"Tom And Jerry" (2021) Review (Spoilers)
Feb. 28th, 2021 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the two Tom And Jerry Special Shorts, and the latest episodes of WandaVision, and Black Lightning, the premiere of Superman & Lois, the latest episode of Muppet Babies, a DuckTales Chibi Tiny Tales short, and the latest episodes of Power Rangers Dino Fury, Clarice, and The Blacklist.
Tom And Jerry (2021)
I am a little surprised. I had an intensely negative reaction as I was watching that. But what shocks me is that I am going to wind up giving it a far more generous grade than it deserves. Because it ended correctly. I don't think a lot of people really care about good endings anymore. A blockbuster can end any which way, and people will accept it so long as the tag teasing the next Marvel movie is enticing. I was increasingly angry and frustrated during the entire movie, and what I appreciated about the ending is that it addressed my frustrations, and made their resolution a part of the story.
As I was watching it I was like, "Oh, this is 2021's version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012." Like this movie, that TV show was on the surface acceptably made, and sort of funny and clever in places. And yet every single story decision it ever made was wrong. It just got worse and worse as it went along, because the writers had no clue how to write a long-running cartoon. Culminating in the worst animated series finale in television history. And likewise every mistake this movie made got me angrier and angrier. And I was getting fed up.
I mean, this Kayla chicks walks into this fancy hotel off the street to steal food, scares a legit potential job applicant away by lying to her, steals her job by passing off her application as her own, and we're supposed to think her a mischievous little scamp because she's got the "cute white girl" deniability going for her. And Terence, a hotel worker of color, sees through her the entire time, and she manages to get him fired for the crime of being right about her all along. I was like, "Karen is the hero of this movie."
And then Terence takes a dark turn in sabotaging the wedding he was fired from, and essentially Kayla fixes things by doing the mea culpa about how Terence was right, and she lied on her application. Better yet, the next day when she tries to restart the wedding after the bride breaks off the engagement, she takes Terence aside, tells him Tom and Jerry told her the butt moves he pulled on them and her to ruin the wedding, and that she wasn't mad or going to tell anyone. Terence is not off the hook for what he did. But Kayla is choosing discretion about it because her hands aren't clean either. The movie ends with the couple (who in my opinion is actually all wrong for each other) getting married, Kayla, Tom, and Jerry being rehired at the hotel, and Kayla calling back the British lady she tricked in for a real job interview while sparks fly between the lady and Terence. Every feeling of loathing and disgust I felt for Kayla as I was watching the movie was addressed and atoned for. So I will have a better impression of the movie in my memory than I did having to sit through it. That was not a fun experience. But I probably won't remember that a year from now, and only judge the movie based on it's responsible ending.
Random thoughts:
I suspect this movie is going to get a lot of smack talked about how Tom and Jerry are supposed to be the stars of the movie, and about 2/3rds of it is actually focused on Kayla's loser drama instead. Let me state something controversial: There were a LOT of things wrong with the movie. That wasn't one of them. Believe it or not, movies like this ARE made on a budget, and live-action combined with animation is super expensive. It was filmed in Quebec and England for tax purposes, so they clearly had to pick and choose how to utilize the cat and mouse, and save them more for the second half of the movie. Roger Rabbit wasn't the main character in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" either. I think a lot of modern audiences have gotten spoiled by Hollywood throwing $200 million dollars at a screen and showing everything. Not every movie is allowed that. Frankly, I don't think every movie SHOULD be allowed that, or even NEED that, if it's good. Granted, the movie isn't actually good. But I think audiences have gotten a little TOO spoiled as far as visuals effects go. This movie and movies like it should be allowed to have more moderate budgets and compromise by centering them on the live-action humans. I don't like it, but I understand it. Give it a break about this one thing. Otherwise we'll NEVER get more live-action animated 2-D hybrids, because they'd be unfeasible due to their expense. I'll live with this, even if I don't like Kayla herself. I liked Eddie Valiant just fine.
Droopy as Hannibal Lecter. Yes, please. More of that.
Terence actually think Kayla was serious about the fish. That joke hit me wrong because nobody should be THAT stupid.
Speaking of which, the crowd turning against Tom when realizing that the cat playing the piano wasn't blind was stupid. I realize the stupidity of that reaction is the joke, but what it actually is is a stupid joke, whether it knows it is or not. Being self-aware doesn't up its smartness any. It's super dumb.
