Marvel's Luke Cage

I finished the Netflix series Luke Cage last night. I loved it.

Luke, himself, was a great, positive, likeable character. Though he often tried to avoid getting involved in the conflicts, for as many times as he said he wasn't a hero, when it came down it, he would always to step up to defend others. Even in the final part of the story, when all of NYPD was hunting him, and he was on the verge of just leaving town, he saw something going down that he could stop, he couldn't ignore it.

Being a character I know nothing about, this portrayal made me really like him, and I really appreciated that about this show. I haven't finished watching Jessica Jones, in part because everyone in that show is just SO miserable and difficult to like, that it's hard for me to get into it. Superhero stores are definitely escapism, and wish-fulfillment fantasies, so I appreciate characters that have fantastic powers and want to use them. I always respond positively to a story about someone being excited by their abilities, because that's how I think I would be. As such, that's probably why Killgrave was the only character I really liked in JJ, because he appreciated his powers. Jessica was just too mopey about them, and I understand why, but that is hard for me to relate to, and I feel Luke Cage did the reluctant hero bit better, because while he may not have asked for his powers, he was more willing to use them for good.

Shades was my favorite character, after Luke. He was committed to his path, but he was also calm, logical, and clear headed about everything. In the first part of the show, I liked that he was trying to reign in Cottonmouth, keep him focused on the business, not get distracted by the Luke Cage situation. And again, when Diamondback appeared and turned out to be off his rocker, Shades was there trying to keep everything under control, and not endanger their position. I was afraid a couple of times he was going to pay for his sins by being killed off, but I'm glad he wasn't, and would be available for use in a season 2.

As for the two main villains, Cottonmouth and Diamondback: I feel something was off there. I don't know anything about Luke Cage in comics, him or his villains. I assume these are both characters from the comics, but I feel that by both having snake names, they should have been more of a team, or had more of a history together, rather than being from vastly different places and it just happenstance that they each have a snake street name from when they were kids. Whenever Diamondback was mentioned before he was introduced, I pictured them as a snake-themed criminal organization, like the Five Deadly Venoms, or Deadly Viper Assassins from Kill Bill (which I suddenly realized is actually probably a reference to Five Deadly Venoms), and was disappointed that there was no history or relationship even hinted at.

Usually, I enjoy personal stories between the hero and villain, and I enjoy a good insane villain, but in this case I liked Cottonmouth more, of the two, because it wasn't a personal story and because he wasn't crazy. He was just a criminal businessman, and Luke started interfering with his business. Diamondback immediately seemed insane, and I guess in this fairly sane, real-world setting, he felt like he didn't fit in. It felt like he was a little too Joker from The Dark Knight, too chaotic/watch the world burn, as long as he took down Luke. I mean, even if he had defeated Luke at the end, he was going down, the cops were there ready to take him out, he would lose his empire, while Cottonmouth was mostly focused on getting a business obstacle out of his way so he could make his money and build his influence and power.

The rest of the characters were sufficiently interesting, I liked seeing Claire again, tying this show to Daredevil for me (does she show up in Jessica Jones? There's some allusions to her meeting Luke previously, so I assumed its in that show), and I liked the teaser at the end of the show that seems to hint that she will appear in Iron Fist (I'm rather excited for this one, being a fan of martial arts movies). Turk's brief appearances also tie the shows together, which again, I appreciate the world building. Misty Knight was mostly likeable, and honestly I think I'd be up for seeing a show focused on her.

Though I am not a fan of the styles of music used in Luke Cage, I enjoyed the use of it in the show. It is such a part of the feel of the show, such a part of the character of Cottonmouth, that as a musician myself, that actually might be another reason why Cottonmouth resonated with me more than Diamondback. I did legitimately like the group performing at Harlem's Paradise in the first episode, and kinda want to hunt down the songs featured.

In a similar way that I am not really familiar with the music in the show, I am not familiar with Harlem, or black communities, but I appreciated the cultural aspect of the show. I don't think I've ever seen a blaxploitation film, and I found the focus on race, and black history, and representation fascinating. Somebody I know told me something to the effect of, one of the reasons this show wasn't as relate-able to them was there were no white people in the cast. And of course, that's not true, there were like two white guys in it! Detective Scarfe, and probably maybe some other guy I don't remember. And not everyone was black, there were a couple of Latin people too.

Of course, their point wasn't that they can't watch something comprised of an nearly-entirely black cast, but that their viewpoint can be foreign (or uncomfortable) to white people. I've watched quite a few Japanese TV shows, I've watched Chinese martial arts films, I lived in South America for two years, so to see something that's doesn't feature white people in and of itself isn't new to me, but I guess a show with that viewpoint is new to me. The shadow of oppression and minimizing a person for their gender or race is over the entire show, and that is not something I am used to. I don't know what it's like to feel oppressed for my race or skin color, I don't know what it's like to be persecuted by authority, but the sentiments all felt legitimate to me and I appreciated those viewpoints being expressed in the show, because it is rather foreign to me. I don't really understand the existence of racism, but more importantly, I don't know what it's like to be subject to racism, and I think this show provided that insight very naturally.

One final thought was that the ending was more bittersweet than I expected. In the final episode as the final conflicts were being resolved, I thought they were all being given a nice, happy, resolution. And then suddenly things go a bit sour, but not in an off-putting way, but again, a sort of real-life-the-good-guys-may-have-triumphed-but-evil-is-not-fully-vanquished sort of way. Just when it looked like everything was going his way, the tertiary villain is off the hook, Luke is going back to prison, and Misty is devastated by a mistake that cost someone their life, and it's her fault and she is told so, in rather strong terms. In a way it felt like it was leaving things set up for a second season, but it also felt like, no, this is how the real world works. Sure, Luke saved Harlem from an arms dealer, but he also broke out of prison, and needs to pay for that. Sure, the cops know Miriah killed someone, but they haven't enough proof to get her through the system, which can be supplanted by connections and money. It put a bit of a damper on the high of thinking Cage had conquered all, but it also grounded it in a believable way, that I liked.

Well, I think that concludes by thoughts and feelings on the show. It was an enjoyable superhero story, with some deeper, meaningful real world relate-ability, that was presented in a way that didn't break my fantasy-escapism requirements, and left me with things to consider beyond the superhero aspects of it. It feels like a mostly complete story, one I am happy with as is, if there is no second season, but also a story I would look forward to seeing more of, if there is a second season.

I'd call that a success.

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New Video Review and Figuarts Photo Galleries

Hey, I made another video review, taking a look at COBRA Commander, Battlefield General, from a favorite toy line of mine, GI Joe Sigma 6.

I've also been (sorta) busy making new photo galleries/reviews at TokuNation.com, too. I've started going through all the SH Figuarts from the Kamen Rider W series, starting with his three main forms.

SH Figuarts Kamen Rider W Cyclone Joker

SH Figuarts Kamen Rider W Heat Metal

SH Figuarts Kamen Rider W Luna Trigger

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Looking Back at 2014 - Part 2 - 14 Disappointments

In starting this post, I don't know if I was disappointed enough with figures to come up with 14. Why 14? Because Essex_Alpha on Twitter told me to (Top 14 of 2014). But then again, I probably bought 14 Hasbro figures, and compared to my usual Figuarts fare, Hasbro figures don't quite cut it. So, let's see what made me sad to have bought in 2014, and why. In no particular order, just numbered so I can keep track of where how many I've done.

#1
I guess we'll start with a big one, and unexpectedly, a Bandai figure. Gundam Fix Figuration Metal Composite Unicorn Gundam BANSHEE is a downright beautiful figure: The gold on faceplate and horn is extremely shiny, the gold lettering is not so shiny, for a nice toned down look. Said gold lettering, I don't know if it's stickers, or tampos or what, but it's very cleanly applied, it gives lots of detail to the figure, it's great. The overall finish is a dark metallic blue, where I expected it to be a dark grey. In the right light, I like it. It looks like it's worth what it cost (and it cots A LOT). So why is it a disappointment?

Firstly, the design. I don't like the proportions. This figure is 90% legs, and it makes it look awkward to me. Secondly, the articulation is much more limited than I expected. I was comparing this to, and expecting it to be as good as, Metal Build 00 Gundam, which I maintain is far and away the greatest thing I have ever purchased (not coincidentally, it's also just about the most expensive thing I've ever purchased). Sadly, Banshee doesn't have as good of articulation as 00. The joints just don't have the range, nor the natural look to them, that 00 does, and that was very disappointing. Overall the figure feels a lot more fragile than 00, as well. I can't quite explain it, but I was a lot more wary of messing with Banshee than I ever have been with 00.

