This season, or rather these two seasons, have been a very mixed bag. It had so much potential going in, and while there were a few episodes that lived up to it, it ultimately fell short. These final two episodes exemplified what the series did right, what it did wrong, and what it could have been. It's fortunate that when these two episodes were re-aired together, 15 minutes was added to the runtime with scenes that weren't included in the standalone episodes. Scenes that were shown in this version are represented by italics.
The Wrath
Believing the Armada defeated, Orion decides it's time to head back to Andresia and rebuild his homeworld. He has a heartfelt goodbye with the other Rangers before taking off in the spaceship he arrived in. Shortly after he leaves, Tensou and Gosei pick up a transmission from Emperor Mavro, saying the real invasion is about to begin.
Mavro gives Levira one final chance to prove her worth, sending her down in a mech in her likeness to battle the Legendary Megazord. She puts up a fight but is ultimately brought down using a lightning aura strike. The battle resumes on the ground. She blasts the Rangers with her own artillery, but they put up a shield using Mystic Force's powers. Levira is joined by some of the Armada's royal guards. The Rangers each use one of their Legendary New Powers (except for Troy, who uses Mighty Morphin) to fight them off, and ultimately win. As she blows up, Levira begs Mavro to use the maximizer to make her grow, and he refuses. He then announces his invasion and the Armada ships swarm the sky.
The Rangers morph again and return to the Megazord. Orion's Q-Rex joins them, presumably on autopilot. Using a barrage of attacks with different Ranger Keys, Zords, and attacks, they manage to take out the first wave. Unfortunately, as soon as their finished, a new swarm of ships shows up and obliterates every single one of them. The Rangers are ejected from their Megazord, de-morphing as they hit the ground.
Meanwhile, Orion picks up the signal that Tensou picked up earlier. Realizing his mistake, he doubles back to Earth. Mavro informs the world that the Power Rangers have been destroyed and issues an ultimatum: Surrender or perish. He gives the planet 12 hours to give up and will return at dawn to finish the job. We get one last shot of each of the Rangers lying unconscious in rubble.
The extensions given to this episode aren't quite so obvious, but it added about 5 minutes (2 and a half without commercials) to the episode's runtime. The fight scenes are a bit longer and the pacing is improved, but nothing that stood out. I'm probably in the minority of fans who enjoyed seeing the Rangers use New Powers during this season (suits from Super Sentai pre-dating Zyuranger/MMPR), particularly Lightning/Blitz/Maskman.
Legendary Battle
Beginning where we left off, the city is in rubble and people need help. A group is trapped in an elevator, a little boy can't find his puppy, and a man is stuck under a column. First to arrive on the scene are Dana Mitchell and Carter Grayson, the Pink and Red Lightspeed Rangers. They lift the column off the man and Dana listens to his heart on a stethoscope, assuring him he's going to be fine.
Danny's puppy is saved by Leo Corbett, the Red Galaxy Ranger. T.J. Johnson and Cassie Chan, the Blue and Pink Space Rangers, show up on top of the elevator and pull everyone out. Last but not least, a little boy is trapped in a car that could fall over a bridge at any moment. Dr. Tommy Oliver, the White Mighty Morphin Ranger, and pulls out Saba for the kid to grab onto. He does so, and Tommy pulls the boy out, tells him he was brave and that he could be a superhero one day. With each of these appearances, their helmets are superimposed over their faces, which looks cool. These are some of the strongest scenes in the episode. It's great to see these characters again, and that even without their Ranger Powers, they're still going out of their way to help people.
One by one, the Rangers regain consciousness and try to regroup. Emma and Gia find each other first, followed by Jake and Noah. Later that night, civilians are gathered around a fire, wondering where the Power Rangers are and if they really are destroyed. We're given cameos from Damon Henderson and Karone, the Green and Pink Galaxy Rangers, as well as Wes Collins, the red Time Force Ranger. Troy talks to Gosei on his morpher before the whole team comes together again. Without their Zords, Jake's not sure if they can win. Troy, however, is determined not to give up. The Legendary Rangers entrusted them with their powers and the world is counting on them. Orion's ship crashes back into Earth and he rejoins the others.
Morning arrives, and so does the Armada. The citizens refuse to surrender and are ready to defend themselves. Before they can attack, the Power Rangers arrive, and a fight ensues. They take out the X-Borgs before focusing on the general and royal guards. As the general blasts the Rangers, Orion shields them by turning into Mighty Morphin Green. He gives Troy his Dragon Shield, which turns him into Mighty Morphin Red. Troy then dispatches the guards with ease. The two then make a break for Orion's ship to take the fight to the Armada, leaving the other four to handle the general. Civilians cheer them on as they go.
Troy and Orion blast their way through the fleet before crashing into the flagship. They make their way to the throne room and confront Mavro. The Emperor puts up an impressive fight, not even bothering to stand up at first, but the Rangers turn the tide when Troy takes control of the ship and begins blasting the Armada ships.
This is enough to distract the general down below, allowing the other Rangers to blast him with the Super Mega Cannon as they demorph.
The fight with Mavro continues as Troy and Orion blow the control panel, sending the ship crashing to Earth. The others look on and at first it seems as though they went down with the ship. Fortunately, the turned into Space Red and Silver and escaped on their Galaxy Gliders. They power down, group hug the team, and it looks like it's over...until Mavro reveals to have survived the crash as well. The Rangers stand ready to give it all they've got against him and morph directly into Super Mega Mode, their helmets coming on during the roll call.
This fight is awesome, the Rangers using a variety of Legendary Modes against Mavro, five of which hadn't been used yet in the series, culminating in each Ranger using a different Super Mode from a different season. They use their finishing attacks, and yet Mavro stays on his feet. Orion then jumps in wielding the Super Mega Cannon, and fires at point blank range. As Mavro goes down once and for all, he claims that even after all this, his army will still defeat the Rangers.
Then a legion of X-Borgs arrives. The Rangers seem outnumbered, then suddenly past Ranger teams begin appearing on the cliffside, and them join them on the ground. Leading the way is Tommy (in Green instead of White) and the others we saw at the beginning plus Emily and Mike, the Yellow and Green Samurai Rangers. They take off their helmets to greet the Megaforce Rangers. It's just like the dreams Troy was having earlier in the season. Tommy says they're here to fight for them, Wes says they're proud of them, Troy and Cassie both say it's an honor to fight alongside each other. (Damon, Emily, and Mike don't say anything.) The Megaforce Rangers morph, and the others put their helmets back on. Karone mentions how she loves being a Power Ranger and Astronema's visage is superimposed over her face as she puts her helmet on. The Legendary Rangers then charge forward against the X-Borgs. It's awesome while it lasts, but it's still shorter than we were hoping for. A lot of these scenes were shown in a shorter capacity as Troy's recurring dream. Robo Knight shows up and joins the others in battle, and as short as it was, I was honestly glad to see him again, after his heroic sacrifice a few episodes ago.
When the battle is over, Tommy goes to the Rangers and says it's time for them to go and an honor to fight beside them. He shakes Troy's hand, and join the rest of the Legendary Rangers. They raise their hands and disappear into golden light, scattering across the universe (or they could just be teleporting back home, I don't know). Exhausted, our heroes collapse into the grass and stare into the sky, relieved that the Armada is defeated. They get back up, and Gia gives Jake a kiss on the cheek (aww). Troy then plants his Super Mega Saber into the ground, and the six of them walk away.
The Extended Edition is a much more satisfying finale than the episodes were initially. The added battle between the Rangers and Mavro saved the episode. Nonetheless, I can't help but lament over all the Ranger Keys that didn't get used over the course of the season. Perhaps had they been allowed a few more episodes (maybe five for each half), they could have worked those in, maybe improve the pacing. I've enjoyed the cast of characters, and it's actually gratifying to have seen their acting get better as the season progressed. Nickelodeon needs to treat this franchise better. Episode count aside, I wish they'd stop splitting these seasons in half, and shorten any summer hiatus.Had they been allowed more time and money, Power Rangers Megaforce could have been an excellent season. Instead, it's only a decent season with a few great moments. As stated, this finale sums up the season perfectly: showing it's potential but still falling short of it.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Arrow- The Brave And The Bold
The crossover event continues as the Arrow and Arsenal try to track down Digger Harkness, a former ARGUS agent and member of the Suicide Squad. It was his boomerang that they've been investigating. Meanwhile, Cisco and Caitlin have come to Starling to retrieve the DNA sample mentioned before, and Cisco really wants to see the "Arrow Cave". (The name catches on.) Harkness (eventually named Captain Boomerang) straight up attacks ARGUS headquarters, and holds his own against several agents (including Diggle and Lyla) plus the Arrow and Arsenal. Luckily for them, Barry gets called in and arrives in a Flash. Again, we have a unique title card for the episode. The arrowhead behind the Arrow logo is missing, and we see a yellow streak running around inside the logo before it disappears into a Flash lightning bolt.
Oliver, while appreciative, seems even less eager to team up in this episode than he was before. He eventually relents on the condition that he follows Oliver's orders. Barry reassembles Harkness's boomerangs left at the scene, which leads them to his supplier. The Flash is a bit put off once he sees the Arrow's interrogation techniques first-hand.
The flashbacks for this episode center around how he learned these techniques. Amanda Waller told him to get the location of a bomb out of a terror suspect, but Ollie couldn't get the information in time, which is motivation enough not to let it happen again.
Our heroes get a phone from the supplier, and Felicity tries to trace the number. Unfortunately, the phone is instead used by Harkness as a tracer for the location of the Arrow Cave. He shows up, causes some damage, and one of his boomerangs gets embedded in Lyla's shoulder.
Once she's stable, Barry runs her to the hospital. The whole thing shakes Diggle up a bit, but he keeps a clear head. Captain Boomerang gets tracked down again, but he has a contingency. Five bombs are placed in different locations all around the city. The Flash is fast enough to find them once Felicity homes in on the detonator frequency, but they all have to be disarmed at the same time or they all blow. While the Arrow fights off Harkness, the Flash puts Felicity, Roy, Cisco, and Caitlin each at a different bomb, and they disable them all at once. He then regroups with the Arrow, and Captain Boomerang is sent back to the ARGUS holding facility.
Lyla regains consciousness, and Diggle proposes. She says yes. Caitlin and Cisco say their goodbyes, and Oliver sets up a mannequin in the Arrow Cave where Barry can hang his costume whenever he's in town. But before he leaves, the Arrow and the Flash decide to settle once and for all who would win in a fight. And the episode ends just as it's about to get under way.
The Flash episode had the two heroes fighting, and this Arrow episode had our two heroes working together, so they balance each other out. Similarly, Barry and Oliver balance each other out with Barry's brighter outlook and Oliver's darker methods. Even the other characters point out how much lighter the tone is in Central City compared to Starling. With all the metahumans running around, it doesn't seem quite as real to them in contrast to all the non-powered but highly skilled criminals in who show up in Starling City. The episode was also a nice break from Laurel's subplot, who gets limited to a cameo in this one with her father (who accidentally calls Barry "Bart" in reference to another comic speedster Impulse). These episodes show what a DC Cinematic Universe could have been if the upcoming movies had decided to build on continuity from established sources rather than start from scratch. These two shows have already given us hints at the Atom, Firestorm, and the Elongated Man, and should provide enough material for a wonderful TV presence for these heroes, even without tying in to the big screen. This is DC Comics done right.
Oliver, while appreciative, seems even less eager to team up in this episode than he was before. He eventually relents on the condition that he follows Oliver's orders. Barry reassembles Harkness's boomerangs left at the scene, which leads them to his supplier. The Flash is a bit put off once he sees the Arrow's interrogation techniques first-hand.
The flashbacks for this episode center around how he learned these techniques. Amanda Waller told him to get the location of a bomb out of a terror suspect, but Ollie couldn't get the information in time, which is motivation enough not to let it happen again.
Our heroes get a phone from the supplier, and Felicity tries to trace the number. Unfortunately, the phone is instead used by Harkness as a tracer for the location of the Arrow Cave. He shows up, causes some damage, and one of his boomerangs gets embedded in Lyla's shoulder.
Once she's stable, Barry runs her to the hospital. The whole thing shakes Diggle up a bit, but he keeps a clear head. Captain Boomerang gets tracked down again, but he has a contingency. Five bombs are placed in different locations all around the city. The Flash is fast enough to find them once Felicity homes in on the detonator frequency, but they all have to be disarmed at the same time or they all blow. While the Arrow fights off Harkness, the Flash puts Felicity, Roy, Cisco, and Caitlin each at a different bomb, and they disable them all at once. He then regroups with the Arrow, and Captain Boomerang is sent back to the ARGUS holding facility.
Lyla regains consciousness, and Diggle proposes. She says yes. Caitlin and Cisco say their goodbyes, and Oliver sets up a mannequin in the Arrow Cave where Barry can hang his costume whenever he's in town. But before he leaves, the Arrow and the Flash decide to settle once and for all who would win in a fight. And the episode ends just as it's about to get under way.
The Flash episode had the two heroes fighting, and this Arrow episode had our two heroes working together, so they balance each other out. Similarly, Barry and Oliver balance each other out with Barry's brighter outlook and Oliver's darker methods. Even the other characters point out how much lighter the tone is in Central City compared to Starling. With all the metahumans running around, it doesn't seem quite as real to them in contrast to all the non-powered but highly skilled criminals in who show up in Starling City. The episode was also a nice break from Laurel's subplot, who gets limited to a cameo in this one with her father (who accidentally calls Barry "Bart" in reference to another comic speedster Impulse). These episodes show what a DC Cinematic Universe could have been if the upcoming movies had decided to build on continuity from established sources rather than start from scratch. These two shows have already given us hints at the Atom, Firestorm, and the Elongated Man, and should provide enough material for a wonderful TV presence for these heroes, even without tying in to the big screen. This is DC Comics done right.
Flash vs. Arrow
Our crossover event begins in Central City. Rather than doing the usual superhero fare, Barry's simply doing miscellaneous good deeds at superspeed. Giving flowers to a married couple on a date, painting a house, little things that would make someone smile. The feel-good moments come to a halt when a man enters the bank, turning people's eyes red. This makes them all angry and a fight ensues while he walks out with the money. Barry manages to break up the fight before things get too out of hand.
Back at the police station, Eddie is trying to convince the police chief to put a task force together to bring in the Flash, but is shot down. The bank robber is tracked to an abandoned warehouse, but he uses his abilities on a member of the SWAT team, who opens fire on Joe and Eddie. The Flash gets them out of the way, and the angry cop is suddenly taken down by the Arrow. The title card for this episode is unique, with an arrow being shot through the Flash logo, and it then disappears in green lightning rather than its usual red and yellow.
Barry follows Oliver out to an empty farm where Felicity and Diggle were waiting for him. Diggle hasn't seen Barry's speed in action yet, so he's impressed to say the least. Ollie and his team had traced a murder weapon to a manufacturer in Central City, hence their presence in this episode. Roy is the only member of the team not present, and it could be assumed Oliver left Arsenal in Starling in case any trouble surfaces while he's gone. At first, Ollie doesn't want to team up, but still goes out of his way to dig up the robber's real name: Roy G. Bivolo.