I like Ben calling Spike a little animated. I see what he did there.
Speaking of which, the only reason I could think of as to why the rapping pigeons were in the beginning of the movie, was to utterly confuse me. I am a grown adult. Stuff like that that little kids might respond to (like Pokemon) completely confounds me. I might be an animation lover, but I have an adult's reaction to stuff like that. I don't simply nod my head and say "Wow, the differences between how Ash is lecturing his friends on the best ways to nurture various Pokemon personalities make total sense, and doesn't actually sound as if this show is written by insane people for stupid people." I am actually as annoyed as an adult should be by that cartoon. And I got a similar scowl on my face over the pigeons. What the frak?
I don't mind the hiphop / rap soundtrack though. Dude of color directed the movie? Go for it! Why not?
I like Jerry using the phone as a big-screen TV.
I also like Spike re-entering the room and hitting Tom over the head with a bat because he saw him again.
Spike taking a dump. Ugh. Have I mentioned I sincerely hate PG-rated animated films? They HAVE to add that stuff to get the PG rating, and the proceedings might not be half as annoying if they didn't. Shrek has done serious damage to the pop culture landscape. It's time it was held to account for it.
One last thing. I might have accepted the world where animals are cartoons. Except seeing the dead fish at the warehouse raises questions for me instead. Are humans actually eating cartoon meat when they have a hamburger? Are portions of their feces animated when they stool? And if all animals are cartoons does that mean they are all sentient like Tom and Jerry? Isn't it totally unethical for humans to eat them then? It would be like dining on gorillas who know sign language. I mean Tom and Jerry can both read and write. We sure those dead fish couldn't? I don't like seeing those dead fish because I would have accepted this premise and not asked myself these gross questions if I hadn't.
If you ask me today, I'll tell you the movie sucked and to avoid it. You ask me how I feel about it a year from now my memory will almost certainly be warmer because of the ending. **1/2.
Tom And Jerry Special Shorts "On A Roll"
Underwhelmed. But to be blunt, I have always been underwhelmed by the entire franchise. But when I heard the Looney Tunes Cartoons folks did this, I had higher hopes.
My first impression had me excited before my hopes were quickly dashed. It's set in Japan! Instantly, I'm getting visions of Paul Rudish's Mickey Mouse cartoons which can be set all over the world because Mickey speaking a foreign language the audience does not doesn't hurt the mostly visual shorts at all. Which is refreshing, and why that show is great for international audiences. But no, the Japanese Guy speaks perfect English here instead. Bummer.
I think the biggest thing I noticed (and this goes for the movie too), is that the new Tom and Jerry stuff is MUCH less violent than the "classic" horrible cartoons. The punches and horrible things never land as hard and the most horrifying imagery is blunted. And sounds. Brrrr! Tom and Jerry used to have the most horrifying sound effects. I probably wouldn't have noticed or complained about it if it weren't for the fact that Looney Tunes Cartoons seem a LOT more violent, and the blows landed are FAR harder and damaging than they were on the original Looney Tunes shorts. I notice THESE shorts pulling their punches more because of that. But the reality is, compared to classic Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry's violence has always been disturbing and hard-hitting on some level. I won't begrudge them TOO much for pulling back some for modern audiences. As a squeamish kid, I found a lot of it hard to take. Direct punches in eyes? Yeesh!
Not great. **1/2.
Tom And Jerry Special Shorts "The House That Cat Built"
Okay, that landed. The nails in the feet were gruesome. Maybe not QUITE as gruesome as the original shorts. But up there. ***.
WandaVision "Previously On"
Well, we have some stuff to talk about.
I'm think the whole point of the series is the origin story for Scarlet Witch. That's a good reason for it to exist.
White Vision? Is this going to be the thing that will make it possible for Wanda's Vision to come back for real?
So I think Hayward is a callous and thoughtless guy. But I'm second-guessing the idea that he's a bad guy, villain, or Hydra. It seems to be he's merely incompetent and a bad person to be put in charge of what he is. I don't see purposeful malice in his actions in the flashback, at least not towards Wanda. His cruelty regarding disassembling Vision has to do with ignorance instead.
The girl they got to play little Wanda was magnificent and totally channeled Elizabeth Olsen. Great job. Cute as a button too.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson not being in the episode says they were unable to contract him for the season. He won't appear next week. If he was going to, he would have been in this episode too.
