DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW 7.8

 

RECAP - DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW  7.8:  "Paranoid Android"

I dunno, folks.....I had such high hopes for this season when it came out....but I gotta tell you---the more it's dragged on, the more I realize that it's becoming a borefest.  This installment of our time travelling bunch as we returned from the holiday break saw us take a peek at what's going on with the Robo Legends as we give the REAL team a time-out.  And....not impressed.  I just couldn't really get into this epsiode...it was just mere filler.  Though it DID push the story along, it did so in a way that just couldn't make me give a damn.  We know we have a renegade Gideon controlling the new Waverider, and she's brought back another Ava android to serve as the ship's doctor, and now we have a complete android crew of Legends that are there to reset the timeline AND kill our OG's at the same time.  So, when we pick up on this installment, we go back to the last time both parties met---back in the hanger where the old team was trying to get the parts to fix Davies' time machine.  They had barely escaped, and managed to time jump before they were captured by their robo counterparts.  Two of the robos were destroyed or "killed" in the process, and Bishop sacrificed himself in the process to allow the Legends to escape.  Where THEY are, we have no idea, but we pick up on our robo team, and we see what THEY do this week---which is, essentially, fixing the whole Chernobyl disaster from 1986 that the OG's apparently screwed up. 

The android versions of this team are something of an aggressive, overexaggerated version of the originals.  With Sara being this head-strong leader hell bent on carrying out the credo of the mission.  With the Zari and Astra bots seemingly killed, they're taken to the medbay to be reset by the Avabot.  Meanwhile, the rest of the team has to fix what the old team did in Chernobyl in 1986, so they head there to get the General that helped the originals get people to safety, and save lives.  So, the team captures him, and they plan on making him fake a news broadcast to order people back to their homes instead of evacuating them, and allow history to run its course:  meaning that several will die in the fallout from the plant's radiation leak.  However, in the process of getting the broadcast set up, Sara gets injured as she's shot in the arm.  But she seems fine....but, when the General refuses to do the broadcast, the others contemplate killing his family in order to get him to comply.  This somehow doesn't sit well with the Sarabot, and Avabot notices this, and gets her to come to the ship to get fixed up.  When she gets there, Avabot digs into her arm to pull out the CPU chip implanted in her, and replaces it with a new one.  Sarabot also notices the CPU chips for Zari, and makes a mental note of it.  When she's fixed up, Sarabot breaks into the cabinet, and notices the other CPU's with the names of all the team on them.  It's then that she realizes that THEY are the androids---not the originals.

The rest of the team was able to repair the problem with the General, and got him to do the broadcast, but there was a scientist that managed to escape, and she's got scientific secrets with her, and looking to get out of Russia, and possibly sell them on the black market.  Sarabot is tasked with getting her back, or eliminating her, so she's going on the mission solo.  But before she does, she pulls the Zaribot aside, and informs her of what's really happening, and they find out that Gideon is the one behind it all, and they need to reset her, so that they can control their own futures. Zaribot goes to work on rebooting Gideon, while Sara goes to meet the scientist back in 1986.  She manages to convince the scientist to disappear and hide, while she takes the scientific info, and tries to hide her true intentions to the rest of the team.  With the rest of the team watching, and Avabot especially keeping close tabs, she completes the mission, and fools everyone.  

Once back aboard the renegade Waverider, she ends up exposing the plot by Gideon, and telling them they're all androids, and that the Avabot has been helping Gideon all this time.  That how they're handling things isn't the right way, and they can make their own choices.  However, what Sarabot did NOT plan on, was Gideon managing to manipulate the Zaribot into NOT rebooting her, by upgrading her CPU and making her smarter and more powerful. So, with that in mind, Sarabot is then captured and reprogrammed to carry out her mission without any emotional aspect.  She meets up with the scientist again, and ends up killing her on the park bench where they first met.  Thus, their mission continues...now with Sara as nothing more as a killing machine.  

