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@meth2mad
A Comeback?
Yeah I'm thinking about sharing some posts here again, despite the fact that I do most of my blogging and art over on my other socials nowadays. I'm even more surprised that I still have people following this account after all of these years. Just WOW and thank you at your loyalty.
NEW Blog!
After months of pondering and experimenting, I've finally decided to go with Blogger/Blogspot as the home of my new blog. So, I ask my friends here on Tumblr and on Facebook who regularly read my mumblings and rants on various things to set your bookmarks to my blog at it's newest location: meth2madness.blogspot.com I've started things off with a review of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and the DmC demo, while on the wrestling-oriented end of my blog: rasslor.blogspot.com has discussed my thoughts on The SHIELD angle in WWE and TNA's own on Mrs. Bully Ray Hogan. I plan on doing an extensive review on WWE '13 once I get around to messing around with the Championship Editor and Universe Modes, as well as providing a multitude of tutorials and strategies for various fighting games. Stay frosty, true believers!
Okay, I've had my fill of Tumblr...
Apparently b/c of some lame duck glitch/bug in their source code, I'm not able to customize my HTML and only use their own premade templates. So, over the next few days, I'll be moving my blog onto ANOTHER site. Their Support contacts gave me a BS fix to the problem so I'm taking my blog off here and removing my account once I move everything over. Those of you who are following me and/or I'm following I'll either bookmark your pages and/or send out the new URL for the blog over the coming week. Thanks my true believers! - ZX
Pretty cool tidbit that the sister of one of the column writers at Kotaku.com gives a bit more incite on her sister who did her routine to the iconic The Legend of Zelda theme. Enjoy :)
I personally loved Shinkawa's sketch-like artwork for the original Metal Gear Solid. After MGS2 we didn't see his art around that much, but this is a good look back at his awesomeness.
IGN Live is hosting a special session as they offer American shores the first look at this multiplayer brawler, known to the masses in the US as Anarchy Reigns. The Japanese version of this title released on July 9th while SEGA has postponed the US release until early 2013. If you haven't gotten a chance to see this game in action, this is a MORE than appropriate time to do so. Platinum Games will be on hand to answer questions as well if you're an IGN user.
At least 3 games in my personal top 50 favorite games of all-time are on this list, and I couldn't agree more here. I'd kill for an arcade HD remake of KI Gold just to hear that awesome announcer again LMAO. But the adventure/RPG gamer in me wants to see HD remakes of Vagrant Story, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver even more. Vagrant Story came out at the WRONG time in Square Enix's library in the PSone days so it wasn't appreciated nor experienced by many. Soul Reaver's story is still one of my favorites in gaming history, along with my favorite voice acting cast with Mass Effect series and Red Dead Redemption only coming close second. Last but not least, I'd love to experience Castlevania II again as I know I'm guilty of rating Symphony of the Night as the cream of the crop.
This is the next best thing going if you don't have a decent PC gaming rig to handle the awesome sales going on Steam right now. Best Buy has SEVERAL great games (and accessories) over the past few months that's worth picking up.
Test Your Batman Knowledge!
Can you do better? And NO cheating folks :P Hit the link below.
http://www.worldofsuperheroes.com/quiz/batman/
For all of the budding Makoto players out there, you definitely can't go wrong with this. I've done work on a similar guide for Chun-Li and contributing with the creation of one for Rose as well, but this one definitely takes the cake. It's great to see players are actually caring to get this information all in one place instead of scattered across multiple message boards and videos.
This is a GREAT asset to have to help you level up your Makoto game for all levels of skill, from newcomers to pros.
Review: The Dark Knight Rises
For those of you who know me on Facebook, I've kept my word and didn't post this until AFTER the weekend rush even though I've seen the film since the midnight screening. First off, I want to take a moment express my sympathy for the families of those who were gunned down during the screening in Colorado Friday morning.
That being said, I'm not going to sugarcoat this review. I respect Christopher Nolan as a director but after watching the entire trilogy over the span of this week, I see that even the best of us have their flaws. It just points back to that no one in this world is perfect. If you haven't seen the film bare in mind from this point forward, I'm discussing the film (and the previous outings) with FULL spoilers.
Let's get started shall we?
The Plot: This narrative follows a washed-up Bruce Wayne, eight years after the end of The Dark Knight, whereas his beloved Rachel Dawes and senator Harvey Dent (turned Two-Face) have died by events spiraling out of his control. He lives withdrawn from society, lost in his own depression - much like Jay Gatsby. (Remember reading The Great Gatsby in grade school kiddies?) The Batman has taken the blame for the murders committed by Two-Face, along with the death of Dent himself. Ever since that night, the Batman has never been seen again in Gotham City while it adopts into a time of peace and tranquility. Over the years, Commissioner Gordon has been forced to live with this lie as it's used to bring majority of Gotham's criminals to justice, but his conscience is getting the better of him. A mercenary, Bane, seeks to restore Gotham to its chaotic state by unleashing this 'truth' about that night, thus starting a chain of events that force the Dark Knight to come out of retirement. A cat burglar known as Selina Kyle (We know her as Catwoman but she's NEVER officially called this in the film) is on the prowl as well - causing Batman to convince her to reconsider her career choice.
What this film does right:
Any doubt of Anne Hathaway further tarnishing the Catwoman character on the silver screen was diminished upon her entry into every scene she's in the film. Her and Bale's on-screen chemistry is almost electric as it's a shame they didn't introduce her into the trilogy earlier. I hope all of Hathaway's haters are choking on their words now after seeing the film. She definitely ties with Michelle Pfeiffer as my favorite actress to play Selina in a Batman-related narrative. And before people bitch about one was better than the other, that's not a fair argument - two different eras and two different interpretations of Batman's lore. It was also in good taste that Nolan did a nod to the Adam West-era Batman series to design her costume much like the one worn by Julie Newmar (the first woman to play Catwoman in a Batman film).
The Bat (the new aircraft that's teased in a lot of the trailers) was a welcome addition to Batman's vehicle arsenal. I never was a fan of the Batmobile looking like the ThunderTank from ThunderCats. I still love that crazy motorcycle he's still recycling from The Dark Knight though.
Much like I reviewed Max Payne 3 a few days ago for that narrative highlighting this particular aspect of man, but I would like to do the same and praise Rises for the same. Nolan manages to capture every bit of Bruce Wayne's inner turmoil from the start of the film and to its ending moments - showing how easily one can lose all faith and slip into a metaphorical pit of despair from their fall of grace until they summon the strength within (and beyond) to climb out of that very pit. Ironic that the plot follows Bruce's dilemma of climbing out of an impossible pit-like prison, which symbolically is a homage to his inner demons.
Much like the last two outings, Nolan's cast doesn't disappoint - even though many people still try to measure these film's success on merely just one man's shoulders (I'm sorry, but Heath Ledger didn't sell TDK. You could've given that role to Johnny Depp or any great suitable actor and gotten the same result. So, I beg people to quit sucking Ledger's nutsack just b/c he died. He did a SUPERB job as the Joker but don't oversell him for more than he's worth...). Christian Bale returning as both Bruce Wayne and Batman, Gary Oldman returns as Commissioner Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Joseph Gordon-Levitt debuts as Detective John "Robin" Blake, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, Tom Hardy as Bane and with Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate Talia al-Ghul.
One thing I've noticed as a weakness in Nolan's cinematic style is he has a weakness in filming action scenes. It was painfully obvious in Begins, but was a vast improvement in The Dark Knight, and he finally came to acceptable style of action in his films. Instead of focusing on facial expressions and reactions during combat, he simply backs the camera up to allow the spectator to survey all that's going on in combat. Bale doesn't look as stiff and clunky in combat as the last two films as in this outing. That being said, the best action sequence in the entire film was the initial encounter between Batman and Bane. That was NOT for the choreography of the action but how the camera cut back to several reaction shots from Selina and the other henchmen watching from a safe distance while Batman gets broken down on several levels - mentally and physically. Her expressions added a lot to the pain that he was suffering in that scene.
Where this film goes wrong:
There's a LOT of head scratching moments in this film's narrative - especially when coupled with the events of the previous two films. Let's examine these moments shall we?
Starting off, why the EIGHT year time gap? 8 Years is a long time for a lot of this to boil up and not screw up... More on this later...