Finally, because this thing has a transformation of sorts - panels all over the body flip out, or open up, to reveal bits of the inner frame, it feels very fiddly. I didn't bother putting it into Destroy mode, because once I had it in hand, and was immediately considering selling it, I didn't want to hastle with flipping all those panels, and having to put them back. Plus, the head panels don't feel like they lock into place at all for Unicorn mode, so whenever I'd try to tilt the head back a little, the mask would start flipping down in preparation for converting to Destroy mode.

So, for me, Metal Composite Banshee is, unfortunately, a not recommend.

#2-#6
Going with another big one, Bovis, Fortis, Tigris, Talon and Leo Dux, aka FERAL REX, by Mastermind Creations. I'm probably exaggerating my feelings on these guys, by putting them on a disappointments list, I was really more ambivalent towards them. But then again, for what these cost, I shouldn't be ambivalent, I should love them. Part if it probably stems from my general dislike of Transformers with animal modes. Don't get me wrong, these are the best things Mastermind has released (okay, I don't have Azalea, so she might be better), I'm not nearly disappointed with these like I was their armored paddleship Cyclops, which was a big fiddly mess (looked great, though). But despite how excited I kept thinking I was to complete these, I never once transformed a single one of them, nor even really contemplated combining them once I had them all. The robot modes were all pretty good, and I don't think I would be unhappy owning just one of them (Talon, probably), but I didn't like them near enough to justify what I spent on them, so in December they all went on to more appreciative owners.

Images borrowed without asking from FigureFanZero, because I never took pictures of my own, and because he's an awesome guy (check out our podcast) and because he actually liked them. Check out his Feral Rex reviews, or any of his other awesome reviews.

#7
This one is kinda interesting, in that it should almost end up on my favorites list when I write it, as on this one. Figma Iron Man Mark VII. I love Figma's Thor figure, and while Captain America has a problem I need to fix (loose wrist pegs), it's also fantastic, so I had high hopes for Iron Man. So much so, that I spent an extra $30-ish to get the Good Smile Company exclusive, which had to be ordered from Japan thru a middle man. It seemed worth it to me, it comes with extra arm pieces with missile launchers extended, a back piece with flight flaps deployed, extra leg pieces, and a most excellent alternate head, with the faceplate up and Tony Stark revealed underneath. Honestly, I'm happy I bought the figure just for that unmasked head.

But beneath all that awesomeness there are loose joints (especially in the legs, a stupid hand guard design, and even worst knee pads, that seem to be designed to fall off as much as possible. Loose joints is always a ticket to Imnothappywithitville, and on an expensive, Japan-exclusive figure like this, it can be really hard to overcome (see my video review of MAFEX Batman for an extreme example of this). The figure does look very good, it displays well with the Figuarts Iron Mans, despite being taller, but really, the Mark VII armor is pretty ugly (sorry Joss, you are wrong, the Mark VI was awesome, the VII is the crap design). So while Figma IM is probably the least disappointing figure on this list (I still own it, the other disappoints have been sold), in large part due to the Tony Stark head, I must say, if Bandai ever announces a Figuarts Mark VII this Figma will be on eBay before you can say "I am Iron Man". Minus the Stark head, of course.

#8
I've been a big fan of the Star Trek Official Starships Collection by Eaglemoss, have quite a few of them, but the Special Edition 2009 Enterprise was a disappointment. Being a Special Edition, it is bigger than the others. My OCD prefers that the ships either all be in scale with each other (impractical for many reasons), or the same size, so the collection looks uniform. Fine, I like the design, so to have it, I'll pay more and try to get over the larger size. But I expect it to be at least as good as the ones that cost half as much, if not twice as good. But the nacelles didn't line up with each other, or with the saucer so it looked wonky, overall it just looked and felt cheap enough for me, that it didn't justify the $40 price. It's not as good, but for now I'll have to stick with the Playmates one, that's at least a close fit with the larger DST Enterprises I have.

#9
Alongside the Starships collection, Eaglemoss also has a Batman Automobilia collection of Batman vehicles. If money and space were no object I'd have a number of these, but as it is I thought I'd cherry pick my favorites. However, when the second one I chose, The Bat from The Dark Knight Rises, arrived broken to piece inside it's display box, I dropped the line. There are still a few I'd like to get, because they display nicely, I like the scenic backdrops they come with, but needing to cut back on my spending, and because of the pile of sadness that was supposed to be The Bad, this line became an easy pass.

#10-#13
Marvel Legends or Infinite or whatever it's called nowadays GOTG Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Star Lord. Guardians of the Galaxy was a surprise hit for me. I loved it, it's probably my favorite movie of 2014 (followed closely by the more serious, but less fun films Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier and The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies), so I was easily tempted to break my ban on Hasbro figures and pick up the Marvel Legends. I knew I'd be disappointed if I compared them to Figuarts (or the Figma Avengers), but I heard enough good things about them that when I found the set, on sale $5 off each one, no less, I couldn't say no. I should have.

Everything that I don't like about US toys was present in these figures. Limited articulation (Rocket barely has any articulation at all), most have few accessories (Star Lord has lots, and that's cool), soft plastic, gummy joints, bendy weapons, and so on. Star Lord is almost not disappointing, for all the cool accessories he includes, and Groot is almost okay, but still has limited articulation, no accessories, no alternate heads or arms or weapons anything.

And I'm not even counting the crappy Iron Man and not-movie Nova that you had to buy to complete Groot, cuz I didn't care about them, I'm sure they're just as bad as the Guardians, I just didn't care about them in the first place. But the ones I wanted were all disappointing. Gamora doesn't look much like her, she can't stand at all, Drax and Star Lord have super rubbery joints, especially in the knees, so their legs are all wonky looking, Rocket is just crap. These sorts of things are why I transitioned to more expensive toys, like Figuarts and Figmas. Yes, they cost more, 2x-3x more, but they are WORTH more. the worst Figuarts is still 3 times better than the best DCUC or Marvel Legends, and a good Figuarts, like Gaim or Iron Man Mark VI, they're almost incomparably better. The value and joy I derive from a toy is far more important than the actual monetary cost, when deciding what to buy. I knew I would be disappointed when I bought these, but I did it anyway, so maybe I should be more disappointed with myself, than with Hasbro.

Images borrowed without asking from trustarscream, because I never took pictures of my own, and because he's an awesome guy (check out our podcast) and because he managed to make Gamora look good. Check out his Guardians of the Galaxy reviews, or any of his other awesome reviews.

#14
Okay, this one's a stretch, but to come up with 14, I'll throw it in here. Hasbro Transformers, in general. When the Generations line started a couple of years ago, it was amazing, it followed the Classics design aesthetics, which is exactly what I wanted from TFs at the time, and it had a great character selection to match. But in the last couple of years the looks have changed, and more importantly, the quality, or at least, my perception of it, has declined to the point where not a single Voyager class Transformer tempted me all last year, and only one deluxe did, and technically it was a repaint of a figure from the year before. I went from buying a couple hundred Transformers in a couple of years, to buying only 3 last year (not counting the 10 Third Party figures I bought, 6 of those I ended up selling). And 2015's prospects aren't really that good. I think I'll be tempted by the Combiner Wars Devastator, but then again, I have an expensive, good quality, 3rd Party Devastator that I really like, and I don't think that with Hasbro's restrictions, budgetary, target market, whatever they be, I just don't think Hasbro Transformers appeals to me any more. The Masterpiece line still does, but I'm not likely to ever have money for those this year.

So, those are my downers from 2014. Stay tuned for a much more positive post when I try to narrow down a list of 150+ things I liked to my 14 favorites. I might have to cheat a little more on that list. :D

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Banpresto Micro Riders

I recently got some Micro Riders, by Banpresto. These are absolutely tiny little figures of Kamen Riders. I picked up 16 of them, all 15 of the Heisei Riders, and the one extra they did to round out the Heisei characters to 16.

I like the packaging of these figures. The cards are about the size of my iPhone, the artwork looks really good, and the figure is easily visible in its little bubble. Shown here with SH Figuarts Gai, for scale.

