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Reviews
X-Men: Mojovision (1994)
A meta-commentary for savvy viewerrs
For a show that features larger issues of bigotry, identity, survival, and trying to fulfill basic human desires in the midst of over-the-top powers, the danger was for even this PG show to take itself too seriously, and always have the same stakes that never quite resolved. Here is an X-Men episode which ventured into meta-commentary about the very violence and tropes that the audience is being exposed to, challenging the ideas of what could justify extreme actions.
Of course it's brought to us through an over-the-top character-how else to break us out of the mindset of the regular X-men formula? Is it always great writing? No, but it's bold and trying to keep things fresh. For 90s animation that isn't Disney, Batman TAS, Animaniacs, or Tiny Toons, it's serviceable. A solid episode.
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part One (2024)
All over the map! WAT is GOING ON?!
You'll be in trouble if you know nothing about comics. If you do know a lot about comics (like my wife), you're going to be upset with how this does not match any of the comics, picking up on several different storylines and smushing them together unsatisfactorily.
The narrative is really difficult to follow. Barry Allen is made to travel to different timelines, and the main focus on the first half of the movie is a collective fight against Amazo, a confrontation with a parallel-Earth Syndicate, a romance between Barry and Iris. I repeat-FIRST HALF.
I have no idea why they decided to cram together all of these storylines. Nothing has a chance to breathe. The entire problem is that stories need time to develop. The actors are trying their best, but everything going on is completely unrelatable: yet the performances are just solemn with no sense of the stakes until HALFWAY THROUGH THE STORY.
The animation is unfortunately like Archer-people look like mannequins when not part of dialogue or action, and movements are made with minimum functionality needed. Nothing looks natural-nothing. Facial experessions are done in a sequential fashion-nothing simultaneous. It looks like...student film animation.
This is really disappointing. WB Animation has done some really good work in the past, but lately it seems like budgets have been cut and clear high-level creative leadership is missing. I hope they can turn it around, but I only stayed through the whole thing because my wife likes comics and we watched together. Otherwise I would've bailed in about 15 minutes.
Ghosts: Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn't Leave (2024)
Insufferable Guests
There are times when a show's producers must hire actors who can portray annoying characters to advance the plot, create conflict, and raise the stakes. Great care must be taken when this happens, for an audience can only take so much annoyance before finding the show insufferable.
Unfortunately, the producers hired three guest actors for this episode, two of which were completely insufferable, and one of which is going to come back for a future episode. It would helpful if in the course of the episode if there were a redeeming arc or sympathetic quality written about these characters, but this was either overlooked or, more plausibly, impossible due to the time constraints of a 30-minute show.
Such problems are not mine to concern myself with, however: it's on the writers to write themselves out of the corners they have written themselves into. The end result of this error is the same: it made me care far less about the entire conceit of the plot, and took me out of the show. It made me wonder about the state of supervision at CBS, and you know you've failed as a TV show when I am thinking about that rather than the intended entertainment set before me.
Sister Wives (2010)
Abandon Hope, All Who Enter
My wife cannot let this show go. Unfortunately there is an unending cottage industry of online reviewers who continue to have the same things to say about this show. Mostly, this is the story about a man who has had having dozens of children with women who were raised to accept a "lifestyle" that ultimately put them second to him. He goes through life with no real plan. He's egotistical, self-centered, and misogynistic. He calls his wife hypothetically having another husband a "vulgarity." He treats his wives terribly, having one divorce him so he can legally marry the other, all to adopt her kids--all to squeeze out his wife's ex-husband.
Don't support this show. It portrays American polygamy as a normal thing but has long since stopped raising meaningful questions about the practice.
I rue that this show exists. I rue that it hasn't been canceled. I rue that it continues to play on the worst of our humanity: gossip and smugness. I rue that YouTube reviewers make 6 figures just talking about the show. And I rue that I am subjected to it day in and day out. The normative narrative that the show has constructed has prevented any real progress in rescuing women and children in polygamy.
