How Batman Should End

One of the negative aspects of a lot of comics, especially DC and Marvel is that they will just never end and nothing is permanent, and that can cause the loss of a lot of tension, so here's a new series i'm starting where i'll be giving my theory and idea on if these stories were to ever end, this is how i believe they would end in a realistic manner given the environment and characters. In this case, we have Batman, a very difficult character to talk about how it would end because as long as there is crime in Gotham, Batman has to exist, this is why even after he retires Terry McGuiness becomes the new Batman, because crime is still rampant, Gotham needs Batman. SIDE NOTE: This is why the famous phrase from The Dark Knight "He's the hero Gotham deserves but not the one it needs" really should be the other way round, Gotham needs Batman but it's so corrupted most of Gotham don't deserve a Batman.

So the only way for Batman to not be needed is for crime to end...which is kinda impossible, yes, even for Batman. So what is my solution for this? Well they kinda already did it. The Dark Knight Returns ends with an elder Batman faking his death and having pretty much an army of vigilantes and trains them to be an army of Batmen, thus while crime will always be active, we now have a small army of Batmen out there...whether or not that's a good thing will be up to you to decide. Frankly this is the best way to end it with the character, Batman is still around saving people but the pressure and responsibility doesn't fall on just one single person. Granted this isn't me saying I want The Dark Knight Rises to be canon, there's a lot about that universe i don't like, in particular is, well literally every other DC Superhero to appear in that franchise gets the shaft.

But what about Bruce Wayne? If the Batman legacy can continue, why would Bruce Wayne ever give up being Batman? And I wouldn't want it to be him faking his death because honestly i can't think of a time where i liked a Batman story that did that; and i don't want him to be forced to stop being Batman through age, injury or threat, i want to see Bruce Wayne make the active decision to quit being Batman because he genuinely believes things would be better off. So what would stop Bruce Wayne from being Batman? He becomes happy. I want to see Bruce Wayne settle down with Andrea Beaumont or Selina Kyle or Talia Al Ghul or maybe someone completely new, i want to see him have a family and settle down. I want to see him finally move on from the death of his parents and let himself be happy without feeling guilt, or duty or anger or regret, i want him to be comfortable that he's passed on the torch, Gotham is in better hands now and he can rest easily for the remainder of his life.

That is how I would want Batman to end should we ever reach that point.

-Danny

My Favourite Characters - Arya Stark

I know that when it comes to Game of Thrones a lot of people would go for someone like Tyrion or Daenerys, and although I do love those two as well, Arya is my favourite, and I know she’s a lot of other people’s favourite character as well, and there are very good reasons why she is not only my favourite Game of Thrones character, but one of my favourite characters in general. The first one being her age, in the world of Westeros, it is made pretty clear pretty quickly that if you wanna survive, you have to be both smart and willing to do bad things, and Arya has mastered both of these techniques. While she’s obviously not the only one in the show to do this, again, Tyrion; it’s a lot more impressive for her because she’s a kid, she doesn’t have the life experience that someone like Tyrion or Daenerys or Tywin. So the fact that she can do all this at such a young age when probably none of the other characters could when they were that old, is really impressive and it shows just how much she’s had to go through in such a short amount of time.

Especially considering that she doesn’t slowly change into the situation she’s thrown in, it happens almost instantly, and she only has a short amount of time to adapt; constantly changing her name and identity in order to survive in the chaos that she’s in. But her skills of manipulation only make her an interesting character, what makes her my favourite is her reasoning to manipulate, and her reason to live; while most people fight in this world for greedy reasons, for power, for money, for revenge or even just to survive; what she’s fighting for, is her family, and that’s it, all she wants is to get back to her family and so that they can all live in peace. Really she’s one of the few characters who would fight for something that in this world seems so small, and every time when she gets close to being reunited with her family, she gets thrown ten steps back. But it doesn’t stop her, every time the situation seems to get worse and worse, she just fights harder and harder, never losing faith that she can still protect what few remain that she loves; this is a quality that I really respect, and again, it’s not just what she’s fighting for, but for how good at it she is at fighting for it.

But on top of that, she still has morals, which in a world like this, showing even the smallest sign of kindness is enough to get you killed, she still knows that she has to have boundaries or else she becomes just like those that she hates. But it’s balanced out so well that it never goes to the point where she’d end up dead, she’s able to balance that fine line of what would be ethically pleasing and straight up suicide. Also the fact that she’s a badass fighter along with her wits is just a great extra, all of these reasons and more is what makes her one of my all-time favourite characters.

-Danny

Is Akira Good?

Akira is one of those films that every anime fan is told they have to see at some point because of how iconic and revolutionary it is. There are a lot of good reasons for this, it was one of the first anime to become popular in the west thus acting as a gateway for anime in the future to be exposed to a brand new audience. Truly anime would not be where it is today if it wasn't for this film. But at the same time, every anime fan that i've talked to all seem to agree on another sentiment of the film "It's good, but not great" and that's something I also believe. It's strange in a fanbase so opinionated and even aggressive to the point where they're willing to shit on classic and popular things just because they don't live up to the hype, yet everyone seems to have an undying respect for Akira even if they personally don't love it. Don't get me wrong i'm sure there are people who genuinely view it as one of the best anime films and also those who do think of it as overrated garbage, but the majority, atleast those that i've talked too don't actually think it's that good.

It's brilliantly animated of course (Except for the lip syncing) and it an interesting world, but the characters aren't very interesting or even well developed, the story seems choppy at points and there are moments of just pure...unpleasantness. Now most of these complaints can be understood seeing as it's based on a manga so big that the movie only covers the first half of the book, even then they had to take things out for time. Because of this a lot of things in the film doesn't work and things aren't very well explained, like why people are protesting in the streets, what the local government is doing wrong, even the ending kind of comes out of nowhere. Also people like to poke fun at the silliness, like how often people like to yell out Tetsuo's name. And I don't think these are flaws of the time because fellow anime films that came out the exact same year (My Neighbour Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies, etc) still hold up remarkably well.

Of course none of this is me saying that the film doesn't deserve its place on the mantel as an icon amongst anime, like i said, it's because of films like this that anime started to become popular in the west. I just think it's fascinating how a film with so many flaws that is acknowledges by the community is still given a pass because they respect it just that much.

-Danny

ERASED

Reaction To React Videos

Okay so turns out there is no new Flash or Arrow this week so guess i'm going off the books. Nevertheless this is a topic that i've wanted to talk about for some time now, reaction videos. If you don't know what i'm on about, there are entire channels on YouTube dedicated to people watching and reacting to...things, it can be anything from a movie trailer, a youtube video, a music video, etc etc. Now i've questioned a lot of popular things on YouTube, i've questions unboxing channels, i've questioned vlogging channels, i've questions fifa channels, but at the very least even if i don't like them i can understand why others might, but seriously, reaction channels are...nothing. I've watched some videos by react channels and for 80% of the video it's just them sat there looking at a screen and every 20 seconds or so they'll say something like "oh that's cool" "hahahaha" i mean, what is the purpose!? Why watch them if they're not going to give any kind of a unique reaction!? They're just sat there for the majority of the video, you are watching them watch a video with no unique commentary or opinion given.

Now i'm not against the concept of react videos, there are channels out there who only do a react video once every couple of months inbetween all of their regular content and usually when they do it's something special, like the Star Wars trailer, I love watching people watch that and scream with excitement and cry with joy, because that's an actual reaction and even if they barely react, well it was one video out of a dozen, it's not that big a deal. I mean a lot of people complain about the Fine Bros for being the one who started this trend and that their content is pandering, pointless and pathetic. But I actually disagree, not only does their content atleast have production value to it and they just edited out the dead air of them not reaction, but their videos i see as social experiments, seeing people of different ages, subcultures and backgrounds all expressing their opinions on relevant or at the very least entertaining topics. I understand if you don't like their content but atleast there was thought put behind it. The same for the TV show Gogglebox, that's just fun entertainment even if it's mindless chatter.

Even more so is that a lot of these channels feel the need to upload every day, or even several times a day...have these people never heard of over-saturation!? React channels are already too high in quantity, now you want to upload the same mediocre content on a bi-daily basis...guys, uploading daily is always a bad business model it's even worse when you're uploading them same type of content every day.

SIDE NOTE: Why do channels still upload daily? Have they not figured out that it dilutes their content and audience to only a percentage of their subscribers?