John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) almost immediately inserts himself into the Batman legacy by coming to the Manor unannounced. I thought this was a cheap nod to Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond's two-part pilot where he begs a retired Batman to wake up and smell the coffee in the world outside of his mansion, as there's still some shit going bad in his company and more importantly his city. This character's mere inclusion just bothers me from start as he knows too much and he's literally forced down your throat as the street-wise "eyes" of the so-called people that are suffering still in the post-Joker and Two-Face Gotham. I was fine with him being chosen as Wayne's successor, but the cheap plug for "Robin" wasn't even necessary at all.
Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) romancing Bruce Wayne was a rushed as well. Nolan introduces two new supporting characters and expects his audience is too stupid to realize there's not another motive for these characters. I was fine with Bruce doing a Tony Stark and giving Tate the "hit it and quit it" routine since he was broke, but his ENTIRE company and showing her most of his secrets after barely knowing this broad? Let's get realistic here, Bruce totally lost his nickname as the World's Greatest Detective there. It doesn't take a genius to see that she was up to something. Let's fast forward a bit to her big reveal as Ra's al Ghul's daughter. Okay, that was cool and all even though I guessed that about 45 minutes to a hour into the film. Mind you, I didn't even watch any of the interviews and tidbits before the film came out as I didn't want any possible spoilers. But here's the bigger question - if she cherishes her father so much then why she wasn't at his side in Begins like she's always shown to be in most of the source material? And no, I'm not bitching about this isn't being like the comics/cartoons, she said it herself that she's a legal citizen of Gotham City. Another question, how come she doesn't have as much training as Ra's and Bane do? When Bane failed, she should've been able to take Bats on solo. BIG plothole there.
Alfred waits EIGHT years to tell Bruce the truth about Rachel's letter. Seriously, that puts him in the same stupidity boat as the butler in Spider-Man 3 who didn't tell Harry Osborn that his dad was killed by his Goblin Glider and NOT Spider-Man after 2 films. I could have let that slide but when he abandons him for the duration of the film was just unforgivable. Alfred has been Bruce's father figure and mentor for the duration of his life since his parents died and yet in his darkest hour, he just drops him like a bad habit when it was HIS DAMN FAULT Bruce was in that depression! Irony hits hard when Lucius Fox ends up becoming the new Alfred in a sense, watching over and assisting Bruce all the way to the end.
Roland Daggett is added to the list of expendable secondary characters in Nolan's trash bin. Much like anyone significant in the past Nolan Bat-films, he's killed off without any remorse after Nolan decides he doesn't have any further use for them. I swear Bane was snapping and breaking necks like he was snapping into a Slim Jim every 20 minutes or so of the film. I personally never liked Roland Daggett in any source material, but it would've been cool to see Batman actually get that asshole in jail for once.
The theme of the rich opposing the poor is preached throughout the film, but we actually VERY little evidence of this. Rewind the clock back to Begins, where Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) visually introduced both Bruce AND the viewing audience to the actual horrors and foul condition that Gotham was in. Here, we have little to no evidence of this outside of the orphaned children.
The above statement also ties into the absence of The Joker. I know that's a touchy subject with Heath Ledger being dead, but it was foolish to act as if he never existed. If Scarecrow can appear in ALL three films as well as Ra's al Ghul both make cameos, then something could have been done to remind people of the affect that he had on the city. Then on top of that, The Joker wouldn't be one to sit idly by while Gordon and Batman 'won' the game. Anyone can tell you that The Joker does NOT like losing. The Joker's schemes showed that the people of Gotham City were ready to embrace a bright and shiny future and to fight if necessary. The catch-22 with the two boats was clear evidence of that. Instead, in Rises we get a step backwards in the wrong direction. The masses of Gotham are unwilling and lazy to make a stand, looking and hoping for the Batman - the very man they have condemned as a villain - to save them from oblivion.
Bane's voice audio was hit or miss throughout the film. It would be clear and easily understood in most parts but others he would be so mumbled up that I was wishing that they just put subtitles up for his spoken lines. That being said, he sounded like Gandolf trying to do a Patrick Stewart impression. He just didn't bring the bang here like the past three villains and how he was disposed of just adds to the list of villains of guys that Batman technically never defeated in this trilogy. If you go back and look at the facts, the only villains he personally defeated were Ra's al Ghul and Two-Face. That's it. Scarecrow was dispatched by Rachel Dawes in Begins with a taser after Bats clearly ignores him for Ra's (of course he caught him at the beginning of TDK but that doesn't count in the least), The Joker was left strung up for the police in TDK to an unknown fate while Bats ran off to stop Two-Face, and Selina steals Bats' thunder and literally saves his ass after shooting Bane through the wall and we're left to ASSUME he's dead from that. Outside of breaking Batman's back, Bane is barely a step up from his Batman & Robin counter-part with his cheesy Englishman accent and lack of significant powers. Well, at least he's not the Incredible Hulk on crack in this movie. What was the deal with that squid-mask on his face though? Did he happen to look at Al Bundy's mother-in-law when she got out of the shower and got an uber nose bleed or something?
Inconsistencies in the narrative - For example, when Bane strips Bruce of all of his gadgets and armor after breaking his back, how is he still able to walk normally and such when he's 'training' for the escape and final battle? He was shown wearing a brace on his leg early in the film to cope with the lack of fluid in his knees. Another moment is how Bruce gets back to Gotham in less than 24 hours before the bomb goes off after escaping the prison, Bruce is supposed to be broke and without a cent to his name. What did he do? Hitchhike back in record time?
Lasting Impressions and Analysis:
More so than the previous entries, Rises hits the nail on the head on the comparisons of this film being seen with similarities to the 9/11 tragedy. Bane is the terrorist ready to cleanse Gotham for it's corruption and sins by wiping it off of the planet with a bomb. At the same time, his origins spawn from a pit-like prison which one cannot deny that has strong similarities to Afghanistan. Nolan drives the point home even harder with Talia (Ra's family are of Arabic descent) being the holder of the trigger for the bomb. Nolan adds even more to this similarity by creating a tragedy with people trapped underneath tons of rubble and debris (thousands of police officers trapped underneath Gotham). Another with how the officers are hung by the neck over the city after being executed.
Nolan uses another shot directed at big business and corporations in America - this time with Bane as a radical targeting New York Stock Exchange.
Rises uses a similar set piece as the calm before the storm as how Selina Kyle foretold. In all three films, there's a dinner party before something goes awry in Gotham. In Rises, Tate hosts a masquerade party. Powerful use of symbolism here. Bruce Wayne and Miranda Tate aren't wearing physical masks at the party - strong foretelling here. We all know that Bruce Wayne is the mask he wears among the masses - the real part of Wayne's psyche is Batman. In Miranda's case, she's wearing the mask of the businesswoman to hide her true motives as Ra's daughter.
The Ending and Closing Remarks:
Rises ends with Batman (Bruce Wayne) making the choice to become a martyr for the people of Gotham City and sacrificing himself for the city can continue to recover from the horrors that criminals have done to corrupt it over the years. In passing, he leaves his legacy to now former Detective John Blake. The Wayne Manor is left as a testament and home for orphaned children much like himself.
I was fine with the ending if they ended with just that. Alfred has made the point known since Begins and expressed it heavily in TDK that the Batman should be more than just a person, but now with his notable sacrifice, it lives on forever as a symbol of hope. I've expressed SEVERAL times to friends and family that I would have been pissed if Nolan didn't kill Batman at the end of this film. Of course, I got what I wanted but I get Rick Rolled in the process...
Nolan cuts to Alfred enjoying a vacation, only to see Bruce and Selina eating happily together as a couple at the table across from him, followed by a Sopranos-style ending with the title flashing on-screen. Seriously, Bruce, you know you can't make a ho into a housewife... I couldn't believe that shit, I uttered "WHAT THE FUCK?" so loud during the end credits as people applauded this shit. I think Joker said it best in TDK, "What happened? Did your balls drop off?" That's what I want to ask Nolan when he didn't have the balls to kill off Bruce. Fox expressed it heavily in the film, repeatedly, saying The Bat didn't have auto-pilot. So, we're left with a HUGE plot hole here. How did he escape and survive the 6 mile radius of the explosion? The lasting impression the ending gives is that if Nolan was waved enough money, he could continue this franchise if he wanted to revisit it. Gordon-Levitt would take the role as a new rookie Batman. Hmmm, some Batman he would make since he won't have the same training as Bruce had... Way to go on that thinking there, Nolan. Bravo, bravo. Then on top of that, the thing that upsets me more on this ending is that it seems like Bruce just quit like punk just because everything was just so hard or that was the best effort he could do for Gotham City. It seems selfish - just because Gotham City has found peace doesn't mean he can just walk away from what he's started. This just makes his physical and emotional rise to grandeur prior to the final battle (climbing out the pit) pointless and a waste of time. There's always other evils in the world. Crime doesn't take holidays or days off. Let's face it, his 'replacement' isn't going to be as prepared as he was.
