The Acolyte, “Lost/Found”, Part II Review!

Star Wars: The Acolyte’s first episode has Jedi Master Sol finding his former Padawan, Osha, but she has a discovery of her own!  Re:cap - the first part of “Lost/Found”; Star Wars: The Acolyte has begun with the death of a Jedi Master, Indara, and the former Padawan, Osha, has been identified as the assassin! The Jedi Knight Yord takes her into custody and Osha’s questioning reveals that she left the Jedi Order six years ago. Osha’s prison ship crashs on the snowy planet, Carlac, after a prisoner escape. On Coruscant, at the Jedi Temple, Jedi Master Sol explains to Vernestra Rrwoh that he saved Osha along with Indara from a fire on Brendok that killed her mother. She agrees to his missio to return Osha. Leslye Headland, the creator of the series, wrote and directed the first episode. 

Osha again wakes up gasping, this time in the crashed ship, she goes out to see the snowy landscape of Carlac. She re-enters the ship and then behind her is a dark figure! Eerie. Osha turns to see the person walk away. Jecki walks with Sol on her first mission, they are in their mission brown robes and tan tunics. He says they will need backup and instantly Jecki asks if it is Yord, funny! They find him in the ship steaming his robe shirtless, this is for the ladies. Yord thanks Sol and says he should have brought in Osha. Jecki tells Yord to put his clothes on, also funny. The ship leaves for the mission for the mission that will take them to a fateful meeting with Osha Aniseya!! 

A wipe, Lucas’ classic technique, shifts to Osha running in a snow cave, she is chasing the dark figure she had seen at the ship. The figure turns and it is a young girl (Leah Brady), her sister, Mae! Osha finds that she is in a forest with snow drifting down at night. Osha tuns lit by orange, the forest is on fire. This must be their homeworld, Brendok, I wonder if this is how Mae was made into the Acolyte? Mae runs says, “You’re with me, I’m with you. Always one, but born as two.” Osha chases after her and they end up at what must be their childhood home. They repeat their words as children and now Mae is in her younger form (Lauren Brady). Mae asks her sister if she killed Indara. 

Her reply, “Yes”, simple, and she adds, “I will kill them all” and her eyes turn all black! Not Sith, but demonic. Osha wakes up again gasping in the snow falling in the ship. A Force vision? Yoda was assaulted on Moraband, the homeworld of the Sith, in “Sacrifice” (2014), GL-CW6/13. This must be the Trial of the Spirit in the Jedi Trials and I wonder if this is also a Sith test. She picks up Pip beeping fantically and says he wouldn’t believe what she saw, Pip may have been around since she was a child? The Jedi ship travels though hyperspace. Jecki asks Jedi Master Sol about Osha. He says he was posted on Brendok when Mae started the fire that killed her family and village. 

Sol adds that Osha is a twin sister. Jedi twins! This is what we saw with Luke and Leia. The connection might take Osha to the Dark Side and become The Acolyte! Jedi twins are rare, but in The High Republic comic book, in issue #2 (2021). We find the Kotabi Bond-twins, Terec and Ceret. This is impressive that Stenberg plays two different parts. Sol is certain that Mae is dead after seeing her die himself. This along with his narrative of the fire must be part of the mystery. Yord gets the signal that they have reached Carlac. A smaller craft launches from the ship. Pip has detected their descent and Osha runs out. After a search, Yord declares that there are no survivors, but Jecki says that there was someone there. I really like the relationship, Yord’s practical, typical Jedi perspective, and Jecki open to possiblities. 

Sol senses something and then runs out telling the others to follow. Osha is running though the snow and canyon. The trio follow through the snowfall. Osha finds a crack in a canyon wall and rushes in. Sol has discovered the cave opening and enter with the others. Yord ignites his yellow lightsaber. Osha has reached the edge of the cave. Yord finds Osha and shouts, “Stop! In the name of the Republic and the Jedi Order!” This makes it feel that the Jedi are more of a police force than in the time of the Prequels. Osha steps back and Sol calls her name. She says she is innocent. This feels, not coincedence, like The Fugitive (1993). Osha slips back and falls, but held by Sol using the Force. She is perpendicular to the edge of the cave and then Sol pulls her in. He smiles. Osha tells him that Mae is alive. 

THE ACOLYTE - - “Lost/Found” - - AMANDLA STENBERG - - Christian Black/© Lucasfilm Ltd.

The Jedi Master says he believes her. Yord has his lightsaber ready and Jecki prepares the binders, but Sol tells them to stand down. At the seaside of an unknown planet, Mae walks, as she hears a dark voice say, “The Jedi live in a dream.” The figure is robed with a helmet. A Sith master? He tells her, “An Acolyte kills without a weapon.” He ignites his red lightsaber. Mae left the lightsaber of Indara. A Sith takes the crystal and corrupt, “bleeding” them, until they turn the blades red!  