That's really all I have to say, stop reacting to things unless you're going to give a constant reaction or interesting thought or at least put some damn production value behind your content.

-Danny

Captain America: Civil War Trailer Review

You know out of all the superhero films coming out next year Civil War was actually at the bottom of my list because i assumed it would be the least creative and new. I mean Batman V Superman, we haven't seen that before, Doctor Strange, haven't seen that before, Suicide Squad, haven't seen that before, Deadpool, haven't seen that before; Captain America and Iron Man being pissy with each other, seen that a fair few times. But then we had to get a pretty damn good trailer to make me reorganise that list.

So the first big thing I can say about this trailer is that they remembered this isn't Avengers: Civil War, it's Captain America: Civil War, the focus should be on him and his story, which is exactly what this trailer shows happens. Cap finds Bucky, the government also finds Bucky and they want him dead and Cap ain't gonna let that happen. Really that seems to be the driving force for this film, not the superhero registration act, but the United States Government hunting down Bucky. Now Cap is a patriot, he loves his country, he knows about sacrifice and he will always do the right thing...but not necessarily when it comes to Bucky, he is the one person that he will break all the rules for and will turn his back on the world to protect, i like that, i like seeing a superheroes limits, seeing what can make them act selfishly and without reason. But something I hope (and assume) this movie will address is the government ain't all that perfect either, after all the last government agency Cap worked for turned out to be a bunch of Nazis, so ya can't blame him for not wanting to work with them again and be controlled by him.

But that's another idea the film sets up, the idea of The Avengers being vigilantes, having too much freedom, too much power, they need someone to hold them back. Though I question why Cap is the one getting all the heat when it was freakin' Iron Man that created Ultron! Speaking of his fellow Avengers, they really get little focus in this trailer, i would imagine because it's only a trailer and this is Cap's movie, but it'll be fun to see them all in action fighting each other. And I think we all know what has to happen in this movie, Hawkeye and Ant-Man are both in this film, they are both on the same team, have Ant-Man hang on to one of Hawk's arrows as he fires them, it's gotta happen Marvel. Also we got no Spider-Man...i'm okay with that, hell it wasn't till the trailer was over and i was scrolling through the comments that i remembered "Oh yeah, Spider-Man's supposed to be in this movie!"

Now for the personal highlights of this trailer, it's obviously the last few moments. "I'm sorry Tony, I wouldn't do this if I had any other choice. But he's my friend" "...So was I" Oh god that really gets ya. you can see the heartbreak in Tony's eyes. Personal conflict, I love it! And then they top that with a Cap/Bucky team-up on Iron Man just beating the ever loving shit out of him, ooh that's gotta hurt, but oh damn does it look good on film. Though all of this fighting and bitterness and pissyness between the two just makes me think of that scene from Doctor Who "How much blood will spill until everybody does what they're always going to have to do from the very beginning -- sit down and talk!". Because really, that is what's going to have to happen, this isn't a problem that can go away just by punching each other, so I would love it if this movie didn't end in a big action scene but just Tony and Steve sat in a room, talking.

I know some people are upset about the changes in this film from the comic and to that I have to say: Shut up. No way was that comic going to make it on screen for copyright reasons alone, not to mention how much that would cost to get all those characters (Thus: actors) to appear together, find a way to fit enough content in to please people within the span of 2 hours and follow a superhero registration act despite the fact no one has a secret identity in this universe. Besides the comic is just decent at best, a lot of character decisions feel more like the decisions of a bratty 13 year old than they do adult superheroes.

So yeah, that was the Captain America: Civil War trailer, it looks really good. Oh and Black Panther was there for like a millisecond, um...he looks good, i'll judge him when we actually hear him speak. See ya tomorrow for the Flash review.

-Danny

Gravity Falls "Weirdmageddon 2: Escape from Reality" Review

I can't believe we're nearly to the end, only one more episode left, a world without Gravity Falls is not a world I want to be a part of...But oh well, let's appreciate it while we can. Welcome to Mabel-Land: Perfection but better. In this episode Dipper, Wendy & Soos transport themselves into Mabel's prison, which is actually all of her fantasies coming true for a perfect fantasy world, Dipper of course spends the entire episode trying to convince Mabel to come back to reality and help them save it.

So let's talk about Mabel-land...yeah if that ain't the perfect representation of Mabel's brain, we got Sev'ral Timez, Duck-tective, a giant Waddles, 60 Smiles Per Hour, kittens and pugs and stuffed animals and 80's pop music, yeah this is Mabel in a nutshell. These past few episodes just show how creative this animation team is with its visuals, last episode we got some truly horrifying imagery of Bill's Weirdmageddon, this time round we have hilarious imagery of all the things that Mabel would love in her reality, just joke after joke in just the background of the show, i'm pretty sure i'm going to rewatch this episode just to find all the jokes in the environments to make sure i get them all. Contrast this with the awfulness of the real world just makes both worlds more interesting, being in a world that's all cute and innocent makes it so much more impactful when going to a world of death and destruction, also known as reality. Also who else picked up on Aladdin reference?

That seems to be the major theme of this episode (In case you didn't notice) Reality Vs Fantasy. We've all had those cases where reality just weighs down on us too much and we just want some escapism to relieve us of it, whether it be movies, tv, videogames, books, the Internet or our own fantasies. We all do it, why do you think I watch & so much TV? The problem with that is you get those people that forget that escapism should only be enjoyed in short bursts, you get too involved in it and you forget to live your real life, especially with the Internet in our hands. Yes reality can suck sometimes but life needs lows to make you appreciate the highs, and the best way to bounce back from those lows is to have someone by your side, in this case, Dipper needs Mabel and Mabel needs Dipper, they've always been there for each other and always will. Yes those flashbacks were adorable as all hell, but the big emotional breakthrough here is Dipper agreeing to stay with Mabel because again, they need each other. Fantasy is a good thing, but get too involved in it and you can lose yourself and it'll make your eventually forceful return to reality all the worse. Also, Soos' fantasy was depressing as all hell, Wendy wanted to stick a plunger on her Principal's face, okay that's funny, Soos wanted to play catch with his dad...ohhhhhh my god show why are you making my heart swell!?

My only issue is that considering we only have one episode left i wish narrative-wise we got more done. I mean yes the final episode is an hour long and we got some emotional catharsis between Dipper and Mabel but lets be honest their relationship has reached it's peak and looking at this episode as a whole not much was achieved in stopping Weirdmageddon. Also hey, we finally found out what Stan has been up to, because despite being a main character he's had almost nothing to do this finale.

God I don't want this show to end, I am really gonna miss watching it, even if its schedule is incredibly erratic, it's always worth the wait, as always this show has brilliant animation, brilliant character work, brilliant jokes and really knows how to tug at the heartstrings. Again, my only issue is with minimal narrative progression but really everything else was as good as expected. 9/10.

-Danny

A Defence For Keanu Reeves as Spike

A while ago there was an attempt at making a live action Cowboy Bebop movie, not a terrible idea people felt, then it was rumoured that Keanu Reeves was to play the lead role of Spike Spiegel and people flipped. Here's the thing...I don't think he's a bad choice...let me explain. Imagine if you will that you've never seen a single Keanu Reeves film, you've never even heard of him, if i were to tell you that he was to play Spike and i showed you a picture of him, your first reaction would probably be something along the lines of "Okay, yeah sure". Because really, he does look like Spike, he has a similar body build, he can pull off the style of suit he wears and he can more than likely mimic his walk, not to mention the guy clearly knows how to do action and stunt work.

For those of you who would then say "Well yeah but we've seen him act, he can barely do his own characters, let alone adaptations of existing ones" and to that i would say...you have a point. Even in his best movie (Point Break) he doesn't give that good of a performance, but here's the thing, i actually think he's gotten better with age, just look at John Wick, a movie about an assassin who gave up his former life for a woman but now lives in a state of limbo ever since the death of the woman he loves, sound familiar? In fact just watch John Wick and tell me you don't at least see shades of Spike in there. Even more so, think about Spike's behaviour, he mostly expresses himself through body language and groans, sure he gets all cocky and high spirited while on a mission but most of the time he's just sat there hungry for his next meal and fretting the next thing that will annoy him.

