My Review of Superman And Lois 3x10: "Collision Course"

 

Written by Max Cunningham And Max Kronick

Directed by Elaine Mongeon

Peia (to Lois): "I really wish things would've been different. In another life we would've been great friends."

The thing is, I definitely Peia was absolutely telling the truth there and given the Multiverse, there has to be a universe where both her and Lois are the best of friends. In this one though their differences were too hard for either one to ignore.

Lois wanted to be the better person and let Peia be the one to confess about her part in Moxie's death, even though Peia pointed out that Lex was a far greater evil than her or Bruno could ever be. With only three episodes left and a renewal not guaranteed, there's little time to cement that theory about Lex.

Anyways, Lois nearly had Peia on side but a visit from Matteo pretty much changed the game when the latter was able to slip Peia the cure. A cure that worked rather welland left the DOD in shambles as a direct result.

With the Mannheim family well and truly reunited and on the same wavelength as one another and Lex about to arrive, what about the rest of the episode? Well, a B plot about teenage partying took some  surprising turns this week.

Jordan spent too much time moping about Sarah and Junior getting close to one another but saving them from a car crash ended up putting Kyle on the right direction. Except for the bit where he was convinced that it was Jonathan with powers but a certain reveal from Clark soon tod Kyle more than even he was expecting to find out.

At this point, Kyle was the last regular on the show to be in the know and I'm surprised it was revealed the way it was but at least it's out there. Though needless to say, I'm not expecting him to react well when he realises that Lana, Sarah and Chrissy all knew before him.

- Candice returned for the kegger plot and Jonathan was probably the only one who didn't drink at the thing.

- The episode did open with Lois ringing the bell and saying "screw cancer" with her family there as support. Lana and Chrissy also had a meeting with Governor Kerry Wexler.

- No John Henry Irons or Natalie in this episode. 

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

Collision Course certainly threw in a few decent curve balls with the way the second plot of the week led to that reveal while the A plot also moves up a gear (what's to be done with Inverse Superman now Peia is cured?). I really hope these last three episodes can deliver.

Rating: 7 out of 10

DCU Blog - May 2023 Edition: The Flash Fan Screenings, CW Shows On Bubble And More

Yup, another eventful month for DC fans as we head towards the make or break movie making its debut, future castings and the possible ending of remaining CW Shows. Buckle in folks.

For the last week, fan screenings for The Flash movie have been taking place all over (including at Cannes) and the reception has been largely positive. 

Some cameos have been leaked but I'm not mentioning them here out of respect but the last few minutes of the movie will be unveiled upon screenings from June 12th onwards.

A final trailer was released, which revealed the return of Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth. Saoirse Monica Jackson and Rudy Mancuso have confirmed to be playing Patty Spivot and Albert Desmond respectively.

Meanwhile the trades have revealed that several actors have been considered for key roles for Superman: Legacy.

For Superman himself, the following actors seem to be in consideration - Nicholas Hoult (also rumoured for Lex Luthor), David Corenswet, Tom Brittney, Andrew Richardson and Jacob Elordi.

For Lois Lane, the actresses being considered are Samara Weaving, Phoebe Dynevor, Emma Mackey and Rachel Brosnahan.

Funko Pops are on the way for the upcoming Blue Beetle movie (August 18th). Carapax and Victoria Kord are the main antagonists.

Although it may largely depend on the success of The Flash movie, Andy Muschietti was a tad coy when asked about possibly directing The Brave And The Bold.

Mike Flanagan recently shut down rumours of directing a solo project focusing on Clayface. There's currently a Hollywood writers strike.

A trailer for Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom should be coming within the next few weeks.

Both Superman And Lois and Gotham Knights are on the bubble with both shows likely not to get renewed by the CW as they merge with Nexstar and reduce scripted content.

The CW have also passed on the Diggle spin off, Justice U.

Max (formerly HBO Max) have confirmed that The Penguin series will be a limited series. Filming had been halted due to the writers strike.

Netflix have confirmed the third season of Sweet Tooth will be it's last season.

That's it for this month. Join me next month to see what gets unleashed as the DCEU's final days beckon.

My Review of Superman And Lois 3x09: "The Dress"

 

Written by Kristi Korzec

Directed by Stephen Maier

Lois (to Clark): "How fast can you take off this dress?"

Who would've thought that an entire episode where a dress was the focal point would end up being one of the season's strongest outings yet? No, really, this episode caught me off guard.

With Lois's cancer storyline, the show has gotten that bit more mature in it's writing choices this season and we had a lovely sparkly red dress that Lois was going to a clothing run for reasons that made perfect sense with the story being told this season. 

It's a shame that award ceremonies like the Emmys will never acknowledge the acting of Elizabeth Tulloch for her work on this show because she's been knocking out of the park with this cancer storyline and had this been in a non genre series, she'd undoubtedly get a nod. 

However here, Lois was aware of her double mastectomy procedure and the effect it would have on her. A lovely conversation with Lana got her to open up about her fears to Clark and a series of flashbacks added context to the significance of the dress in question.

The last scene alone with Lois and Clark all dressed up and flying in the air has got to be one of the most beautiful moments with this iconic pairing in any medium. We all know Lois is going to live, but the episode never nder!ined her fears and the love between her and Clark was beautiful to watch. Again, both Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch have such effortless chemistry.

As for the rest of the episode, while the A storyline with Lois tugged at the heartstrings, the B plot with John Henry Irons and Bruno Mannheim was more frustrating than anything. Neither one of them came out of this episode looking good.

John took extreme steps to lord it over Bruno with keeping Peia away from him as well as trying to have Bruno arrested. Bruno retaliated by sending Henry Miller to kill John, only for Miller to get killed. Then there was also Matteo and Natalie getting closer again in spite of their feuding fathers. Yeah, this won't end well for the young couple.

- Jonathan and Jordan were at loggerheads with one another ver Kyle until Sarah managed to get them to hug it out. 

- Lois's dress origin involved her getting nominated for a Metty award (which she lost) while also resulting her decision to have her wedding to Clark at the Kent farm.

- No Kyle and Chrissy this week and Lois and Lana were planning a night out to Bazoomas (guess what that's a stand in for).

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

The Dress was an episode of two halves. The Lois plot being the strongest and most affecting of the hour while the John vs. Bruno plot being more frustrating than anything else (though we know Inverse Superman is being used as a means to cure Peia). Overall, stil a strong episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Death Proof (2007)

 

Written And Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Zoe: "So where's the maniac?"

Kim: "I shot him and his punk ass ran off."

