Saturday, February 27, 2016

Legends of Tomorrow 1.06

Star City 2046

- a clittle clunky but it worked; it seemed like they tried to pack a little too much into this one
- everyone had a role to play and a subplot
- Captain Cold and Heat Wave knocking heads over how to loot, pillage, and whether to stick with the team or not
- Kendra in the middle of a love triangle with Ray and Jax (and sorta with Dr. Stein)
- Rip and Sara arguing over whether to do something for the version of Ollie Queen and Conner Hawke that they meet
- It was just a little too tightly plotted, too many moving parts, too little time to get it all done
- plus I was hoping for the Green Arrow Beyond thing
- still I got a bit misty eyed when Ollie showed up

Justice League Unlimited 3.02

Shadow of the Hawk

- Shayera plays along with a stalker who claims that she and he are reincarnated lovers until she discovers that he has interfaced with some Thanagarian technology, an Absorbascon
- Green Lantern and Batman try to warn her about trusting the stalker, Batman goes so far as to follow them to Egypt
- the Shadow Thief is the bad guy, although there is an implication that he or the technology he uses are Thanagarian
- on the whole it seems to be a bit lacking in plot
- love the animation, crisp, clean, but the story lacked commitment and as a fave of the reincarnated lovers version of the Hawks I thought it was cruel to dangle the possibility in front of my face
- the only person who truly seemed invested in the lie was Carter Hall, who believed it even though he was the one telling it
- I recall being very disappointed the first time I saw this one and I have a similar feeling now
- Looking ahead I see that Carter Hall and the Shadow Thief will return in Ancient History (3.11)
- Green Lantern does make some reference to the events of the Once and Future Thing (1.13) when he and Batman traveled to the future and met Green Lantern's son (with Shayera) and there is some back and forth with Batman over why GL is dating Vixen now if he wants a future with Shayera

Friday, February 26, 2016

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.21

R2 Come Home

- Part 2 of 3 part story that introduces Boba Fett
- Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu investigate the wreck of the Endurance looking for survivors; they are unaware that Boba Fett and other bounty hunters have already beaten them to the punch, captured a few of the survivors, killed the rest, and left a booby trapped Mandalorean helmet on the bridge
- Anakin falls for the traps and they only survive thanks to Windu's quick thinking, but still wind up trapped on the bridge beneath lots of rubble; Anakin sends R2 for help but first he has to deal with Boba Fett, Aurra Singh, and another bounty hunter who are looking for evidence that Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu are dead
- Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu try using the force to free themselves but quickly realize they risk bringing the whole ship down on themselves
- Windu killed Boba Fett's father, Jango Fett, which is why Boba Fett is so determined to kill him
- in the end R2 manages to get to Ahsoka Tano and others to come retrieve Anakin and Windu; but the bounty hunters escape with the other prisoners
- so far, by far the best story of the back third of season 2; kind of good to see Anakin humbled

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Legends of Tomorrow 1.05

Fail-Safe

- Didn't quite live up to what I hoped for
- One of the Russians merged with Dr. Stein, but (a) it was temporary and very short-lived, and (b) it was Vostok rather than Arkadin (like in the comic books)
- basically a prison break themed episode; the previous episode ended with Stein, Palmer, Rory all prisoners; so this one was all about breaking them out of Russian prison
- not as many good fight scenes; the best was probably the one where White Canary took on several Russian mobsters
- Vandal Savage was back and got "killed" again by Rip
- I do like how the idea is that they need need to change things for the better but they often seem to be about to make them worse
- the next episode, Star City 2046, looks like it may be kind of Green Arrow Beyond with Ollie Queen playing the part of the aged, forced into retirement, former superhero who is mentoring his successor

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Justice League Unlimited 3.01

I am Legion

- new season, new story
- written by Dwayne McDuffie
- Lex Luthor breaks out of prison, chased by police he escapes only thanks to the intervention of another villain, the Key, who takes him to meet Gorilla Grodd
- Grodd has organized a group of supervillains, has a hideout for them, basically they are the Legion of Doom from the old Superfriends cartoon
- Luthor doesn't want to join, he is still thinking about Brainiac, not just thinking about him but talking to him, seeing him, hearing him talk back even though no one else notices his presence
- Grodd finally lures Luthor into joining by promising him the only known remnant of Brainiac's body
- for his first mission Luthor is sent (along with the Key and Dr. Polaris) to Blackhawk Island, which was abandoned decades ago but still has many security devices to protect it
- the last surviving member of the Blackhawks, Chuck Siriani, alerts the Justice League that an alarm has gone off on Blackhawk Island; Hawkgirl, Flash, and Fire fly to Blackhawk Island to deal with whatever the problem might be
- the leaguers end up battling a number of the island's security systems, including a war wheel and flying mechanical sharks
- eventually the leaguers must battle the legionnaires, it takes some time but the JLU prevails until Lex grabs Chuck and uses him as a hostage; the baddies escape but without Chuck
- in the end it is revealed that the only thing stolen is the Spear of Longinus (aka the Spear of Destiny); the look on Chuck's face when he realizes what it is that the baddies took!
- in DC Special 29 and All-Star Squadron the Spear was used to keep the most powerful superheroes of the Justice Society and other teams away from Europe
- the episode builds, it is so-so at first; but I was so excited by the end
- lots to love here: the promise of a building story; Luthor talking to Brainiac (who isn't visible or responsive all the time); the Spear of Destiny, the War Wheel; calls back to Savage Time; Shayera teasing Flash about being shy around Fire

