming off like a petulant lad with ADD.
And, speaking of knowing better, if Hiro's dad didn't want what was in the safe to be molested, he never should've told Hiro about it. Or left the access button on his desk. Or made the combination Hiro's fingerprint. Or, more to the point, put the most important thing in the world in that safe. Kaito Nakamura was a smart cat who shouldn't have been prone to doing dumb things. (And why are fathers in this show incapable of keeping their goodies hidden? Kaito leaves his Ragnarok formula in the wall safe, and Noah Bennett leaves the files on the worst superpowered criminals in the world...in a cardboard box in the kitchen. Gadzooks.)"
Why would Mohinder inject himself with a serum he knows could make him "Exploding Man" or "Dead Black Eyes Person"?
oh, and why is Nathan still all religious when Linderman shows up and says he cured him? Also, that politician says "I think I found our candidate" to Tracey (NuNikki), and then in ep2, NuNikki is trying to convince politician to partner with Nathan -- which was his idea-- continuity anyone?
And all these things happen - or don't happen - because Tim Kringe needs it to be that way for the plot to keep moving.
I do enjoy Peter, Elle and Mama Petrelli. And the actor that plays Sylar seems to be the only one that knows how to "play" with what he is given. I enjoyed his "I don't eat brains" line. Sylar, as a character. has reached a dead end-- but Zachary Quinto makes him playfully watchable at times.
Sylar is probably the best example of "changing personality to fit story purposes". He's an all-purpose badguy with inconsistent motives. Hell, his motives and drives have changed so many times, it's almost a joke that the character can't recall them sometimes.
There's an EW review that points out many of my own thoughts....
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20228188,00.html
Here's just one quote:
"All too often, the characters behave not as they should, but as the plot needs them to"
That just about says it all... why didnt Peter time dump a day before Nathan's speech and just try to talk him out of it? Why does HRG guy leave classified level5 files on the kitchen counter?
and Hiro with his destiny and quest (back to my nit that Hiro is sometimes borderline retarded)-- why not start some super-power research center? Why would Hiro want to start another quest after all the death, hurt and pain he's seen? Did he already forget about his dead waitress? Why would Hiro's father grant Hiro access to a file he didn't want him to see? (maybe you're saying, "Hiro's father knew Hiro wouldn't obey that"... well, if so, why not just be direct about it? Why leave it to chance that Hiro just might obey the warning?
EW says it better than I:
"''I don't want to be a sentinel. I want to be a hero,'' says Hiro Nakamura, a man who has endured much — the deaths of family members, the loss of his first true love, the precipice of Armageddon — and should know better. That's what experience does: It teaches us. Instead, with his late father's company at his beck and call, and the world at his fingertips, he's pouting like a bored rich kid with a dead DS. Our greatest heroes of fiction are that great because they never want to be heroes. They don't want glory; glory is forced upon them. They rise to a challenge, not recklessly wobble about looking for one. And when their quest is done, they'd be pleased as punch to return to a normal life. All they want is a normal life. There's a fine line between looking for a destiny and coming off like a petulant lad with ADD.
And, speaking of knowing better, if Hiro's dad didn't want what was in the safe to be molested, he never should've told Hiro about it. Or left the access button on his desk. Or made the combination Hiro's fingerprint. Or, more to the point, put the most important thing in the world in that safe. Kaito Nakamura was a smart cat who shouldn't have been prone to doing dumb things. (And why are fathers in this show incapable of keeping their goodies hidden? Kaito leaves his Ragnarok formula in the wall safe, and Noah Bennett leaves the files on the worst superpowered criminals in the world...in a cardboard box in the kitchen. Gadzooks.)"
Why would Mohinder inject himself with a serum he knows could make him "Exploding Man" or "Dead Black Eyes Person"?
oh, and why is Nathan still all religious when Linderman shows up and says he cured him? Also, that politician says "I think I found our candidate" to Tracey (NuNikki), and then in ep2, NuNikki is trying to convince politician to partner with Nathan -- which was his idea-- continuity anyone?
And all these things happen - or don't happen - because Tim Kringe needs it to be that way for the plot to keep moving.
I do enjoy Peter, Elle and Mama Petrelli. And the actor that plays Sylar seems to be the only one that knows how to "play" with what he is given. I enjoyed his "I don't eat brains" line. Sylar, as a character. has reached a dead end-- but Zachary Quinto makes him playfully watchable at times.
Sylar is probably the best example of "changing personality to fit story purposes". He's an all-purpose badguy with inconsistent motives. Hell, his motives and drives have changed so many times, it's almost a joke that the character can't recall them sometimes.
