Happy Birthday Gal Gadot!

Happy Birthday Gal Gadot!  One of her earlier film roles was as Gisele Yashar in Fast & Furious (2009).  It was fourth movie in the action movie franchise directed by Justin Lin.  Then, she played Naomi in the action comedy Knight and Day (2010).  Gadot continued racing with Fast Five (2011) before her character reached the finish line in Fast & Furious 6 (2013).  She played Natanya in the comedy Date Night (2010).  Gal Gadot’s defining role was as Wonder Woman in Beavis.  Next, Gadot played Jill Pope, the wife of Ryan Reynold’s character in the action film, Criminal (2016).  Gadot returned to comedy as Natalie Jones, as the mysterious neighbor, in Keeping Up with the Jones (2016).  In October 2016, she attended the United Nations Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls inducting briefly Wonder Woman.  Gal Gadot appeared with Lynda Carter and director Patty Jenkins. 

Everything of course changed when she returned as Diana in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman (2017).  The film brought in $821 million world wide and showed the break out success of a female superhero lead.  Gadot later returned as Wonder Woman, as leader of legendary heroes in Justice League (2017).  In 2018, Gadot voiced Shank, the race car driver in Slaughter Race in the animated sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet.  Gadot sings along with Sarah Silverman in the song, “A Place Called Slaughter Race.”  She returns to the role of Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman 1984!  Wonder Woman faces the Cheetah played by Kirsten Wiig and we have the return of Steve Trevor played by Chris Pine!  The film is scheduled for theatrical release on August 14th!  She is also playing Linnet Ridgeway Doyle in the next film for Kenneth Branagh.  This is Death on the Nile, the sequel to the Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot mysteries.  It has a October 9th release date.  She has an upcoming film Irena Sendler which she also co-produced.  Happy Birthday Gal Gadot!

#GalGadot, #Fast&Furious, #WonderWoman1984, #DeathontheNile

Happy Birthday Michelle Pfeiffer!

Happy Birthday Michelle Pfeiffer!  She started acting in television playing Athena in an 1978 episode of Fantasy Island.  Her first film lead was as Stephanie in Grease 2 (1982). Pfeiffer gained recognition as Elvira Hancock in Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983).  Her early genre part was as Isabeau in the fantasy movie, Ladyhawke (1985). Then, she was in the George Miller horror comedy, The Witches of Eastwick (1987), adapting the John Updike novel.  Pfeiffer was then in the sci fi comedy Amazon Women on the Moon (1987).  She gained some recognition playing Madame de Tourvel in Dangeous Liasions (1988).  Pfeiffer  also had critical acclaim as lounge singer, Susie Diamond, in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989). Pfeiffer produced and starred in the drama Love Field (1992).  She was also sensational as Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992).  

Michelle Pfeiffer also starred in the Martin Scorsese drama, The Age of Innocence (1993) based on the novel by Edith Wharton.  In 1994, she starred in the horror movie, Wolf.  Then, she produced and starred in Dangerous Minds (1995).  Pfeiffer voiced Tzipportah in the animted movie, The Prince of Egypt (1998).  Next, Pfeiffer was in the horror movie, What Lies Beneath (2000).  She also voied Eris in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003).  The fantasy film, Stardust (2007), starred Pfeiffer, based on the Neil Gaiman novel.  Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was played by Pfeiffer in Dark Shadows (2012).  One of Pfeiffer’s incredible performances was as Caroline Hubbard in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel, Murder on the Orient Express (2017).  Pfeiffer entered the MCU as Janet Van Dyne in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) and then returned to play the character in Avengers: Endgame (2019).  Also in 2019, Pfeiffer starred as Queen Ingrith in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.  Happy Birthday Michelle Pfeiffer!

#MichellePfeiffer, #Ladyhawke, #MurderontheOrientExpress, #AntManandtheWasp 

Onward Review!

Onward is a romp through a suburbia turned fantasy world!  It opened in theaters on March 6th and was released for streaming on Disney+ on April 3rd.  The film is directed and co-written by Dan Scanlon who also directed Monsters University (2013).  The potential is in Scanlon’s personal story, but the screenplay needed more development.  What do the various fantasy creatures and people represent?  What is the development of technology?  It seems stuck in two time periods without going forward.   The screenplay is also by Keith Bunin who worked on the horror film, Horns (2013), and Jason Headley.  The credits have a dramatic Lord of the Rings-like score for Pixar.  The narration opens to the magical world with the pegasus who has an unicorn horn, I keep thinking this is a pegacorn. 

There are Smurf-like mushroom roofed houses, and mermaids swimming, I think this is a homage of the mermaids in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  A wizard casts a fireworks spell, pyrotechnics?, and there is a Dungeons & Dragons-type scene where adventurers face a dragon guarding a magic cup.  A wizard tries to teach his cyclops apprentice a light spell.  There is a faun who shows villagers her invention, the lightbulb.  So we get the progress of technology into suburbia with the people now lazy.  I do like the arcade game, Prance Prance, for centaurs.  It gets industrialized and takes away from the natural beauty of the world.  This should be enough for a film, but no.  

We get to a suburban street with pegacorns scavenging trash cans, sad, this is the basic premise of the world where the fantastic becomes suburban.  The narrator, whom I assume is the father, hopes there is magic where we get the young son, Ian (Tom Holland) getting ready for school.  He is a gawky, bluish elf.  We may know Holland as Spider-Man, but he also voiced Walter Beckett in Spies in Disguise (2019).  Ian pulls on the Willowdale College sweatshirt and sees that it is his 16th birthday.  He greets his mother, Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) who is busy working out as a “Mighty Warrior.”  Dreyfus has distinction for her part in Veep, but also did voice work in Planes (2013).  Their enthusiastic pet dragon Blazey leaps on Ian with Laurel spraying him with a water bottle.  He goes to clean up the table with his brother’s game, Quests of Yore, it looks like your standard role-playing game; figures, paper dungeon tiles, and cards.  

