A new season begins, and we're looking at dinosaurs for the third time in the franchise. We begin on the ship of an alien bounty hunter named Sledge. He looks vaguely like a cross between a Judoon and a Predator, a neat look for a seemingly original villain (no Japanese suit counterpart). He and his bright pink fiancee Poisandra are in pursuit of another ship. This ship belongs to the Keeper, and is shot down onto a prehistoric Earth.
Cue theme song. There's a tribal rhythm to get it going, and some actual lyrics beyond the Go Go Power Rangers chorus, something we haven't really had since Jungle Fury. Also, our heroes aren't shouting their names as soon as they pop up in the credits, which has been an unnecessary staple of the Nickelodeon era. It's nice to see that come to a halt, and for the composer to come up with something original again. My favorite part of the intro is towards the end where the Rangers are seemingly doing their roll call poses while the background behind them changes, cut to sync with the music. Each shot is likely taken from different points in the source material, and the Rangers' movements are seamless.
Back to the show, the Keeper has survived his crash to Earth, and is greeted by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Convincing the T-Rex he's of no threat, he asks it to gather the planet's bravest together to protect his Energems. Sledge is after these powerful stones, and has sent his lackey Fury to retrieve them from the crash. Fury finds the Keeper playing dead, is about to finish the job, when he spots the Energem casing and takes it back to his master. Sledge's bounty includes several monsters, who I'm sure will pop up later in the series, as well as a large collection of asteroids, a hobby Poisandra does not approve of. Upon arrival, it's revealed that the Keeper has emptied it and replaced
the contents of the casing with a bomb. Sledge's ship promptly blows
up, and as he swears revenge on the Keeper from his escape pod, his asteroids are sent
straight towards Earth.
Before they land, the Keeper is able to infuse the powers of
his Energems into the dinosaurs the T-Rex gathered before him. Fury has managed to survive Sledge's ship, ends up back on Earth and confronts the Keeper. Surprisingly enough, Keeper actually puts up a fight but is nonetheless defeated. Fury is about to finish the job, when the asteroids land on Earth and cause the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Approximately 65 million years later, we're at a museum where a tour guide is lecturing about the dinosaurs. Among the museum patrons is Tyler Navarro. He's looking over the dinosaurs and the volcanic caves that a fossil was discovered in, Samson Caves. He asks a janitor, Chase Randall, for directions, who gladly provides them.
Chase heads for the museum's dino-themed restaurant, where Shelby Watkins is working. She delivers an order to the wrong table and then runs after Chase. There seems to be a mutual attraction between them, and she really wants to go on an archeological dig with the museum crew. She's turned down by the bespectacled Kendall Morgan, who seems to be in charge, due to museum policy. Also going on the expedition is Koda, who keeps his uniforms sleeveless. He doesn't say much and acts a bit like a monkey. (Fun fact: Koda's actor, Yoshi Sudarso, is a long-time fan of the show, and in past seasons has worked as a stunt double for fight scenes and live events, and now living the dream getting to play a real character on the series.) Shelby stows away on the expedition anyway.
Tyler arrives to the cave Chase mentioned and goes spelunking inside. A creatue in a cloak suddenlys tarts chasing him, but he conceals himself by dousing his headlight. He then discovers a dinosaur fossil and the red Energem, which he promptly takes.
Back at the expedition, the cloaked figure steals a box from the truck Shelby was stowing away in. When nobody can hear her shouts about the theft, she runs after him herself. She grabs the box back from him when he's not looking and is shot down by the creature. Fortunately for her, Tyler swings in on a rope and grabs the box. The monster throws off his cloak, revealing an icy design, and fires on them. Tyler reflects the blasts with a shovel, but since it's just a regular shovel, it doesn't last long, and another blast knocks them over. The crate falls open revealing the pink Energem, as well as causing Tyler to drop his own red one. As they reach for them the monster fires another blast at the two, causing them to freeze.
However, they managed to touch the Energems, allowing them to unfreeze. They see a vision of their dinosaurs, and two blasters be revealed. Tyler and Shelby put the Energems into the blasters, which turn yellow. They spin the revolver and fire their blasters, but instead of just shooting the monster, the blast comes back to them and morphs them into the Red and Pink Rangers respectively. We then get our first Ranger fight scene, and they do a pretty good job before the T-Rex Zord shows up, picks the monster up with his teeth and flings him away.