Monday, October 1, 2007
THE BATMAN: The Batman/Superman Story
THE BATMAN is a strange show. Every single season, it morphs into something different from the season before. It's as if the suits at Warners are disappointed the show isn't doing as well as their projections, so each year they throw something new into the Batcave and hope it sticks.
Season One featured a modern-kewl "year three" Batman and tried to go for a moody action adventure. It was rather generic. Season Two changed the theme song into a punchier surf-riff evoking the 60s TV show and upped the ante on villains. It was quantity over quality with many episodes featuring multiple adversaries. Season Three introduced Batgirl and Comissioner Gordon, rejecting the toon-created cops and the idea of Batman as a loner. Season Four brought in Robin (fresh from the cancelled TEEN TITANS) and the series became "Batman Family." Now, in season five, we've got the whole Justice League teaming up with Bats in "Brave and the Bold" type of adventures.
The problem is, each of the incarnations pales to most anything envisioned by Bruce Timm and company. For over ten years, Timm and his crew brought the DC characters to life with style and flair - sometimes even improving on the source material. I must admit, season four had some sparks of life (injecting some new writers in the mix, I might add) with episodes like "The Everywhere Man", "Strange New World", "Artifacts" and "Seconds" - any of which could stand beside some of the BATMAN" THE ANIMATED SERIES episodes of the 90s. "Seconds" was a particularly unique and moving episode.
Season Five begins with a Batman/Superman team up. Comic fans have seen this done many times before. The episode even echoed the 3-part "World's Finest" episode of SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES in many ways. It was on par with most of what we've seen in season four. That is, the show has become watchable at last. Of course, it doesn't hurt when you have Andrea Romano directing the voices and bringing in George Newburn, Dana Delaney and Clancy Brown to reprise the voices of Superman, Lois & Lex. Good episodes. Good start to season five.
Season One featured a modern-kewl "year three" Batman and tried to go for a moody action adventure. It was rather generic. Season Two changed the theme song into a punchier surf-riff evoking the 60s TV show and upped the ante on villains. It was quantity over quality with many episodes featuring multiple adversaries. Season Three introduced Batgirl and Comissioner Gordon, rejecting the toon-created cops and the idea of Batman as a loner. Season Four brought in Robin (fresh from the cancelled TEEN TITANS) and the series became "Batman Family." Now, in season five, we've got the whole Justice League teaming up with Bats in "Brave and the Bold" type of adventures.
The problem is, each of the incarnations pales to most anything envisioned by Bruce Timm and company. For over ten years, Timm and his crew brought the DC characters to life with style and flair - sometimes even improving on the source material. I must admit, season four had some sparks of life (injecting some new writers in the mix, I might add) with episodes like "The Everywhere Man", "Strange New World", "Artifacts" and "Seconds" - any of which could stand beside some of the BATMAN" THE ANIMATED SERIES episodes of the 90s. "Seconds" was a particularly unique and moving episode.
Season Five begins with a Batman/Superman team up. Comic fans have seen this done many times before. The episode even echoed the 3-part "World's Finest" episode of SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES in many ways. It was on par with most of what we've seen in season four. That is, the show has become watchable at last. Of course, it doesn't hurt when you have Andrea Romano directing the voices and bringing in George Newburn, Dana Delaney and Clancy Brown to reprise the voices of Superman, Lois & Lex. Good episodes. Good start to season five.
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: "The Man From the Edge of Tomorrow "
The premiere of LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES has injected quite a few changes into its second season. It's a couple of years later, there's a few new Legionaires, and now we've got two Supermen. More on that in a moment...
The episode opens with Brainy man-crushing on Superman. He uses holo-sims to ease his lonliness - and I can hear the click-clack of the keyboards burning up the slash-fiction. Seriously, I think they missed an opportunity with Brainy; Instead of the Robo-Pinochio, I'd rather have the prickly ego-genius from the comics. I think that would make the character stand out more - especially with the similarly impish Chameleon Boy now part of the team.
The show has definitely gotten a bit darker this season. Producer James Tucker regards season one as "Silver Age" Legion while season two is "Bronze Age" Legion. I definitely get that vibe. The threat of Imperiex is pretty dire and Triplicate Girl's loss of one of her own was fairly eyebrow raising on a Kids WB! show.
I'm not sold on the idea of the two Supermen. It seems to be something that arose from a focus group. Like, kids today thought the traditional Superman was too boring. So they made a Superman with no cape and 23% more bad-assery. To hedge their bets, they also threw in traditional Supes. But season one Superbo--er, Superman didn't track with the tween set, so they bring back a more experienced Superman. That's three versions of Superman in the span of 15 episodes. By season four, they can change the name to LEGION OF SUPER-MEN.
