DC Arrowverse 2016 - a review - part 2 - Dc's Legends of Tomarrow.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

While it had it's setup in Arrow and Flash, ultimately, it is it's own beast, abet one best described as team-up the series.

The nickname of the series is power rangers in time, as it suffers from a lot of the same flaws.

The Good

Captain Cold:  My nickname for this series is Captain Cold and Friends and for good reason.  His thieving, calculating, but ethical ways really acts as a rebuttal to the rest of the characters (save one).  It breaks my heart he won't be in season 2, but hope this makes it because he has a bigger role in the arrowverse.  I'd love him to setup the rogue gallery, but be more of the rivals for the entire arrowverse, then actual enemies (in contrast to the actual big bad).  He should remain ethical enough to not be a person you need to kill, but criminal enough that you need to stop him, which is easier said then done, because he is the villainous batman.

I also loved how, despite how much of a crook he is and how much he berates his fellow heroes, you attack them, you go on his list because he is seriously a team player.

Heatwave:  I honestly thought heatwave would be the first person to fall, to motivate Captain Cold for the new series.  Instead he was one of the best things about the series.  He and Captain Cold had something the rest of the character team didn't had: teamwork. and Heatwaves story arc where a pyromaniac thug ended up being one of the best with temporal training was one of the better arcs.  The other point is his one liners, where the only person whom had better lines was Captain Cold and not always.

Plus its kinda awesome how the sidekick/henchman of Captain Cold becomes a badass temporal warrior.

White Canary:  Sara was already built up, but seeing her as a regular character was one of the better parts.  Because the actor had actual martial arts training, she was a hoot.  Hell, the way she bonded with the thugs added a certain element (and showed how this series would have been better by making it a time bandits-like series).  However, she had an angel and a devil on her shoulder (The Atom and Captain Cold), and neither was completely wrong or right that added to the dynamic.  She deserved to be captain and I hope they keep her as fearless leader.

The Atom:  If I had to cut back the cast, it would stop at the above three and the Atom, or as I like to call it, three crooks and an optimist.  Brandon Routh confirmed how foolish we were for rejecting him as Superman.  He's the screw-up, but he's also one of the smartest men on the planet. You can see how much this version of Ray Palmer is secretly Ted Kord.  He is slowly but surely becoming more competent, and often acts as the heart of the team.  It is really hard to hate Ray.  If I had to pick one point where it was awesome, it was when he grew and fought the giant death bot.  Silly as all heck, but a blast nevertheless.  and he wears his heart on his sleeve and it's one of the reason he keeps screwing up, but losing it would make him not Ray.

Getting There

Firestorm:  I think this one could very easily be put in the good, but I want to make sure they don't drop the ball and fix the flaws.  Doctor Stein is fantastic as a somewhat ethically challenged mad scientist, with a sense of justice.  It was Jefferson Jax that weighs down the concept.  This isn't against the actor at all, as his acting worked well enough, but there seems to be one model for young black males that I will go into more details when I do the Flash (such as the natural athletics line).  Still, Jefferson improved vastly as the series progresses with the high point is he was smart enough to study the temporal machinery to act as a repair guy, on top of his other powers.

However, there is an inherent problem with the character.  He is easily one of the most broken characters in the dc universe.  Now that he's figuring out his  transmutation ability, he is going to do a lot more then be a flying blaster.  How they treat this will remain to be scene.

Rip: "Time Rory" was a fun and descent character.  He came off as a man whom lost too much and became so desperate that he was in many ways, acting as a villain.  We understand why he's trying to change the past as we find out how much he didn't have as a child.  However, we also confirm how having Sara and/or Leonard in charge would reduce the problems significantly.   I like the character, but hope to love him in the next season.