As Tyler drives Shelby back to the city, he explains his backstory: his father was a paleontologist who disappeared on an expedition. Going by his journal, it seems Fury might have something to do with his disappearance, who just happens to be following the car, hot on the trail of their Energems...
Strong start to a Power Rangers series, although that's not always an indication of what the series has in store for us. (Both halves of Megaforce had strong beginnings, but didn't have as much of a payoff as we had hoped.) Even so, this episode has a few things Megaforce and Samurai didn't really have. For starters, there's more original footage to go around. There's no scenes of the Rangers until the final few minutes, and even then, only two of them morph. It's really strange that Riley Griffin did not appear in this episode, despite being one of the core five Rangers. Despite that, it's nice to see the series actually take time to set up the premise (a good one at that) without relying to heavily on exposition, and we have a nice diverse cast so far who I look forward to watching on a weekly basis, presumably inevitable the summer hiatus doesn't last too long.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Star Wars Rebels- Idiot's Array
The episode begins with Kanan, Zeb, and Chopper in a bar, hoping to find some kind of job to replenish their credits and fuel supply. Zeb is playing cards with a stranger, bets Chopper when he runs out of credits, and loses. The man turns out to be yet another familiar face and voice from the films: Lando Calrissian.
Lando hires the crew of the Ghost to help him in a business transaction, promising to pay them and return Chopper to them once the job is complete. His attitude and habit of not telling them anything puts him at odds with the other Rebels, except for Sabine, who's flattered when he shows interest in her artwork (making Ezra jealous). The Ghost docks with a ship commanded by a portly alien named Azmorigan, who gives Lando a crate as part of a trade. Lando gives him Hera in exchange. Once the Ghost separates from the ship, Hera knocks out Azmorigan and a guard before making her way to an escape pod (Lando had dropped a hint about them before the transaction) and escapes back to the Ghost.
Ezra and Zeb foolishly open Lando's crate, letting out a puffer-pig, which blows up when it gets scared, and can sniff out precious minerals. Lando calls it "specialized mining equipment", and since it's not made with metal it's not detectable by Imperial sensors. Nonetheless, the Ghost need to make it past the Empire's blockade. Zeb scared the pig, unfortunately, blocking Hera from getting to the cockpit.
The Ghost's signature was cloaked successfully for a while, but then Ezra startles the pig again, it puffs up more, throws the ship's balance off, and Zeb accidentally uncloaks their rebel signature, causing the Empire to recognize them as Rebels. A chase ensues. Sabine blasts some, while Kanan manages to lose others in cloud cover.
When they arrive at Lando's farm, Azmorigan is waiting for them, intent on getting his Twi'lek back and killing Lando. A fire fight ensues, and it's confirmed that Ezra's lightsaber does in fact function as a blaster. Chopper takes advantage of the struggle to sneak a fuel canister aboard the Ghost. He then blasts Azmorigan causing him to lose his footing and Hera convinces him to back down and retreat.
The conflict over, Lando promises to pay them once the pig has sniffed out the precious minerals its capable of finding, and releases Chopper back to the crew. While it seems like the droid took the fuel out from under Lando's nose, he reveals after they leave that he was aware of it, which is why he didn't pay them. It seems to indicate that they'll cross paths again.
This is another fun episode, much like Droids In Distress was, in that it features the new characters interacting with a more familiar one. Billy Dee Williams' return is a real treat, and you're never sure just how much of this adventure was planned, and how much was made up as they went. Star Wars Rebels has continued to surprise me with just how much I enjoy it, and should hopefully alleviate a lot of the concerns about the direction the franchise has taken.
Lando hires the crew of the Ghost to help him in a business transaction, promising to pay them and return Chopper to them once the job is complete. His attitude and habit of not telling them anything puts him at odds with the other Rebels, except for Sabine, who's flattered when he shows interest in her artwork (making Ezra jealous). The Ghost docks with a ship commanded by a portly alien named Azmorigan, who gives Lando a crate as part of a trade. Lando gives him Hera in exchange. Once the Ghost separates from the ship, Hera knocks out Azmorigan and a guard before making her way to an escape pod (Lando had dropped a hint about them before the transaction) and escapes back to the Ghost.
Ezra and Zeb foolishly open Lando's crate, letting out a puffer-pig, which blows up when it gets scared, and can sniff out precious minerals. Lando calls it "specialized mining equipment", and since it's not made with metal it's not detectable by Imperial sensors. Nonetheless, the Ghost need to make it past the Empire's blockade. Zeb scared the pig, unfortunately, blocking Hera from getting to the cockpit.