Rick and Morty: That's Amorte (2023)
Writing & Voice Acting Continues to Suffer
Too much of this episode relies on previous plot points that rehash, rather than develop, previous show ideas. The implications of decisions over life and death, and Rick's amoral orientation, aren't much different from themes we've seen before in Mortynight Run or Morty's Mind Blowers or episodes with Roy or any of the major Beth episodes. I was surprised that the conceit was more than just an opener, but rather the entire plot.
What's more, Belden's acting isn't as comedically on point as we're accustomed to. While I acknowledge that taking over for a previous voice actor is no easy task, the timing and delivery still need to be winning to the audience. Although Belden's performance has improved, there are several times when better timing and delivery could have saved a joke, or a mood, or both. For a conceit and plot which demand so much from the audience, the actors must therefore meet the challenge. Cardoni's Rick performance does this; Belden's performance as Morty does not. It's apparent why Morty has been featured so much less this season.
The high point continues to be the dedicated animators. Their excellent work should not be overlooked, even as the show continues drifting.
Increasingly, the show can simply be called, "The Adventures of Rick." What's more, it's starting to feel as though the writers are running out of ideas. Surprisingly, this is happening four episodes into a season where our characters are no longer limited by a multiverse where Rick is Numero Uno. Is it timidity? Boredom? Lack of collaboration? Only a portal gun to the writer's room can answer this question.
Rick and Morty: Air Force Wong (2023)
Another miss
This episode suffers on several levels. First, there's a recycling of ideas that doesn't really work. The audience is supposed to already know about the conceit of the recurring character, and furthermore we aren't really reminded of any of Rick's emotional connection to her until the end of the episode. The writing is relatively predictable, and there's a noticeable drop-off in attempts to add jokes-real jokes-to the script.
This is also unfortunately the first episode in which Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden's performances are not comedically up to par, and neither are the returning guest stars. Cardoni also really misses a chance to show off Rick's pathos. And sadly Belden's Morty still falls very flat in every scene, and is written in so little that this season 7 is basically "The Adventures of Rick." Sarandon seems outright bored. Hendricks carries the scenes that she's in, but she's written into too few of them to make much of a difference. This is on top of failures in sound editing (stepping on each other's lines).
Overall, the animation is top-notch, but I think the show's end is pretty much here.
Rick and Morty: How Poopy Got His Poop Back (2023)
Slapdash Effort
This episode is basically written like a middling Simpsons celebrity special-guest episode. It really feels like this episode's been re-written to purposely make fun of Roiland after his departure from the show. There are a lot of callbacks to previous episodes that aren't really jokes so much as references. For a show that's headed by someone known for his cleverness, this episode misses the mark. I probably laughed...once?
The replacement voice actors were clearly still learning the nuances, and calibrating them well is on the director & Harmon. Cardoni does the best with the challenging character of Rick. The main failure of this premiere is the lack of joy that the actors are bringing to the roles, even some of the regulars.
The animation is still stellar, so I'm giving the episode 5 stars for that, but some of the POVs are still questionable, such as one shot involving Mr. PB that undercuts the suspense of a life-threatening situation necessary for the subsequent joke.
I'm pretty bummed that this show's quality is seeming to suffer yet again. This feels a lot like the Season 4 dragon episode, and I'm wondering if this is just an intentional passive drop in quality to help the show get canceled.
Gen V (2023)
Less than the sum of its parts
Some of the storylines are subtle tweaks of existing ones from The Boys, and one is the exact same way of defeating a villain as from S2 of the show. There really needed to be a lot more set-up and establishing of characters or relationships, much of which could've been fixed with different takes rather than longer scenes. Some of the tropes for specific characters, specifically Sam, are also complete lifts from the Boys.
Fans of The Boys will be disappointed that there aren't really characters we root for here, either, unlike the Starlight or Hughie, or even Kimiko. Part of this means we have to acknowledge that these are younger, college-aged people who are going to make mistakes due to naïveté or lack of experience.