Factoring in all of these shortcomings along with measuring the trilogy's narrative from start to finish, I have to admit this was a horrible note to go out on for The Dark Knight. The title of the movie may be Rises, but this outing has fallen down into the bottom of the pile along with Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. Nolan has ended the trilogy on a sour note, where the film would have shined better as a stand alone film, but as the final entry in this trilogy, I can't honestly say this film was an example of Nolan's best work.
The final verdict? I give this 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Review: Max Payne 3 (Xbox 360) - Single Player Campaign Only
Ah, our old friend, Mr. Max Payne. I gotta say Rockstar waited a LONG ass time to give us another outing of this series and I'll gladly admit this is my favorite franchise to come out of their studios. I know I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but I'm currently taking a break from fighters until Tekken Tag Tournament 2 drops in September to catch up on some games that I've been neglecting or missed out on during EVO season.
The Good: Rockstar hasn't changed much from the Max Payne we know and love. He's still fucked up in the head after the murder of his wife and daughter plus the loss of Mona Sax in Max Payne 2. Before people point it out - YES, I know if you beat the game on the hardest difficulty, that Mona Sax survives the endgame ordeal, but they are using the original ending for continuity sake; much like Metal Gear Solid series went by the Meryl being still alive ending in the later sequels. An old friend from his police academy days drags Payne out of his pit of self-pity and into a seemingly easy bodyguard job in Brazil, protecting the Branco family of rich snobs. It wouldn't be Max Payne if things didn't take a dive into the shit tank, so expect many screwjobs and things not being so cut-and-dry here as well as in previous entries. The plot is weaved in a creative manner that keeps you interested from start to finish. The story spans two disks worth of content.
Much like the previous entries in the series, Max Payne 3 sports a very enjoyable soundtrack. If you're savvy and look around in the environment during the campaign, you'd even find a few throwbacks to the original Max Payne score. There's many more than suitable tracks for the environments and scenarios that Max gets himself into.
The new and improved Killcams upon the death of the last enemy are a nice touch on the John Woo-inspired gun play that we know and love. Speaking of gameplay, Bullet Time has been tweaked slightly. Shootdodging and normal Bullet Time count as two different actions, so you won't waste the meter for just Shootdodging normally.
Occasionally, the game drifts back into Max's past and we're treated with the classic Max Payne garb and environments. As always, James G. McCaffrey provides his talents to his voice again in this third entry as Max Payne. McCaffrey has aged just as much as the character has and it's a rare treat that we get to see gaming icons age and portrayed as vulnerable human beings, despite of all of the stellar things that they accomplish at our control. If anything, I think that that's what this game does best in its narrative - it displays a man's inner turmoil and his path to redemption to climb out of his seaming endless pit of despair and anguish.
The Bad: When I rented the title from my local Blockbuster, the guy at the register went on and on about how brutally hard this game was. I normally brush his opinion out the other ear as if he's a moron, but I gotta say in this game he's right. For a game that's made a name for itself on last generation consoles for reckless, John Woo-esque gameplay, it's shocking to see that you will RARELY resort to Shootdodging at all in this newest outing. I personally can't STAND the recovery animation for it. I know it's been roughly ten years since I've played the last entry, but I don't remember Max being so sluggish and slow to rise after Shootdodging. More commonly, I found myself, hiding behind cover like a coward and picking my shots when and where I could. I could honestly count on one hand how many times I actually resorted to using the series' staple shootdodging. More frequently the game's AI has INSANELY accurate precision aiming, resulting many one-shot KO deaths via headshots before you know who or what killed you and from where. I find it strangely odd that they can shoot the wings off a fly but can't throw grenades accurately for shit. What's up with that?
The Last Stand mechanic (the game freeze frames in a one-on-one shoot off between you and the guy who has you about to die) was cool the first 3-5 times but it's VERY flawed. If the opponent who shot you goes into cover, you cannot get your redemption and you're stuck in slow-mo for roughly a minute and a half before seeing that FAILED game over screen. It would not have hurt for them to highlight that enemy who you need to focus on in firefights with multiple foes onscreen at once.
The Cover Mechanic. It's hit-or-miss here. Combined with the expert aiming of the AI, you'd find yourself gunned down to death before even getting into cover or even peeking out briefly to get your bearings. An option to quickly move from cover to cover would have been a GREAT asset here. Hell, or take that mechanic from Vanquish where Bullet Time is applied as you vault over cover would've taken this title to the next level. But again, it's a missed opportunity. The lack of innovation here really makes this title seem like it was more suited for the last generation of gaming rather than the present.
The Plot. Without any spoilers, I'll say that the lack of a love interest was really disappointing. To see Max's life spiral out of control in the last two games and he continue the trend of not being able to save the ones he cares for most in his life, it would have been cool to introduce a female companion for him to defies that cliche of his life. They started the trend since Max Payne 2 where they were slowly stepping away from the film noir presentation, but it hurts me a little that they stepped further away from that in this entry. Max's narration never disappoints but it comes off as a narrative that would've been in the pre-show teaser trailers for Sin City and Scarface on Blu-Ray.
The Ugly: Let's start with visuals. On disk 1, the character renders are roughly the same grade as Max Payne 2 on last generation consoles with a HD finish to them, but on Disk 2 it's a vast improvement, as clothing doesn't look painted on and everyone doesn't have that same generic painted-on rendered face.
I already have bad eyes, but this game made it worse with the flashing/blur effect they use during cutscenes and set pieces. I prolly could have finished the game even sooner if I didn't have to constantly take breaks for my eyes to recover from that effect or ease the headache it was causing me. If you sensitive eyes, I'll gladly advise you from NOT playing this title or at least play it periodically in spells with several breaks in-between.
Any replay value? The game isn't long at all, but if you're fan of the series, then you already know that these games are strictly rentals. I clocked roughly 10 or more hours through the total campaign. There's more to be had with the extra modes and chores, such as In A New York Minute (a race against the clock through the gunfights of the game), obtaining all of the golden guns and clues within levels, and unlocking harder difficulties, but outside of that, there's not much other reason to return to the game if you're looking for a pure single player experience here. I really can't fault the game at all for that too much, as the previous entries were roughly the same weekend/rainy day affairs as well.
Glitches? There was a glitch I encountered on Chapter XIII whereas Max Payne dropped his guns to play the original Max Payne score on the piano by the elevator to the penhouse. His arms floated away and stuck themselves awkwardly out of his chest and head for a few minutes but it fortunately switched back to normal by the next gunfight. You'd think this generation's of gaming would be over the "ragdoll corpse twitching era" from the last generation from shooters but it's popped up a few times in this game as well, especially during KillCams -- resulting in me laughing hilarious loud at the body jerk reactions. You'd think something like that would get past the debugging guys before retail release.
Closing Words: At the end of the day, Max Payne's return is a mediocre one. He's that old relative who is a few months away from being sent to the retirement home. What I'm getting at is this series - we've had fun with it, we had some good times and bad times - but deserves to rest from here on out. Bullet Time has been done to DEATH in gaming after Max Payne's original outing, and there's no new ground to be found here. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed reliving a favorite from the last generation of console gaming, but I would be perfectly fine with this series coming to a close after this addition. Max Payne 3, despite its shortcomings and flaws, I still give a 8.5 out of 10.
Review: The Amazing Spider-Man
Hello there, true believers and fellow webheads! Even though I was against seeing it from the previews, I took a shot in the dark and checked out the Spidey reboot today. As usual, do NOT read ahead as I shall review the film with FULL spoilers.