Back at STAR Labs, Barry gets a talking to about the Starling City vigilante from Joe and Dr. Wells, and it's understandable considering the Arrow used to kill criminals without hesitation. However, Barry's adamant that they're on the same side, and later meets Oliver for training. Ollie makes a good point that Barry doesn't analyze his surroundings before rushing in, which he gets across by shooting an arrow at him. Barry catches it, only for two turrets to pop up out of the ground and shoot arrows into his back. ("Heard you heal fast.") Later, Barry tracks down Bivolo (who Cisco named Prism), and a short struggle ends when he uses his powers on the Flash and gets away.
At first, Barry seems okay, but gets ruder and angrier as the episode continues. It's believed that his powers were fighting off the effects of Prism's anger eye, which has been causing the rage to pile up rather than come out all at once. This culminates into the Flash confronting Eddie in the middle of the street, right in front of Iris. She tries to talk him down to no avail, and Dr. Wells has to ask Felicity to call in Oliver (having figured out his identity).
The Arrow shows up right before the Flash does something he'll regret, and the obligatory hero vs. hero fight ensues...and it is awesome. (Cisco and Diggle actually speculate which one of them would win.) Oliver can't get a hit on him, but is at least able to stay on the defense. Since the anger was the result of seeing red light, Wells, Caitlin and the others conclude that different colored lights might be the key to bringing Barry back to normal. This could be a nod to DC's various Lantern Corps, each with a different colored ring that's powered by a different emotion.
Barry calms down, our two heroes bring down Prism (off-screen, surprisingly enough), but the damage is done. Eddie gets his anti-Flash task force, and Iris's faith in him is shaken. He tries to apologize to her, but whether or not she believes him, she still doesn't want him contacting her again. It makes me wonder if she'll keep writing about him.
Felicity asks a favor of the STAR Labs crew to analyze a DNA sample from the arrow that killed the Canary. Dr. Wells has a brief moment with Oliver, saying he'd met his father once and thought he'd be proud of him. (Oliver says there's something strange about Wells as he leaves.)
The end scene reveals that Ronnie Raymond is still alive. Caitlin's fiancee supposedly lost his life when the particle accelerator blew, but he's out on the street, his body engulfed in flames.
It's nice to see these two shows come together, showing the similarities and differences between them. The scenes where Barry's getting angry are especially scary, since he's normally so laid back and likeable. It's also a bit strange to see Eddie suddenly turn against the Flash, who hasn't done anything non-heroic until this episode. The story continues in the next episode of Arrow.
Back at the police station, Eddie is trying to convince the police chief to put a task force together to bring in the Flash, but is shot down. The bank robber is tracked to an abandoned warehouse, but he uses his abilities on a member of the SWAT team, who opens fire on Joe and Eddie. The Flash gets them out of the way, and the angry cop is suddenly taken down by the Arrow. The title card for this episode is unique, with an arrow being shot through the Flash logo, and it then disappears in green lightning rather than its usual red and yellow.
Barry follows Oliver out to an empty farm where Felicity and Diggle were waiting for him. Diggle hasn't seen Barry's speed in action yet, so he's impressed to say the least. Ollie and his team had traced a murder weapon to a manufacturer in Central City, hence their presence in this episode. Roy is the only member of the team not present, and it could be assumed Oliver left Arsenal in Starling in case any trouble surfaces while he's gone. At first, Ollie doesn't want to team up, but still goes out of his way to dig up the robber's real name: Roy G. Bivolo.
Back at STAR Labs, Barry gets a talking to about the Starling City vigilante from Joe and Dr. Wells, and it's understandable considering the Arrow used to kill criminals without hesitation. However, Barry's adamant that they're on the same side, and later meets Oliver for training. Ollie makes a good point that Barry doesn't analyze his surroundings before rushing in, which he gets across by shooting an arrow at him. Barry catches it, only for two turrets to pop up out of the ground and shoot arrows into his back. ("Heard you heal fast.") Later, Barry tracks down Bivolo (who Cisco named Prism), and a short struggle ends when he uses his powers on the Flash and gets away.
At first, Barry seems okay, but gets ruder and angrier as the episode continues. It's believed that his powers were fighting off the effects of Prism's anger eye, which has been causing the rage to pile up rather than come out all at once. This culminates into the Flash confronting Eddie in the middle of the street, right in front of Iris. She tries to talk him down to no avail, and Dr. Wells has to ask Felicity to call in Oliver (having figured out his identity).
The Arrow shows up right before the Flash does something he'll regret, and the obligatory hero vs. hero fight ensues...and it is awesome. (Cisco and Diggle actually speculate which one of them would win.) Oliver can't get a hit on him, but is at least able to stay on the defense. Since the anger was the result of seeing red light, Wells, Caitlin and the others conclude that different colored lights might be the key to bringing Barry back to normal. This could be a nod to DC's various Lantern Corps, each with a different colored ring that's powered by a different emotion.
Barry calms down, our two heroes bring down Prism (off-screen, surprisingly enough), but the damage is done. Eddie gets his anti-Flash task force, and Iris's faith in him is shaken. He tries to apologize to her, but whether or not she believes him, she still doesn't want him contacting her again. It makes me wonder if she'll keep writing about him.
Felicity asks a favor of the STAR Labs crew to analyze a DNA sample from the arrow that killed the Canary. Dr. Wells has a brief moment with Oliver, saying he'd met his father once and thought he'd be proud of him. (Oliver says there's something strange about Wells as he leaves.)
The end scene reveals that Ronnie Raymond is still alive. Caitlin's fiancee supposedly lost his life when the particle accelerator blew, but he's out on the street, his body engulfed in flames.
It's nice to see these two shows come together, showing the similarities and differences between them. The scenes where Barry's getting angry are especially scary, since he's normally so laid back and likeable. It's also a bit strange to see Eddie suddenly turn against the Flash, who hasn't done anything non-heroic until this episode. The story continues in the next episode of Arrow.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Big Hero 6
There's been a mixture of concern and excitement ever since Marvel Comics was bought out by Walt Disney. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has alleviated most concerns, there have still been very few full-on collaborations between the two companies. Sure, Disney XD airs animated series based on Marvel characters, which in turn have crossed over with Disney Channel shows like Phineas & Ferb and Jessie (I have yet to see the latter). Big Hero 6 marks the first time Disney has made a movie on its own based on Marvel characters, who are obscure enough that they could be passed off as original Disney creations.
The film takes place in San Fransokyo, a unique blend of the two cities it's named after. It centers around Hiro Hamada, a teenage genius who graduated high school early, but hasn't found a constructive outlet for his abilities. He's into underground robot fighting, but this gets him in trouble. Hoping to straighten him out, his older brother Tadashi takes him to his school and shows him around. It's here in the robotics lab, which looks like something straight out of Disney's own Imagineer Laboratories, that we meet the rest of the main characters- GoGo Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred. All of them are geniuses in their own way, each with their own unique inventions (except Fred, who's just the school mascot). Tadashi also introduces Hiro to his own project, a health care robot named Baymax. After seeing all of this and a chance meeting with their Professor Callaghan, Hiro is amazed and wants to apply.
The opportunity presents itself in the form of an annual exhibition held to gain admission. Hiro recreates his fighting robot in mass quantities on a smaller scale, resulting in microbots--tiny modules controlled by a headband that can link up together and create anything the wearer imagines. The display wows the audience and Callaghan, as well as attracting the attention of local businessman Alistair Krei. When offered the choice between the school and a job at Krei Tech, Hiro chooses the former.
Just as Aunt Cass (Tadashi and Hiro's guardian) is about to take everyone out to celebrate, a fire breaks out at the exhibition. Callaghan is still inside, so Tadashi runs in to save him. The building promptly explodes, resulting in Tadashi's death. The loss shakes Hiro to his core, and he no longer seems interested in the school. Then one day, he stubs his toe, triggering Baymax's activation. While struggling to avoid Baymax's nurturing, Hiro discovers that one of his microbots is still active and seems to be trying to go somewhere. Hoping finding the location will help Hiro's mental state, Baymax sets off with it, forcing Hiro to follow him.
The microbot leads them to a seemingly abandoned warehouse. The two look inside and find an assembly line where the microbots are being kept, and maybe even replicated. They run into a masked man (who is apparently called Yokai despite being unnamed in the film), who then attacks them using the microbots. They run, and just barely escape.
Hiro tries to go to the police, but the officer isn't really convinced. Baymax's battery is running low, so the two leave the station and head home. Back in his charging station, Baymax notices Tadashi's absense, and Hiro has to explain that he's dead. While Baymax makes attempts to comfort him, Hiro figures out Yokai must have been responsible for the fire so he could cover his tracks and steal the microbots.
Hiro upgrades Baymax with some karate skills and body armor, and they make another attempt to use the microbots to find Yokai. They arrive at a pier, and the microbot is lost. Suddenly Tadashi's friends all drive up. Baymax had called them, out of concern for Hiro. Yokai suddenly appears and attacks them, leading to a car chase as the six escape. At first their slowed by Wasabi's insistence on obeying traffic laws, but they finally get away when GoGo takes the wheel. Baymax managed to make record of Yokai's vital signs, so he would be easier to find later.
They end up at Fred's house, who is revealed to be a millionaire who's parents are away on business a lot. His house contains a lot of geek memorabilia, and contain a few nods to other Marvel characters if you look closely enough. As the characters interact, Fred reaches the same conclusion that the rest of the audience would have by this point; Yokai must be Alistair Krei. I was glad to see him make that realization, since the other characters are all genius science prodigies, while he was just the school's mascot.
Hiro then goes about creating super suits for himself and the others while upgrading Baymax's armor and capabilities, all based around their own inventions from their introductory scenes. Honey Lemon gets multi-colored balls that she can throw/shoot that provide smokescreens, adhesives, and other uses. GoGo Tomago's armor lets her skate on magnetic wheels, which she can also use as a weapon. Wasabi gets laser knives attached to his wrists, and Fred wears a fire-breathing dragon suit.
Baymax's own upgrades give him flight and rocket fists. Hiro can fasten himself aboard Baymax to fly around with him. The first flight is rough, but soon becomes a breathtaking bird's eye view of San Fransokyo. Baymax notices that Hiro's biochemistry indicates that Hiro's emotional state is improving during the flight. They take a rest on one of the several floating propellers over the city. (I'm assuming they're windmills for the city's power grid.) Because Baymax sees Hiro's getting better, he thinks he might be ready to deactivate. Before this could follow through, Baymax picks up Yokai's signature on an abandoned island. The six regroup and investigate.
They discover an abandoned Krei Tech facility, where a teleportation experiment went awry, resulting in the machine's destruction and the loss of a test pilot. Yokai has been using the microbots to salvage the gateways and attacks the six when he discover them. All of them aim for the mask to break his connection with the microbots. Hiro finally gets him down, but when the mask is off, it's not Krei. It's Professor Callaghan. He'd used the microbots to shield himself from the fire, and shows no signs of remorse that Tadashi lost his life going back for him. This revelation shatters Hiro, who removes Baymax's health care protocol chip and orders him to destroy Callaghan. Baymax's eyes turn red and he launches his entire arsenal against Callaghan. He retrieves his mask and escape, while the other heroes restrain Baymax long enough to put the health care chip back in. Hiro is furious, and takes off back home, abandoning his friends on the island. These and the scenes that follow are some of the most emotional to watch.
Baymax realizes that he had been tampered with. Despite not changing his friendly tone of voice, he just sounds like his feelings are hurt. Hiro makes another attempt to remove the chip, but is locked out this time. His fury breaks down into sadness, and everything he kept bottled up about his brother's death comes to the surface. Baymax then shows Hiro some recorded footage of Tadashi, which documented his own creation and the setbacks along the way. By the time he was complete, Tadashi was overjoyed at his creation and the difference he'll make in people's lives. This brings Hiro back down to earth, and he apologizes to Baymax.
The others find Hiro at his home, Fred's butler having picked them up. They found some additional footage from the accident, revealing that the pilot lost was Callaghan's daughter, and all of Yokai's actions are motivated by revenge for what happened to her. The six regroup and head to the opening of a new Krei Tech facility, where Callaghan is set to use Krei's own gateway to destroy his new building and take him out. Attempts to talk him down fail, and the fighting resumes.
Realizing Yokai's supply of microbots is finite, the team then focuses on attacking them instead of going for the mask, each one figuring out a unique way to use their weapons. The microbots get sucked into the portal with everything else, until Yokai has run out of ammunition. Baymax picks up a life sign inside the portal, and they realize Callaghan's daughter must still be alive inside, albeit in stasis. Hiro hops on Baymax and they blast inside to retrieve her.
Inside what I can only assume is the Negative Zone, they find the shuttle and steer it towards the gateway. However, Baymax's armor is damaged and they seem trapped. Baymax attaches his rocket fist to the shuttle, and again requests deactivation. Hiro is, of course, resistant, but Baymax affirms that he is a health care companion, and Hiro is his patient, so his survival is his responsibility. Reluctantly, Hiro says he's satisfied with his care. Baymax begins to deflate as his armored fist propels Hiro and the shuttle to the portal. Callaghan's daughter is taken away in an ambulance while he is taken away in a police car. I thought he would smile at the sight of his daughter, but he never did, perhaps at the realization that because she's alive, his drive for revenge was meaningless.
Hiro returns home with Baymax's gauntlet, and discovers his health care chip inside the fist, giving him what he needs to rebuild his friend. In the wake of everything that happened, Hiro officially enrolls into the school (where Tadashi is given a memorial building), and the six continue their lives as superheroes.
After the credits, Fred is looking at his family portrait and discovers a secret room. His dad (portrayed by Stan Lee) then comes in behind him, revealing himself as a former superhero. They hug and seem to have a lot to talk about.
This movie really is the perfect blend of Marvel and Disney. The animation looks amazing, and the story has a lot of heart. It can really hit close to home if you've experienced the loss of a close friend or family member, and it handles that grief very realistically. Baymax is an adorable, wonderful character. It was really cool to see that each member of the team was smart in their own way. It was also great that there was very little conflict between them, aside from Hiro's own baggage about losing his brother. Honey Lemon and GoGo Tomago seem like characters who wouldn't like each other (or at least that GoGo would find Honey irritating). Their designs are complete opposites of one another. Honey's a tall blonde who loves bright colors, and GoGo's a shorter, black-haired girl with a bit more attitude. Nonetheless, they're still friends and it was a pleasant surprise they never argued once. Wasabi got the least exposure out of the group, but at least he has a distinct personality. Fred was another pleasant surprise, as he seemed like the one normal guy on a superhero team full of tech experts. But over time, he displays his own resourcefulness and is more than just the mascot.
I can definitely recommend this movie.