His older brother, Barley (Chris Pratt), is burly with a biker’s jacket.  Pratt may be recognized for playing Star Lord, but another iconic role was as Emmet Brickowski in The Lego Movie (2014).  Barley goes to take out the trash and sees Officer Bronco (Mel Rodriguez), half police officer, half horse with a thick moustache and sunglasses.  Rodriguez voiced Mr. Fyde in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017).  Bronco is new to the family, but doesn’t seem too interested in it.  He shows on his cell phone a video of Barley trying to protest the knocking down of an ancient fountain.  Laurel’s new husband enters the house knocking around everything.  Barley tries to speak up for a “historically accurate” game.  He doesn’t remember much about his father and makes a tear in the sweatshirt.  There is an important moment for Barley, but this shifts from Ian.  

Ian leaves his family heading to Burger Shire, nice name, with the advertisement, “Now Serving 2nd Breakfast”, clever Fellowship nod.  While he waits for his order, Gaxton (Wilder Valderrama) recognizes the sweatshirt and recalls his late father, Wilden Lightfoot.  Gaxton notes that Wilden was bold and inspirational to others.  On a park bench outside of his school, New Mushroomton High School, Ian makes a checklist of the “New Me.”  An ogre bully has his giant feet on Ian’s chair.  Ian goes out to learn how to drive.  The city reflects modern suburbia, but it is boring.  Ian of course is about to pull into an expressway with traffic going at high speeds.  This is a very relatable teen event, but we know what is going to happen.    

Later, he goes over how to invite a group of students to his party, the gag of writing ideas on his hand is an obvious joke.  He is nervous, but they are friendly and agree.  This when Barley comes charging in with his van that has a dark blue sky and a pegasus.  Barley is proud of his van that he calls Guinevere.  Ian is embarrassed and cancels his birthday party.  Will he gain the confidence to have friends and drive on the highway like his father?  Yup.  There are door locks on the van so it is 80’s tech mixed with current tech.  Barley stuffs parking violation tickets into the glove compartment, he really needs the lesson, because if he was more organized, Barley could be a leader in protest movements, here it seems like a lark.  

Ian returns to his room and plays a cassette tape of his father speaking.  It seems like the rest of the family has forgotten Wilden or just moved on.  Ian pretends to have a conversation with his father.  Strange, there were home movies in the 80’s, and it should be a video.  Later, Ian is working on sewing up his sweatshirt, it is a good moment with his mother who taught him sewing.  Laurel decides to go to the attic and get the gift for both brothers when they turn 16.  Ian unwraps it and Barley is excited that it is a wizard’s staff.  We get that Ian is learning to be a wizard, but we don’t get what is Barley’s character class or role in the game or the world.  

He discovers a letter and reads the beginning narration.  There is also the Visitation Spell that will bring back Wilden for one day.  Barley finds the rare Phoenix Gem and tries casting the spell.  It fails after several attempts.  Of course, once alone Ian reads the spell and the Phoenix Gem lights up.  Barley enters as the spell begins, funny line, “Whoa, feet!”  The gem shatters and they find that they only brought back their father’s animated pants.  Barley is excited that their quest is to find the Phoenix Gem with the help of his game cards which points to the Manticore’s Tavern.  They drive over to the tavern in New Mushroomton.  The world building has some blink-and-you-miss-it references on The Simpsons-level, but misses the potential like a museum that has some old artifacts.   

Guinever at the D23 Expo, 2019, photo by the author.

Ian has a stuffing to form the top half of his father and uses a tape measure to bring him along.  This reminds me of the gags in Weekend at Bernie’s (1989).  Barley builds up the tension before opening the tavern door and of course it is not as expected.  It’s more a family themed restaurant and Corey (Octavia Spencer) is a busy manager with glasses.  Spencer is a gift to any film and she did voice Mrs. Otterton in Zootopia (2016).  Corey has potential, but this isn’t her story.  A map to the Phoenix Gem is on the restaurant wall, but Corey doesn’t want to risk losing her tavern.  Ian is not backing down and reminds Manticore of her adventurous past.  This sets her breathe flames to the place and Ian is able to finally use a levitation spell.  

The Phoenix Gem kid’s map leads to Raven’s Point.  They take Guinevere onto the expressway to Raven’s Point.  Laurel’s car is pulling up to the tavern as she talks to her Mane Man.  She sees the fire and Corey talking to a police officer.  Corey forgot to tell the brothers about the curse.  Ian and Barley face the motorcycle gang of the Pixie Dusters led by Dewdrop (Grey Griffin).  Also, officers Gore (Ali Wong) and Spector (Lena Waithe) all to save their father with the help of their mother and Corey.  There are some funny moments, but the film feels like a direct-to-video animated movie imitating Disney and Pixar.  It has the same running time as Frozen 2, but feels slower paced.  Onward is a good movie about brothers, some parts are standard, but it does have moments.     

Three Phoenix Gems out of Five!  

#Onward, #DanScanlan, #TomHolland, #ChrisPratt 

Force Awakens Re:vised: Episode Three!