I think a lot of people are going to have a lot of theories about what the flashbacks mean. For example, where does Magneto fit into all this? What I want to talk about is what resonated most for me in the episode. It's not just Wanda's pain that I felt. Yeah, it's real, and yeah, it's great. But what I think I would feel in her place with Agatha is a real sense of embarrassment. WandaVision as a premise for a TV show is cute. But having a secondary person deconstruct its creation by going through your memories is kind of humiliating. And ultimately the reason it's created is sort of pathetic in Agatha's mind, and she makes Wanda feel that. I would not like to have been Wanda and to have shared that with Agatha. I especially don't like the idea that all of this is broadcast on TV to outsiders. I'm guessing the sitcom broadcasts themselves are unintentional. They're happening because Wanda has mimicked the premise of TV shows so flawlessly that they are broadcast over the air. But I can't image she planned or wanted this dirty laundry aired in the public.
I am really look forward to next week, whatever it winds up being. *****.
Black Lightning "The Book Of Reconstruction: Chapter Three: Despite All My Rage..."
You know, after seeing Jefferson take a beating for one of his teachers, and letting them live in his old house until he gets back on his feet, I think it's pretty easy to see why the Mayor refuses to stand against him when Tobias asks him to. Above and beyond Jefferson went.
I like that Lala doesn't tolerate killing kids. That's the line. And it's a good one.
The therapist continues to be amazing. But I'm a little confused as to whether or not she actually knows the secret.
Gambi working with the cops with the weapons made me cringe until it's revealed he's just undercover there to figure out how bad the weapons are so he can stop them. Should have known better, but the show pushed the right buttons for me to doubt him.
The episode was great and the drama landed. And yet, I didn't enjoy watching it. It's like the show has this weird knack for being high-quality and great. And me half-dreading watching it. That's not a great thing or feeling and a definite failing of the show in my eyes. I'm not saying TV needs to be all sunshine and puppies. But I like enjoying it. I'm not the bad guy. I don't deserve to be punished for watching a show like this.
The stuff with Grace and Anissa and Jennifer's empowering moment at the end, as well as Jefferson being proud of his civilian self were all great moments that made me feel good. And they were so few and far between in the darkness of the rest of the episode. The show is great. I just wish it would let me enjoy watching it. ***1/2.
Superman & Lois "Pilot"
I think that was a LITTLE too grounded and played things a little too safe. That being said, it's closer to the Superman live-action show I've always wanted than anything else.
Tyler Hoechlin got raves as Superman on Supergirl. What I was unprepared for and surprised by is how amazing he actually is as Clark Kent. He doesn't actually LOOK different when he takes off his glasses in front of his sons for the first time. But he FEELS different. As far as live-action Supermen go, usually the actor is either great as Superman or Clark. One side of the dual performance is usually shakier than the other. The only previous one great at both was Christopher Reeves. But I think Hoechlin pulls it off.
This version of Sam Lane is much easier to take than Supergirl's version. Post Crisis has been good to him. I just wanted to punch Glenn Morshower in the mouth every time he appeared on-screen.
Is this set a few years in the future past the other Arrowverse stuff? Or did Crisis retcon Clark and Lois a family 16 years earlier? I suspect whatever future crossovers there might or might not be is the only real way to settle the issue and the timeline.
I dislike Kyle right off the bat. And I'll tell you why. He's going on about how city folk look down on and forget about people like him and the rest of Smallville, and I'm like "For a guy throwing out an accusation of elitism, the guy sure thinks he's better than Clark." This is usually how that works with sneers at elitism, but the only person apply negative judgments to people in that conversation is Kyle. It's a bit rich for him to be questioning Clark's motives as acting like he's superior.
Here is something I don't get. Tell me if I'm crazy. But I know how drama works, and I know teenagers can be moody and react badly to things. But if I was a kid and learned my dad was secretly Superman? He's suddenly the coolest dad ever! What is there to be mad about exactly? Suddenly Dad has a legit excuse for why he missed therapy! Why does this enrage the kids instead? I understand the necessity of the show adding drama to the reveal and family dysfunction. I'm just saying, about this one thing, any kid would be totally copacetic about it.
Speaking of weird Jordan behavior, I'm with the girl in being a bit dismayed by the kiss. I realize Jordan is sort of an anti-social loner. But I was too and I'm pretty sure I knew enough about how girls worked back then to know that a painful story of a girl's attempted suicide is not an invitation to make-out. That is not something the kid deserves to be confused about. Something like that should go without saying.