Closer up view of the 16 I got, all of the Heisei Kamen Riders; Kuuga, Agito, Ryuki, Faiz, Blade, Kabuto, Hibiki, Kiva, Den-O (yes, I always confuse the order of Kiva and Den-O), Decade, Double, OOO, Fourze, Wizard, and Gaim, plus Zangetsu (from Kamen Rider Gaim). Figuarts Kuuga face mask included to remind you of the ridiculously tiny scale these are at.

I think this illustrates well the level of detail in the sculpting and paint that these have. Frankly, I'm pretty impressed with out well these turned out. Each is clearly recognizable, not just by the paint, the bodies are all clearly correctly individualized. Being single, solid pieces, I don't see how they could have reused any of one figure for another, so I'm pretty sure they're all unique sculpts.

Of course, I didn't buy such tiny figures to display on their own, I bought them as props for my FIguarts. They appear to be just about the same scale to a SH Figuarts figure as an SH Figuarts figure does to me, that pleases me greatly.

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SH Figuarts Machine Decader Gallery and Review at TokuNation

I'm back with another gallery/review, once again from Kamen Rider Decade; today it's Tsukasa's trusty motorcycle, Machine Decader!

Please click through to visit the gallery at TokuNation.com
SH Figuarts Machine Decader

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SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Decade Gallery and Review at TokuNation

And after a couple months hiatus, I finally posted another gallery/review on TokuNation.com

SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Decade

For more pictures, follow me on

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The Dark Knight - Thoughts and Reflections

The awesome hosts at Now Playing Podcast reviewed The Dark Knight this week, in anticipation of The Dark Knight Rises. I'm a huge fan of the podcast, and watched The Dark Knight last night for the podcast and TDKR last night. And I had a few thoughts that I shared on the forum, but since it ended up being a novella-length post I thought I might as well post it here. So here it is, in case anybody cares. Mainly I address the climax of the film, as the hosts mostly felt that it wasn't as strong as the earlier action scenes.

Wow, there is just so much I could say about this film. I listened to most of the podcast yesterday, didn't get to finish it before I had time to sit and watch the movie, and have just finished up the podcast this morning.

I was running late, I've been trying to pull my bedtime back from 2:30-3am to a slightly more reasonable 2-2:30, but I started the movie late, forgetting it was 2.5 hours, not 2. 2 came around and I half-heartedly started looking for places to stop, but THERE IS NO PLACE TO STOP in this film. There's no lowering of the tension, not break in the movement, at least not of the last hour, maybe there was earlier, I don't remember. I pretty quickly gave up clock watching and sat there entranced till the very last moment.

I really like the climax. I can understand some not finding it to quite be on the same level as the highway chase, with the amazing semi-flipping (and the video on how they did that is awesome), but for me the tension is higher at that point, so even though the action is less, I'm more involved in it. No, we don't know who the people are on either boat, but so what? They're still people; and trust me, this is weird for me to say, because in general I feel nothing for people I don't know, they're almost not even human beings to me. And I FEEL the fear and tension on those boats, and the indecision and moral dilemma, 'do we, as law abiding citizens have the right to execute those lawfully being punished for crimes'?

And believe you me, I would totally vote for blowing up the other boat. And I would totally be the guy that stands up to push the button. I relate to that old guy who stands up and says he'll do it, when he does that. I've often thought that I could totally kill some one to defend my wife or kids, and not have a second thought about it afterwards, because it was the right thing to do at the time. But then, the film grabs me and says, 'Wait, think about it. Could you REALLY kill people to save your own life, and others?" And I contemplate that, and I can see this dude on screen contemplating it. And it's hard for him, he doesn't get to see the innocent people on the other boat like we do, the guards, the ferry operators. Is it right to condemn those people along side the evil people they have to guard. Do the needs of the many truly outweigh the needs of the few, and are you willing to make that choice.

And I have always thought, and even decided last night again, that yes, I would do that.  And then the hosts bring up the point I had never considered: Was the detonator really for the OTHER boat, or was it really for their own boat. And talk about a shocking moment of clarity in my mind when you said that. Because, hell yes, the Joker gave them their own detonator. No, it's never said that for sure he did, but when the detonator is discovered that's the first question asked, "Why would he give us the detonator to our bomb?" It is COMPLETELY in keeping with what the Joker has done in this film, switching the street addresses of Harvey and Rachel, switching the doctors and the clowns. I have no doubt the Joker intended to blow up the people who were willing to blow up the other people, and that is super chilling to me, because I was willing to blow up the other people.

And that leads me back to the SWAT assault on the building with the doctors and clowns. That scene is awesome and tense for me, and I might name it my favorite scene, if I was to have to pick a favorite of my children. I completely understand that the SWAT team is ready to go in and kill the clowns to save the hostages, and they are right to do so, it's their job, and the moral thing to do, in my mind. And yet when we discover the hostages have been disguised as the criminal, so the snipers are lined up to blow 3 (or 5?) of them away immediately, it was the most chilling moment of my viewing last night. Even though I knew it was coming.

I love that Joker inadvertently turned Batman into the bad guy at that point, because he has to take out the SWAT team before they kill any hostages (and imagine for a moment, being a SWAT member and discovering that you'd shot a hostage instead of the hostage-taker). And of course, the best part is him tangling the cables up around the guys, and the almost casual way he kicks the one off the building, and they all one by one get yoinked out the window. F-ing amazing. And the looks on the other guys' faces when it happens, priceless.

In the interrogation room the Joker told Batman he would have to break his one rule in order to defeat him. And he was right, though maybe not in the way he originally meant. You talked that he did it when he killed Harvey, I look at that more in a Ra's al Ghul-I-don't-have-to-save-you kind of way, or that Harvey isn't dead and they're covering it up. But that he takes the fall for the people that Harvey killed. He didn't really break his rule, but he lets people think he did, so that Harvey can remain untainted in the public eye. And the way the music is, and the slow-mo and Gordon's voice breaking as he explains to his son that they have to chase him, and the words he uses, the way they're spoken. I don't tear up often, I am just not that emotional, but this ending really gets me.

I know nobody is going to read this because it's so freaking long, but there's one quick thing I want to point out that I noticed last night. What happens to Lao?  When listening to the podcast before watching the film you guys say that Joker escapes so he can get Lao, and you never mention him again, and I thought back to my last viewing and didn't remember seeing him after that scene, so I assumed that it was indicated that Joker killed him in the jail. But no, he took him alive from jail. What happened to him?

He's sitting tied up on top of the big pile of money, that JOKER SETS ON FIRE. :o

Some people throw hyperbolic phrases around so often that they're meaningless (my boss says 'that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard' AT LEAST once a day), I strive to not do so, so I mean it when I say, The Dark Knight is best movie I have ever seen. For as much as I love the Original Star Wars Trilogy, Hellboy, Blade 2, Terminator, Predator, The Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight just blows them all away. Like the podcast kept saying, the story is so dense, yet so tight and coherent, it's amazing just how fantastically great this movie is. It perfectly captures everything I get out of Batman comics, and everything I WANT out of Batman comics. It is the greatest movie in existence.

After Avengers this summer, I didn't know if I could still say that. I loved Avengers so much, it was one of those rare movies I saw more than once in the theater, it's one of those rare ones I'll buy on DVD the moment it is release. It was the best comic book movie, capturing the fantasy feel of the comic book world, and so much FUN, which TDK isn't, and TDKR won't be. But after last night's viewing, I can confidently again say that TDK is still, to me, the greatest film ever made. And I doubt anything will ever top it. They may come close, like Avengers, but this movie is the most perfect film for me that exists.

I almost find it scary just how much I'm anticipating The Dark Knight Rises. The only other movies I can think of that I was this hyped and excited for are Avengers and The Dark Knight, and both movies far exceeded my expectations, so I'm finding it very hard to keep my expectations under control. I'm somewhat fearful that TDKR can't possibly live up to my expectations, especially since it features the two characters have been the mostly royally screwed over in previous films (Gah! Batman and Robin SUCKS SO MUCH!), it can't possibly be as good as TDK, I certainly don't expect it to be better than TDK, or to be as financially successful as Avengers (but it would be awesome if it is, and I'll do what I can to help it out) but I truly thought that about TDK vs Batman Begins. So we'll see. I have tickets for 12:05 am tonight, first showing in my little town, and I cannot wait.

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Pic of the Day 178

Zatanna, Ame Comi Statue by DC Direct.

