Arrow "The Candidate" Review

You know, a lot of people really hated last weeks episode and i don't think that's fair, i think that's just a lot of people still feeling betrayed by season three. Problem is if they didn't like last weeks episode then i doubt this one is going to change it. The Candidate sees an old family friend of Oliver & Thea's decide to run for mayor, Damien Darhk obviously doesn't like that and hires Lonnie Machin also known as The Anarchist to deal with the problem.

So let's talk about Lonnie then...he sucked. Not only was this guy really bad at his job, I mean failed to execute her, went against orders and got his ass kicked by Oliver twice and then once again by Thea, but my god was he whiny. Seriously, did this guy do a single thing right in this entire episode? Oh and the fact that they don't capture him so that means he'll be coming back later on...whoopdy-doo. The real psychopath of this episode was Thea, her violent tendencies are getting worse to the point where she even sets Lonnie on fire and beats the crap out of him, it was awesome to watch, not so awesome for her personally. It's understandable where this all comes from, she was trained by a murderer, was resurrected in the Lazarus Pit and has a lot of repressed rage, honestly i'm surprised it took her this long to go full psycho. Though this leads me to question why Oliver keeps bringing her a long on missions involving combat considering he knows full well how violent she is and that she won't listen to him!

Speaking of Oliver, i have to say I really like where they're going with the character, he's legitimately trying to make an effort to change as a person and as a warrior. Going as far to run for mayor did make me raise an eyebrow at first, mostly because it's kind of hard to be the mayor of a city and be the Green Arrow. I see the logic behind it, Oliver wants to be a shining hero, not a vigilante of the night, but i just thought that meant he would start fighting crime during the day now. After an abysmal season for him last year of constantly making mistakes and being wrong without ever acknowledging it, seeing him make the effort to better himself is nice to see, especially with him implementing a no more secrets rule and starts being honest with his team members...Only for Laurel and Thea to then betray that newly found trust by digging up Sara's corpse...Well there ain't much to say about that except it'll be cool to see Sara again, but seriously this woman has more lives than a Time Lord's cat. Actually no i do kinda have a problem with this, stop resurrecting characters! Once you've cured death suddenly there is no tension in anything anymore because the ultimate sacrifice doesn't seem so ultimate anymore now does it?

That's pretty much all I have to say about this episode, I liked the focus on Oliver and Thea but the villain was weak to the point where he was really pathetic to watch. 6/10.

-Danny

The Flash "Flash Of Two Worlds" Review

Here we are, the second episode of season two of The Flash, last week we ended on the cliffhanger of Jay Garrick showing up and now we have our conclusion. As it turns out Jay is from an alternate universe where he was The Flash when the singularity spilled into his world and he was sucked into it and lost his speed. Now his arch-nemesis Zoom is sending meta-humans from their world to this in an attempt to kill The Flashes.

The big thing about this episode that stood out to me was Barry's feelings towards Jay, I can understand him being skeptical towards him but i don't understand the cynicism. Yes Harrison Wells certainly scarred him and i can see why he wouldn't be quick to trust a complete stranger, but he treats him as if he's guilty until proven innocent and even when the evidence is stacked in Jay's favour he still refuses to believe him, or even if he does believe him he doesn't trust him. Again, a little skeptisism is understandable but not treating him like he's already a villain. Actually another mixed thing about this episode is the fact that Barry kills Sand Demon in the end and doesn't even make a big deal about it. People are upset by this because Barry's not meant to kill, I have no problem with it. I've said in the past I only care about superheroes not killing when it's important to there character like Superman or Batman. Flash has no reason not to kill other than it's naturally wrong, but no personal issues with it, that's not to say he should kill all his villains but in a do or die situation you can see why he would make his choice.