The film takes place in San Fransokyo, a unique blend of the two cities it's named after. It centers around Hiro Hamada, a teenage genius who graduated high school early, but hasn't found a constructive outlet for his abilities. He's into underground robot fighting, but this gets him in trouble. Hoping to straighten him out, his older brother Tadashi takes him to his school and shows him around. It's here in the robotics lab, which looks like something straight out of Disney's own Imagineer Laboratories, that we meet the rest of the main characters- GoGo Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred. All of them are geniuses in their own way, each with their own unique inventions (except Fred, who's just the school mascot). Tadashi also introduces Hiro to his own project, a health care robot named Baymax. After seeing all of this and a chance meeting with their Professor Callaghan, Hiro is amazed and wants to apply.
The opportunity presents itself in the form of an annual exhibition held to gain admission. Hiro recreates his fighting robot in mass quantities on a smaller scale, resulting in microbots--tiny modules controlled by a headband that can link up together and create anything the wearer imagines. The display wows the audience and Callaghan, as well as attracting the attention of local businessman Alistair Krei. When offered the choice between the school and a job at Krei Tech, Hiro chooses the former.
Just as Aunt Cass (Tadashi and Hiro's guardian) is about to take everyone out to celebrate, a fire breaks out at the exhibition. Callaghan is still inside, so Tadashi runs in to save him. The building promptly explodes, resulting in Tadashi's death. The loss shakes Hiro to his core, and he no longer seems interested in the school. Then one day, he stubs his toe, triggering Baymax's activation. While struggling to avoid Baymax's nurturing, Hiro discovers that one of his microbots is still active and seems to be trying to go somewhere. Hoping finding the location will help Hiro's mental state, Baymax sets off with it, forcing Hiro to follow him.
The microbot leads them to a seemingly abandoned warehouse. The two look inside and find an assembly line where the microbots are being kept, and maybe even replicated. They run into a masked man (who is apparently called Yokai despite being unnamed in the film), who then attacks them using the microbots. They run, and just barely escape.
Hiro tries to go to the police, but the officer isn't really convinced. Baymax's battery is running low, so the two leave the station and head home. Back in his charging station, Baymax notices Tadashi's absense, and Hiro has to explain that he's dead. While Baymax makes attempts to comfort him, Hiro figures out Yokai must have been responsible for the fire so he could cover his tracks and steal the microbots.
Hiro upgrades Baymax with some karate skills and body armor, and they make another attempt to use the microbots to find Yokai. They arrive at a pier, and the microbot is lost. Suddenly Tadashi's friends all drive up. Baymax had called them, out of concern for Hiro. Yokai suddenly appears and attacks them, leading to a car chase as the six escape. At first their slowed by Wasabi's insistence on obeying traffic laws, but they finally get away when GoGo takes the wheel. Baymax managed to make record of Yokai's vital signs, so he would be easier to find later.
They end up at Fred's house, who is revealed to be a millionaire who's parents are away on business a lot. His house contains a lot of geek memorabilia, and contain a few nods to other Marvel characters if you look closely enough. As the characters interact, Fred reaches the same conclusion that the rest of the audience would have by this point; Yokai must be Alistair Krei. I was glad to see him make that realization, since the other characters are all genius science prodigies, while he was just the school's mascot.
Hiro then goes about creating super suits for himself and the others while upgrading Baymax's armor and capabilities, all based around their own inventions from their introductory scenes. Honey Lemon gets multi-colored balls that she can throw/shoot that provide smokescreens, adhesives, and other uses. GoGo Tomago's armor lets her skate on magnetic wheels, which she can also use as a weapon. Wasabi gets laser knives attached to his wrists, and Fred wears a fire-breathing dragon suit.
Baymax's own upgrades give him flight and rocket fists. Hiro can fasten himself aboard Baymax to fly around with him. The first flight is rough, but soon becomes a breathtaking bird's eye view of San Fransokyo. Baymax notices that Hiro's biochemistry indicates that Hiro's emotional state is improving during the flight. They take a rest on one of the several floating propellers over the city. (I'm assuming they're windmills for the city's power grid.) Because Baymax sees Hiro's getting better, he thinks he might be ready to deactivate. Before this could follow through, Baymax picks up Yokai's signature on an abandoned island. The six regroup and investigate.
They discover an abandoned Krei Tech facility, where a teleportation experiment went awry, resulting in the machine's destruction and the loss of a test pilot. Yokai has been using the microbots to salvage the gateways and attacks the six when he discover them. All of them aim for the mask to break his connection with the microbots. Hiro finally gets him down, but when the mask is off, it's not Krei. It's Professor Callaghan. He'd used the microbots to shield himself from the fire, and shows no signs of remorse that Tadashi lost his life going back for him. This revelation shatters Hiro, who removes Baymax's health care protocol chip and orders him to destroy Callaghan. Baymax's eyes turn red and he launches his entire arsenal against Callaghan. He retrieves his mask and escape, while the other heroes restrain Baymax long enough to put the health care chip back in. Hiro is furious, and takes off back home, abandoning his friends on the island. These and the scenes that follow are some of the most emotional to watch.
Baymax realizes that he had been tampered with. Despite not changing his friendly tone of voice, he just sounds like his feelings are hurt. Hiro makes another attempt to remove the chip, but is locked out this time. His fury breaks down into sadness, and everything he kept bottled up about his brother's death comes to the surface. Baymax then shows Hiro some recorded footage of Tadashi, which documented his own creation and the setbacks along the way. By the time he was complete, Tadashi was overjoyed at his creation and the difference he'll make in people's lives. This brings Hiro back down to earth, and he apologizes to Baymax.
The others find Hiro at his home, Fred's butler having picked them up. They found some additional footage from the accident, revealing that the pilot lost was Callaghan's daughter, and all of Yokai's actions are motivated by revenge for what happened to her. The six regroup and head to the opening of a new Krei Tech facility, where Callaghan is set to use Krei's own gateway to destroy his new building and take him out. Attempts to talk him down fail, and the fighting resumes.
Realizing Yokai's supply of microbots is finite, the team then focuses on attacking them instead of going for the mask, each one figuring out a unique way to use their weapons. The microbots get sucked into the portal with everything else, until Yokai has run out of ammunition. Baymax picks up a life sign inside the portal, and they realize Callaghan's daughter must still be alive inside, albeit in stasis. Hiro hops on Baymax and they blast inside to retrieve her.
Inside what I can only assume is the Negative Zone, they find the shuttle and steer it towards the gateway. However, Baymax's armor is damaged and they seem trapped. Baymax attaches his rocket fist to the shuttle, and again requests deactivation. Hiro is, of course, resistant, but Baymax affirms that he is a health care companion, and Hiro is his patient, so his survival is his responsibility. Reluctantly, Hiro says he's satisfied with his care. Baymax begins to deflate as his armored fist propels Hiro and the shuttle to the portal. Callaghan's daughter is taken away in an ambulance while he is taken away in a police car. I thought he would smile at the sight of his daughter, but he never did, perhaps at the realization that because she's alive, his drive for revenge was meaningless.
Hiro returns home with Baymax's gauntlet, and discovers his health care chip inside the fist, giving him what he needs to rebuild his friend. In the wake of everything that happened, Hiro officially enrolls into the school (where Tadashi is given a memorial building), and the six continue their lives as superheroes.
After the credits, Fred is looking at his family portrait and discovers a secret room. His dad (portrayed by Stan Lee) then comes in behind him, revealing himself as a former superhero. They hug and seem to have a lot to talk about.
This movie really is the perfect blend of Marvel and Disney. The animation looks amazing, and the story has a lot of heart. It can really hit close to home if you've experienced the loss of a close friend or family member, and it handles that grief very realistically. Baymax is an adorable, wonderful character. It was really cool to see that each member of the team was smart in their own way. It was also great that there was very little conflict between them, aside from Hiro's own baggage about losing his brother. Honey Lemon and GoGo Tomago seem like characters who wouldn't like each other (or at least that GoGo would find Honey irritating). Their designs are complete opposites of one another. Honey's a tall blonde who loves bright colors, and GoGo's a shorter, black-haired girl with a bit more attitude. Nonetheless, they're still friends and it was a pleasant surprise they never argued once. Wasabi got the least exposure out of the group, but at least he has a distinct personality. Fred was another pleasant surprise, as he seemed like the one normal guy on a superhero team full of tech experts. But over time, he displays his own resourcefulness and is more than just the mascot.
I can definitely recommend this movie.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Feast
This cute little short precedes Big Hero 6. It's shown from the perspective of an adorable little dog named Winston after a man takes him in off the street. He loves food, as any dog would, and most of the short is a montage of him eating. Meal times, table scraps, and other things that happen to get spilled. Then suddenly his owner gets a girlfriend, and all of his meat, cheese and snacks are replaced by leafy greens, and Winston is none too happy about that. When she walks out on the man, the feasting resumes. However, one day, Winston notices how sad his owner has become, then runs out of the house with a piece of parsley to find the girl. What would seem like a chance encounter for these two gets them back together, and they get married. By the end, Winston is not only feasting on their table scraps, but the scraps dropped by their children as well.
Like Paperman, Feast uses 2.5D animation. It's made with a computer, but the cel-shading and character models mimic hand-drawn features. A few sounds aside, there's no dialogue, commonplace for this type of short, letting the visuals and actions tell the story, and does a wonderful job on all counts.
Like Paperman, Feast uses 2.5D animation. It's made with a computer, but the cel-shading and character models mimic hand-drawn features. A few sounds aside, there's no dialogue, commonplace for this type of short, letting the visuals and actions tell the story, and does a wonderful job on all counts.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Arrow- The Secret Origin Of Felicity Smoak
Last week, she made a guest appearance on The Flash. This week, she gets a whole episode focused on her character and back story. Back in college, she was going through a hacktivist goth phase, tapping into government databases just to see if she could. However, when her boyfriend at the time attempts to her super-virus technique to erase a few student loans, it gets him arrested. He takes the wrap for creating her program, and seemingly commits suicide in prison before his sentencing.
Flash forward to present day, and her mother is paying a visit to Starling City. She's the typical embarrassing parent following her daughter wherever she goes, and given her absurdly youthful and well-endowed appearance, has probably has some work done. Apparently, Felicity's father, who was also very intelligent, abandoned them both when she was younger. Some of the drama feels a bit out of left field, especially since Felicity's interaction with her mother begins comically. However, this may have been intentional. She had won a free plane trip to Starling City, because the bad guy needed her there.
As for the bad guy, it turns out to be Felicity's dead boyfriend. He was recruited by the NSA after his arrest, and his death was a cover story. Years later, he's turned Felicity's super-virus into Brother Eye, the name of a sentient satellite in DC Comics which provides the power source for the superhuman OMAC. His master plan was to steal a bank shipment set to arrive thanks to Brother Eye cutting power to the city earlier in the episode, and when bank records go dark, standard procedure is to send them a shipment of cold hard cash to tide it over (something like that). Under duress, Felicity uses Brother Eye to change the destination on the armored car's GPS, sending the bank to their location. Things don't look good for them, but then she remembers the watch Ray Palmer gave to her mom at the start of the episode--a new invention of his, that replaces your computer and has wifi. She uses it to get in touch with Oliver, who promptly shows up to save the day.
Meanwhile, Laurel is still working though her sister's death. She's taken up training with a boxer, and even confides in him about Sara's murder. It's good to see her open up to someone about this, but I really wish she'd tell her father. Captain Lance knows something's up, and I can't imagine how mad he's going to be at her for keeping this from him. Also, Ollie and Thea are beginning to reconnect. She has a place of her own, now that she's back in Starling, but Oliver has some issues that she bought it with Malcolm Merlyn's money, especially now that they both know he's alive. In the end, she decides not to keep her "inheritance", and give it to some earthquake relief charity, and seems to invite Oliver to move in with her. It's nice to see the Queen siblings work things out, and I'm hoping one of these days, as he's trying to be more honest with her, tell her that he's the Arrow.
The plot really thickens at the end with Roy Harper, who's having trouble sleeping. His nightmare seems to reveal that he's the one who killed the Canary. Worth noting is that he wasn't in costume, and instead of using a bow, he threw the arrows into Sara's chest with his bare hands. Could his subconscious still be under the influence of Mirakuru? It's been months since he was cured before Deathstroke's siege on the city. If there were any victims before or since Sara, Oliver probably would have heard about it by now. So we have some questions answered, and some new ones to ponder until next time.
Flash forward to present day, and her mother is paying a visit to Starling City. She's the typical embarrassing parent following her daughter wherever she goes, and given her absurdly youthful and well-endowed appearance, has probably has some work done. Apparently, Felicity's father, who was also very intelligent, abandoned them both when she was younger. Some of the drama feels a bit out of left field, especially since Felicity's interaction with her mother begins comically. However, this may have been intentional. She had won a free plane trip to Starling City, because the bad guy needed her there.
As for the bad guy, it turns out to be Felicity's dead boyfriend. He was recruited by the NSA after his arrest, and his death was a cover story. Years later, he's turned Felicity's super-virus into Brother Eye, the name of a sentient satellite in DC Comics which provides the power source for the superhuman OMAC. His master plan was to steal a bank shipment set to arrive thanks to Brother Eye cutting power to the city earlier in the episode, and when bank records go dark, standard procedure is to send them a shipment of cold hard cash to tide it over (something like that). Under duress, Felicity uses Brother Eye to change the destination on the armored car's GPS, sending the bank to their location. Things don't look good for them, but then she remembers the watch Ray Palmer gave to her mom at the start of the episode--a new invention of his, that replaces your computer and has wifi. She uses it to get in touch with Oliver, who promptly shows up to save the day.
Meanwhile, Laurel is still working though her sister's death. She's taken up training with a boxer, and even confides in him about Sara's murder. It's good to see her open up to someone about this, but I really wish she'd tell her father. Captain Lance knows something's up, and I can't imagine how mad he's going to be at her for keeping this from him. Also, Ollie and Thea are beginning to reconnect. She has a place of her own, now that she's back in Starling, but Oliver has some issues that she bought it with Malcolm Merlyn's money, especially now that they both know he's alive. In the end, she decides not to keep her "inheritance", and give it to some earthquake relief charity, and seems to invite Oliver to move in with her. It's nice to see the Queen siblings work things out, and I'm hoping one of these days, as he's trying to be more honest with her, tell her that he's the Arrow.
The plot really thickens at the end with Roy Harper, who's having trouble sleeping. His nightmare seems to reveal that he's the one who killed the Canary. Worth noting is that he wasn't in costume, and instead of using a bow, he threw the arrows into Sara's chest with his bare hands. Could his subconscious still be under the influence of Mirakuru? It's been months since he was cured before Deathstroke's siege on the city. If there were any victims before or since Sara, Oliver probably would have heard about it by now. So we have some questions answered, and some new ones to ponder until next time.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
The Flash- Going Rogue
This episode gets a few bonus points thanks to the presence of Felicity Smoak making a guest appearance, taking a break from her work with the Arrow to catch up Barry. The "previously on" segment at the start was a nice reminder of Barry's appearances on Arrow, as well as Cisco and Caitlin's cameo later on.