There are some fun scenes and mainly a lot of expanding on the world-building of the Voughtverse. It's a show I'm glad exists, even if it's flawed. It leans pretty hard into diversity, which itself has its in-universe rationale, yet I kind of wish they'd spent the money/time to add in the CGI needed for one character's qualities in particular. I'm hoping it finds its footing, but I'm satisfied that I won't need more episodes to be sure of this rating.
Harley Quinn: Metamorphosis (2023)
Still a Lost Show Ideawise
This episode was better than the last one, but that's a low bar. The action at least saw the exit of some dull new characters, and the action in that scene was storyboarded pretty well. Still, the scene where it happened was pretty contrived and not engaging, and kind of came out of nowhere.
The turn at the end of the episode didn't really answer anything and kind of pulled a "St. Elsewhere ending," which only ever has the effect of nullifying the stakes. The only thing that such a twist can be good for is getting a character to realize something about themselves, such as the episode of Batman the Animated Series where Bruce is mind-controlled by the Mad Hatter and goes through an arc as a result. But that's an ending that develops a character quality and helps us understand them better and is frankly wrapped up and satisfying. I don't see Harley's turn here really doing anything other than resetting her. And such a reset can only be dull.
Unfortunately there's also no arc of her having a normal reaction to being rejected by the team. She ought to either get so frustrated that she changes course and leaves the team, or she should have some success, maybe leveraging the success she has with some team members to greater acceptance from the rest. And it's like none of this discord changes the choreography of the fight scenes: her team members should change how they fight based on their attitudes, whether it's struggling to get in synch with her (she's a chaotic fighter and so there should be mishaps as a result) or be fighting worse trying to get her to coordinate.
It's like the writers really didn't think this season through, and it's a shame because everyone else is really trying to make the episode work.
Harley Quinn: Getting Ice Dick, Don't Wait Up (2023)
Boring New Characters, Show's Lost
The animation remains good and the original actors keep the train moving. The new characters (the Jons & Alysia) are dull and uninspired and are basically there to pad screen time. If you introduce a new character, help us understand who they are, what their motivation is, or at least have them say something clever.
The action scenes are forced and without a real rationale. The bit about Harley's eyesight are unfunny and overdone, and many jokes aren't as clever as the writers seem to think they are. Worst of all, Harley & Ivy seem lost without anything interesting to do, so the writers go back to forcing a rehash of scenes like Tawny but without any sense of constructing a coherent story. I direct them to Trey Parker & Matt Stone's talk about moving from "This and then this" to "This, but this (complication), and therefore (logical next step based on our characters/true-to-life consequences)."
Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Entombed (2023)
Decent idea, badly executed
This episode is basically a mishmash of a scenes from Indiana Jones: the first scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark combined with the a couple of scenes from The Last Crusade.
Unfortunately, this episode is plagued by some flaws, foremost among them is the performance of Wanda Sykes in what I can only hope is the only appearance of Phee. Phee is basically the tag-along version of Cid, which makes her pretty superfluous. There were multiple times I wondered where the voice direction went. Discussing the MacGuffin of the episode, Ms. Sykes' line read starts off annoyingly self-aggrandizingly ("EVERY Pirate knows..."), when it's obvious that the script calls for awe. Omega's lines repeat Phee's in this same sense of awe, so it's obvious what the script is going for. Unfortunately there are times when the script has her repeat an entire sentence (something to the effect of "the mountain has reclaimed it") instead of two words ("reclaimed it").
Other things make little sense. The final trouble the Bad Batch faces doesn't get connected to the larger universe, the planet, the culture. It's just there, and at the denouement, Phee brings up ANOTHER MacGuffin with a clearer description-which she wouldn't have any access to during the plot of the adventure!
Other than the linear approach to the MacGuffin, nothing else happens, and none of the characters have any arcs or learn any lessons. At least Indiana Jones went out of its way to teach a cautionary tale. This is an ersatz homage, and it's sad that nothing more was added to this episode.
