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matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of DC Super Hero Girls, and DC's Legends Of Tomorrow.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "Escape From L.A."
I love that Frostee's moms are unsurprised he's a spy.
Could the formula have to do with mind control? Might explain what Frostee agreed to clean up his room and the restaurant with no problems.
Ms. Nowhere is somehow even more obnoxious now than she was last season.
I like that in one of the chase scenes some dirt flew onto the camera. Very cinematic.
Pretty good. ***.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "That Sinking Feeling"
This is one of the things I don't like about kids shows. Everyone suffers from plot-related stupidity. Tony has never been shown as such a nuisance before. Why should I accept him as one now?
Him having the heart-to-heart with the snake was kind of funny though. I won't lie about that.
The monkey doing what Cisco says after ingesting the compound leads me again to believe the plant's purpose is mind control.
More mud is splashed into the camera, which I like.
I left this feeling mostly frustrated. **1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "Bem-vindo ao Rio"
Ms. Nowhere may be annoying, but as seen here she's not actually useless.
I like the comic book animation of the flashback.
Pretty good. ***1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "Combustion"
The monkey whisperer thing as well as the description of sorcery pretty heavily telegraphed it was mind control. I feel a little disappointed having guessed it correctly so early on.
I'll tell you why Tony being dumb disappoints me so much. I don't know if other fans of the movies really appreciated Dom for this. Dom is strong, and brave, and fearless, and hardcore, and handsome. What is also interesting about Dom is there is a cunning and wisdom to him. I don't mind that Tony has something to prove and chip on his shoulder. But the fact that he's dumb means he'll never live up to his cousin. And again, it's all those flashier qualities that other fans appreciate about Dom. But the thing that got me liking him was him beating Brian in their first race simply by being smarter. I think as long as the show is playing itself as a dumb kiddie comedy, it's not doing right by the Torretos.
Speaking of which, that stuff with the monkey was ridiculous. I will not consider this dumb cartoon canon because it makes the rest of the canon look bad. The movies are unfairly called dumb. They aren't. This however is. On every level you can think of.
I don't like this show. I think it is bad for the franchise. I think a Fast & Furious kids cartoon would always be a tough sell for me at any rate, but this is especially bad at that specific premise. As much as Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous annoys me at times, there is also legit heart and scares there. This is just dreck. And I've decided that after this episode. *1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "Driving Blind"
The race at the end was kind of tense but the Ms. Nowhere twist was predictable. I was surprised Raphaella was alive though, and perhaps mind control is the only thing to suggest why a person this openly loathsome was beloved.
I also liked that the true purpose of the race was to determine if Layla was mind controlled. That was actually a pretty solid twist, simply because it made sense.
This show is still on thin ice with me, but that was a decent episode. ***1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "An Echo Of Nowhere"
That was pretty fun. The most memorable thing to me was Nowhere stating that an Echo is just an inferior copy of the original. That sounded both deep and kind of hardcore.
It's interesting, but for this episode, vehicles were not tied to the climax or the resolution. Yes, the Hauler was Echo's destination, but her battle of wits and skill with Ms. Nowhere was mostly on the terrain (outside of some obligatory motorcycle bits.)
Pretty good. ***1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "The Patroness"
The ending is totally Jasmine from Angel. Same subtext, same "Whuh oh!" moment.
I confess that parts of the climax were exciting, but the episode as a whole was a little too big and loud for me, so I lost interest in places. It was all right, and the ending was good, but I didn't actually love it. ***.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "Tchau, Uggos"
Yeah, that finale isn't getting a passing grade.
Forget the fact that it's dumb enough to have the kids save the day with a dance party, once Layla yells to Tony to duck, and he says, "A duck? Where? I love ducks!" I had pretty much had enough. I will never give a positive grade to anything that contains a line that dumb. *1/2.
DC Super Hero Girls "World's Finest"
Cute, but predictable. ***.
DC Super Hero Girls "Working Stiff"
I laughed at Babs telling her boss he was like a father to her, and him frustratedly saying he was only four years older than she was.
Also funny was the soothing, comforting voice he used when he told her she was the worst employee in the history of anywhere.
Was Condiment King Bobcat Goldthwait? It sounded like him.
Funny. ***1/2.
DC's Legends Of Tomorrow "Bad Blood"
I have serious mixed feelings. I was not happy with the ending. It was too dark and it was unsatisfying. Also while I do think Constantine's soul is probably damned, it's for the bargain he made with the vampire lady. When he speculated that it stood to reason one of the blokes he killed was a good person I was like, "That strikes me as extremely unlikely." I would not walk around with a heavy burden on my soul if that was the worry.
The beginning of the episode was cool because it sort of felt like an episode of his show. I like whenever this show channels that, and considering Matt Ryan is a cast member, they don't do it near often enough.
I'll tell you want I liked. When John entered in the priest garb I was like "Oh, yes."
The stuff with Rory and the alien growing in the background didn't interest me very much.