The last part had Han and Chewie finally returning to the Falcon.  Rose Tico joins Han and Chewie, she is a mechanic from the Resistance, her character needs to be introduced earlier than Last Jedi.  I think Kelly Marie Tran did great with the part as much as she could, but this revised part needs more of a screen presence next to Daisy Ridley.  I’m thinking Liu Yifei, currently Mulan, or her Forbidden Kingdom co-star, Li Bingbing, also Ellen Wong (from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) or Jessica Henwick (if she wanted to change from Jess Pava), she was great in Iron Fist.  Han asks where the ship was taken and Rose replies.  Han wants Chewie to put them in a pod to be sent to a planet.  Rey says they have to bring the droid to the Resistance.  Rose asks what is BB-8’s  importance.  Finn brings up the data on Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academies.  Han admits the Jedi are real.  They are interrupted by the docking of ships to the freighter.  Han sends BB-8, Finn, and Rey to hide below decks of the freighter.  BB-8 is out in the open when he's being hunted?  Han, Chewbacca, and Rose wait for the gangs in a corridor of the freighter.  The two gangs, Guavian Death Gang and Kanjiklub, say there is a bounty on the Millennium Falcon.  A bounty on the ship which left Jakku makes more sense then CG Rathtars.  

Han says, “You can take this ship, the Eravana is a Baleen-class heavy freighter.”  The two factions confiscate the heroes’ weapons under their blasters.  BB-8 emerges and Bala-Tek says that the First Order has a bounty on the droid.  Chewbacca uses the distraction and takes hold of one of the Guavian Death Gang’s armored shoulder to rip his arm off.  This shows Chewie fulfilling the “It’s not wise to upset a Wookie" and the strange dismemberment that runs through the Original Trilogy.  BB-8 tries to go for the fallen weapons and instead whips his cable around a Kanjiklub gang member’s legs.  Tasu Leech kicks Chewbacca back and two Guavian Death Gang members hit him with shockstaves.  This is a fight scene, Chewbacca would make it a short fight.  It seems like an absolute waste to have two actors from The Raid as cameoes, this extends their part, but I’m sure the actors would love to do a fight scene in a Star Wars movie.  

We have a few punches in SW, but no real hand to hand combat beyond the animated series.  Han punches a Guavian Death Gang member.  BB-8 sends out electrical blasts at the weapons held by gunmen.  Finn asks Ar-U55 to get in the fight, but he says he is programmed not to harm a person.  Rose blocks Tasu Leech’s strikes and swings from a post to kick him back.  Tasu Leech is flung backwards and spins in a kick that strikes Rose.  A Kanjiklub gang member manages to put a restraining bolt on BB-8.  Rey with her staff and Finn appear.  Han reaches for his blaster, but it is kicked away by Bala-Tek.  Rey takes on the two Guavian Death Gang members with shockstaves.  Finn comes behind two Guavian Death Gang members punching one and kicking the other.  The Kanjiklub lieutenant, Razoo Qin-Fee, kicks Finn in the head, dropping him to the floor.

Rey strikes the helmets of the Guavian Death Gang members with her staff.  Tasu Leech blocks her staff strike and punches her.  Rose is blocking and punching a Kaliklub gang member.  She catches hold of pipes overhead and knocks him out with a kick.  Han is holding the wrists of Bala-Tek and slams him into a bulkhead.  Razoo Qin-Fee takes on Rey and Rose joins their fight.  He is overwhelmed by their strikes and back kicked by Rey.  Tasu Leech recovers his blaster and shoots a recovered Chewbacca in the arm.  Han takes up Chewbacca’s bowcaster and blasts Tasu Leech.  Finn revives and asks who won.  The gang members are restrained by binders and cables and left aboard the freighter as their ships are detached.  Then, it makes a random hyperspace jump.    

Rose Tico tends to Chewbacca’s wound.  The Millennium Falcon has Han piloting with Rey takes off into hyperspace.  TIE fighters roar towards the Starkiller weapon.  The massive hologram of Supreme Leader Snoke is angry at the loss of the Jedi Academy data to General Hux and Kylo Ren.  Snoke notes to Kylo Ren that the droid is now Kylo Ren’s father, Han Solo.  Kylo Ren vows to fulfill his training.  In hyperspace, Han checks on Chewbacca, BB-8 displays the locations of the Jedi Academies, Tatooine, Naboo, and Devaron.  Han explains the training of an apprentice and also that he suspects that Luke Skywalker went somewhere in the Unknown Regions.  They would have an idea of his location from the planet he left from for his journey.  Han also admits that the Jedi are true.  Rose says the Resistance will need the data contained by BB-8.  Han says they will need “an old friend” to keep BB-8 safe.  

The Millennium Falcon breaks from hyperspace to land at Takodana. Rey is impressed at the green hills outside of Maz Kanata’s castle.  Once they land, Finn tries to convince Han that he is a “big deal” with the Resistance.  Han speaks with Rey mentioning bringing her on the crew of the Falcon.  Sarco Planck has detected BB-8 on the Falcon and leaves for the castle.  Everyone heads to Maz Kanata’s castle.  Han mentions to Finn and Rey that everyone in the galaxy, including the First Order, is looking for the Falcon.  He has Chewbacca watch over BB-8 and takes them into the castle.  Han has already seen that the two gangs recognize BB-8 so he takes him to more criminals?  Some beast is roasting in a fire, a band plays, there are various aliens including two Rodians (Greedo’s species), an Ugnaught, and a red Twi’lek woman, and Maz Kanata.  Ar-U66 says, "The threat level here is high."  Max calls out Han Solo’s name.

Another part of the Sequel Trilogy is to dismiss the aliens (except supporting characters) from other trilogies so it isn’t really Star Wars.  Rose Tico has the droid, GA-97, contact the Resistance and slips away.  Sarco Planck is given credits by the mercenary, Bazine Netal, who notifies the First Order.  In his quarters, Kylo Ren is conflicted by the light side, and wants guidance from his grandfather, the distorted mask of Darth Vader.  At a private room, why do they talk about Luke Skywalker in an open room in the film?, Han has told Maz about the Jedi Academy data.  She tells him that he must join the fight against the Dark Side.  Finn worries about the First Order, Maz sets down her goggles and crawls on the table to examine him.  She says she sees something familiar in his eyes.  Finn goes to the smuggler’s crew to get passage to the Outer Rim.  Rey catches up to him and Finn admits he’s a stormtrooper.  Finns says he ran and met Rey so he has left the First Order.  