Jay Garrick himself I liked, I liked how confident and understanding he was of the situation you can see why he makes a good hero, even without his powers he still puts his life at risk to save someone and do the right thing. I'd be more interested in learning more about his life back in his own universe to make him feel more three dimensional, maybe Zoom killed someone close to him the same way Reverse Flash did to Barry. Another new character introduced is Patty Spivot, Joe's new partner and new love interest for Barry. Though some of the banter between her and Barry felt forced, most noticeably the Monty Python quoting scene, it's instantly a lot better than his first two romances. The two actors do seem to have chemistry and the writers made it a key component to show their similarities first, they're dorks who like being heroes. Then finally there's Zoom, who we still don't know that much about but I already have a big issue with him and that being his plan, sending meta-humans to try and kill The Flashes. Why it doesn't work for me is one: how is he able to travel through universes with ease? There was only one giant singularity and now he somehow controls it? The character's plan involves a literal plot hole. Two: there's the question of why he's sending weaker meta-humans to do his dirty work. The last time Jay Garrick and Zoom fought Zoom was about to win, now we Jay completely powerless he should be able to beat him in an instant and the same can be assumed for Barry, what he's waiting for is unclear and I hope there is an actual explanation behind it.

Finally there's the introduction of multiple universes which is going to lead to unlimited potential, a crossover with Supergirl, Flashpoint, a movie & TV crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths and really just about anything the writers want to do. Some might see it as a lazy plot device, i see it as a way for the writers to get really creative in future seasons without having to worry about sloppily handled exposition to explain their situations. They could have Mr Mxyzptlk make an appearance and have it make total sense. The possibilities here are endless. Also just a final note, that reference to Barry & Jay's comic book crossover was forced but awesome.

This was a decent episode, I liked the new supporting cast and references to the comics, but i felt Barry was too harsh on Jay and as of right now the villain's plan doesn't make much sense. I'm giving this episode a 7/10.

-Danny

Gravity Falls "Dipper and Mabel Vs The Future" Review

I watch a lot of cartoons, I watch a lot of TV in general, and I can honestly say that taking into account every single show on TV right now, none of them get me as emotionally invested as Gravity Falls. In this episode we get a lot of emotional pay off, it's nearly the end of summer and Dipper & Mabel's 13th birthday is coming up, so while Mabel is busy setting everything up for their party, Dipper goes out with Grunkle Ford on an important mission to, you know, prevent the end of the world. So while Dipper is having the best day of his life by saving the world, Mabel is having the worst day of her life because she's learning all about the horrors of teenhood *shudders*. In the end, Dipper decides to stay in Gravity Falls, Mabel heartbroken runs away and accidentally makes a deal with Bill Cipher and causes the end of the world as we know it, just like they always sung about!

I remember a while ago when i was looking into the behind the scenes of the show Alex Hirsh the creator said that the key to writing Dipper & Mabel is to remember that they like each other. Thing is that's actually quite a rare occurrence in cartoons where the siblings actually get along perfectly and i can see why he felt the need to tell his writing staff that. Dipper and Mabel may be opposites in a lot of ways but in the end they're always there for each other and they wouldn't change the other for the world. Which is why several episodes ago when they foreshadowed to their relationship being strained my mind instantly went "Nooooo!" and that's exactly what happened here. When Mabel was crying her eyes out at the thought of Dipper leaving and him not even telling her, i had my face in my hands just shaking my head in disbelief, I couldn't bare to see these two go through something so heart wrenching. Fact is, i'm kind of closed off when it comes to a lot of media, despite my love of television it actually takes quite a lot to get an emotional reaction out of me. So when it was all said and done and i was reflecting on it, i was so proud of this show to be able to still get that kind of response from me even after all this time. With that being said i don't blame Mabel for what she did in the end, she didn't know what the reality orb thing was, she didn't know it was Bill Cipher, she was distraught and she's a kid! I also don't blame Dipper because this all fits well with his character arc, he went from the wannabee adventure seeker to an actual adventure seeker and even got a fair few badass moments in this episode.

Yet despite all of this heavy on set drama and a lot of scarily accurate truths about high school (To all kids watching Gravity Falls, cherish every second of your childhood, it's all downhill from there) they still get a lot of good jokes in the episode, my personal favourite being Mabel having such a magnetic personality she became pen pals with the pizza man within the span of 60 seconds. Because that's why this show is magnificent, the great mystery and drama isn't all it has to offer, the jokes are constant and hilarious. I have a saying, the best drama is a good comedy, because we've laughed for so long and so hard at this show when it gets dramatic, we care about it. People think the key to a good drama is being as dark and serious as possible when it's the complete opposite, the people we laugh the hardest with are the people we cry the hardest with, this show gets that as does every other great show out there.