Zoe: "You wanna go get him?"

Kim: "Oh hell yeah!"

Quentin Tarantino is one of the greatest directors of all time and also at times, a rather polarising person. As a director, he's found a niche and carved it out but often within that niche has found ways to experiment with things. The results can be varied but often enough, they're interesting to watch unfold nonetheless.

As a movie, Death Proof might be one of the less talked about films from Tarantino's filmography. It's also one of his most interesting and like both volumes of Kill Bill and Jackie Browne, it's one where his female characters are front and centre against a male antagonist where the latter eventually gets their just desserts. It's also a film of two halves with two separate groups of protagonist against a lunatic named Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell).

The first group include a radio DJ named Jungle Julia (Sydney Tamiia Poiter) and her friends Arlene (Vanessa Ferlito) and Shanna (Jordan Ladd) who end up in a dive bar where Julia has some fun at Arlene's expense involving a radio competition and the reciting of a Robert Frost poem. Needless to say, Stuntman Mike made an impression on the three women and got his lap dance from Arlene as a result.

However, Stuntman Mike made another impression too when he took patron Pam (Rose McGowan) into his stunt car and used the unique set up of the car to murder her while then crashing his car into Julia and her friends, killing them rather graphically to boot. On top of that, but not only did Mike survive the violent collision himself but he also managed ti get away with murdering four women with the lack of evidence. 

Of course while I don't think anyone would ever hail Tarantino as a feminist writer (something which even Tarantino himself would describe himself as), his movies do eventually tend to punish the bad man of the piece and Mike's biggest mistake was thinking he could get away with the sake idea twice. Let's just say he picked the wrong of women to target during his second effort.

The women in question being make up artist Abernathy (Rosario Dawson), actress Lee (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and stunt women Kim (Tracey Thoms) and Zoe (Zoe Bell as herself for reasons). As a group they're far more entertaining characters than the first group and unlike the first group, their encounter with Stuntman Mike does end in a much different way.

For example, there's some morning hangover banter between the foursome before poor Lee got stuck with Jasper (Jonathan Loughran) while the remaining three took the latter's car for joyriding hijinks. The same ones that involved a reckless game of ship mast and of course, them nearly getting killed by Stuntman Mike in the middle of the day.

However Stuntman Mike underestimated this group and by only trying to frighten them instead, he incurred their wrath. Needless to say, it didn't end particularly well for Stuntman Mike when the girls decided to give him a much needed lesson in manners. The last scene alone where they beat the living shit out of Stuntman Mike might be the one of the best endings for a Tarantino movie to boot. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving character.

- It wouldn't be a Quentin Tarantino movie if there wasn't gratuitous shots of women's feet and a cameo for himself. Eli Roth also briefly appeared in the first half of the movie.

- The movie was released as part of a double feature with Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror. A linking character to both movies would be Dr Dakota Block (Marley Shelton). Rose McGowan also played a different character in the other movie too.

- Standout music: Considering the director, the music's on point as usual but my two fave songs were Down In Mexico by The Coasters and Chick Habit by April March.

- Chronology: The first half of the movie takes place in Austin, Texas before a fourteen month time jump to Lebanon, Tennessee.

Death Proof works well as a double feature with Planet Terror but also well enough on it's own. It's not Top 5 Tarantino movie but it's one that I would put higher than some of his other more successful ones and one I find surprisingly underrated. It's also very talky but that's par for the course with this particular director though.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Doctor Who - Series 14 Casting News, 60th Anniversary Titles And More

These blogs are happening more often now, given the steady flux of information that's been coming out. It truly is an exciting time to be a Doctor Who fan.

As filming for Series 14 continues a pace, we've had both the 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) in various looks, most recently sporting 1960s attire in an episode with Jinkx Monsoon (Rupaul's Drag Race) but now, we're going a bit further back in time as filming move into a new episode.

Along with Jonathan Groff (Looking, Knock At The Cabin), the current episode being filmed sees the Doctor and Ruby in Regency times with a mysterious character named the Duchess, who we're warned by showrunner Russell T. Davies to be aware. Who exactly is the Duchess and who is Jonathan Groff playing? Is he a guest historical character or a potential recurring presence in this upcoming series? Either way, he's another excellent casting coup for the show.

A bit closer to things, marketing for the upcoming 60th anniversary specials have included a Blue Peter competition involving David Tennant's 14th Doctor but more importantly, the show also took advantage of the hype of tonight's Eurovision in Liverpool. Not only was the returning Catherine Tate there to present the points for the UK but we got a new trailer for the three specials.

The trailer itself also did one better by revealing the titles of the episodes, all written by Russell T. Davies. The first special directed by Rachel Talalay is called The Star Beast, the second special directed by Tom Kingsley is called Wild Blue Yonder while the third special directed by Chanya Button is called The Giggle.

Clips from the trailer did show various scenes with the Doctor and Donna as well as the latter's daughter, Rose (Yasmin Finney). We also saw clips of Beep the Meep, the Wrarth Warriors as well as a new UNIT HQ and Neil Patrick Harris's mysterious character. There also seems to be some mystery surrounding the middle special to boot but while the trailer didn't reveal any additional casting, it certainly gave us enough to mull over.

Also in news that will shock absolutely no one at all was the BBC and Russell T Davies confirming that Murray Gold was returning to compose the music for the anniversary specials. I'm pleased he's back and I'm also happy he will remain for Series 14 to boot.

Last but not least we can also add Jamie Donoughue as a director for the fifth block of Series 14, which will comprise of the finale. This follows other directors Dylan Holmes Williams (episodes 4 and 5), Mark Tonderai (Christmas 2023), Julie Anne Robinson (episodes tbc) and Ben Chessell (episode 2 and tbc). Thing are certainly moving in a very exciting direction.

Doctor Who continues filming and will air on BBC1 and stream on Disney+ from November.

My Review of Titans 4x12: "Titans Forever"

 

Written by Richard Hatem

Directed by Nick Copus

Kory (to Dick): "There's always an end."

Destiny can be a funny thing. Sometimes it's set with absolutely no wiggle room whatsoever and other times, it can be altered. Sebastian Sanger, fully embracing his Brother Blood persona was determined to change destiny. He almost did it. 

However like every other villain in the history of fiction, Sebastian gravely underestimated the very people he was going up against and it cost him big time. Of course, it did look like until nearly the last minute that he was going to succeed in his ambitious plan to take out both Earth and Tamaran in one fell swoop. Or more specifically, the Icarus Gate.