The biggest complaint against him that I really don't have a defence for is the voice, going from Steve Blum, one of the greatest voice actors of all time to Keanu "Whoa" Reeves. Yeah this is one of those ways how we are going to have to downgrade, after all Blum's performance as Spike is legendary and he is the definitive Spike Spiegel and there's nothing anyone can do to change that. Also there's that little problem of the hair...yeah sorry Spike, you're gonna have to get a haircut in this case.

So in the end, is this a 100% perfect choice for Spike? No, but most of the boxes are checked and honestly they still could make this, and if they did and they announced Keanu Reeves for Spike, i would be all for it and I would hope you would too...as long as you watch John Wick.

-Danny

Doctor Who "Sleep No More" Review

I think Mark Gatiss is a fan of the Alien franchise! This is Sleep No More, where The Doctor, Clara and a small rescue team are on an empty space station to find what happened to the crew. As it turns out they were all in cryogenic sleep and the sleep dust in their eyes mutated into living creatures and killed them all...Oh and it's all in found footage.

So this has actually been a fairly criticised episode and to be honest, i don't understand why. The first criticism is that the sleep dust idea is silly and stupid...guys it's Doctor Who, of course it's silly and stupid, this franchise's legacy was built on the silly and the stupid. I didn't see anything wrong with this idea and let's be honest, sandmen, the sleep dust in your eyes mutating into a monster, i haven't seen that anywhere else. The rest of the story feels like a watered down Alien movie, think about it, an abandoned space station, alien marines, monster on the loose, horror elements, yeah you've seen this all before.

Then the found footage aspect, something that people have called gimmicky and cheap and pointless...no you're thinking of found footage as a genre, in this case i actually think this was intelligently handled with a nice twist revealing that it's not actually camera footage that we're watching but dust particles, which is also why we don't see any POV shots from The Doctor or that one soldier guy (I don't remember his name and neither do you).

Then finally the twist at the end revealing the entire thing was one giant trick to spread the sandmen via electron...channel waves...mumbo jumbo. One one hand i really like this, using the audiences hook on drama to get them to continue watching something they should not be watching making it our own fault for our demise. But on the other hand i don't like the fact that The Doctor loses in what is most likely a one off episode, that makes it feel cheap and well, gimmicky, not to mention the ending feels quite rushed if i do say so myself. But I would say the positives outweigh the negatives in this case.

I don't get the backlash, i don't see what was so bad about this episode, i still say the underwater episode with the ghosts was still way worse, at least this episode had a style and a creative use of a narrative device. I'm giving it a 7/10.

-Danny

500 Posts

As tradition goes, every time I hit another 100 posts, still gonna do a post about...nothing. See ya later.

-Danny

Why Did Dragonball Succeed With No Tension?

More often than not my ideas for blog posts come from a one-off statement made during a previous post, in this case it's my latest Arrow review where i made an off-handed comment about how Dragonball Z had no tension, which is true when you think about it. Dragonball Z is one of those rare shows that despite being filled with problems, issues, errors and mistakes, in fact so much to the point where if i went indepth on the series i would probably find more flaws than positives, i still love it, everyone still loves it, even hardcore anime fans at the very least respect it, and they're one of the whiniest fanbases out there. So even though there are plenty of problems out there that I could talk about, let's take just one of them out for a spin, in this case it would be how the show had no tension.

If you've never seen Dragonball Z, the premise for each story arc was fairly simple, there would be a bad guy who wants to destroy the world, that's it. So usually our heroes would be too weak to fight them, they'd go off and train, become stronger and eventually win. Except here's the big issue, death has no value in the show. Our heroes always have access to the Dragonballs that can grant any wish and after every battle they would wish all the damage done by the villain was undone, hell, they once wished an entire planet to be restored! All of this meaning like the villain never existed. Which means it didn't matter what peril our heroes were in or even if any of them died, they could always be brought back from the dead with ease, just ask Krillin, that guy died more times than Charlie Sheen performing stand up.

But it goes even further than that, lets say the Dragonballs couldn't be used, if the villain won and all life was destroyed...we've seen the afterlife! Heaven and Hell both exist and our characters have gone to them many times! Everytime they die they are sent to heaven, so even if the villain wins, they still got things pretty good, if anything they'd be better off letting everyone die because they're in freaking heaven! No more bad guys, no illness, no ageing, no worries, life would actually be better off that way. Thus, there is absolutely zero tension in Dragonball Z, because if the villain loses, everything goes back to normal and if the villain wins, everyone ends up happy, no problemo.

So...why wasn't this a problem? Why did a show with no tension and a repetitive formula somehow work? Well, the only answer i can think of is the characters. Even when stories and arcs would go by without anything in the world changing, most of the time you can guarantee the characters would change. Gohan would become more mature, Vegeta would be a little nicer, Piccolo becomes more human, Tien realises how useless he is, Goku would...go through no change, because he's an awful main character. So really the stories weren't all for nought, characters did go through change and that was enough to keep us coming back and watching, they gave us the bare minimum to not be a complete waste of time...seriously, why do we love this show so much? It's so bad.

-Danny

Arrow "Brotherhood" Review

In this episode of Arrow we see sort of a repeat of what we've been seeing over the past couple of episodes, Team Arrow takes on a base that Damien Darhk works out of and beats up a bunch of faceless bad guys, except the difference here is one of those faceless bad guys is actually...Diggle's Brother Andy! (Dun Dun Duuuuuuun!) huh. Let's get to reviewing!

So Diggle's brother is alive, a character who has been nothing but a plot point up until this time...actually he still kinda is nothing more than a plot point. See this is why i'm conflicted, this show brings too many people back from the dead, but at the same time this isn't a character whose death has any kind of impact on the audience, just motivation for one of the characters, motivation that is now defunct so there are no major issues plot wise or character wise in bringing them back...but seriously death has become less meaningful here than in Dragonball Z. But bringing him back might allow for some more character development and motivation for Diggle than it would have done by keeping him dead, making him question why he ever loved his brother in the first place if he is a willing bad guy, what's he going to do about his brother's family? Or Andy himself? I'm actually fairly interested to see where they could take this.

Then there's Thea who might have found a solution to quench her thirst for blood, especially after she nearly beat a man to death on her date in possibly one of the most rushed scenes in the show's history "sup, how about i buy you a drink, i'm gonna rape you" *punch*. I hesitate to even describe that as a nutshell, that's pretty much exactly how it went down.

But while we're speaking of Thea can we just acknowledge how phenomenal that one shot action take of her was? This show has some of the best action on television to the point where we've almost forgotten to acknowledge it, and this episode brings that back with a bang, a one shot action scene between Thea and a guard that goes from the hallway, into an elevator, onto a second floor and then smashes through a door, and it's not just stunt doubles, it is very clearly Willa Holland doing those stunts. Simply brilliant.

Also Ray was here i guess, having issues about how the world has moved on from him but the episode decided to make that a C plot and give it almost no focus. Also the flashbacks finally started to tie-in, i guess, both stories are to do with brothers...that counts.

So yeah, this episode was pretty functional but has a damn amazing action sequence in it that made it quite enjoyable to watch. 8/10.

-Danny

The Flash "Gorilla Warfare" Review

So considering last weeks episode focused heavily on Zoom, there was no way you could get a villain of the week to even come close to challenging that...good thing they got Grodd. Actually being honest i don't see the big deal about Grodd, I mean he's cool in the comics and everything but as for the show right now he's just sorta a Gorilla who can think very simple sentences, that's it. Nevertheless, we have a new episode with Grodd, in this case Grodd has kidnapped Caitlin and is trying to force her to make him smarter, so with Barry still out of commission it's up to Harrison Wells to pretend to be The Reverse Flash in an attempt to save Caitlin and defeat Grodd.

I...kinda think I already said what I had to say about Grodd so I guess we'll just kinda skip over that. Really the emotional core to this episode was Barry's issues with his legs, first of all wow way to tease us with last weeks cliffhanger, "can't feel me legs" my arse. But yes most of this episode is about Barry getting his groove back, slowly healing so he can walk and eventually take on Grodd again. Oh, and his dad showed up, that's always nice to see but apart from that, this is sort of what I feared would happen, we'd have Barry being off for an episode until he's given a motivational speech and by the end he'd be back to where he was before, and that's the problem, he's back where he was before. He's not moving forward, he's just stopped himself from going backwards and I hate it when stories do that, they take something away from a character and their arc is just to get back where they were, it's pointless.