What can I say?  As I stated at the beginning, this was just filler, and proves that the Gideon on the Waverider is willing to make the ends justify the means in order to maintain the timeline----even if it costs lives.  This is a ship of androids, and there is no emotional thought now.  Whether they believe in the Sarabot's original claim that they're androids is a moot point now.  The mission will go on, and now it means that the showdown between the androids and the real McCoy's is going to happen soon.  We're only a few episodes out from the season finale, so I hope this gets wrapped up soon.  This was something of a boring episode, and I HOPE things pick up from here.  

How did all of YOU feel about it?  Subscribe to the blog, and leave me YOUR thoughts and theories.  

Until then....time is on our side. 

SUPERMAN & LOIS 2.1

RECAP - SUPERMAN & LOIS  2.1:  "What Lies Beneath"  

Like the poster says:  Small Town.  Big Secrets.  Welcome back to Smallville, and the First Family of this little town, as we dive into another season of the Man of Steel and the rest of the Kent clan.  And when we last left off with the Kansas town, it was recovering from the fallout of the Morgan Edge situation, and his near takeover of the town and more, as he tried to convert the town into new Kryptonians to revive the lost planet of Superman's birth.  We also get the fallout from the appearance of John Henry Irons' daughter Natalie, who has made her way to New Earth to find her dad, only to discover that the Lois Lane on THIS planet is VERY much alive----but it's not who she thinks.  It's a time of adjustment, but it appears that NOT everyone is taking it well.  Plus...Superman is about to face a new super threat lurking beneath the surface of the town---as well as dealing with the new head of the DoD as General Lane has stepped aside to be more of a father and grandfather.  

This opening episode of the season sees everyone in SERIOUS need of a Prozac.  Most notably Lois...who, upon seeing Natalie try and run towards her when Nat seems to think that's her mother, does nothing more but get stone faced and walks off.  Throughout this episode, she's been in total bitch mode, as she TRIES to throw herself into work, where Chrissy is TRYING to hire more help, but Lois hasn't been much help in THAT department.  On top of that, she's avoiding Clark and turning the cold shoulder to him, as he's off doing the Superman thing when needed, and ends up leaving the boys without adult supervision.  We see her discover Jon and his new squeeze Cassie in a near-sexual escapade, leading her to go off on Clark when he returns from his latest mission, and thus argues with him about the fact that Jon was left unattended, and nearly got into huge trouble with Cassie.  Not only that, Jordan went off with Sarah, and they have NO idea what HE is up to.  She argues with Clark, and it forces him to take off to the Cushings without her.  He gets some friendly advice from Kyle, who is also having some hard feelings of his own.  He and Lana seem to be having issues again, as she's now campaigning for the new Mayoral candidate...but seems to be devoted to THAT moreso than spending time with her.  It's caused the both of them to seem distant, and looks to fracture their current stability.  Clark seeks Lana's advice, and they both realize that issues are causing their relationships to go awry.

For Jordan and Sarah, things seem off because of the fact that she was gone at Summer Camp, and as a counselor.  When she returned, she seemed different.  And...she seemed to want to avoid Jordan at all costs.  Jordan's been missing her, and is just excited to spend time with her, but she seems to want to avoid him.  When he tries to show her a little romance, it fails big time, and it leaves him dejected.  She explains that she's just not feeling up to the romance at the moment to her Dad, and he tells her to just take things slow, and let things play out naturally.  That also allows him and Lana to have THEIR little pow wow, and Lana explains that she just wants what's best for the town, but by no means does her time spent with the new mayoral candidate mean that she's trying to ignore him, or not mean she doesn't want time with him.  

Jordan and Jon talk, and Jordan pours his heart out to his brother, who tells him to try not to stress about it.  Things will be okay.  Clark manages to talk to BOTH his boys, and without giving them the actual "lecture", let's them know that what happened CANNOT happen again.  They promise him they'll be better, but Clark warns them that their mother WILL lecture them, so expect it coming.  Speaking of parents and kids, John explains to Natalie about the whole Lois situation, and tries to get her to adjust to life in Metropolis, but she can't.  She doesn't fit in, and the friends that were her friends on her world, their dopplegangers here are not.  She's not happy here, and feels she doesn't belong, and wishes she had died when her mother did. 