This process was shown in Darth Vader #5 (2017); DC-DV5. Who is this mysterious master? It could be anyone, but the mastermind is usually revealed at the very end of the mystery. The prime suspect now would be Vernestra, we don't know if she is involved with Brendok at this point, but she certainly has the power, and seemed to stress keeping the case discreet, suspicious. A chaacter introduced in a later episode? I suspect that this master might later take Darth Plagueis as his apprentice! The Acolyte, “Lost/Found”, ends with a dark note even though Osha has been recovered!  

#StarWars, #TheAcolyte, #LostFound, #LeslyeHeadland, #AmandlaStenberg, #LeeJungJae, #DaphneKeen, #CharlieBarnett, #LeahBrady, #LaurenBrady 

The Acolyte, “Lost/Found”, Part I Review!

Star Wars: The Acolyte is centered around a dark mystery that is wrapped up with the assassin Mae, Jedi Master Sol, and may tear apart the Jedi! The series made its two episode debut on Disney+ on June 4th. The series creator, who also wrote and directed this episode is Leslye Headland, and her other notable work was co-creating the series, Russian Doll. The episode title, “Lost/Found”, is a great dichotomy that I think is at the heart of the show. A title card, not rollup, tells us this is set a “hundred years before the rise of the Empire.” This is towards the end of the High Republic era that began with the novel, Light of the Jedi (2021) by Charles Soule. 

It mentions that there has been no war at this time for the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic. Then, a mention that “a powerful few” are practicing using the Force in secret, the Sith? The last war was the Great Hyperspace War that we saw with the fresco in Palpatine’s office. The Sith were thought to be extinct in the Legends event, the Battle of Ruusan, where Darth Bane escaped. Darth Bane was seen in the Clone Wars episode, “Sacrifice” (2014), GL-CW6/13. So he was around about 500 years before the High Republic. This series may tread new territory in revealing the Sith at this time. Lastly, the title card says that one of those few is an assassin looking for revenge. 

The music by Michael Abels is solemn, he worked on the score for the sci fi thriller, Nope (2022). It is a different tone and I noticed that I couldn’t sense any themes for the characters. We pan down to the world of Ueda, a new planet, with a rocky seashore. A masked woman (Amandla Stenberg) in purple robes makes her way to the Lomi Usqi Noodle Shop. It is filled with alien patrons and she makes her way to a table. The assassin gets the attention of Master Indara (Carrie Ann Moss) who is dressed in the familiar brown Jedi robe with a white tunic that has interesting stripes. She draws back and says, “Attack me with all your strength.” This gets the others at Indara’s table laughing. Indara refuses saying that Jedi do not attack unnamed opponents. The assassin says they do, hinting at the mystery?, and she starts using martial arts moves bashing the patrons.

Teräs Käsi is a deadly martial art that first appeared in the Legends Shadows of the Empire novel and then later the video game, Masters of Teräs Käsi (1997); EC-MTK. The assassin uses a table to block a blaster bolt and then kicks it to crush the gunman! Her arm is grasped by Indara and the assassin’s strikes are smoothly blocked and dodged by the Jedi Master. Shon-Ju was a technique used by Jedi that appeared in Shadows of Starlight #3 (2023) written by Charles Soule. The masked woman reaches out, but Indara moves out of the way of the assassin who almost takes her lightsaber. A small blade is taken out by the assassin whose strike is stopped by the open palm of Indara using the Force to stop her. 

Indara asks the mysterious woman, “Who trained you?”, but the assassin leaps up to the upper floor. The assassin holds her knife to the throat of a woman and Jedi Master leaps up to that level. This made me think of the teahouse fight in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Indara uses her comlink to report the “unidentified Force user.” The assassin throws down the woman hostage, but Indara stops her fall with the Force. The noodle shop patrons leave and Indara is again attacked by the assassin. She uses a Force push to knock her back. In another attack, the Jedi Master bats away a knife, holding the assassin, and then pulls down her mask. She is surprised at recognizing the assassin and then thrown back by her Force push! 

The Force user throws knives which are sliced by Indara’s lightsaber. She says a Jedi only draws a lightsaber to kill and the Jedi Master lowers it. They notice the alien noodle shop owner and assassin throws her knife, Indara holds it from his face with the Force, but finds a knife thrown into her chest! The Jedi Master's lightsaber falls. There is almost remorse on the assassin's face before Indara slumps down. It is stunning that a character, especially a Jedi, has died! This sets up that no one is safe. She retrieves her knife with the Force and then takes her other knife in front of the owner. He has a youngling son at his side and the Force User walks away. 