The episode had some good things going for it but I think the ending ruined it. **1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "Escape From L.A."
I love that Frostee's moms are unsurprised he's a spy.
Could the formula have to do with mind control? Might explain what Frostee agreed to clean up his room and the restaurant with no problems.
Ms. Nowhere is somehow even more obnoxious now than she was last season.
I like that in one of the chase scenes some dirt flew onto the camera. Very cinematic.
Pretty good. ***.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "That Sinking Feeling"
This is one of the things I don't like about kids shows. Everyone suffers from plot-related stupidity. Tony has never been shown as such a nuisance before. Why should I accept him as one now?
Him having the heart-to-heart with the snake was kind of funny though. I won't lie about that.
The monkey doing what Cisco says after ingesting the compound leads me again to believe the plant's purpose is mind control.
More mud is splashed into the camera, which I like.
I left this feeling mostly frustrated. **1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "Bem-vindo ao Rio"
Ms. Nowhere may be annoying, but as seen here she's not actually useless.
I like the comic book animation of the flashback.
Pretty good. ***1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "Combustion"
The monkey whisperer thing as well as the description of sorcery pretty heavily telegraphed it was mind control. I feel a little disappointed having guessed it correctly so early on.
I'll tell you why Tony being dumb disappoints me so much. I don't know if other fans of the movies really appreciated Dom for this. Dom is strong, and brave, and fearless, and hardcore, and handsome. What is also interesting about Dom is there is a cunning and wisdom to him. I don't mind that Tony has something to prove and chip on his shoulder. But the fact that he's dumb means he'll never live up to his cousin. And again, it's all those flashier qualities that other fans appreciate about Dom. But the thing that got me liking him was him beating Brian in their first race simply by being smarter. I think as long as the show is playing itself as a dumb kiddie comedy, it's not doing right by the Torretos.
Speaking of which, that stuff with the monkey was ridiculous. I will not consider this dumb cartoon canon because it makes the rest of the canon look bad. The movies are unfairly called dumb. They aren't. This however is. On every level you can think of.
I don't like this show. I think it is bad for the franchise. I think a Fast & Furious kids cartoon would always be a tough sell for me at any rate, but this is especially bad at that specific premise. As much as Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous annoys me at times, there is also legit heart and scares there. This is just dreck. And I've decided that after this episode. *1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "Driving Blind"
The race at the end was kind of tense but the Ms. Nowhere twist was predictable. I was surprised Raphaella was alive though, and perhaps mind control is the only thing to suggest why a person this openly loathsome was beloved.
I also liked that the true purpose of the race was to determine if Layla was mind controlled. That was actually a pretty solid twist, simply because it made sense.
This show is still on thin ice with me, but that was a decent episode. ***1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "An Echo Of Nowhere"
That was pretty fun. The most memorable thing to me was Nowhere stating that an Echo is just an inferior copy of the original. That sounded both deep and kind of hardcore.
It's interesting, but for this episode, vehicles were not tied to the climax or the resolution. Yes, the Hauler was Echo's destination, but her battle of wits and skill with Ms. Nowhere was mostly on the terrain (outside of some obligatory motorcycle bits.)
Pretty good. ***1/2.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "The Patroness"
The ending is totally Jasmine from Angel. Same subtext, same "Whuh oh!" moment.
I confess that parts of the climax were exciting, but the episode as a whole was a little too big and loud for me, so I lost interest in places. It was all right, and the ending was good, but I didn't actually love it. ***.
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers: Rio "Tchau, Uggos"
Yeah, that finale isn't getting a passing grade.
Forget the fact that it's dumb enough to have the kids save the day with a dance party, once Layla yells to Tony to duck, and he says, "A duck? Where? I love ducks!" I had pretty much had enough. I will never give a positive grade to anything that contains a line that dumb. *1/2.
DC Super Hero Girls "World's Finest"
Cute, but predictable. ***.
DC Super Hero Girls "Working Stiff"
I laughed at Babs telling her boss he was like a father to her, and him frustratedly saying he was only four years older than she was.
Also funny was the soothing, comforting voice he used when he told her she was the worst employee in the history of anywhere.
Was Condiment King Bobcat Goldthwait? It sounded like him.
Funny. ***1/2.
DC's Legends Of Tomorrow "Bad Blood"
I have serious mixed feelings. I was not happy with the ending. It was too dark and it was unsatisfying. Also while I do think Constantine's soul is probably damned, it's for the bargain he made with the vampire lady. When he speculated that it stood to reason one of the blokes he killed was a good person I was like, "That strikes me as extremely unlikely." I would not walk around with a heavy burden on my soul if that was the worry.
The beginning of the episode was cool because it sort of felt like an episode of his show. I like whenever this show channels that, and considering Matt Ryan is a cast member, they don't do it near often enough.
I'll tell you want I liked. When John entered in the priest garb I was like "Oh, yes."
The stuff with Rory and the alien growing in the background didn't interest me very much.
The episode had some good things going for it but I think the ending ruined it. **1/2.