While I liked the look of this figure, I wasn't necessarily planning on getting it, but though a set of somewhat complicated events I ended up getting this figure for $10. And it was absolutely worth that price, being even better in person than I expected it to be.

Check out all the neat detailing on her cuffs, lapels, hat band, and those ribbon things have a different pattern on them, which is neat. Notice her shoes, and her fishnet stockings are actual material, not just painted on.

In fact, if you follow the ribbon things around to the back, the detailing on them is interesting. Plus she's got some kind of frosted detailing on the ends of her coattails. Also, take look at those nifty shoes.

For more pictures, visit the Zatanna Ame Comi page on my collecting wiki

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Pic of the Day 173 and Review of Ame Comi Hawkgirl

Hawkgirl Ame Comi Heroine statue by DC Direct.

Great looking statue, in my opinion. However, there's something a little off with these pictures. Can you tell what?

I tried to photo them in such a way as to hide it, but it's pretty apparent to me that she's gimpy. While attaching her to the stand, her right wing snapped off. :( However, I think she's too interesting looking of a statue to delay posting some pictures of her while I attempt to mend her broken wing.

The first pic allows a good look at clawed left hand, the arm band on her right, and her helm. I like the way the black paint under her hawk-eye doesn't end, it streaks back fading into the gold. I thought at first it was a mistake, but both sides are the same, and I rather like the effect. It is also apparent from this angle that her top doesn't wrap around, and while she's...um, rather large...in the front (less apparent because you can't see how thin the rest of her body is), I'm not sure that covering would stay in place particularly well in actual flight/combat. Although the red strings wrap around her waist as well as her neck, so maybe? I don't know, I'm no fassion expert. I can't even figure out how to spell it: fascion? fasion? phassion? Oh, it's easier than that: fashion.

Anyway, the second pic gives a slightly better view of the armor bit on her left hand, you can see it's got some detailing on the top, reminiscent of the Eye of Ra symbol, plus she's got some nifty necklaces. She's got a battle ready, intent look on her face, and interestingly, she appears to have an impressive scar under her left eye. Right up under her eye. That was a close call. I like that she has eye lashes or something drawn under her right eye, but she's not hiding the close call she had with her left one.

Unfortunately, the following picture removes any illusion of wings, but gives us a good look at her Mace. This hand also has the finger claws and bracer that her left has, but no wrist or hand armor, just the finger claws, the pommel of the mace is carved in an hawk head motif, though obviously my angle was off when shooting it. But the mace head itself is quite cool, I love that the studs are gold instead of the same lead color of the mace, and the collar obviously is supposed to have some interesting detailing, though either PVC is too soft to have picked up the details well, or they weren't very finely detailed to begin with. But it's an interesting texture and color if nothing else. Also, her hair is done up in one really long braid. I like that.

Ame Comi Hawkgirl definitely turns out to be one of the best figures in the line so far, one of my favorites for sure, and I didn't even get any good pics to show off her armored boots with they're hawk claw detailing, but trust me, they're awesome, it's a great figure, I highly recommend it. Plus, it's a variant on her modern costume, which I MUCH prefer to her Golden/Silver Age look, or even her Animated Series look.

But attach the stand to her back first, the hole was just a tad too small, and it took quite a bit of force to get it in (in retrospect I could have easily shaved the hole out a little with a razor, and since I had plugged the wings in first, I inadvertently pushed on her wing more than I thought I was. Stand first, then wings. :(

For more pictures, visit the Ame Comi Hawkgirl page on my collecting wiki

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Batman: TAS - Episode 8 - Forgotten

And so, at long last, the Batman: Animated Series feature returns. It only took my two years to review this episode. And that episode is, The Forgotten, BTAS Vol 1, disc 2. Written by Jules Dennis, Richard Mueller and Sean Catherine Derek, and directed by Boyd Kirkland, all of whose names we've either seen before, or will see again later in the series.

Gaff Morgan

The episode starts with Bruce Wayne peeling potatoes at a soup kitchen, the guy who runs the place is telling him that he thinks people are disappearing, transients, regulars he hasn't seen it a while, even volunteers. Of course, being the Great Detective, he investigates, in a different disguise, that of an older homeless guy, Gaff Morgan. He wanders around town, visiting areas frequented by homeless people, until he is assaulted by a couple of guys, after they offer him a job. Of course, being Batman, he makes short work of the two, but a third guy jumps him from the shadows and it's lights out for Gaff Morgan.

This looks just like where I grew up

He awakes in a shoddily built shack in a desert area, filled with bunk beds, several of which have occupants. Two introduce themselves, and of course one turns out to be the missing volunteer from the homeless shelter. They explain he's been shanghaied to work in a gold mine for the fastest character I've ever seen animated, up until I saw the Wonder Woman animated film that came out last year. This guy is massive, and a slob, eating all the time, spilling on himself, and according to the credits, his name is Boss Biggs. But, he's got a gold mine and cheap labor, which he, or rather, his overseers work to death. Disobedience, slacking and causing trouble are punished by a day in The Box, a steel box with a small barred window left out in the sun to cook all day.

That's not chicken he's eating...

It falls to Batman to free himself and the other slaves, without the use of his regular persona or gadgets, and without getting anyone else in trouble. It was a decent episode, not my favorite upon first viewing, but still a good episode, and knowing that I have 16 DVDs of episodes, it's nice to see some that don't revolve around the regular type of escapades.

Some of the highlights that occur are, Amnesia! When his two cell-mates introduce themselves, Bruce says he can't remember his name. Bruce Wayne does an honest day's work for the first time in his life (probably), slaving away mining gold. We start seeing that there's more to Alfred than just an old butler, he's smart and a detective on his own. Bruce has a creepy dream that helps him start to remember who he is.

Once Bruce remembers who he is he escapes the mines, to be found by Alfred, whose having a rough time in the Batwing (on autopilot). Guess who returns to the mining camp later that night? Batman lures the slavers into the mines, kicks the crap out of them one by one, leaving only fatty and one guard. Fatty accidentally blows up the mine, and Batman drags him off to prison.

"Hey, where'd everybody go?"

The episode ends with Bruce's two slave buddies finding out he remembered who he is, and he's freaking loaded, he says good by to them and drives off in a Rolls Royce. "Hit me Riley," one says, "maybe I'll loose my memory and wake up a millionaire, too!"

So, it wasn't an awesome episode, but it was good, and was pretty amusing, and different from the usual super villain fare. Well, that's it for this review. A little shorter than my previous attempts, but one reason I took a break from doing thees is because those reviews would take hours. Hopefully I'll be back next week with the next episode, Be A Clown, featuring everybody's favorite homicidal circus character, the Joker.

Remember kids: Only vampires loath sunlight more than Batman. - Alfred

Episode Listing

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DCUC Chemo wave!

(Oops! Forgot to put Green Arrow in the picture)

Okay, so two posts ago I mentioned that my cousin and I went toy shopping last night, we drove all over the Salt Lake Valley, hitting approximately 11 stores in total, and still skipping 4 or so Walmarts. This area is ripe with Walmarts.

I was actually looking for the Walmart Exclusive 5 pack consisting of Batman, Superman, repainted DCSH Catwoman, repainted DCSH Two-Face, and brand new Lex Luthor from the Super Friends. Two people in the Salt Lake area reported finding it Monday or Tuesday, so I was excited to find it, since I even happened to have money. As for the single packed figures, all the stores around here are swamped with waves 6 and 7, so I'm not expecting to see wave 8 at all, and I thought 9 was really iffy. I was flabbergasted to find wave 9 and two stores that were quite full of the Kalibak and Atom Smasher figures. And not only that, one store had a complete set, where I thought this wave was shipping in two different case assortments, like the last two have, with neither case being able to assemble a complete Chemo.

But none of that matters, because I did find a complete set of 7 Chemo figures. I'd like to get the classic style Mantis, but it's not very important to me, and the black Wildcat isn't either, though I think I'd like it a little more than the blue.

Of course, the real question is, how are the figures? Well, pretty damn good. It's no secret I'm in love with this line, and despite some hard to find figures (Metallo wave), and low-ish quality figures (wave 3), to me Mattel is doing, and can do no wrong.

Green Arrow isn't the one I'm most excited about, but the Fwooshers wanted pics of him, so I complied.