An alarm wakens a woman, Osha (Stenberg), gasping, in her ship bunk. "Osha" is a Swahili word that means "burn." She greets her handheld droid, Pip, on his desk. Pip makes a series of beeps and Osha understands his droidspeak. His design is like a sentient version of Fallout’s Pip Boy. She greets her handheld droid, Pip, on his desk. Pip makes a series of beeps and Osha understands his droidspeak. His design is like a sentient version of Fallout’s Pip Boy. A ship alarm gets her attention, she dresses in vest and fatigues, and met by Filik (Anthony J. Abraham). Two of the tall, Neimoidian crew pass them in the corridor. Their species was known from The Phantom Menace (1999). He says the shield generator needs to be repaired. 

They wear EVA suits, we saw them in live action form in Ahsoka, and walk over to the generator. We see the full ship, the Fallon, a WD-2550 Whydah-class ship. Named after chat host Jimmy Fallon? Captain Blex says that the mekneks are disposable. Sigh of relief that they speak in unaccented Basic. The name is a slight change of “mekanik”, a variation on mechanic? Risky for humans to make repairs instead of astrodroids like Artoo. Osha says she can hear the captain over the comlink. She takes Pip into a fusion cutter shape to start welding the loose emitter duct. This causes an explosion on a nearby pressure valve. Osha walks over to it and hears voices of the past watching the fire. A fire is not possible in the vacuum of space, but maybe a shield could contain some kind of atmosphere? What happened with the fire and her mother is the series' mystery.

Filik snaps her out of her traumatic memory and Osha uses Pip to extinguish the fire. Then, a Jedi Vector, a starship of that time, passes by. On the bridge, two Jedi enter in white and gold robes, Jedi Knight Yord Fender (Charlie Bennett) and his Padawan, Tasi Lowa (Thara Schöön). She is Zygerrian with cat-like ears who were slavers in Clone Wars. They meet with Captain Blex and say they are looking for Osha Aniseya, former Jedi, now a meknek. The captain tries to deny that they have mekneks that are not allowed by the Republic. Yord reaches out to the captain with the Force! The captain's junior officer gives the location of Osha's bunk. Osha finds Yord at her bunk and laughs at seeing him again. She is impressed he passed his trials and Yord says he was made a Jedi Knight two years ago. They must have trained togther at the Jedi Temple. 

THE ACOLYTE -- “Lost/Found” -- AMANDLA STENBERG -- Christian Black/© 2024 LUCASFILM LTD. & ™. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

He says she has left Coruscant for CorpSec, the Corporate Sector was the region of the galaxy that was in the Legends novel, Han Solo at Stars' End (1979) by Brian Daley. Osha reaches for Pip and Yord's hand goes for his lightsaber, a little jumpy. Yord is back to business and Tasi joins them asking Osha how long she was a meknek. Osha replies six years after she left the Jedi Order. We saw Ahsoka leave the Jedi and also hints of the Lost Twenty like Dooku. She didn't find her Jedi skills applied for any other job, bodyguard? Tasi asks when she joined the order and Osha replies when she was eight, fairly late like Anakin. Yord says she was in mourning losing her mothers, sister, and village before Master Sol took her to become a Jedi. This is the big mystery of the show. 

Tasi explains that Jedi Master Indara was assassinated and Osha matches the description of her killer. Osha says she was on the ship and is stunned that Indara was killed. Yord says that Indara had advised the Jedi Council to stop Osha's training. Osha counters that she made the decision to leave the Jedi Order. Tasi leaves and Osha tells Yord she can't believe the accusation against her. The noodle shop enters and identifies Osha as the assassin! Osha is led to a prison transport in binders. On Coruscant, the Jedi Temple is seen with gold walls on a flat cityscape surface with only a few tall structures. Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) is with a class of Jedi Younglings. He has them close their eyes and wonderrs what they see. A Youngling (Sienna Khiroya) says she sees fire that consumes “everything that tries to stop it.” A vision of the future that the Jedi face in The Acolyte? This vision seems to connect the meaning of Osha's name.  

Jedi Master Venestra Rrwoh (Rebecca Henderson) has entered and Sol dismisses the class for lunch. The character is a connection with the High Republic novels introduced in A Test of Courage (2021). Venestra remembers Sol as a Youngling. She tells him about the death of his fiend, Indra, and that the suspect is his former Padawan. Sol calls her a “devoted Padaman” and doesn’t believe she would be capable of murdering a Jedi. He tells Venestra that Indara and he saved Osha from the fire on Brendok, another new world. Venestra sees another Jedi and moves close to whisper to Sol. He says if news of the murder was released their “political enemies” would take advantage to discredit the Jedi. This entire situation has to be done confidentially and may sow distrust with the Jedi that could lead to Revenge of the Sith (2005). 