The Concept:  While I have issues with the plot, I loved some of the set pieces that were done.  From the 70's bar room fight, to poor Jefferson Jax having to deal with bigotry in the 50's (and Stein having a very different opinion of the era), to Jonah <explicit remark> Hex (where both Ray as white hat and Snart as the insurance stoled the show at the same time), or when Ray and Kendra walk into a 50's house party and poor, stupid, lovable ray who doesn't have a bigoted bone in his body, doesn't get why an interracial couple in the 50's would be contentious.

The Meh

Vandal Savage:  This character was both nailed and failed.  The actor did a fantastic job playing a cartoony villain.  However, it's hard to take this as a main villain when he is so overwhelmingly weak when compared to his adversaries.   If it weren't for time patrol intervention (and the plot, see below) he would have been defeated a few episodes in.  This is especially contrasted with  Raj Al Ghul, who is a puppy dog whose seriously lawful evil, but with an emphasis on the lawful.  Vandal either needed his own team of metahumans or he needed better escape plans and pulled a Xanatos that didn't require the stupidity of the pcs.

Hawkgirl:  I feel bad for the actor.  The DCAU Hawkgirl is one of the best repackaging of any character ever.  Then instead of retreading a Thanagarian spy or something similar, they didn't only use the bizarre reencarnation theory, they mated her with two stalkers and make her the princess, which is annoying.  She was also used as a vector to jerk around Ray, which is like kicking around a puppy.

The Bad

Hawkman:  I will never dis the actor of a bad role and character, because it's been multiple times where I've seen the actor could have played the roll, but wasn't allowed too.  If Savage and Kendra were dissed hard.  Hawkman was by hard treated the worst by the arc.  Instead of coming off as Conan with Wings, he came off as a creepy stalker, whose sole purpose is to take away Hawkgirl's agency.  he died in the 1st episode and we cheered, and I feel bad for the actor because I believe he can do better.  Heck when he was discovered as a brainwashed villain, his acting improved dramatically.

The Plot:  It is easily was the weakest part of the series.  The problem with the premise is if the heroes succeed once, the show is over.  It wasn't tight enough to be a mini-series, but almost needed to have more "filler" if it was that easy.  Worse, I can name at least 3-4 times when Vandal should have been imprisoned and/or eliminated that our heroes retreated because...we need to stretch the plot.

Worse, the premise ruined three good characters (Vandal Savage and the Hawks).  By tying them together, they turn two great characters to victims and the third into a vampire that shouldn't have as much success as he does.  Two hawks should curb-stomp a Savage, and you throw in a master assassin, a master thief, a pyromaniac bruiser, and freaking firestorm, that should last about a second.

Ultimately the plot let them down.

The other is by using time travel as a base, they didn't even follow their own rules.  In one episode they were protecting themselves as children but had to be careful not to take them out of the timeline, or they would disappear.  so next episode, it was ignored (head slammed on desk)

What I Want

I was very enticed by the concept of the Justice Society of America, and hope it plays a big role in season 2.  I want to see the adventures of Heatwave, The Atom, and White Canary and hope they learned from the mistakes of the season.  I also look forward to seeing the change up in casts and hoping they pick and write characters up to the task.

I also want to see the Thanagarian invasion and where it heads.  With Vandal gone, there is a chance that the hawks can be improved significantly.

Space Janitor's of Fate - Part 12 - Milkman in the Middle

https://www.twitch.tv/rpglory/v/74728645

After a period of tweaking, we end up in a sewer being chased by an alien octopus, and for some reason, Mike is a milkman.

DC Arrowverse 2016 - a review - part 1 - Supergirl.

Okay been stewing on this so think it's best to get it out in chunks

Supergirl

I show best remembered by those that are comic readers and those that have not successfully repressed the movie from the 80's (where the main actor was great and everything else blew).

It is particularly funny as it was the only part of the arrowverse that ended up on prime time tv.

The Good:

Supergirl: Melissa Benoit take a bow.  you did a fantastic job presenting a character that could easily have been a flop.