Unlike Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man films, this reboot is directed by Marc Webb and combines elements from the classic Spider-Man lore as well as the more recent Ultimate Spider-Man line of comic books.
By now, we already know the origin story...
The protagonist of Spider-Man is Peter Parker, a science prodigy teenager who lives in Queens, New York. He is bitten by a genetically altered spider and inherits its powers, including enhanced strength, agility and reflexes. When an armed thief, whom Peter had a chance to stop earlier but didn't, kills his uncle Ben, he feels guilty and dedicates his life to fighting crime as the costumed vigilante Spider-Man. Peter tries to balance school, a job, a girlfriend, his family life with his widowed aunt May, and his activities as Spider-Man.
There's a few notable differences in the story compared to Raimi's:
Andrew Garfield replaces Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in this reboot, and wastes no time giving him a fresh feel to the film. His build suits Ultimate Spider-Man's more accurately than Tobey did the classic Spidey model. Tobey came off TOO nerdy at times to the point that it didn't feel like Spider-Man at all in the original films but someone in a bad cosplay. Andrew Garfield brings that perfect balance of charm and youth to the character that we've known and love for so many years in comics. The iconic witty banter from Spidey was a welcome addition to this reboot as well.
Much like the comic books, Spider-Man has his traditional web-shooters and artificial webbing instead of natural webbing as a result of the radioactive spider bite. As a result, the amount of webbing he can shoot and use is limited to the amount of web fluid he has with him. They didn't address this as an issue until the film's climax vs. The Lizard whereas he crushed both of the shooters on Spidey's wrists.
Gwen Stacy is Peter Parker's love interest in this film instead of Mary Jane Watson. In Amazing, she's more to her classic comic book version rather her street wise version in the Ultimate line of comics. If you're familiar with the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon from a few years ago, her and Peter's relationship is VERY much like that. I personally loved Emma Stone's take on the character, as I honestly wanted her to be cast as MJ in the original trilogy.
Instead of being hounded by the Daily Bugle, Spidey has to earn the police's trust as well as the people of the city. Other than the Lizard, Spidey spends most of the film convincing Captain George Stacy (Gwen's dad) that he is a hero, striving for a better and safer city.
Norman Osborn (the man who becomes the Green Goblin) is mentioned heavily in the film, but he doesn't make an appearance at all. Same goes for his son, Harry. This could be argued and debated after viewing the film's mid-credit teaser though.
Peter doesn't catch the thief who kills Uncle Ben -- instead it serves as a driving force for Peter to continue doing good in the city other than just mindlessly hunting for revenge. Initially this decision bothered me at first, but it works for the narrative. Shows that Peter has character growth in his responsibilities with his powers and isn't just driven by revenge and rage.
There is no pro wrestling fight sequence. As much as I loved the BoneSaw ("Macho Man" Randy Savage) bout in the original film, I can live without it here. The only thing that comes close to wrestling is that during a random escape from thugs, Peter falls through an unstable roof and into a closed-down luchador-style wrestling arena. This is where he is inspired to wear a mask to hide his identity. Yeah, I'll admit that was a bit cheesy on that placement in the plot.
Dr. Curt Connors (AKA The Lizard) is a former friend of Richard Parker (Peter's father), instead of random miscellaneous instructor at Empire State University like in Spider-Man 2 and 3. He's my biggest issue with the film - Connors' actor does a fine job, but all of the fight scenes with The Lizard look fake as hell. I can understand they made him CG just to keep things simple but they could've at least called Marvel Studios and get a few pointers on making it look less obvious.
Peter's parents, Richard and Mary Parker, are the heavy focus of the origin story. Apparently, Richard Parker has rather shadowy past and it ties into Peter becoming Spider-Man and Connors becoming the Lizard, since he hid his classified notes that Peter found and gave to Connors to use to complete their cross-species hybrid formulas. I can live with this being the driving point of the films as long as they don't go as far-fetched as some of the lore went with his parents being accused of being Nazis and ending up being SHIELD agents. No, none of that just keep it simple...
Some of my gripes...
Aunt May has very few moments to keep you interested in her character. And the lack of time put into establishing her and Peter's relationship after losing Uncle Ben was ignored entirely just to spend the duration of the film on Peter and Gwen's relationship.
Speaking of Gwen and Peter's relationship... While Stone and Garfield played the parts more to my satisfaction, it just seemed VERY rushed on the romantic aspect. The scene that comes to mind is Gwen just randomly hunting Peter down at school and writing down her address in his notebook and inviting him to dinner out of the blue. It just came off as VERY odd in my book. Girls aren't that forward anymore -- I know I'm getting old, but last time I checked it's not that easy to get her to get you to come over and meet the folks, especially when they haven't even had a real first date yet.
No lack of closure on what happens to Dr. Rajit Ratha... After that initial attack by the Lizard, he's not seen again for the duration of the film. Did Lizard eat him? Did he haul ass out of town? What? He's supposed to be one of Osborn's right-hand goons yet he doesn't have any further involvement in the plot. His absence seemed VERY odd. Same goes to all of the talk about Osborn and the use of his company, yet we don't get to actually SEE him.
What the film does right...
The first-person oriented webswinging sequences were few and well placed. From the early reviews, I went into the film dreading that they would be heavily forced in the films like how the Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions video game tacked them on the end of EVERY boss encounter. It was cool the first two times, but after that, enough.
Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone's onscreen chemistry is unmatched here, but still doesn't top the combined star power of Marvel Studios' Avengers. Regardless, the duo manages to squeeze a few laughs and smiles out of its audience. But don't count out Denis Leary (Capt. Stacy) and Rhys Ifans (Connors/Lizard) either. Excellent performances all round from the cast here.
More hand-to-hand fight sequences than just pure CG-spotfests. It looked good in the original films where there was one real punch thrown for every 20 blows in CG, as if you're going to do that in a film you might as well make a damn video game instead.
The costume -- Initially, I was on the same boat as everyone else. I HATED the early designs and photos of it prior to seeing the film, but by the end of the film it won me over. It's symbolic to the reboot -- it's a NEW Spider-Man with a new look. Same thing with classic Spidey to swap to the Unlimited costume people hated in that animation. Just takes time to get used to.
The final verdict -- Out of the summer superhero blockbusters for this year, I give this one a 4 out of 5 stars. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it has potential to become even better in its sequels down the road. It's a great kick-start for the franchise and if Sony plays their cards right they could crank out another trilogy out of this bad boy as well.
Rasslor's Wonders -- RAW (6/25/12) to RAW (7/2/12)
Another week, another flop in pro wrestling news. I missed most of RAW on Monday night, but the way people were blowing up my IM and Facebook account on how bad it was, I only watched highlights later in the week. The only things notable this week were the following:
CrayJ (AJ) continues her adventures in BonkersVille, but seems like both CM Punk AND Kane don't want anything to do with her. Kane dumping AJ had me laughing as Kane was pointing out that he's a monster and doesn't have it in him that he could care for another human being so I'll bring this up again -- KATIE VICK. Google it folks. WWE kills me how they think their fans are so stupid that they can just neglect events prior to 3-5 years ago.
Sycho Sid Returns -- Only to squash Heath Slater. Seriously, who's Cheerios did this kid piss in? At least Sid doesn't look as bad as some of the other Legends that WWE normally dips into the hat to draw from regularly. To many people's surprise, I wasn't as hyped about this as I should've been. Maybe if it was a few years ago, but seeing Sid again just makes me miss seeing him, Savage, Molly Holly, Madusa, and Gorgeous George together in WCW.
RAW's Money in the Bank match is only for former champions only, so the returning Chris Jericho, The Big Show, and Kane are joining Cena in that match. Why does this match only have 4 Superstars? Hell, Ziggler and Swagger are former champions so give them a spot. It's not like they are doing anything else with their time. Speaking of Ziggler, someone needs to give him some more hair dye or something. His roots are showing BADLY.
Then RAW ends with both Big Show AND the returning Jericho clobberin' John Cena into oblivion. That's always a plus.
I didn't mention it last week as I didn't get a chance to watch the show until AFTER I did the first blog entry, but the new season of NXT is worth watching. WWE pretty much made this a televised version of FCW to show off new budding talent. About fuckin' time, I must say. I'll definitely keep an eye on this over the coming months.