No clue what is going on with the Captain Luthor stuff at the end. Part of me is intrigued and part of me is already annoyed. Oh, well. He can't be any worse than Jon Cryer's version. Worst Luthor ever.
I'm not going to say that was promising because I was a little disappointed. But I get why the show was greenlit and I still appreciate it was. Tyler Hoechlin is literally the best Superman we've had in decades. It would have been criminal not to give him a show. I wish the first episode of the show had been better, and I sadly don't expect much better going forward. But I mean, seeing him in the suit every week is gonna be a treat, even if the rest of the show is shaky. He really is the best Superman in decades, and arguably ever. We'll see. ***1/2.
Muppet Babies "The Ribbiter / Presto Uh Oh"
The Ribbiter:
If Kermit really wanted to play with Robin HE could have joined the bad guys. It's lame that the show never suggested that.
For the record, pickles DON'T grow on trees.
Predictable, cliched, typical preschool claptrap. Not impressed. *.
Presto Uh Oh:
The problem with Summer not having a proper personality or visible fault is that each Summer episode winds up being how one of the Babies supposedly wrongs her and how she forgives them. What a boring, vanilla excuse for characterization. Summer does not have to be as boring as the producers are making her. She's actually cute. The writers simply CHOOSE to make her boring. *.
Episode Overall: *.
DuckTales Chibi Tiny Tales "Mayan Mayhem"
Oooo, I don't like the animation. Seems less Chibi, and more Cartoon Network derivative. **.
Power Rangers Dino Fury "Sporix Unleashed"
Beast Morphers had a very promising premiere and quickly devolved the following week into the franchise's typical preschool nonsense. Did the same thing happen to Dino Fury?
Yes, and no. Yes, it's back to toddler morality, but the show itself and the characters themselves seem less annoying than usual. The writing and dialogue is a step down from last week, but I still think the voice actors for the monsters we saw don't suck in the quiet parts. And the fact that the monsters are permitted more nuanced performances outside of battle scenes is a very good.
I also want to point out that even though the episode disappointed me, it started off on a high note with the Rangers having to train to memorize their Morphing sequence. I love that. All of the other incarnations either made the in sync recitation of the oaths automatic, or with only one or two slips to begin with. I love that these Rangers are given the proper training for it real-world people would actually need.
I also think the T-Rex Zord looks pretty neat. I am an admitted kiddie TV snob when it comes to judging quality. But I am not freaking made of stone.
Retractable antennae are a very mundane solution to the Red Ranger being able to blend in with humans, which means it's the right one.
I had somewhat high hopes after last week. They clearly won't be met. But I still don't think this show will wind up the hot mess Ninja Steel and Beast Morphers were. We'll see. ***.
Clarice "Are You Alright?"
That was pretty darn solid, to be truthful. Seriously. This will never be Hannibal, but I like it anyways.
I'll tell you where it's better than Hannibal. It's better than Hannibal in the one way Hannibal sucked. My biggest reservation about Hannibal, (particularly the first season), is that it consistently refused to offer a negative judgment against serial killers and their actions. Yes, the FBI tried to catch them, but the tension of the series is whether or not Hannibal Lecter can turn Will Graham onto the idea because it's supposedly a good form of therapy for mentally ill people. And Hannibal: The Series definitely had artistry, and went interesting places with that notion, especially because they somehow did it all without telling rape stories or glorifying violence against women. But I like the lady standing up at the Senate hearing, and calling serial killers monsters, and saying they had to be stopped. And I didn't realize how much I needed that from this franchise until she said it. I mean, I was always leery about it on Hannibal. But it wasn't necessary to me liking or enjoying that show. What this tells me is that I would have liked and enjoyed the show much more had they done that.
The second major thing to note is that the franchise takes a dim view of psychologists and always has. Forget Hannibal Lecter. Chilton was always portrayed as a pain in the neck, and both of Clarice's therapists here are manipulative and working against her. All of the therapists on this show are either villains or bad at their jobs.
I liked where the case went, even if I predicted it as it was going. I don't mind a predictable story if it is told the correct way. And the reason I predicted it is because it WAS told the right way. So I very much enjoyed this episode. ****.
The Blacklist "Chemical Mary"
Not fun.
Learned a lot about Red I didn't like, although it didn't surprise me.