What I was really looking forward to was Chemo himself (itself?), Deadshot, and Robo-Mantis. I can't remember if I actually had the Super Powers toy Robo-Mantis is based of off, or if I just strongly desired it, but this figure is the one with the most nostalgic value to me (classic Aquaman and classic Firestorm do come close though), harkening back to my childhood, with my brother and I playing with the Superman, Aquaman and Firestorm figures that I do specifically remember.

Mantis is, simply put, one of the greatest figures this line has ever seen. Deadshot is awesome. Chemo is awesome. Black Canary and Green Arrow are great. Black Adam and Wildcat are pretty cool. Guardian is...really bland, actually. I haven't pulled out the checklist to actually verify the next statement, but I think this wave has provided us with the most villains at one time - 4 (or 5 if you count the two Mantis variants as separate characters) villains to 4 heroes. Although maybe Black Adam is in a gray area and could be counted on either side. I don't know, I don't get to keep up much with comics.

Sure, Chemo doesn't have a lot of articulation, and a lot of what is there is quite limited. He has no neck, and therefore no neck articulation. The shoulders are bal joints, with the most maneuverability of all the joints. No biceps, simple hinged elbows, he does have cut wrists on both sides of the gauntlet things, but on the elbow side there's not a lot of room. He has a swivel waist, t-crotch with about 45 degrees movement forward, and probably less than 10 back, no boot-top articulation or mid thigh, he does have rocker ankles, with a good bit of travel, and the forward/back hinge his actually quite limited by his boots.

But he looks awesome.

And he is BIG. Atom Smasher looks tall, but he's also human proportioned. Solomon Grundy looks big, because he's also bulky. Chemo dwarfs them all, he's taller than Atom Smasher, and much, much bulkier. I don't yet have any of wave 8 so I don't know how he stacks up next to Giganta, who was supposed to be the tallest C&C figure, but I don't really care how he looks next to her. He's big and bulky, and awesome. If she's taller, who cares? If she's shorter, so what? The way I'm talking about him, you would think Chemo is my favorite of the C&Cs, and honestly, I'm not sure. Metamorpho is a really well made figure, not big or anything, but pretty cool. Metallo is nothing less than freaking awesome, but I think I might actually like Chemo a little more. Only time will tell, and really, who even cares which I like better. I don't even thing I do.

What's important is DCUC is a sweet line, and wave 9 is super awesome. I'll actually be disappointed a little when I finally get the Giganta wave, because I've always been looking forward more to Chemo's wave. As great as some of the upcoming figures are (Joker, Man-bat, Power Girl, Imperiex) I think this is my favorite wave so far.

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The Legends of Dune Trilogy

A few months ago I decided it was time to read Dune again, probably because the final book in the series (book 8) was finally released and I wanted to read it, but I'd have to start at least with book 6 to have any idea what was going on. So I decided to read the entire series of 14 books instead, in chronological order, because publishing order wouldn't have helped. For those who don't know, the Dune series originally consisted of 6 books by Frank Herbert. The protagonist of the first book was Paul Atreides, and the story followed his rise as the leader of the Freemen of Arrakis, the planet also known as Dune, and his conflict with the eternal enemies of the Atreides, the Harkonnens. It's a very popular book series, with one motion picture adaptation, and two (or possibly three) television mini-series.

So. The Legends of Dune Trilogy consists of the books The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade, and The Battle of Corrin. I've read this set only once before, I think it was shortly after the third book came out. The whole idea is similar to the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy: A few references in the Original Series sparked the imaginations of readers with images of humans battling evil machines (ala The Matrix or Terminator movies) and eventually Frank Herbert's son decided to cash in (probably after the huge success of the previously mentioned movies). Actually, Brian Herbert decided to cash in on his father's legacy long before the Legends Trilogy, by co-writing a Prequel Trilogy of books with Kevin J Anderson, who's a well known Sci-Fi/Fantasy author. The Prequel Trilogy details key events in the life Duke Leto Atreides, Paul's father.

The Legends of Dune Trilogy was also written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson, and takes place something like 5000 years before the events of Dune. The citizens of the worlds belonging to the League of Nobles are at war with the Synchronized Worlds, the machine worlds under the rule of Omnius the Evermind, and have been at war for around a thousand years. We are introduced to four humans, key throughout the series: Xavier Harkonnen, a courageous officer in the Army of Humanity; Serena Butler, a young but courageous and determined member of the ruling council of the League of Nobles; Iblis Ginjo, a low ranking but respected foreman on the Synchronized Worlds (on Earth, to be exact), in charge of a construction crew; and Vorian Atreides, a high ranking human trustee on the Synchronized Worlds (also Earth), son of the Titan Agammemnon, the cyborg general of Omnius' machine forces. Through an interesting series of events Serena is captured by the thinking machines, taken to Earth and introduced to Vorian. She shows him what it means to be an independent free-thinking human, despite her current situation as a servant of the machines. When her child is murdered (by the independent machine Erasmus), it sparks a rebellion among the human slaves, led by Iblis Ginjo, and Vorian uses his high rank to flee Earth with Serena and Iblis. They return to the free human worlds and convince them to step up the war, and it becomes a Jihad, a Holy War in memory of Serena and her murdered child, hence the Butlerian Jihad.

Of course, in the end humans utterly defeat the machines (and the cyborg Titans), but first they struggle through deadly plagues, machine incursions , the complacency and indifference of human leaders, and the treachery of other humans. In general, it's quite an entertaining set of books. There's a big war between logical, intelligent machines, they have a plethora of information, but little wisdom and little insight into human behavior, and the creativity and ingeniousness of humans, shackled by morals and indecision, and short memories. But it's mostly a story of characters, such as the aforementioned four humans, but also Erasmus, the most interesting of machines, he is one of the few thinking machines on the Synchronized Worlds that isn't tied in to Omnius, he has his own independent personality. We see how they live and die, how they feel and grow and respond to the various circumstances. Most of the characters are easy to sympathize with, even some of the machines are, and it's easy to get drawn into the conflict and be caught up with how it will end.

However, part of that sympathy is in conflict with a common flaw of the series. It's always been a flaw of the series (in my mind) that the time isn't constant. I don't know, it does help with the storytelling, but at the same time it breaks flow between the books. Subsequent books do not usually pick up where the previous book left off, so you loose your frame of reference, because the status is not quo (to quote Dr Horrible). It was a particular difficulty for me in the original Dune series. It wasn't too bad between books 2 and 3, only around 10 years had passed, so not a whole lot had changed, we were following characters who had been infants at the end of book 2 so we hadn't really developed a relation to them anyway. But five thousand years pass between 3 and 4, so EVERYTHING has changed, except for the once constant character throughout the original Dune books. Back to the Legends books, The Butlerian Jihad ends after humans nuke Earth into oblivious, and the Jihad is in full swing. But The Machine Crusade picks up 25 years later, and the characters we knew and loved from TBJ are not the same. Especially Iblis Ginjo. He was a very sympathetic character in TBJ. A foreman on a work crew on Earth, his job was to manage a construction crew whose purpose was to build monuments to the greatness of the Titans (the cyborg generals). He had a little authority which he used to improve the lives of his workers, to inspire them to hard work for their machine overlords.

A quick side note: Erasmus spends is life examining and learning about humans. He feels his independence is a benefit to Omnius, as he has a different perspective on humans and their behavior. In an effort to prove to Omnius that he understands humans better, Erasmus bets that he can turn a trusted human against Omnius, and he succeeds. He unexpectedly starts the rebellion on Earth by trying his bet out on Iblis Ginjo (among others). Iblis is convinced that there is a secret underground movement brewing, and he takes steps to be ready: recruiting his workers, preparing defenses and offenses (hiding rocket launchers in the statues his crew builds), and getting ready for when the time is right and the sign is given. When Serena's baby interferes with her willingness to obey Erasmus, he decides to remove the distraction, and he kills the baby (drops him off a ledge to the ground below), in full view of Iblis and his work crew. Serena flips out (understandably) and attacks Erasmus, but his bodyguard robots intervene. She manages to knock one of the bodyguards off the ledge, and it smashes to pieces on the pavement below. This shocks all the humans present, and Iblis realizes there is no better time, and launches his work crews into action, setting off the rebellion that eventually becomes the Holy Jihad in memory of Serena and her murdered baby.