He leaves with the pirates.  Rey hears the cries of a girl.  A door opens for her and she takes the steps down.  It doesn’t make sense that there is a crowded room and no one takes the stairs to private halls.  The door would open at Rey’s presence.  She finds the chest and opens it to find the lightsaber.  Obi-Wan’s voice calls out Rey.  She sees in a dark corridor a woman in dark blue hood and robes.  She sees the lightsaber on a rocky, volcanic surface.  It is placed in a chest and then taken out and activated in a desert house.  Rey starts to plunge down the Cloud City reactor shaft, she sees the lightsaber spinning, she reaches out for it as she hears Darth Vader’s breathing.  Darkness.  The lightsaber is picked up by a gloved hand and then given to Maz Kanata’s hands, in close-up, who says it will be safe.  It shifts to the child Rey held by Lor San Tekka as she screams for the ship that leaves Jakku.  This is known as psychometry, touching an object revealing memories of what it experienced.  It seems like the film has the lightsaber giving Rey visions of the past and the future, something it took Luke some time to learn.  The Battle of Takodana?  Coming up!   

#ForceAwakensRevised, #BalaTek, #TasuLeech, #MazKanata  

Star Wars: Clone Wars, “Together Again”, Review!

This is final part of the Martez Sisters arc.  It’s a return to the same prison cell so this feels like an episode on repeat.  They start to argue with each other.  Rafa goes back to her mistrust of Ahsoka which we had this scene already.  Ahsoka has a plan and asks for Rafa’s trust.  The cell door opens and the Pyke guards lead them away.  They return to Marg Krim’s throne room which is a repeat of another scene.  This all feels repetitive.  Marg Krim wants the spice and threatens the trio.  There are three of them so if he really wants to carry through with his threat he would kill Trace since she isn’t part of the shipping agreement.  Ahsoka wants to negotiate a deal alone and says she should be trusted.   Of course this is the signal to Rafa.  She says that the sister hid the spice off-world at some unknown location.  The deal is to give them one rotation, a day?, or she will reveal the location of their family.  We know what happened to their family last episode.  

Marg Krim wants to know Ahsoka’s angle and she says it is her percentage of the shipment.  He agrees to the deal again threatening to kill all of them.  They leave and Krim’s majordomo, Fife, says it is a deception. Krim says he has no choice and also that a mysterious person “knows. He always knows.”   Guards escort the Martez Sisters to the Silver Angel, they don’t watch over them in the ship, and there is no tracking device.  The Silver Angel leaves, one Mandalorian (Sharmila Devar) notes that the Jedi was not with them to her leader (Katee Sackhoff).  Can we please have Katee Sackhoff in The Mandalorian?  She can play a different charater if needed.  Ahsoka is brought back to her cell and she uses the Force to open it, again.  The Martez Sisters are at the Orondia Refueling Station.  This was first seen in the episode, “Friends and Enemies” (2012), but I was not familiar with it.  Trace is a bit confused about Ahsoka’s plan and Rafa explains that she wants to return to rescue Ahsoka.  Rafa has a plan to bring the spice to them.   

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS -- “Together Again” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

Ahsoka enters the spice processing plant and takes a bandolier of thermal detonators from an armory.  The Silver Angel reaches a planet with a Pyke facility.  Rafa bluffs they are coming for a spice pick-up.  The strange part is that there is no identification of their ship that happened to leave Oba Diah and was involved in withholding spice from the Pyke Syndicate.  I’m still not certain about how Rafa is able to make deals and bluff.  She doesn’t have a smoothness of a Lando Calrissian, no threat or authority like Mace Windu, and no charm of a Bazine Natal.  A Toong inventory clerk (Josh Brener), they are the aliens that have massive, long heads, and spindly bodies, seen as the podracer, Ben Quadinaros, meets with Rafa.  She says it is a special request from “up top.”  Rafa has him go find his supervisor and gets the others to scramble and load the ship.  I don’t get how Rafa can bluff.  

The former Jedi is setting thermal detonators around the spice processing plant.  She is just below a platform with Marg Krim and others meeting with a hologram speaker.  It is a familiar, sinister voice.  Krim notes that the Republic a week ago has stopped a shipment.  So why is Ahsoka worried about the shipments?  The hooded figure turns and it is Maul (Sam Witwer) who suspects involvement by a Jedi.  Ahsoka decides to leave as Maul’s attention is drawn to her.  He will offer the Crimson Dawn to take over the spice shipments if Marg Krim fails.   This is the organization run by Dryden Vos in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).  Fife notes Maul’s demands, but doesn’t go against him.  A guard notes the escape of Ahsoka and the group runs after him.  Ahsoka enters the room and finds that Maul’s transmission was from Mandalore.  Marg Krim and his guards interrupt her, but she uses the Force and her fighting skills on them.  He knows that she is Jedi and Ahsoka is hit with a stun blast.  

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS -- “Together Again” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

The clerk notes that there is no record of the shipment request.  Also, he would contact the Pykes to confirm the special request, but this is not a strong plot point.  The manager (Tom Root) has arrived, he is Trandoshan, the same species as the bounty hunter Bossk.  He doesn’t see their authorization so doesn’t have workers unload the ship?  The manager starts tossing around Rafa and then has the platform they are on raised.  Trace takes on the Toong workers with a heavy pipe. Rafa takes care of the manager and they leave the station.  The Toongs don’t seem to mind the theft of the spice and don’t report it.  Again, the ship freely leaves without being detained or identified, but who needs logic in a Star Wars story?  Ahsoka has the thermal detonators control: because Pykes don’t search prisoners?  Rafa and Trace arrive with Marg Krim saying that Ahsoka is a Jedi.  The detonators are set off and the Mandalorians watch the explosions.  Ahsoka escapes with the Martez Sisters into the Silver Angel and they pursued by Pyke patrol ships.  Trace has Ahsoka take the control of belly cannon.   She is able to hit two ships and Trace rams another headlong while evading its blasters?  

