Tag: TV

REVIEW: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ 1×05 “Darkside Tango”

The show does love keeping us from actually spending time with all three of our main cast members. Luckily, we get some fun interactions between Faye and Spike while Jet is off taking care of some business. It’s strange the show still refuses to stick to what makes the core concept work, but we do get a great film noir-inspired episode involving why Jet got his metal arm. Will it fumble with the separation, or push forward?

Mustafa Shakir‘s Jet is our main character this time around and we get to explore his time as a cop alongside an old friend. The episode mainly takes from “Black Dog Serenade” but continues an interesting trend this Netflix show seems obsessed with. It avoids keeping stories ins pace or on space ships outside of the Bebop. Instead of keeping Udai Taxim in the visually interesting environment of a floating prison ship, but at a cliché noir dock.

Ignoring that, the noir-tinted lens adds an extra layer to the story even if it doesn’t come close to what the original managed to accomplish. While it’s mainly the same and as a viewer of the anime lacks a true surprise, it does feel like the first time Jet having a daughter played into the story. Chalmers is their main suspect throughout and it adds a personal reason for his suspicions. The twist in the story is given more weight as Jet becomes his undoing and there’s a kindness by the one he originally blamed.

I will say, this episode seems a bit too early in the story. There’s no real connective tissue that leads into a reason for this story taking place, as outside of a short discussion surrounding his arm, we already know he’s a cop. For a show that tries to build up many story threads, this one seems. a bit random given it is a much later addition in the original. Still, what they do with the episode is enjoyable and I like his dynamic.

It does seem to exist primarily for Spike and Faye to build a report with each other. Here’s a play on the original entry that works, as instead of all the convicts still being on the same ship as Udai, they become a catalyst for some fun banter. While I do wish they went out to hunt one of them down, we get some fun interactions between the duo. Yet, I do wish we saw more than one flashback for a bounty to get a feeling for how they got their scars rather than just words. It’s a running gag they are terrible at capturing actual bounties, and it was a fun way to also have Faye get swept up by Spike’s laid-back tempo.

Overall, Jet steals the show and we get some fun noir-style storytelling even if it feels a bit early for this particular flashback. Faye and Spike’s exchange is a fun element for the episode to add a distraction. Sadly, it does highlight that the show’s 40+ minute runtime makes it difficult to tell specific stories without adding some fluff. It’s probably the biggest challenge of this adaptation due to its unique format from the original. It’s just still a tough decision to constantly keep this cast apart throughout the series 10-episode runtime. We’ll see if they get a better feeling for it with future episodes.

November 28, 2021
‘Hanna’ Season 3 Doesn’t Know What To Do With Hanna

There are spoilers of the final season of Hanna in this feature. Only continue at your own risk if you haven’t yet seen it.

Hanna explores a world where the government is training young girls into becoming deadly weapons. That was until Joel Kinnaman‘s Erik Heller broke into a facility to save a young baby from that fate. He raised her hidden in the forest into a strong warrior that could take on anything in case the organization he stole her from found them. After she is set out into the world, we learn that the facility, UTRAX, was still active in the world and a new generation of girls was being trained to do the government’s bidding. Everything culminated in the second season about finally ending its existence. Yet, the third season seems oddly disconnected as a “final season.”

As fast as Hanna infiltrates the group of girls, the series sends them all out into the world to take on various goals. We spent the last season building up to the moment that Hanna is forced to join them and questioning her place in it. There was a great emotional growth throughout that season, as most of the series so far was about Hanna finding a “home.” Most of the first season explored that with the question surrounding Heller’s parentage. His death capped off her question of finding an identity, especially after being rejected by most girls who were part of the program when she tried to save them. Clara, the only one to join her, was a showcase of her goal

In the third season, we had a clear goal: take down UTRAX and everything involved with it. The big mystery remained around who exactly was running the facility. Marissa Wiegler, who had a somewhat motherly obsession with Hanna, is the catalyst for that development. So, the show titled Hanna isn’t about Hanna but rather Marissa’s ties to the organization. Outside of her father, our actual protagonist lost her role in the story the moment all the girls got sent out into the world to take down their targets, which happens early in the season. For a final season, it’s an incredibly dangerous undertaking to disconnect plot elements and scatter them across the world.

