Previous episodes established the core team, and the need to find the Energems before Sledge does. Somebody is inside Fury (who has gained control of the Ptera Zord) and trying to break free, who Tyler assumes might be his father. When an exhibit on the Stone of Zandar ends up in their museum, the team now finds themselves in possession of the Gold Energem, which will allow him to keep the Ptera Zord charged. Tyler and Shelby posed as royals to lure Fury out, and while they kept the Energem, Fury still has a Ptera Charger to use against the Rangers.
This episode picks up as Prince Phillip III of Zandar shows up with his security detail to confiscate the exhibit and return it home, the Energem along with it. They're ambushed by Fury and a new monster. Although Phillip wasn't exactly nice to them, the Rangers still don't hesitate to protect him.
Once Fury himself gets ahold of the Energem, the person trapped inside Fury is let out. It's not Tyler's father after all, but the legendary Knight of Zandar, Sir Ivan. A morpher manifests on his wrist, allowing him to morph into the Dino Charge Gold Ranger. He quickly dispatches the mooks, monsters, and Fury with a bit of Zandar Thunder, and takes control of the Ptera Charge Megazord when the monster grows.
Ivan swears loyalty to Phillip, who relinquishes the Gold Energem to the fabled hero. After a short introduction to the other Rangers, Ivan goes off on his way, unclear if he's joining the team or not.
Standard in some ways to most Sixth Ranger introductions, but Ivan himself makes for a cool character. Like Caveman Koda, he's a relic from another time, and it's always neat to see an Arthurian type in a modern setting. Plenty of opportunities for him to bond and clash with his teammates. The question is still raised as to where Tyler's father is, and it's possible he's still inside Fury somewhere. All that remains to be seen.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Friday, October 9, 2015
Hotel Transylvania 2
The movie begins with the wedding of Count Dracula's daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) and her human boyfriend Jonathan (Andy Samberg). There's a lot of fun and heart in these first scenes alone, as Dracula (Adam Sandler) has become more accepting of humans and happy for as long as Mavis is happy. Soon after, Mavis becomes pregnant and gives birth to the seemingly human Dennis. Dracula is a fun and caring vampa (vampire grandpa), but is nonetheless worried that he shows no signs of vampirism.
After a few amusing scenes of toddlerhood, the plot picks up a matter of days before Dennis' fifth birthday, the apparent deadline for his fangs to sprout. The titular Hotel Transylvania, once a vacation sanctuary for monsters, is now being integrated into human society and the modern age. It's great to see monsters becoming more accepted not only in Transylvania, but in the rest of the world as well thanks to the occasional manatee gag. Johnny has been helping with the integration, but hasn't had much alone time with Mavis since Dennis was born. With some encouragement from his parents (Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally), he and Mavis are considering moving to America can have a safer childhood around human children. Mavis herself seems a bit stir crazy from motherhood, as things get a bit out of hand at the werewolf pups' birthday party. In short, wolf pups go wild, Dennis chips a tooth, and Mavis is just about convinced.
Johnny, however, likes it in Transylvania and wants to stay, so he and Dracula make a deal. While Mavis and Johnny go on a trip to visit his parents, Dracula watches Dennis. Once they're gone, he takes the boy on a road trip with Frankenstein (Kevin James), Wayne Wolfman (Steve Buscemi), Griffin the Invisible Man (David Spade), Murray the Mummy (Keegan-Michael Key, replacing CeeLo Green), and Blobby. He hopes that they can all teach Dennis how to be a monster and become scary. All of their attempts meet with some degree of failure, due in no small part to monsters' being more commonplace now.
It all comes to a head at Dracula's old vampire summer camp, which has unfortunately abandoned its old fangs on approach. The focus has become on fun and safety, and there's very little learning, challenge, or fear left to it. Determined to make some progress, he takes Dennis to the top of the abandoned and unstable flight training tower, and drops him off in hopes that he'll turn into a bat and fly. The scene plays out somewhat differently than we see in the trailer. He catches Dennis at the last minute like always, but the act gets him in trouble with the camp counselor (Dana Carvey), and that only gets worse once the tower falls and Frank runs through the camp and burns it down.