Yes, that thing that Kory kept seeing in previous episodes made it's appearance and it seemed that her blue energy was the very thing that Sebastian needed to power it up and go ahead with his wacky plan. Yes, it nearly worked but then all the Titans, including Conner who recovered at the right time in order to bring about Sebastian's much needed downfall.

Saying that this season has been hammering home that Kory had to be the one to end Sebastian at the risk of her own life and she made that sacrifice. Then we got that lovely Christmas scene and Kory ended up being alive altogether. I think every fan who had an emotional vestment in Kory throughout the four seasons was happy to see her live here, myself included. I'm really glad she made it out of the series alive.

Not only that but Kory and Dick finally got together and it actually felt earned. I mean the show always was signposting them as an endgame couple and they delivered on that front. The way this episode ended for both characters was a great ending. It felt right for both characters and it felt earned to but of course, it wasn't just their endings that worked.

For all the writing problems this show has had, I actually do think every main character this season got the right ending. Conner got to finally meet Superman and learn to fly (though he needs to get the hang of it) while keeping LexCorp. Gar went into the Red, which was inevitable while Rachel went to college in Bludhaven and Tim got to be Robin in both Gotham and Metropolis and got to continue his romance with Bernard. All of these developments felt right and made sense for every character. Not to mention Krypto being the best too.

- Superman was a body double and we just saw his feet but at least Conner now has a relationship with his other dad.

- I'm surprised we didn't get a few more cameos in this finale but there was some archive clips when Rachel was trying to free Kory.

- Standout music: Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel during that last scene with Dick and Kory. 

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Titans Forever managed to stick the landing as a series finale and for a show that often had inconsistent writing, I'm really happy this delivered. Sebastian got a good comeuppance, the world didn't end and all our main players got the best outcomes. Your move, Doom Patrol.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Superman And Lois 3x08: "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner"

 

Written by Aaron Helbing

Directed by Gregory Smith

Lois (to Clark): "I think we put Lex Luthor in prison for a crime he didn't commit."

Well, you did and I guess this will be how Michael Cudlitz will make his debut as Lex Luthor. Right now, this show's future looks dicey given the CW are practically cancelling everything at this point, so with every remaining episode left, the show writers really need to make them count.

Last episode posed the possibility of Bruno and Peia having some good in them as people but this week served as a reminder that while the pair of them do genuinely love one another, they're still the villains of this season until Lex shows up for the final act. A fact that both Superman and Lois were reminded of, courtesy of events in the episode, past misdeeds unearthed and both Chrissy and John being the voices of reason here.

Then there's also Natalie and Matteo who are caught in the middle of the big family feuds this season. Can their relationship pull through in spite of the odds? It's hard to say but if John gets his way, then Natalie won't be with Matteo for any longer. I think John's reaction considering that both Bruno and Peia tried to murder him like they did his doppelganger was appropriate under the circumstances. Yeah, this teenage romance likely will be doomed.

On the other hand with Peia being at death's door and contained at the DOD as well as Lois, Clark and Chrissy piecing together that Mannheim framed Luthor for Moxie's death, then it looks like Bruno will be heading for a rather big downfall within the next episode or two. Lex's release was heavily telegraphed by the end of this one.

As for the rest of the episode, Jonathan nearly had his junior firefighter career derailed by Jordan's lack of discretion and the latter did strike a low blow too, which even Sarah had to point out. Plot wise though, it was one of the weaker elements of the episode but Jordan's recklessness was something I'm surprised that Sam hadn't spotted.

Speaking of Sam, when he wasn't helping Lois do further investigating into Bruno's activities, he was also meant to go on a coffee date, only to leave his date standing. Again, one of the weaker elements of the episode but I did like his conversation with Lana as she had her own dating problems this week. I'm also certain this was the first time these two characters have had a scene together but it was a good one.

- Even in prison, Lex was still making money from his Luthor Airlines, which Lois referenced after seeing one of his ads on TV.

- John and Darlene have clearly started to see each other as siblings despite the former being from a different Earth.

- Standout music: Mostly music from The Cure as Lana had tickets to one of their concerts. In the end, Sarah ended up going with her.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode more or less left off.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner certainly added to the awkwardness and while there has been sympathy generated for the Mannheim family, there's no mistaking that they're still the baddies of the piece. Weaker than last week's episode but still solid stuff.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Brightburn (2019)

 

Written by Brian Gunn And Mark Gunn

Directed by David Yarovesky

Brandon: "Take the world!"

You know how there's this growing discourse among comic book Twitter fans in terms of Evil Superman? In the sense that it's something a lot of us feel has been played out? Well, in 2025, a certain director will be giving us Superman: Legacy but back in 2019, he was somewhat in the concept of an Evil Superkid, with this horror outing.

It started so innocent. A couple in Kansas find an abandoned spaceship in a field. In the spaceship was a baby boy. The couple in question - Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle (David Denman) Breyer take the baby in and raise him as their son. For twelve years everything was fine. Then it wasn't as the baby grew into a boy named Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) and the latter began to suspect that he wasn't like other children.

Turning twelve meant that Brandon took an interest in a girl named Caitlyn (Emmie Hunter) who went from complimenting Brandon on his intellect to being very much afraid of him as he began to stalk her. On top of that, Brandon also broke her arm during a test exercise at school and would later kill her mother, Erika (Becky Wahlstrom) and the latter wouldn't be the only person that Brandon would kill as this movie progressed.

The moment that Brandon was told about his true origins and when he realised what the voices in his head were really telling him, any hope that his beleaguered parents had of retaining control of him went out the window. Brandon didn't even waste time threatening his aunt and school counselor, Merilee (Meredith Hagner) before killing her husband, Noah (Matt Jones) in a rather gruesome way.

With both of those deaths, it became apparent to both Tori and Kyle that their adopted son was a monster in the making and Kyle's attempts to take out Brandon spectacularly backfired big time. Seeing Brandon using a certain ability that a certain Kryptonian uses quite often on his father really did highlight that the kid was an absolute lost cause.

Even Tori came to the grave realisation that her adopted son was too dangerous for her to control and attempting to get the local sheriff (Gregory Alan Williams) to help ultimately did nothing to stop the absolute carnage that Brandon wrecked on everyone. Let's just say that this movie doesn't end on the most positive of note as Brandon full embraced his destiny. 

- The movie was named after the Smallville substitute town it took place in. The Breyers house looked similar enough to the Kents as well.

- Michael Rooker popped up as a conspiracy theorist YouTuber while Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee and Stephen Blackehart had minor roles. There was also a link to James Gunn's other movie, Super.

