Showing posts with label Firestorm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Firestorm. Show all posts

Monday, February 1, 2016

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Pilot Part 2 - Recap and Review

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After the great first part, we get the concluding section that is wonderful in parts, but a bit lethargic in certain aspects.

As things stood at the end of the previous episode, the team had met Dr. Aldus Boardman (Peter Francis James), the son of Hawkman and Hawkgirl in their previous incarnations. Dr Boardman was killed but not all was lost. The rag-tag group came together as a team.

As this episode opens, the team determines that Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) must be somewhere near an impending auction for illegal arms and ammunition. Sara Lance/White Canary (Caity Lotz), Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber), Leonard Snart/Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and Mick Rory/Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell) are sent to infiltrate the event as potential buyers.

The savvy Vandal senses the presence of Hawkman and Hawkgirl and deduces that there is trouble afoot.


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This results in a well executed action sequence with our heroes. While our heroes do manage to make it out, there is an unintentional outcome: Ray Palmer/Atom (Brandon Routh) loses a minor part of his suit in the melee.

Vandal sets his scientists to reverse engineer the advanced machinery. When Rip realizes the potential impact of Vandal utilizing the Atom's technology, it is time for yet another mission. This time, Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber) offers to visit his younger self, who is an expert on Alpha Particles. The plan is to use these particles to track the suit.

The younger version of Dr Martin Stein (played by Graeme McComb) is a ladies man. He starts hitting on Sara, the moment he lays eyes on her. Dr Stein is concerned that his tampering with the timeline might prevent his own encounter with his future wife, Clarissa (played by Isabella Hofmann on The Flash).

Ray Palmer, Leonard Snart and Mick Rory have their own task to complete: retrieve the dagger that was used by Vandal Savage to murder Hawkman and Hawkgirl in their very first lifetime.


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The owner of the house turns out to be none other the immortal Vandal Savage himself. His presence brings the whole team for the climactic fight sequence. Hawkman tries to kill him using “The Aman Dagger”.

This proves to be a fatal mistake as it is only Hawkgirl who has the ability to use the dagger to finish Savage once and for all. This knowledge comes too late, as Vandal ends up stabbing Carter Hall with the dagger, resulting in his death. A distraught Kendra repents at not expressing her love for Carter.

Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) repays Dr Stein's efforts to retrieve the broken part of Atom's suit, by ensuring that his younger self meets with his Clarissa.


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Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell continue to be the best parts of the show. And Victor Garber's Dr Stein. These three nicely counterbalance the serious characters (Ray, Rip, Carter and Kendra).

The scenes featuring the trio of Wentworth, Dominic and Routh as they attempt to steal the dagger was hilarious. Ray's naivety was the perfect counterpoint to the career criminals. Things are also starting to heat up as Ray/Atom and Leonard/Captain Cold exchanged blows.

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The other enjoyable parts of this episode were the ones pitting the elderly Dr Stein against his much younger version. He realizes that despite his advanced age, he still retains the same arrogance as he did in his earlier years.

Even though Carter Hall/Hawkman dies, we know quite well that nobody ever stays dead for long in the comic books. And considering the fact that time travel is also involved, it is only a matter of time, before Carter Hall is up and flying along with Kendra Saunders (who has had a change of heart).


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A surprise guest in this episode was Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) from Arrow. This was a nice touch to show the inter-connected nature of the universe that the show is building on.

Trivia

1. The song “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps Fire can be heard as Kendra, Carter, Rip and Dr Stein are walking in the University campus to see Dr Boardman.

Highly Recommended watch to fans of DC Comics/Comic Book fans.

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Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Bonanza Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, The CW Television Network (The CW)

Monday, January 25, 2016

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Pilot Part 1 - Recap and Review

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In a post-Avengers world, every Hollywood studio is working overtime to churn out their own version of an interconnected movie universe.