Cat Grant: Felicia Lockheart was playing the Perry White role, but in a way that has a heavy dose of J Jonah Jameson in it.  She did a fantastic job and more often then not stole the scenes from pretty much everybody.  I heard she might be sidelined or removed and I will miss her if that is the case.

Martian Manhunter:  They did a fantastic job setting up this character.  He's a being that is suffering from serious ptsd, and somehow ended up the head of a alien hunter organisation.  Furthermore, he's somewhat terrified of not getting caught, but what he can do to others.  He also took over the surrogate father role of the Krytonian and her sister and honestly, he's a really nice guy that doesn't suck.  He's willing to suffer for the greater good and he has excellent puppy dog eyes that gets you in the feels.  The Snyderverse were fools to not use him.   Better then that, they set up the character so you didn't know it was him and suspected another metahuman until he revealed himself.

Plus it was fun seeing how terrifying White Martians are that when Indigo and Non did the prison break, they didn't dare release it.

The Flash/Supergirl Crossover:  I think I could watch Grant and Melissa read the phone book and it would be entertaining.  they had serious bro chemistry.

Her Rogue Gallery: The way I see it, if superman isn't using his rogues gallery beyond Lex Luthor and Zod in the movieverse, give them to supergirl.   It's been a blast seeing some of these villains brought to life.

Shorter Arcs: I would argue that Supergirl had faster drama then any other series in the drama verse and it felt like progression because of it.  I'll explain in more detail in later blog entries about other series.

Astra / Non:  I liked the fact that while villains, they had a connection to the heroes and how tragic the situation regarding kypton really was.  For all we know, they were right and krypton should have still been around.   Furthermore, despite being the main villain, Astra's death was tragic for everybody involved and showed there has to be a better way.

It also explains why non was on the semi-rebound when he met up with indigo, he grew darker because at heart, he is a follower whose trying to do the right thing.

Getting There:

Alex:  She did well enough, but she's a bloody lemming.  Listen to your adopted sister and surrogate dad and fight like a human.  But she does now have a shiny new suit of power armor.

For example in the penultimate episodes, Jonn's already fighting tooth and nail against a braniac level opponent and honestly, the only reason he lost is because he was babysitting. :(

Jimmy Olson:  Besides my issues with the removal of red headed characters from fiction, I think he did a good enough job, but you get the vibe he was hired as eye candy.  The breaking in Maxwell Lords was classic Jimmy Olson, and adding Winn as backup worked quite well.

Livewire:  I think they have done a great enough job with the character and she should become slowly but surely one of the better characters in the show.  The actor that can plays it well, but they need to give her better dialogue to show that her greatest weapon isn't her power, but her tongue.  I also love the idea that she's the only reoccurring villain that isn't connected to the metaplot.  Besides using her tongue, make her a recruiter of other supervillains and have her dress them because it's hilarious thinking that all those horrible costumes are her ideas.

I'm kinda sad they didn't put her back in the D.E.O. because her tongue would have done more damage if she got out then her powers ever did.

Maxwell Lord:  I'm completely on the fence for this one.  He seemed originally like a Lex Luthor knock off, but he slowly but surely became quite likeable, abet egomaniac and the dynamic between him and Kara really did help a lot.  If he doesn't return next season, it will suck, but could be worse.

Winn Schott:  I think he came off incredibly creepy in the first few episodes, but seems generally to be a good egg with a lot of baggage.   What they do with his story arc will determine his worth.

What wasn't Good:

General Sam Lane:  This character was cartoony and unbelievable and this is in a comic book tv show.  He reminds me of the worst aspects of General Ross from Marvel.

Indigo:  Not the worst person on this list by any means, and the idea of a vengeful Brainiac is a terrifying idea, but she felt like a poor woman's Mystique in that costume.  Not absolutely horrible, but could be better.

Red Tornado:   He really looked quite bad, but if his function was to figure out the ins and outs of costume design I'm okay with it, but seriously he needs to return after his upgrade, if only to seek forgiveness for his design.