Then there's the animation. This is why I assume the show takes so long to get a new episode out because they want their show looking the best that it can be. They don't cut corners and try to create some dynamic, exhilarating and most of all beautiful set pieces. The highlights for me were the spaceship flight sequence and pretty much the final five minutes of being pure beauty.

This episode was great, the emotions were riding high, the jokes were great and i cannot fucking wait for the next episode. I'm giving this episode a 9/10.

-Danny

Star Wars Battlefront Beta Thoughts

So the beta for Star Wars Battlefront was released and as you can imagine I played quite a bit of it. You see, Star Wars Battlefront II is one of my all time favourite videogames, not only because I love Star Wars but because of how fun it is, and when I say fun, I mean insanely fun, seriously, i've wasted days of my life playing that game and I've been waiting for a new Battlefront game for years, a game that has been in development hell, going from studio to studio and now we have one developed by DICE, the same people behind Battlefield and Mirror's Edge, so they know their first person videogames, so what did I think of the Beta? I liked it. Well, most of it. Let's talk about that.

Now first of all I have to say the technicals of this game are fan-fucking-tastic! Not only were the servers for the game fast, seriously, i didn't have to wait more than 3 seconds before getting put into a match, but then again this is the beta so who knows how that's going to pan out when the game actually comes out. But the design of this game is beyond amazing. The graphics are beautiful, particularly with the environments and the sound design is top notch. Not to mention this absolutely feels like a Star Wars game more than any before it, you feel like you're firing a proper blaster, you feel like you're in a TIE Fighter, i got completely sucked into the world of Star Wars and clearly a lot of effort was put into recreating that feeling. Also having the original score play every now and again was a nice touch. Then when it comes to characters, just the fact that there are male and female characters on both teams is a nice touch because we both know how Star Wars and Video Games don't have the largest representation of women. Though I will admit it was weird to see a Stormtrooper with a woman's voice, just because i've never seen that before. So yes, if I were to judge this game based on the technicals alone it would get a 10/10.

But then there's the most important part of a game, the gameplay, how is it? Well taking the aesthetics of Star Wars out of the picture, the gameplay is just fine. Not all that much about it is unique or different, it's fun if a bit repetitive (Again, it's just a beta) I will say i feel the game is just a bit too slow, the running feels a bit slow, aiming feels a bit slow, flying seems a bit slow, nothing seems to be going at the right pace, it's not bad enough to irritate you in anyway but it does make the game feel a bit less exciting. And while the game isn't as busy as some of the trailers would have you believe, there are some really cool moments to be had, like when a TIE Fighter crashes right next to you and you see the explosion, the fact that it's not pre-scripted and things like that can happen can make fights really exhilarating. Also the respawn areas aren't all that great, it takes you forever to run back to the battle unless you use the partner spawn system, which i will admit is a really cool system. But the respawn can lead to some really annoying scenarios, you spend forever running into the battlefield, get shot, die, have to run all the way again. Also i hate when multiplayer's have this type of kill system, you die too easily to the point where it's not a matter of skill, it's a matter of who sees who first. I also don't have that much to say about the upgrades because you could only max out at level 5 so i don't think i've seen enough of them.

Next are the maps & missions, because Dice decided to leave out a campaign because yeah, multiplayer only games are always a great idea ad offer a lot in terms of artistic merit and longevity of the product. The first mission on a new planet has you capture escape pods for...reasons before your enemies, so basically it's a capture the flag type mission. Overall it's fine, i mean there's not much you can do in terms of variety when it comes to capture the flag, my biggest problem with it is whichever person captures the escape pod gets extra points, a system i don't like because it discourages teamwork and until the pod is captured it's pretty much every man for himself because i want those extra points, i don't give a shit about any of you.