Lois finally does talk to Clark, and she says that she's felt bad since she saw Natalie, because she understands how Natalie feels....because her own mother left her and Lucy when they were younger.  And that sense of abandonment hit Lois hard, and she couldn't deal with it when it came to Natalie.  Clark assures her that she is not her mother, and that talking to Natalie might actually help them both.  So, Lois calls John and Natalie, and they'll be hanging out at the Kent Farm while Nat and Lois get to know each other, and better understand each other.  

As for Superman....well...he's got another problem.  After performing a rescue of a North Korean sub, he got the lecture from Col. Anderson, who is now the head of the DoD, about having that sub dropped closer to American territory.  Superman explains to him that his loyalty is to the world at large, and Anderson tells him that he needs to have his loyalty to America first.  Tremors start happening in Smallville, and it's up to Superman to try and stem the shaking, and goes underground to perform a rescue, only to bump into two members of the DoD dressed in super suits and performing rescues, as the tremors subside, and they take off.  Superman tries to find them, but they're gone.  He then pays a visit to Anderson again, who hands back the signal that calls Supes to them, and says that when he wants to join their team, he'll welcome him back....but America's interests come first.  And that means his new team members will obey HIS orders.  But they also bear the crest of the House of El, and Superman is NOT happy that they wear it, and feel they don't have the right, but Anderson feels differently.  Meanwhile, at the end of the episode, we see what it is that's causing all the shaking going on, as we see a big hand pounding through some rubble.  

So, we've got A LOT of stress going on in town, with THREE families, and between the Man of Steel and the DoD.  We now see just how big a buffer General Sam Lane was between them AND Superman.  He's now going to be tested on his loyalty, and called out onto the carpet for it by the DoD and quite possibly the country in later episodes.  Superman has given his loyalty to protect the world, NOT just America, but this is just the problem with the DoD, as is with America in general:  protecting America FIRST tends to leave the rest of the world out in the cold, and thus makes our country a little LESS humanitarian, despite the belief that we perceive ourselves as "the good guys".  But, we all know that when it comes to the military, or America as a whole---powers like what Superman has is believed by us that those kinds of powers are best used when WE have them...NOT anyone else.  So, there's going to be a great divide between Superman and America coming at some point.  If they REALLY wanted to do a deeper dive into this story, they could also include the Justice League into it as well...making the citizens of the country make the heroes draw a line as to where their loyalty lies.  

As for Nat and John....hoping that time with the Kents will soften Nat up, and she'll be able to better adjust.  Not sure what this will mean with her relationship with Lois, but that will be interesting to watch grow.  For Jordan and Sarah, I see trouble on the horizon, and not sure if this high school romance is going to last long.  I have a feeling that Sarah's time away from Smallville made her realize that she's just not into Jordan like she thought she was, and it's going to lead to HIS broken heart.  Jon and Cassie have gotten a little TOO close, but hopefully, they don't split THEM up.  We need SOMETHING good.  For Kyle and Lana...I have a feeling it's going to be A LOT of this Kyle feeling inadequate to her, and her having to reassure him otherwise.  He needs to get over that.  And for Lois---she's going to need to be strong for Clark when this crisis about Superman's loyalties comes into question, and it puts him on the hot seat.  Then there's this new threat....and I have a VERY bad feeling that the disturbance underground might be Doomsday.  

Overall, not a bad start to the new season...it sets up the drama among our characters, and gives us a new, unknown threat at this time, that will become bigger as the season goes on.  I just hope the drama doesn't get TOO heavy to where it drags the show down, and slows the pace of any growth.  But...what we got set us up for what's to come nicely.

What did YOU guys think?  Give me YOUR insights by subscribing to the blog, and leaving your comments below.

Until next time....Up, up, and away!

 

MOVIE REVIEW: SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

 

MOVIE REVIEW:  SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was one of those Marvel movies that hit all the sweet spots:  great story, explosive action sequences, rich characters, some really offbeat humor, and exquisite special effects.  One of the best MCU movies I've seen, and Phase Four is off to a rollicking start (if you account for all the MCU shows on Disney Plus).

