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matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of Stargirl, Marvel's Spider-Man: Maximun Venom, Funko Marvel Battworld: Mystery Of The Thanostones, and the first 8 episodes of the second season of Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Carmen Sandiego: To Steal Or Not To Steal
That was fun. It took me awhile to explore all of the different endings.
I like that the end credits used the melody from "Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?". I like that they bothered to spend the money to license the music.
But the real show-stopper of licensed music was the musical number from the game show by Rockapella. What's neat is that Rockapella's rendition is very hard for the ear to decipher many of the words in the twisty lyrics. Here, the character sings and speak them clearly enough to understand them all for the first time ever. I see this enough times I'll be able to accurately sing along with Rockapella.
I enjoyed that. ****.
Stargirl "The Justice Society"
Back on track.
Let's see:
Very impressed with this show's version of Sportsmaster. Him and Tigress killing the coach was silly but he impressed me in the fight at the end.
I appreciated how awful and real it was for Yolanda, Beth, and Rick to see their first dead body. Nothing brought it home that this wasn't a game more than that.
I laughed at Courtney's "I see what you did there" at the end, but truly if Courtney had even a SLIGHT sense of self-awareness she would have seen what Pat was building up to.
I think Beth's Dr. Mid-Night costume sucks. It is totally ill-fitting and looks goofy. Normally I'd rest assure that they'd fit it better in later weeks, but it's in the promotional material, which does not fill me with confidence on the subject.
I think the biggest reason you realized the kids deserved to keep the costumes and swag is Rick asking Courtney if she would give the staff back if Pat demanded it. And we saw this very argument in the first two episodes, and you realize Courtney no longer has a leg to stand-on.
However, I appreciate that the STRIPE armor sort of got the kids to realize Pat is much cooler than he seems. I found myself angry at the amount of lip he was taking here, and I hope that lessens in future episodes.
More egregious Pop Tarts' product placement. There is no fictional reality that sponsor is unable to take me out of. At this point they are a pop-culture menace.
Fun episode. ****.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Maximum Venom "Vengeance Of Venom"
Man I did not dig that. At all.
Moon Knight is SUCH a drag. Basically the entire episode revolves around the human race being conquered and enslaved and he still manages to be the biggest bummer in the episode. There was no part of when he was on-screen that I enjoyed. Is this typical for this character? Because he's a total drip.
On one level I am glad to hear Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt as Cloak and Dagger for most likely the final time. On another I think this specific cartoon and the ludicrous things happening in it are far beneath them. Cloak and Dagger was an unusually great Marvel show. I'd argue it was the only great one period. I don't want to remember them as lame Venom Symbiotes.
The Symbiote Supreme was the one cool villain in the episode. Every other Venom wannabe was lame.
I am a bit alarmed at how much I disliked that. *.
Marvel Battleworld: Mystery Of The Thanostones "King Of The Jungle"
Honestly? At this point, I'm starting to get a little confused. **1/2.
Marvel Battleworld: Mystery Of The Thanostones "Out Of Black Order"
That was kind of cool, but I didn't actually understand the deal with the Thor Corps either. ****.
Marvel Battleworld: Mystery Of The Thanostones "Battle For Battleworld"
It managed to make a huge story smaller than it was so it could be resolved in five minutes. Still, because of that, the cliffhanger with Loki especially grated. ***1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Breaking Purple"
00010 You! Sheldon proving there are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
Loved hearing Greg Cipes say "Booyakasha!"
Cute. ****.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Repairin' The Baron"
Redemption for Baron Draxum? Did not expect that. But Dr. Positive still has his work cut out for him.
A cafeteria lady is about the right level of evil profession for an angry person who hates humans.
Curious to see where they will go with this. ****.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Air Turtle"
Daves is a funny name for a basketball team.
The animation on the demon players winning the game was excellent.
I like the show's animated day to night transitions.
Funny episode. ***1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Pizza Puffs"
There were some traditionalist fans early on in the show's run insisting that the show was building up Leo to take over as leader from Raph down the line. My response to them was that Raph is leader because the show does not follow the Turtle canon at all, and they were setting themselves up for disappointment.
After seeing that, anyone still think the show's arc involves Leo taking over for Raph? Anyone at all? Didn't think so. This is an entirely different interpretation of the Turtles. What kills me is that it's easily the best. Which makes the hatedom surrounding it especially annoying. ****1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Sidekick Ahoy!"
I love how dismissive Raph is of the entire sidekick thing. Then he wins. And then he's enthusiastic.
And why is he picked? Because he's red! I love that.
The animation on the scorpion mutant chasing Mikey was excellent.
This episode refuses to stop with the fun episodes. ****.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "The Hidden City Job"
That was surprisingly sweet.
I busted out laughing at "Just so you guys know, we've been surrounded by goons while you were talking."
Don Suave was hilarious too.
This show keeps knocking it out of the park. ****1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Always Be Brownies"
Is this the first episode where none of the Turtles appear?
As enjoyable as this was, I have a really hard time accepting people buying cookies from a giant rat. Say what you will about how creepy Chuck E Cheese is, he's a cartoon character. A real-life giant mutant rat doing a Pepperidge Farm impression strikes me as a financial nonstarter.
More of the mystery shadow at the end. What was up with that?
Good although I don't buy Splinter as the cute rat and I never will. ***.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Mystery Meat"
Do you know what I love? The episode involves April and Mikey trying to help Draxum keep his lunchlady job. How great is that? I love that notion very much.