Yet, that is handled quite well even if they conveniently find their way to the same location in the final view episodes. The issue lies in the fact that Hanna is “given” a reason to be involved in this story through a new love interest. He’s her first target and she starts developing feelings for him. It’s not a terrible idea, as it adds a personal level to the actions she takes, even making some harsh errors throughout. What makes it stand out negatively is that his existence takes her agency. She serves to protect this character rather than to follow through with the initial plan. There’s no direct conflict between these worlds, as most of her actions are mainly to serve other characters.

It’s quite the departure from her rebellious actions in the first season kicking off the events that would unravel everything. Yes, she still has moments where she takes action but it feels like she became a side character in Marissa’s story. The “end goal” is even simplified to offer a clean cut for the series to end on instead of weaving more of this world’s darkest corners. Hanna was a point of hope, as she believed in the good of people. Helping Clara finds her mother was a clear indication of that. Yet, once she leaves the Meadows, it seemed that goal was completely forgotten.

The character of Sandy is never truly given a chance of redemption after she takes quite a lot of screentime throughout the second season. Jules’ turn isn’t even true given time to develop but rather is a sudden twist in the story that Hanna has no direct influence over. That’s kind of the issue at the end of the day, she’s not an active participant in the story outside of the new romantic subplot introduced early in the season. While I adore that it doesn’t end on the note that you’d expect, it doesn’t make up for an entire season moving further away from what the series was about. The series didn’t end on a strong note but doesn’t undermine what came before either. It just felt like Hanna was noticeably absent within this story and it’s a shame given Esme Creed-Miles continued strong performance in the series.

November 26, 2021
REVIEW: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ 1×04 “Callisto Soul”

Faye finally makes her return after a brief appearance in the pilot episode. We get a clearer picture of her character and the series’ new take on her origin from the original anime. She’s on the hunt for a con artist but ends up involved with the incompetent Callisto Liberation Front, who accidentally steals the only lead she has and her ship. Luckily for her, two familiar cowboys are at a local diner and allow her to get back what she was going to steal. Do we get a better insight into her character, or are we retreading familiar problems?

As Faye Valentine takes center stage this time around, we get a better grasp of her character. She’s not the same character we know and love from the original anime. Daniella Pineda’s take on the character is just as outspoken but very much “in your face” which summarizes the series’ general adaptation perfectly. Once you get used to her take on the character, there’s quite a bit of charm there and she does work well when she plays off Cho and Shakir’s spins on their respective characters. Spike wanting to kill her was quite a hilarious running gag.

The biggest change though is the Liberation Front. While the Ganymede sea rat is referenced and remains their core motivation for this group, but they now turn their victims into trees rather than monkeys. So, the connection is that due to this corporation deforesting trees it led to their extinction. It seemed like a strange extra step to avoid an expensive monkey transformation. It’s also rather gruesome to watch and adds to the lack of subtlety that the original had. Yet, it’s also visually impressive and nightmarish to imagine. So, it balances itself out.

Julia gets more focus this time around again. Vicious reveals his plans to take down the Elders and she seems to be the driving force behind her husband’s actions. It teases a darker future for her and adds another layer to how different they are from the original. Seeing the main antagonist of the anime being manipulated so easily is still a hard pill to swallow but highlights that this is a different take on the original characters. After a brief appearance, the episode also highlights that Gren is quite removed from the original but is given a more active role in the story. We’ll see if their tragedy will ever get a focus later down the line.

This episode does build on the strengths of the last one. I love the dynamic between these three, even if it’s a bit more cynical. While there’s no cor mystery, our team has something to do as a group, and we get a great moment from Pineda when she has to decide what is important. Sadly, our main antagonist, Adrienne Barbeau‘s take on Maria Murdock, is oddly the most downplayed aspect of the episode, as we spend little time with her. She doesn’t even interact with our main cast outside of running away, but it’s her hubris that becomes her undoing.