Meanwhile in California, Mavis is having a blast exploring skate parks and mini-marts. It's not really until she gets to Johnny's parents' house that she starts feeling homesick. His father Mike just kind of rolls with the whole monster thing, but his mother Linda goes out of her way to make Mavis comfortable, in the sort of way that makes the person uncomfortable anyway. She's just about to change her mind about moving, when a video of Dennis' flying lesson goes viral. Mavis wastes no time turning into a bat, grabbing Johnny and flying home, while Dracula and the others race to get back first. (All of this seems to happen over the course of one Transylvanian night, but hey, it's an animated film.)
The decision is made to move away after Dennis' birthday party. Johnny's family comes to visit, and Mavis also invited Vlad (Mel Brooks), her grandfather and Dracula's dad. It's exposited early on that Vlad is an even more traditional monster than Dracula, and so Dracula has reason to worry about what could happen if he discovers that Mavis married into a human family. They cover this up by telling Johnny's family that it's a costume party.
Vlad arrives and doesn't seem to suspect anything, although notes that Johnny's Gary Oldman wig is ridiculous, and assumes just like Dracula has that Dennis is a late fanger. Things come to a head when Vlad attempts to scare the fangs out of Dennis, possessing the performer hired for the party (a parody of a certain cookie eating Muppet) and turning him into a real monster. Dracula, however, draws the line and puts a stop to it.
As Dennis runs away in tears, Mavis and the others confront Vlad and reveal Johnny and his family, but not before she chews out her father and husband for going along with it. Werewolf pup Winnie runs after Dennis (the two have an adorable lovy-dovy friendship throughout the film) and run into Bela, Vlad's right hand bat demon, who takes them hostage.
The others soon realize that Dennis is gone and go off to find him, and once Bela strikes Winnie, Dennis' fangs finally pop. He turns into a bat and gives Bela a serious bat-kicking. More bat demons show up, but so do the other monsters and family members. It's an awesome fight, which finally ends when Vlad uses his own magic to shrink Bela down to the size of a normal bat and the others disperse. Vlad apologizes to Dracula and Mavis, and now that Dennis is a real vampire, there's no need to move. As with the first film, the story ends with a huge dance party.
Hotel Transylvania 2 is a great sequel. It's hard to say if it's necessarily better, but it's definitely on the same level. Genndy Tartakovsky's directing keeps the film's comedy flowing with great zingers and slapstick. And of course, the animation is nothing short of spectacular. I particularly noticed the backgrounds and sets more. The hotel/castle and the woods surrounding it are beautifully rendered, looking almost real, while the characters maintain exaggerated cartoony features. Dennis and Winnie are voiced by real children and their interactions are incredibly sweet. There's themes of growing up and acceptance in both this movie and the first. Dracula continues to be one of Adam Sandler's best roles, and it's great to see films where he's allowed to have depth and are more than an excuse to go on vacation with his buddies. I definitely recommend both films for Halloween viewing.
After a few amusing scenes of toddlerhood, the plot picks up a matter of days before Dennis' fifth birthday, the apparent deadline for his fangs to sprout. The titular Hotel Transylvania, once a vacation sanctuary for monsters, is now being integrated into human society and the modern age. It's great to see monsters becoming more accepted not only in Transylvania, but in the rest of the world as well thanks to the occasional manatee gag. Johnny has been helping with the integration, but hasn't had much alone time with Mavis since Dennis was born. With some encouragement from his parents (Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally), he and Mavis are considering moving to America can have a safer childhood around human children. Mavis herself seems a bit stir crazy from motherhood, as things get a bit out of hand at the werewolf pups' birthday party. In short, wolf pups go wild, Dennis chips a tooth, and Mavis is just about convinced.
