Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

Arrow - Season 2Have the writers ever even read a detective novel? Or even watched an episode of Law & Order?

There are almost a dozen victims and two… TWO… use the same hand cream. “That can’t be a coincidence!” Really? That’s how you going to have him break the case, with a huge freaking leap in logic instead of actual detective work which may lead to discovering several of the women to have purchased said hand cream. Why do the writers continue to ignore basic logistics? Because yes, it can totally be a coincidence, especially when you haven’t looked at anything else yet and just pluck that out of the air.

And OMG Laurel, it’s not all about you, you freaking whiny diva. Your father nearly lost you cause of that crazy serial killer, he has this wonderful emotional moment, then Arrow comes in and saves the day, and all you can think about is yourself and your bloody guilt for being the biggest idiot by deciding that exiting a burning building was more of a guideline than a legitimate strategy. I guess they were trying to go with a ‘near death life changing experience’ for her but it played out horribly.

Though, that said, this is one of the better episodes because, amazingly enough, Oliver didn’t have the lead in it. It was mostly about Dresden and the serial killer, and also Harper and Black Canary (or whoever that is).

I amend my earlier statement, can this show be about Diggle, Fecility, and Dresden (Officer Lance, whoever, he will always be Dresden to me).

Seriously, there was more emotion and real gravitas in this episode with Dresden than seen all through last season with Olivier. Paul Blackthorne is an under-appreciated actor and really sold this episode. When he was there thinking he was going to watch his daughter die, the man freaking brought it and you felt for him… moreso than any of the blank-slate or overly whiny/angsty stuff seen by the rest of the cast.

Then whiny Laurel had to ruin it.

But hey, Doc Fraiser, always good to see her.

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Marvel's Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.And now we discover how AOS will be getting around the no-mutant legal gag that has been put on the MCU… and I kinda like it.

Step One, find a new name. Chan is a pyrokinetic and they couldn’t use Pyro, Match, Human Torch, or any of the already taken names. So they call him Scorch… which works, all thing considered.

Step Two, don’t explain why he’s a pyro, at least not completely. They make an off comment that could explain why he’s a pyro (he lived next to a nuclear plant that went kablooey) but they don’t really make it concrete. In fact, later on, one of them states they really aren’t sure how he’s a pryo.

Step Three, just run with it.

I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot more of these base-set powered ‘gifted’ humans. PK, TK, TP, etc, these are all powers that can’t be copyrighted so they will use them, hopefully, in the same manner above. This means that we can explore some of the plot lines seen in the comics (just with out known mutant characters) and if the fates love us then if we get a merge of Marvel and Fox (or even more unlikely, Marvel gets the license back) then they can slot in mutants as if they were always there.

Yes, this is me wishful thinking… what?

As for the story itself, I’m really getting tired of Skye. Finally got my ‘twist’ and it’s just another big trope. I still want to know more about the rest of the team, especially this interesting relationship between Coulson and May. And just Coulson in general… something is wrong with him but what?!?! And they get rid of one evil doctor and bring in another shadowy bad guy? They are really keeping us in the dark on this, I hope they don’t try to go too LOST on us.

I think the best part though is I do like the little moments, there are a lot of them and they are pretty fun. When Coulson and May hear that Scorch has a moniker now… the look on their faces are priceless. There is a fun factor here that really makes the show an enjoyable watch.

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Arrow - Season 2Can we just make this the Diggle and Felicity show?

Seriously, Oliver is a complete waste of space and totally unlikable as a character. This would be good if he was the antagonist or even if he was a secondary character, but he’s the title character! But him and Laurel are painfully annoying in their characterizations, esp since both have now done 360s. Now Arrow doesn’t kill and now Laurel is ‘vengeance is thine!’. On paper, it sounds good, in practice, it’s just a little WTF? It’s called ‘character development’ not ‘character shake it like a Polaroid picture”.

Speaking of WTF, the flashbacks are as pointless as ever and only serve to make Oliver even more unlikable and seemingly stupid (hello, unprotected sex in the jungle?).

Diggle and Felicity are the only characters that really seem to have heart and consistency. But Oliver continues to crap all over his friendship with Diggle, only at the end of the episode apologize for being a douche, then continue to be a douche in the next episode. Felicity is the smartest one of the bunch and her sassiness is a welcome break from the brooding, except she keeps being reduced to the ‘awkward innuendo statement’ and yet another girl who has the unexplainable hots for Oliver.