But it's not a total loss, we did get some nice character development for Harrison Wells, not only some great contrast between him and Earth 1's Harrison Wells, but also his relationship with Cisco and the team as he decides to stay on Earth 1 and the others don't instinctively hate him anymore, good times to be had all around. Also Hawkgirl, she finally got some better set up other than just...having the actress on screen. I'm aware she's in the crossover episode but i hope she gets some more focus and attention in the next episode as well. And we got a tiny reference to Wally West with Joe saying he wonders what it would be like to have a son of his own. Also on a final note to add (Because i'm really running dry here) the CGI was really good in this episode, particularly on Grodd.

That's...kinda all I got, it was a good episode if basic...that's it. 7/10.

-Danny

Supergirl "Livewire" Review

I'll be honest, i'm thinking about quitting reviewing Supergirl because i just can't bring myself to write about it anymore. While this episode in particular wasn't that bad, in fact i kinda liked it. The show is just so uninspiring, bland, safe, poorly written and yet it likes to pat itself on the back for having a female superhero despite the fact they're not doing anything interesting with her. I won't be reviewing the show next week anyway because Gravity Falls is back, but after that, i may not bother anyway, because it just really isn't in me. But with that being said, this is Livewire, a radio host who works for Cat and hates Supergirl gets powers and runs amok trying to kill both Cat and Supergirl.

So i've been fairly critical on the character of Cat for being, well, a bitch. Thankfully they gave her some pretty good development in this episode, learning more about her backstory and why she constantly gives people a hard time, because she genuinely believes they have the potential to do better. Also her not being a bitch to Kara/Supergirl and showing them some compassion for the first time. Too bad the villain still sucks, granted the way they talk about her sounds like there could have been an interesting backstory there, too bad we didn't get to see any of it.

Then there's James Girlfriend, i'm sure she has a name, but it doesn't matter, cause she doesn't need a name. This girl has been in two episodes and both times it's been for less than 1 minute of screen time, do you know why? Because this shows how lazy the writers are, they're not going to give her a character, they're not going to risk the audience growing attached or maybe taking her side, because she's not a character, she's a character's girlfriend, an obstacle to overcome, because you know what makes love triangles more interesting than they already are? Having one of the characters be as bland and shallow as possible.

Also, dafuq!? You have thanksgiving with your family and don't invite Clark Kent!? I know i've complained about this every week, but I complain because it's still a problem, every single episode at somepoint i ask myself "Why hasn't Superman shown up?" even in that one episode where he did show up it didn't seem like enough.

Yeah...that's all I got. I wasn't kidding when i said how uninspiring this show is, i just don't care. I don't care about the characters, the story, the action, anything. I so badly wanted to enjoy this show, I really did, but it is dull as all hell! Oh, and this episode gets a 7/10.

-Danny

A Defense For DC Movies Versus Marvel Movies

A debate amongst nerds as old as time, who is better? DC or Marvel? Now obviously this is something that is impossible to answer, it all depends on personal preference and really there is no definitive answer. Fact is if you prefer DC or Marvel then it's perfectly understandable why, they're both amazing in their own ways. But what I hate is when people say things like "Marvel is better because their movies are better!" or "DC is better because their TV is better!" Now both of those statements are true, but that doesn't mean you can judge the overall quality of the brands. TV and Movies are just portions of these monster companies now, which is also why it's not fair to just judge them based on the comics either because even though that's where they start, it's not the biggest audience. A while ago I made a post talking about who made better videogames, Marvel or DC? But really that just came down to personal preference yet again, i said DC's roster was more extreme with most games being either amazing (Arkham Asylum) or terrible (Superman 64) but they also had a smaller roster of games, while Marvel though having some amazing (Ultimate Spider-Man) and terrible (Thor: God of Thunder), the majority of their games just lay in the "Good" section. Really that could describe any medium of these franchises in a nutshell.

When it comes to the films people often jump to the Marvel bandwagon, which makes sense, they've had more films, take more risks and have made some legitimately awesome movies (The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men: First Class, etc). But at the same time, there is a lot of mediocre amongst those rankings as well (Daredevil, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Thor The Dark World, X-Men). Really Marvel's biggest flaw is that they don't take enough risks, they don't dare differ from the norm, or let other film makers try and experiment with their properties, they did at one point with Spider-Man and Sam Raimi and Hulk with Ang Lee, but nowadays, not so much. It gets even worse if you just look at the films by Marvel Studios, not Fox or Sony, just Marvel. How many talented auteurs have there been that nearly directed a Marvel movie? Edgar Wright, Ava DuVernay, these people who could make excellent films if Marvel gave them a chance. With a library of films this large you would expect Marvel to be more willing to experiment, to do something different and have a bigger variety of films, yeah there would be a few awful films in the mix but we would also get some new and amazing films. Yes they did experiment in the sense of creating the cinematic universe tie in together but really that only matters once every 5th film when the characters actually do exist in the same movie, really these movies were made to stand on their own, hence why you constantly find yourself asking the question why none of The Avengers are helping Iron Man when he's attacked by a terrorist.

While DC has a much smaller roster of films but that doesn't make them any less interesting because, right from the start they've been taking risks. Superman: The Movie, the first real superhero movie was written by the guy that wrote The Godfather, they gave Tim Burton, one of the most stylistic directors working two Batman movies. Even as godawful as Batman & Robin is, atleast it has a style to it, something that makes it better than just a standard superhero flick. Constantine with Keanu Reeves, regardless of what you think of it was a C-List comic book character who got a movie made that wasn't an origin story, just think about that, since when does that happen? True there are some DC films that are just generically bad (Steel) and some that are awful for a multitude of reasons (Catwoman), but then you take a look at their good films like The Dark Knight, often considered the best comic book movie ever made, frankly there was a time where i didn't even like calling it a comic book movie because it didn't feel anything like a comic book, but that's a good thing because it experimented, it did things differently, it still kept the core themes, characters and ideas behind Batman but it knew to try things differently. The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel are films that people are so split down the middle, people either love or hate these movies, but when was the last time you saw Marvel spark that kind of reaction? When did you see people passionately debate the merits or flaws of Thor The Dark World, or X-Men: Days of Future Past. Even with their upcoming movies like Suicide Squad, a film based around focusing on the villains, Marvel would never do that, or casting Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, or Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. I'm not saying these decisions will pay off and be good, we won't really know till the films come out.

This type of argument makes me think of Temple of Doom and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Temple of Doom is a bad movie, but you remember it, it took risks, it did things differently, it didn't always pay off but a lot of people liked it and you could debate whether the risks were worth it or not. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull however was so tame and generic that you question what the point of it was and that's why people see it as the worse movie, because it gave them nothing to talk about, nothing to get emotionally involved with. DC takes risks, do they pay off? Not always, but at least they're trying and they'll give you something to talk about, and when they do pay off, they pay off big time. While Marvel on the otherhand, makes good films, they've made a lot of good films, they've also made amazing films, but if you were to put it in a ratio of how many good films they've made versus how many awful/amazing films they've made, the good films would outweigh them severely, which some might say that's a non-problem, a good film is a good film and to that i say that's fine, but for me personally i would prefer something a bit more experimental.

Ironically in TV it's completely opposite, as much as I love Flash i can't deny the generic elements that live inside of it, meanwhile Daredevil is one of the most interesting and challenging superhero shows i've ever seen. Hm, i guess we never will get an answer to who's best, DC or Marvel, oh well, i guess we'll have to enjoy both.

-Danny

Doctor Who "The Zygon Invasion/Inversion" Review

Hm, seems to be a recurring thing this week, the majority of an episode is meh but then the final 10 minutes come along and blow me out of the water. This is the Zygon Invasion/Inversion, the Zygons who were hidden amongst Earth 2 years ago are now at risk of being revealed which will cause mass hysteria worldwide and result in a war that the Zygon's are most certainly going to lose. In the end The Doctor is able to talk Bonnie (The leader of the Zygon rebellion) out of starting a war.

So yeah, took em 2 years to actually come back to this plotline that was set up in the 50th anniversary, no idea why it took so long but better late than never i guess. Frankly I don't care for the Zygons, their powers are cool but everything from the designs to their personalities to their plan here, i don't care for, i think it's generic and dull. I will say the specific details of the plan are interesting, the 20 million living on Earth are seen as traitors and revealing them will cleanse the pallet and leave room for Bonnie's Zygons to take their place. I will admit this makes the domesticated Zygon's quite sympathetic, forcing them into a war they have no choice in and don't want to be a part of. But at the same time, looking at the bigger picture, it's still the set up for a generic invasion story with cliched aliens and all of these points we've heard before; and I still don't get the motivation for Bonnie behind why she's revealing all of the Zygons.