There's also the mission on Hoth which was friggin terrible! Like I said about the respawn system sucking, it's even worse here with the map design because it's so large you respawn miles away from the action and the terrain is so badly designed it has a linear feel to it making it difficult to get around, also the fact that it's 20 people per team means you get shot almost instantly when you get close to the action and it makes reaching the objectives nearly impossible. I like the idea of the two teams having different objectives but in reality it's the same. Two AT-ATs are heading towards the Rebel base, the Rebels need to call in for back-up to bomb them before that happens, the Stormtrooper's mission is to cancel out their signal, which means you find the signal, capture it and fight off Rebels, basically the same formula for Capture the Flag. Also this map has almost no balancing to it, i swear every time i played it the Rebels never even came close to winning, the AT-AT's have insane health it's so unfair.

The single player mission was a simple fight off waves of enemies was fine, i noticed the animations on the AI Stormtroopers is a lot better than it is when it's player controlled. My big problem with this mission is how easy it is due to the small amount of Stormtroopers. But to be fair the Beta only has about half as many waves as the full game so I would imagine it would be a lot more fun in the full game. Also having Admiral Ackbar talk to you is very entertaining.

So that's pretty much all I have to say on the Star Wars Battlefront Beta, how was it overall? It was fun. It showed a lot of promise but has some clear issues, i will admit i did get pretty addicted to playing and i am still looking forward to the official release.

-Danny

Doctor Who "Before The Flood" Review

Before we get to the review I have a little update. Seeing as every Doctor Who episode this season is a two parter, i will now only be reviewing the show once every 2 weeks, mostly because it's quite difficult to review half of a story, so there's that. Now to the actual episode, which continues on from last week, underwater base attacked by ghosts, The Doctor goes back in time to find out what happened, leaving Clara behind only to see he will soon turn into a ghost. So this episode sees The Doctor try to find out why he's going to die and prevent it all from happening while Clara...just kinda survives.

Actually let's start with the most irritating thing about this episode, Clara fucking sucks. I was never a big fan of Clara but i felt that she had gotten a lot better with Peter Capaldi, last week she confused me because everything she did and was said about her seemed to just contradict everything, this week she's just fucking whiny and rude. Now finding out The Doctor is dead is understandable for her to feel panicked and even take risks and her aggression out on other people, but some things she does are just awful. "You can die, just not with me! Do it with the next one!"...Really Clara? Fucking really!? I know she probably doesn't mean it but jesus christ, you're saying that you're fine with The Doctor dying just as long as you're not the one who has to deal with it? After you've had your fun with him and moved on and he's got another floozy following him he can die as much as he wants...i thought he was your best friend, bitch.

Then we move onto The Fisher King, the big villain of this episode...the design was really cool...that's the only good thing I have to say about him. Well okay i'm exaggerating there, his introduction scene was filmed brilliantly and he has a menacing voice but god his plan makes no sense. He's there to send of a signal to his people so they will come an enslave Earth (Never seen that one before!) except I have a few questions about this plan. Why did he need to fake his death? Why were the ghosts the best way to send the signal? Why didn't he bring an army with him when he first showed up? How does the writing on the wall work? Why did it take 100-ish years for your plan to work? Seriously, this plan is more convoluted than the plot to The Matrix Trilogy.

Also the biggest plothole of the episode being The Doctor's ghost and how he inspired himself by already seeing the plan, think Johnny B Goode from Back to the Future. They explain this away with the Bootstrap Paradox, a time travel goes back in time, creates something he loves and ends up being the one who created it, so the question is, if he created it, how did he come up with the idea? Clever paradox, not so clever plot device, it's the writer equivalent of just shrugging your shoulders. Also just a small problem, the deaf woman needing to go all Daredevil to find out there's someone behind her...here's another idea: TURN THE FUCK AROUND!

So I've been complaining a lot, is there anything I liked? Yes. Peter Capaldi gave one of his best performances in this episode, the fear in his eyes when he thinks he's already dead, the desperation in his voice to try and alter history, the way he delivers exposition about the bootstrap paradox and then shreds on the guitar. Can we make it a rule that The 12th Doctor always has to rock out on the guitar at some point? It makes him so much more badass.