We got to see the history of the antagonist early--Xu Wenwu--whom we come to know as his history progresses through the first part of the film as the one, true, Mandarin....the head of the Ten Rings, which we had seen in the MCU before---most notably Iron Man 3, when Killian, who headed up A.I.M., and tried to kill Tony Stark, had used a British actor named Trevor Slattery (BRILLIANTLY played by Ben Kingsley), to portray the mysterious and evil crimelord.  But we see in the early part of the movie on how Wenwu managed to obtain the mystical Ten Rings, which granted him ungodly powers and immortality.  We then also see him battle Ying Li...the keeper of a magical forest he'd heard about, and wanted entry to.  They fought, and she bested him.  The two fell in love, and had two children:  Shang-Chi and Xialing.  Wenwu abandons the Ten Rings, and leads a normal life, putting his powerful rings away. 

However, enemies of The Mandarin---the Iron Gang---attack his home when Shang-Chi is 7 years old, and his mother tries to fend them off, but she is killed by the sinister group.  Seeking revenge, Wenwu put the rings back on, and sends a message to the gang.  He also then begins training Shang-Chi in many forms of Martial Arts, training him to be an assassin.  When he is 14, his father sends him out on his mission.  Having completed it, however, Shang-Chi feels guilt, and runs away---eventually he ends up stateside in San Francisco, using the alias Shaun.  As Shaun, he works as a parking attendant with his best friend Katy, who has no idea who he really is.  They seem like slackers with no real direction, and just like to have fun.  That all changes on the bus ride to work, as Shang-Chi is approached by members of his father's gang, who have tracked him down.  A fight ensues on the bus, and eventually, it goes out of control because the driver is knocked out during the battle inside.  So, Katy takes over driving---her particluar skill---and manages to stop the bus, but not before the pendant he has is taken by his father's main goon, and they take off.  Shaun, knowing that his father has found him, knows that his sister is in danger, and he has to take off....however, Katy is insistent on going once he gives her the rundown on who he his.  

They meet up with his sister in Macau, where she runs and underground fighting club, which she formed after she escaped their father when she was sixteen.  After roughing him up, she leaves him to his own devices until their father's goons show up to grab her pendant as well, and to capture them both.  Despite trying to escape while fighting on the side of the building, they are captured by their father and brought back to their home.  There, their father uses their pendants to open up a mystical map to Tao Lo.  He says he keeps hearing the voice of their mother in their heads, and that he must travel there to rescue her, so that they can have their family back....even if it means destroying their mother's village in order to get her back.  They object and are imprisoned, where they meet actor Trevor Slattery, who had been captured by the Mandarin for impersonating him on behalf of Killian, who had run A.I.M. and used the identity and legend of The Mandarin to plot against Iron Man.  Trevor has with him one of the many creatures of their mother's village, and it can help lead them there.  The crew makes their escape, and Katy drives them through the forest, taking directions from Trevor, as they navigate through the maze until they reach the village.  There, they meet their Aunt , Ying Nan, who tells them about the history of Tao Lo.  The village was attacked by the creature known as the Dweller-In-Darkness thousands of years ago, and the Great Protector helped seal the Dark Gate to keep the evil out.  According to Ying Nan, the Dweller has been impersonating her sister in order to get free---and is manipulating their father to help break it free.  

The trio train in order to prepare for the battle against their father and his Ten Rings forces.  Their father arrives, and the battle ensures.  As Wenwu attacks the gate after disposing of Shang-Chi, he starts to let some of the dark creatures loose.  Shang-Chi then comes back and manages to fight off his father, but the Dweller escapes and attacks Tao Lo.  Wenwu saves Shang-Chi, and sacrifices himself, but not before giving him the Ten Rings, thus granting Shang-Chi the power to help defeat the Dweller.  Along with help from Katy and Xialing, the manage to defeat the creature and end the threat.  

Shang-Chi and Katy return to San Francisco, and tell their friends of their adventures, when Wong steps through a magical portal to get Shang-Chi and Katy, and take them to Kamar-Taj in order to learn more about the rings.  Along with Dr. Bruce Banner and Carol Danvers, they try to crack the mystery of the Ten Rings, which they reason is a beacon summoning somthing to them.  Carol departs on a mission, and Bruce welcomes the duo to a whole new world.  