The series wants me to cheer the fact that Liz didn't actually plan for the people on the plane to die, but she still risked their lives not knowing the team would come through. I am angered the team is still making excuses for that psycho.
I'm back to calling the season a trainwreck. And Liz wasn't even in the episode! *.
Tom And Jerry (2021)
I am a little surprised. I had an intensely negative reaction as I was watching that. But what shocks me is that I am going to wind up giving it a far more generous grade than it deserves. Because it ended correctly. I don't think a lot of people really care about good endings anymore. A blockbuster can end any which way, and people will accept it so long as the tag teasing the next Marvel movie is enticing. I was increasingly angry and frustrated during the entire movie, and what I appreciated about the ending is that it addressed my frustrations, and made their resolution a part of the story.
As I was watching it I was like, "Oh, this is 2021's version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012." Like this movie, that TV show was on the surface acceptably made, and sort of funny and clever in places. And yet every single story decision it ever made was wrong. It just got worse and worse as it went along, because the writers had no clue how to write a long-running cartoon. Culminating in the worst animated series finale in television history. And likewise every mistake this movie made got me angrier and angrier. And I was getting fed up.
I mean, this Kayla chicks walks into this fancy hotel off the street to steal food, scares a legit potential job applicant away by lying to her, steals her job by passing off her application as her own, and we're supposed to think her a mischievous little scamp because she's got the "cute white girl" deniability going for her. And Terence, a hotel worker of color, sees through her the entire time, and she manages to get him fired for the crime of being right about her all along. I was like, "Karen is the hero of this movie."
And then Terence takes a dark turn in sabotaging the wedding he was fired from, and essentially Kayla fixes things by doing the mea culpa about how Terence was right, and she lied on her application. Better yet, the next day when she tries to restart the wedding after the bride breaks off the engagement, she takes Terence aside, tells him Tom and Jerry told her the butt moves he pulled on them and her to ruin the wedding, and that she wasn't mad or going to tell anyone. Terence is not off the hook for what he did. But Kayla is choosing discretion about it because her hands aren't clean either. The movie ends with the couple (who in my opinion is actually all wrong for each other) getting married, Kayla, Tom, and Jerry being rehired at the hotel, and Kayla calling back the British lady she tricked in for a real job interview while sparks fly between the lady and Terence. Every feeling of loathing and disgust I felt for Kayla as I was watching the movie was addressed and atoned for. So I will have a better impression of the movie in my memory than I did having to sit through it. That was not a fun experience. But I probably won't remember that a year from now, and only judge the movie based on it's responsible ending.
Random thoughts:
I suspect this movie is going to get a lot of smack talked about how Tom and Jerry are supposed to be the stars of the movie, and about 2/3rds of it is actually focused on Kayla's loser drama instead. Let me state something controversial: There were a LOT of things wrong with the movie. That wasn't one of them. Believe it or not, movies like this ARE made on a budget, and live-action combined with animation is super expensive. It was filmed in Quebec and England for tax purposes, so they clearly had to pick and choose how to utilize the cat and mouse, and save them more for the second half of the movie. Roger Rabbit wasn't the main character in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" either. I think a lot of modern audiences have gotten spoiled by Hollywood throwing $200 million dollars at a screen and showing everything. Not every movie is allowed that. Frankly, I don't think every movie SHOULD be allowed that, or even NEED that, if it's good. Granted, the movie isn't actually good. But I think audiences have gotten a little TOO spoiled as far as visuals effects go. This movie and movies like it should be allowed to have more moderate budgets and compromise by centering them on the live-action humans. I don't like it, but I understand it. Give it a break about this one thing. Otherwise we'll NEVER get more live-action animated 2-D hybrids, because they'd be unfeasible due to their expense. I'll live with this, even if I don't like Kayla herself. I liked Eddie Valiant just fine.
Droopy as Hannibal Lecter. Yes, please. More of that.
Terence actually think Kayla was serious about the fish. That joke hit me wrong because nobody should be THAT stupid.
Speaking of which, the crowd turning against Tom when realizing that the cat playing the piano wasn't blind was stupid. I realize the stupidity of that reaction is the joke, but what it actually is is a stupid joke, whether it knows it is or not. Being self-aware doesn't up its smartness any. It's super dumb.
I like Ben calling Spike a little animated. I see what he did there.