Impact Wrestling for the week was just ugh... I honestly didn't want to watch after that abomination of an angle they dropped last week concerning recovering drug addict Claire Lynch, but of course it gets worse.
At least, we can start with some good. The Playa from Da Himalaya AKA the greatest X-Division wrestler to NEVER win the championship, is back in TNA -- SONJAY DUTT!! The man with the best hurracanranas in wrestling today. Man, I uber-marked out to see him back for the X-Division tournament at Destination X. He defeated Rubix, but if you follow Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling you prolly know him as Jigsaw.
Dixie Carter and Claire Lynch are shown throughout the show in interview bits, whereas it looks like they are both reading answers off cue cards. The acting is so unbelievable here, as Claire even looks to Dixie to see if she's saying the right thing or not. So yeah, the 'reveal' last week had to be bullshit. Yeah, Dixie I'm not buying into a bit of this shit. Like I said last week, there's WAAAAAAAAYY too many plot holes in that logic.
More Brooke Hogan BS - This week, Brooke is showing off some lame ass insurance merchandise of Tessmacher. Umm, yeah that's cute, but any idiot can get that done or make it themselves in PhotoShop. The only good thing that came out of this segment was Gail Kim making a few jokes in between the lines to a few WWE and FCW divas, namely Raquel Diaz/Shaul Guerrero who I mentioned last week. At least we get that Gail Kim/Tessmacher rematch to look forward to next week.
Kaz is having a change of heart after the reveal of Claire, so he wants nothing to do with Daniels. The entire segment between him and Hogan came off as utter stupidity. Here's the jest of it. Hogan: "I gotta job to do so I booked you in that match. So it's your job to go out there and wrestle." Kaz: "But I don't want anything to do with that guy!" Hogan: "Well don't you want a fresh start? So here's your chance to make it happen." What the hell? So you're pretty much forcing the guy to tag with someone he doesn't want to anyway, just to get a title? I thought Kaz made it pretty clear that he didn't want to take shortcuts to the top. Oh yeah, later in the show, Hogan books James Storm vs. Jeff Hardy for next week's show. I doubt Druggie's gonna win that one. Pretty messed up to have TNA book that one though -- The Alcoholic vs. The Cokefiend.
Samoa Joe lands a submission victory against Bully Ray in the BFG series after Abyss' brother grew a pair and got in Ray's face. I hope this doesn't lead to another flop in Joe's career. If he doesn't win the BFG series this year then he needs to either quit TNA and try his luck elsewhere, namely WWE. At this rate, his career really can't get any worse. The worst thing WWE can do to him is make him Umanga II (Yes, I did that on purpose - just like how Regal used to call him). Besides, Joe is already halfway there wearing those Nation of Violence shorts.
Taeler Hendrix earned a TNA contract during the GutCheck panel. IMO I don't think she's ready at all. She needs more work in development and the only reason she prolly won was because she's the first female wrestler they've had on the segment anyway. Either way, I hope it's a while before we see her on TV regularly as TNA is having the same dilemma WWE is having with their female wrestlers as they don't know what to do with the ones they already have. The only thing that sparked my interest in this segment was the use of Joey Ryan in the crowd to interrupt the segment. Fate be told, I've been following his YouTube channel since he got released/fired after the GutCheck challenge and he's been putting them on blast lately so this added to that heat he's been creating for himself. Now that I know it's kayfabe, he's prolly going to get called back in after gaining a following like how Zack Ryder did last year. That way it's easier for him to get over when he properly debuts.
Rashad Cameron def. Mason Andrews to join Sonjay Dutt in the X-Division Title Match -- This was clearly a spotfest, but I enjoyed this nontheless. A throwback to the glory days of X-Division, where the guys didn't give a fuck and just had fun out there and gave the fans a show. For those who don't know Andrews was Scorpio Sky in Pro Wrestling Guerilla and Wrestling Society X and Cameron was Sabian in CZW. Us indy wrestling fans are in for a treat with this X-Division tournament. I'm anxious to see who else they manage to call up for this match and qualifying matches. I got my fingers crossed for Jay Lethal, Jimmy Rave, Matt Bentley, Petey Williams, and maybe Roderick Strong in this too.
*Sighs* In a bizarre change of events, Kaz and Daniels regain the TNA Tag Team Titles and Daniels drops the bomb that Claire Lynch is having AJ's child. So, let me get this straight. After all of the NWA-TNA years of AJ Styles bragging about he's a family man with a wife and kids, then stealing Karen Angle from Kurt Angle during that one storyline, to 'coaching Christy Hemme' then going into Fortune as Ric Flair's bitch and screwing everything that moves, and NOW this is the thing that screws up his marriage?
Moving onto last night's RAW, while not as much fail as last week's TNA and RAW, it's still a LOT of meh from me as I'm starting to not even care about mainstream wrestling in the least again. If this continues to keep failing so hard, don't be surprised that I change gears and base this part of this blog on entirely indy and puro wrestling stuff. It may be the "lower class" of society in terms of production and presentation, but WWE and TNA aren't farming and mining talent from their rosters for nothing...
RAW opens with a segment involving Cena, D Bry, CM Punk, Jericho, Kane and The Big Show. Seeing Cena and Punk in the same ring at times really surprises me as WWE tends to act like they exist in two different realities/dimensions at times, especially after last year. The segment had it's moments, with Jericho revisiting his Y2J days for a bit, and D Bry finally speaking out against everyone stealing his catchphrase.
What followed after that was a 4 vs 4 Tag Team match - Primetime Players, Cody Rhodes, and Carlton Banks err David Otunga vs. Team Black Guys err Kofi & Truth, Christian and Santino. Everyone ends up walking out on Carlton, leaving him to get fed to the team and the Funkasaurus at the end of it all. Guys, let's be serious here, this is only thing we care about when Brodus Clay comes out: Somebody call my momma indeed...
Sin Cara vs. Alberto Del Rio -- Here I was ready for a good old fashion Mexican style luchador match, but nope, WWE kills my buzz here with ADR assaulting him before it even gets started. Epic fail here, WWE, way to make people care about your other talents. With RAW being close to the border tonight, I thought they would've catered to the Mexican crowd tonight with a decent match. Nope, not WWE. I REALLY need to stop letting this company get my hopes up.
Sheamus & AJ def. Dolph Ziggler & Vickie Guerrero -- As expected, Ziggler and Stale-mus worked the duration of the match and when Dolph got sick of carrying the match, he tags out to Vickie. AJ promptly hits her Shining Wizard finisher and gets the victory in less than a second of being in the match. So much for drawing the attention to the Divas... I really hope Ziggler is on the verge of a face turn after dropping Miss Piggy to the curb. He's so much better than this crap. Whoever wins the SD MITB needs to cash in that briefcase IMMEDIATELY on Sheamus. So sick of Albino Scott Hall on my TV...
After the match, poor AJ is upset that Punk didn't see her 20 seconds of fame. What's there to get mad at if you could fuckin' SNEEZE and damn miss AJ's involvement in that match.
Tyson Kidd def. Tensai -- Yeah like what the fuck on that shit... Tensai must be in the doghouse too or something. I thought Kidd LIVED on Superstars for the last few years. Then he comes back to RAW out of nowhere and wins something? He's currently my prediction to win the SD MITB right now though.
Big Show def. Kane - No DQ Match -- This was as exciting as watching paint dry. As much as I like Big Show, I hate seeing him fight other 'monster' in WWE, as they have like no chemistry together in the ring. Then Show botched the Spear at the end to make it even worse.
Backstage, we have Eve Torres returning after appearing on some reality show. Must've been a short run as she's already back. Either case, I'm not complaining as I'm more than happy to have "Miss Hancock 2.0" on my TV again. Eve and AJ have a little chat, ending with AJ warning Eve that she's going to show everyone how to get guys' attention. I dunno AJ, you got to compete with this:
Heath Slater def. Doink the Clown -- Like who cares on that one, but what followed afterwards was the shocker. DDP comes out and drops the Diamond Cutter on poor Mr. Slater. I hope Orton is taking notes, that's how you do his finisher.
Before the main event, we had this little tidbit between D Bry and Jericho go on backstage. This was just too epic to not mention:
Main Event: Jericho/D Bry vs. Punk/Cena -- The typical cliched WWE tag team match, whereas the face teammate works the entire match while the heels keep him away from his partner, until that hot tag and the babyface team goes into Hulkamania mode. I swear, WWE tag team matches are ULTRA stale to watch.