Universal Studios is trying to build one based on their collection of movie monsters (Dracula, Wolf Man, Frankenstein), first of which is the 2014 movie: Dracula Untold. Fox tried unsuccessfully to connect their popular X-Men movies with the Fantastic Four universe. The critical and commercial failure of the 2015 movie (Fantastic Four) does not bode well for the studio's plans.

Warner Bros. and DC Comics have now responded in two different ways: A movie franchise collectively titled DC Extended Universe and DC's Legends of Tomorrow on the small screen.

The CW show has an ensemble cast, drawn from both the Arrow and The FlashRay Palmer (Brandon Routh), Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber), Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson (Franz Drameh), Hawkgirl (Ciara RenĂ©e) and Carter Hall (Falk Hentschel). There are supervillains too: Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell).


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Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) is the main baddie here. He is an immortal, who thrives by inciting trouble on a grand scale. Wars are his preferred modus operandi.

Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) is a Time Master who has lost his wife and son to Vandal's activities. He tries to get support from the Council of Time Masters to stop Savage. When his requests are denied, Rip takes matter into his own hands and steals the Waverider (a flying contraption fitted with all necessary tech) to assemble a rag-tag group of individuals.

One by one (and sometimes two at a time), he kidnaps our group of characters. Rip entices them to participate in his campaign by lying that they will become legends in the future. In reality, he recruited individuals who have minimal impact on the timeline.

Except for one reluctant individual (Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson), the rest are happy to join the mission. Dr. Martin Stein takes care of this issue by drugging Jax.

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Rip and the team time travel back to 1975. The plan is to meet Dr. Aldus Boardman (Peter Francis James). Aldus has done extensive research on Vandal and willingly shares his information. He also happens to be the son of Joe and Edith Boardman, the most recent incarnations of Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders.

But trouble is not far behind. Chronos, a temporal bounty hunter has been sent by the Council of Time Masters to stop Rip and retrieve the Waverider. Our heroes work together to stop the villain. They manage to escape and Jax is inspired to become part of the team.

This looks to be the most fun adaptation based on DC Comics. Yes, even more so than Supergirl and The Flash.

The reason is simple: As good as these two shows are, they still suffer from very minor drawbacks. Supergirl has the insufferable Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen. The Flash on the other hand often gets a bit melodramatic for a show featuring a superhero who can run really fast.


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DC's Legends of Tomorrow (from what we have seen so far) seems determined to be a fun ride for fans. The # 1 reason is the presence of  Victor Garber as Dr. Martin Stein. Victor is a blast as the quick-witted and brilliant scientist. He has arguably the best one-liners in the episode and Victor pulls them off with effortless ease.

Victor's presence has been a great value addition to The Flash and the episodes featuring his Dr Stein tend to be my favorites. I had wished often that Dr Martin would be a more regular feature and thankfully, this show seems to have rectified that anomaly.

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Giving good competition to Victor is Franz Drameh as Jefferson Jackson. The interchange between these two are probably the funniest.

Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell are the other pair that manage to hold our attention. The scene at the pub where they get into a fight, along with Sara Lance was executed well.


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Falk Hentschel and Ciara RenĂ©e are adequate as Hawkman and Hawkgirl respectively. They have the serious characters to play and accordingly do not indulge in much of levity. Caity Lotz is good as Caity Lotz, though she does seem to be packing some attitude as the assassin.

Brandon Routh is a bit bland as Ray Palmer/Atom. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that his turn as the Man of Steel in Superman Returns (2006) did not set the box office on fire (or) capture the public imagination as the studio would have wanted.

However, the one to make the least impact is Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter. Arthur seems to be just going through the motions. His IMDB page informs us that he has played Rory Williams, a companion for Matt Smith's Doctor Who. If this was the basis for casting him, then this is a disastrous one. Arthur seems to be having absolutely zero interest in the role or the show. Hope either the character gets recast (or) Arthur develops some passion for the project. At least, we can wish that there will be more scenes of Rip get slapped around by team members, like we had in this one (thanks to Sara Lance).