Speaking of which, the only reason I could think of as to why the rapping pigeons were in the beginning of the movie, was to utterly confuse me. I am a grown adult. Stuff like that that little kids might respond to (like Pokemon) completely confounds me. I might be an animation lover, but I have an adult's reaction to stuff like that. I don't simply nod my head and say "Wow, the differences between how Ash is lecturing his friends on the best ways to nurture various Pokemon personalities make total sense, and doesn't actually sound as if this show is written by insane people for stupid people." I am actually as annoyed as an adult should be by that cartoon. And I got a similar scowl on my face over the pigeons. What the frak?
I don't mind the hiphop / rap soundtrack though. Dude of color directed the movie? Go for it! Why not?
I like Jerry using the phone as a big-screen TV.
I also like Spike re-entering the room and hitting Tom over the head with a bat because he saw him again.
Spike taking a dump. Ugh. Have I mentioned I sincerely hate PG-rated animated films? They HAVE to add that stuff to get the PG rating, and the proceedings might not be half as annoying if they didn't. Shrek has done serious damage to the pop culture landscape. It's time it was held to account for it.
One last thing. I might have accepted the world where animals are cartoons. Except seeing the dead fish at the warehouse raises questions for me instead. Are humans actually eating cartoon meat when they have a hamburger? Are portions of their feces animated when they stool? And if all animals are cartoons does that mean they are all sentient like Tom and Jerry? Isn't it totally unethical for humans to eat them then? It would be like dining on gorillas who know sign language. I mean Tom and Jerry can both read and write. We sure those dead fish couldn't? I don't like seeing those dead fish because I would have accepted this premise and not asked myself these gross questions if I hadn't.
If you ask me today, I'll tell you the movie sucked and to avoid it. You ask me how I feel about it a year from now my memory will almost certainly be warmer because of the ending. **1/2.
Tom And Jerry Special Shorts "On A Roll"
Underwhelmed. But to be blunt, I have always been underwhelmed by the entire franchise. But when I heard the Looney Tunes Cartoons folks did this, I had higher hopes.
My first impression had me excited before my hopes were quickly dashed. It's set in Japan! Instantly, I'm getting visions of Paul Rudish's Mickey Mouse cartoons which can be set all over the world because Mickey speaking a foreign language the audience does not doesn't hurt the mostly visual shorts at all. Which is refreshing, and why that show is great for international audiences. But no, the Japanese Guy speaks perfect English here instead. Bummer.
I think the biggest thing I noticed (and this goes for the movie too), is that the new Tom and Jerry stuff is MUCH less violent than the "classic" horrible cartoons. The punches and horrible things never land as hard and the most horrifying imagery is blunted. And sounds. Brrrr! Tom and Jerry used to have the most horrifying sound effects. I probably wouldn't have noticed or complained about it if it weren't for the fact that Looney Tunes Cartoons seem a LOT more violent, and the blows landed are FAR harder and damaging than they were on the original Looney Tunes shorts. I notice THESE shorts pulling their punches more because of that. But the reality is, compared to classic Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry's violence has always been disturbing and hard-hitting on some level. I won't begrudge them TOO much for pulling back some for modern audiences. As a squeamish kid, I found a lot of it hard to take. Direct punches in eyes? Yeesh!
Not great. **1/2.
Tom And Jerry Special Shorts "The House That Cat Built"
Okay, that landed. The nails in the feet were gruesome. Maybe not QUITE as gruesome as the original shorts. But up there. ***.
WandaVision "Previously On"
Well, we have some stuff to talk about.
I'm think the whole point of the series is the origin story for Scarlet Witch. That's a good reason for it to exist.
White Vision? Is this going to be the thing that will make it possible for Wanda's Vision to come back for real?
So I think Hayward is a callous and thoughtless guy. But I'm second-guessing the idea that he's a bad guy, villain, or Hydra. It seems to be he's merely incompetent and a bad person to be put in charge of what he is. I don't see purposeful malice in his actions in the flashback, at least not towards Wanda. His cruelty regarding disassembling Vision has to do with ignorance instead.
The girl they got to play little Wanda was magnificent and totally channeled Elizabeth Olsen. Great job. Cute as a button too.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson not being in the episode says they were unable to contract him for the season. He won't appear next week. If he was going to, he would have been in this episode too.