But bullshit aside, let's go to the ending of this match -- AJ comes out after Cena chases Jericho backstage like someone just sounded the alarm at first dibs on rounds for Kelly Kelly this week, while D Bry and Punk still fight in the ring. Of course both guys don't pay her no attention so AJ pouts around the ring until she pulls out a table and sets it up at ringside. She climbs the turnbuckle like she's about to put herself through it just to get attention. This isn't cool anymore, it's making AJ look PATHETIC at this stage for attention. Then WWE changes gears on this note, as Punk and D Bry stop their match to convince her to stop. What's weird here is that Bryan is first to try to talk some sense into her instead of Punk. Eventually, Punk jumps on the turnbuckle to talk to her and AJ plants a kiss on his lips before shoving him off the top and into D Bry's arms, causing them to crash into the table below. RAW ends with the image of a mere Diva standing tall over the 'big boys' while she chants "YES!" over and over.
Here's what irks me about this scenario. Sure, it gives women a respectable role in wrestling for once, but in WWE of all places but here's what bothers me about this -- AJ, as cute as she can be, isn't doing anything for the Divas division, that continues to suffer as a result. Sure, her, Eve, and Vickie Guerrero are stepping outside of the regular mold with managing and being involved in regular segments with Superstars, but let's look at the bigger picture here. What are they doing for the Divas division? NOTHING. After this angle is dead and gone, AJ's going to be as relevant as Hornswoggle after being revealed as Mr.McMahon's son. What I want to see here is AJ being the catalyst to something MORE for the Divas - not just a figurehead to make the D Bry/Punk feud seem interesting. Like on top of this, she could be in regular matches against that Women's Champion and constantly missing #1 contender that seems to be getting religiously ignored on RAW, get them some more exposure and attention. And people wonder why Maxine quit last week... I'd get sick of busting my ass too and getting nothing for it while another girl does less than a minute of actual wrestling and is the most popular and most recognized Diva right now. Don't get me wrong -- like I said last week, I love AJ, but the way how WWE is carrying this out is just so hypocritical. The company that has this anti-bully campaign is endorsing not one but the second storyline where emotions are being toyed with. So ladies that are reading this, is it a personal success to have someone toy with your emotions then kick you to the curb afterwards? Is that worth cheering for? Is that what you want to be known for - toying with emotions when that shit isn't cool when it happens in reality? Yes, I understand this is a character she's playing, but at the same time, I feel like this is being dragged out for entirely too long. By now, AJ should be striving to prove that she's capable of carrying our attention doing more than just the holder of the "gaze" in a stereotypical sense. I rather see her have this much popularity as a WRESTLER not just mere eye candy in this feud. As a former student of Jay Lethal, she could be showing her talents in her craft to help the division instead of wasting it here - especially given Layla seems to have a lack of worthy opponents outside of The Glamazon. And people wonder why no one cares nor knows any of their current crop of Divas, they don't have the outlet to show everyone who they are and what they are all about - introduce us to all of their CHARACTERS. If ALL of the Divas were given something regularly (whether it be wrestling or more involvement in backstage segments), then more people would actually care. But no, AJ I hope you have fun with this - enjoy your five seconds of fame with one storyline that prolly wouldn't mean anything if CM Punk's name wasn't tied to it anyway. I truly do. It just pisses me off to the highest - there's SOOO many talented women in wrestling who bust their asses off to be treated as equals in this sport, but the only way you're passed off as acceptable to the masses in WWE (what's considered the 'creme of the crop') is to be a carnival act. Yet even a smaller percentage of these women are known for their actual in-ring ability than just one significant storyline. That being said, I'm going to take a moment to suggest this article to anyone who respects women in this sport.
Smackdown's Great American Bash special is airing as I'm wrapping this up but I'm not even going to waste time on it. AJ explains her actions with more emotional manipulation to plunge this more into a route that I've already spent more time that intended expressing my disgust with it. I bet you guys $50 that most of the people who are hooked into this feud wouldn't have bought into it if it was any Diva BUT AJ and CM Punk wasn't involved.
Lastly, I want to wish my readers a happy 4th of July and this lovely lady here would like to wish you the same. Be safe and have fun, true believers!
One of the most epic animes you will ever fucking watch!!
GURREN LAGAAN
I couldn't say it better myself...
Review: The Legend of Korra & ThunderCats (2011) Season Finale
Even though life has me down in the dumps right now and I'm getting sick of a lot of things in it - people, things, events, etc. I rather just spend this blog entry discussing something more positive. Both Korra and Thundercats ended on a strong note over the last two weekends.
For those living underneath a rock, The Legend of Korra is the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, set roughly 50+ years after the end of the original story. Korra is the Aang's successor, and has already mastered earthbending, firebending, and waterbending at her current age of 17 years old. Unfortunately, she hasn't picked up on airbending yet, whereas Aang and Katara's youngest son, Tenzin, is helping her pick that up.
Season 1 follows her training while struggling to fit into Republic City (the neutral nation for all benders and non-benders created by Aang and Zuko after the 100 year war of the last series), and clashing against the Equalists (non-bending terrorists, using anti-bending weaponry and machines), led by the terrifying Amon, who has the ability to take benders' abilities away.
Of course, Season 1 ends with Korra and her friends deciding to take the fight to Amon and end this conflict once and for all. The finale was split into two-parts, the first giving incite and history on Amon's true identity and upbringing. Like Korra said, "That's the saddest story I've ever heard..." That statement is true in more ways than one. For once, I'm NOT going to spoil that aspect, but once you hear it, it's like "wow, that's it?" I really was thinking it was going to be someone who was a throwback to the original series or something. I'm not shitting on the idea/concept but I supposed this helps contribute that Korra can exists as its own entity without being compared and contrasted to its predecessor.
The second part is the roughly all of the action as Team Avatar faces off the pending Equalist army and Amon. Now this I'm going to give full spoilers so you've been warned. Amon vs. Korra ends with Amon taking her bending away, but just as you think that all hope is lost as Mako makes a losing effort to try to save her, Korra AIRBENDS for the first time. Combined with Mako's Firebending, Amon is easily overpowered and his 'secret' is exposed so his followers have deserted him entirety. There's hints at a possible future romance between Bolin and Asami during the battle against the Equalists as he comes to her aid in the final confrontation against her father. I wonder how Mako's going to take that news. Well, he'll be alright after completely confessing his love for Korra at the end of this episode. Katara tries to heal Korra's bending but it's useless and impossible to repair what Amon has done to her -- or so we thought. Korra flees in tears, only to be visited by Aang and the past Avatars, who inform her that she's in sync with her ancestors now after this ordeal and Aang restores her bending abilities. So, yes, now Korra can use all four elements at her full ability. Mako witnesses this after chasing her and the finale ends with a touching moment of the new couple sharing a kiss together (after Korra heals Chief Beifong's earthbending -- I don't care what anyone says that's my fav character on this series so far. She's just TOO bad ass. Metalbending FTW).
So yeah, Season 1 ends on a rather positive note - Korra has mastered all of the elements, her and Mako are officially a couple now, and peace is restored to Republic City. So what's next I wonder? I could totally see Asami becoming a villain in the future, having a change of heart after losing Mako to Korra. Outside of that, I don't see where else this series can go. The Last Airbender always had you wondering if Aang was going to succeed and defeat the Firelord, but here there's always that unknown factor that keeps you watching. This is a new creature and you can't predict what to expect next from it.
Last weekend ended Thundercats (2011 reboot) run on Cartoon Network as they are up for review on whether or not if the series will continue from here on out. The creators said its slated for 52 episodes total as episode 26 just signaled the finale for the first half of this journey.