So that's Iblis at the end of The Butlerian Jihad, fervently leading a holy war against the demonic thinking machines. But at the start of The Machine Crusade he's a fat, power-drunk, bureaucrat, living high on the authority granted him due to the war. He's very much taken advantage of the fervor of the people, and gotten himself appointed Grand Patriarch of the Jihad, and has set up a very Nazi-esque secret police, the Jihad Police who root out machine sympathizers and spies and it all sounds very much like witch hunts to keep the populous afraid of the machines and keep Iblis and his Jihad Council in control of the League of Nobles. We eventually find out that some of the so-called spies actually were spies, but low ranking, unimportant spies, "found out" by the true spy for Omnius, the head of the Jihad Police, whose name I don't recall at the moment. It doesn't take long for us to completely dislike Iblis, because we're supposed to, but those feelings are in stark contrast to how we were supposed to feel about him in the first book. It's all very confusing and makes it more difficult to get into the subsequent books.

Another thing I remember not liking from my first read through was the fact that EVERYTHING of importance from the original Dune books finds its beginnings in this trilogy. The Spacing Guild and space folding? Books 2 and 3, check. The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood? Book 3, check. Mentats? Books 2 and 3, check? The Atreides/Harkonnen fued? Well, that was actually one of the main purposes of this trilogy (or at least, that's how I remember them being advertised back when I first bought them), so of course, check, though it just barely sneaks in at the end of the third book, almost like they had forgotten they were supposed to setup the feud, because Vorian Atreides and Xavier Harkonnen become very good friends in the first book, and remain so until Xavier's death in the second, and Vorian transfers his friendship to Xavier's grandson in the third book. The feud does feel kinda thrown together at the last minute. Anyway, the phrase "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of the human mind" book 3, check. The Corrino line of Emperors? Again, book 3, check. Oh, and how can we forget the founding of the Freemen of Dune, books 1-3, check! Glowbulbs, shields, suspensors, they're all to be found here for the first time.

I tried to pay more attention to all these beginnings and the time frames this read through, and it's not quite as bad as I remembered. The books span something like 150 years, so it's not quite so forced as it felt before, but still, every important socio-political relationship is setup in these book. Sure, the Mentats and Sisterhood aren't very far developed, and neither is the Spacing Guild really, but the obvious beginnings of the three come to pass in the same 50 years of the last book. Same with the Freemen, although a lot of their beliefs and practices are acquired throughout the books. It just feels a little too rigged.

Now, lest you think I didn't enjoy the books, let me set your mind at rest. I did like the Legends of Dune trilogy. Quite a lot. most of the beginnings are very interesting, there are a lot of sympathetic characters for us to like, and lots of very not sympathetic characters for us to dislike. The stories surrounding the formations of the various entities are very interesting. For example, the first Mentat, the humans that can think in fast and logically like computers, is trained by Erasmus. And it makes perfect sense of course, what better way to learn to think like a computer than to be trained to do so by a computer? And it sets up an interesting father/son relationship for Erasmus. The Freemen have interesting stories, we learn more about the slavery they suffered that we heard about in the later books, and we see them learn to ride the Sandworms for the first time.

There are a lot of interesting, engaging stories in these books, and they're definitely worth reading. They're also a lot easier to get into than the original Dune, it's lighter writing than Frank Herbert used, so I recommend these books to sci-fi fans, or those who don't mind sci-fi for a good story. Oh yeah, and there's a giant war with robots and cyborgs, so what more could you want?

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Underworld - U: Evolution - U: Rise of the Lycans

I saw a really great movie earlier last week, but first, a quick update on Batman: TAS (if anyone still cares). I will be getting back to that soon. There's still one thing that will occupy my nights for the next week or two, but once that's taken care of I'll make better use of my time than just playing the XBox all the time (I just got Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which is pretty cool) and get some Batman reviews done too. Along with the cartoon I plan to review some comics; I finished Batman: No Man's Land Volume 1 recently and want to discuss it, as well as a few books from the Dune series.

There will be spoilers for the previous two films, and probably some for this one as well.

I thought Underworld: Rise of the Lycans was a great movie. The relationship between Sonia and Lucian was really well executed and they're both quite sympathetic characters. Viktor, on the other hand, is NOT a sympathetic character. It's interesting to see how the point of view of the films changes.

The first, Underworld, was mostly from Selene's point of view, from the perspective that the vampires with the good side of the war, and the lycans were the bad; Viktor was Selene's hero and her savior. But as we get to know Lucian through Michael (Michael was bit by Lucian, and as he undergoes his first werewolf transformation he sees Lucian's memories) we learn that Lucian's woman was executed by her own father, Viktor, for loving him, because she was a vampire and he was a lycan.

Viktor

Then there's the big reveal later that it wasn't lycan's that slaughtered Selene's family, with Viktor arriving in time to save her life (only to turn her into a vampire so she could hunt down lycans for the next 600 years), but that Viktor in fact was her family's killer, and he spared her because she reminded him of the daughter he had lost. So with Viktor the bad guy at the culmination of the movie, Selene kills him and the lycans leave her and Michael in peace.

Underworld: Evolution picks up soon after the first, with Selene and Michael hiding from the vampires, with Selene planning to return to her coven and wake the last remaining Elder Vampire, Marcus, to explain everything that transpired in the first, in hopes of winning amnesty for Michael from the vampires. It's again told very much from the vampire perspective, this time Selene and Marcus. The plot of the first film was that the lycans were trying to combine the vampire and lycan bloodlines to create a hybrid which would be more powerful than either, and they succeeded in Michael (which is why the vampires want to destroy him, Abomination!). However, they also inadvertently turned Marcus into a hybrid, only he's a much more powerful hybrid, he being the original vampire, he's more a bat-man and he looks really cool. Anyway, he seems to have gone a little insane from the transformation, and he decides to kill all the vampires in his coven and find out why Viktor thought Selene was so important (and then kill her). And free his brother.

Turns out his brother, William, is the original werewolf. Marcus and William are the sons of Alexander Corvinus, a noble of types from centuries ago. A plague swept through the land and killed all of those under Alexander Corvinus, he too contracted the virus, but somehow he didn't die. His body was changed such that he stopped aging and getting sick, and he became the first immortal. He could still die, of course, by violence, but natural causes of death no longer affect him. I guess sometime after this point he had two sons who grew to adulthood and stopped aging, the virus and its effects having been passed to them. Then one was bitten by a wolf and the other a bat, and the vampire and werewolf species came into existence. But the werewolf that William because was not like the lycans of later days. He was permanently transformed into a large, somewhat humanoid wolf creature, and became completely feral, all his past humanity lost. Also, he was highly infectious. He went on murderous rampages throughout the countryside, and those he murdered would come back to life as crazed wolf-creatures like him.

At some point Marcus came to Viktor, a human noble or ruler of some type, who was dying of old age, and he offered him immortality. Viktor turned his armies and the nobles of his court into vampires and immediately took over as the ruling vampire. He and his armies hunted down the feral werewolves, trying to exterminate them, and in a concession to Marcus, to capture William. This is actually the point at which E:U started, which the capture of William, and his eternal imprisonment. We see some more that Viktor is actually a really big stupid head and convinced of his own superiority over all others we have no reason to like him.

Viktor

Okay, so back to Marcus hunting Selene and Michael. He learned that Michael has been wearing a pendant that Lucian had all through the first movie, which we learned he took from Sonia after she was murdered, which had been given to her by her father, Viktor. From another rather old vampire Selene and Michael had learned why Viktor had murdered Selene's family, for it wasn't just to feast on the blood of humans, it was to guard a secret - the location of William's prison, for Selene's father was the one that built the sarcophagus that William is imprisoned in. And the pendant is part of the key. Marcus kills Michael, finds out where the sarcophagus is being kept (because vampires and werewolves can read each other's memories through drinking each other's blood - which I thought was pretty cool), and rushes off to free his brother.

Selene takes some army-type guys with her (who are actually in the employ of Alexander Corvinus) and rushes off to stop Marcus from freeing the most infectious and powerful lycan. They bring the body of Michael with them. Marcus frees William, who attacks the soldier guys, quite easily killing them (so they can shortly rise as rabid dog werewolves for Selene to kill. Then she's left to face William and Marcus, but Michael's body finally finishes healing itself and he joins the fight. Marcus and Selene fight up on a bridge, while William and Michael fight down below, Michael being cleverer and more agile he eventually wins the fight by getting on William's back, grabbing William's upper snout, and tearing his head in half. This distracts Marcus enough that Selene is able to push him into the still rotating blades of a crashed helicopter so he can get blended into bite size bits, and the movie ends with Selene and Michael probably going to be able to live the rest of their lives out in peace.