By the way, Bonnie is played by Jenna Coleman, who doesn't love a good dual role character? As much as i've expressed my dislike for Clara as a character something I will never say is Jenna Coleman is a bad actress, i solely blame how she is written, acting wise she is top notch and she is giving her A Game this episode. Even when Clara and Bonnie are on screen together I feel like i'm watching different people, the change in body language, subtle accent changes  and personality make for a very well done dual-role, so brave absolute to Jenna Coleman here.

But then we get to the real kicker of this episode, The Doctor trying to convince Kate and Bonnie to not start a war. Both of them have a box in front of them, for Kate, one button kills the Zygons, the other kills the humans, for Bonnie, one kills the Zygons, the other releases them, each has a 50/50 chance of getting what they want, but either way they'll be starting a war. Frankly this 10 minute scene of these people standing in a room had me glued to the screen, i didn't want to look away, i didn't want to blink, just in case i missed anything.

"It's not a game, Kate. This is a scale model of war. Every war ever fought right there in front of you. Because it's always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die. You don't know who's children are going to scream and burn. How many hearts will be broken!? How many lives shattered!? How much blood will spill until everybody does what they're always going to have to do from the very beginning -- sit down and talk!"

"I don't understand? Are you kidding? Me? Of course I understand. I mean, do you call this a war, this funny little thing? This is not a war. I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine, and when I close my eyes... I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight... Til it burns your hand. And you say this -- no one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will ever have to feel this pain"

Doctor Who has had a lot of epic scenes, they've had a lot of emotional scenes, but very few scenes that I would describe as poignant. This one scene held more tension, weight and drama than anything from Doctor Who for a while, it will go down as one of the best moments in Doctor Who history. Peter Capaldi's performance is breathtaking, the lack of music adds to the drama and as i'm writing this i am still getting goosebumps from it. This scene is so good that i want to rate it entirely on it's own, and you know something? I'm gonna do that!

The majority of this two parter is generic, uninteresting, plenty of funny lines as always and a great performance from Jenna Coleman but man i don't feel like watching it again. 6/10.

But that climactic scene with The Doctor's speech about war is perfection in a nutshell. 10/10.

-Danny

Quick Reviews Of The Rocky Movies

Creed is coming out this November...if you're in America because oscar movies for some reason hate England and we have to wait till fucking January to get this thing seriously i've been waiting to watch Creed for months GIVE IT TO ME! *Deep breath* But before the film comes out i'm going to give very quick reviews of each of the films, not full reviews for each because i feel like i would be repeating myself a lot because these films are quite repetitive in terms of story structure. With that being said, let's get too it.

Rocky
The original and often considered the best, you know it's funny, when i first saw this film i only thought it was okay, but seeing all the others has made me appreciate it more, and not because the others are so bad this one is a masterpiece in comparison, but i mean as i got to know these characters and grow to care about them i found it fascinating to see where they all began. Sylvester Stallone loves this character so much he practically is Rocky and he's a sympathetic and likeable underdog who's rise to stardom is enjoyable to watch. Though the story structure is repetitive this is the one that does it the best, it has the best training montage, it has the best underdog to focus on and while the ending sounds good on paper something about the execution feels a little bit too rushed and flat for me. Also I hate Adrian and Paulie in this movie.

Rocky II
This film sort of the exact opposite of the previous one, the original had great build up with a shallow ending, this one has a slow and boring build up but a fantastic ending. The majority of the film is just watching Rocky being famous and it's not very interesting though he does get a great dramatic scene halfway through the film which tells everyone that Stallone can actually act. But it's the ending that gets to me, Rocky holding that belt and shouting "Yo Adrian! I did it!" Always brings a lump to my throat, you just feel the passion, sacrifice and pride in Stallone's voice when delivering that line, despite the great emotional scene earlier on, this one line is the best performance Stallone has ever given.

Rocky III
Sort of the forgotten middle child of the franchise mostly because it doesn't rely on a gimmick, i know that's strange to say seeing as it features Hulk Hogan and Mr T but it's true. Rocky II ends with Rocky finally winning the big fight and becoming the champion and this is just a film about Rocky...staying the champion. That's not to say there isn't good drama, a great training montage and in my opinion the best Rocky and Adrian scene when he admits he's afraid-side note, Adrian has fuck all to do for the first hour of the movie, if not more-so while this is a very satisfying film it's also the simplest of all the films.

Rocky IV
How can you not love this masterpiece? Rocky takes on Ivan Drago and single handedly ends the Cold War with a speech about change and peace from the man who punches people for a living. Paulie is in a relationship with a robot maid, Rocky trains using farmhouse equipment, good god this movie is cheesy from beginning to end and i love it to death. However, the only legitimately amazing thing about this movie (Unironically of course) is the soundtrack, this is the best soundtrack in all of the Rocky movies and if you've never worked out while listening to Hearts on Fire, change that ASAP.

Rocky V
Often considered the worst of the Rocky movies and honestly, i don't see why. Okay i understand some of the hate, like Rocky's son in the movie is annoying as shit and i just want to punch him in the face. But for the rest of the film, it's fine, sadly the son stuff takes up about half the movie but everything involving Tommy Gunn was interesting enough and the final street fight i thought was great, no rules, no strategy, just passion, fury and fists, i found myself getting really amped up by that ending. Also Adrian sucks again.

Rocky Balboa
The last Rocky film (Until Creed) for a lot of people was a great way to end the franchise...i thought it was okay. The best thing i can say about this film is that it's the best paced of the lot, i was 3/4 through the film before i even checked the time and i was surprised to see how far through it i was. It does improve a lot from the prior films, Rocky's son is no longer annoying, the final fight is brilliantly shot (With a real audience that is really chanting for Rocky). So while granted it's definitely a good film, it also doesn't have that many risks to it that make it stand out. Also Rocky speaks in nothing but motivational speeches, i'll leave that up to you whether or not that's a good thing.

So those are my opinions on all of the Rocky films, a franchise that i had never seen a single on of at the start of the year but now have seen them all in preparation for Creed...which I still have to wait till FUCKING JANUARY YOU COCKSUCKERS! Sorry, sorry, lost my cool there for a second...it's still a shit decision though.

-Danny

My Favourite Characters - Urdnot Wrex

Okay, starting to run low on Mass Effect characters that i'll feature in this series, but we're not quite done yet. Next up is Urdnot Wrex, the ageing Krogan bounty hunter who joins your team and though is not easy to get along with, eventually will become one of your most trusted and liked members, so let's take a look at that character arc now shall we?

In Mass Effect, Wrex has all but given up on his species, they're an endangered race but are so idiotic, selfish and constantly angry that no one is doing a damn thing about it. Wrex wants to help but has no power in doing so, he's not smart enough, doesn't have a large following and all he knows how to do is fire a gun, yes he's really good at firing that gun but it doesn't help him in the long run. Because of this Wrex has given up, he no longer cares about his species or his cause, or at the very least he's in denial about it, so he now sells his one good skill as a bounty hunter to get by, that is until he's recruited by Commander Shepard to join his team and his cause. Now even though Wrex his a little wiser than your average Krogan, he's still a Krogan, he's aggressive, impatient, selfish, arrogant and prefers to solve his problems with violence rather than with democracy. Shepard of course is the one to start planting the seeds of change, showing Wrex compassion, friendship and understanding, but also standing up to him and not showing fear, the perfect blend between dominant leader and compassionate ally.

This all comes to a head on the Virmire mission, the villain of the game Saren is cloning Krogans, saving the species, doing exactly what Wrex wanted, which of course leads to conflict between him and Shepard. If you play your cards right then you can convince Wrex that this is not actually his dream and the Krogan clones would just be slaves and the last thing Wrex wants is for his species to be manipulated again, that's what got them into this mess in the first place. But if you don't convince him them he dies right here, story over, but if that does happen then you're missing out on one hell of a story. But really this is where Wrex's arc ends for this game, halfway through, you've earned his trust and respect and he's now fully committed to your cause so let's skip ahead to Mass Effect 2.