I don't know if anyone else would consider a lunchlady job as character growth for anyone but I love this show because I kind of do. *****.
Carmen Sandiego: To Steal Or Not To Steal
That was fun. It took me awhile to explore all of the different endings.
I like that the end credits used the melody from "Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?". I like that they bothered to spend the money to license the music.
But the real show-stopper of licensed music was the musical number from the game show by Rockapella. What's neat is that Rockapella's rendition is very hard for the ear to decipher many of the words in the twisty lyrics. Here, the character sings and speak them clearly enough to understand them all for the first time ever. I see this enough times I'll be able to accurately sing along with Rockapella.
I enjoyed that. ****.
Stargirl "The Justice Society"
Back on track.
Let's see:
Very impressed with this show's version of Sportsmaster. Him and Tigress killing the coach was silly but he impressed me in the fight at the end.
I appreciated how awful and real it was for Yolanda, Beth, and Rick to see their first dead body. Nothing brought it home that this wasn't a game more than that.
I laughed at Courtney's "I see what you did there" at the end, but truly if Courtney had even a SLIGHT sense of self-awareness she would have seen what Pat was building up to.
I think Beth's Dr. Mid-Night costume sucks. It is totally ill-fitting and looks goofy. Normally I'd rest assure that they'd fit it better in later weeks, but it's in the promotional material, which does not fill me with confidence on the subject.
I think the biggest reason you realized the kids deserved to keep the costumes and swag is Rick asking Courtney if she would give the staff back if Pat demanded it. And we saw this very argument in the first two episodes, and you realize Courtney no longer has a leg to stand-on.
However, I appreciate that the STRIPE armor sort of got the kids to realize Pat is much cooler than he seems. I found myself angry at the amount of lip he was taking here, and I hope that lessens in future episodes.
More egregious Pop Tarts' product placement. There is no fictional reality that sponsor is unable to take me out of. At this point they are a pop-culture menace.
Fun episode. ****.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Maximum Venom "Vengeance Of Venom"
Man I did not dig that. At all.
Moon Knight is SUCH a drag. Basically the entire episode revolves around the human race being conquered and enslaved and he still manages to be the biggest bummer in the episode. There was no part of when he was on-screen that I enjoyed. Is this typical for this character? Because he's a total drip.
On one level I am glad to hear Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt as Cloak and Dagger for most likely the final time. On another I think this specific cartoon and the ludicrous things happening in it are far beneath them. Cloak and Dagger was an unusually great Marvel show. I'd argue it was the only great one period. I don't want to remember them as lame Venom Symbiotes.
The Symbiote Supreme was the one cool villain in the episode. Every other Venom wannabe was lame.
I am a bit alarmed at how much I disliked that. *.
Marvel Battleworld: Mystery Of The Thanostones "King Of The Jungle"
Honestly? At this point, I'm starting to get a little confused. **1/2.
Marvel Battleworld: Mystery Of The Thanostones "Out Of Black Order"
That was kind of cool, but I didn't actually understand the deal with the Thor Corps either. ****.
Marvel Battleworld: Mystery Of The Thanostones "Battle For Battleworld"
It managed to make a huge story smaller than it was so it could be resolved in five minutes. Still, because of that, the cliffhanger with Loki especially grated. ***1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Breaking Purple"
00010 You! Sheldon proving there are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
Loved hearing Greg Cipes say "Booyakasha!"
Cute. ****.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Repairin' The Baron"
Redemption for Baron Draxum? Did not expect that. But Dr. Positive still has his work cut out for him.
A cafeteria lady is about the right level of evil profession for an angry person who hates humans.
Curious to see where they will go with this. ****.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Air Turtle"
Daves is a funny name for a basketball team.
The animation on the demon players winning the game was excellent.
I like the show's animated day to night transitions.
Funny episode. ***1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Pizza Puffs"
There were some traditionalist fans early on in the show's run insisting that the show was building up Leo to take over as leader from Raph down the line. My response to them was that Raph is leader because the show does not follow the Turtle canon at all, and they were setting themselves up for disappointment.
After seeing that, anyone still think the show's arc involves Leo taking over for Raph? Anyone at all? Didn't think so. This is an entirely different interpretation of the Turtles. What kills me is that it's easily the best. Which makes the hatedom surrounding it especially annoying. ****1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Sidekick Ahoy!"
I love how dismissive Raph is of the entire sidekick thing. Then he wins. And then he's enthusiastic.
And why is he picked? Because he's red! I love that.
The animation on the scorpion mutant chasing Mikey was excellent.
This episode refuses to stop with the fun episodes. ****.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "The Hidden City Job"
That was surprisingly sweet.
I busted out laughing at "Just so you guys know, we've been surrounded by goons while you were talking."
Don Suave was hilarious too.
This show keeps knocking it out of the park. ****1/2.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Always Be Brownies"
Is this the first episode where none of the Turtles appear?
As enjoyable as this was, I have a really hard time accepting people buying cookies from a giant rat. Say what you will about how creepy Chuck E Cheese is, he's a cartoon character. A real-life giant mutant rat doing a Pepperidge Farm impression strikes me as a financial nonstarter.
More of the mystery shadow at the end. What was up with that?
Good although I don't buy Splinter as the cute rat and I never will. ***.
Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Mystery Meat"
Do you know what I love? The episode involves April and Mikey trying to help Draxum keep his lunchlady job. How great is that? I love that notion very much.
I don't know if anyone else would consider a lunchlady job as character growth for anyone but I love this show because I kind of do. *****.