Indara gets Sol’s agreement to act quickly and with discretion and he agrees. This incident needs to keep a low profile so no involvement by the Jedi Council; no Yoda even though he was present during the High Republic. On the Palwick prison ship, the droid pilot sends the guard check on the prisoners. In her cell, Osha sees a convict (Dan Milne) with his mouth covered with a star shaped parasite! Another prisoner (Thomas Coombes) with a face tatoo identifies it as a Dybbuk. In Jewish folklore, a Dybbuk is an evil spirit. A burly alien prisoner says they have an escape plan. A prisoner behind Osha is bald with a visor and a device in his mouth. He looks like the controllers in the Flash Gordon (1980) movie. Osha says they are in hyperspace. The lead convict says they are going to take out the droids and use escape pods. Osha says they could die and trusts the Jedi. The leader gives a signal to the cyborg prisoner. 

THE ACOLYTE -- “Lost/Found” -- LEE JUNG-JAE -- Christian Black/© 2024 LUCASFILM LTD. & ™. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

In turn, he is able to deactivate the pilot droids that fold back into chairs! The ship falls out of hyperspace. The prison ship has entered an asteroid field and is tossed aound by asteroids! The droid guard heads to the prisoners, but is wrapped up by the tentacles of the bulky prisoner and its head is torn off! He uses the droid’s arm to open the cell and the convict leader frees his cyborg cellmate. They leave in an escape pod. The ship strikes another asteroid which tosses the case spilling out Pip! He rolls out of reach for Osha. She reaches out to Pip with the Force, breathes, but nothing happens! The ship rumbles again and Pip slides over to Osha. She uses him to disable the cell door. Osha is about to reach the escape pod, but sees the prisoner with the Dybbuk. 

She uses Pip to shock the parasite which flies off to slip away into the ship! The freed convict screams and then takes the last escape pod. Osha rushes to the cockpit and finds a chair in the back of the pilots. She straps in as the prison ship spins in atmo and starts to burn in re-entry. Osha braces for impact as the ship crashes into a snowy planet! Coruscant, Sol looks at a hologram projection of Osha as a young Padawan. Behind him is his current Padawan, Jecki Lon (Daphne Keen). She is a Theelin-human hybrid, two species in one person, similar to the dancer, Rystáll Sant, at Jabba’s Palace in the Return of the Jedi (1997) special edition, GL-SW4SE. Jecki has horns and also pale skin with a orangish curve like Kabuki. She asks Sol why he keeps holograms of Osha which may lead to emotional attachment. Sol says that he has them as lesson, mediating on the past, “those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” I think this separates Sol from other Jedi. 

They head to the detainment level. The prisoners rage behind ray shields and Venestra says that the ship fell at Carlac with no other survivors. Carlac was a planet that was introduced in the Clone Wars episode, “A Friend in Need” (2012), GL-CW4/14. The violent prisoner is calmed by Sol using the Force, he says she helped him before he lft in the escape pod, the Jedi Master turns to Vernestra. Sol leaves the cell and the senior Jedi Master says that the Republic sent probe droids. He asks permission from Vernestra to go to Carlac and find Osha. Sol says he senses Osha is alive and the Jedi Master says she can’t have him in the field. He says that if Osha is a killer, then he has to take responsiblity for her. Venestra closes her eyes for a moment and then tells him to use a small team. As Sol leaves, the Jedi Master says, “May the Force Be With You.” The Acolyte sets up a cast of intriguing characters, rich, complex writing that reveals details with repeat viewing!, and a mystery that gives new perception of the Jedi! 

Five Lightsabers out of Five! 

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X-Men `97, “Tolerance is Extinction - Part 2”, Review!

X-Men `97's seventh episode nears the close of season one and the battle to save everyone splits the X-Men into two teams! In “Tolerance is Extinction - Part 2”, the X-Men are pushed to the limit and now have to fight the two greatest threats to save the Earth! Bastion is ready to fulfill his apocalytpic vision and Magneto has shut down all power on Earth! This has taken down all of Bastion’s Prime Sentinels, but the disruptions endangers mutant and humandkindThe last episode finished with the return of Professor Charles Xavier from Shi’ar space. The second part of the three episode finale is directed by Emi-Emmett Yonemura and written by Anthony Sellitti. Morning, we see the ruined X-Mansion, closeup of Professor Xavier as he wakes up in his bed.

At a Genoshan seashore, the cave where Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine found Magneto in the X-Men: The Animated Series finale, Magneto holds his helmet. He sees the cargo ships carrying relief supplies. The townspeople transformed into Prime Sentinels are frozen like statues, Bastion carries his mother’s body, he is tearful, but he did turn her into a killing machine. An angry mob is chasing after Roberto and Jubilee angry at the loss of power. Irrational, they are obviously not part of the power loss, and instead the power should be solar and wind generated. The two young mutants are cornered in an alley and activate their powers. Xavier wipes the dust off his old hoverchair. 