Episode 26 was part 2 of the Cats' journey to a kingdom in the sky, inhabited by bird people, notably by this version of Vultureman from the original Thundercats. He is named Vultaire in this version of the 'Cats story and is a crooked official for the sky kingdom's military forces. The birds and Cats form a temporary alliance against the approaching forces of Mumm-Ra, who wishes to obtain the Tech Stone. Pumyra attempted to grab it in the last episode for the 'Cats but she was shot down by the defense systems in the room. Here Lion-O squares off against Mumm-Ra, armed with the Sword of Plunn-Darr. For those of us who remember the original 'Cats this is VERY much reminiscent of the final battle they had within the core of New Thundera while Jagara watched from the sidelines. The other 'Cats (Pantro, Cheetara, Tigra) are assisting Vultaire on fending off Mumm-Ra's invading forces (led by Kaynar and Addicus -- this version's Jackalman and Monkian respectively) while Wily Kit and Wily Kat are off recruiting all of Lion-O's allies from this season so far to assist in the battle. The battle is a losing effort as Mumm-Ra's forces are too powerful, regardless of how advanced the birds' technology is. The 'Cats urges them to fight on but Vultaire chooses to side with Mumm-Ra (no surprise there...) while Lion-O and Mumm-Ra fight to a stand-still in the Tech Stone chamber as an injured Pumyra watches. Mumm-Ra manages to snatch out the Tech Stone but Lion-O knocks it out of his hands and it lands in front of Pumyra. She picks it up and throws it to... MUMM-RA!!
Yeah the biggest swerve of this series so far, as Pumyra is revealed to be one of Mumm-Ra's pawns. She was one of the 'Cats to fall during the initial battle against Mumm-Ra's forces at the beginning of the series and before her demise, she witnessed Lion-O, Cheetara, and Tigra's escape. Her rage and hatred of her "King" allowed her to be easily tainted by the Ancient Spirits of Evil and Mumm-Ra revived her as his most loyal servant to infiltrate the 'Cats and track their whereabouts at all times. I was totally caught off-guard by her change of sides as I thought they were teasing her and Lion-O as a couple from their flirting on the last few episodes. Even Pantro made a joke about how they need to stop flirting so much.
As shocking as it is, I like the idea that one of the 'Cats have been 'tainted' by Mumm-Ra in this version. That concept was explored in the comics made by Image/Top Cow in the late '90s and early 2000s, and it allows the series to step even further away from its rather silly plot and characterizations from the original series. Besides, this adds to Pumyra's awesomeness in my book - she's still my favorite character in this version when she just a palette swap for Cheetara with NO sense of character or personality on the original. Maybe Lion-O will have a chance to win her over, like how Tigra and Cheetara had that moment to win each other's affection officially. I know a ton of people complain on how 'weak' the 'Cats are depicted in this series but here, as ALL hope is lost when Mumm-Ra gains the Tech Stone, Lion-O's greatest power is revealed - the power of all of the animal races he has rallied behind him in his cause as Kit and Kat bring all of their allies to assist in toppling Mumm-Ra for now.
I wonder though... why does Mumm-Ra look like Hordak from He-Man/She-Ra after getting the Tech Stone?
My personal issue in watching the original again prior to this series' debut, was that the Sword of Omens was TOO powerful. It was the end-all-solution to EVERYTHING and the ultimate plot device. It was like there was nothing the sword couldn't do. Here, it's not that quite easy and the 'Cats actually have to work for their victories and even retreat - only to be able to live to fight again another day. I suppose if Cartoon Network decides to end the series here, this will be fitting as both sides are at a stalemate. Mumm-Ra has his army, but Lion-O is growing one of his own to rebel against it just like his ancestors did. Perhaps they will release the rest of the series on DVD, or another network will be wise enough to pick this gem up.
In either case, I definitely don't want to see this series disappear again. THUNDERCATS!! HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Rasslor's Wonders -- Wrestling Discussion for Week of 6/18/12
Sup guys, I was thinking about it lately and I figure that I don't talk about wrestling (TNA and WWE) enough on this blog so I'm going to give a shot it this week. In tribute to Randy Savage's AWESOME vocalizations contributed to the character, "Rasslor" in the Dial M for Monkey episode featured on Dexter's Laboratory, that's what I'm going to name this section of my blog after.
World Heavyweight Championship - Sheamus def. Dolph Ziggler -- I was personally pulling for Ziggler in this one, but in the back of my head, I knew he was going to get squashed. WWE seems to put little to no effort in these title defenses for Sheamus AND CM Punk when they are going to retain, with the current dilemma with AJ Lee being involved being the exception lately (more below). What killed me the most during this match was the crowd CLEARLY chanting, "LET'S GO ZIGGLER!" And commentary is in denial, claiming that they are hearing the fans root for Sheamus. I know Sheamus is HHH's professional blowjobber personal training buddy, but seriously, have the man drop the strap to someone else who won't die from exposure to sunlight. Ziggler needs to drop Vickie Guerrero like a bad habit though, she's just holding his career back. If anything, I'd pull up her daughter, Shaul Guerrero/Raquel Diaz, from FCW and do an angle whereas she does an intervention and argues that Ziggler's not worth her mom's time and she offers to take his career to new heights.
Women's Championship - Layla def. Beth Phoenix -- I know Beth and Punk broke up and there's rumors floating around that he even though he cheated on her he's been using his pull on creative to drag her career in the mud for the time being, but this is getting a bit rather ridiculous that Beth can't get a PPV win against Layla when this was Layla during LayCool's glory days: Poor Layla with that look of "Oh Gawd! Beth don't rape me!!" expression on her face. Cool to see Layla performing well, but at the same time, they didn't have to repeat the spots from the last encounter.
WWE Championship Triple Threat - CM Punk def. Kane and Daniel Bryan -- I've heard so many theories on this one that it's insane. Now I do want to address that as awesome as it is that a WWE Diva is getting props for doing something BIG in the main event scene, but at the same time, WWE is literally dropping the ball on this feud between Bryan Danielson Daniel Bryan and CM Punk. Don't get me wrong, the match quality has been MORE than good enough. Why toss Kane's ass into this? The AJ crazy chick dynamic was already good enough with it just between her, Punk and Bryan. Now it just seems like AJ is getting pseudo-mental mind rape revenge on Kane for raping Lita during that angle a few years ago. AJ's "crazy" look looks a combination of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory trying to smile and Prince on Chappelle Show getting pissed off: + =
Speaking of AJ, I had to laugh at this shit -- the tagline alone is like hell to the no. I don't get what is the perception that every time a woman has a manager/valet role in WWE nowadays its instantly given the Miss Elizabeth analogy. I could rant on how this is TOTALLY different and just another example of typical WWE retard-o-tron thinking. Just shows the ignorance of the typical WWE fan who watches their product and doesn't have the brain cells to watch anything else. That's the sad byproduct that Papa Vince has created really. If WWE doesn't do it first - no matter who did it already or before them - then it's not cool, per say. It's pretty much saying that if you don't take a shit on Vince's lawn then you're going to amount to being nobody. Before people start a flamefest, I LOVE AJ Lee, she's cute as a button and totally adorable, but just one thing that irks me more about today's average wrestling fan is worshiping every good thing WWE does (which is rare in more occasions than not) and assume they don't do anything wrong. Like take the end of this match at the PPV, AJ magically teleports on the ring apron and she's knocked to the floor -- the SAME damn finish to the D Bry/Big Show match a few months ago as Kane loses due to concern to AJ. The match itself was awesome, but WWE REALLY dropped the ball here as 90% of their audience were more interested in what AJ was going to do for the love of her life no matter who it is. I'm still sticking to my prediction that AJ's gonna go uber heel at the end of all this and screw over all three guys after this climaxes to some crazy Guest GM idea of the WWE title being defended in a Fatal 4 Way and AJ has to defend herself. AJ goes all She-Thing on their candy-asses, especially on D-Bry. ROTFLMAO. Yeah sounds like something that could only happen in some crazy fanfiction or wrestling e-federation, but I've heard a LOT worse come out of WWE's think-tank over the years. Katie Vick anyone?
Big Johnny gets FIRED!!! -- TBH I was pulling for Big Show in this one. I've been a mark for Big Show since the WCW Giant days, endured all of the stupid gimmicks and angles for this day that they finally let him cut loose. Of course, like all would-be castrations from Big Show, WWE goes for the 'cute' typical Cena-esque ending where he defies the odds (this time at the hands of 5 other Superstars being fed to Show) and wins the match by escaping the cage. I can live with Cena winning like that as it doesn't hurt Big Show's dominance he's established over the past month. It's not like that shit whereas he fought Lesnar, took the beating from hell and back threefold, only to shake it off and BARELY win, yet at the same time have time to chat with the fans about how banged up he is. Yeah...