There was a good amount of chemistry between Felicity and Barry, and it was nice to see them catch up. It's unfortunate that they're both crushing on somebody else they can't have. (Felicity on Oliver, Barry on Iris.) I don't think it's impossible for them to hook up again, but even if they gave up on their unrequited loves, we can't expect Felicity to leave Starling City every other week (even if it is just a quick jog for Barry).
Joe's been a little on edge since he found out Eddie was dating his daughter. He's trying to adjust, but they're both cops in a city where crime is just going to get dangerous. It makes sense after he lost his partner in the first episode, and the idea that one of them might get hurt and cause Iris grief is not something he wants to live with. Nonetheless, Eddie's still a good cop and has Joe's back, even after he tried to keep him on the sidelines.
We're also introduced to Leonard Snart, Captain Cold. He's the first villain in the series who isn't a metahuman. His cold gun was an invention of Cisco's that was stolen from STAR Labs. Since they didn't know who Barry was at the time, Cisco built it to counter Barry's super speed, since friction and heat are impossible at absolute zero. This episode's also a first in that the villain gets away, without being killed or captured. Snart noticed the Flash's concern for civilians and used that to keep him busy, leading to an amazing rescue as Barry pulls people out of a crashing train as it barrel rolls.
Harrison Wells was seemingly absent during the stinger in this episode, but it did show how Snart's henchman obtained the cold gun. This might mean there's another person in STAR Labs who's collaborating with Wells in his attempt to ensure the Flash's existence. There's still a lot of questions that need to be answered about him. I'm looking forward to finding out what those answers are.
There was a good amount of chemistry between Felicity and Barry, and it was nice to see them catch up. It's unfortunate that they're both crushing on somebody else they can't have. (Felicity on Oliver, Barry on Iris.) I don't think it's impossible for them to hook up again, but even if they gave up on their unrequited loves, we can't expect Felicity to leave Starling City every other week (even if it is just a quick jog for Barry).
Joe's been a little on edge since he found out Eddie was dating his daughter. He's trying to adjust, but they're both cops in a city where crime is just going to get dangerous. It makes sense after he lost his partner in the first episode, and the idea that one of them might get hurt and cause Iris grief is not something he wants to live with. Nonetheless, Eddie's still a good cop and has Joe's back, even after he tried to keep him on the sidelines.
We're also introduced to Leonard Snart, Captain Cold. He's the first villain in the series who isn't a metahuman. His cold gun was an invention of Cisco's that was stolen from STAR Labs. Since they didn't know who Barry was at the time, Cisco built it to counter Barry's super speed, since friction and heat are impossible at absolute zero. This episode's also a first in that the villain gets away, without being killed or captured. Snart noticed the Flash's concern for civilians and used that to keep him busy, leading to an amazing rescue as Barry pulls people out of a crashing train as it barrel rolls.
Harrison Wells was seemingly absent during the stinger in this episode, but it did show how Snart's henchman obtained the cold gun. This might mean there's another person in STAR Labs who's collaborating with Wells in his attempt to ensure the Flash's existence. There's still a lot of questions that need to be answered about him. I'm looking forward to finding out what those answers are.
George A. Romero's Night Of The Living Dead LIVE
This Halloween, Dayton Playhouse debuted a stage adaptation and affectionate parody of the classic movie that defined the zombie genre of today. The play is made to resemble the monochrome of the original film. All of the costumes, props, and makeup are shades of black, white, and gray. The sets and costumes all look great, but honestly the makeup is a bit odd, since they did the actor's faces more than anything else. As such, their less made-up arms and hands stick out a bit, but this is a minor detail and easy enough to look over.
The first act is a fairly straightforward (albeit tongue-in-cheek) re-telling of the movie. A woman named Barbara flees for her life as the dead begin to rise and gets cooped up in a house with several strangers, all scared for their own lives. We have Ben, a competent and resourceful black man who does the most to survive; Harry and Helen Cooper, an irrational man and his wife trying to look after their bitten daughter Karen in the cellar; and teenagers Tom and Judy. While Ben tries to fortify the house and formulate an escape, Harry insists on keeping everyone in the cellar (the "safest place"), and Helen and Judy (same actress) take turns looking after Karen.
There's some nice gags throughout this part of the show. A couple that stood out to me were the scary music stopping once Barbara reaches the house. She opens the front door again, we hear the music, and she closes the door to stop it again. Then, we have Ben fortifying the house while the radio gives instructions and advice, syncing up with his actions. As with the movie, Judy and Tom blow up trying to get the truck to the gas pump, Ben finally shoots Harry when he gets out of hand, and the house is overrun when Barbara sees her brother Johnny among the horde. Ben is forced into the cellar, finding that Karen has turned and is chowing down on her parents, and he has to put all three of them down. He lasts until morning, when he's shot and killed by Vince, mistaken for a zombie. As Police Chief McClelland speculates how things might have played out if they'd just gone into the cellar, the first act ends.
The second act goes off on a tangent from the movie, proposing scenario after scenario in which the characters might have been able to survive, all of them end in failure. They include:
-Everyone goes into the cellar, only for things to turn south after Karen reanimates. Harry shoots everyone dead (except Barbara, who attempts to leave the cellar and gets eaten.) Harry survives until morning, but gets shot just like Ben would have.
-Ben is an all-American white instead of a black man, switching actors with McClelland. Tom and Harry more readily listen to him, but the women are put off by his misogynistic tendencies. The house is still overrun, but Ben survives until morning. He gets shot by McClelland for not accepting his authority.
-Barbara, Judy and Helen take charge instead of the men. Things start off okay, but Tom runs out to Judy only to get himself and Judy set on fire. The men all end up outside and eaten, while it's implied that Karen ends up eating Helen and Barbara.
-One member of the group decides to sacrifice themself for the sake of the others, only for each of them to sacrifice themselves one after the other.
-The characters attempt to mimic the zombies in an effort to blend in with them. It falls apart when they balk while trying to eat someone. Barbara, however, goes full-on quisling and attacks Ben.
-Barbara attempts to teach her undead brother Johnny to be human again.
-The characters are armed with enough firepower to take out the undead easily, but don't have the training to use their weapons and only end up shooting themselves. Barbara survives unscathed, but accidentally pulls the pin out of a grenade.
Vince and McClellan finally conclude that there was no possible way for them to survive, because there was no way they could set their differences aside and just work together as a team since we just don't live in that kind of world. A final scenario plays out, set to a rousing musical number, where they do just that; banding together to take out the zombies and hold out until morning...only to still get shot by the anti-zombie cavalry.
This was an excellent send-up of the movie, and a fun way to spend the evening, especially if you're a fan of the zombie genre. While the original is still a classic horror film, it's still a very dated movie, and a product of its time in some ways. This play does a wonderful job celebrating what was good about it, while making fun of everything else.
This particular version can still be seen on the weekends until November 9, 2014 at Dayton Playhouse.
The first act is a fairly straightforward (albeit tongue-in-cheek) re-telling of the movie. A woman named Barbara flees for her life as the dead begin to rise and gets cooped up in a house with several strangers, all scared for their own lives. We have Ben, a competent and resourceful black man who does the most to survive; Harry and Helen Cooper, an irrational man and his wife trying to look after their bitten daughter Karen in the cellar; and teenagers Tom and Judy. While Ben tries to fortify the house and formulate an escape, Harry insists on keeping everyone in the cellar (the "safest place"), and Helen and Judy (same actress) take turns looking after Karen.
There's some nice gags throughout this part of the show. A couple that stood out to me were the scary music stopping once Barbara reaches the house. She opens the front door again, we hear the music, and she closes the door to stop it again. Then, we have Ben fortifying the house while the radio gives instructions and advice, syncing up with his actions. As with the movie, Judy and Tom blow up trying to get the truck to the gas pump, Ben finally shoots Harry when he gets out of hand, and the house is overrun when Barbara sees her brother Johnny among the horde. Ben is forced into the cellar, finding that Karen has turned and is chowing down on her parents, and he has to put all three of them down. He lasts until morning, when he's shot and killed by Vince, mistaken for a zombie. As Police Chief McClelland speculates how things might have played out if they'd just gone into the cellar, the first act ends.
The second act goes off on a tangent from the movie, proposing scenario after scenario in which the characters might have been able to survive, all of them end in failure. They include:
-Everyone goes into the cellar, only for things to turn south after Karen reanimates. Harry shoots everyone dead (except Barbara, who attempts to leave the cellar and gets eaten.) Harry survives until morning, but gets shot just like Ben would have.
-Ben is an all-American white instead of a black man, switching actors with McClelland. Tom and Harry more readily listen to him, but the women are put off by his misogynistic tendencies. The house is still overrun, but Ben survives until morning. He gets shot by McClelland for not accepting his authority.
-Barbara, Judy and Helen take charge instead of the men. Things start off okay, but Tom runs out to Judy only to get himself and Judy set on fire. The men all end up outside and eaten, while it's implied that Karen ends up eating Helen and Barbara.
-One member of the group decides to sacrifice themself for the sake of the others, only for each of them to sacrifice themselves one after the other.
-The characters attempt to mimic the zombies in an effort to blend in with them. It falls apart when they balk while trying to eat someone. Barbara, however, goes full-on quisling and attacks Ben.
-Barbara attempts to teach her undead brother Johnny to be human again.
-The characters are armed with enough firepower to take out the undead easily, but don't have the training to use their weapons and only end up shooting themselves. Barbara survives unscathed, but accidentally pulls the pin out of a grenade.
Vince and McClellan finally conclude that there was no possible way for them to survive, because there was no way they could set their differences aside and just work together as a team since we just don't live in that kind of world. A final scenario plays out, set to a rousing musical number, where they do just that; banding together to take out the zombies and hold out until morning...only to still get shot by the anti-zombie cavalry.
This was an excellent send-up of the movie, and a fun way to spend the evening, especially if you're a fan of the zombie genre. While the original is still a classic horror film, it's still a very dated movie, and a product of its time in some ways. This play does a wonderful job celebrating what was good about it, while making fun of everything else.
This particular version can still be seen on the weekends until November 9, 2014 at Dayton Playhouse.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Gotham- Spirit Of The Goat
This was kind of a different episode. Most of the time, the series is about Detective Jim Gordon; the one good cop in a corrupt city. However, this episode focuses on his partner, dirty cop Harvey Bullock, and has some nice character development for him.
10 years before the series began, Bullock wasn't that different from Gordon, a more idealistic officer determined to bring criminals to justice. He and his partner successfully closed the case on a serial killer claiming to be the Spirit of the Goat, who targeted heiresses of Gotham's rich and elite. Cut to present day and there's a new killer who's modus operandi is the same as the Goat's, right down to a calling card left out of the police reports.
For once, Bullock is just as if not more determined to close a case than Gordon. We also see that he's been looking after his old partner, who was injured when they took down the original Goat. Bullock pays his rest home dues, and sends him dirty magazines regularly.
And in the end, Bullock solves the case himself (as Gordon gets arrested for Oswald Cobblepot's "murder"), and arrests the common link between the killers- their psychiatrist. She had been using hypnotism to implant the Spirit of the Goat into them in order to punish the 1%. It was really cool to see that Harvey actually is a good detective when driven, and still has some good cop in him, which made him one of the more interesting characters back in Batman: The Animated Series.
The episode also brings some of the series' plot points to a head. Gordon makes an effort to reconcile with Barbara and tell her some of what's happened since the Wayne murders. At the same time, Montoya and her partner in the Major Crimes Unit have enough evidence to bring Gordon in for Cobblepot's death, only for Penguin to show up at the police station alive and well. Bullock is furious at this revelation, and faces off with Gordon just as the episode ends. I get the impression that the show's going on a mid-season hiatus soon, and that the following episode should bring the Falcone vs. Maroni to a head as a gang war breaks out. Looking forward to it.
10 years before the series began, Bullock wasn't that different from Gordon, a more idealistic officer determined to bring criminals to justice. He and his partner successfully closed the case on a serial killer claiming to be the Spirit of the Goat, who targeted heiresses of Gotham's rich and elite. Cut to present day and there's a new killer who's modus operandi is the same as the Goat's, right down to a calling card left out of the police reports.
For once, Bullock is just as if not more determined to close a case than Gordon. We also see that he's been looking after his old partner, who was injured when they took down the original Goat. Bullock pays his rest home dues, and sends him dirty magazines regularly.
And in the end, Bullock solves the case himself (as Gordon gets arrested for Oswald Cobblepot's "murder"), and arrests the common link between the killers- their psychiatrist. She had been using hypnotism to implant the Spirit of the Goat into them in order to punish the 1%. It was really cool to see that Harvey actually is a good detective when driven, and still has some good cop in him, which made him one of the more interesting characters back in Batman: The Animated Series.
The episode also brings some of the series' plot points to a head. Gordon makes an effort to reconcile with Barbara and tell her some of what's happened since the Wayne murders. At the same time, Montoya and her partner in the Major Crimes Unit have enough evidence to bring Gordon in for Cobblepot's death, only for Penguin to show up at the police station alive and well. Bullock is furious at this revelation, and faces off with Gordon just as the episode ends. I get the impression that the show's going on a mid-season hiatus soon, and that the following episode should bring the Falcone vs. Maroni to a head as a gang war breaks out. Looking forward to it.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks
I'm probably in the minority of the MLP fandom as someone who enjoyed the first Equestria Girls movie, and like the general idea of our favorite pony characters being turned into humans. Even so, love it or hate it, there's really no denying that Rainbow Rocks is actually good and a genuine improvement over the original.
The story begins in a diner, where our three antagonists, the Dazzlings, are making the patrons argue and feeding off the negativity, which is absorbed into their ruby necklaces. They exposit briefly about having been banished here from Equestria, and witness from a distance the climax from the first film. Adagio Dazzle, the leader of the trio decides to set a plan in motion to replenish the power they once had and make the population of this world adore them.
Then we cut back to Canterlot High. We're not sure how much time has passed, but Sunset Shimmer has taken her reformation to heart. The rest of the school still hates her, but the Mane Cast has at least accepted her as one of their own. The school's getting ready for a musical showcase, and they've formed a band of their own called the Rainbooms. (Sunset seems content as a groupie, tho.) Whenever they play, they seem to "ponify" like they did in the first film, with pegasus wings, ponytail hair, and ears. (Why not pegasus horns too?) They sound great, but we already get some shades of conflict as Rainbow Dash seems to like to put herself in front and hog the spotlight. Flash Sentry pops in, hoping maybe Twilight Sparkle might be coming back for the showcase, but there seems to be no indication of that happening. Rarity makes a remark about his crush on Twilight, but then apologizes to Sunset, remembering that she's his ex-girlfriend. Sunset brushes it off, claiming she never really liked him, and was just using him for popularity back when she was evil. (It sounds strangely like denial.) Fluttershy offers a song for the band to sing, but Rainbow Dash shrugs it off, saying they'll get to it.