On a side note, the sister has been much less annoying so far…but we’ll see how this whole thing goes down with Roy “Red Arrow” Harper helping out Oliver. He might be good for her, we’ll see.

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.As much as I’m digging the comic book vibe, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. mustn’t forget they are a still a live action tv series. There is no way Ward kept from looking at his hands (especially while driving) or avoided all reflective surfaces for that long of a time. If you’ve read my Arrow reviews, then you know logistics fubars like this really annoy me. Thankfully, this isn’t Arrow, it is edging there, but only just.

The issues I have with AOS lay in the oversimplified dialogue, i.e. restating what’s previously been said and verbally stating the themes. Thankfully, unlike Arrow, AOS hasn’t gone so far as to completely speechify everything, were way too much screen time is used to show a character droning on about whatever deep point the writers feel they need to make.

Also, AOS isn’t taking itself so seriously. The problem with the ‘dark, gritty’ theme is that it leaves no real room for anything else. Everything has to be so serious and existential… which gets really old, really quick. AOS is keeping the adventure theme which offers a lot more latitude. It can be funny, it can be dramatic, it can be thoughtful, it can be insane, or it can be dark. That’s what AOS is bringing to the table, a much broader sense of the universe which doesn’t have to fit in a mold.

In this episode, the action (still with awesome productive values btw), the comedy, the intrigue, and a good dose of comic book adventure, makes up for the visual fubar, relegating it to just an annoyance rather than a glaring pain. The guest character also wasn’t there as fodder, and the little touch at the end in her cell seals an emotional connection with her. The intrigue is neither bluntly tossed around nor is it insanely over-complicated.

I didn’t mean for this review to become an Arrow vs AOS (DC vs Marvel) but these points needed to be made. If AOS could just fix the dialogue then this series would be near perfect. Well, I could at least forgive the logistic issues.

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Fearless Defenders #10I have to give it to Bunn, he’s doing something that is very hard to do in any franchise: bring in a new original character. keep them in the front, and make it work.

Right now there is a lot of new mutants popping up, especially in Bendis’ Uncanny X-Men you have a whole group of original characters, but they tend to just be more of a story device than actual full characters. The stories still revolve around the core group of mutants, Scott, Wolverine, Kitty, Storm, Emma, etc… characters that have at least been around since the 80s. Even in Wolverine and the X-Men , most of the story revolves around pre-existing characters like Quire and Idie, with of course a heavy dose of Wolvie. It’s like no one is really trying to shake things up and do new things.

Part of the reason is because readers will only spend so much money on the comics, it’s purely economics, there are a lot more titles to choose from and only so much money to spend. Marvel feels safer giving us known characters rather than risking new ones. Granted, that’s probably the best idea when it comes to Solo’s, but for team books, you think they would let the writers experiment more, freshen things up?

That’s what happening here in Fearless, not only do we have some of the B-List characters who are kicking butt, we’ve also been introduced to Annabelle, a brand new character who literally shares the spotlight with Valkyrie and holds her own as a character. Through her life, death, and weird body time-share thing, the reader is made to care about her and see her as a hero even if she doesn’t weld a big sword. She’s not a story device, she’s a main character along with all the others. Even if you’re not a fan of Annabelle, you’re not overwhelmed with her presence any more than, say, Misty.

This is what we should be seeing in all the X-Titles, new characters alongside the characters we already love as equals. Someone give Marvel the memo…

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Review: Deadpool #17

Deadpool #17Deadpool put a Hello Kitty band-aid on Wolverine’s wound… that’s just the best thing ever.

I mean, really, it was. Deadpool didn’t have to do it. He didn’t even ask if could do it. He doesn’t even point out that he does it. He pats Wolverine on the shoulder and leaves a band-aid behind because the mutant can no longer heal himself. It’s these little things that show the nuance of his character beyond the ‘one note joke’ people often accuse him of being.

He may joke a lot, be rude and crude, but he’s not a bad person. Somewhere underneath there is a decent man, one who is just very horribly scarred, and I’m not talking about his cancerous skin.

As for the main story, it ranges between hilarious and really sad. And good on Captain America to not back off simply because of the possibility of making an international fubar, what with them being in North Korea and everything. He’s doing what’s right for these unfortunate people who have been experimented on. I know Cap and Wolvie ‘say’ they aren’t Deadpool’s friend, but their actions speak louder than words… it’s just sad that this is the way they have to play this game.

Next issue we’ll come face to face with Butler and possibly even more mutated experiments… and perhaps learn the truth about Eleanor.