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.20

Death Trap

- Part 1 of 3 part story that introduces Boba Fett
- seeing young Boba Fett, knowing what he will become is part of what made the episode so appealing
- the focus is very much on Boba Fett, although Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu also play important roles
- the Admiral was a bit of a stereotype
- I was surprised how easy it was to take down the Endurancee
- very disappointed by the clone teacher/instructor who didn't even notice when Lucky/Boba was missing

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Legends of Tomorrow 1.04

White Knights

- the team leaves the 1970s and lands in 1985; first stop is the Pentagon; they steal some doucuments but blow their cover in the process; Hawkwoman goes feral momentarily; they make it out intact; the documents indicate that Vandal Savage is now in the Soviet Union so they head there
- In the USSR they discover that Vandal Savage is attempting to build a new Firestorm; they try to steal the key component in Savage's set up; Captain Cold gets away with the nuclear reactor core but Heat Wave, Atom, and Dr. Stein get captured in the process

- two new characters show up who have appeared in DC Comics before although I am not familiar with either of them, aside from what I recently read on Comic Book DB:
- Valentina Vostok - in the show she is working for Savage, his head scientist; in the comics she was Negative Woman of the second iteration of the Doom Patrol (late 70s - late 80s); after losing her powers she became a secret agent and showed up in Vigilante, Checkmate, Suicide Squad, and one issue of Firestorm (1987) in the mid to late 1980s
- Mikhail Arkadin - in the show he is part of the security detachment that is guarding the base that the team infiltrates and one of those who captures Dr. Stein, Heat Wave, and the Atom; in the comics he becomes part of Firestorm around Firestorm 65; was in the story for quite a bit over the net 3 years; issue 85 seems to be his last appearance except for the final issue of the series, 100

- still loving the show; can't wait to see how Vostok and Arkadin get folded into the show; loved the Hawkgirl/White Canary fighting/training scenes; Victor Garber is still great as Dr. Stein but Wentworth Miller is stealing the show as Captain Cold; every scene he is in is lots of fun, love how he rubs people the wrong way and still manages to come out on top
- really enjoying watching this show evolve; I like how things don't return to status quo at the end of each episode
- Rip meeting with another Time Agent in the woods; the return of Chronos (aka Boba Fett); undercover missions in the US (Pentagon) and Soviet Union

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Jessica Jones 1.13

AKA Smile

- a bit more anticlimactic than I wanted it to be; I'm talking about the final confrontation between Killgrave and Jessica
- I liked that Trish got to play a bigger part in the final showdown; really hope she gets to be Hellcat
- It was nice to see Claire Temple again
- felt as if they could have or should have stretched out the escape from the hospital a little more than they did
- I thought KG had her at the end, until she looked at Trish when she said "I love you"
- I was led to believe the Punisher was going to show up in this season; I tended to believe that even though he didn't seem like a good fit for this story or this sort of villain
- that scene with Jeri Hogerth and the cops made me feel as if she may have taken or been injected with some of the genes that gave Killgrave his powers; maybe they will start to manifest next season; Jessica was definitely giving her some weird looks in that meeting
- Actually teared up a lot when Jessica killed Killgrave; felt like I could finally relax; David Tennant was the standout best performer in this season; Krysten Ritter was also quite good, as was Carrie Ann Moss

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Star Wars: Clone Wars 2.19

The Zillo Beast Strikes Back

- a number of moments evoke memories of King Kong
- sad ending with a twist
- Zillo Beast killed but Palpatine wants the scientist to clone it
- Palpatine is evil, evil, evil!!!
- Anakin sides with Palpatine

Monday, February 8, 2016

Legends of Tomorrow 1.03

Blood Ties

- Rip Hunter tries to kill Vandal Savage in ancient Egypt
- Rip Hunter teams up with White Canary in an attempt to steal Vandal Savage's money
- White Canary's blood lust is more apparent
- the body of Carter Hall and his blood adding to ordinary human longevity
- Rip Hunter kills Vandal Savage but also mistakenly provides him with the information he will need to locate Rip's wife and child
- Hawkman's body recovered
- Atom and Dr. Stein working to save the life of Hawkwoman
- Captain Cold's trip to visit his father in an attempt to change the past, which doesn't work out as he planned

Friday, February 5, 2016

Jessica Jones 1.12

AKA Take a Bloody Number

- pretty damn good
- lots of Luke Cage in this episode; no Simpson or Hogarth; plus Killgrave is back!
- it takes most of the episode but Jessica and Luke track down Killgrave; actually he finds them in the end and turns Luke against Jessica; she has to use a shotgun to stop him
- Patsy's mother shows up again; turns out that the folks who were behind Simpson's transformation also helped Jessica when she was younger; Patsy's Mom is the one who provides this nugget
- a number of scenes with Luke partially undressed
- enjoyed the fight scenes; not quite at a level with Daredevil but still good; the scene where Killgrave almost has his father mutilate his own hand was intense
- David Tennant is awesome; I assume that Killgrave is going to die in the finale
- I think the Punisher is going to show up in the next episode; although the description is kind of ambiguous

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Legends of Tomorrow 1.02

Pilot - Part 2

- really enjoyed it

Things I loved:
- Dr. Stein talking to and dealing with his younger self
- White Canary flirting with Dr. Stein
- the fight at the arms sale
- the Atom and Captain Cold arguing and fighting
- Vandal Savage

Things I didn't love
- the Hawks, especially him, I wasn't disappointed when he got killed but I assume that he will be back