Johnny, however, likes it in Transylvania and wants to stay, so he and Dracula make a deal. While Mavis and Johnny go on a trip to visit his parents, Dracula watches Dennis. Once they're gone, he takes the boy on a road trip with Frankenstein (Kevin James), Wayne Wolfman (Steve Buscemi), Griffin the Invisible Man (David Spade), Murray the Mummy (Keegan-Michael Key, replacing CeeLo Green), and Blobby. He hopes that they can all teach Dennis how to be a monster and become scary. All of their attempts meet with some degree of failure, due in no small part to monsters' being more commonplace now.
It all comes to a head at Dracula's old vampire summer camp, which has unfortunately abandoned its old fangs on approach. The focus has become on fun and safety, and there's very little learning, challenge, or fear left to it. Determined to make some progress, he takes Dennis to the top of the abandoned and unstable flight training tower, and drops him off in hopes that he'll turn into a bat and fly. The scene plays out somewhat differently than we see in the trailer. He catches Dennis at the last minute like always, but the act gets him in trouble with the camp counselor (Dana Carvey), and that only gets worse once the tower falls and Frank runs through the camp and burns it down.
Meanwhile in California, Mavis is having a blast exploring skate parks and mini-marts. It's not really until she gets to Johnny's parents' house that she starts feeling homesick. His father Mike just kind of rolls with the whole monster thing, but his mother Linda goes out of her way to make Mavis comfortable, in the sort of way that makes the person uncomfortable anyway. She's just about to change her mind about moving, when a video of Dennis' flying lesson goes viral. Mavis wastes no time turning into a bat, grabbing Johnny and flying home, while Dracula and the others race to get back first. (All of this seems to happen over the course of one Transylvanian night, but hey, it's an animated film.)
The decision is made to move away after Dennis' birthday party. Johnny's family comes to visit, and Mavis also invited Vlad (Mel Brooks), her grandfather and Dracula's dad. It's exposited early on that Vlad is an even more traditional monster than Dracula, and so Dracula has reason to worry about what could happen if he discovers that Mavis married into a human family. They cover this up by telling Johnny's family that it's a costume party.
Vlad arrives and doesn't seem to suspect anything, although notes that Johnny's Gary Oldman wig is ridiculous, and assumes just like Dracula has that Dennis is a late fanger. Things come to a head when Vlad attempts to scare the fangs out of Dennis, possessing the performer hired for the party (a parody of a certain cookie eating Muppet) and turning him into a real monster. Dracula, however, draws the line and puts a stop to it.
As Dennis runs away in tears, Mavis and the others confront Vlad and reveal Johnny and his family, but not before she chews out her father and husband for going along with it. Werewolf pup Winnie runs after Dennis (the two have an adorable lovy-dovy friendship throughout the film) and run into Bela, Vlad's right hand bat demon, who takes them hostage.
The others soon realize that Dennis is gone and go off to find him, and once Bela strikes Winnie, Dennis' fangs finally pop. He turns into a bat and gives Bela a serious bat-kicking. More bat demons show up, but so do the other monsters and family members. It's an awesome fight, which finally ends when Vlad uses his own magic to shrink Bela down to the size of a normal bat and the others disperse. Vlad apologizes to Dracula and Mavis, and now that Dennis is a real vampire, there's no need to move. As with the first film, the story ends with a huge dance party.
Hotel Transylvania 2 is a great sequel. It's hard to say if it's necessarily better, but it's definitely on the same level. Genndy Tartakovsky's directing keeps the film's comedy flowing with great zingers and slapstick. And of course, the animation is nothing short of spectacular. I particularly noticed the backgrounds and sets more. The hotel/castle and the woods surrounding it are beautifully rendered, looking almost real, while the characters maintain exaggerated cartoony features. Dennis and Winnie are voiced by real children and their interactions are incredibly sweet. There's themes of growing up and acceptance in both this movie and the first. Dracula continues to be one of Adam Sandler's best roles, and it's great to see films where he's allowed to have depth and are more than an excuse to go on vacation with his buddies. I definitely recommend both films for Halloween viewing.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Star Butterfly is a magical princess from another dimension called Mewni. Having reached a certain age, she inherits the royal magic wand from her mother, but her rambunctious attitude and lack of discipline show that she's not quite ready to use it responsibly. As such, her parents send her to Earth and enroll her in a normal high school as an exchange student, placing her in the home of Marco Diaz. Marco serves as a grounded foil to Star. He plays it safe whenever possible, and the hijinks Star often pulls him into is sometimes overwhelming. Nonetheless, he's perfectly capable of using karate to defend himself and is very protective of Star when he has to be. After Star's best friend (a floating unicorn head) leaves her with a pair of dimensional scissors, the show alternates between slice of life stories, visiting strange and exotic places, and fighting off monsters. Leading the monsters is Ludo, a diminutive sorcerer trying to steal the wand for himself. He's mostly ineffectual until a lizard man named Toffee comes along.
