Doctor Who "The Next Doctor" DVD Review (Spoilers)

[matt_zimmer]

Also reviews for the latest episodes of Wolverine and The X-Men, Iron Man: Armored Adventures and the series finale of King Of The Hill.



Doctor Who: The Next Doctor

This was fabulous. I'm actually a little surprised they went this all out for this special because the last episode (The Stolen Earth/ Journey's End) was easily the most epic thing Doctor Who has ever attempted (and yes, I am aware of The Five Doctors). So pretty much anything that followed it was bound to pale in comparison. This one? No, it's not as big but it's DANG close.

I love Jackson Lake. I love him because he ISN'T a fraud and actually believed he was the Doctor. I knew in the back of my head he wasn't really the Doctor's future incarnation but I liked the guy so much I was hoping beyond hope that he was actually a good guy. And what a magnificent good guy he was.

He got a a lot of stuff about the Doctor right but completely missed the boat on others (I wonder what Rose would say if she heard the Companion's only function was to help the Doctor). Funny.

Miss Hartigan was a great villainess and it's a shame she was killed off. She could have been a good recurring baddie.

I loved the huge Cyberman and how all of the Cybermen tried to convert Hartigan but wound up creating an even bigger monster. I did not see that coming. I especially liked the Doctor giving Miss Hartigan ONE chance to back out and live her life peacefully and her rejecting the offer (sealing her doom). The Doctor ALWAYS does that. The villains NEVER take him up on that offer.

My favorite scene was the last where the Doctor admitted to Jackson he was currently alone because all of his Companions broke his heart. Losing Rose and Donna last episode devastated him even more than I thought it did. I was also delighted that Jackson changed his mind to stay for Christmas dinner especially since he made sure it was known that it wasn't a request but a demand. I loved this special and I'm really going to miss David Tennant. *****.

Doctor Who Proms 2008:

I have always wanted to see a complete concert of these Doctor Who Proms on DVD and I wasn't disappointed to finally get one. Am I disappointed the Doctor Who Confidential special The Ten Doctors wasn't included on the American Next Doctor DVD release? Yes, but this more than made up for it.

I loved Music Of The Spheres and I'd love to see the complete footage of it released as a DVD extra someday minus the audience participation which was a WEE bit too distracting. I want to see Attack Of The Graske on DVD someday too as I've never seen the first special.

It was awesome how they managed to snag a few key cast members to both present and participate in the concert. I'm particularly shocked and impressed they actually got Julian Bleach into Davros' heavy make-up for a quick scene and a couple of lines. Do they have incriminating photographs of that guy, or what?

I love all of the music of the series and it was great to hear the extended version of The Doctor Who Theme at the end. My favorite musical pieces were Rose's Theme, The Bad Wolf Bay Theme, The Girl In The Fireplace, The Doomsday Cybermen Theme, and all of the Dalek music.

I really loved seeing all of the kids and adults having such a great time. I always felt the same way whenever the Boston Pops would team up with the Sesame Street cast. It's just a great feeling to see a whole bunch of people coming together to enjoy this one particular night especially since orchestral concerts have really lost a lot of their luster in America (outside of Fourth Of July Concerts). It's just so cool.

I loved this special. *****.

DVD Menu: Standard Doctor Who Menu. ****.


King Of The Hill "The Boy Can't Help It"

I honestly couldn't figure out those girls' angle and why they wanted to "trick" Bobby and how they were tricking him. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Also not making a whole lot of sense is this episode being billed as a "Series Finale" of sorts when it was just a regular episode. **1/2.

King Of The Hill "To Sirloin With Love"

I love it when Bobby actually gets the message of the episode before Hank does. It's just SUCH a welcome change of pace that I can't help enjoying it. You know, this wasn't much of a heralded series finale but I guess like Everybody Loves Raymond or Cheers it was kind of a "life goes on" theme. I'm okay with that. Good episode. ****.

Iron Man: Armored Adventures "Fun With Lasers"

Nick Fury is kind of a jerk. To be fair, he was on Wolverine and the X-Men too but there he was a LIKABLE and funny jerk. I think this series needs to learn that if you want to team up your main character with other heroes it isn't necessary to make them as unlikable as possible to set them up against the hero. Static Shock had PLENTY of guest stars and even when there was friction between the two heroes (see Batman or Batman Beyond) you still dug the guest star and found them cool. Here, (and in Pnther's Prey) I was simply annoyed. ***.


Wolverine and the X-Men "Guardian Angel"

This episode was neat and I thought it was a VERY cool contrast to the way Warren was portrayed on the old show. While I think that it's better that Apocalypse was involved in the transformation on the nineties verion (him being one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was something I won't soon forget) Mister Sinister being involved worked decently too.

What I especially like is the fact that here Warren isn't seeking a CURE for being a mutant which always made him look like something of a loser on the old show, but simply to get back what his father took from him. That's a cool idea and I liked seeing it here.

VERY nice episode. ****1/2.


Wolverine and the X-Men "Breakdown"

I loved this because of the twist end of Phoenix being involved. I always figured they were going to make Poenix a part of the explanation for Jean's absense but I love that they made it be the reason the mansion blew up too.

All of the flashback were just great and I loved getting a glimpse at Scott's early years. I also thought it was neat that Wolverine was kind of buttmunch during the flashbacks. That was kind of a gutsy move on the writer's part to make their lead so unlikable but I think it worked because he was so dang charming at the same time which is not a descriptor that can be used with Wolverine easily.

A great episode. ****1/2.

Comments

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

I think the girls just wanted someone they could play with and boss around, like a stuffed animal or a little brother.

I thought Luanne's Wedding had more of a series finale feel for the entire episode, but "Sirloin" really hit some high notes in the last 2 minutes. I thought it was beautiful.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

There was a scene of the girls describing Bobby as some sort of "target" near the beginning. What their actual "plans" for him were didn't jibe with the idea that the were supposedly scamming him.

Agreed about Luanne's Wedding have more of a "finale" feel but this one KIND of does too if you take it in a certain way. Here Bobby FINALLY becomes an expert at something and it's something his father is proud of and seems like a cool kind of vocation to him. Of course, it COULD be completely ignored and the next episode could have gone back to Bobby being a sponge but I like to think of it as Bobby and Hank finally having some common ground as Bobby chooses what he wants to do for a career when he's an adult.

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't get the target thing either, but after that scene, it was fairly consistent.

Yeah, I'm glad we can interpret it that way for Bobby, especially since they put in the scene of Hank teaching him that stuff when he was a baby.

[mattzimmer.livejournal.com]

It's a nice place to leave off the characters and if the show is ever revisited in the future they wouldn't necessarily be boxed in by it. I liked it.