Magneto puts on his helmet and then uses his powers to lfit up rocks. The mob is stopped by a lightning strike and rain, they turn to see Stom and Forge on a rooftop! The seas boil, the relief ships are pushed aside as a giant rock formation rises pulled up by Magneto. The crowd disperses as Forge and Storm descend. Jubilee hugs Storm. I love that there is little dialogue, but so much is written on the characters’ expressions. Jean says the world is going to end in 12 hours! Scott is angry at the professor putting Magneto in charge. Xavier, in his wheelchair, says he wanted them to be a family apart from the school. Scott replies they would have to return to face threats like Bastion. 

Xavier confides that he worried about them not being able to enjoy a future safe for mutants that they fighting to build. He holds out his hand, but Scott walks away! Maybe Xavier should have explained that he gave up an empire, the love of his life, and legs with his cybernetic suit. Rogue calls out Remy’s name and suddenly wakes up! She has been unconscious since Prime Sentinel Trask blasted her in the seventh episode. Nightcrawler is there and bampfs over to her. He updates her about the situation and Rogue that Gambit is gone. The doors of the X-Mansion crash down and Jean flies over to hug Ororo. Beast is impressed that Forge’s bionic leg is still working, and he has that he had an “electrostatic deflector” installed. Could be good tech to use against Magneto. 

Jean tells Storm that they are moving to Muir Island, the former base of Moira MacTaggert. Cyclops also tells Storm that thousands might be dead, there would be crashed planes and vehicles along with medical devices and surgeries losing patients. This would also be true of the mutants in Genosha. Storm says she can sense the Earth’s magnetic field dying! Jean wants to talk to Magneto to undo the damage. Wolverine says Magneto declared war on the planet! Xavier enters saying he is the one who should be punished. Cyclops wants Rogue on Blue Team to deal with Magneto. He has Gold Team with Storm and Jean going to the Galapagos Islands base of Bastion. The two X-Men teams began in X-Men #1 (1991). I’m not certain how they worked out Basion’s location when they went to his childhood town.

Xavier asks about returning the Prime Sentinels back to humans. Beast tells him that he is working with Forge and it will take years to remove the nanotech, shorted out it shouldn’t be a problem de-cyborging them. Still, he says he can bring back their humanity, the control signal must be found, any transmission would be down. Xavier says it is Bastion. He saw Bastion’s mother, Rose, when Cerebro detected him. Rose didn’t want him at the school and Xavier thinks that Magneto will be reasonable if they stop Bastion. I think Magneto would take care of the person who was torturing him. Roberto questions the professor after he turned over the school to Magneto. Cyclops ends the blame game and they get to work. 

Storm walks into Beast’s lab as he is working with Forge on changing the “mneumonic scramber” used on Dark Phoenix. They are using it to cut off Bastion’s control with the Prime Sentinels. Beast is intrigued at using neutralizer tech to stop Bastion, but there is a flash of lightning, Storm is not happy! It is night when Xavier rolls his wheelchair over to talk to Rogue alone. She says he thinks of them as students and not people. Which is not what he had said to Jean and Scott. She is still grieving about Gambit, but didn’t go to his funeral and instead went on her hunt for revenge. He tries to apologize. Then, lightning flashes as Asteroid M, the base of Magneto, descends from the cloudy sky! It appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series and debuted in comics with X-Men #5 (1964)! 

Magneto flies to the dock. Xavier and Magneto talk, Professor Xavier says they can stop Bastion, and Magneto brings up his promise to Leech before he died. He poses to the X-Men which one will be next to die for Xavier’s dream. Magneto offers a home to those who will go with him. He floats before them and Rogue walks over to Xavier giving her jacket. Roberto then starts to walk towards him, Jubilee tries to stop him, but activates his Sunspot powers and the trio leave. Muir Island, the bagpipes are not really needed to know when we are in Scotland. The latest X-Jets are in the hangar as well as cars, a motorcycle, and hover chairs. I can’t believe there are billions here without a corporation. Cable readies his rifle by the classic uniforms in cases. 

Scott brings up Jean, and Cable quickly replies she is not his mother, and tells him, “Give `em hell.” The slogan shouted out during Truman’s 1948 campaign. He tosses his son the X-Men uniform, Cable says it’s for a circus, funny!, and Scott says does he expect black leather, a nice jab by the writers to the live action films! President Kelly on the astral plane brings up the Magneto Protocols. Xavier says everything ends in an hour, but the X-Men will save the day. The X-Men put on their classic uniforms. Beast holds the hand of Trish Tilby in recovery. Jubilee burns Roberto’s card. Kelly says he will be forced to act, Xavier says if the president doesn’t trust him, trust his X-Men. We see a somber group shot of the best X-Men team of all time! 