The Ghost's signature was cloaked successfully for a while, but then Ezra startles the pig again, it puffs up more, throws the ship's balance off, and Zeb accidentally uncloaks their rebel signature, causing the Empire to recognize them as Rebels. A chase ensues. Sabine blasts some, while Kanan manages to lose others in cloud cover.
When they arrive at Lando's farm, Azmorigan is waiting for them, intent on getting his Twi'lek back and killing Lando. A fire fight ensues, and it's confirmed that Ezra's lightsaber does in fact function as a blaster. Chopper takes advantage of the struggle to sneak a fuel canister aboard the Ghost. He then blasts Azmorigan causing him to lose his footing and Hera convinces him to back down and retreat.
The conflict over, Lando promises to pay them once the pig has sniffed out the precious minerals its capable of finding, and releases Chopper back to the crew. While it seems like the droid took the fuel out from under Lando's nose, he reveals after they leave that he was aware of it, which is why he didn't pay them. It seems to indicate that they'll cross paths again.
This is another fun episode, much like Droids In Distress was, in that it features the new characters interacting with a more familiar one. Billy Dee Williams' return is a real treat, and you're never sure just how much of this adventure was planned, and how much was made up as they went. Star Wars Rebels has continued to surprise me with just how much I enjoy it, and should hopefully alleviate a lot of the concerns about the direction the franchise has taken.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Star Wars Rebels- Path Of The Jedi
Previously on Star Wars Rebels...
When we last left the crew of the Ghost, they had rescued an Imperial defector and helped him into hiding. Kanan and Ezra aided in their escape by diverting the Empire's attention to an abandoned Clone base on an asteroid, where a large batch of feral creatures could take on the Stormtroopers. This worked pretty well until the Inquisitor showed up, fighting his way through the creatures and taking on Kanan. Ezra managed to save him, angrily using the Force to control one of the larger creatures and sic him on the Inquisitor, which would seem to indicate prowess in the Dark Side. This has significantly spooked both Kanan and Ezra...
Concerned after what happened on the asteroid, Kanan decides to give Ezra a test to determine not only what kind of Jedi he'll be, but also if he can be a Jedi at all. There's an abandoned temple already on Lothal, which Kanan has Ezra locate using the Force. (The autopilot was already on its way there.) The entrance is sealed and can only be opened with a Force lift, something Ezra and Kanan do together. Once their inside, Ezra's spooked by the remains of two dead Jedi, and the exit closes behind them. While Kanan stays behind in the main room to meditate, Ezra continues through the temple on his own. However, Kanan seems to catch up with him later, and both encounter the Inquisitor. Kanan is seemingly killed and dropped off a cliff. Ezra attempts to use Kanan's lightsaber against the Inquisitor and it fails. With no other options, Ezra jumps off the cliff himself.
Ezra suddenly finds himself back aboard the Ghost, overhearing the crew talk rather unfavorably about him. It occurs to him that something isn't right, further elaborated when the Inquisitor shows up again and seems to kill everyone out of sight of the viewer. Ezra runs and finds himself back at the temple, and is able to figure out for himself that this is all an illusion, and yet the Inquisitor remains. He overcomes his own fear, and the Inquisitor's lightsaber passes through him.
And now for the most noteworthy aspect of this episode: Yoda. Rather than whoever portrayed him in The Clone Wars, he is once again voiced by Frank Oz. He doesn't appear, but his voice echoes throughout the temple. He's likely projecting himself from his home on Degobah. He talks to Kanan, who talks about his own insecurities over whether he's training Ezra correctly or if he's even capable of doing so. He guides Ezra through the temple, who explains how despite wanting revenge against the Empire for everything they've done to him and his parents, he wants to become a Jedi out of a genuine desire to help people. He's spent his whole life looking out for himself and only himself, but meeting the other Rebels and seeing how they help others selflessly rubbed off on him and made him want to do the same. Yoda seems to approve and Ezra is given a Khyber Crystal.
The episode ends back on the Ghost, the crew has given Ezra as many spare parts as they could, allowing him to construct his own lightsaber. It's a traditional blue crystal, but the handle is unique with an extra feature on the hilt that might allow it to be used as a blaster, although this remains to be seen.