There were a couple of Star Wars references: Chronos is referred to as both Darth Vader and Boba Fett at different points in the episode.

Trivia

1. The song “Shining Star” by Earth, Wind & Fire can be heard as Kendra, Carter, Rip and Dr Stein are walking in the University campus to see Dr Boardman.

2. The song “Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain & Tennille is played in the fight scene at the pub.

In the recent past, there has been constant criticism about DC being too dark and serious. Well, here is your answer - a lively and colorful comic book adaptation that wholeheartedly embraces the nature of its source material.

Highly Recommended watch to fans of DC Comics/Comic Book fans.

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Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Bonanza Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, The CW Television Network (The CW)

Thursday, October 29, 2015

The Flash Season 2 Episode 4 "The Fury of Firestorm" - Recap and Review

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After a somewhat boring episode 2, the series returns to its former glory with a great episode. Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber) is not doing well, now that Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) is gone after sacrificing his life.

Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) has two potential replacements in mind: Henry Hewitt (Demore Barnes) and Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson (Franz Drameh). The two people could not be more different - Henry is an egotistic and ambitious scientist while Jax is a laid-back and self-effacing mechanic. Guess who will eventually replace Ronnie?

Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is in favor of Jax and Caitilin prefers Henry, since he happens to be a scientist too. However, Jax is reluctant and this helps Henry Hewitt get the first shot at becoming the fire-spouting superhero. Hewitt is disappointed when he is unable to successfully merge with Dr Stein.


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There are numerous subplots in this episode. Patty Spivot (Shantel VanSanten) informs Barry that she believes that a shark has been seen walking on land. Barry is skeptical of this fact.

Francine West (Vanessa Williams), the ex-wife of Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), reveals that she is dying of a fatal illness. She wants to spend time with her daughter, Iris West (Candice Patton) before she passes away.

To top it all, Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) seems to be back....

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As I had remarked in my review of the first episode The Man Who Saved Central City”, Victor Garber makes a great Dr. Martin Stein. He brings warmth and humor to the role. This episode benefits greatly by focusing on Dr Stein.

Both Demore Barnes and Franz Drameh are excellent as Henry Hewitt and Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson respectively.


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The other crucial aspect is the growing affection that Barry feels for Patty Spivot. This almost costs him his life, when he is ambushed by the hulking Killer Shark as he is admiring Patty from afar. Patty tries to save Barry by shooting at the behemoth but bullets have no effect on him. A stranger steps up just in time to save the day. He turns out to be none other than Harrison Wells himself.

Speaking of Killer Shark, he is more of a DC Universe supervillain rather than being more of a Flash archenemy like the Reverse Flash or Captain Cold or Gorilla Grodd. Fans of DC Comics based adaptations would remember seeing an animated version of King Shark (voiced by John DiMaggio) in Batman: Assault on Arkham (B:AoA). B:AoA is by the way, hands down one of the best DC Universe Animated Original Movies and is definitely worth a look.

The episode also featured strong aspects of horror. In addition to the Killer Shark, the transformed Franz Drameh as Firestorm sports ghostly white eyes. As a fan of the horror genre, I enjoyed these touches.

On the acting front, most of the cast members score well. The exception would be Candice Patton who goes a bit overboard as Iris West in her scene with her mother, Francine West.

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Shantel VanSanten is shaping up to be a strong presence as Patty Spivot. After watching her character in the season opener, I was not sure if she would be an ally or a foe for Flash. This episode gives ample evidence that Patty Spivot may be more than what meets Barry's eyes. She is the one who provides him the information about a walking shark man. It is when Barry comes to watch her that Killer Shark attacks him. This made me think that Zoom had sent her to help ambush the Flash. I am curious to see if my hunch proves to be right...





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Recommended watch to fans of The Flash/DC Comics.

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Image Source: Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, The CW Television Network, The Flash Wiki