In the second game, whenever encountering your old crew members (Keep in mind you've been dead for 2 years) they often react with shock, distrust, anger or curiosity, most of them wondering where you've been, why you're working with a group that is labelled as a terrorist organisation or even if you're still you. Wrex gives you a hug. In this instalment Wrex has finally achieved a position of power on the Krogan homeworld of Tuchanka, a strange development seeing as Krogan have no hierarchy of power, it's usually every man for himself unless you're part of a clan, Wrex it seems has been able to unite dozens of clans under his rule for the greater good, achieving something no Krogan had before and starting the stepping stones to saving his race. So when you first show up, Wrex puts aside all of his business and duties all for the sake of seeing his old friend. Granted not much is done with Wrex in this game seeing as he's not a major character, he's mostly there to give you exposition on the Krogan culture and to give you information for your next mission, but this is all the building blocks for the next game.

Mass Effect 3, Wrex is now the unified leader of the entire Krogan species, and now with his new partner Eve (A Female Krogan) they convince Shepard and the council that the only way to get their help in the war against the Reapers is to end the genophage, cure his species of their sterilisation so they can thrive like they once did. So Wrex not only united the most aggressive and selfish species in the universe, but he was able to cure them of the thing that has brought them into such universal poverty. But more than that, again, is the friendship between Shepard and Wrex "You've been a champion to the Krogan people, a friend of Clan Urdnot, and a brother to me". A duo that at first didn't like or respect each other and at one point even had guns pointing at each others faces have made it to this point, becoming one of the best friendships in the galaxy, a bromance if you will. Wrex trusts you more than he trusts his own family, he likes you more than his own species and will gladly die by your side as long as he goes down fighting.

Wrex is a badass through and through, but it's his friendship with Shepard and the amount of care he puts into saving his species, a species that he had all but given up on that makes him so interesting to watch and see him grow over the games, going from an ageing and ambivalent bounty hunter to the worthy leader of the most dangerous species in the galaxy.

-Danny

Arrow "Lost Souls" Review

Welcome to Legends of Tomorrow, the preshow. Actually to be fair this episode does get me really excited for Legends of Tomorrow, big ensemble piece like this, kicking butt and taking names, if the show is like this episode then it's gonna be awesome. In this episode Felicity is finally able to get in contact with Ray who is tiny and being held captive by Damian Darhk, so the team gets together and breaks him out.

Really that's Legends of Tomorrow point is the best thing i can say about this episode, before i was anticipating that show, now i'm actively looking forward to it. Seeing the wide ranger of personalities all come together as a team with different fighting methods and skills for one similar goal. Also it's really nice to see Ray Palmer again because Brandon Routh is always a treat to have on screen, he's funny, he's optimistically charming and is a genius to boot, also they finally shrunk him down like they're supposed to do, hallelujah.

Also Mr Terrific is getting closer and closer to being on the team, yes i know that's not his name yet and i seriously doubt they'll ever actually get round to calling him that but i don't care, i'm going to refer to him as Mr Terrific because that's who he is and it's a fun name to say (Or type). Having him tag along with Team Arrow is a fun experiment to see how he works with them and i'd say it was a successful one, my hope is that they bring him onto the team sooner rather than later, after all this season so far has had excellent pacing so i'd hate to see them stagnate on this one feature.

Then there's Sara who really gets a lot crammed into this episode, firstly the conversation with her mother doesn't even get a whole scene and it's over the telephone, i get why they might want to do this to avoid repetition of the first time they brought Sara back and it's cheaper this way. I dunno maybe i'm just pissy about not seeing Alex Kingston on screen because it's Alex Kingston, that woman can do no wrong. But a bigger problem would be why they would bring her along on a mission so soon, she's just been brought back from the dead, not only would being dead for a year probably put you out of shape but i doubt she would be psychologically up to task and big shock(!) she has the same psycho-tendencies as Thea and likes to kill people. The first scene where this is brought up is pretty sloppy, she's beating the shit out of a security guard while the others just stand there...um...stop her? It's not even that it was a corrupt security officer or a criminal, this was an honest security guard working for a legit company and Sara's probably just given him brain damage and none of the others did anything to stop her, what the hell!?

I should also probably talk about Felicity seeing as this is a heavy Felicity centric episode, also the actress Emily Bett Rickards said on twitter this was her favourite episode and i can understand why. Felicity is given a lot to do in this episode, she still gets to be her neurotic and hilarious self but with a stronger emphasis on her determination to saving Ray, also exploring some more of her feelings including the guilt of not saving him, the stress of being with Oliver and remorse over not having an ordinary family. And unlike season three Felicity who just moped and cried all season this character actually has justification in her emotions and goes to extraneous lengths to fix her problems and in the end has a satisfying resolution to all of them without feeling forced or unrealistic. Her and Oliver do go through some relationship troubles but they talk about them and fix them like actual adults for a change, first thing in their relationship to feel genuine.

Speaking of Oliver, the fuck was wrong with him this episode!? Him inviting Felicity's mother to town is one thing, but then to invite her to dinner while they should be busy saving Ray!? I don't care if they have time to spare, all of their focus should be on saving Ray. This is a very awkward B-plot to have when all of Felicity's focus should be on Ray, granted it does lead to some funny scenes and lines of dialogue but it just doesn't fit right. Fact of the matter is these two plots that should belong in different episodes, a serious plot and a silly plot should not be dealt with by the exact same characters in the same episode, it's unfitting and the contrast between the two plots is dumb. Also Felicity's Mum and Captain Lance...ew, why? What the hell? And Ew.

Something about this season that i've been avoiding talking about is the flashbacks, why? Because they're pointless, in prior seasons the flashbacks were there to tie into the main plot either thematically or with a similar story structure or contrast in character growth. This season so far the flashbacks have been completely irrelevant to the main plot and seems to be their own story all together than is so short that we only get 2 flashbacks an episode. What happened in the flashbacks here? Oliver is to take a group up to the mountains, ends up killing one of the group who attacks him. Cool, that's maybe what, 10 minutes of screen time max? They haven't even set off for the fucking mountain yet, this plot line is so far irrelevant and being dragged out as shit, so unless a major plot point does happen or it ties in, in some significant way then i'm unlikely to talk about it.

Overall this episode was enjoyable, there was a lot of focus on the characters' personal arcs, some good, some bad, nothing terrible and with some very entertaining scenes in the process and a really strong performance from Rickards. 7/10.

-Danny

The Flash "Enter Zoom" Review

Have you ever had an episode of a television show that was so jarring in its execution? In this episode Barry reveals his secret identity to Linda and convinces her to go along with a plan of theirs to lure out Zoom, to make it look like Dr Light has killed The Flash so they can capture and/or kill him. The plan doesn't work but Zoom shows up later on and challenges Flash to a fight in which Flash gets the ever loving shit beaten out of him.

You know for the majority of this episode i wasn't really feeling it, i thought there was too much focus on the awkward comedy which was never that funny and was mostly awkward, i thought Barry revealing himself to Linda was forced and i'm sorry, i demand answers behind Cisco's cardboard cutouts of everyone! If i found out one of my friends was keeping cardboard cutouts of the rest of us, i would demand answers. Even more so the subplot with Patty in this episode is fairly forgettable despite it suppose to be carrying a lot of weight and drama. So overall I wasn't all too impressed by this episode...and then the final 10 minutes happened and suddenly this becomes the most badass and intense thing this show has ever done.

Zoom captures Linda and the second this guy appears on screen he is terrifying. Not only because he towers over her but his animalistic nature and demonic design with the creepiest voice on the planet, combining all of this and he is the most dominating and frighting villain on The Flash. This is why The Flash is such a good show, even though on paper Zoom might seem like a bland villain, in execution the simplicity just makes him even more terrifying, within seconds you feel the power and weight of this character. And again, this is all within a few damn seconds, we have 10 more minutes of this to talk about.

Then there is the actual fight between Flash and Zoom, though it is quick that makes it even more perfect. Not only was the action physics defyingly cool (He caught a frickin' lightning bolt!). But the fact that Zoom beats him so fast and so ferociously, countering every strategy Barry has and turning it into his favour, shows how physically threatening his is. Reverse Flash liked to torture Barry, manipulate him, fight him psychologically as well as physically, Zoom doesn't give a damn, he just wants to win, he wants Barry dead. Seeing Barry's unconscious and bloody body as Zoom drags him around town, showing off his victory, showing how much more powerful he is than The Flash sent shivers down my spine, speaking of spines...