The Dazzlings have arrived at the school as new students, and Sunset offers to show them around, hoping to make a first impression before they learn too much about her past. Adagio and her comrades, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, seem a bit off to Sunset. As she tells the Rainbooms about them, the trio bursts into the cafeteria and sing a song to rouse the student body into turning the musical showcase into a Battle of the Bands. The great part of this scene is it's the complete opposite of the Help Twilight Win The Crown sequence from the first film. Again, we have a musical number rousing the Canterlot High schoolers to a cause. But instead of bonding everyone towards a common goal with their similarities, it drives them apart with the promise of a competition.
The Mane Six, unaffected by their magic, try to bring this to the attention of Principal Celestia, but she and Vice Principal Luna have already fallen under the Dazzlings' spell. Sunset then decides to send a message to Equestria for help, using a magic diary to send a letter to the Princess Celestia, hoping a message will get to Twilight Sparkle. We then cut to Ponyville and the new Castle Treehouse Playset, where the Mane Six ponies are residing in the throne room. Some books arrive for Twilight, presumably from Celestia, a copy of Sunset's diary among them.
Some quick research reveals that the Dazzlings are sirens; giant seahorses who use their magical songs to manipulate the minds of others and, as established, feed off their negative energy. In order to stop them, Starswirl the Bearded banished them to another realm. Realizing the threat they present, Twilight uses some scientific magic to modify the Crystal Mirror and reopen the portal to the human world. Applejack offers to go with her, but Twilight refuses, noting how strange it would be if two of everybody suddenly showed up in the other world. However, Spike the Dragon is still ready to accompany her.
Twilight (now human) and Spike (now a dog) arrive at Canterlot High and the Rainbooms go to a party for all the competitors. The negative emotions run high as nobody seems content to socialize, however Twilight does have a brief cute reunion with Flash Sentry. Though clearly in a competitive mood thanks to the Dazzlings, he was at least happy to see her in this first encounter. The Dazzlings show up, and the Rainbooms attempt to summon their Rainbow Power against the Dazzlings to undo the spell. Unfortunately, nothing happens. The group quickly exits, but not before Adagio realizes something's special about them, and that they might have the magic the Dazzlings are looking for.
The Rainbooms and Sunset realize there must be some connection between their Harmony Magic and their music, so Twilight will have to compose a counter-spell, join the band, and together they'd sing a song to brake the Dazzlings' spell over the students. Realizing that Twilight just stayed in the school library, Pinkie Pie invites her to a slumber party at her house. It's actually a nice moment of the girls just hanging out, and has some fun interactions between the characters. There's also a nice quiet scene between Sunset and Twilight.
The next day, the Rainbooms are at Applejack's trying out the counter-spell, which doesn't quite have the magic touch they were expecting. Since their song isn't ready yet, it means the Rainbooms will have to compete in the competition for real until it is.
They arrive at school and the competition begins. Under the Dazzlings' influence other students attempt to sabotage the Rainbooms during their performance. Photo Finish and her band use magnets to attract Rarity's sequin-heavy jacket. The great and powerful Trixie and her band point the spotlight on Fluttershy, and stage fright gets the better of her. The tension between the Mane Six themselves doesn't help things either. Nonetheless, they're able to move on in the competition.
Twilight bumps into Flash outside, and instead of the usual meet cute, he's abrasive and angry over how badly he wants to win, and how she just shows up for the sole purpose of competing. We realize he's not himself, but the scene is really heartbreaking to watch, and it's hard not to feel bad for Twilight during this.
Sunset confronts the Sirens in a poorly lit hallway, again reflecting a moment between her and Twilight from the first movie, with Sunset as the protagonist and the one being intimidated this time around. Adagio Dazzle plays with Sunset's insecurities, how the school will never truly accept her, and that even the Rainbooms don't really consider her one of them, hence why she's not in the band too.
We then get a montage of the Battle of the Bands, set to another song by the Dazzlings. In addition to being a really awesome song, it shows off some great cameos of other characters and their bands. Even as the Rainbooms advance, the montage also shows that Twilight still hasn't been able to get a counter-spell ready. By the time the montage is over, there's only three bands left: the Dazzlings, Trixie's group, and the Rainbooms.
The Battle of the Bands resumes after a performance by Trixie. It's cool to hear Trixie sing, and the song is pretty catchy. (The full version, however, is not heard in the movie.) With the counter-spell still not done, the Rainbooms need to make sure they're good to get into the finals. Rainbow Dash takes charge and insists that they play her song, Awesome As I Wanna Be. While a good entry to the soundtrack, the scene makes it pretty obvious that her band mates are pretty fed up with Dash's showboating. It goes so far, that her magic begins to manifest. Sunset notices, and in a panic, tackles Rainbow Dash off the stage, earning her further disdain from the student body. (Octavia knew she was still trouble.) The Mane Six think they're out for sure, but the Dazzlings sing for Celestia and Luna, ensuring the Rainboom's place in the finals.
The finals take place at an outdoor auditorium. Having been snubbed in the last round, the great and powerful Trixie rigs the stage so the Rainbooms fall through a trap door into the locked basement under the stage, giving her the chance to perform again. The Mane Cast's conflicts come to a head; Rarity's obsession with costumes, Rainbow Dash's showboating, Twilight's failure to write a counter-spell, and Fluttershy's song being overlooked by the band the whole time. The argument is enough for the Rainbooms to finally succumb to the Dazzlings' magic, who absorb their negativity and even some of their Friendship Magic.
Sunset Shimmer's been watching all of this as an outsider for a while now, and finally steps in to put a stop to the finally steps in to help her friends. In the end, the Rainbooms decide to use the song Fluttershy wrote as the counter-spell, but first they have to get out of the cellar. Fortunately, Spike shows up alongside DJ-P0N3. Vinyl Scratch has been in the background with her headphones on the whole film, and was thus unaffected by the Sirens' spell.
The final confrontation is nothing short of a spectacle. The Dazzlings sing another song, feeding on their absorbed power and the adoration of their audience to ponify like the Rainbooms, albeit with thinner, more sinister wings. The Rainbooms counter with their own music, with a little help from Vinyl and her car/bass cannon. Still, at first the Sirens can still overpower the Mane Six. But then, Sunset Shimmer steps up, adding her own voice to the Rainbooms, and ponifying like the others. This is strong enough to create a giant alicorn aura, which manages to defeat the Dazzlings' own manifestations of their Equestrian selves. Their necklaces are shattered, destroying their singing voices and rendering them powerless. The trio retreat and their spell over the students is broken. Flash Sentry is back to his old self, but before he and Twilight can kiss and make up, Trixie pops in out of nowhere and ruins the mood.
And so once again, the day is saved. Twilight bids a heartfelt farewell to her friends. Sunset promises to use the diary to write to her about what happens from now on, now feeling like a true part of the Mane Six/Seven. Twilight Sparkle goes through the portal back to Equestria, and it seems like the movie's over.
Then, after the credits we cut to...Twilight Sparkle? It seems she has a human counterpart after all, who's been keeping track of the magical occurrences that have happened in the films, which teases the possibility/inevitability of a third and final (?) entry in the film franchises.
Rainbow Rocks is definitely a strong entry for Equestria Girls and MLP as a whole. While the animation in the first film looked good already, here the human characters look much more polished. The shorts preceding the movie were probably some good practice for the crew in between films. It also sports some new and eye-catching character designs, specifically the Sirens/Dazzlings, and the sequence revealing their backstory is a cool return to the storybook illustrations from Friendship Is Magic's premiere episode. The music in the first film was fun enough, but in the songs in this one are much more fun and easier to listen to. While the Dazzlings' designs are eyecatching, their characters could have been fleshed out a bit more. Adagio's the mean one in charge, Aria Blaze is the snarky one, and Sonata Dusk is the oddly loveable ditz. Unlike Sunset Shimmer, they're given no offer of redemption after their defeat and it's unlikely they'll be seen in a third film. As for Sunset herself, I was happy the movie focused so heavily on her. It was nice to see her reform stick and finally earn her place among the Mane Cast. I can certainly recommend this movie to its fanbase and target audience, and to anyone else curious about My Little Pony and Equestria Girls. You might just be surprised how enjoyable it really is.
The story begins in a diner, where our three antagonists, the Dazzlings, are making the patrons argue and feeding off the negativity, which is absorbed into their ruby necklaces. They exposit briefly about having been banished here from Equestria, and witness from a distance the climax from the first film. Adagio Dazzle, the leader of the trio decides to set a plan in motion to replenish the power they once had and make the population of this world adore them.
Then we cut back to Canterlot High. We're not sure how much time has passed, but Sunset Shimmer has taken her reformation to heart. The rest of the school still hates her, but the Mane Cast has at least accepted her as one of their own. The school's getting ready for a musical showcase, and they've formed a band of their own called the Rainbooms. (Sunset seems content as a groupie, tho.) Whenever they play, they seem to "ponify" like they did in the first film, with pegasus wings, ponytail hair, and ears. (Why not pegasus horns too?) They sound great, but we already get some shades of conflict as Rainbow Dash seems to like to put herself in front and hog the spotlight. Flash Sentry pops in, hoping maybe Twilight Sparkle might be coming back for the showcase, but there seems to be no indication of that happening. Rarity makes a remark about his crush on Twilight, but then apologizes to Sunset, remembering that she's his ex-girlfriend. Sunset brushes it off, claiming she never really liked him, and was just using him for popularity back when she was evil. (It sounds strangely like denial.) Fluttershy offers a song for the band to sing, but Rainbow Dash shrugs it off, saying they'll get to it.
The Dazzlings have arrived at the school as new students, and Sunset offers to show them around, hoping to make a first impression before they learn too much about her past. Adagio and her comrades, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, seem a bit off to Sunset. As she tells the Rainbooms about them, the trio bursts into the cafeteria and sing a song to rouse the student body into turning the musical showcase into a Battle of the Bands. The great part of this scene is it's the complete opposite of the Help Twilight Win The Crown sequence from the first film. Again, we have a musical number rousing the Canterlot High schoolers to a cause. But instead of bonding everyone towards a common goal with their similarities, it drives them apart with the promise of a competition.
The Mane Six, unaffected by their magic, try to bring this to the attention of Principal Celestia, but she and Vice Principal Luna have already fallen under the Dazzlings' spell. Sunset then decides to send a message to Equestria for help, using a magic diary to send a letter to the Princess Celestia, hoping a message will get to Twilight Sparkle. We then cut to Ponyville and the new Castle Treehouse Playset, where the Mane Six ponies are residing in the throne room. Some books arrive for Twilight, presumably from Celestia, a copy of Sunset's diary among them.
Some quick research reveals that the Dazzlings are sirens; giant seahorses who use their magical songs to manipulate the minds of others and, as established, feed off their negative energy. In order to stop them, Starswirl the Bearded banished them to another realm. Realizing the threat they present, Twilight uses some scientific magic to modify the Crystal Mirror and reopen the portal to the human world. Applejack offers to go with her, but Twilight refuses, noting how strange it would be if two of everybody suddenly showed up in the other world. However, Spike the Dragon is still ready to accompany her.
Twilight (now human) and Spike (now a dog) arrive at Canterlot High and the Rainbooms go to a party for all the competitors. The negative emotions run high as nobody seems content to socialize, however Twilight does have a brief cute reunion with Flash Sentry. Though clearly in a competitive mood thanks to the Dazzlings, he was at least happy to see her in this first encounter. The Dazzlings show up, and the Rainbooms attempt to summon their Rainbow Power against the Dazzlings to undo the spell. Unfortunately, nothing happens. The group quickly exits, but not before Adagio realizes something's special about them, and that they might have the magic the Dazzlings are looking for.
The Rainbooms and Sunset realize there must be some connection between their Harmony Magic and their music, so Twilight will have to compose a counter-spell, join the band, and together they'd sing a song to brake the Dazzlings' spell over the students. Realizing that Twilight just stayed in the school library, Pinkie Pie invites her to a slumber party at her house. It's actually a nice moment of the girls just hanging out, and has some fun interactions between the characters. There's also a nice quiet scene between Sunset and Twilight.
The next day, the Rainbooms are at Applejack's trying out the counter-spell, which doesn't quite have the magic touch they were expecting. Since their song isn't ready yet, it means the Rainbooms will have to compete in the competition for real until it is.
They arrive at school and the competition begins. Under the Dazzlings' influence other students attempt to sabotage the Rainbooms during their performance. Photo Finish and her band use magnets to attract Rarity's sequin-heavy jacket. The great and powerful Trixie and her band point the spotlight on Fluttershy, and stage fright gets the better of her. The tension between the Mane Six themselves doesn't help things either. Nonetheless, they're able to move on in the competition.
Twilight bumps into Flash outside, and instead of the usual meet cute, he's abrasive and angry over how badly he wants to win, and how she just shows up for the sole purpose of competing. We realize he's not himself, but the scene is really heartbreaking to watch, and it's hard not to feel bad for Twilight during this.
Sunset confronts the Sirens in a poorly lit hallway, again reflecting a moment between her and Twilight from the first movie, with Sunset as the protagonist and the one being intimidated this time around. Adagio Dazzle plays with Sunset's insecurities, how the school will never truly accept her, and that even the Rainbooms don't really consider her one of them, hence why she's not in the band too.
We then get a montage of the Battle of the Bands, set to another song by the Dazzlings. In addition to being a really awesome song, it shows off some great cameos of other characters and their bands. Even as the Rainbooms advance, the montage also shows that Twilight still hasn't been able to get a counter-spell ready. By the time the montage is over, there's only three bands left: the Dazzlings, Trixie's group, and the Rainbooms.
The Battle of the Bands resumes after a performance by Trixie. It's cool to hear Trixie sing, and the song is pretty catchy. (The full version, however, is not heard in the movie.) With the counter-spell still not done, the Rainbooms need to make sure they're good to get into the finals. Rainbow Dash takes charge and insists that they play her song, Awesome As I Wanna Be. While a good entry to the soundtrack, the scene makes it pretty obvious that her band mates are pretty fed up with Dash's showboating. It goes so far, that her magic begins to manifest. Sunset notices, and in a panic, tackles Rainbow Dash off the stage, earning her further disdain from the student body. (Octavia knew she was still trouble.) The Mane Six think they're out for sure, but the Dazzlings sing for Celestia and Luna, ensuring the Rainboom's place in the finals.
The finals take place at an outdoor auditorium. Having been snubbed in the last round, the great and powerful Trixie rigs the stage so the Rainbooms fall through a trap door into the locked basement under the stage, giving her the chance to perform again. The Mane Cast's conflicts come to a head; Rarity's obsession with costumes, Rainbow Dash's showboating, Twilight's failure to write a counter-spell, and Fluttershy's song being overlooked by the band the whole time. The argument is enough for the Rainbooms to finally succumb to the Dazzlings' magic, who absorb their negativity and even some of their Friendship Magic.