The animation is bright, colorful, and often goes off-model to great effect, as the character designs are incredibly fluid. Star's design itself is a good indicator of what you can expect from the show. On one hand, she's blonde and adorable with hearts on her cheeks, and would not seem out of place in the magical girl anime genre (a definite source of inspiration). On the other, her devil horns headband indicate her chaotic nature. Eden Sherr delivers a fantastic vocal performance that you can't help but enjoy. (It's clear the cast is enjoying htemselves.) One of the first bits of magic she is seen using is putting a rainbow over her head, which promptly bursts into flames. At other points, she creates a litter of puppies with laser vision, accidentally replaces Marco's arm with a monstrous tentacle, and nearly anything you could possibly think of.
While mostly bizarre magical misadventures, the series does take a more serious tone on a few occasions. When Star's demon ex-boyfriend takes her to what is essentially demon prom, Marco braves the underworld to keep an eye on her and ensure her safety, despite Star's own insistence that she can take care of herself. Later, she and Marco try to bust out her Pony Head friend from St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses, which uses methods straight out of A Clockwork Orange to mold its wild individualist inmates into stereotypical uptight royalty. The season finale raises the stakes significantly (as can be expected with just about any show) as Marco gets abducted by Toffee and Star sets out on her own to rescue him.
The real treat of the series is Star and Marco's interaction. As stated before, Marco is a good foil for Star without being a complete opposite. It's easy to see these two developing into a more romantic relationship, despite having separate love interests at the moment (and even trying to help each other make progress in those relationships). I look forward to seeing where the next season takes these two. One thing's for sure, things are going to get a little weird and a little wild.
The animation is bright, colorful, and often goes off-model to great effect, as the character designs are incredibly fluid. Star's design itself is a good indicator of what you can expect from the show. On one hand, she's blonde and adorable with hearts on her cheeks, and would not seem out of place in the magical girl anime genre (a definite source of inspiration). On the other, her devil horns headband indicate her chaotic nature. Eden Sherr delivers a fantastic vocal performance that you can't help but enjoy. (It's clear the cast is enjoying htemselves.) One of the first bits of magic she is seen using is putting a rainbow over her head, which promptly bursts into flames. At other points, she creates a litter of puppies with laser vision, accidentally replaces Marco's arm with a monstrous tentacle, and nearly anything you could possibly think of.
While mostly bizarre magical misadventures, the series does take a more serious tone on a few occasions. When Star's demon ex-boyfriend takes her to what is essentially demon prom, Marco braves the underworld to keep an eye on her and ensure her safety, despite Star's own insistence that she can take care of herself. Later, she and Marco try to bust out her Pony Head friend from St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses, which uses methods straight out of A Clockwork Orange to mold its wild individualist inmates into stereotypical uptight royalty. The season finale raises the stakes significantly (as can be expected with just about any show) as Marco gets abducted by Toffee and Star sets out on her own to rescue him.
The real treat of the series is Star and Marco's interaction. As stated before, Marco is a good foil for Star without being a complete opposite. It's easy to see these two developing into a more romantic relationship, despite having separate love interests at the moment (and even trying to help each other make progress in those relationships). I look forward to seeing where the next season takes these two. One thing's for sure, things are going to get a little weird and a little wild.
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