- Standout music: Billie Eilish's Bad Guy was used pretty well during the closing credits.

- Chronology: It began in 2006 and moved into 2018 for the rest of the movie.

Brighburn shamelessly took the Evil Superman/kid idea and certainly utilised it well enough, in spite of both it's short running time and smaller budget. James Gunn returned to his horror roots with this one and his brothers penned a solid script with decent direction by Yarovesky. It's not perfect but it's well executed for it's concept.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x11: "Project Starfire"

 

Written by Jamie Gorenberg

Directed by Nick Copus

Kory (to everyone, re Sebastian): "There's only one way to end this .... My way."

It's weird to think that by next week  this show will have ended. One of the many casualties of the great Warner Brothers Discovery purge of 2022-2023 but at least unlike other shows, this should be ending on it's own terms.

This penultimate episode certainly upped the stakes with Sebastian and the cat and mouse dynamic between him, Conner and Mother Mayhem. By the end of this episode and fittingly enough, Sebastian was the one to come out on top and ascend to power. Oh and it looks like we might be getting a Trigon encore as part of the finale next week.

Conner's methods of keeping Sebastian close and distracted very nearly worked. Sebastian certainly seemed to see Conner as a friend and the two of them worked together to take out one of Mother Mayhem's acolytes before taking her out of the equation. Unfortunately for Conner he made the very mistake that May did and that was to severely underestimate Sebastian.

The bog plan having Kory's powers to activate an orb titled Project Starfire might have worked but Dick literally pulled too many plugs too early and the very thing that should've destroyed Sebastian instead turned him into Brother Blood. Given that we saw that look on Joseph Morgan months ago, of course the show waited until it's second last episode in order to showcase it. As a look, it's very snazzy for a baddie.

Sebastian wasn't the only one getting new threads this week. Getting Tim out of Metropolis and sending him back to Gotham, Tim finally got to be Robin and it didn't take long for both him and the reformed Red Hood to cross paths. Another thing this episode did was reintroduce Jason at the last minute but both him and Tim had some great scenes this week.

Dick's little side mission for Tim certainly brought out the best in both him and once again Jason. The Robin suit Tim got was by far the best we've seen on the show and with Jason's own methods, Tim managed to up his game as a would be crime fighter. Now he just has to head back to Metropolis and help everyone else take out Brother Blood and save Conner.

- Mercy Graves begrudgingly helped the team with Project Starfire while spelling out the obvious parallels between Conner and Sebastian.

- Jason and Barbara (the latter off screen) were working together to take out Shimmer (also off screen). Tim figured out the Kaleidoscope code that Jason struggled with.

- Both Gar and Rachel mentioned moving on from the Titans. 

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Project Starfire was a strong enough second last episode, moving the Brother Blood storyline to where it needed to be for the big finale. The main story was great and the side mission with both Tim and Jason was also great. Now just the finale to go.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

 

Written And Directed by James Gunn

Rocket: "We'll all fly away together ... one last time ... into the forever and beautiful sky."

With James Gunn's cinematic future due to be the DCU for the foreseeable future and the chain of events that led to such a thing, we're damn lucky he even got to round off the concluding part to this very definitive side of the MCU. All things come to an end and there's no denying that this movie definitely served as an ending for this specific group of characters. Well, mostly.

If Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt) drove the main narrative for the first two movies, then it was Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) who definitely drove it here. The movie opened with a flashback to his origin and in the present day an encounter with the newly born and slightly dim witted Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) led to his life in danger and everyone else banding together in order to save him.

Through flashbacks and beautifully done ones I might we learned that Rocket's evolution came courtesy of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) who merely viewed Rocket as an experiment before becoming incensed by the latter's superior intelligence. Yup, if there was an award for a truly despicable baddie, it would be this guy.

The High Evolutionary was so threatened by Rocket, he ended up killing the latter's friends, Lylla (Linda Cardellini), Teefs (Asim Chaudhry) and Floor the Rabbit (Mikaela Hoover) in order to get his point across and that was just in flashbacks. In the present day he had no issue with destroying other planets and threatening the Sovereign (whom he created) in order to get what he wanted. Hence the returning Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) trying to get Adam to get Rocket for the High Evolutionary. A task which ADam repeatedly failed at.

Character wise, Adam Warlock might be the most divisive aspect of the movie. He's a bit too dumb for his own good, though his affection for a cute little creature does endear him before he ultimately changed sides during the third act. Not to mention becoming a part of a group that in this movie alone went through quite the evolution of it's own.

The group being the Guardians, united in wanting to help Rocket but all having different ways of handling the growing threat of the High Evolutionary. Nebula (Karen Gillan) had no problem with contacting Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and the Ravagers for help. However she did have a problem with Peter and Gamora's more strained dynamic and often lost her patience with both Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) although as the movie progressed, the three of them really stepped up as a team and and as individuals while the now swole version of Groot (Vin Diesel) was also given some rather cool moments on screen.

As for Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova), they had their own strange dynamic and were largely kept out of the main action until the last half hour when both their individual skill sets came in handy. There are a lot of characters in this movie, but James Gunn fortunately knows how to handle large cast members with nearly everyone faring well for this final saga.

As for the Guardians themselves, I'm surprised this movie didn't straight up kill any of them, because there were definitely moments throughout where it looked like every character was about to get it. However where every character ended up felt right for all of them and after nearly a decade of them on the big screen and Disney+, this was a great place to end this journey.

- Some of James Gunn's faves such as Michael Rosenbaum, Nathan Fillion as well as Daniela Melchior and Jennifer Holland all popped up in very small roles here. As did Howard the Duck (Seth Green) and Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone). 

- The mid and post credit scenes had Rocket leading a new team and Peter on Earth with his grandfather, played by Gregg Henry.

- Going by one final credit, perhaps we should expect the return of The Legendary Star Lord? I'm betting he'll appear in Secret Wars. 

- Was anyone surprised when Yondu (Michael Rooker) showed up? I would've been surprised if he hadn't.

- Standout music: Come And Get Your Love by Redbone, Creep by Radiohead, Dog Days Are Over by Florence And The Machine and No Sleep Til Brooklyn by Beastie Boys.

- Chronology: Around 2023 or past that point. Mostly on Knowhere, Counter-Earth and Orgocorp.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 marked the end of a journey and it's been a wild one. The weirdest corner of the MCU came to an end and did it in style. Every one of the characters got the best and in some cases bittersweet ending and we got a really despicable baddie with the High Evolutionary. James Gunn definitely ended his time with the MCU on a high note.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Superman And Lois 3x07: "Forever And Always"

 

Written by Adam Mallinger

Directed by Alvaro Ron

Clark (to Mannheim): "I just wanted to give you the chance to tell the world your story."