Sunset Shimmer's been watching all of this as an outsider for a while now, and finally steps in to put a stop to the finally steps in to help her friends. In the end, the Rainbooms decide to use the song Fluttershy wrote as the counter-spell, but first they have to get out of the cellar. Fortunately, Spike shows up alongside DJ-P0N3. Vinyl Scratch has been in the background with her headphones on the whole film, and was thus unaffected by the Sirens' spell.
The final confrontation is nothing short of a spectacle. The Dazzlings sing another song, feeding on their absorbed power and the adoration of their audience to ponify like the Rainbooms, albeit with thinner, more sinister wings. The Rainbooms counter with their own music, with a little help from Vinyl and her car/bass cannon. Still, at first the Sirens can still overpower the Mane Six. But then, Sunset Shimmer steps up, adding her own voice to the Rainbooms, and ponifying like the others. This is strong enough to create a giant alicorn aura, which manages to defeat the Dazzlings' own manifestations of their Equestrian selves. Their necklaces are shattered, destroying their singing voices and rendering them powerless. The trio retreat and their spell over the students is broken. Flash Sentry is back to his old self, but before he and Twilight can kiss and make up, Trixie pops in out of nowhere and ruins the mood.
And so once again, the day is saved. Twilight bids a heartfelt farewell to her friends. Sunset promises to use the diary to write to her about what happens from now on, now feeling like a true part of the Mane Six/Seven. Twilight Sparkle goes through the portal back to Equestria, and it seems like the movie's over.
Then, after the credits we cut to...Twilight Sparkle? It seems she has a human counterpart after all, who's been keeping track of the magical occurrences that have happened in the films, which teases the possibility/inevitability of a third and final (?) entry in the film franchises.
Rainbow Rocks is definitely a strong entry for Equestria Girls and MLP as a whole. While the animation in the first film looked good already, here the human characters look much more polished. The shorts preceding the movie were probably some good practice for the crew in between films. It also sports some new and eye-catching character designs, specifically the Sirens/Dazzlings, and the sequence revealing their backstory is a cool return to the storybook illustrations from Friendship Is Magic's premiere episode. The music in the first film was fun enough, but in the songs in this one are much more fun and easier to listen to. While the Dazzlings' designs are eyecatching, their characters could have been fleshed out a bit more. Adagio's the mean one in charge, Aria Blaze is the snarky one, and Sonata Dusk is the oddly loveable ditz. Unlike Sunset Shimmer, they're given no offer of redemption after their defeat and it's unlikely they'll be seen in a third film. As for Sunset herself, I was happy the movie focused so heavily on her. It was nice to see her reform stick and finally earn her place among the Mane Cast. I can certainly recommend this movie to its fanbase and target audience, and to anyone else curious about My Little Pony and Equestria Girls. You might just be surprised how enjoyable it really is.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Star Wars Rebels- Droids In Distress
This is the first regular half-hour episode of the series. The crew of the Ghost are running a bit behind on money and resources, so they agree to pull another arms "redistribution" job for Vizago. They board a transport at a waystation where an alien Amda Wabo is accompanied by an Imperial Minister Maketh Tua. She doesn't speak Basic (English), so everyone's favorite translator C-3PO and his counterpart R2-D2 are along for the ride. Chopper, however, causes a disturbance to get all three droids sent to the cargo area. Sabine apparently speaks Angulish and provides the docking bay where Wabo's shipment is being kept. As she escorts the alien there, the Rebels head to the actual docking bay. Ezra goes via rooftop, practicing his Force jumps. It's stated during this episode that Kanan hasn't given him any proper Jedi training yet, despite an unknown amount of time having past between this episode and the pilot film.
The Imperials quickly figure out that they're in the wrong place and head toward the correct docking bay, Chopper unsuccessfully providing a distraction. The Rebels find out what kind of weapons they're smuggling: D-17 Disruptors, which Zeb is visibly distressed by. Stormtroopers arrive at their docking bay and a scuffle ensues. The Ghost crew escape with the blasters, as well as R2 and 3PO. Zeb is thinking they shouldn't go through with the job, clearly having some issues with this type of weapon. Translating for R2, 3PO informs Kanan that they were actually on a mission to make sure the disruptors don't reach the Empire, and would be willing to pay for them. Kanan decides to consider it, but follow through on their word to Vizago anyway. 3PO then sends a distress signal to Imperial Agent Kallus, who tracks their position.
On the way to Lothal, Hera tells Ezra about the history of Zeb and those blasters, which were used against by the Empire against the Lasat people nearly to the point of wiping them out. They still deliver as planned, but Vizago spots the Imperials coming their way and leaves with half the shipment, skipping on payment. As a fight ensues, Kanan decides the remaining blasters need to be destroyed. At R2's suggestion, Sabine overloads the crates and sends them towards the Imperials, taking out several Stormtroopers and a couple walkers. Zeb ends up face to face with Kallus, wielding the same kind of weapon Zeb carries, an apparent staple of Lasat warriors. Kallus reveals himself as the one who ordered the D-17s used against Lasan and having killed a Lasat to get the weapon. Kallus overpowers Zeb, but before he can deliver a finishing strike, Ezra uses the Force to push Kallus against the wall. The Rebels escape, Kanan agreeing to formally start Ezra's training.
Kanan safely returns R2-D2 and C-3PO to Senator Bail Organa, who gratefully pays for their return but doesn't mention who he is. After Kanan is gone and 3PO has moved off-screen, Organa asks R2 to tell him about the Rebels.
This episode was a lot of fun, and the presence of R2 and 3PO certainly helps. Anthony Daniels is back, and it's hard to imagine anyone else voicing the character. There's some nice homages in this one. Zeb and Chopper are supposedly based on initial concept designs for Chewbacca and R2-D2 respectively. A further nod to this is seen when Chopper is in the cargo hold with 3PO and R2, and there's another more humanoid droid there, who some might recognize as the old concept design for C-3PO. Also, the droid piloting the transport appears to be based off the pilot for the Star Tours ride at Disney World. The episode does a good job subtly developing Ezra and more obviously developing Zeb. It also confirms Bail Organa's connection the the Rebellion. Its shorter run time and faster pace will probably make this episode an easier starter for Disney XD's target audience, and the fact that it's enjoyable on its own certainly doesn't hurt.
The Imperials quickly figure out that they're in the wrong place and head toward the correct docking bay, Chopper unsuccessfully providing a distraction. The Rebels find out what kind of weapons they're smuggling: D-17 Disruptors, which Zeb is visibly distressed by. Stormtroopers arrive at their docking bay and a scuffle ensues. The Ghost crew escape with the blasters, as well as R2 and 3PO. Zeb is thinking they shouldn't go through with the job, clearly having some issues with this type of weapon. Translating for R2, 3PO informs Kanan that they were actually on a mission to make sure the disruptors don't reach the Empire, and would be willing to pay for them. Kanan decides to consider it, but follow through on their word to Vizago anyway. 3PO then sends a distress signal to Imperial Agent Kallus, who tracks their position.
On the way to Lothal, Hera tells Ezra about the history of Zeb and those blasters, which were used against by the Empire against the Lasat people nearly to the point of wiping them out. They still deliver as planned, but Vizago spots the Imperials coming their way and leaves with half the shipment, skipping on payment. As a fight ensues, Kanan decides the remaining blasters need to be destroyed. At R2's suggestion, Sabine overloads the crates and sends them towards the Imperials, taking out several Stormtroopers and a couple walkers. Zeb ends up face to face with Kallus, wielding the same kind of weapon Zeb carries, an apparent staple of Lasat warriors. Kallus reveals himself as the one who ordered the D-17s used against Lasan and having killed a Lasat to get the weapon. Kallus overpowers Zeb, but before he can deliver a finishing strike, Ezra uses the Force to push Kallus against the wall. The Rebels escape, Kanan agreeing to formally start Ezra's training.
Kanan safely returns R2-D2 and C-3PO to Senator Bail Organa, who gratefully pays for their return but doesn't mention who he is. After Kanan is gone and 3PO has moved off-screen, Organa asks R2 to tell him about the Rebels.
This episode was a lot of fun, and the presence of R2 and 3PO certainly helps. Anthony Daniels is back, and it's hard to imagine anyone else voicing the character. There's some nice homages in this one. Zeb and Chopper are supposedly based on initial concept designs for Chewbacca and R2-D2 respectively. A further nod to this is seen when Chopper is in the cargo hold with 3PO and R2, and there's another more humanoid droid there, who some might recognize as the old concept design for C-3PO. Also, the droid piloting the transport appears to be based off the pilot for the Star Tours ride at Disney World. The episode does a good job subtly developing Ezra and more obviously developing Zeb. It also confirms Bail Organa's connection the the Rebellion. Its shorter run time and faster pace will probably make this episode an easier starter for Disney XD's target audience, and the fact that it's enjoyable on its own certainly doesn't hurt.
Monday, October 13, 2014
The Walking Dead- No Sanctuary
This premiere was rather surprising. After the group's arrival at Terminus, we were convinced they were going to spend the whole season there, fighting off the cannibals inside and the zombies outside. The "Termites", as Talking Dead called them, are incredibly unsettling. Our main characters are forced into a room and knelt over a trough with a few other people. One by one, the Termite butchers whack these people on the head and slit their throats, letting the blood drain out of them. That alone is unnerving, but what's really scary is just how nonchalant these people are about the process. It's all a routine to them. Gareth supervises with an irritating calm. Bob pleads with him and tries to tell him about Eugene, who allegedly knows how to stop the zombie plague and needs to get to Washington. Gareth doesn't care.
Meanwhile, Tyreese and Carol are on their way to Terminus and end up surrounded by zombies. They get off the railroad tracks and hide in the woods until gunfire attracts the horde's attention. Once the walkers are gone, the two (three when you count baby Judith) continue after them at a safe distance. They then come across a Termite who's in communication with Terminus on a walky talky. They overhear him mention a "girl with a sword" and a "kid with a hat", immediately realizing they're talking about Michonne and Carl. They subdue the man, Tyreese staying with him and the baby, while Carol embarks on a rescue mission. Covering herself with zombie guts, she blends in with the walkers and makes her way to Terminus.
On her arrival, she witnesses Rick and others being taken out of the boxcar and taken away for the slaughter, while at the same time, others try to fend off the horde. Noticing a gas tank by the fence, Carol shoots a hole in it, and then sends a firecracker straight for it. A large hole is blown in the fence, allowing flaming zombies to get into Terminus. Rick, Glenn, and Darryl are able to use this commotion to kill the butchers and escape. They grab some weapons and make their way back to the boxcar.
Meanwhile, zombies begin to surround the cabin where Tyreese and the Termite are. The Termite frees himself and gets his hands around Judith's neck, forcing Tyreese to go outside and face the walkers.
Back at Terminus, the group is getting ready to make a break for it. When asked repeatedly about the zombie cure, Eugene admits a theory about using another virus to kill the plague, and it seems to make sense. Rick gets them out and they fight through the zombies with makeshift weapons they put together in the boxcar.
Carol grabs a couple weapons making her way through Terminus and inside the bizarre candle shrine, is confronted by Mary, who tries to explain how Terminus began as the sanctuary they claim to be, but they let the wrong people in, and had to adapt to ensure their own survival. Carol's not having any of that, shoots her leg and opens the exit, leaving her to be eaten by walkers while she just slinks out.
Tyreese, after having successfully fought off the zombies, bursts back into the cabin and beats the Termite senseless and kills him, saving Judith. It's an important moment because Tyreese was apparently hesitant to kill even a single walker at the beginning of the episode, still shaken up from their experience towards the end of the last season.
After their escape, Rick digs up the bag of weapons he hid in the last season's finale. He's prepared to go back to Terminus and put all the Termites down, avenge all the people they've eaten. The others, however, are quick to talk him down. They just escaped and the place is on fire and overrun with walkers. He reluctantly concedes, and then Carol reveals herself, leading to some scenes I had been waiting for. Daryl runs up to Carol and gives her a big hug, and Rick realizes how she helped them escape by starting the fire. He hugs her too, and seems to have forgiven her for what happened to Karen and David. She then leads them all back to the cabin. Rick immediately runs to Tyreese and takes Judith in his arms, he and Carl so amazingly relieved to see her alive. This moment rivals Rick's reunion with Carl and Laurie back in the first season. All together now, the group sets off again, Rick vandalizing the Terminus sign so that it now reads NO SANCTUARY before they all walk away.
This was a very satisfying premiere. There are still a few loose ends in the story, however. Gareth isn't shown dying on-screen, which might indicate he'll resurface later this season. The characters may be out of Terminus, but considering what it used to be and the short flashbacks we're shown for the people who lived there, their story might still be told. One of the biggest loose ends is Beth, who was separated from Darryl last season and abducted. Many assumed she was at Terminus, and might even be dead. Her name is still in the opening titles, which would seem to indicate she is alive for the moment, which was a small relief, as we still don't know where she is. There is a neat surprise at the end after the credits, revealing that Morgan had been making his way to Terminus, but stops when he sees the NO SANCTUARY sign. He then sees an X on a tree and heads in that direction instead. It is likely only a matter of time before he runs into Rick again. And since Terminus isn't the setting for the season, it looks like the group is going to be on the move for a while instead of settling in one location all year, which should make story lines more unpredictable. Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to it.
Meanwhile, Tyreese and Carol are on their way to Terminus and end up surrounded by zombies. They get off the railroad tracks and hide in the woods until gunfire attracts the horde's attention. Once the walkers are gone, the two (three when you count baby Judith) continue after them at a safe distance. They then come across a Termite who's in communication with Terminus on a walky talky. They overhear him mention a "girl with a sword" and a "kid with a hat", immediately realizing they're talking about Michonne and Carl. They subdue the man, Tyreese staying with him and the baby, while Carol embarks on a rescue mission. Covering herself with zombie guts, she blends in with the walkers and makes her way to Terminus.
On her arrival, she witnesses Rick and others being taken out of the boxcar and taken away for the slaughter, while at the same time, others try to fend off the horde. Noticing a gas tank by the fence, Carol shoots a hole in it, and then sends a firecracker straight for it. A large hole is blown in the fence, allowing flaming zombies to get into Terminus. Rick, Glenn, and Darryl are able to use this commotion to kill the butchers and escape. They grab some weapons and make their way back to the boxcar.
Meanwhile, zombies begin to surround the cabin where Tyreese and the Termite are. The Termite frees himself and gets his hands around Judith's neck, forcing Tyreese to go outside and face the walkers.
Back at Terminus, the group is getting ready to make a break for it. When asked repeatedly about the zombie cure, Eugene admits a theory about using another virus to kill the plague, and it seems to make sense. Rick gets them out and they fight through the zombies with makeshift weapons they put together in the boxcar.
Carol grabs a couple weapons making her way through Terminus and inside the bizarre candle shrine, is confronted by Mary, who tries to explain how Terminus began as the sanctuary they claim to be, but they let the wrong people in, and had to adapt to ensure their own survival. Carol's not having any of that, shoots her leg and opens the exit, leaving her to be eaten by walkers while she just slinks out.