The episode is quite a bit better than the previous one, as outside of some bidet discussions, there are some strong moments scattered throughout. Pineda gets a great moment after she seemingly sacrifices herself that is given more weight with a beautiful piece by Yoko Kanno. While the episode still doesn’t quite catch that Cowboy Bebop magic, there’s a lot to love here. Cho’s performance and comedic timing add that extra layer of enjoyment. It has me excited going into the next episode.

November 25, 2021
Netflix Mapping Out Multiple Films and TV Series for a ‘Power Rangers’ Cinematic Universe

Netflix has been quite busy with its various ventures on expanding its available intellectual properties. After releasing their first of many live-action anime adaptations with Cowboy Bebop, the streaming giant is already setting its eyes on another popular franchise. In a new report by Deadline, they’ve shared that Jonathan Entwistle is still working on a Power Rangers Cinematic Universe for the streamer. They currently are working on not one but multiple series and movies that’ll interweave the iconic franchise.

Sadly, they are still shy about going into detail about how far along they are, as we first heard about Entwistle‘s involvement back in October 2020. While many cinematic universes have failed in the past, most notable Universal’s attempt at a modern Dark Universe, Power Rangers has been an interconnected series since the Mighty Morphin days. So, it’s quite a perfect choice for the concept. The recent boom in popularity with the aptly named Boom comics has also utilized a multiversal storyline for the Shattered Grid storyline. So, they might be building towards that event by having multiple teams exist throughout different dimensions.

Bryan Edward is currently busy writing the script for one of the films. It may be the project to kick off the other projects and spin-out into multiple series. Some time ago, we learned that the story was going to explore time travel, which perfectly leads to the introduction of multiple Power Ranger teams and even foreshadows a major threat. It was smart of Netflix to enlist Entwistle as showrunner for all projects, as he’ll have a similar role to Kevin Feige for Marvel Studios. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait much longer for san actual production update.

Source: Deadline

November 25, 2021
Kathleen Kennedy Hints That ‘Rangers of the New Republic’ is Possibly Shelved

Sadly, it seems that we might finally have more information surrounding the mysterious Star Wars project, Rangers of the New Republic. It was proudly shared alongside their other The Mandalorian spin-offs during Disney’s Investors Day last year. Yet, we’ve heard very little about the project. What didn’t help matters was that its original star, Gina Carano, faced quite a bit of backlash for her actions on social media. Her contract with Lucasfilm was swiftly ended and it seemed like the series was going to look for a new leading star.

Well, a new statement by Kathleen Kennedy in the new Empire magazine may have put the final nail on the coffin. Luckily, someone was kind enough to share a scan of the latest issue where the Lucasfilm CEO states that there is currently no script prepared for the series. While she doesn’t straight out confirm it is canceled, it seems likely they have no plans to enter pre-production at any time.

We’d never written any scripts or anything on that. Some of that will figure into future episodes, I’m sure, of the next iteration of Mandalorian.
Kathleen Kennedy

It’s the final statement that some story elements may get integrated into the next season of Mandalorian may be the definitive statement that they have no interest to continue the series as it was originally envisioned. Quite the shame, as insight into how the galaxy has been rebuilding after the end of the Empire. There’s a lot of potentials to explore this storyline and its conflict with the remnants of a once tyrannical regime. So, maybe later down the line they find a way to make it work.

Source: Empire via Imgur, ComicBook.com

November 25, 2021
‘Watchmen’, ‘Iron Fist’ and ‘Inhumans’ Directors Helmed Episodes of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’

Through two season of The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm has wisely and effectively used multiple directors. To nobody’s surprise, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau are relying on a similar approach when it comes to their next big streaming series, The Book of Boba Fett. While Robert Rodriguez’s passion for the character has led to a lot of buzz around his participation in the series, Bespin Bulletin correctly reported earlier this year that Bryce Dallas Howard, who previously directed episodes of The Mandalorian, would be directing an episode of The Book of Boba Fett and now, according to the new issue of Empire Magazine, we can add a couple more names to the team of directors for the show. Empire reports that Steph Green and Kevin Tancharoen were both behind the camera for at least one episode each of the upcoming series.