The music is a nice step up too, with familiar New Hope cues perfectly complementing the mysterious and spiritual atmosphere of the Jedi Temple, and the uplifting moment when Ezra first ignites his own brand new lightsaber. Put all of this with some good character development for our protagonist and his Jedi Master, and this definitely an episode worth watching.
When we last left the crew of the Ghost, they had rescued an Imperial defector and helped him into hiding. Kanan and Ezra aided in their escape by diverting the Empire's attention to an abandoned Clone base on an asteroid, where a large batch of feral creatures could take on the Stormtroopers. This worked pretty well until the Inquisitor showed up, fighting his way through the creatures and taking on Kanan. Ezra managed to save him, angrily using the Force to control one of the larger creatures and sic him on the Inquisitor, which would seem to indicate prowess in the Dark Side. This has significantly spooked both Kanan and Ezra...
Concerned after what happened on the asteroid, Kanan decides to give Ezra a test to determine not only what kind of Jedi he'll be, but also if he can be a Jedi at all. There's an abandoned temple already on Lothal, which Kanan has Ezra locate using the Force. (The autopilot was already on its way there.) The entrance is sealed and can only be opened with a Force lift, something Ezra and Kanan do together. Once their inside, Ezra's spooked by the remains of two dead Jedi, and the exit closes behind them. While Kanan stays behind in the main room to meditate, Ezra continues through the temple on his own. However, Kanan seems to catch up with him later, and both encounter the Inquisitor. Kanan is seemingly killed and dropped off a cliff. Ezra attempts to use Kanan's lightsaber against the Inquisitor and it fails. With no other options, Ezra jumps off the cliff himself.
Ezra suddenly finds himself back aboard the Ghost, overhearing the crew talk rather unfavorably about him. It occurs to him that something isn't right, further elaborated when the Inquisitor shows up again and seems to kill everyone out of sight of the viewer. Ezra runs and finds himself back at the temple, and is able to figure out for himself that this is all an illusion, and yet the Inquisitor remains. He overcomes his own fear, and the Inquisitor's lightsaber passes through him.
And now for the most noteworthy aspect of this episode: Yoda. Rather than whoever portrayed him in The Clone Wars, he is once again voiced by Frank Oz. He doesn't appear, but his voice echoes throughout the temple. He's likely projecting himself from his home on Degobah. He talks to Kanan, who talks about his own insecurities over whether he's training Ezra correctly or if he's even capable of doing so. He guides Ezra through the temple, who explains how despite wanting revenge against the Empire for everything they've done to him and his parents, he wants to become a Jedi out of a genuine desire to help people. He's spent his whole life looking out for himself and only himself, but meeting the other Rebels and seeing how they help others selflessly rubbed off on him and made him want to do the same. Yoda seems to approve and Ezra is given a Khyber Crystal.
The episode ends back on the Ghost, the crew has given Ezra as many spare parts as they could, allowing him to construct his own lightsaber. It's a traditional blue crystal, but the handle is unique with an extra feature on the hilt that might allow it to be used as a blaster, although this remains to be seen.
The music is a nice step up too, with familiar New Hope cues perfectly complementing the mysterious and spiritual atmosphere of the Jedi Temple, and the uplifting moment when Ezra first ignites his own brand new lightsaber. Put all of this with some good character development for our protagonist and his Jedi Master, and this definitely an episode worth watching.
Agent Carter- Now Is Not The End/Bridge And Tunnel
It's 1946. World War II has come to an end. Despite her exemplary service record, Agent Peggy Carter is stuck working a desk job at SSR, the agency that would eventually grow into SHIELD. Millionaire industrialist Howard Stark has been accused of treason, selling weapons to the enemy. Stark reveals to Peggy that some of his inventions had been stolen; creations he couldn't help but making, but he deemed to dangerous to sell. He makes his way out of the states, asking for her help in clearing his name. Stark entrusted his butler, Edwin Jarvis, to assist Carter in whatever way he can. The two have a sort of Steed/Peel dynamic, and it's good that she has another character to interact with regularly, and the fact that it's the same man who voices Tony's own JARVIS is appreciated.
These episodes concern a chemical Stark thought up, which has been mass produced and weaponized into an implosive device. (Once it's done blowing up, it blows in.) Agent Carter has to stay one step ahead of her SSR colleagues in order to cover her own tracks as well as prove Stark's innocence, since her actions are not yet authorized by her superiors.