Tyreese, after having successfully fought off the zombies, bursts back into the cabin and beats the Termite senseless and kills him, saving Judith. It's an important moment because Tyreese was apparently hesitant to kill even a single walker at the beginning of the episode, still shaken up from their experience towards the end of the last season.
After their escape, Rick digs up the bag of weapons he hid in the last season's finale. He's prepared to go back to Terminus and put all the Termites down, avenge all the people they've eaten. The others, however, are quick to talk him down. They just escaped and the place is on fire and overrun with walkers. He reluctantly concedes, and then Carol reveals herself, leading to some scenes I had been waiting for. Daryl runs up to Carol and gives her a big hug, and Rick realizes how she helped them escape by starting the fire. He hugs her too, and seems to have forgiven her for what happened to Karen and David. She then leads them all back to the cabin. Rick immediately runs to Tyreese and takes Judith in his arms, he and Carl so amazingly relieved to see her alive. This moment rivals Rick's reunion with Carl and Laurie back in the first season. All together now, the group sets off again, Rick vandalizing the Terminus sign so that it now reads NO SANCTUARY before they all walk away.
This was a very satisfying premiere. There are still a few loose ends in the story, however. Gareth isn't shown dying on-screen, which might indicate he'll resurface later this season. The characters may be out of Terminus, but considering what it used to be and the short flashbacks we're shown for the people who lived there, their story might still be told. One of the biggest loose ends is Beth, who was separated from Darryl last season and abducted. Many assumed she was at Terminus, and might even be dead. Her name is still in the opening titles, which would seem to indicate she is alive for the moment, which was a small relief, as we still don't know where she is. There is a neat surprise at the end after the credits, revealing that Morgan had been making his way to Terminus, but stops when he sees the NO SANCTUARY sign. He then sees an X on a tree and heads in that direction instead. It is likely only a matter of time before he runs into Rick again. And since Terminus isn't the setting for the season, it looks like the group is going to be on the move for a while instead of settling in one location all year, which should make story lines more unpredictable. Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to it.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Arrow- The Calm
This third season premiere shakes things up quite a bit. Most good, some unfortunate. The title card has been updated, showing a shinier more decorated arrowhead. Roy Harper is finally wearing his own costume and it looks good. Not sure yet if we're calling him Speedy, Arsenal, or still just Roy. Detective Lance, after his collapse at the end of last season, is fortunately still alive and promoted to Police Captain, and announces that his department is now going to work with the Arrow instead of trying to apprehend him. A very welcome change of pace are the flashbacks, which have moved off the island and into Hong Kong, where Amanda Waller was holding Oliver hostage and needed him to work for her, for reasons not yet determined.
For a while, it appears things might get serious between Oliver and personal favorite character Felicity Smoak. However, a rocked propelled grenade into the restaurant they were eating at puts a damper on that. In Ollie's attempt to get his family's company back, we're introduced to Ray Palmer, a handsome and tech savvy entrepreneur with a competitive bid, and a plan not only to save Queen Consolidated, but Star(ling) City as well. The experience at the restaurant, as well as a run-in with the new Count Vertigo, seems to convince Oliver to concede. And while Oliver decides against pursuing a relationship with Felicity, he at least lets her know he loves her.
Soldier turned bodyguard turned crime-fighting partner John Diggle becomes a father in this episode, and after what happened in the first two episodes of Bones, I'm relieved to see that this subplot went off without a hitch. Sure, Diggle objects at first to being taken out of the field, but concedes to it the moment he looks at his little girl. He seemed like the most obvious character death with that kind of set-up, and that was a relieving subversion.
Sarah Lance, the (Black) Canary came back in town for reasons not quite determined. She helps the Arrow and 'Speedy' stop a bomb from blowing up a wrestling match and dispatch the new Count, then has a candid discussion with Oliver that "we aren't our masks and we need people who don't wear them". Ollie doesn't quite let that sink in the way we thought. The episode ends in a startling way. After a quick talk with Laurel, Canary is shot multiple times in the chest with black arrows, and then falls dead into the alley right in front of her sister.
Barry Allen also gets a cameo, having woken up from his coma and wanting to talk, setting up for their shared scene in the Flash pilot, which re-aired after this episode.
The answer to who killed Sarah is most likely Malcolm Merlyn. However, it's unlikely that our heroes will reach this conclusion right away, considering his "death" in the first season finale, and the only people aware of his return are Moira Queen (deceased) and Thea Queen-Merlyn (who was not in this episode, but at least seems to still be in contact with Oliver and/or Roy). Does this mean that Dinah Laurel Lance will become Black Canary in future episodes? Since the killer used arrows, does she think that Oliver did it? I'm looking forward to finding the answers out as the story progresses.
For a while, it appears things might get serious between Oliver and personal favorite character Felicity Smoak. However, a rocked propelled grenade into the restaurant they were eating at puts a damper on that. In Ollie's attempt to get his family's company back, we're introduced to Ray Palmer, a handsome and tech savvy entrepreneur with a competitive bid, and a plan not only to save Queen Consolidated, but Star(ling) City as well. The experience at the restaurant, as well as a run-in with the new Count Vertigo, seems to convince Oliver to concede. And while Oliver decides against pursuing a relationship with Felicity, he at least lets her know he loves her.
Soldier turned bodyguard turned crime-fighting partner John Diggle becomes a father in this episode, and after what happened in the first two episodes of Bones, I'm relieved to see that this subplot went off without a hitch. Sure, Diggle objects at first to being taken out of the field, but concedes to it the moment he looks at his little girl. He seemed like the most obvious character death with that kind of set-up, and that was a relieving subversion.
Sarah Lance, the (Black) Canary came back in town for reasons not quite determined. She helps the Arrow and 'Speedy' stop a bomb from blowing up a wrestling match and dispatch the new Count, then has a candid discussion with Oliver that "we aren't our masks and we need people who don't wear them". Ollie doesn't quite let that sink in the way we thought. The episode ends in a startling way. After a quick talk with Laurel, Canary is shot multiple times in the chest with black arrows, and then falls dead into the alley right in front of her sister.
Barry Allen also gets a cameo, having woken up from his coma and wanting to talk, setting up for their shared scene in the Flash pilot, which re-aired after this episode.
The answer to who killed Sarah is most likely Malcolm Merlyn. However, it's unlikely that our heroes will reach this conclusion right away, considering his "death" in the first season finale, and the only people aware of his return are Moira Queen (deceased) and Thea Queen-Merlyn (who was not in this episode, but at least seems to still be in contact with Oliver and/or Roy). Does this mean that Dinah Laurel Lance will become Black Canary in future episodes? Since the killer used arrows, does she think that Oliver did it? I'm looking forward to finding the answers out as the story progresses.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
The Flash premiere
When Barry Allen was just a child, he witnessed the unexplainable murder of his mother. She was trapped in the middle of a yellow-red blur of lightning and presumably suffocated. In the middle of the lightning Barry saw a man in yellow. Sadly, nobody believed Barry's story, his father was blamed for her death, and the boy lived with his childhood friend Iris and her police detective father Joe West ever since.
Years later, determined to find an explanation for those events, Barry works with the police as a forensics analyst under Joe. He's good at his job, but can't quite get where he needs to be on time. Based on a cow patty and tire tracks left at the scene of a hit and run, he figures out the type of vehicle it was and the farm it came from. With some arm-twisting from Iris, Joe is convinced this is enough to let Barry leave early so they can both go the unveiling of a Particle Accelerator at STAR Labs, while Joe and his partner follow up on the leads. We're also introduced to another police officer, Eddie Thawne; he's a good cop but a bit on the smug side.
Barry returns to work in his lab, while it's raining outside. Joe has tracked down the assailants from before, and his partner is shot while they try to get away in a plane. Suddenly, there's an explosion at the particle accelerator in the city explodes, sending a shockwave through the city and blowing up the plane. At the same time, Barry is struck by lightning in his lab, spilled chemicals seemingly causing an adverse reaction.
Nine months later, Barry wakes up in what's left of STAR Labs. The facility has been more or less closed since the Accelerator blew, the only remaining staff are Harrison Wells, who is apparently paraplegic since then, and his assistants Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow. They want to keep him there to run some tests, but Barry is eager to get back to his life. He has a heartfelt reunion with Iris at the coffeehouse where she works, but something seems off when everything around him seems to slow down as a waitress drops a tray. Barry initially shrugs it off, but when it happens again at the police station, he heads back to STAR to find out what's going on.
They discover that what appeared to be things slowing down around him was actually him moving incredibly fast. After some initial tests, he remembers the incident with his mother, seeing a man inside the blur, which makes him lose his concentration. The resulting crash also reveals Barry's healing factor, as he recovers from a fracture in three hours.
Meanwhile, back in the city, a new string of bank robberies is occurring, and the perpetrator seems to have the ability to control the weather. Barry also discovers that while he was in a coma, Eddie and Iris have started a relationship. Apparently he covered Joe's shifts so they could both go visit him. A few cups of coffee later, they were dating. During their chat, the two are nearly hit by an out of control police car, but Barry gets her out of the way. Seeing the bank robber's getaway car, Barry pursues on foot, getting inside the car and flipping it. The robber is Clyde Mardon, one of the criminals who supposedly died when his plane exploded. Their confrontation is brief, as Mardon creates fog and disappears. Barry tries to tell Joe what happened, but Joe still writes it off as nonsense that Barry's been chasing all his life. However, sketch based on eyewitness accounts seem to corroborate that it was him.
At STAR Labs, Barry talks to Wells about it, and they conclude that the Particle Accelerator's explosion affected Mardon like it did Barry, and others could have been too. Barry wants to do something to stop him, but Wells isn't interested in that, only in the possible benefits Barry's transformation could have on mankind. Needing to clear his head, Barry runs all the way to Starling City, and has a talk with Oliver Queen, the (Green) Arrow. Ollie convinces Barry that he can do more for his city than the Arrow can do for his. He can inspire people with his powers, and be a full-on hero, not just a shady vigilante. He also suggests Barry wear a mask.
Back in Central City, Joe goes back to the same farmhouse from the beginning, where Mardon's ready for them. Barry is given a highly durable suit by Cisco and Caitlin and lightning bolt earpieces to keep in contact with them, and then head for the barn. He saves Joe from some debris, but Mardon has created a tornado and is heading for the city. Barry tries to stop it by running in the opposite direction, but his first attempt fails. Wells, however, has come around to Barry's potential and gives some words of encouragement. Barry is successful this time and Mardon is brought down, first by Barry beating his tornado and then when Joe shoots him. He sees Barry with his mask off, and after everything that happened, realizes that Barry had been telling the truth about his mother all along. He asks Barry not to tell Iris about his abilities, worried about keeping her safe.
Barry then visits his dad in prison, reassuring him that he always knew his father was innocent, and is now determined to find whoever was truly responsible and clear his name. The episode ends with Barry narrating while he runs around the city in his suit (now sporting a lightning bolt log in the front) saving people and deciding to give himself a name that might just catch on, followed by a title card....Then we cut back to Wells, as he enters an oddly patterned room. He stands up, which we thought he couldn't do, and walks over to a console in the middle of the room. A newspaper hologram appears in the middle of the console, with a headline about the Flash's disappearance 11 years in the future...
A very strong start to this series. It's much lighter and more optimistic in tone than its parent series Arrow, and the Particle Accelerator accident allows for the creation of more superpowered villains, similar to Smallville's Kryptonite meteor rocks. Grant Gustin is immediately likeable as Barry Allen. This is a hero who squarely wants to help people and do the right thing, and doesn't have any of Ollie's moral ambiguity. It's good to see Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow, and I hope she gets fleshed out more as the series progresses. Her fiance was killed in the Particle Accelerator accident, which carries some baggage for her. Cisco provides her counterpoint. He's much more excited about this stuff than she is, and applies the lightning bolt to Barry's costume because it looks cool. Thawne is a name some might remember from the comics, but Eddie for now seems to be a decent man, albeit with an ego. It remains to be seen how long that sticks. Harrison Wells is a curiosity. We learn at the end of the pilot that his legs work fine, and that he is from the future, but his motivations remain to be seen, and whether or not he remains an ally.
With all the dark and brooding variations of superheroes in modern media, The Flash feels like a breath of fresh air and will hopefully pave the way for more positive atmospheres in comic book projects.
Years later, determined to find an explanation for those events, Barry works with the police as a forensics analyst under Joe. He's good at his job, but can't quite get where he needs to be on time. Based on a cow patty and tire tracks left at the scene of a hit and run, he figures out the type of vehicle it was and the farm it came from. With some arm-twisting from Iris, Joe is convinced this is enough to let Barry leave early so they can both go the unveiling of a Particle Accelerator at STAR Labs, while Joe and his partner follow up on the leads. We're also introduced to another police officer, Eddie Thawne; he's a good cop but a bit on the smug side.
Barry returns to work in his lab, while it's raining outside. Joe has tracked down the assailants from before, and his partner is shot while they try to get away in a plane. Suddenly, there's an explosion at the particle accelerator in the city explodes, sending a shockwave through the city and blowing up the plane. At the same time, Barry is struck by lightning in his lab, spilled chemicals seemingly causing an adverse reaction.
Nine months later, Barry wakes up in what's left of STAR Labs. The facility has been more or less closed since the Accelerator blew, the only remaining staff are Harrison Wells, who is apparently paraplegic since then, and his assistants Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow. They want to keep him there to run some tests, but Barry is eager to get back to his life. He has a heartfelt reunion with Iris at the coffeehouse where she works, but something seems off when everything around him seems to slow down as a waitress drops a tray. Barry initially shrugs it off, but when it happens again at the police station, he heads back to STAR to find out what's going on.
They discover that what appeared to be things slowing down around him was actually him moving incredibly fast. After some initial tests, he remembers the incident with his mother, seeing a man inside the blur, which makes him lose his concentration. The resulting crash also reveals Barry's healing factor, as he recovers from a fracture in three hours.
Meanwhile, back in the city, a new string of bank robberies is occurring, and the perpetrator seems to have the ability to control the weather. Barry also discovers that while he was in a coma, Eddie and Iris have started a relationship. Apparently he covered Joe's shifts so they could both go visit him. A few cups of coffee later, they were dating. During their chat, the two are nearly hit by an out of control police car, but Barry gets her out of the way. Seeing the bank robber's getaway car, Barry pursues on foot, getting inside the car and flipping it. The robber is Clyde Mardon, one of the criminals who supposedly died when his plane exploded. Their confrontation is brief, as Mardon creates fog and disappears. Barry tries to tell Joe what happened, but Joe still writes it off as nonsense that Barry's been chasing all his life. However, sketch based on eyewitness accounts seem to corroborate that it was him.