Overall I have more problems with this episode than i do good things to say, no massive problems that made me hate the show or the episode, but the plot is convoluted, the villain is nicely presented but has a bad idea behind him and it just kind of feels lazy. But Capaldi was awesome in it. 6/10.

-Danny

Changes In The Amazing Spider-Man

So Marvel has started to release a bunch of new #1's for their comic books (Seems a bit silly seeing as Secret Wars hasn't ended yet) and the first one to catch my eye for being drastically different is The Amazing Spider-Man #1. Actually before we get to that here are my thoughts on the other #1's that i've read so far that haven't really changed all that much. Invincible Iron Man: Okay, relatively the same stuff as before. Doctor Strange: Enjoyable, new direction for the character. The Avengers: Meh, the best set-up was Uncanny Avengers. So yeah, now let's actually talk about Amazing Spider-Man #1.

Now the big change made here is that Spider-Man has gone global. Parker Industries has taken off, Peter is now the CEO of a massive company and he has a whole bunch of new tech in his suit, also a partner to pose as Spider-Man whenever the two need to do publicity together. So why am I mixed on this story? Well to start with the positive, they are doing something different. They're taking Peter in a direction that he's never been before, which is exactly what i wanted. They also do a great job at distinguishing him from a certain other Marvel character. Genius CEO uses his tech to become a superhero, now what does that remind me of? And why does he smell of vodka? So yes, the fact that they make the differences between Peter Parker and Tony Stark clear is a step in the right direction. But my problem with this is-and this isn't going to sound nice-I don't like the idea of Peter Parker winning. One of the key elements to Peter Parker is that he is a loser, and i don't just mean he's a nerd but i mean nothing goes right for him. His relationships struggle, his aunt is constantly dying, his work/school life suffer, all because he's Spider-Man, he has to make so many sacrifices to be Spider-Man, but that's what makes him so admirable, he gets so little praise out of doing the right thing, but he's keeping people safe so that's all that matters. Having Peter always be on top and having a plan and expensive equipment and a team of people covering for him is not what Peter is about. I'm sure this is all an elaborate set-up for Peter to come crashing down because that's kind of what Marvel does. I'm not saying Peter should never be happy, what i'm saying is he should always struggle to be happy, that way he appreciates it more and is all the more grateful.

Also just to quickly touch on the other Spider-Man set-ups: Spider-Man 2099: Don't Care. Web-Warriors: Don't care. Silk: Don't care. Spider-Woman: Interesting but overall, don't care. Spider-Man (Miles Morales): Barely got any of him but holy fuck i can't wait to see more of Miles. So yeah that's all I have to say about that. I appreciate them doing something different but so far it ain't workin' for me.

-Danny

Ant-Man & The Wasp (+Marvel Schedule Changes)

It has just been announced that Ant-Man will in fact be getting a sequel, but not on his own. The sequel schedules for release 6th July 2018 will be titled Ant-Man & The Wasp. Firstly, love the title. Secondly, love the idea of the two of them being the lead characters. Most people would agree that Evangeline Lilly's character Hope Van Dyne deserved a costume of her own seeing as she was clearly more qualified than Scott Lang (Played by Paul Rudd). So it's nice to see in the sequel she won't be playing second fiddle, she won't be the Falcon to Captain America or War Machine to Iron Man. No sidekicks to play here, the two of them are on equal grounds and I love that. Like i said, i dig the name as well, we haven't had a superhero movie that's just two superhero names combined, nothing else (Lookin' at you Dawn of Justice).

Apart from that we also have a few new scheduling changes, the first one is that Black Panther is getting moved up 6 months and is now getting released 16th February 2018 (Woo!) while Captain Marvel is getting pushed back 4 months to 3rd March 2019 (Un-woo). As well as three untitled movies schedules for 1st May 2020, 10th July 2020 and 6th November 2020, christ Marvel, slow it down a bit. There's not really much to say about all that, I'm glad we'll get Black Panther a little bit earlier, sad Captain Marvel is getting pushed back and Marvel really likes to plan things out in advanced.

-Danny