There's a lot to like here. Whereas Agents Of SHIELD has a clear ensemble cast and team dynamic, Agent Carter focuses on a single protagonist, and she's a very good one. The era-accurate stigma of women struggling to be taken seriously in their professions is front and center throughout. Carter deals with it every day. A fellow agent, Daniel Sousa, got his leg crippled in the war, and is able to relate to her on some level. It's nice that she has at least one co-worker who she can call a friend, but even she asks him not to defend her when he calls the other agents out on their chauvinism. She was appreciative, but she can handle it herself. Peggy also has some nice scenes with Angie Martinelli, an attractive young waitress and aspiring actress who becomes her friend and neighbor. Peggy's roommate in the first part was a lovely seemingly hypochondriac blonde, and I would have loved to see that dynamic develop more. Unfortunately, some thugs break into their apartment while Carter was disarming one of the afformentioned implosive grenades, and gets killed. This event gives Peggy reasons to keep Angie at arm's length, but she nonetheless takes up a room in the same apartment building.
There's a wonderful musical score throughout, full of jazzy brass sounds befitting the era. I can't think of much else to say about it other than I liked it. The costumes are great too. Hayley Atwell goes through several different wardrobe changes during these episodes alone, and looks amazing in all of them. Particularly of note is her blonde bombshell look when she's infiltrating the night club. When she has to, she can put on a near perfect American accent as well.
The old spy tech is a real treat too. I've seen a few articles on the gadgets that Cold War spies had at their disposal, and Agent Carter comes close to replicating that. Another nice aspect is the lingering presence of Captain America. Although Steve Rogers crashed into the arctic and is presumed dead, memories of him still linger in Peggy's thoughts. We're also regularly treated to excerpts from the Captain America radio show, which is intentionally and delightfully camp. There's a great scene where Carter's beating up a bad guy while the radio show has Cap taking on a Nazi, the two actions matching up blow for blow.
Although it's unlikely that Howard Stark is the traitor he's been branded as, he does seem to have something to hide, as a phone call between him and Jarvis would indicate. He needs her for some other purpose, but we don't know what it is yet. I certainly look forward to finding out.
These episodes concern a chemical Stark thought up, which has been mass produced and weaponized into an implosive device. (Once it's done blowing up, it blows in.) Agent Carter has to stay one step ahead of her SSR colleagues in order to cover her own tracks as well as prove Stark's innocence, since her actions are not yet authorized by her superiors.
There's a lot to like here. Whereas Agents Of SHIELD has a clear ensemble cast and team dynamic, Agent Carter focuses on a single protagonist, and she's a very good one. The era-accurate stigma of women struggling to be taken seriously in their professions is front and center throughout. Carter deals with it every day. A fellow agent, Daniel Sousa, got his leg crippled in the war, and is able to relate to her on some level. It's nice that she has at least one co-worker who she can call a friend, but even she asks him not to defend her when he calls the other agents out on their chauvinism. She was appreciative, but she can handle it herself. Peggy also has some nice scenes with Angie Martinelli, an attractive young waitress and aspiring actress who becomes her friend and neighbor. Peggy's roommate in the first part was a lovely seemingly hypochondriac blonde, and I would have loved to see that dynamic develop more. Unfortunately, some thugs break into their apartment while Carter was disarming one of the afformentioned implosive grenades, and gets killed. This event gives Peggy reasons to keep Angie at arm's length, but she nonetheless takes up a room in the same apartment building.
There's a wonderful musical score throughout, full of jazzy brass sounds befitting the era. I can't think of much else to say about it other than I liked it. The costumes are great too. Hayley Atwell goes through several different wardrobe changes during these episodes alone, and looks amazing in all of them. Particularly of note is her blonde bombshell look when she's infiltrating the night club. When she has to, she can put on a near perfect American accent as well.
The old spy tech is a real treat too. I've seen a few articles on the gadgets that Cold War spies had at their disposal, and Agent Carter comes close to replicating that. Another nice aspect is the lingering presence of Captain America. Although Steve Rogers crashed into the arctic and is presumed dead, memories of him still linger in Peggy's thoughts. We're also regularly treated to excerpts from the Captain America radio show, which is intentionally and delightfully camp. There's a great scene where Carter's beating up a bad guy while the radio show has Cap taking on a Nazi, the two actions matching up blow for blow.
Although it's unlikely that Howard Stark is the traitor he's been branded as, he does seem to have something to hide, as a phone call between him and Jarvis would indicate. He needs her for some other purpose, but we don't know what it is yet. I certainly look forward to finding out.
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