Wolf Pack: From a Spark to a Flame (2023)
Bad decisions every step of the way
I never seen a group of characters make such foolish decisions or act so strangely throughout a show. See a big wildfire and your bus has a temporary slowdown on the road? Yell at your bus driver to open the door and throw in a side of insulting her for taking pride in her work. See a bunch of animals running from the fire? Get out of the bus and randomly run, because a bus isn't know to provide protection an animal from knocking you over. Hear a random guy call you and tell you to get out of the hospital, who is clearly not to be trusted, and has no discernible means of finding your room number with HIPAA laws, and who also masks his voice? Totally believe everything he's saying instead of chalking it up to being drugged in a hospital. Definitely don't show the kid getting a show for rabies, which would be SOP for a wolf bite. And are you a parent who's got a kid in the hospital? Childishly chide him that he did something wrong to get there, then show concern when he's collapsing, then insult him and act like you don't care when he's feeling better. And if you're a girl, definitely have an equally childish dad who refuses any help from anyone, then reply to him in really cutting ways that is inconsistent with your character in earlier scenes. Plus, tell your brother all the time to use complete sentences even when he is using them, and it's an emergency situation and it might be helpfulf to, you know, spend the effort to understand him, since you're his sister and it should be even easier for you to understand him than for me, since I'm just watching the show and I can already tell what he's saying.
I'm finishing my review here. It's oddly slow, not very interesting, and SMG doesn't show up until way late in the show, which is a shame because the other actors, with the exception of the actress playing Blake, aren't that strong. The scenes make a non sequitur at the halfway mark, taking us from people escaping a wildfire to a random rave scene, which doesn't serve any purpose except to show an even less-likeable set of characters who just tell us about how they are werewolves, rather than leaving unbroken the eerie, growing horror of a teen--still trying to learn how to be an adult--realizing they're transforming into a monster.
That '90s Show (2023)
Nickelodeon Version of That 70's Show
Strange to say, but this show is weighed down by bland, Nickelodeon-style younger actors. They seem more interested in staying close to their character than in making fun scenes. In other words, they play it small rather than thinking of the big picture by working to make their interactions gel. This wouldn't be so bad if any of their characters were interesting or likable, but they're all either dull, knock-off versions of their counterparts, self-involved--or some combination. It's painful to watch them hit all of their lines in reflexive stiffness-these are not characters who are capable of the transgressive playfulness of That 70's Show.
The older actors know how to make their scenes work-just as they did when they were much younger in That 70's Show. The 90s version of Eric Foreman is bland and uninteresting, but otherwise the characters work. The younger actors and characters in That 90s Show, unfortunately, weigh the show down. It makes me almost as depressed as 90s music.
Batman Beyond: Golem (1999)
Lackluster performances, generic plot
I was a little surprised at the underwhelming performances in this one. The main plot is taken from a lot of 80s movies (think of the "Stan Darsh" South Park episode), and all of the characters in the episode stay one-dimensional.
All of this adds up to a disappointing episode. It mainly serves to show that Batman now has a new way of going stealth. Other than that, I was left not caring much about anyone, and there was very little in the way of a developed character conflict. Willie, Terry, Nelson, and the rest seemed unchanged, while Bruce wasn't in it enough to have any sort of arc. Not one of the better re-watches.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: The Retreat (2022)
Insults Our Intelligence
Much like the previous episode, this one strains credulity. No questions are asked about the shady figure who returns, and none of the obvious questions--such as how a Hulk lacks any home security setup after a previous attack-are answered. It's like we're expected to think that Jen lacks any intelligence. None of the new characters bring anything except characters who are too immature and overly focused on the romantic interest, and Jen is acting way dumber than she's been shown to be the whole episode. She could leave the episode's entire secondary location because, you know, we've seen her make giant leaps before.
Also like the previous episode, this one can be skipped. There's really very little character (or plot!) development, but because she's mixing it up with new characters, we're expected to think she is growing, but she's really not-she's just peer-pressured and slaps on a smile when she acquiesces to foolish suggestions. The worst is-it's boring. Not much happens except walking & talking worthy of the Star Wars prequels.
The second star I give is only because of the creative opening shot, which took time and thought to set up and shoot. The third star is because even when she's written like this, Jen is likeable.