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Review: X-Men #6

X-Men #6Seven chapters into the Battle of the Atom and suddenly everything starts to happen.

The supposed good future X-Men turn bad pretty quickly, mostly cause future!Xavier (or whoever) lost his temper for no reason.  I can understand him going nuts after he learned that young!Bobby and young!Hank went into the future… but he lost his marbles before that even happened. It all felt really pushed in a ‘quick, they need to be the bad guys now’ kind of way.

Jubilee so far has been a pretty fun mom, and I think it’s awesome the students made Shogo a ‘hamster ball’. That’s just the cutest thing ever. And future!Shogo showing up and calling her mom, one of the first moments in this time travel thing that’s made me not cringe.

But what did was the shape shifting ‘son’ of Mystique and Logan? I mean? Wha? Huh? I call B.S.  And have I mentioned I hate these types of time travel arcs? And is Wolverine’s healing factor messed up? Did I miss something there? That’s what I get for not reading the bazillon Wolverine titles…

But Deadpool was awesome… then… when is he not?

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Astonishing X-Men #68And Astonishing X-Men leave us, not with a bang, not with a futile attempt at over-existentializing, but with grace and dignity.

I mean, a lot of comics and tv shows, when they end, try to do things up with big, massive, world-ending stuff that’s wrapped up in a few panels. Others try to get a bit too deep, like the characters inside are actually ‘dying’. Then some just leave us on some WTF cliff-hanger.

Astonishing takes the inspired way out and simply doesn’t end. Not in the ‘wait, what the heck happens next’ kind of way Gambit ended, but in the ‘these characters are going about their lives, I’ve simply stopped being the one telling the story’.

It is kinda annoying we don’t know the legal state of Jean-Paul and Kyle, but in the way that’s kinda better because otherwise the whole issue could have devolved into legal mumbo and socio-political boxing. Which wouldn’t have been bad if it wasn’t the final issue. I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of this situation, though I’m not sure of the how/where for now.

So, yeah, the biggest lesson from this finale is that life goes on. It may seem difficult and lost at times… but it always finds its place.

Damn, I’m gonna miss this title.

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All-New X-Men #17Time Travel! You get to time travel! And you get to time travel! Everyone gets to time travel!

Have I mentioned how much I hate time travel arcs? Jubilee is going by Wolverine now, which is kinda nice, except it will never actually happen because they will never let Logan die. And how does Quire play host to the Phoenix Force if it’s been destroyed? Why can’t it stay dead too? Don’t get me started on the possible parentage of Kymera. UGH!

It is interesting to see that glimpse of the future and just how the one group of X-Men went off their rocker. Dazzler as President? Yeah, I can see it.

But all things considered, this “Event” has been running at a pretty slow pace. If they are giving us this pay off in part 6 of 10… I have a feeling there really isn’t much left for them to do and it will either end anti-climatically or very rushed. And except for whoever leaves/stays, none of this is going to matter in the long run.

What I really wanna know though… where is Rogue and/or Gambit in this future? Yes, I have a one track mind. If they aren’t going to get a direct mention then I’ll just assume they got married and shacked up in an Italian villa… totally plausible.

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Arrow - Season 2I think the writer’s notes got mixed in with the script…

There is a lot of dialogue in this episode that is literally just the characters talking about their characterization and about how they should probably change it. Oliver shouldn’t really kill people. Oliver and Laurel really should feel guilty for what they did. Etc. Everyone was getting character shifts, flipping on how they were last season due to the events in the Glades. Some of it’s reasonable, but others it’s like the writers figured this would be better for the character, so let’s change it.

While yes, it’s a good thing that Oliver isn’t just dropping bodies everywhere, and seeing Tommy’s stupid death (cause it was literally stupid, he just stands there waiting for the roof to fall) can change a person… the way it’s presented is so monotone and simplistic that I can’t help but wonder if these writers even understand the meaning of nuance?

Oh, and everyone is still whiny.

Seriously, everyone whined, except Walter, but he had like five lines.

The logistics weren’t nearly as bad… no, strike that, they were. Olivier’s Tarzan swing in the beginning was way to slow or that landmine was way too old. And if they had to parachute onto the island… then how did they get off it? You know… I’m just gonna stop there.

The good news is that the show hasn’t gotten any worse, they didn’t try to drastically change up anything (which might have actually been a good thing, but also very bad). So fans of the show are going to get more of the same. Which is good for them… and…. yeah… this is going to be a long season…

p.s. City of Heroes was an awesome game…

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