Well, it's certainly been something of a story then, hasn't it? Is Bruno Mannheim a crime lord or just a loving husband? Can't he be both? Both flashbacks and present day certainly lean into the notion that Bruno Mannheim has both in him.

In flashbacks we saw that he wanted to take on both Lex Luthor and Moxy. We have yet to see the former make their debit in the show but with the latter, Bruno definitely rubbed Moxy up the wrong way and came pretty close to death. What saved Bruno from going the same way as the rest of his 86 cohorts? Peia, to no surprise to anyone.

For a tiny moment, it did seem like Bruno thought that Peia was going to fall in line with Moxy until she turned around and killed him on the spot. Peia truly loves Bruno as much as he loves her and Daya Vaidya in these last three episodes has proven to a great find for this show. We know at her true strength, Peia's a damn formidable opponent but here we've also see her as a human being first and foremost.

I even felt bad for her when Lois was praying too much into her personal life, only for Peia to later confess to Lois about Bruno being her husband. Around the exact same time that Clark realised Bruno's motives were about saving his wife and all four characters interacted with one another. Oh and on top of that, Natalie's boyfriend, Matteo was revealed to be Bruno and Peia's son but who didn't see that coming a mile off?

Yes, this week Natalie and Matteo got serious as the show remembered it needed a teenage romance. John went into overprotective dad mode, annoyed Natalie but Lana was there to somewhat calm him down. Which worked, because John then accepted Matteo dating his daughter but that will definitely change when he's made aware of Matteo's father. 

As for Jordan and Jonathan, I'm impressed they took the initiative to actually talk to Lara about helping Lois, even if it resulted in being told the very thing they didn't want to hear. Jonathan took the news worse than Lois and lashed out at Clark. Saying that, both Jonathan and Clark had a nice scene towards the end of the episode and Michael Bishop has proven to be a decent replacement from Jordan Elsass as Jonathan. 

Last but not least, Lana had to deal with everyone moving so she lit some fireworks. Prior to that, Sarah went all mean girl on Chrissy before the two found some common enough ground. Chrissy being something of a stoner was also a little surprise too, with Sarah being very amused by the fact. I'm guessing gummies is the closest to recreational drugs the show will use though.

- Natalie and Matteo as well as Chrissy and Sarah went to see a movie named Dumb Frankenstein. Matteo also mentioned Slaughter Cabin in some way to reassure Natalie about impressing her father. 

- We got to see Peia ring the bell as part of her final treatment. Unfortunately I don't see her making it out of this season alive.

- No Sam or Kyle in this episode this week.

- Chronology: Not long since the previous episode left off.

Forever And Always certainly tugged at the heartstrings with some lovely poignant moments that I actually didn't know the lack of Superman (but plenty of Clark and in journalist mode too) this week. This season might need to hurry up with adding Lex in the mix but the Mannheim storyline has been great this far.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Christine (1983)

 

Written by Bill Phillips

Directed by John Carpenter 

Arnie: "You better watch what you say about my car. She's real sensitive."

Long before the Blumhouse crowd ever thought of the ides of having Corey Cunningham be corrupted by Michael Myers for Halloween Ends, there was a story about a teenage boy and his new car. It was quite the meeting of messy minds. Just like Corey and Michael, other people died in their wake.

The boy in question being nerdy teenager and something of an asshole, Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon), who despite having a popular friend in handsome former football jock Dennis (John Stockwell) found himself at the ire of a group of bullies. Their ringleader in particular, Buddy Repperton (William Ostrander) really couldn't make his hatred for Arnie any more known and was even close to getting a little stab happy at a garage during one particular altercation.

However things take something of a dramatic twist for Arnie when he purchased an old red and white 1958 Plymoth Fury, which he named Christine. Suddenly Arnie had a cool car, a slightly cooler (for the time period) look and even a girlfriend named Leigh (Alexandra Paul). Things were looking up for Arnie, until they weren't.

Christine might be a snazzy looking motor but it wasn't long before the car in question started causing all kinds of mayhem for everyone except Arnie. Christine almost killed Leigh and when Buddy and his pals wrecked the car in revenge against Arnie, the latter wasn't remotely freaked out when it started to do an extensive self repair on itself.

As well as Christine's growing influence on Arnie ending his relationship with Leigh, it also caused some serious problems between Arnie and his own parents, Michael (Robert Darnell) and Regina (Christine Belford) who wouldn't even let Arnie have the car in their garage. Not to mention his only friend in this movie with Dennis ended up becoming more alienated from Arnie as the latter slipped further and further down a dark path.

Because of this and the increasing body count, it was mainly up to Dennis and Leigh to try and stop both Arnie and Christine from doing any more damage. The final showdown in a junkyard definitely had it's moments with a bittersweet ending for Arnie but for the titular car in question. Let's just say, Dennis, Leigh and Detective Rudy Junkins (Harry Dean Stanton) shouldn't underestimated the possessed motor.

- This was based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, published in the same year as this movie's release.

- We learned in the movie from the seller, George LaBray (Robert Blossom) that his brother had also been corrupted by Christine. Dennis mostly figured it out.

- Standout music: Bad To The Bone by George Thorogood and the Destroyers as well as We Belong Together by Robert & Johnny and Runaway by Bonnie Raitt.

- Chronology: The movie is set in 1978, the same year as a certain John Carpenter movie was released. 

Christine definitely would fall in the category of an underrated movie for John Carpenter. It's probably not the movie that would make most fans Top 5 but maybe just maybe his Top 10. It's an interesting adaptation of the source material with solid performances all round and some decent scares to match.

Rating: 7 out of 10

DCU Blog - April 2023 Edition: Trailers for Blue Beetle and The Flash, Joker Sequel Wraps And More

Another month ends and the DC Universe continues to deliver on the news front. Let's just say that a lot happened this month.

CinemaCon had it's first screening of The Flash movie (June 16th) and everyone else got a second trailer for the movie.

Various cameos were confirmed for the movie itself while others were teased and some were debunked but it looks like DC could have a winner on their hands with this.

Saying that, Ezra Miller's fate in the DCU beyond this upcoming release has not been confirmed yet. Will they remain in the role? Hard to say for the time being.

As for the DCU, we can now confirm that James Mangold will be the director for the Swamp Thing movie, though he's also attached to a Star Wars project too.