Green has been nominated for both Oscar and Emmy awards, with her turn behind the camera for the HBO series Watchmen being responsible for the latter. She’s also directed episodes of the acclaimed series, The Americans, and one episode of Netflix’s Luke Cage, which gives her something in common with Tancharoen. While fans might best remember Tancharoen for his work as writer and director of the YouTube series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, he also directed one episode of Luke Cage’s Netflix besties show, Iron Fist. Tancharoen has quite a bit of experience in sci-fi and superhero work, with episodes of Supergirl, The Flash, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and, of course, an episode of one of the finest pieces of live-action television ever put to film, Marvel’s Inhumans.

The Book of Boba Fett will see the iconic bounty hunter enter into the criminal underworld after killing Bib Fortuna and taking over the one-time throne of Jabba the Hutt. The show begins streaming on Disney Plus on December 29th and is expected to run for 8 episodes.

November 25, 2021
How ‘Masters of The Universe: Revelations’ Part 3 Could Introduce She-Ra

What was thought to be the final installment in the Revelations series has seemingly been flipped on its head, as the final moments unveiled the return of the leader of the Horde, Hordak. The Motherboard cult, which was teased in the first part, infects and mechanizes Skeletor to showcase the change in power moving forward. We don’t get his actual appearance in the series outside of a very familiar logo, but it does open up one question: are we going to see the arrival of She-Ra in the sequel?

It would certainly add some interesting drama for Princess Adora, better known as She-Ra and the twin sister of Prince Adam, to make a sudden return. She-Ra was kidnapped shortly after her birth by Hordak, who took her to the realm of Etheria and made her one of his underlings. Eventually, she would break free from his army to lead a group of rebels to fight the Horde to defeat him once and for all.

Many have become much more familiar with this story thanks to Netflix’s 2018 reboot of the series, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. The series was an extensive retelling of the character and reimagined for a modern-day audience. It brought back Adora alongside her extensive supporting cast that includes Catra, Glimmer, Bow, Catra, Entrapta, and, of course, Hordak. However, that series was confirmed as a standalone story and doesn’t rely on any pre-existing Masters of The Universe lore.

It’s very likely Kevin Smith and his creative team will add their own spin to the story and build upon the revelations of the latest entry of the series. We don’t know if She-Ra and Hordak are a known presence in this take on the classic franchise. So, perhaps Adora is the revelation that the title is hinting at, as she helps Adam and Teela against this new threat aiming to end Grayskull once and for all.

November 25, 2021
Former Pink Power Ranger Amy Jo Johnson Directing an Episode of ‘Superman and Lois’ Season 2

Here’s a great surprise. It looks like Amy Jo Johnson is currently directing an episode of the CW’s Superman and Lois show. If that name seems familiar, Johnson became famous as Kimberly Hart, the Pink Ranger from the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. She has long moved on from that role and has been quite busy directing short films. She has also tackled feature-length productions, such as include 2017’s The Space Between and 2019’s Tammy’s Always Dying. Now, she is also joining the production of one of CW’s flagship DC shows, as she shares her excitement on Twitter.

I'm buzzing with gratitude. Thank you @cwsupermanlois @WBHomeEnt @GBerlanti for letting this scrappy indie filmmaker direct with such a beautiful well-oiled machine (team).
The support as I learn the curve has been incredible!.#supermanandlois pic.twitter.com/yKBSteM12F
— Amy Jo Johnson (@_amyjojohnson) November 24, 2021

It’s great to see her excitement for tackling the project and it looks like she is responsible for the sixth episode in the upcoming second season. She has made quite a name for herself with her film projects, especially during 2019’s Toronto International Film Festival with Tammy’s Always Dying. If she is tackling this project, it’ll be interesting to see if she’ll become a mainstay for future entries in the series and if she might even get a chance to tackle other projects from DC’s library.