At STAR Labs, Barry talks to Wells about it, and they conclude that the Particle Accelerator's explosion affected Mardon like it did Barry, and others could have been too. Barry wants to do something to stop him, but Wells isn't interested in that, only in the possible benefits Barry's transformation could have on mankind. Needing to clear his head, Barry runs all the way to Starling City, and has a talk with Oliver Queen, the (Green) Arrow. Ollie convinces Barry that he can do more for his city than the Arrow can do for his. He can inspire people with his powers, and be a full-on hero, not just a shady vigilante. He also suggests Barry wear a mask.
Back in Central City, Joe goes back to the same farmhouse from the beginning, where Mardon's ready for them. Barry is given a highly durable suit by Cisco and Caitlin and lightning bolt earpieces to keep in contact with them, and then head for the barn. He saves Joe from some debris, but Mardon has created a tornado and is heading for the city. Barry tries to stop it by running in the opposite direction, but his first attempt fails. Wells, however, has come around to Barry's potential and gives some words of encouragement. Barry is successful this time and Mardon is brought down, first by Barry beating his tornado and then when Joe shoots him. He sees Barry with his mask off, and after everything that happened, realizes that Barry had been telling the truth about his mother all along. He asks Barry not to tell Iris about his abilities, worried about keeping her safe.
Barry then visits his dad in prison, reassuring him that he always knew his father was innocent, and is now determined to find whoever was truly responsible and clear his name. The episode ends with Barry narrating while he runs around the city in his suit (now sporting a lightning bolt log in the front) saving people and deciding to give himself a name that might just catch on, followed by a title card....Then we cut back to Wells, as he enters an oddly patterned room. He stands up, which we thought he couldn't do, and walks over to a console in the middle of the room. A newspaper hologram appears in the middle of the console, with a headline about the Flash's disappearance 11 years in the future...
A very strong start to this series. It's much lighter and more optimistic in tone than its parent series Arrow, and the Particle Accelerator accident allows for the creation of more superpowered villains, similar to Smallville's Kryptonite meteor rocks. Grant Gustin is immediately likeable as Barry Allen. This is a hero who squarely wants to help people and do the right thing, and doesn't have any of Ollie's moral ambiguity. It's good to see Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow, and I hope she gets fleshed out more as the series progresses. Her fiance was killed in the Particle Accelerator accident, which carries some baggage for her. Cisco provides her counterpoint. He's much more excited about this stuff than she is, and applies the lightning bolt to Barry's costume because it looks cool. Thawne is a name some might remember from the comics, but Eddie for now seems to be a decent man, albeit with an ego. It remains to be seen how long that sticks. Harrison Wells is a curiosity. We learn at the end of the pilot that his legs work fine, and that he is from the future, but his motivations remain to be seen, and whether or not he remains an ally.
With all the dark and brooding variations of superheroes in modern media, The Flash feels like a breath of fresh air and will hopefully pave the way for more positive atmospheres in comic book projects.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Star Wars Rebels: Spark Of Rebellion
And so begins the new Star Wars animated series. No title crawl or opening theme music; the movie immediately opens on the planet Lothal, home of the show's protagonist, Ezra Bridger. He's an orphan and a pickpocket; not above helping others, but looking out for himself first. This is established shortly after his introduction. He stumbles through some Imperials who were shaking down a street vendor, and grabs a comlink off one of them. As the vendor is about to be arrested, they're called away by an emergency, which turns out to have been Ezra. The vendor thanks him, and Ezra promptly stuffs his backpack with the vendor's fruit. "A kid's gotta eat."
The Troopers he diverted lead him to a shipment of crates filled with Imperial blasters, who are then ambushed by the titular Rebels-- their leader Kanan Jarrus, tough guy alien Zeb Orellios, and Mandalorian demolition girl Sabine Wren. Not knowing what's in the crates other than that they're valuable, Ezra uses the situation to take some for himself. A chase ensues with the Rebels pursuing Ezra and the Imperials pursuing them all, which comes to a head when TIE Fighters zoom in. Given the choice between Kanan and the TIEs, Ezra jumps on board their ship, the Ghost, and they all escape. The remaining members of this Rebel crew are aboard- Twi'lek pilot Hera Syndulla and ornery astromech droid 'Chopper'. Ezra's not too happy with his situation (Sabine aside) and wants to go back to Lothal, but the crew of the Ghost has a mission to complete first.
Our heroes arrive in Hooverville-esque settlement called Tarkintown where they drop off the weapons shipment and take a moment to ration food to the settlers, all people who were forced from their homes by the Empire. Ezra is thanked by one of these settlers and has a twinge of guilt because he didn't actually do anything to help. The Ghost crew receive their payment from their contact Cikatro Vizago, and are tipped off to an Imperial shipment of Wookiee slaves, part of their mission all along. They make way for the transport to perform a rescue. Meanwhile, Ezra snoops around the Ghost and something draws him to Kanan's cabin, where he finds a holocron and a lightsaber. He's caught rather quickly, hands over the lightsaber and is shoved out, the holocron still on his person. Kanan, Zeb and Sabine board the transport looking for the Wookiees, but Hera realizes It's A Trap when a Star Destroyer appears. She sends a reluctant but willing Ezra to warn the others, and the four fight off a boarding party of Stormtroopers and make their way back to the Ghost. However, before they can board Ezra's grabbed by an Imperial leader named Kallus, who's been following them since the blaster heist. Zeb leaves him behind, "I'm sorry, kid. You did good."
Now imprisoned aboard the Star Destroyer, Ezra is told by Kallus that he'll be used to lure the Rebels back for him. Ezra has his doubts that'll hold up. Kallus just brushes it off and has the guards search him. With nothing left but the holocron, Ezra sits in his cell and somehow manages to open it, revealing a message from Obi-Wan Kenobi, the one warning surviving Jedi to stay away from the Temple during the fall of the Republic. Back on the Ghost, the others chastize Zeb for leaving Ezra behind and Kanan inevitably decides to go back for him.
Ezra manages to escape his cell on his own, feigning illness to get the guards to open it up then trapping them inside. Making his way into a storage room, he grabs a Trooper helmet, allowing him to listen to communications channels in the ship. Not only does he learn that the Rebels came back for him, but also that the Wookiees were being sent to Kessel to work in the spice mines. He goes through the airducts to the hangar where the Ghost crew had begun their rescue. They promptly escape and head for Kessel. Ezra's helmet left behind, the Imperials realize he was listening in; so by the time they arrive, Kallus was ready for them. With our heroes cornered, and Hera needing time to pull the ship around, Kanan draws his lightsaber to keep the blaster fire concentrated on him, while Ezra goes to rescue a Wookiee child separated from his parent during the struggle. The Stormtroopers are dealt with, Kallus is knocked away (but survives), and the Wookiees are rescued. Ezra is returned to Lothal, but grabs Kanan's lightsaber before returning the holocron and making his way back to his home. Hera notices that it was opened and she and Kanan both realize the boy's potential connection with the Force. Kanan meets Ezra at his home and asks him to join them, offering his training. Ezra agrees, and the full crew takes off, Kanan listening to the rest of Obi-Wan's message. Meanwhile, on a Star Destroyer, Kallus communicates with one who appears to be a Sith called the Inquisitor, informing him that there is still a Jedi that needs to be dealt with.
Not a bad start to the series overall. The characters might not be completely original, but they're still unique enough to be interesting and fun to watch. Ezra himself closely resembles Aladdin, both in personality and appearance. This is further backed up early on when Kanan calls him a "street rat". He's a pretty good representation of the potential this series has, and someone the target audience will likely grow to love. Kanan's a nice departure from the Jedi Knights of the past, similar to the Anakin we saw in The Clone Wars with a bit of Han Solo thrown in. It's supposedly been 14 years since Revenge of the Sith, leading me to believe he may have still been a Padawan when those events occurred, and might not be as bound by the rules of the Jedi Order as others might have been. Sabine has a really cool character design; bright pink Mandalorian armor with some dyed streaks in her hair. It's a common design trait for cool female characters, but I still like it. Zeb's a tough guy with a chip on his shoulder appropriately voiced by Steve Blum. Hera's pretty modestly dressed for a Twi'lek, which is honestly a nice change from the usual portrayal of the species. She and Kanan seem to be romantically involved, although they don't have any real romantic scenes in this pilot film. Some people like to think that R2-D2's beeps and whirls were actually filled with profanities. With Chopper, you just know that's the case. The little droid does a lot around the Ghost, and doesn't seem particularly happy with his job. He's also unique among R2 units in that he has a couple of small arms, it's a nice feature. Obi-Wan's message at the end was a really nice touch. I'm reminded of how in the series premiere for each Star Trek spin-off, there's a guest appearance from one character from the previous series to help get the ball rolling. With James Arnold Taylor reprising his vocal role as Obi-Wan, I think it serves the same purpose here, passing the torch from Clone Wars to Rebels.
The animation's good too. The characters have much smoother features when compared to Clone Wars. Then we have the music. Plenty of familiar cues from the movies, although nothing that really stands out. I still would have liked to see an opening text crawl, at least for this first outing. It just doesn't feel like Star Wars without that. The Clone Wars had their own variation of the theme music along with a newsreel style recap at the beginning of each episode, which worked for the series timeframe of a galaxy at war. Here, we just get an establishment scene and a title card.
Nitpicks aside, I'm optimistic for what the series has in store. I hope that the Force is strong with this one.
The Troopers he diverted lead him to a shipment of crates filled with Imperial blasters, who are then ambushed by the titular Rebels-- their leader Kanan Jarrus, tough guy alien Zeb Orellios, and Mandalorian demolition girl Sabine Wren. Not knowing what's in the crates other than that they're valuable, Ezra uses the situation to take some for himself. A chase ensues with the Rebels pursuing Ezra and the Imperials pursuing them all, which comes to a head when TIE Fighters zoom in. Given the choice between Kanan and the TIEs, Ezra jumps on board their ship, the Ghost, and they all escape. The remaining members of this Rebel crew are aboard- Twi'lek pilot Hera Syndulla and ornery astromech droid 'Chopper'. Ezra's not too happy with his situation (Sabine aside) and wants to go back to Lothal, but the crew of the Ghost has a mission to complete first.
Our heroes arrive in Hooverville-esque settlement called Tarkintown where they drop off the weapons shipment and take a moment to ration food to the settlers, all people who were forced from their homes by the Empire. Ezra is thanked by one of these settlers and has a twinge of guilt because he didn't actually do anything to help. The Ghost crew receive their payment from their contact Cikatro Vizago, and are tipped off to an Imperial shipment of Wookiee slaves, part of their mission all along. They make way for the transport to perform a rescue. Meanwhile, Ezra snoops around the Ghost and something draws him to Kanan's cabin, where he finds a holocron and a lightsaber. He's caught rather quickly, hands over the lightsaber and is shoved out, the holocron still on his person. Kanan, Zeb and Sabine board the transport looking for the Wookiees, but Hera realizes It's A Trap when a Star Destroyer appears. She sends a reluctant but willing Ezra to warn the others, and the four fight off a boarding party of Stormtroopers and make their way back to the Ghost. However, before they can board Ezra's grabbed by an Imperial leader named Kallus, who's been following them since the blaster heist. Zeb leaves him behind, "I'm sorry, kid. You did good."
Now imprisoned aboard the Star Destroyer, Ezra is told by Kallus that he'll be used to lure the Rebels back for him. Ezra has his doubts that'll hold up. Kallus just brushes it off and has the guards search him. With nothing left but the holocron, Ezra sits in his cell and somehow manages to open it, revealing a message from Obi-Wan Kenobi, the one warning surviving Jedi to stay away from the Temple during the fall of the Republic. Back on the Ghost, the others chastize Zeb for leaving Ezra behind and Kanan inevitably decides to go back for him.
Ezra manages to escape his cell on his own, feigning illness to get the guards to open it up then trapping them inside. Making his way into a storage room, he grabs a Trooper helmet, allowing him to listen to communications channels in the ship. Not only does he learn that the Rebels came back for him, but also that the Wookiees were being sent to Kessel to work in the spice mines. He goes through the airducts to the hangar where the Ghost crew had begun their rescue. They promptly escape and head for Kessel. Ezra's helmet left behind, the Imperials realize he was listening in; so by the time they arrive, Kallus was ready for them. With our heroes cornered, and Hera needing time to pull the ship around, Kanan draws his lightsaber to keep the blaster fire concentrated on him, while Ezra goes to rescue a Wookiee child separated from his parent during the struggle. The Stormtroopers are dealt with, Kallus is knocked away (but survives), and the Wookiees are rescued. Ezra is returned to Lothal, but grabs Kanan's lightsaber before returning the holocron and making his way back to his home. Hera notices that it was opened and she and Kanan both realize the boy's potential connection with the Force. Kanan meets Ezra at his home and asks him to join them, offering his training. Ezra agrees, and the full crew takes off, Kanan listening to the rest of Obi-Wan's message. Meanwhile, on a Star Destroyer, Kallus communicates with one who appears to be a Sith called the Inquisitor, informing him that there is still a Jedi that needs to be dealt with.
Not a bad start to the series overall. The characters might not be completely original, but they're still unique enough to be interesting and fun to watch. Ezra himself closely resembles Aladdin, both in personality and appearance. This is further backed up early on when Kanan calls him a "street rat". He's a pretty good representation of the potential this series has, and someone the target audience will likely grow to love. Kanan's a nice departure from the Jedi Knights of the past, similar to the Anakin we saw in The Clone Wars with a bit of Han Solo thrown in. It's supposedly been 14 years since Revenge of the Sith, leading me to believe he may have still been a Padawan when those events occurred, and might not be as bound by the rules of the Jedi Order as others might have been. Sabine has a really cool character design; bright pink Mandalorian armor with some dyed streaks in her hair. It's a common design trait for cool female characters, but I still like it. Zeb's a tough guy with a chip on his shoulder appropriately voiced by Steve Blum. Hera's pretty modestly dressed for a Twi'lek, which is honestly a nice change from the usual portrayal of the species. She and Kanan seem to be romantically involved, although they don't have any real romantic scenes in this pilot film. Some people like to think that R2-D2's beeps and whirls were actually filled with profanities. With Chopper, you just know that's the case. The little droid does a lot around the Ghost, and doesn't seem particularly happy with his job. He's also unique among R2 units in that he has a couple of small arms, it's a nice feature. Obi-Wan's message at the end was a really nice touch. I'm reminded of how in the series premiere for each Star Trek spin-off, there's a guest appearance from one character from the previous series to help get the ball rolling. With James Arnold Taylor reprising his vocal role as Obi-Wan, I think it serves the same purpose here, passing the torch from Clone Wars to Rebels.
The animation's good too. The characters have much smoother features when compared to Clone Wars. Then we have the music. Plenty of familiar cues from the movies, although nothing that really stands out. I still would have liked to see an opening text crawl, at least for this first outing. It just doesn't feel like Star Wars without that. The Clone Wars had their own variation of the theme music along with a newsreel style recap at the beginning of each episode, which worked for the series timeframe of a galaxy at war. Here, we just get an establishment scene and a title card.
Nitpicks aside, I'm optimistic for what the series has in store. I hope that the Force is strong with this one.
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