With slightly less fanfare and earlier in the month, Blue Beetle premiered it's first trailer with the movie still slated for it's August 18th release.

Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom will now be released in cinemas from December 20th with a trailer released at CinemaCon, though it's yet to be revealed publicly. The film does sound like a mixed bag. 

The next DC animated movie will be Justice League: Warworld, which will be released during the summer.

Filming for Joker: Folie A Deux has officially wrapped. The movie will be released in theatres on October 4th 2024.

James Gunn still hasn't cast Superman for Superman: Legacy but pre-production has begun for the movie, due July 11th 2025.

Further casting for The Penguin series has included Theo Rossi, Scott Cohen, Carmen Ejogo, David H. Holmes, Craig Walker and Francois Chau. The eight episode series will premiere on (HBO) Max in 2024.

The official cast for Creature Commandos has been confirmed. Sean Gunn will play both Weasel and GI Robot, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr, Indira Varma as the Bride, David Harbour as Eric  Frankenstein, Alan Tudyk as Dr Phosphorous, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky and Maria as Princess Ilana Rostovic. Viola Davis and Steve Agee will also reprise their roles as Amanda Waller and John Economos for the series, which will be released in 2024 on (HBO) Max.

Amazon are not only going to be releasing Batman: Caped Crusader but also Merry Little Batman and Bat-Family. 

DCPride 2023 Special will be released on May 30th. 

The finales for both Superman And Lois and Gotham Knights will air on June 27th on the CW.

That concludes the movie for all the big DC news. Let's see what next month gives us.

My Review of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

 

Written And Directed by James Gunn

Ego: "Listen to me! You are a god. If you kill me, you'll be just like everybody else!"

Peter: "What's so wrong with that?"

Ah, the middle part in a trilogy. Where everyone has gotten to know one another and their respective flaws and yet, there's a deep love there. That's exactly where the Guardians are with each as a team. They have a reputation to uphold and have made a name for themselves. Saying that, there's still some teething problems.

Anyways our group consisting of  Star Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) and Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) open the movie by getting some batteries for a golden species named the Sovereign as led by Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki). A simple transaction that went pear shaped due to Rocket stealing back the batteries in question, incurring Ayesha's wrath in the process.

Stealing from the Sovereign turns out to be a galactic no no and pretty soon, Ayesha enlisted the Ravagers led by Yondu (Michael Rooker) but pretty soon the latter's softening resolve for Quill had right hand man Kraglin (Sean Gunn) accidentally leading to a revolt against Yondu. This led to the rather unfortunately named Taserface (Chris Sullivan) taking control and Roxket largely taking the piss out of his name. Taserface didn't make it out of the first half alive either.

As for the majority of the players themselves, there was the problem of a returning and initially captured Nebula (Karen Gillan), who was still determined to get the better of Gamora but the biggest obstacle was of course the arrival of Peter's father, a Celestial named Ego (Kurt Russell), who somewhat lived up to his name and then some. He's also a living planet.

On top of answering the mystery of Peter's daddy and Quill getting to know his father, there was also the motive of destroying the universe. It turned out that Ego lacked the paternal instinct and was more determined to use Peter to fulfill his agenda, forcing all of the team together along with Nebula and Yondu with the latter making something of a poignant sacrifice. Thus proving that for all of his flaws, Yondu really did see himself as a father to Peter after all.

Along with the Ego of a baddie, we were introduced to empath Mantis (Pom Klementieff), who largely sparked off with Drax, in spite of his insistence that he found her physically unattractive. Not to mention the growing attraction between both Peter and Gamora who definitely acted like a married couple throughout the movie. Of course, their love remained unspoken, in spite of Peter trying to speak it into reality quite a team.

As a team up movie, there was definitely growth among the characters. We saw both Gamora and Nebula reach an impasse in their sibling rivalry while Rocket might have spent the movie being a jerk but Yondu was quick to point out how much Rocket really cared about everyone, including Peter and that's not forgetting how much Rocket loved arguing with Peter. 

- Laura Haddock briefly appeared in flashbacks as part of Ego's backstory. Peter was understandably furious when he learned that Ego caused Meredith's tumour.

- We had appearances from both Sylvester Stallone and Michelle Yeoh as rival Ravagers, both of whom showed respect for Yondu, following the latter's sacrifice. Howard the Duck also popped upmas did Stan Lee.

- Peter was a fan of Knight Rider and idolised David Hasselhoff. Guess which form Ego took at one point in the movie to mess with Peter?

- The mid and post credits scenes had Kraglin testing Yondu's arrow fin, teenage Groot, Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone), Ayesha creating Adam and a group of Watchers ditching their informant.

- Standout music: Fleetwood Mac's The Chain, ELO's Mr Blue Sky and Cat Stevens Father And Son. 

- Chronology: Still 2014 funnily enough and mostly on Ego the Living Planet. Also 1980s flashbacks too. 

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 was a pretty wild second ride for this group and I largely enjoyed the hell out of it. Fantastic storyline, great character moments, strong action sequences , a killer soundtrack and a lovely commentary on family to boot. Great stuff.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Pocahontas (1995)

 

Written by Carl Binder And Susannah Grant And Phil LaZebnik

Directed by Mike Gabriel And Eric Goldberg

Pocahontas: "You can own the Earth and still all you'll own is Earth, until you can paint with the colours of the wind."

Disney in the 1990s was a wild time with some of the most interesting movies that came out in that decade. Yes, there was surefire hits like Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. Then there was Pocahontas where Disney took the story of a real life person and told their own version of that person's history. If you're looking for historical accuracy, this will not be the movie for you.

In Virginia in the early seventeenth century there was a young Native American girl named Pocahontas (Irene Bedard) who wasn't keen on the idea of her father, Chief Powhatan (Russell Means) marrying her off to brave warrior, Kocoum (James Apaumut Fall). Kocoum wasn't a bad man, but he also wasn't one that Pocahontas was in love with either.

Pocahontas wanted more than a marriage. She had dreams, which she shared with Grandmother Willow (Linda Hunt), a talking and all knowing tree. It's not long before Pocahontas soon gets a taste of her dreams by meeting up with explorer John Smith (Mel Gibson) who has his own history with native tribes and whose thoughts on them are challenged through his interactions with Pocahontas and her tribe.

Of course John Smith isn't alone as he's working under the corrupt influence of Governor Ratcliffe (David Ogden Stiers) and the latter certainly made himself known as the villain of the piece. With an avowed hatred towards Native Americans, Ratcliffe was determined to pillage the land for gold and had no problem in getting his men riled up into killing anyone who got in their way.