My super-conerns aside, this is perfectly entertaining animated fare. It's true to Legion-lore and they seem to be using more and more Legionaires as the episodes progress. It's not quite as compelling as the Bruce Timm DCAnimated, but it's better than the uneven THE BATMAN. Here's to looking forward to the future!
The episode opens with Brainy man-crushing on Superman. He uses holo-sims to ease his lonliness - and I can hear the click-clack of the keyboards burning up the slash-fiction. Seriously, I think they missed an opportunity with Brainy; Instead of the Robo-Pinochio, I'd rather have the prickly ego-genius from the comics. I think that would make the character stand out more - especially with the similarly impish Chameleon Boy now part of the team.
The show has definitely gotten a bit darker this season. Producer James Tucker regards season one as "Silver Age" Legion while season two is "Bronze Age" Legion. I definitely get that vibe. The threat of Imperiex is pretty dire and Triplicate Girl's loss of one of her own was fairly eyebrow raising on a Kids WB! show.
I'm not sold on the idea of the two Supermen. It seems to be something that arose from a focus group. Like, kids today thought the traditional Superman was too boring. So they made a Superman with no cape and 23% more bad-assery. To hedge their bets, they also threw in traditional Supes. But season one Superbo--er, Superman didn't track with the tween set, so they bring back a more experienced Superman. That's three versions of Superman in the span of 15 episodes. By season four, they can change the name to LEGION OF SUPER-MEN.
My super-conerns aside, this is perfectly entertaining animated fare. It's true to Legion-lore and they seem to be using more and more Legionaires as the episodes progress. It's not quite as compelling as the Bruce Timm DCAnimated, but it's better than the uneven THE BATMAN. Here's to looking forward to the future!
SMALLVILLE: "Bizarro"
"Bizarro" marks the season premiere of SMALLVILLE's seventh season. It was... OK. It clipped along nicely and had some nice action sequences. But I have my list of gripes. This show always falls short in the strangest ways.
They ruined Bizarro. Last year they ruined the Phantom Zone villains and this year they squandered Bizarro. Really, Smallville Producers, this isn't hard. I woulda much preferred "Three Evil Teen Krypto-Criminals" coming to earth rather than "Body Possessing Wraiths." Can you imagine Zod as a 20-year old smarty schemer, Ursa as a gorgeous uber-bitch with design on Clark and Non as a muscle-headed football jock? Man, that coulda been a whole season of teh awesome. Instead, they go with the Krypto-Mystical-blah-dee-blah.
So, Bizarro. Yeah. It would have been cool if Lionel tried to clone Clark and failed (thus, Bizarro). Instead, he's evil wraith that's not quite Bizarro at all. And, he's pretty much Red K Clark, which, y'know, we've seen. That's as bad as making Mister Mxyzptlk a foreign exchange student that runs a gambling ring. Oh, wait...
Then there's Lexie. Every time he edges closer to becoming evil dude, he goes emo on us. I don't want to see Boo-Hoo Prison Lex in the 7th season. I want scheming, evil, murdering Lex. And kill Lionel please. Lionel should have died in that explosion. Things I Learned Watching Smallville #28. "Head trauma is not nearly as serious as I believed it to be." I love all the explosions on SMALLVILLE that leave people slightly bruised and wincing slightly.
And, oh, I need to "call" Jor-El on his surpreme superdickery. All this "tough love" parenting was to prepare Kal-El for this fight we are seeing now? Call Galactic Child Services! He is sooo not getting father of the year.
I always enjoy the SMALLVILLE hospital scenes for their unintentional comedy. Things I Learned Watching Smallville #27. "Listening to doctors is highly optional. People like to leave hospitals without doctor's consent, and often enter rooms when they are told they are restricted." I love how Clark just busts into the room! And I love how Chloe is declared dead and just burns her own death certificate, as if that solves everything. Nah, hospitals don't care about missing dead bodies that have been toe-tagged.
The whole Clark-Bizarro showdown was kewl-fight, but introduced "magic sun rays" previously unseen on SMALLVILLE. They magically heal now? Since when? Oh, since we need it for this scene and then never again? OK! Oh, SMALLVILLE!
I did chuckle (in a good way) at Chloe's line, "He can fly? Clark, you gotta get on that." Chloe has actually become my favorite character on the show. She's usually calling everyone on their smallvilledickery. But then she has a graoner when she calls Bizarro Clark's "Bobbsey Twin." Yes, all the college kids are referencing obscure turn-of-the-century comic strips these days. I blame the schools.
But then I chuckled, in a bad way, at Lana's Shanghai Surprise. Really, we all knew she was alive even though we all wished her dead. And I love how halfway around the world, she find security in a bad Britney Spears wig. Hilarious! Like, Ed Wood level hilarious. She is truly Clark's greatest enemy on the whole show. Just when we think she's gone... It's a slow painful torture, this Lana Lang.