They are followed by a Mandalorian Gauntlet starfighter.  We get the leader in blue armor tracking the ship in a mirror of the scene with Boba Fett and the Millenium Falcon in Empire Strikes Back (1980).  The Silver Angel returns to the hangar in Level 1313 on Coruscant.  Trace says that Ahsoka is a friend.  They are interrupted by the Mandalorian leader who takes off her helmet to reveal Bo-Katan.  She is sister to Satine Kryze and assures Ahsoka that there is no Death Watch.  Ahsoka is uncertain if she will help the Mandalorians since it will involve the Jedi.  The sisters tell her she is meant to help others and Ahsoka leaves behind her speeder bike to join the Mandalorians.  The best part of this episode is that it is the last of the Martez Sisters for Clone Wars.  It is not well written with Dave Filoni working with Charles Murray who also wrote for Luke Cage.  I can see what was the intention for the sisters, but it did not make them endearing.  Could they have survived the Clone Wars?  Don’t care.  Neither would I care if they showed up in a Disney+ series or an Ahsoka Tano show.  

Two Lightsabers out of Five!  

#StarWarsCloneWars, #TogetherAgain, #SharmilaDevar, #KateeSackhoff

Re:tro Re:view: Wonder Woman: Bloodlines!

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is another origin story, a jigsaw puzzle of comic storylines, and the end result is an average DC Animated Universe film!  This film is co-directed by Justin Copeland who also directed Batman: Hush (2019) and Sam Liu who directed many of the recent Warner Animation films starting with Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015).  It is written by Mairghread Scott who wrote for the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series.  We get the night sky of “Five Years Ago”, we have a sea with a Boom Tube releasing parademons, they are the troops of Apokalips first seen in New Gods #1 (1971).  Captain Steve Trevor (Jeffrey Donovan) is flying an F-22 fighter jet detecting the parademons.  Trevor is the action hero in black, but takes the back seat to Wonder Woman, and tries to add some comic moments.  Trevor’s jet is spinning out of control and passes through a barrier and he sees the island.  The crash is witnessed by Diana (Rosario Dawson) who swims towards his sinking ship.  Dawson voiced Wonder Woman since Justice League: Thrones of Atlantis (2015).  Her Diana is a warrior, but capable of being embarrassed.  Trevor wakens to see a purple ray.  This is the Purple Healing Ray that appeared in Wonder Woman #1 (1942).  We have something that could help people outside of Themyscira (like in Black Panther), but this is kept secret.  

She explains to Trevor about Themysicra, the Amazons, and Queen Hippolyta.  He describes the threat of the parademons.  This ties into the events of Justice League: War (2014).  Since he is the first man on Themyscira, Trevor is taken away to the Cells of Justice, which we see as a rounded tower that looks like it is right out of the Wonder Woman (2017) movie.  Trevor is in a cell behind a force field and a guard is posted outside.  Diana appears in her Wonder Woman armor with golden lasso and knocks out the guard.  We don’t get her taking the armor or earning it through The Contest.  She frees Trevor to make their escape with Diana flying them down.  Diana says the gods said a champion from Themyscira would protect Man’s World, then there is the arrival of Queen Hippolyta (Cree Summer).  She orders Diana to return the prisoner.  This leads to a duel with swords.  The stake of Diana leaving Themyscira isn’t in this story since we haven’t seen her normal life there.  No back story about how Hippolyta and the Amazons left Man’s World.  It seems rushed using the movie’s story to get to the rest of the action.

Trevor and Diana take the boat, she guides it with her hand on a globe that apparently steers it.  Diana says she will be alone once they leave the barrier of Themyscira and Trevor says they are together.  A nice moment.  The island fades from view past the barrier.  Next, we get the afternoon skies of Washington D.C.  A car is taking Trevor, Diana in a white dress, and Etta Candy (Adrienne C. Moore), to the home of Julia Kapatelis.  Etta Candy is the tech monitor for this group and also has some funny moments.  Julia and her daughter, Vanessa, were introduced in Wonder Woman #3 (1987) as part of George Perez’s run on the title.  Julia (Nia Vardalos) is nervously getting the house ready as her daughter Vanessa (Marie Avgeropoulos) sweeps the floor.  The doorbell rings and  Vanessa answers it to be in awe of Diana.  Julia bows before the Amazon princess and they head up the stairs.  Diana is having Julia help her get adjusted with Man’s World.  Then, we get scenes of Julia talking with Diana as Vanessa is ignored, she becomes Goth and stays away from Diana.  They wait as Diana appears in her New52 armor.  Vanessa makes fun of it and Trevor explains that the press has already given her a code name.

  

Robbers in star masks face Wonder Woman as Trevor tells her that she is needed at the Hall of Justice.  She flies in to the Justice League headquarters to meet the bearded Steve Trevor.  He brings her to see Julia who is in tears about Vanessa.  Vanessa has stolen artifacts from the pharmaceutical company of her mother.  At a darkened warehouse, Vanessa meets with Dr. Poison (Courtenay Taylor) elderly with her red glasses, Giganta, and some guards.  She has a snake head artifact in a briefcase.  Dr. Cyber (Mozhan Marno) gives a warning.  Wonder Woman bursts in to deflect bullets from the guards.  Trevor arrives with Julia.  Giganta (Kimberly Brooks) injects herself with a serum and grows to take on Wonder Woman.  She stomps down and Vanessa drops the briefcase taken up by Dr. Poison.  Trevor knocks down crates on the gunmen.  Wonder Woman gives the big beat down on Giganta who reverts back to her normal size.  Then, she takes on the gunmen before hearing Julia cry out.  She was shot and kinda bloody for an animated film.   Vanessa holds Wonder Woman responsible, but of course she doesn’t make the connection that her mother was at the warehouse for her.  