Lucy Lane:  The name bugs me, but it's more the reason for the character. She was shoehorned in to create a triangle for Jimmy Olson's affection and it didn't quite work.

Stuff I want:

Lobo:  You do not mention the main man in passing and do not use him.  I understand that he would break your rating and cause serious complications, but dag nab it, I want his snarky one liners and his bad attitude.

Maxima:  She had a 3 minute cameo and it was awesome.  We need more of them as she could be more of a foil then an actual villain.  A reflection of what Kara is on red kryptonite as it were.

Ultrahumanite: I think the dcau ultrahumanite would be a fantastic addition to the supergirls rogues gallery.  He's a supervillain whom would be a serious threat if he didn't have that soft streak.  afterall what do you do with a person whom trashed the art gallery and saved the orphanage?  He could have almost a hannibal lecteur relationship, but less creepy. Plus his ability to put his brain in other characters means he can have guest cameos if gorilla cgi costs too much.

What I don't want

Is too many female derivatives of superman rogues character.  Either use the original or create somebody new.

One Last Thought:

In order to entertain you guys until the latest episode comes out, here's a random table.

(d20) The what's in the pod table:
1 Beppo the Super Monkey
2 Comet the Super Horse
3 Doomsday
4 Eradicator
5 Kalibak (his dad kicked him out)
6 Kilowog (because honestly we go with the best :D)
7 Krypto the Super Dog
8 Lobo (3 day benders are a pain)
9 Mister Mxyzptlk
10 Power Girl
11 Proty
12 Random cw character (see table 2)
13 Reach Symbiote
14 Starro
15 Streaky the Super Cat
16 Supermarina sauce
17 Superpope hat
18 A Toyman's Wonderful Toy
19 Ultrahumanite (he was doing a rendition of richard III and things got out of hand)
20 Zod

Space Janitor's of Fate - Part 11 - Bobbing in the Fridge

https://www.twitch.tv/rpglory/v/73407608

A brinoid waste technician, a nurse from a oppressive world, and a multipurpose trashbot  end up in a planet designed on the 1950's and filled with clones.  From one goof to another, we find out that bots can dance. :D

Why the TV is losing the Internet War

More and more people are "cutting the cord" and I'm going to tell you why.

1. Harddrive Failure.

When I first got my pvr, I enjoyed the national geographic channel.

For the first 6 months, it ran relatively well.

Then the harddrive crashed and stopped working. Losing everything on it.

This would not be a problem in itself, if I would have been able to back it up,  but it's not an option.

However, if there is a legit and effective way to record off a pvr onto another source, please let me know. :)

2. Recording Times.
1. this is probably the most damning part of the system.
When I want to tape something, I want minimal issues.

I was and still am a Mythbusters fan, but my pvr decided to record old episodes and not the new ones.

I checked around and found out I was not the only person being affected by this.

They were not encoding their signal properly.

I also had a recent event where I had set my recent pvr to take lost ship and got asylum movies instead.  If a show is cancelled, it should send a signal so you don't record it.

This is a real problem as if you try to record something legally, and it doesn't record, most people will seek other options.

3. Regional Blocking.

Okay it didn't record the show you wanted.

You go to the internet to watch it from their website...and it's not available in your country.

Congratulations, I now need to go get a vpn connection in another country or even less ethical means to watch something I was perfectly happy to tape and watch.

**************************************

I would like to hear your own stories and experiences and/or reasons why you are angry at your tv service and also why you may have cut the cord.

Ultimately, a tv should be treated like a restaurant and a service, more so, as with competitors like netflix, people will seek other pastures.

Otherwise your cable companies will shift their business to just supplying the internet and charge more for it.

Space Janitor's of Fate - Part 10 - A Grinding Negotiation with Delusions of Grandeur

https://www.twitch.tv/rpglory/v/72112046

After some revising of characters, our heroes are convinced to destablize a government.