Selene

And finally back to the movie I'm trying to review, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. This movie appears at first to be told from the vampire perspective, but is really all about Lucian and the lycans, with a little bit from Sonia and Viktor thrown in. You know, for guy who died at the end of the first movie Viktro got as much or more screen time in the sequels than the Selene did.

I started this review Wednesday morning after having seen the film, and it is now Sunday morning, and I've really forgotten quite a bit of the movie. I'm not sure if I remember how it started, or what for explanatory dialog there might have been at the beginning. Guess I need to go see it again. This movie takes place hundreds of years in the past (compared to the first two movies which take place in the now), as U:ROTL starts the vampires are at war with the lycans, but these are the original breed of lycans, the vicious, feral lycans; the mindless murderous beasts. The vampires have a nice big fortress they live in, with Viktor as the lord of the vampires. It's shown that the vampires have several of these lycans imprisoned, though I don't remember why, maybe to torment them, or experiment upon them, something or other. Anyway, the important point is that one of these feral lycans had a baby. A baby that wasn't a wolf-creature, but a human baby boy. Viktor kills the mother, and it just about to kill the boy, when he suddenly has a change of heart.

The boy of course, is Lucian, and he is raised as a slave of the vampires. He is quite intelligent, and unlike the lycans that gave birth to him, he can transform between wolf and human form (at the full moon). He is used by the vampires to create more lycans like him, taking from the human slaves the vampires keep. We also learn he is the (or a) blacksmith for the coven, and the favored slave of Viktor (and not the favored of the slave keeper, of course). We are also introduced to Viktor's daughter Sonia. She's an independent woman, strong and courageous, often disobeying her father to leave the safety of the fortress to hunt down the wild lycans. And eventually we are shown what we already know from the previous movies, Sonia and Lucian are in love, despite the class and racial differences.

Lucian

I rather expected that we would see Kraven in this film. Evil Vicious Cousin Derek and I looked the movie up on imdb.com last week to see who was in it, and seeing whoever as Kraven from the previous two films excited me a little, because he was a sneaky, slimy , backstabbing worm in the first film (and died in the first 20 minutes of the second) and I wanted to see his involvement in the origin of the war between Viktor and Lucian, and expected him to be one of Viktor's primary lackeys. But he wasn't. His lackey in this one was Tanis, the historian we met in Underworld: Evolution. Which was cool, I rather liked Tanis, and he had a very large part in this movie. For example, when Lucian and Sonia sneak out to boink he sees them together, and puts two and two together. But he's also cool and doesn't snitch on them to Viktor.

Anyway, this wasn't supposed to be a plot recap of the movie, more a general review and my thoughts on it. The action was good. The CG lycans were good. Viktor was a hateful evil monster, just like the first two movies, but he's a great actor and had a great presence in the film (and the first film too, I really, really liked Viktor in Underworld, right up until the end when we found out he was the bad guy). The design of the props, sets and costumes was really cool - the lycan slaves were fitted with collars that had 4 silver spikes in the front, so if they tried to transform they'd get skewered in the throat, the vampires were all very well dressed, especially Viktor, with intricate designs on his fancy robes and armor. Rage has the freakiest voice of anyone I have ever heard. And it's awesome.

Sonia

The execution scene was excellent. We saw it in flashbacks in the first movie, and this recreation was very faithful, and very emotional. Lucian, of course, was torn apart (emotionally) as he was chained in front of Sonia to watch her die. At first he tried to be the brave one, trying to distract Sonia from her impending doom, but as the skylight was opened he lost his focus and control and completely broke down, trying to break free and save her, and finally slumping in defeat, while in contrast Sonia maintained her calm, even as the sun fell upon her and turned her into ash. Then when Viktor came back into the chamber (after night feel) to see how it went, he pulled the pendant from her neck, Lucian transformed, freed himself, took the pendant, and escaped, Again, just like in the flashback, but new and exciting all the same.

What we didn't see in the flashbacks is what Viktor did during the execution. After leaving Sonia and Lucian chained in the chamber, he went to Sonias room, and wept like I wouldn't have believed possible. He loved Sonia like no other, and was apparently really broken hearted to have had to sentence her to death. Speaking of which, she was brought before the council of vampires to be judged, he presented the crime and the sentence (death) and asked for a vote. Each of the council members voted in favor of the sentence, and he was the last to have to vote. And he hesitated. For several long seconds he paused, and in fact, there may have been flashbacks to her as a child, like when he gave her the pendant, but I don't remember for sure. But he hesitated a long while before finally saying, "Aye." So he sobbed and sobbed in her room, while his daughter burst into flame.

Rage

Lucian escaped, the wolves overran this fortress, and killed all the vampires except Tanis and the three elders (Marcus and Amelia, who were slumbering, and Viktor, who escaped after a near fatal encounter with an enraged Lucian) who escaped to presumably form another coven someplace else. And that's when the movie should have ended. Everything was perfectly awesome up to that point. Then there were the last thirty seconds or so.

Seriously. The movie was totally awesome, possibly the best of the three (the guy behind us said as much, but I very much enjoyed the previous two flicks), except for the last thirty seconds, in which they needlessly put in footage of Selene from the first movie, the opening shot of the first movie where she was perched on a ledge at the top of a tall building, with a voice over by Kraven, saying something (I don't quite remember actually, but it seems like it was something about how the consequences of the events of this movie would cascade down through time). It was completely pointless, and I'm sure somebody felt it was needed to tie this movie to the first two, maybe to make clear that this one is a prequel to the previous films, but it was so completely unnecessary and ham-handed that it almost spoiled the movie. It surely broke the mood we were in after the seeing the true ending of the film.

If you go see the movie (which I highly recommend to anyone that doesn't mind the rather copious amounts of blood), do yourself a favor and leave after Viktor leaves on the boat.

The abomination growing in her womb was a betrayal of me and the coven. I did what was necessary to protect the species. As I am forced to do yet again.

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Batman: TAS - Episode 7 - P.O.V.

And finally we reach the last episode of disc 1, P.O.V., which I assume stands for Point of View. This was an interesting episode that didn't focus on Batman much at all, but rather on 3 of Gotham's Finest, Detective Harvey Bullock, Lieutenant Renee Montoya, and some new guy (who we'll probably never see again), Officer Wilkes.

The gist of this episode is the three aforementioned cops go to bust a crime ring, but (to steal a phrase) the proverbial fecal matter hits the oscillating unit and things go poorly. An investigator is called in to interview the three and find out what happened and who is responsible, so we get to see the events from each person's - wait for it...wait for it...wait for it - Point of View.

We start out with Montoya and whatshisname speeding through the streets of Gotham in a black and white, sirens blaring, overheads flashing. Montoya says something about Bullock meeting them at 2300 hours, and that they'll be there with time to spare, yet the way she's driving you'd think they needed to be there yesterday; the car careens around corners, tires squealing, rookie cop screaming. When they arrive at the location the building's on fire, and Bullock's regaining consciousness behind a dumpster. Montoya asks why he didn't wait for them, but Bullock says they were late. There are still people inside the warehouse so they split up to attempt apprehending said criminals. As Montoya and Wilkes run off in opposite directions, Bullock stands and glancing up sees a shadowy figure on the roof. "Batman!" He says, before blacking out.

We next see the three cops sitting in a row chairs in a interrogation room with Commissioner Gordon sitting behind a desk, and some bad tempered guy pacing around the three yelling about how much time and money the city spent setting up this sting, and that they blew it in 5 minutes. He even goes so far as to suggest they were paid off, which gets everybody riled up. Bullock declares the whole thing is Batman's fault, which seriously offends Montoya, but the investigating Lieutenant doesn't believe her. He allows Bullock to give his version of the story first.

Bullock again repeats that Montoya and Wilkes were late, but he saw Batman enter the warehouse and feared that Batman would screw up the bust, so he had to go in alone. Of course, as Bullock gives his side of the story we see the events as they actually unfolded. For this particular moment, there's no sign of Batman until after Bullock enters the warehouse, then Batman appears. It was fun to see how Bullock's story differs from the true events, he embellishes and rearranges events to make him look better, always placing the blame on Batman. He was closing in on the suspects when a loud noise tipped them off - "Must have been Batman!" Yeah right. The noise happens to be him tripping over something and falling on his face.