Vanessa agrees to work with Dr. Cyber and Dr. Poison.  In a desert Quraq town, a soldier meets with the transformed Vanessa who slices him with Lady Deathstrike-like claws.  Etta debriefs Wonder Woman and gets her transport, a jet that of course turns invisible that Trevor pilots.  She faces Vanessa now turned into the Silver Swan.  The character’s first appearance was in Wonder Woman #288 (1982), but this version seems to be from the later Phil Jimenez run on Wonder Woman.  They face Silver Swan and Wonder Woman defeats her.  Silver Swan is taken to Cale Pharmaceuticals.  Veronica Cale (Constance Zimmer) explains that Vanessa’s body is about to taken over by the enhancements.  Cale opens Julia’s office to research the location of Themyscira forgotten by everyone who leaves the island.  Diana discovers that they have to go to the Temple of Pasiphaë to find the island.  There Wonder Woman faces Cheetah (Brooks), her nemesis, and the others face the minotaur (Michael Dorn).  There is a good line-up of female villains, apparently in an organization called Villany Inc., but not identified until the end of the movie.  A final battle is of course centered on Themyscira.  The story is basically of mother and daughters.  Wonder Woman Bloodlines is a decent Wonder Woman story that loses some focus, but has some great characters!  

Three Purple Healing Rays out of Five!  

 #WonderWomanBloodlines, #JustinCopeland, #SamLiu, #RosarioDawson 

The Simpsons: Playdate with Destiny Review!

Playdate with Destiny features baby Maggie and is charming even at its 5 minute running time!  It started streaming on Disney+ on April 10th after it was screened with Onward.  This is a high profile promotion of bringing The Simpsons to Disney+.  The Simpsons have been a staple of television viewing since the animated shorts that were on the Tracey Ullman Show in 1987.  The animated show has incredible longitivity since it began in 1989, winning several Emmy Awards, and holding the record for longest running sitcom!  It was really some time when I realized that young people don’t know when there is a world without The Simpsons.  No Flintstones or The Jetsons.  There was The Simpsons Movie (2007) movie and a short The Longest Daycare which screened with the Fox animated film, Ice Age: Continental Drift.  Springfield and The Simpsons Ride opened in Universal Studios in 2008.  Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox of course featured the crown jewel of Fox for Disney+ instead of the non-family fare on Hulu.  

The short is directed and co-written by David Silverman who has directed episodes of the animated show and The Simpsons Movie.  There is a large writing team made up of creator, Matt Groening, the producer that helped develop the show, James L. Brooks, executive producer, Al Jean, and co-executive producer and writers, Michael Price and Matt Selman, and producers Max Pross and Tom Gammill.  It opens with a silhouette of Mickey Mouse that is really Homer with two donuts!  The funny gag is seen in the commercials for the short.  Then the title card appears “Disney Welcomes The Simpsons.”  We have a typical day with Marge happily driving Maggie who is in her car seat.  She turns at a park with a clever name.  Marge takes Maggie from her car seat to the sandy playground so she can read parenting books with very funny titles next to other mothers.  A kid is about to go down the slide and smash his shoes into Maggie, but she is pulled away in time!  

Maggie turns to see a boy with a curl on the top of his head and a smile.  This is Hudson who later showed up in the episode, “The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby.”  Maggie gives Hudson her hair to wear as a neck tie.  They introduce themselves with their names written on their clothing!  They go around the playground riding the bouncy horses and imaginging riding real ponies.  There is also a beach picnic with sips of glasses which is really a fountain.  Then, time spent in a Mediterreanean villa while the sun sets which is actually time on a playground set.  This is a fun twist on childhood imagination and reality.  Maggie covers her eyes and suddenly find that Hudson is gone!  He is in his mother’s car and waves to Maggie.  At night, Maggie goes to sleep in her crib and in her dreams the objects around her room turn into Hudsons.  

Springfield at Disney Studios for Light Up The Season, 2019, photo by the author.

She spits out her pacifier and then wakes up happy.  Maggie gets ready, very funny is Maggie spraying a cloud of baby powder and walking in it!  She is in her car seat when Maggie finds it is Homer driving!   He passes up the park and Maggie frantically beeps her toy car horn.  He drives to another park and goes to a taco truck.  Maggie takes a skateboard from Nelson.  She uses it to reach the top of ramp to see Hudson in the other park.  Homer pulls her away and stops any chance of seeing Hudson!  Morning, some jazzy sax-a-ma-phone plays as Maggie takes a drink from her milk bottle!  She has a picture of Hudson that she shows a toy of a police officer.  Funny.  There is still separation from Hudson and Maggie has to find a way to get back to him!  It is all told by music by Jim Dooley for Bleeding Fingers Music and the sounds of Maggie’s pacifier.  There is no dialogue from Homer or Marge, there is words spoken by Maggie’s Phonic Frog (Chris Edgerly) toy, and we don’t get to see Lisa or Bart.  This is all Maggie’s story.  Playdate with Destiny is a fun short capturing all of the cleverness of the show!  

Five Pacifiers out of Five!  

#PlaydatewithDestiny, #DavidSilverman, #Maggie, #Hudson 

Star Wars: Clone Wars, “Dangerous Debt”, Review!

We return to the story of Ahsoka Tano and the Mendez Sisters.  They are imprisoned by the Pyke Syndicate for their deception of a spice shipment.  Prisoners taken away to their cells include the Ithorian Hammerhead and the Snivvian Snaggletooth, he wears the blue uniform before it was changed to the correct shorter red form.  I’m not certain how these two random Coruscant citizens ended up in Oba Diah.  There is arguments between the prisoners.  Rafa explains the reason for their distrust of the Jedi.  