Viva la revolution! :p.

Funkadelic Frankenstein - Part 3 - Flipping the Fish

Our heroes are on a new adventure involving lovecraftean horrors, the bc ferry system, lawsuits and a certain pimp's hat.  :p

https://www.twitch.tv/rpglory/v/70785542

X-Men Apocalypse - a movie review - warning spoilers

A little disjointed but overall I liked it.

It is solidly the middle ground between Avengers: Civil War and Batman verses Superman and has features of both.

1. no X-Men movie has started weak and this movie continues this tradition.  I loved the Stargate homage and yet again, you kind of wish this movie would have been the rise of apocalypse.

2.  Apocalypse:  This incredibly powerful character felt like a worldbuster even before he seduced Magneto and captured Xavier.  He was 2-dimensional, but that's hardly a surprise (honestly his best showings are in the fox x-men cartoon and the AoA storyarc of the 90's).  His main purpose was to be a planetary threat and he did it well.  and if you didn't hate him enough, he used the rage of Magneto's childhood to turn him.  My only complaint is he needed his pheromone control spelled out more and how it takes a very strong will to resist (which explains why Charles didn't fall in line and Magneto eventually turned back).

3. Quicksilver.  This is one of the good things that came out of the bitter divorce between Disney and Fox.  He has been established as a loser big brother to the team, and combining it with magneto being his father allows him to have a mentor role in the field despite being horribly unsuitable for it.  Plus he has great comedic timing even when he channelling his insane speeds effects.  They could easily do this on the cheap by having stuff move around him when they cut away if they want to show his super speed.

4. Charles and Erik:  These characters are arguably the heroes of the first class trilogy and it shows.   Erik has the absolute worst luck and makes bad choices, but he rallies (and seriously hoping he takes over his Michael Xavier role if Fassbender returns).   Charles is in a similar role.  Trying to keep his cynicism at bay while remaining optimism after what has happened really built up the character.  Plus kinda liked why Charles is Bald. :p.

5. Scott Summers:  I like Scott as the younger brother with a chip on his shoulder.  Alex worked better as an older character and his death hit a nerve with me.  plus he finally got a chance to show off why he's one of the better blasters in the x-universe.  Please do not mess t his up as you did with Rogue in the original trilogy. :(

6. Jean Gray:  Can we send the phoenix to Westveros and destroy it.  I am now completely convinced Sansa deserves better because her Jean Gray was phenomenal?

7. The Mutant Congaline:  One of the problems with this franchise is there is an embarrassment of riches.  Somebody is always going to be sidelined, even in a 2.5 hour movie.  Despite minimal screen time, Beast, Jubilee, Kurt, Storm and Psylocke were presented well.  Heck I liked their version of Caliban despite being nothing like the original character.

They needed to setup the core, and they did it successfully.

What I want in the future is an 80's type Goonie type adventure done where Scott, Jean, Kurt, Jubilation and Storm while big brother Pietro tries to keep them out of trouble in the Morlock tunnels.

Honestly, any future movie needs to do what the Steve Correll's Get Smart movie did.  Namely make a straight to dvd movie at the same time that tells a different story with the same cast.  It's a way to get away from the "Charles and Erik show" and to highlight other mutant characters.

Either that or do what marvel did and use the tv universe to enhance the movies and to allow different stories to be made.  It has recently come to my attention. that FX is doing a proteus movie.  While not  technically connected to the main universe, it has serious potential for future world building.

Heck youtube is also a place to expand the cast.  Recently they did two online clips.  one based on a 80's promotional video starring Jubilee that was point perfect and then an mtv therapy session where the kids talked about their issues and both were awesome.  If they released regular monthly vids on a shoestring budget to increase hype for their eventual movie release, it would improve box office bank.

Both Deadpool and Muppets have done so successfully and both have led me well. :p

Ultimately it's a fun romp that hopefully will lead to bigger and better things.