I think a lot of people are going to have a lot of theories about what the flashbacks mean. For example, where does Magneto fit into all this? What I want to talk about is what resonated most for me in the episode. It's not just Wanda's pain that I felt. Yeah, it's real, and yeah, it's great. But what I think I would feel in her place with Agatha is a real sense of embarrassment. WandaVision as a premise for a TV show is cute. But having a secondary person deconstruct its creation by going through your memories is kind of humiliating. And ultimately the reason it's created is sort of pathetic in Agatha's mind, and she makes Wanda feel that. I would not like to have been Wanda and to have shared that with Agatha. I especially don't like the idea that all of this is broadcast on TV to outsiders. I'm guessing the sitcom broadcasts themselves are unintentional. They're happening because Wanda has mimicked the premise of TV shows so flawlessly that they are broadcast over the air. But I can't image she planned or wanted this dirty laundry aired in the public.
I am really look forward to next week, whatever it winds up being. *****.
Black Lightning "The Book Of Reconstruction: Chapter Three: Despite All My Rage..."
You know, after seeing Jefferson take a beating for one of his teachers, and letting them live in his old house until he gets back on his feet, I think it's pretty easy to see why the Mayor refuses to stand against him when Tobias asks him to. Above and beyond Jefferson went.
I like that Lala doesn't tolerate killing kids. That's the line. And it's a good one.
The therapist continues to be amazing. But I'm a little confused as to whether or not she actually knows the secret.
Gambi working with the cops with the weapons made me cringe until it's revealed he's just undercover there to figure out how bad the weapons are so he can stop them. Should have known better, but the show pushed the right buttons for me to doubt him.
The episode was great and the drama landed. And yet, I didn't enjoy watching it. It's like the show has this weird knack for being high-quality and great. And me half-dreading watching it. That's not a great thing or feeling and a definite failing of the show in my eyes. I'm not saying TV needs to be all sunshine and puppies. But I like enjoying it. I'm not the bad guy. I don't deserve to be punished for watching a show like this.
The stuff with Grace and Anissa and Jennifer's empowering moment at the end, as well as Jefferson being proud of his civilian self were all great moments that made me feel good. And they were so few and far between in the darkness of the rest of the episode. The show is great. I just wish it would let me enjoy watching it. ***1/2.
Superman & Lois "Pilot"
I think that was a LITTLE too grounded and played things a little too safe. That being said, it's closer to the Superman live-action show I've always wanted than anything else.
Tyler Hoechlin got raves as Superman on Supergirl. What I was unprepared for and surprised by is how amazing he actually is as Clark Kent. He doesn't actually LOOK different when he takes off his glasses in front of his sons for the first time. But he FEELS different. As far as live-action Supermen go, usually the actor is either great as Superman or Clark. One side of the dual performance is usually shakier than the other. The only previous one great at both was Christopher Reeves. But I think Hoechlin pulls it off.
This version of Sam Lane is much easier to take than Supergirl's version. Post Crisis has been good to him. I just wanted to punch Glenn Morshower in the mouth every time he appeared on-screen.
Is this set a few years in the future past the other Arrowverse stuff? Or did Crisis retcon Clark and Lois a family 16 years earlier? I suspect whatever future crossovers there might or might not be is the only real way to settle the issue and the timeline.
I dislike Kyle right off the bat. And I'll tell you why. He's going on about how city folk look down on and forget about people like him and the rest of Smallville, and I'm like "For a guy throwing out an accusation of elitism, the guy sure thinks he's better than Clark." This is usually how that works with sneers at elitism, but the only person apply negative judgments to people in that conversation is Kyle. It's a bit rich for him to be questioning Clark's motives as acting like he's superior.
Here is something I don't get. Tell me if I'm crazy. But I know how drama works, and I know teenagers can be moody and react badly to things. But if I was a kid and learned my dad was secretly Superman? He's suddenly the coolest dad ever! What is there to be mad about exactly? Suddenly Dad has a legit excuse for why he missed therapy! Why does this enrage the kids instead? I understand the necessity of the show adding drama to the reveal and family dysfunction. I'm just saying, about this one thing, any kid would be totally copacetic about it.
Speaking of weird Jordan behavior, I'm with the girl in being a bit dismayed by the kiss. I realize Jordan is sort of an anti-social loner. But I was too and I'm pretty sure I knew enough about how girls worked back then to know that a painful story of a girl's attempted suicide is not an invitation to make-out. That is not something the kid deserves to be confused about. Something like that should go without saying.
No clue what is going on with the Captain Luthor stuff at the end. Part of me is intrigued and part of me is already annoyed. Oh, well. He can't be any worse than Jon Cryer's version. Worst Luthor ever.