She begins explaining the prison break of Ziro the Hutt, the uncle to Jabba, who was in the Clone Wars movie.  There was a Clone Wars episode, “Hostage Crisis” (2009), that had the escape of Ziro.  This incident may have been after the events of the episode, but still on Coruscant.  She says the Jedi were leaping speeder to speeder and that there was a “red eyed alien”, this could be Cad Bane, the bounty hunter that freed Ziro.  He disabled a cargo transport, the Jedi moved it from a “populated platform” and into a wall.  Rodriguez’s delivery is dry and matter-of-fact, there is no emotion of the loss of her parents.   

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS -- “Dangerous Debt” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

Rafa continued saying a female Jedi tried to console her, “dark robes contrasting against her light green skin”, this points to Jedi Master Luminara Unduli who was seen in Attack of the Clones (2002).  She has contempt for the Jedi for abandoning them even though they have a war to fight to save countless innocents.  Ahsoka looks regretful having left the Jedi Order.  Pyke guards open their cell, Ahsoka is stunned by the guards, and Rafa is taken away.  She is placed in an interrogation table with an 8D smelter droid with shocking appendages that make her scream.  

Trace admits she helped Ahsoka because her mother would have done the same.  Rafa is taken to the cell by the Pyke guards.  Trace is then taken to the interrogation room and the Torture Droid (Tom Kane) asks about the spice.  She pretends to faint to make her escape.  Ahsoka uses the Force to open the cell door and takes away Rafa.  Trace is caught by a Pyke guard, but manages to kick the cell door of the Hammerhead.  He smashes the guard against the door.  Rafa and Trace run into each other.  The sister argue with each other, not endearing, as the Pyke guards rush towards them.   

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS -- “Dangerous Debt” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

Ahsoka gets them running and they reach the outside with Trace blasting a barrel causing an explosion.  Rafa leaps across a bridge that retracted, Ahsoka uses the Force to push Trace the extra distance, and Ahsoka easily makes it across in a Force jump.  Rafa struggles to get a Pyke’s gun as he is lifted up a platform.  She sends Ahsoka to disable a gate.  Ahsoka climbs up a tower and takes on Pykes with her Jedi fighting skills.  Trace and Rafa get into a shoot out, but Ahsoka slides down the tower and again uses the Force.  She recognizes her ship and runs to check on it as Rafa and Ahsoka talk.  A drunk Gotal, bearded alien with two horns seen in the cantina, asks for credits and then ends up talking to a group of Pykes.  

They bump into a cloaked Mandalorian.  Above a rooftop, a trio of Mandalorians see the Mendez sisters taken away and Ahsoka on the run.  The leader (Sharmila Devar) recognizes Ahsoka as a Jedi she saw on Carlac, this would be season four’s “A Friend in Need” (2012).  The helmet design is from the Death Watch, commandos who look to upset the Mandalorian rule.  The leader has a connection with Star Wars: Rebels.  The Pykes take the prisoners to the jail and throw a holo projector that shows Marg Krim.  He is of course angry at their deceptions and is able to recapture them again.  Shouldn’t prisoners who escape together be separated?  The torture and the danger of the Pykes really is the fault of Trace who dumped the spice.  

Three Lightsabers out of Five! 

#StarWarsCloneWars, #DangerousDebt, #ZirotheHutt, #SharmilaDevar 

Force Awakens: Re: vised - Episode Two!

We are picking up with a revised Force Awakens from the opening of the film.  Rey heads towards Niima Outpost, she encounters Teedo on his luggabeast, other Teedos are surrounding his capture of BB-8.  Rey circles the Teedos with her speeder and takes out her staff.  The original trilogy had a short race in every film; Jawas, Ugnaughts, and Ewoks, so the Teedos were a race, but not seen in the film.  She swings it wide in a circle to drive off the Teedos and negotiates with Teedo, the rider, to free BB-8.  Rey has BB-8 using his cable to attach to her speeder and takes off.   Poe revives and Kylo Ren uses the Force to draw out that BB-8 has the data which he reports to General Hux.  Rey and BB-8 reach the hut where Ar-U55, a rickety sparring droid (I'm imagining Matthew Wood who voiced the battle droids provides the voice), activates his staff.  Rey says they don’t have time for training and will need to get supplies.  They reach Niima Outpost, a city made from the remains of starship wreckage, and cannons that now serve as posts for buildings.  Rey speaks with Unkar Plutt whose shop has parts and rows of alien customers (to give him a Jabba aura).  He makes an offer for the droids, but Rey refuses him even though Unkar Plutt says he is dangerous when refused.  

Finn sees Poe resting from his interrogation, he takes him aside, and makes the deal to get them to escape.  Finn sets charges as they reach the hangar and they enter the TIE/sf fighter.   The charges are set off as the TIE fighter launches and Finn fires the mag-pulse launcher as they leave the Star Destroyer.  The escape doesn’t make much sense so a disabled ship would give Poe and Finn a chance.  They introduce each other and Poe dubs FN-2187, Finn.  General Hux notes that the mag-pulse torpedo disabled the ship, but weapons will soon be ready.  Poe heads back to Jakku because he is looking for BB unit, and they are hit by missiles sent by the Vehemence.  Finn regains consciousness, gotta have the Finn moment, and is able to recover Poe’s jacket.  The TIE fighter sinks and explodes in the sand.  Finn takes cover in a rock shelf as TIE fighters roar overhead.  He removes his stormtrooper armor and walks across the desert.  He manages to find the city of Niima Outpost.  Hux argues with Kylo Ren over the effectiveness of his troops and the concept of a clone army.  