Jean and Cyclops embrace for one last time before boarding their jets. Bastion detects them and activates his Sentinels. Forg mentions that Bastion controls them through his technopathy. Storm is ready to hold them off with Forge while she sends the team to take Bastion. She says she thought of Jean, “a survivor, a phoenix”, they are ready for this battle. Great music for this fight, Storm brings her full power, a cyclone that fills the sky!, Beast detects Bastion’s signal in the jungle with a fallen Sentinel head. He has tracked it to a volcano, classic supervillain hideout! Cable finds that Bastion’s base is a recreation of his hometown. This is similar to Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) complete with jungle and diner. The Sentinels appear with Basion’s voice. 

Morph changes into his ultimate form, The Hulk!, “Morph smash!” Plus, we get the theme song to keep things going! Cable blasts the face of another Sentinel and Beast rips off its arm to smack it with “the sound of one hand clapping”, funny! Still, Cable is blasted, and Jean turns to face Mister Sinister! He says he knows her strengths and weaknesses, but attacks her from behind, cowardly. Mister Sinister dodges Jean’s telekinetic blasts, an action highlight for her! He knocks her back and says he will tell her when he switched Jean and Madelyne. She tells Sinister that she fights with Madelyne and sends TK bubbles that make him cry in pain! Asteroid M, the X-Jet lands in the hangar, Rogue in her green outfit from X-Men #171 (1983) and Roberto, in X-Men uniform from the New Mutants enter.  

She tears into the X-Jet, but finds they are gone, teleported by Nightcrawler! They bamf to Magneto. He sends out fragments that Wolverine slices! He is caught by Rogue who slams him down. Cyclops blasts Magneto’s metal pieces while Nightcrawler bamfs around them! Jubilee sends out her pyrotechnics as Xavier tries to reason with Magneto. He is told about the dead on Genosha. Jubilee is thrown by Sunspot who reverts back to check on her. He gets a pyrotechnic blast that sends him back! They start to exchange blasts, mutant vs. mutant! Charles continues to try to reason with Magneto who says he waited to say two words to him - “Shut up” - slamming a metal plate on his mouth! Xavier sends a mental message to Cyclops saying that Magneto’s helmet needs to be taken away. He can take his magnetic powers and save Earth! X-Men `97 has the teams facing villains from their past to save the future in their greatest battle! 

Four Sentinel Blasters out of Five! 

#XMen 97, #ToleranceIsExtinctionPart2, #EmiEmmettYonemura, #AnthonySellitti, #RossMarquand, #MatthewWaterson, #RayChase, #JenniferHale, #AlisonSealySmith, 

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Star Wars: The Acolyte Advance Screening!

 Star Wars: The Acolyte is set to debut June 4th on Disney+, but some audiences who are Force sensitive got the chance to see the advance screening today! The showing is free and the El Capitan Theatre was full of Star Warriors! A number of audience members wore Jedi robes, one Jedi Knight had the High Republic white and gold robe!, and others brought along lightsabers! Rob Richards played several themes from Star Wars on the Wurlitzer organ. The High Republic is an era that took place a hundred to two hundred years before The Phantom Menace (1999). 

The multimedia story began with Phase One with the Great Disaster that was in the novel, Light of the Jedi (2021) by Charles Soule. The freight transport, Legacy Run, was traveling through hyperspace when it encountered a Stormship piloted by the pirate Nihil. The ship breaks apart and pieces fly into realspace across the galaxy! Next phase, Quest of the Jedi, took place 150 years before Light of the Jedi. It concerns the planets Eiram and E’ronoh, at war with each other as the Jedi and Republic try to bring peace to them. 

The advance screening of The Acolyte at the El Capitan Theatre, author’s photo. 

Phase III, Trials of the Jedi, after the Nihil attack the Starlight Beacon, a station run by the Jedi to help travelers move through the hyperspace routes. This was in The Fallen Star (2022) by Claudia Gray. The Acolyte is set towards the end of the High Republic. The first two episodes were screened both directed by series creator, Leslye Headland, she also wrote the first episode. Headland is known as the co-creator of the series, Russian Doll.  Jason Micallef and Charmaine DeGrate wrote the second episode. 

The screening began with an introduction by Amandla Stenberg who stars in the series. The show focuses on Stenberg as the assassin Mae. It is a complex part that is demanding for the actor. The other main character is Jedi Master Sol played by Lee Jung-jae. He is known for portraying Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game. He is a teacher, his Padawan is Jecki Lon played by Dafne Keen, and there is a flawed veneer to his veteran Jedi. Keen is well known for playing X-23 in Logan (2017). Keen plays an apprentice who is wise. 

The Acolyte poster handed to all Star Warriors who attended the screening, photo by the author. 

In contrast is the by-the-book Jedi Knight Yord Fandar played by Charlie Barnett. Alan Zveri in Russian Doll was played by Barnett. The other Jedi is Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) who is the voice of the Jedi Council. She is also the connection to the earlier phases of the High Republic when she was much younger. The interesting part of the show is that it is a mystery like Obi-Wan investigating the assassin in Attack of the Clones. Except that it will take place over the entire series and characters are introduced episode to episode. The series is a mystery that is hidden in the past, a secret that may ruin the Jedi and give rise to the Dark Side! After the screening, The Acolyte posters were handed out to Star Warriors! 