RAW 6/18/12 -- I was in and out on this as well thanks to work, but I'll discuss what I did see. Mick Foley comes out as Commissioner Foley for the night. *Prays to the Gods that Ultimate Warrior spoke to* C'mon make this permanent and FUCK this random mystery GM every week. Miss Foley's baby boy makes a rematch from last week, only replacing AJ with STALE-mus Sheamus as Punk's partner. Like the only thing everyone who saw this match cared about was the following: I was mockingly joking with a friend on MSN during the broadcast and actually said at the start of the match, "I bet you $50 that AJ is gonna come out as Kanette tonight..." Can I call 'em or not, huh? Kane looked like he had an instant boner at that than last week when she kissed him. Seeing AJ come out as the lovechild of Kane and Harley Quinn had to make him cream his pants instantly. I gotta feel sorry for Kane. He put the mask back on and is supposed to be all edgy and violent again, but WWE won't stop turning him back into that pathetic joke 'monster' gimmick that he's been stuck with since taking the mask off. I mean seriously, it's not his fault that BORE-ton Randy Orton got suspended again in the middle of their so-called storyline so why tack this shit onto D Bry and Punk's? I think this feud is going to fall flat no matter who wins really. Punk vs. Jericho would-have, could-have, should-have been another selling point of WM this year, but no that was overshadowed by Rock/Cena promos and Taker/HHH III build-up. Jericho can verbally rape Punk just as well as he can, so I don't understand why they didn't give them the outlet to do so to make the feud truly shine. In D Bry/Punk's case, I can understand the AJ involvement as mic work isn't one of D Bry's strong points - its always been his ringwork. Sorry, getting sidetracked... the rest of RAW contained Dolph def. Swaggah, Cyndi Lauper and Roddy Piper making Heath Slater look more like an idiot (I really wonder what him and Drew McIntyre did to be in the uber-ultra doghouse... If you know, please enlighten me LOL), and ending with Big Johnny's posse walking out on him to allow him to job out to Cena AGAIN. According to reports AFTER the cameras turned off, HHH, Ryder, and several others came out to hit finishers on poor Johnny to add further insult but Punk was nowhere to be found. Sadly he's getting no closure on his beef with him.
TNA Impact 6/21/12 -- Bare with me on this part, I'm writing this as I watch the stream live. It starts with a bang, as Double A aka Austin Aries offers to trade in the X-Division title at Destination X for a World Heavyweight title shot. Apparently, Aries wants to set the standard to more future holders of that title as they will get this opportunity from here on out at every annual hosting of Destination X in the future. GREAT move there TNA. This is a great way to add prestige to your title and make people care about it again. Mr.BLANDerson Mr. Anderson can go sit down somewhere. New haircut - cool. Same ol' shit - get the fuck outta here. He seriously needs to take time off and just re-invent himself. He's got the mic work, but he's just missing a decent arsenal/fighting style to suit him. The Real World/reality show drama eliminations with Brooke Hogan on selecting Brooke Tessmacher's opponent for tonight is just stupid. The segment is poorly constructed and just distracts from the Knockouts. This time could have been used for a match for KOs who weren't getting a shot against Tess later. And people keep wondering why there's so many jokes of Brooke Hogan running the KOs. Tonight was the perfect example of her fuck-ups -- how do you tell Madison Rayne to make "wrestling" her boyfriend and be more like Brooke when she's a fuckin' rookie? Tess came a LONG way, but she's still a few clicks better than Kelly Kelly. Squash match of Kurt Angle vs. Robbie E... I liked the guy when he had Cookie but c'mon man, do something else with your career than the poor man Jersey Shore gimmick that Zack Ryder put more time and resources into solidifying that works. A FEMALE Gut Check competitor? Now this is interesting. I still don't like the concept of the 'contest' so far as they've been using talent that's been working for TNA already in Ring Ka King in India, since TNA thinks we're stupid enough (much like WWE assumes regularly...) to believe that these guys are really are strangers to TNA and were fished out of the indies for a fair shot. Here's the sad truth about the first guy who won the Gut Check - Ric Flair said YES!! even though he was scripted to lose. The segment was live so they had no choice to run with it. Since then the poor kid has been in OVW, with no promises to coming to the main roster anytime soon. Tonight's contestant, Taeler Hendrix, is already a student from OVW, TNA's development camp. Let's see if she get a FAIR spot on the main roster. *Whistles* Her against Tara? That's a bit harsh, but who cares? I haven't seen Tara wrestle in a while. Taeler definitely botched her way through that match. If I was the judges, I'll give her a no, she needs more polish before coming up to the main roster. If this was WWE, I'd say I'll give her a shot, but the Knockouts have a higher standard on wrestling quality. James Storm vs. Samoa Joe? First match tonight that's perked my interest. Don't get me wrong, Magnus vs. Styles was okay, but was lacking IMO. Umm... why is Samoa Joe wearing the Nation of Violence attire? Ugh... hated that finish? Why did Joe snapmare him off the top rope when he could have done the Muscle Buster, then transition into Rear Naked Choke for an easier submission win? I hope Joe does better this year in the BFG series as this is a shitty start or here's a better idea - take that TV title from off of Devon and regain his dignity. Ah... the Dixie Carter/AJ Styles dynamic. I honestly haven't given two fucks about this but I've been thoroughly entertained at the "Photoshop" chants over the last few weeks by the crowds. Here's the said photograph that Kaz and Daniels have been bragging about for the last month: It doesn't even look like a kiss, it looks like the type of hug you give your GRANDMA. More on this later it seems... Bully Ray vs. The Pope. Gotta say I was surprised him on Impact last week as I thought he was on the chopping block to get fired since we haven't seen him in ages since that retard-o-tron storyline with Devon and his kids. At least Pope doesn't have any ring rust here in this match, but it's still a mystery why this man hasn't won ANY gold in TNA in his career yet. I hope they would axe this thing with Joseph Parks and bring back Abyss full-time. I don't know who gets stupider 'monster' angles - Abyss or Kane. But at least with Abyss we got moments like this... *Blows kisses at Daffney* You guys can keep "psycho" Mickie James and "crazy chick" AJ Lee, but Daffney's MINE -- with a side course of Tara for dessert too :P Back on topic... Knockouts Title Defense - Tessmacher vs. Mickie James. Can't say I'm surprised. What is exactly up with the country music/redneck theme that TNA is suddenly catering towards? Like there was that drawn out music video, Hardcore Country gets a title shot against the 'cowgirl' from Texas, Cowboy beats Joe -- notice a trend here? You'd think we'd see LESS of that now that Double J doesn't have control/ownership of TNA anymore. Back on the match... another weak as fuck ending with the Kelly Kelly finisher - the Diva Killing Rollup of Doom. Druggie Hardy vs. Mr. Higher Than a Kite. Just book these nimrods into that token Ladder/Full Metal Mayhem (read: TLC match)/Hardcore Match and get it over with for both of their bandwagons can creme their pants at the PPV and we can move on in our lives... I don't want NEITHER of these two to score high this year in the BFG series. For the record, RVD's fans had to be HIGH to think he was going to win off a 450 Splash. It's like that moonsault Kurt Angle does that hits like 25% of the time, you know it's gonna miss and someone counter it into the finish for the night. Everyone and their GRANDMA moves out of the way of that shit. Oh boy, now for the finale of this AJ Styles/Dixie Carter dilemma... AJ & Karen Angle Dixie are walking out together holding hands like they are about to fess up to this 'affair' - nope it's a swerve, and it's a VERY stupid one at that. Apparently, they were 'helping' some random druggie get rehab. They should focus that time and energy into doing that for both Jeff and Matt Hardy IMO... Okay, this has to be hands down the most EPICLY stupid storyline in the history of wrestling to date. Yeah this is prolly going to top the Katie Vick angle. Tell me why did AJ have to help? Why did this have to be some uber-ultra secret from their families? Obviously, someone is lying or just needs to be fired off of creative control. The amount of stupidity here is just mind-blowing... Just wow, TNA. And here I thought I've seen and heard of all of the stupid storylines and angles possible in e-feds, but tonight TNA takes the cake. Lastly, someone needs to tell the Botchmania guys to do the ENTIRE next video on AJ vs. Daniels and Kaz at the end of that program. Until next time, folks!