The entire scene was really good, so I'll let you watch the whole thing rather than talk about it here (I'll talk about it afterward.

However, we see how tough a cop he really is. Three thugs confront him, one with a crowbar, another with an ax, the third by himself, but even larger than Bullock. Bullock stands (no longer armed) and says, "Freeze, maggots! You're all under arrest." Strangely, the thieves don't seem overly impressed and the large one jumps him, but Bullock dodges out of the way. Bullock soundly beats the snot out of them, catching the ax on one swing, dodging on the next which unfortunately smashes into a electrical box of some kind which sprays sparks all over, catching boxes on fire (of course). Anyway, he continues to beat the crap out of the thugs until the fire rages out of control and he gets trapped. I was really impressed with him, I didn't think he could fight that well, and that he had the guts to stand up to 5 different guys all on his own. Of course, then he goes and blames his predicament on Batman again, but I love the way he said, "It's a good thing I was there to save his butt!"

Anyway, Mr Investigating-has-a-stick-up-his-bum-Lieutenant doesn't buy Bullock's story, and again suggests that he went in early to beat the other cops to the money. By this point I suspected that there was something not quite right about Mr IL, and wondered if he was perhaps a dirty cop, especially after he yells at Commission Gordon to back off and let him run the investigation the way he looks fit. It also seemed suspicious to me that he's obviously an older guy (balding and such) yet he's the same rank as Lieutenant Montoya, but then again, he's an investigator and she's possibly just a regular cop, I don't claim to know what the different positions are, so maybe he is senior to her, and not just some bitter sounding old man. As I said though, he doesn't believe Bullock, thinks he went in early, but Bullock sticks to his story of the other two being late.

Now we hear rookie Officer Wilkes' story. His is interesting because he'd never seen Batman in action, and thinks he's got superpowers.

He thinks Batman flies, and can take down cars just by shootings sparks out of his hands, and shoot beams out of his fingers, and such. "It was unbelievable!" Not much to say about this one really.

Now Montoya's version. She's been pretty upset about this whole affair. She's ticked off at Lieutenant Frustrated-Old-Man, especially when he gives Wilkes a hard time about his story, and every time he implies they're dirty cops (but then they all got upset about that too). She also seems sad about something, but we don't know what it us until the end of her story.

She's also pretty gutsy, staring down a couple of really big guys with only a shotgun to use, and also sarcastic regarding Bullock's story of saving Batman. Still, since the stories don't match, and there's no way to confirm either story, they're all suspended. Lieutenant Going-to-Die-Cold-and-Alone-and-Bald is pretty smug as the three turn in their badges and guns. Bullock slams his gun on the table so hard he jumps.

To make an already long post less long than it could be I'll try to summarize more. Montoya's heading home on the light rail and figures out the clues were not Doc for Doctor, but for the dock, Gotham Harbor. She finds a warehouse that has a previously mentioned name, and when she looks in the windows she see Batman with his hands tied hanging from a crane hook high above the floor, while the mobsters go about whatever business they're doing; one of them is examining Batman's belt. She enters the warehouse (full of bad guys, unarmed), and is there to see Batman cut himself free (not cut his hands free, just cut the rope he was hanging from. He beats a guy up the whole time with his hands tied together. Montoya gets the jump on another guy who had pulled a gun on Batman. We get a shadowy glimpse of the boss of the whole operation, and I'm thoroughly convinced he will be revealed to be Lieutenant Hope-He-Didnt-Reproduce-And-Further-Pollute-The-Gene-Pool.

Together Batman and Montoya dispatch the goons, Batman takes on several guys at once, kicking the crap out of them - one guy gets knocked into the water several times, Montoya beats up a guy, jumps in a crane and drops a large crate behind three or four guys as they attempt to gang up on Batman, which smashes through the floor and drops them all in the drink, and finally, she traps the boss man in the jaws of the crane as he tries to escape. Oh yeah, and Batman sinks a ship as it leaves the harbor by crashing a forklift into the side. Bet you haven't done that before.

After Batman sinks the boat (which the boss man was fleeing in) he tries to escape on foot, but that's when Officer Montoya catches him with the crane. I was sure at this point we would see who he was, but he just appears to have been some random guy with round glasses. I guess he wasn't important enough to ever be fully revealed, and we'll never know who he was. Or maybe we'll find out he was Temple Fugate, the Clock King (cause he has round glasses and dresses similarly - what am I talking about, 90% of the males on this show wear a suit, trenchcoat and hat).

The real cops arrive, Commissioner Gordon is appropriately impressed, and when Lieutenant Never-Had-A-Date-Never-Will arrives Gordon grabs him by the collar and throws him around a bit while yelling at him that "This farce has gone on long enough...this investigation is closed!" And he takes the badges back and gives them to Montoya to deliver. Even Bullock's almost personable as he thanks Montoya for his badge.
The End.

This was probably my favorite episode so far. I really do like Harvey Bullock, I find him very interesting. He's a good, tough cop who firmly believes that it's the responsibility of the police to take care of the criminals of Gotham, whether they be of the more ordinary kind, or the wackos. He feels that Batman is intruding upon his territory, and probably feels it's an insult to his ability to perform his job. He also seems to not quite respect The Line as much as others might, he's willing to cross certain boundaries if it help him accomplish his duty, but he's not a dirty cop.Similarly, Montoya is also a good, tough cop who is also very good at her job. However, she also respects Batman, and appreciates his help, and was genuinely concerned for his well-being, happy to see him alive when she thought him dead. They're both great characters, and it's no wonder really that they get partnered up so we can see them often.

Let's see, what else to say about it? I enjoyed seeing the different parts of the story as told by the participants, so it's like we're participating with the character rather than being some observer. Credits go to Kevin Altieri, who directed one of the other great episodes of this disc, On Leather Wings, but then he also directed The Last Laugh which was one of my least favorites, so he's only at 66% so far. Mitch Brian wrote the episode (Teleplay by Sean Catherine Derek & Laren Bright) who also wrote On Leather Wings (that we've seen so far) and Bane (which we haven't, but if I remember it right it was a good episode), so he's doing well, but I think that's all he's done for this series. Sean Catherine Derek (three first names, come on people, knock it off!) co-wrote Nothing to Fear, the next episode we will review The Forgotten (which I liked) and the upcoming two-part episode The Cat and The Claw (three guesses who that one is about, and the first two don't count), as well as others, so I guess I like his work too. Laren Bright also worked on several episodes, many with SCD, and also one of my favorite episodes Perchance to Dream. So a great crew working on this episode, which probably explains why I enjoyed it so much.

For voices we of course have the staples, Bob Hastings (Gordon), Robert Costanzo (Bullock) and the great Kevin Conroy as Batman, as well as a visit from not-quite-newcomer Ingrid Oliu as Renee Montoya, I think she does a great job, and some other people I've never heard of. Some guy named Ron Perlman (never heard of him) is Driller. Robbie Benson plays Rookie Wilkes - he's seems to be primarily a voice actor but does appear in somethings, just nothing I've ever heard of. Interestingly, he's the voice of Beast in the Disney rendition of Beauty and the Beast and all subsequent videos (and also the Kingdom Hearts video game series). And some other stuff. Look him up on Wikipedia or IMDB.com if you want to know more. John Considine was the voice of the ever loveable Lieutenant I-cant-think-of-another-insulting-name Hackle, he's some old guy (b. 1935) who's been on shows like Knight Rider, MacGyver, Murder, She Wrote, and Boston Legal, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Marc Tubert voiced one of the thugs named Scarface, and I found his name in a future episode of this series, voicing Carlos. I'd guess it's not the same guy, but I haven't seen that episode yet so I guess it could be. He's also guested on various well-known shows, movies or video games - Star Trek: The Next Generation, Home Improvement, Superman: TAS, Mad About You, Ellen, Pinky and the Brain, Seinfeld, The Practice, Charmed, Dharma & Greg, etc, etc, and even Team Knight Rider. Now that's gotta be a resume highlight. And I guess that finishes off this episode, the final episode of disc one, but don't worry, we're not quite done with it yet, we've got a special feature or two we can look at next time.

Remember kids: Madness is like gravity... all you need is a little push.

Episode Listing

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