 

#StarWarsTheAcolyte, #DisneyPlus, #ElCapitanTheatre, #RobRichards, #HighRepublic, #LightOfTheJedi, #CharlesSoule, #QuestOfTheJedi, #TrialsOfTheJedi, #TheFallenStar, #ClaudiaGray, #LeslyeHeadland, #JasonMicallef, #CharmaineDeGrate, #AmandlaStenberg. #LeeJungJae, #DafneKeen, #CharlieBarnett, #RebeccaHenderson  

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4 Review!

The storyline that began with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 30th Anniversary Special #1 comes to an epic conclusion with this fourth issue! Re:cap - issue #3; it is a dark world with part of the moon shattered, the Rangers separated, and the loss of Tommy Oliver! The remaining Rangers in plain clothes were captured by Selena, who has revealed that she is daughter of Rita Repulsa! They were trapped on the Moon Palace and Selena has used their Power Coins for Finster’s Morphin-matic. A device to bring back Rita Repulsa! It fails and Kimberly corrects Selena that there is another Power Coin. Selena enraged pulls Kimberly from the force field. Kimberly introduces her to Olivia Hart, who appears as the Green Ranger, her daughter! 

“Family Reunion” is written by Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson with Nico Leon providing the artwork. The cover by Goni Montes has the Pink Ranger drawing her Power Bow upside down in a flip and the Green Ranger about to swing his Dragon Dagger on her other side with the Earth behind them! We get a closeup of the sixth Power Coin, Olivia has found it in a closet, a cinematic pull back,and she holds it in the cabin saying it’s Morphin Time before transporting! We see her holding her stomach saying she might puke! It is great seeing the less than heroic first teleportation! Kimberly says Olivia’s name and we get a funy scene when the Green Ranger replies mom, surprising Selena and the other Rangers! Selena screams and brings down Rita’s Magic Wand, but it is blocked by Olivia’s Dragon Dagger!

The dagger falls and Billy tells Kimberly that the Dragon Dagger may be strong enough to break the force field as she uses it to stab the barrier! Selena’s fist is blocked by Olivia’s arm. Now freed of the force field, Jason is surprised that Kimberly and Tommy kept Olivia a secret. Zack warns them about the Putties running towarrds them with arm blades! Kimberly is concerned about Olivia dealing with Selena and the other Ranger ready themselves for the battle with the Putties! Zack compliments Billy’s fisticuffs as he is upside down in a spin kick! Jason says they have to finish the fight to get to Selena. He says this while holding a Puttie in a head lock and kicking another Puttie! Great composition and action poses by Leon. Kimberly stands in front of Olivia while Selena’s Magic Wand slams into the floor. The missed strike by the wand sends up sparks! Fantastic color effects by Dono Sanchez Almara. 

Selena shouts that Olivia is not trained, Kimberly stabs with the Dragon Dagger, but Selena avoids the attack. Closeup of Selena grabbing Kimberly’s face and then slamming her into the floor, ouch! Selena is impressive as a fighter, she should train the Putties, or their attacks should be matched to her. Selena then brings up her knee to the Green Ranger. She draws Olivia’s power coin and then in a long panel, sends out an epic blast that tosses Kimberly and Olivia! Finster has the Power Coin and Selena almost looks serene as she tells him to activate the Morphin-matic. The trio of Rangers have finished off the Putties at the stairs of the Moon Palace. Finster’s machine hums with power as Selena calls for he mother. Stunned expressions by Kimberly and Olivia now in regular clothes. Kimberly slams into Selena to stop her. Selena crashes into Finster, but the Morphin-matic continues. 

The power sizzles as everything is quiet, Kimberly wonders what happened. Then we get rows of shocked expressions of Finster, the Rangers, and finally Olivia who asks, “Dad?” We get the awesome reveal of Tommy Oliver just as he was in the moon battle. Kimberly is in tears. Tommy hugs the trio of Rangers and asks them why they are older. He then sees Kimberly and they hug. Selena screams that Finster’s magic clay is used up to bring back her mother. She holds the Trini’s Power Coin, Kimberly and Tommy can barely react, and then a closeup of Selena as she says, “Sabertooth Tiger”! Interesting twist with Selena since she first said she was a relative of Trini. Her Yellow Ranger helmet has the red visor and grill of Lord Zedd! Now as the Yellow Ranger, Selena sends out a blast that Kimberly ducks and Tommy dodges by leaning backwards! Tommy’s return and Selena becoming the Yellow Ranger are wow moments.