So Barry is paralysed now...because that's gonna last. C'mon, everyone knows he's gonna get his legs back, we wouldn't have a show without them. i just hope they don't take forever of him learning to walk again and then having to rebuild his speed and taking several episodes to do it. He already got the crap beaten out of him when he was at his best, you don't need to make him weaker to make the story more intense.

Seriously, have you ever seen an episode of a show make such a turn around in the final 10 minutes? I mean yeah the first 30 are kind of a chore to sit through, not the worst but not anything special, but those final 10 minutes are as perfect as they can get. 8/10.

-Danny

Supergirl "Fight or Flight" Review

Seriously, i don't know why this show is so hard to get through, but every time i finish an episode i get less and less excited for the next one. In this one Kara grants an interview to her boss as Supergirl which everyone will spend the first 20 minutes of explaining why what she did was wrong, then she has to fight a generic supervillain and complains about being inexperienced.

So let's talk about Kara because she really bugged me in this episode, first of all we get it, she screwed up in the interview, having every single character berate her for it is repetitive and annoying. Then there is her constantly complaining about being compared to Superman and being saved by Superman and wanting to define herself as her own hero...well if you wanted to do that, maybe you shouldn't have worn his outfit, taken his name and try to recreate the same reputation and persona that he has. It's like saying it's unfair to compare Man of Steel to Superman: The Movie, no it's completely fair, are there differences? Of course, but the branches stem from the same tree. Also how about that blatant misuse of her powers by eves dropping on Jimmy's conversation with Lucy Lane? Not very heroic to invade someone's privacy like that.

Talking of annoying characters, i kinda hate Kara's boss, not only she she an obnoxious, selfish, pretentious little bitch but she is probably the stupidest person on the planet to not be able to tell that Kara and Supergirl are the exact same person!

Then there's the villain of today's episode, he's generic as fuck, his hatred for Superman makes no sense, it's not Superman's fault his wife died, why blame him? Also how the fuck is this guy powerful enough to nearly kill Superman!? And in Kara's first fight with him, she beats him pretty easily so he flies off...why the fuck doesn't she chase after him!? And why isn't the DOA helping Kara hunt him down? Because he's not an alien? He's a fucking walking nuclear bomb! I don't give a shit what his DNA says! DO SOMETHING!! So yeah, overall, fucking awful villain in everyway possible.

Okay, let's actually talk about some good things about this episode, first of all, Maxell Lord, i like him, he's smart, he's charismatic, he's not a coward and speaks his mind, all signs of a good character. Alex wasn't annoying in this episode, the action was a lot better and they toned down the feminism message finally.

But apart from that, i really didn't like this episode, so many things about the characters annoy me, this villain is as awful as it can get and i found myself praying for it to end or for me to fall asleep. 3/10.

-Danny

Is Die Hard A Christmas Movie?

No.

...

I ain't even setting up the question, i'm answering it straight up, Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. Die Hard is a lot of things, an action movie, an underdog movie, a cop movie, you could even make the arguments that it's a movie about family, police brutality and the modernisation of traditional westerns with police iconography. But it's not a Christmas movie, it's a movie that takes place at Christmas.

But to prove my point a little bit further, let's actually talk about what a Christmas movie should be. Christmas is a time of family, spreading joy and good times all around and Christmas movies are usually made to reflect that. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation shows the importance of family and love regardless of quarrels or issues individuals have with one another, Elf is about spreading joy in any form possible little or large and reigniting traditional values in the holidays and Arthur Christmas loving passion the holidays can bring out and how everyone deserves to be happy during the holidays. Of course Christmas Carol is kind of the king of these kind of stories, a man who has lost all sense of life and joy is taught to love and appreciate the holidays and give to the less fortunate while spreading peace and hospitality to those you work with, live with and are related to. The original Grinch story and animated film is also one of the masters of the craft, showing it's not about materialistic possessions but a sense of community and fun to be shared with all. Basically put, Christmas is about joy, not the joy found in presents, not the joy found in being with other people, but spreading it, by you making as many other people happy as possible and leave your own joy up to other people you love and trust, true you would hope this is an ideology humanity would hold year round, but we're kinda lazy like that, if anything Christmas is there to remind us that it's how we should behave, and sometimes we need a reminder. Ergo, if Christmas is about spreading joy, so are Christmas movies, for nothing else you should leave feeling happy, feel a sense of community and to spread joy unto other people and be excited for the holidays, all things Die Hard does not do.

Die Hard can make you feel a lot of things, you can get excited by the action, laugh your ass off at the quips, be on the edge of your seat during the big set pieces and even get a emotional during Sgt Powell. But it's not a movie that makes you think about the holidays, or what you can do to help your fellow man or be a little less greedy or anything like that. You watch a bunch of people get shot and you don't think it's a tragedy, you think "Wow! That was so cool!" You wonder what you would do in that situation and how the hell Karl can survive getting hung for so long. If anything the movie is anti-christmas, just look at the environment, Los Angeles, as far away as you can get from Christmas as humanly possible. when you think of Christmas you picture snow, the cold, things like that, not a place where you can sunbathe on the beach on Christmas Eve. And it's not just that it's hot, it's the culture, the stereotypical Los Angeles that we all think of is that of a bunch of vain, ego driven, flaky and shallow soul suckers who don't know the first thing about respect for your fellow man or acting selfless out of the goodness in your own heart. In other words: Ellis, Ellis is there to represent the stereotypical view of Los Angeles, obviously not everyone from LA is like that but this is a movie, people behave however we tell them to behave.

Los Angeles is not a place to spend Christmas in environment or in community, that's why the film is set there, John McClane is a fish out of water, he's a simple cop from New York, he doesn't belong in LA, it's far too flashy and superficial, John McClane doesn't belong in LA anymore than Christmas does. John McClane isn't Los Angeles and Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie.

-Danny

A Discussion On Kill Bill's Superman

I've always considered Kill Bill to be my favourite Tarintino movie for a lot of reasons, it's creatively shot, the action is phenomenal, the story is well told, there's a lot to love about it. But there's something about it that's always fascinated me, Bill's analysis on Superman. Now I don't know how much of this is based on Quentin Tarintino's personal views on Superman but it doesn't really matter, this isn't me saying this view is wrong, it's just someone's own interpretation, but it's also something i've always felt doesn't seem right. Bill discusses the difference between Clark Kent and Superman and that Clark Kent, the bumbling reporter is the mask while Superman is his true identity, now that's a fair enough interpretation, Kal-El behaves more like himself when he's Superman than he does when he's Clark Kent. But where i grow an issue with this is when he says that this is Superman's critique on the human race, that he views humanity as weak, pathetic and cowardly.

"Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He's weak, he's unsure of himself, he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race"

Frankly, that's not true. Clark Kent is not Superman's perception of humanity, it's his disguise so no one would suspect him of being Superman, to behave as opposite as Superman as possible. But the idea that this is how Superman views the human race is what I take major problems with as a Superman fan. Superman loves humanity, it's why he constantly fights to protect us, to stop the bad guy, to save as many people as possible no matter how big or small a problem, because he believes we are worth fighting for, that there is good in us, there is potential, he may have qualms with us but he doesn't see himself as better than us, he's humble and non-judgemental. Even more so, even though Superman is alien, he was raised on Earth, he was taught morals and opinions from humans, he sees himself as an American citizen, a simple farmer and a person who's not worth more than anyone else just because he has powers. To suggest that he looks down and pities us as a species brings into question why he would care enough to fight for us day in and day out in the first place.

So no, Clark Kent is not his critique on the humanity, because Superman is as human as anyone else.

-Danny

How To Write Green Arrow

My biggest complaint with Arrow is that they've never gotten the actual character of Oliver Queen right, he's always been just a Batman clone. But to be fair to the show, that's kind of where Green Arrow started from, he was just a green Batman, he didn't have any powers, fought street crime, had a young plucky sidekick in red, had a damn Arrow cave (Seriously, that doesn't make any sense) he was a total Batman rip-off. But in the show and the comics they eventually wised up and wrote him to be the optimistic, one line spouting, old fashioned crime fighter we all know and love. Okay maybe the show isn't there quite yet, but they're on the right path.