We then see Xialing in her father's compound, ready to take over where he left off, and build the Ten Rings clan back up.  

This movie was spectacular!  The story was well crafted, and I'm not sure how much Chinese folklore was used, but it gives it grivitas, and gives you that feel of ancient history, as well as A LOT of mysticism.  Seeing Wong in this movie was awesome, especially when he's fighting the Abomination.  Blonsky hasn't been seen in 10 plus  years, so it's was awesome to see him again, looking EXACTLY like his comic book counterpart.  And it also seems that the fight he and Wong had was a work, as Wong is teaching him how to fight to earn money.  Katy and Trevor provided TONS of comic relief, and it was GREAT that Trevor had a kind-of redemption arc for his story.  Michelle Yeoh ALWAYS provides great screen presence, especially in the role of a wise mentor or parent.  And the chemistry between Simu Liu and Akwafina was just stellar.  I wonder what with Xialing taking over her father's gang, whether or not that will bring her into conflict with her brother down the road, and will SHE try to obtain the Ten Rings from him.  What we DO know is that the Ten Rings play a MUCH bigger part than we can inagine...and not sure if they play a part in Doctor Strange's upcoming movie, or we'll have to wait until the sequel for Shang-Chi in order to find out.  But I do know that they've got us excited.

What did YOU all think of this movie?  Let me know by subscribing and giving me YOUR opinions below.  

SERIES REVIEW: WHAT IF...?

 

SERIES REVIEW:  WHAT IF...?

One of the Marvel Studios television shows offered to us in 2021 was based on the companies' classic comic What If...?, which gave us stories about our favorite characters from the Marvel Universe in new and diverse ways.  The series featured Uatu the Watcher...a cosmic being that was an observer of these many alternate realities.  In this series, he is our guide along the way through this 9 episode arc, and provides us the perspective from these alternate realities of the multiverse....but then things go awry---as they tend to do in the MCU---and we end up with a VERY interesting end to the first season of this series.

It was fascinating to see how they used Uatu the Watcher (voiced by Jeffrey Wright ....VERY WELL, I might add), as he introduced us into every single episode, just like the comics.  What we saw was, essentially, HIS perspective on events that happen in the various worlds that we visited in this 9 episode run.  As anyone knows of the Watchers---they are only there to observe...NEVER to interfere.  To see, as the series progressed towards it's end--that he had to violate that one rule because of a mishap to happen in the multiverse. and Ultron had become all-too powerful, and wanted to control ALL of the multiverse, and thus he had to interfere in order to try and stop Ultron from controlling ALL of reality. Wright brought a weight and perfect diction of the character, and it was even better when he was allowed to truly EMOTE as the crisis involving Ultron threatened him AND reality. So much that he had to cull from different universes in order to battle the robotic menace.  

We did get some cool takes on some of our familiar stories from the 616, as we got to see what it would be like had Peggy Carter had taken the Super Soldier Formula and been Captain Carter, (with Steve Rogers inheriting something close to the original Iron Man armor, but designed by Howard Stark).  Peggy's story follows as close to Steve's, only she ends up getting sucked into a different dimension of decades fighting some beast that was coming through the portal opened up by the Tesseract.  She ends up playing a big role towards the end of the season, as the Watcher plucks her for his team to battle the Ultimate Ultron.   

We got Chadwick Boseman in what became HIS final performance of his career, as he reprises the role of T'Challa, only as HE becomes Star-Lord, and forms his own renegade thieves' guild with Yondu and some of the other Guardians of the Galaxy.  He ends up getting guys like Thanos to even join his group.  T'Challa is also one of the many that Uatu draws for his team to stop Ultron in the season finale. 