This also meant quickly turning on John Smith when it became apparent the latter was more sympathetic to Pocahontas and her tribe. Even the accidental death of Kocoum and near execution of Smith wasn't enough to get John to turn on the tribe although Ratcliffe did nearly escalate bloodshed between his own group and the natives of Jamestown before Pocahpntas stepped in to save the day.

By the end of the film, Radcliffe got his just desserts, John was wounded and had to return to England for his own well being but Pocahontas herself had her own personal liberation and better relationship with her father. The near romance (which wasn't historically correct) with John Smith to one side, the movie mostly worked in Pocahontas's favour.

- This movie was also one of Christian Bale's earliest role. His voiced a young lad named Thomas, who was something of an ally to John Smith. Billy Connelly also voiced dual roles of Ben and Joe Baker.

- A straight to video sequel titled Pocahontas II: Journey To A New World was released in 1998.

- Standout music: The obvious one being Colours Of The Wind as well as If I Never Knew You and both parts of Savages. 

- Chronology: 1607 Virginia and Jamestown. 

Pocahontas isn't my favourite of the 1990's Disney movies and it certainly does take a lot of creative liberties with the actual historical events it attempted to portray. Saying that, it's mostly a solid entry with some great moments in it.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x10: "Game Over"

 

Written by Bryan Edward Hill

Directed by Jesse Warn

May (to Sebastian): "Without Trigon's power, you'll always be nothing."

Well, this took something of a turn for Sebastian, didn't it? Mommy Dearest really got into his head about his abilities and sense of self by belittling him that one time too often. Sebastian had enough and Mother Mayhem wound up being burned to a crisp. That should've been the end of the character but as the episode later revealed, she survived even if looking a bit worse for wear.

Sebastian had two people on his shoulder this week over summoning Trigon. With May being determined to reunite with her former lover, Conner was also working overtime to keep Sebastian from bringing his father back. First by befriending him, then by letting him launch Abraxus worldwide and all the while trying to destroy Trigon's horn. Needless, his effort were mostly in vain.

Conner's grey area way of dealing with Sebastian was a strong point of the episode. There's no doubt his Luthor side was influencing his behaviour this episode bit at the same time, at least he was trying to find non violent ways to disable Sebastian's power. He even stealthily helped the Titans when it came to take Abraxus off the table.

Abraxus got something of a deadly upgrade when Sebastian's game almost killed all of it's players, including Bernard. Yup, I thought we were going to get the "bury your gays" trope here bit it seems for now that Bernard is in a coma and will probably make it out of the series alive. What, I'm being optimistic here.

Going back to the Sebastian side of things, this episode we had both Dick and Rachel with a contact of Constantine's in order to sever the link between Rachel and Sebastian. We got some kind of zombie thing that Dick ended up killing and that was it, basically. Link severed and no more bond between half siblings. 

As for Gar and Kory, they were mostly trapped with half of the Doom Patrol for most of the episode. It was nice to see Cliff, Larry and Victor and some witty barbs between the pair, it was more about getting Gar and Kory to work through some of their own issues before finally getting out of the Red. 

- In case I didn't remember the Doom Patrol here were from a different continuity, Victor was still Cyborg in this one. Shame we didn't get to see Rita though. 

- This season has mentioned Constantine so many times that I keep expecting him to show up. Even Rachel wanted to meet him this week.

- Mercy was feeding Conner information throughout the episode to undermine Sebastian. I wonder if we'll see her in the last two episodes.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off. 

Game Over upped the ante with Sebastian's overall plans and Conner's grey area way of dealing with things. The other characters got their moments to shine, while also moving things along nicely. Looking forward to the remaining two episodes and hoping the series ends on a good note.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Superman And Lois 3x06: "Of Sound Mind"

 

Written by George Kitson

Directed by Diana Valentine

Mannheim: "Peia, I am going to save you."

Could it be that Bruno Mannheim's great big scheme with experimenting on sick people with X-Kryptonite and Superman's blood be something more wholesome? Instead of making an army of super soldiers, maybe just maybe Bruno's motivation was love all along? If so, this just got a lot more complicated.

In the six episodes so far we've heard a lot about Bruno being poor, wanting to help places like Suicide Slums and Hob's Bay and he was pretty forthcoming to Lois about his mother's battle with cancer. Now Onomatopoeia revealed herself to be a woman named Peia and guess what, she's someone who has also interested rather meaningfully with both Clark and Lois these last two episodes.

It's clear that Bruno loves Peia and his motivation seems to be about saving her and he did in the past. Except now she's getting weaker and her powers are weakening too, meaning that Bruno has even more pressure to prevent her death. As twists go, it's a surprisingly affecting one here.

Peia alone has been an intimidating villain whenever she's clashed with Superman and this episode alone she almost took out both the Man of Steel and Jordan, who took his guide out for a test run and also learned that Kryptonite doesn't effect him the same way as his father to both their surprise. It was a nice way to reveal that particular advantage to Jordan this week.

Peia had some great scenes with Lois where she praised the efforts Mannheim was making with helping people, making the final reveal of their real relationship not jar while at the same time both Lois and Clark dealt with the hard issues over her cancer battle too. Clark spent most time in denial over it before the end of the episode forced him to confront his own fears on the matter.

As for the rest of the episode, the writers remembered that Sophie existed and had her run away because she felt like no one cared about her. Then Sarah and Jonathan found her, the latter gave a good pep talk and Lana wasn't best pleased about Kyle and Chrissy being a couple. However that didn't stop Kyle from wanting to make his relationship with Chrissy public as a result.

- Jordan didn't seem happy with the idea of Jonathan and Sarah hanging out and I have a horrible feeling where this will end up going. Jonathan did go from "Rusty" to "Lil' Kent" at the fire station. 

- I'm assuming Mannheim's secret research bunker has lead lining to stop Superman from seeing where it is, right?

- No John Henry or Natalie in this episode and Deadline died due to Mannheim refusing to help him. 

- Chronology: A month since the events of the previous episode.

Of Sound Mind does somewhat trundle along at first, not really doing much that we hadn't already seen before picking up pace in the second half. The Mannheim and Peia connection does add a nice complicated layer to things.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

 

Written by James Gunn And Nicole Perlman

Directed by James Gunn

Peter (to the team): "So here we are: a thief, two thugs, an assassin and a maniac. But we're not gonna stand by as evil wipes out the galaxy. I guess we're stuck together, partners."