Superman and Lois has been one of CW’s strongest showings, as it’s also co-produced by HBO Max. As such, the effects and production stand out from the other entries in their repertoire similar to Stargirl. It’ll also carry on the torch for the now discontinued Supergirl, which first introduced Tyler Hoechlin as this universe’s Superman. It’ll be interesting to see how they tackle the family drama for the Man of Steel in the second season and what the future has in store for this family.

Source: Twitter

November 24, 2021
Hailee Steinfeld Talks How Kate Bishop Was Affected by Thanos’ Snap

When Hawkeye‘s first episode starts, we find ourselves back in the Chitauri invasion from the first Avengers film. Afterward, we see Hailee Steinfeld‘s Kate Bishop’s story from a young kid growing into the young archer that’ll join Clint Barton in his unlikely adventure. The only thing that we don’t find out is if Bishop was affected by Thanos’ snap from Avengers: Infinity War.

Luckily, Steinfeld offered some insight into if she was affected by it in an interview with The Wrap. As they point out, we are introduced to the character when she is 22 years of age. If she was still a kid around ten years old during the Battle of New York of 2012, then it would work out that she’s that age in the year 2024 going into 2025, as confirmed by director Rhys Thomas. Luckily, she also confirms that she wasn’t snapped:

No, I believe that we see her survive and we see, you know, loss there as well. And that didn’t happen to her.
Hailee Steinfeld

It’s a strange event that the various film and series writers have to work around, as the on-time we got a definite timeline, it didn’t quite work in Spider-Man: Homecoming. To avoid this, Marvel Studios has gotten sly with giving definite timelines and mostly working around when it takes place of specific events. We’ll see if more series might still explore how these events affected NYC from the events of Infinity War and the Blip from the sequel Avengers: Endgame.

Source: The Wrap

November 24, 2021
REVIEW: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ 1×03 “Dog Star Swing”

Who knew dogs were so expensive in the future. Yes, the episode has finally arrived where we meet the Welsh Corgi named Ein. Yet, before that, we have an episode that focuses primarily on the bounty of the episode. Yes, we do get a few moments building up the overarching plot, but the core of the episode is about Spike figuring out how to handle the fact his identity has been blown. So, we finally take a moment to explore the characters to enforce the story rather than the other way around.

This episode highlights Jet’s new role as a family man. The doll he is trying to buy is nightmare-inducing, but who knows how rare they are in this galaxy. While a strange addition at first, it does add an extra layer of motivation for the character that was mostly just dragged along until the story affected him directly. Not going to lie, the doll getting damaged in every possible way was a funny addition as he’s trying to help out Spike. The tender moment between Jet and his daughter was quite nice, especially with how Ein played a role in bringing them together.

I will say that what they did with Abdul Hakim was certainly strange. Not sure why the character needed to be a holographic projection, especially with some questionable implications. It’s the same episode where the now-infamous “blackmail” comment appears that sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s something that does sour an overall good episode, as we finally get a feeling for how Spike and Jet work with each other to take down their targets. Plus, his motivation with kidnapping dogs (who are no longer Data Dogs this time around) was an interesting twist on the original. It’s too bad that these are overshadowed by some questionable additions.

Speaking of, Cho is a highlight in this episode. He’s having a lot of fun with the role and has a great grasp of balancing that cool but fun side of his character. The visual of him hanging from the building while Jet’s desperately holding was great. Seeing him lighting a cigarette upside down until the camera reveals what he’s leaning against was a rather well-done scene. Also, his “Nice!” comment when Hakim pulls off some moves is probably one of my favorite moments in the series. His first confrontation with Vicious was also great as this version of Spike shows off why he was called “Fearless” back in the day but does once again highlight that our main antagonist is not that vicious as he could be.

There are great moments in this episode, but it is dragged down by some strange decisions. It’s great to see Ein and he’s as adorable as he always is. Spike gets some great moments sprinkled throughout with Cho being a highlight. His dynamic with Mustafa Shakir‘s Jet Black finally got some attention and it was worth the wait. The way they play off of each other is one of the series’ highlights and we get a good glimpse here. They are friendly and joke with each other, but even after working for three years, they don’t get along with everything. Here’s hoping the next episode focuses on the strong points and drops what didn’t work.

November 24, 2021