Regardless let's actually talk about Green Arrow (AKA Oliver Queen) as a character and how he should be written, and it can all be summed up in one phrase: "I just help the little guy". That's it, that's who Green Arrow is as a person, he's someone who doesn't feel comfortable sitting in a spaceship above the Earth, he prefers to roam the streets of Star City, put a face to the people he's saving, reminding him every day what he's fighting for. One of my favourite moments of this is in the comic"Straight Shooter" he sees a homeless man eating out of the garbage and offers to buy him a meal in a diner. That's not something Wonder Woman or Martian Manhunter would do, but for him he sees it as his duty, he doesn't see himself as better than anyone else, and not in a Superman way where he feels the need to constantly prove it, but he's been in their situation, he's been everywhere from spoilt millionaire to homeless man to stranded on a deserted island. Which leads me to my next point, his role in the Justice League. Like i said he's not comfortable sitting in a space station watching over everyone like he's better than us, he's there to keep the Justice League honest, to remind them of what they're fighting for and is the left-wing freedom fighter with a rebellious attitude towards the system.

Unlike Batman who has no fear, Oliver Queen does experience fear, he is terrified of the Justice League and how much power they have, not just over the world but over him, if they ever forget their place then he won't be able to stop them. But that doesn't mean he turns away and runs, one of the true signs of a hero isn't one that has nothing to fear, but one who fights what they fear, no matter what. Like in Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year One *Spoilers* when Green Arrow was forced to fight Superman, he knew he was going to die but it didn't stop him, he fought for as long as he could, never showing Superman some leniency, not that he needed it because Oliver had no chance against him, but every second counted. Even after Superman killed him, Batman said it himself, "he was the best of us" and that's true, not in power and not always in ideals, but in honesty and in bravery, yes he may be grumpy as hell and not always play well with others but his heart is in the right place and more than anyone, remembers what he's fighting for. Something else I like about Green Arrow is his perspective on killing, i've always said, I don't mind if a superhero kills unless it's part of their character like Superman or Batman. Which is why I love Green Arrow's stance, he's not going to actively go out and kill the bad guys, but when pushed into a corner, he's not afraid to take a life if he has too, i've always respected that in him, not to say i encourage superheroes killing, but knowing that sometimes they have to is refreshing.

Then there's his relationship with Black Canary (AKA Dinah Lance), one of the best couples in all of DC Comics, hell, in all of comics. The key word i would use to describe these two is "challenging" they are constantly challenging each other, debating who's the strongest, who's the smartest, who's more liked. Have you ever had a debate over who would win in a fight *blank* or *blank*, yeah these two would have that argument with each other constantly. But i mean, it's obviously Black Canary, I know, you know it, she knows it and Green Arrow knows it, he would never admit it to her face, but he knows it and he loves that about her.

So to sum up, Green Arrow is honest, he's humble, he's grumpy, he's old but he's a hero.

-Danny

Console Exclusives, Are They A Good Thing?

One of the complaints about videogames as old as the medium itself is the idea of exclusives, a videogame being available for one console but not the other. Now from a consumers perspective I can understand this complaint, we want the best of everything and if other games can go cross-platform then why can't others? But at the same time I’ve always seen exclusivity as a good thing...in theory, but we'll get to that. Fact of the matter is exclusives is the key to adding value to your product, the casual gamer or even the average gamer doesn't really care about software and hardware, if it works then it works, at that point the only distinguishable difference is the content, what can be played? This is why I’ve always said the PlayStation is my favourite console, because it has the better exclusives from day one, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank, Rayman, Jak & Daxter, Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, Uncharted, The Last of Us, Heavy Rain, God of War, Infamous, Little Big Planet, Metal Gear Solid, Ape Escape, Devil May Cry, etc. etc. etc. Now yes some of those games have gone over to multi-platform but they started out as PlayStation exclusives and is the reason why I have been a PlayStation fan since the original console.


But apart from just my personal experiences it's also good for competition, if one console has better exclusives the product is going to sell better, this will lead to the other console to produce more exclusive games and constantly going up in quality to the point where it doesn't really matter which side of the boat you're on, you're going to get great quality games...this is where the "in theory" comes into play. Frankly the reason why Xbox is faltering behind is because they don't seem to realise this is the key to a better product, Microsoft have always struggled with holding onto first party developers and the ones they do have they seem to beat into the ground to squeeze every last bit of profit they can out of their very small roster of exclusive games, namely Halo and Gears of War, two franchises that should have died years ago. This only gets made worse with the idea of 'timed exclusives' this is the industries way of adding an extra £300 to the price tag of a game by giving the illusion of an exclusive but really they're just rubbing it in your face that they have a cool new toy and you can only play with it when no one else wants it anymore. The worst example for this is with the new Rise of the Tomb Raider, a sequel to a game that was not an exclusive but now is, except it wasn't revealed like that, it wasn't until several months after the announcement of the game that they actually revealed it was an exclusive to Xbox One and it wasn't until several months after that announcement that they revealed it was going to be a timed exclusive, for a whole fucking year. Not only is this a shitty marketing strategy equivalent to treating us like dogs, teasing us with a nice treat and then taking it away at the last second, but it's also shitty as a business practise. 2013's Tomb Raider did really well and sold over 8.5 million copies to date, making it the most successful Tomb Raider game in history, so this isn't a Bayonetta 2 scenario, where Nintendo game Platinum Games a shit ton of money and without it the game wouldn't exist, but rather Microsoft bribing Square Enix into letting them have the game first because videogame companies are greedy little fuckers who don't give a shit about their customers.

But even though I love PlayStation, this doesn't absolve Sony from any of their shitty practises when it comes to exclusives, this is where the issue with exclusive content comes into play. With games like Watch Dogs or Destiny they are often marketed by offering extra content with the PlayStation version, everything from new skins and weapons to entirely new missions offering hours of content. This is just as bad as pre-order DLC, removing content that was created alongside the game and locking it away to create a false sense of value, that the entire experience of playing the game will be different when really it's all superficial changes there to make you feel more special and important to play their version. Because why put the extra effort in to make well-made content for your product when you can just throw money at it and make your competitors experience worse rather than making your own better?

So to sum this all up, are console exclusives a good thing? Yes, but again, in theory, as for the state of the gaming industry and how it tackles this idea, or any idea actually, it's pretty fucked up.

-Danny

Arrow "Haunted" Review

Let's be honest, does anyone care or even remember a damn thing from this episode apart from John Constantine? I thought not, but what the hey, let's talk about it. This is Haunted, where now that the cat is out of the bag with Sara being alive Ollie calls up an old friend John Constantine in a last ditch effort to bring her back. Also Diggle learns the truth about his brother, because that's a storyline we're so invested in it only gets mentioned once a season.

But yeah, let's get to what people care about, Constantine, funnily enough it was a show i was never a big fan of but i loved the character and I loved Matt Ryan's portrayal of him, so i wanted the show to succeed on those merits alone. Sadly it didn't, but because CW of all channels seems to be the only one that knows how to treat superheroes right brought him back for a guest appearance on Arrow and damn was it a good one. Not only was his dialogue funny, particularly with pointing out how Ollie surrounds himself with plenty of attractive young women, but he didn't feel like a forced interaction, this felt like a very natural way to bring him into the story by being the one to restore Sara's soul. If i did have any issues with him it's that I wish he interacted with the rest of Team Arrow some more, particularly Diggle and Lance. But as i always say, the best problem you can have with something is to just want more of it. Hopefully they'll bring him back in later episodes, chances of him getting another show as slim to none but guest appearances are a high possibility.

Also a smaller note but most definitely worth mentioning is Ollie's reaction to Sara's resurrection. Season 3 Oliver would have freaked out, claimed they should have told him and blablabla, he always knows what's best. This Oliver is much more empathetic and understanding, choosing to help the situation than just point out what Laurel already knows, in that what she did was a dumbass idea and even though Ollie is the only one who knows how to solve the problem he doesn't be a dick about it. It's just things like this that show that the show is improving in quality and the writers are actually listening to feedback. So props to you writers for getting better!

And that's really all I have to say, again, all people really care about is Constantine and he was awesome. Really I'm just happy the show is improving in terms of writing and pacing, so not really anything specific in the episode (Apart from Constantine) is great, but the overall feel of this season i am thoroughly enjoying. 8/10.

-Danny