Supergirl looks kinda cool.
They ruined Bizarro. Last year they ruined the Phantom Zone villains and this year they squandered Bizarro. Really, Smallville Producers, this isn't hard. I woulda much preferred "Three Evil Teen Krypto-Criminals" coming to earth rather than "Body Possessing Wraiths." Can you imagine Zod as a 20-year old smarty schemer, Ursa as a gorgeous uber-bitch with design on Clark and Non as a muscle-headed football jock? Man, that coulda been a whole season of teh awesome. Instead, they go with the Krypto-Mystical-blah-dee-blah.
So, Bizarro. Yeah. It would have been cool if Lionel tried to clone Clark and failed (thus, Bizarro). Instead, he's evil wraith that's not quite Bizarro at all. And, he's pretty much Red K Clark, which, y'know, we've seen. That's as bad as making Mister Mxyzptlk a foreign exchange student that runs a gambling ring. Oh, wait...
Then there's Lexie. Every time he edges closer to becoming evil dude, he goes emo on us. I don't want to see Boo-Hoo Prison Lex in the 7th season. I want scheming, evil, murdering Lex. And kill Lionel please. Lionel should have died in that explosion. Things I Learned Watching Smallville #28. "Head trauma is not nearly as serious as I believed it to be." I love all the explosions on SMALLVILLE that leave people slightly bruised and wincing slightly.
And, oh, I need to "call" Jor-El on his surpreme superdickery. All this "tough love" parenting was to prepare Kal-El for this fight we are seeing now? Call Galactic Child Services! He is sooo not getting father of the year.
I always enjoy the SMALLVILLE hospital scenes for their unintentional comedy. Things I Learned Watching Smallville #27. "Listening to doctors is highly optional. People like to leave hospitals without doctor's consent, and often enter rooms when they are told they are restricted." I love how Clark just busts into the room! And I love how Chloe is declared dead and just burns her own death certificate, as if that solves everything. Nah, hospitals don't care about missing dead bodies that have been toe-tagged.
The whole Clark-Bizarro showdown was kewl-fight, but introduced "magic sun rays" previously unseen on SMALLVILLE. They magically heal now? Since when? Oh, since we need it for this scene and then never again? OK! Oh, SMALLVILLE!
I did chuckle (in a good way) at Chloe's line, "He can fly? Clark, you gotta get on that." Chloe has actually become my favorite character on the show. She's usually calling everyone on their smallvilledickery. But then she has a graoner when she calls Bizarro Clark's "Bobbsey Twin." Yes, all the college kids are referencing obscure turn-of-the-century comic strips these days. I blame the schools.
But then I chuckled, in a bad way, at Lana's Shanghai Surprise. Really, we all knew she was alive even though we all wished her dead. And I love how halfway around the world, she find security in a bad Britney Spears wig. Hilarious! Like, Ed Wood level hilarious. She is truly Clark's greatest enemy on the whole show. Just when we think she's gone... It's a slow painful torture, this Lana Lang.
Supergirl looks kinda cool.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
FAMILY GUY: "Blue Harvest"
Something strange happened. Once upon a time, the SIMPSONS was the crown jewel of smart-funny animation. And FAMILY GUY was this bastard child only-sometimes-funny show. After one and a half seasons, FAMILY GUY found its own voice and figured out which jokes worked (mostly anyway), while SIMPSONS became safe and predictable.
So here we are. The SIMPSONS premiere is mildly OK-level entertainment, while FAMILY GUY gives us a laugh riot parody of STAR WARS. If you are a fan of the beloved space saga, you owe it to yourself to check out this very funny hour-long episode.
So here we are. The SIMPSONS premiere is mildly OK-level entertainment, while FAMILY GUY gives us a laugh riot parody of STAR WARS. If you are a fan of the beloved space saga, you owe it to yourself to check out this very funny hour-long episode.
SIMPSONS: "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs"
On the heels of the marginally-funny SIMPSONS MOVIE, the 19th (!) season begins. There's a clever bit where the opening sequence shows the town still devastated by the events from the movie. That was kinda funny. In the first few moments, we get a joke about the iPhone being price-lowered to 20¢. Heh. So I'm starting to think maybe smart-topical SIMPSONS may rear its head again.
But once some of the fun scatalogical humor gives way to the actual "plot", we are back to SIMPSONS-lite, which is where the show has been for the past 4-or-so seasons. It's ok, but it's not the appointment TV it was for its first 12 seasons.
But once some of the fun scatalogical humor gives way to the actual "plot", we are back to SIMPSONS-lite, which is where the show has been for the past 4-or-so seasons. It's ok, but it's not the appointment TV it was for its first 12 seasons.
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