Finn drinks from the trough of a happabore.  Unkar Plutt’s men put restraining bolts on the droids, Rey takes care of them with her staff, as Finn helps fight the thugs about to join the fight.  The thugs limp away.  Rey removes the restraining bolts.  Ar-U55 approves of her fighting.  Finn is interested in the BB droid and Constable Zuvio checks on the disruption.  BB-8 informs Rey and she chases after Finn, but he stumbles over BB-8 rolling in his way.  Finn is trained in using staff weapons seen in the Takodana battle by the other stormtrooper.  Rey knocking him down doesn’t make sense.  BB-8 shocks Finn and he admits to taking Poe’s jacket.  Constable Zuvio points out Rey, Finn, and the droids to stormtroopers and they start to run.  They reach the spaceport, Rey tries to explain she works as a space tug pilot bringing in stranded ships, but her space tug is destroyed by TIE fighters.  They head to the Millennium Falcon covered by tarps and gravity locks.  It doesn’t make sense why the Falcon is just sitting around for anyone to take and the gravity locks were introduced in Star Wars: Rebels.  Finn heads to the gunnery station, activates the cannons, and blasts the gravity locks.  

Rey powers up the Falcon’s engines, Ar-U55 takes the co-pilot seat, she has to re-route power as the engines warm up and the TIE fighters strafe the desert floor.  Ar-U55 brings up the shields.  Rey reaching over to activate the shields, so that’s Chewie’s use?, to push a button?  Han called out “Angle the deflector shields while charge up the main guns” in ANH, how is Rey doing this in another seat?, another misunderstanding of Star Wars.  Rey is able to awkwardly bring the Falcon out of spaceport smashing into buildings and tears off the last of the tarps.  Ar-U55 notes that her flying needs adjustment.  BB-8 has put his interface arm into the cockpit, trying to adjust power levels, and bleeps his progress to Rey.  She flies the Falcon across the desert and Finn charges up the cannons.  The TIE fighters open fire on the ship.  Rey brings the Falcon to the ground level to kick up dust clouds to confuse the First Order fighters.  Finn fires back at the fighters.  The ship’s engines flare and the Falcon skips across the desert before Rey is able to get control of the ship.  This is to show that the time passed without maintenence for the Falcon would make it awkward and clunky at first like Solo having problems with it in ESB.  

The TIE fighters strike the Falcon sending smoke from its aft, BB-8 heads to the engineering section which is venting steam, warning lights flash in the cockpit.  Rey heads to the ship graveyard.   Finn’s cannon fire clipping the wings of a fighter which crashes.  The remaining TIE fighter disables Finn’s cannon.  Rey heads to the Star Destroyer she scavenged.  They enter through the starship’s engines and its interior has shafts of light from where the bulkheads have collapsed.  An abandoned Star Destroyer would be impossible to fly in.  More has to be scavengened or collapsed to do so.  The fighter sends up explosions around the Falcon.  Rey sends the Falcon spinning in a turn allowing Finn to blast the TIE fighter, nice move from the movie.  Sarco Planck informs the First Order of the escape of the Falcon.  Rey and Finn introduce themselves.  Kylo Ren is told about the escape of BB-8 and he rages with his lightsaber.  Finn makes his deal with BB-8, but as Rey checks on the ship damaged by the attack, it is caught in a tractor beam!  Of course, this is the appearance of Han Solo and Chewbacca with threads of white hair.  We have to keep the great moments of TFA.  The run time, basic scenes, and budget are tried to be maintained.  I'm liking Ar-U55's lines.  

#TheForceAwakensRevised, #Teedos, #ArU55, #ConstableZuvio  

Happy Birthday George Takei!

Happy Birthday George Takei!  A veteran actor of the television screen, Takei’s first film role was in Ice Palace (1960).  He was in the production of the civil rights musical Fly Blackbird (1961). One of his first genre roles was in “The Encounter” (1964) episode of The Twilight Zone.  Then, he had an iconic part as Sulu in Star Trek (1966-1969).  Takei worked on the John Wayne war film, The Green Berets (1968).  He returned to voice Sulu in Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974). Takei co-wrote with author, Robert Asprin, the science fiction novel, Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe (1979).  He also reprised the role of Sulu for film in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).  He appeared as Dr. Marcus in a 1980 episode of the tv series, Beyond Westworld.  Then, continued as Sulu in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).  George Takei was in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.  In 1990, Takei co-wrote with Peter David, Star Trek Annual #1 that involved Sulu.  

The final adventure for the original crew was in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).  This is also where we find Sulu is captain of his own ship, the U.S.S. Excelsior.  He also started voicing parts in The Simpsons from 1991 and continuing on several episodes.  Takei wrote his autobiography, To The Stars, in 1994.  He appeared as Captain Sulu in “Flashback” (1996) episode of Star Trek: Voyager.  Takei provided a voice in the Disney animated film, Mulan (1998).  In 2002, Takei voiced his own head in Futurama and would continue to voice the character in other episodes.  He was the voice of Sensei in the Kim Possible (2003-2007) animated series.  Takei played Kaito Nakamura in the sci fi series Heroes (2007-2008).  He voiced an alien general, Lok Durd, in a 2009 episode of Star Wars: Clone Wars.  Takei returned as Kaito Nakamura in a 2010 episode of Heroes.  In 2014, a documentary was released on the life and activism of George Takei, To Be Takei.  Takei played the grandfather, Oji-chan, in the musical based on his life, Allegiance, the Broadway production was filmed in 2016.  It was interesting to hear Takei voicing Hosato in Kubo and the Two Strings (2016).   He has recently appeared as Yamato-san in horror series, The Terror.  George Takei co-wrote with Justin Elsinger and Steven Scott about his childhood in the graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy.  Happy Birthday George Takei! 

#GeorgeTakei, #StarTrek, #Allegiance, #KuboandtheTwoStrings