Jason leads the charge with Olivia and Zack. In silhouette, Tommy does a flip taking the Magic Wand, but we hear Finster raging about the destruction of the Putties and his home. He transforms into a five armed Super Puttie with one blade arm, looking something like the comic book villain, Doomsday! He scatters the Rangers and Olivia pulls away her mother. Kimberly and Olivia see that their teammates need help, the Power Coins are seen in closeup and then another awesome moment of the two women holding their two coins. Kimbely says, “Let’s go save the boys.” The dialogue pops with great lines. Yellow Ranger is about to bring down herr Magic Wand down on Tommy and then we hear Green Ranger and Pink Rangerr call out, “Pterodactyl” and “Dragonzord”! Does the comic book come with a sound chip because I can hear the theme song! 

The Magic Wand is deflected by the Dragon Dagger! Pink Ranger stands by Tommy with her Power Bow warning Yellow Ranger! Zack notices the return of the Pink Ranger and Billy hopes she can help with Mega Finster! The towering Mega Finster boasts that a single Ranger can’t stop him, gasps, and then falls with the Dragon Dagger buried in his back! Olivia makes a formal introduction to them and hands the trio their Power Coins. They make their calls to transform; “Triceratops!”, “Tyrannosaurus!”, and “Mastodon”! The Blue Ranger is armed with his Power Lance, Red Ranger has his latest outfit with belts, cape, and giant Power Sword, with Black Ranger holding his Power Axe held in cannon form! Blue and Black Ranger discuss that Selena took Trini’s suit and Pink Ranger says they have to take it back! Billy says that she has the powers of Rita, Zedd, and Yellow Ranger! 

Five+ Power Coins out of Five! 

#MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheReturrn, #FamilyReunion, #AmyJoJohnson, #MattHotson, #NicoLeon, #DonoSanchezAlmara, #KimberlyHart, #OliviaHart, #TommyOliver, #JasonLeeScott, #BillyCranston, #ZackTaylor, #TriniKwan, #SelenaRepulsa, #Finster, #RitaRepulsa, #LordZedd  

 

Monsterpalooza Saturday 2024!

It is the fifteenth anniversary of Monsterpalooza and it was a full day at the show! Taking place at the Pasadena Convention Center, it began on May 31st and ends tomorrow, Sunday, June 2nd! Monsterpalooza was packed with fans, cosplayers, a Yeti and a Bigfoot!, celebs and two halls of exhibitors! I started the convention going to the queue for Melissa Barrera which went out the door and wrapped around the building! A good hour or so wait which was worth it because she is so kind, giving personal time for all of the fans. I also saw Shinichi Wakasa, founder of Monsters Inc., which makes Kaiju suits! He worked on Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) modeling Mechagodzilla and Rodan, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996), and Godzilla: Final Wars (2004).   

Fede Alvarez, Alec Gillis, and Shane Mahan signing Alien: Romulus posters, photo by the author. 

Later, at the table was Megumi Odaka, she played Miki Saegusa, a psychic girl connected to Godzilla in the Heisei era from Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) to Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995). Odaka’s film work is covered in the souvenir program book. The exhibitors included Premiere Products Inc. which like a few other companies had live make-up demonstrations. Among the cosplayers was a great klown with boxing gloves which was perfect since the Chiodo Brothers who created Killer Klowns from Outer Space, were guests. There also was a zombie bride, undead girl in pink dress, and a lifeguard Creature from the Black Lagoon! The Universal Studios booth had a Creature from the Black Lagoon 70th anniversary display and also a Frankenstein photo op with a chair and chains! 

      Monsterpalooza Museum displays, author’s photo. 

I caught the panel with Kevin Dillon, who played Brian Flagg, and FX artist, Tony Gardner with their film, The Blob (1988). Fun stories about the filming and creation of the Blob effects. The last panel was for the upcoming film, Alien: Romulus with writer/director, Fede Alvarez, Alec Gillis, and Shane Mahan. Alvarez noted, “Right now, we are finishing the movie, the final shots.” Mahan said that the alien was made to “constantly drool”!  Afterwards, they signed free mini-posters of the film. A highlight of a visit to the show is the Monsterpalooza Museum. Godaiking Studios had statues from the Thriller music video. A prosethetic head of The Thing from 2005’s Fantastic Four was provided by Spectral Motion. Phantasmic Gallery provided statues including one from Phantom of the Paradise (1974)! The convention center was packed with celebs, cosplayers, and all things horror! Later in the year, Son of Monsterpalooza, is being held on October 11-13th. 

#Monsterpalooza, #AbigailMovie, #MelissaBarrerra, #ShinichiWakasa, #MegumiOdaka, #ChiodoBrothers, #PremiereProductsInc, #UniversalStudios, #CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon, 

#KevinDillon, #TonyGardner, #TheBlob, #FedeAlvarrez, #AlecGillis, #ShanaMahan, #MonsterpaloozaMuseum, #GodaikingStudios, #Thriller, #SpectralMotion, #FantasticFour, #PhantasmicGallery, #PhantomOfTheParadise