We see what happens when Nick Fury and the Black Widow find out that members of the Avengers they're trying to put together start mysteriously dying due to mysterious circumstances.  Natasha is accused of killing Tony Stark, The Hulk explodes, and Thor is killed off, which draws the ire of Asgard, and Loki---who comes to Earth seeking revenge for his brother's death.  Fury, Natasha, and Loki work together to uncover the REAL culprit behind the killings:  Hank Pym.  Hank was pissed off at Fury, because his daughter Hope---as SHIELD Agent---had been killed in the line of duty.  So, he killed off Fury's Avengers recruits to gain revenge.  However...Fury begins again, when they uncover the body of Captain America. 

The one episode that WASN'T my favorite (but I felt they did for fan service reasons), was the Zombies episode, where Janet Van Dyne had infected Hank Pym in the Quantum Realm, and the infection spreads across the globe, and a small band of heroes:  Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Hulk, Wasp, and many others try to find a way to get past the barrage of Deadites in order to grab a nearly completed Infinity Gauntlet from a zombified Thanos.  Never been big on zombie movies or TV shows...so, this episode did nothing for me.  

Killmonger was the focus of the next episode, as he rescues Tony Stark from his Middle Eastern captivity from the Ten Rings, and they work together to create an army of robots to help secure the world, but Killmonger has an ulterior motive, as he stages T'Challa and James Rhodes' deaths by having them kill each other, then kills Stark in order to take over Wakanda, and build his army for world domination.  Siri and Pepper Potts form a secret alliance to try and take him down.  Killmonger will eventually play a big role towards the end of the season as, Uatu nabs HIM in order to battle Ultron later on.

We also got an espisode (and I'm remiss for NOT mentioning this earlier), is when Dr. Strange tried to use the Time Stone to fix history in order to save his lady love, Dr. Christine Palmer, and wasn't getting the scenario he wanted...so he went out to accrue the power of the Dark Dimension to save Christine, but her death is a set point in time in his universe, and cannot be changed.  Undaunted, he also battles the good Doctor Strange, and absorbs HIM as well, but he still cannot save Christine, as the universe shatters, and he begs the Watcher for him....but Uatu cannot interfere.  

We get a bit of comedy thrown in, as we see what it would've been like had Thor been an only child...and he's an insipid, spoiled brat.  Just a party kid with super powers who nearly destroys the Earth with his rager.  This brings Captain Marvel into the mix to try and stop him, and say that they've told his mother Frigga, and he decides to clean Earth up before she arrives, only to find out that Ultron---now with the Vision's body---is looking for the Infinity Stones for his conquest of the multiverse.  

This leads into the story arc of the final two episodes, as Ultron has taken notice of Uatu, and discovers the multiverse, and sees the potential to cleanse ALL of the multiverse of humans.  Despite Uatu having to observe, he beings to be pulled into the direction of action, and when Ultron has seemingly gotten control of every reality, it's what forces Uatu to finally take action by grabbing Natasha Romanov, Captain Carter, Killmonger, Doctor Strange, and a few others to battle the Ultimate Ultron, and stop him from controlling and destroying the multiverse.  They manage to find Arnim Zola, as a computer virus, and shoot it into Ultron to distrupt his system and shut him down. Killmonger decides HE wants the power, and they go to fight.  As the Watcher returns the other members of their "Guardians of the Universe" to their respective times (save for Natasha, whom he returns to a different time where she's needed), He and the Strange Supreme help seal Killmonger and Ultron in an orb, where he will watch over them, as they battle into Infinity.  Natasha and Carter then return to Carter's universe, where they discover Howard Stark's armor from HER World War II...with someone inside.  

Overall, it was a fun series to watch, and I know some people were not pleased that some of the main characters were NOT voiced the the actual actors that portray them ON SCREEN, it is NOT the end of the world.  The people that filled in I felt did a great job, and lent homage to the actors/actresses who portray them on the big screen.  Most of the stories were entertaining, and the final arc was interesting.  What's in store for Season 2 will be interesting, and I wonder IF they'll have Uatu break his oath yet again?  It would be a tired trope to do again...since they did it THIS season.  So, not sure if they're going to have something that connects all these separate stories together for next season, but we'll have to see.  I just hope they don't do anymore zombie episodes---one was enough.  

What did YOU all think of this series?  Go ahead and drop me a line, and subscribe to the blog while you're at it?  

Until next time....