I'm not going to say that was promising because I was a little disappointed. But I get why the show was greenlit and I still appreciate it was. Tyler Hoechlin is literally the best Superman we've had in decades. It would have been criminal not to give him a show. I wish the first episode of the show had been better, and I sadly don't expect much better going forward. But I mean, seeing him in the suit every week is gonna be a treat, even if the rest of the show is shaky. He really is the best Superman in decades, and arguably ever. We'll see. ***1/2.
Muppet Babies "The Ribbiter / Presto Uh Oh"
The Ribbiter:
If Kermit really wanted to play with Robin HE could have joined the bad guys. It's lame that the show never suggested that.
For the record, pickles DON'T grow on trees.
Predictable, cliched, typical preschool claptrap. Not impressed. *.
Presto Uh Oh:
The problem with Summer not having a proper personality or visible fault is that each Summer episode winds up being how one of the Babies supposedly wrongs her and how she forgives them. What a boring, vanilla excuse for characterization. Summer does not have to be as boring as the producers are making her. She's actually cute. The writers simply CHOOSE to make her boring. *.
Episode Overall: *.
DuckTales Chibi Tiny Tales "Mayan Mayhem"
Oooo, I don't like the animation. Seems less Chibi, and more Cartoon Network derivative. **.
Power Rangers Dino Fury "Sporix Unleashed"
Beast Morphers had a very promising premiere and quickly devolved the following week into the franchise's typical preschool nonsense. Did the same thing happen to Dino Fury?
Yes, and no. Yes, it's back to toddler morality, but the show itself and the characters themselves seem less annoying than usual. The writing and dialogue is a step down from last week, but I still think the voice actors for the monsters we saw don't suck in the quiet parts. And the fact that the monsters are permitted more nuanced performances outside of battle scenes is a very good.
I also want to point out that even though the episode disappointed me, it started off on a high note with the Rangers having to train to memorize their Morphing sequence. I love that. All of the other incarnations either made the in sync recitation of the oaths automatic, or with only one or two slips to begin with. I love that these Rangers are given the proper training for it real-world people would actually need.
I also think the T-Rex Zord looks pretty neat. I am an admitted kiddie TV snob when it comes to judging quality. But I am not freaking made of stone.
Retractable antennae are a very mundane solution to the Red Ranger being able to blend in with humans, which means it's the right one.
I had somewhat high hopes after last week. They clearly won't be met. But I still don't think this show will wind up the hot mess Ninja Steel and Beast Morphers were. We'll see. ***.
Clarice "Are You Alright?"
That was pretty darn solid, to be truthful. Seriously. This will never be Hannibal, but I like it anyways.
I'll tell you where it's better than Hannibal. It's better than Hannibal in the one way Hannibal sucked. My biggest reservation about Hannibal, (particularly the first season), is that it consistently refused to offer a negative judgment against serial killers and their actions. Yes, the FBI tried to catch them, but the tension of the series is whether or not Hannibal Lecter can turn Will Graham onto the idea because it's supposedly a good form of therapy for mentally ill people. And Hannibal: The Series definitely had artistry, and went interesting places with that notion, especially because they somehow did it all without telling rape stories or glorifying violence against women. But I like the lady standing up at the Senate hearing, and calling serial killers monsters, and saying they had to be stopped. And I didn't realize how much I needed that from this franchise until she said it. I mean, I was always leery about it on Hannibal. But it wasn't necessary to me liking or enjoying that show. What this tells me is that I would have liked and enjoyed the show much more had they done that.
The second major thing to note is that the franchise takes a dim view of psychologists and always has. Forget Hannibal Lecter. Chilton was always portrayed as a pain in the neck, and both of Clarice's therapists here are manipulative and working against her. All of the therapists on this show are either villains or bad at their jobs.
I liked where the case went, even if I predicted it as it was going. I don't mind a predictable story if it is told the correct way. And the reason I predicted it is because it WAS told the right way. So I very much enjoyed this episode. ****.
The Blacklist "Chemical Mary"
Not fun.
Learned a lot about Red I didn't like, although it didn't surprise me.
The series wants me to cheer the fact that Liz didn't actually plan for the people on the plane to die, but she still risked their lives not knowing the team would come through. I am angered the team is still making excuses for that psycho.
I'm back to calling the season a trainwreck. And Liz wasn't even in the episode! *.