At this point in the MCU, there had been enough hijinks on planet Earth (with the exception of the Thor movies), so it was definitely time to take things on a more cosmic level and this was certainly  great start to that.

Opening with a young Peter Quill (Wyatt Oleff) who witnessed the death of his mother but before he could process his loss, he's abducted by Yondu (Michael Rooker) and his life takes something of a different turn. A turn for the shadier to be perfectly honest.

Cut to twenty six years later and a much older and rather promiscuous Peter (Chris Pratt) was stealing a much sought after orb containing an Infinity Stone and getting himself into all kinds of trouble. Even Yondu was starting to get annoyed with him.

However Yondu was only the tip of his worries as the movie quickly had duo Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) along with trained assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) battling Peter to get that orb at the behest of dangerous Kree leader Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and her adopted father, Thanos (Josh Brolin).

Except when all four characters met and clashed on Xandar, they immediately ended up in prison, managed to escape and even got an all in Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) who had his own mason against Ronan and initial dislike for Gamora to boot.

As a rag tag team, the movie depicted the five leads as people with their own demons who struggled to get along with each other at first before the event of Knowhere and Ronan's possession of the Infinity Stone forced them all to step up as a team. It also didn't hurt that Yondu could be easily reasoned with and that characters at Nova Corps such as Irani Rael (Glenn Close) and Rhomann Dey (John C. Reilly) were more receptive to outside help.

The third act of the movie does have some great battle scenes, including Gamora sparring with half sister, Nebula (Karen Gillan), Groot really showcasing his power set along with a heroic sacrifice but it's Peter's "dance off" with Ronan before the group effort to defeat him that proved to be a strong conclusion to the big problem. 

As a team, these guys might be A-holes but they certainly got the job done and made for a rather good team nonetheless. Well, they did manage to stop a planet from getting destroyed, which ain't bad for a first mission. 

- Peter learned that he's half human and it was his other half that made him able to withstand touching the stone. Yondu was also meant to deliver Peter to his father but didn't.

- Josh Brolin had replaced Damion Poitier as Thanos with this movie. Nebula resented his favouritism towards Gamora.

- Rocket was not a fan of Stan Lee with a younger woman and we had Djimon Hounsou as Korath in a supporting role.

- A post credit scene showed Howard the Duck (Seth Green) disgusted at Cosmo the Spacedog licking the Collector (Benicio Del Toro).

 - Standout music: The highlights were Come And Get Your Love, Cherry Bomb, Ain't No Mountain High Enough and Hooked On A Feeling. 

- Chronology: The movie opens in 1988 but is largely set in 2014, the year of its release.

Guardians Of The Galaxy marked an impressive debut for James Gunn in the world of comic book movies and definitely was one of the biggest high points of the early-ish days of the MCU. Pretty much everything in this movie comes together perfectly. One of my favourites in this franchise.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once And Always (2023)

 

Written by Becca Barnes And Alwyn Dale

Directed by Charlie Haskell

Zach: "Like I said, Minh. We always save the world."

Well, this was something of a nostalgia trip. Like a lot of kids in the early to mid 1990s, I was obsessed with Power Rangers but eventually grew out of it. It was the Mighty Morphin range that was for me and I haven't really paid too much attention to subsequent shows if I'm being honest.

A couple of years ago for the 25th anniversary some of the original cast appeared in the current show and some even had briefly appeared in the 2017 reboot movie, which despite being a fun entry didn't do enough to warrant a sequel. For this 30th anniversary special, the focus was on the first show with Billy Cranston/Blue Ranger (David Yost) effectively leading the team here.

Billy was leading the team against their most iconic enemy - Rita Repulsa (Barbara Goodson) in a new robotic body and her minions, Snizzard (Daniel Watterson) and Minotaur (Ryan Cooper) but it's an encounter that led to the death of Trini Kwan/Yellow Ranger (Thuy Trang). It also left both Billy and Zach Taylor/Black Ranger (Walter Emanuel Jones) in the position having to tell Trini's daughter, Minh (Charlie Kersh) about her mother's death.

A year then passed and Minh was determined to follow in her mother's footsteps by becoming the new Yellow Ranger. Except for the fact that both Billy and Zach were against the idea and the morpher wouldn't accept her either. Meanwhile Robo Rita kidnapped a few favourites and had her own plans for revenge against the group that consistently thwarted her past schemes.

With certain Rangers taken off the table, others were added into the mix. Not other Black and Yellow Rangers - Adam Park (Johnny Young Bosch) and Aisha Campbell (Karan Ashley) as they were stuck up in space but other Pink and Red Rangers - Kat Hillard (Catherine Sutherland) and Rocky DeSantos (Steve Cardenas). With the team reassembled and the assistance of Alpha 9 (Richard Horvitz), the Rangers decided to strike before Robo Rita could complete her plan.

Siphoning energy from the Rangers she kidnapped, Robo Rita was going to go back in time and contact her younger self (Machiko Sogo, archive footage) so the latter would be prepared to take out the Rangers before they even became Rangers to begin. It was a plan that nearly worked, until a heroic sacrifice from Minh was enough to get her to take on her mother's legacy, help Billy and company defeat Minotaur and Snizzard before taking Robo Rita out of the equation to boot.

A good portion of this special felt like pure build up with a bit of a rushed final battle between the ,ix of older and new Rangers but it mostly worked nonetheless. Trini's legacy was honoured through Minh and her scenes with Billy and Zach (who basically became surrogate dads to her) were the highlight and I was happy to see Rita, even if she was a robot for this one. I am surprised that she didn't try to take a younger human body for herself though. 

- The episode ended with an In Memory card for Thuy Trang and Jason David Frank (Green & White Ranger/Tommy Oliver). We also saw archive clips of them as well as Kimberley Hart/ Pink Ranger (Amy Jo Johnson) and Jason Lee Scott/Red Ranger (Austin St. John).

- Billy has his own tech company, was trying to find Zordon and went back to space as well as having an old fashioned flying car. Zach was in Congress and Cat had a son with Tommy named JJ.

- A little bit of gay representation here as Minh managed to save a gay couple from bring attacked by Putties.

- Chronology: Archive clips to 1993 but mainly set in 2023. Well, it is the 30th anniversary special.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once And Always was a satisfying nod to the past, present and future and honestly, it feels like the exact same show from my childhood. Cheesy as hell, silly puns, daft monsters but also amusing fight sequences and a great sense of family. This was definitely a diverting nostalgia trip.

Rating: 7 out of 10