sssuperman-dot-com Reviews

Superman & Lois: Pilot (2021) Season 1, Episode 1

It was OK I guess

[4/10 · 1 March 2021]

I watched the pilot episode of Superman & Lois and, well, I didn't find it particularly good. It certainly wasn't wretchedly bad or anything, either. I suppose I might as well keep watching the show out of curiosity, but I won't be surprised if I end up dropping it soon.

I can't really say I found these versions of Superman/Clark or Lois to be interesting. Superman just seems kind of passive and there doesn't seem to be much elaboration on his character other than the basics that are true of every version of Superman. Lois didn't really have any great character moments or get much to do, so I struggle with what to even say about her.

Thankfully, their sons, Jordan and Jon, are somewhat more interesting. Unfortunately, that doesn't make either of them great characters. Jon is mean to his brother and I don't find that very appealing. I liked Jordan a bit better, and certainly more relatable, but at the end of the day he seems like a fairly stereotypical angsty teen.

I could end the review right there. To me, it's the characters that make the show (or whatever media), so if they're not great, I'm unlikely to be happy. But I suppose I'll try to go on a little longer.

First of all, before even watching the show, I was very annoyed that it was being set on the Smallville farm. And I'm still annoyed. I don't see the point. I don't see what's the point of pushing Superman into his past instead of his future. Clark is a reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper. That's who he is. Leave the farm stuff in the backstory.

Having watched the episode, I don't even really understand what the in-universe point is. I guess it's a combination of some financial contrivances and wanting a simpler life. Those seem like weak reasons, especially considering the reason Superman is so busy is because he's Superman, and I don't see why moving back to Smallville would change much for him considering he can (and should) still fly around at super speeds protecting the whole world.

But anyway, onto something actually a bit positive. I do think Jon and Jordan trying to investigate the truth of who they are was compelling. And I could feel Jordan's pain and hurt when the truth was revealed. On the not-so-bright side, I confess that as Clark was actually revealing the truth, I was laughing. It just seemed too ridiculous to imagine a seemingly normal man just calmly telling his kids this information about being an alien from outer space. I think it was especially goofy when Jordan said it couldn't be, he's seen Superman, and then Clark took his glasses off. Are they seriously implying his sons have never seen him without his glasses before? Comedy gold.

All in all, I think the concept of balancing family life with superhero responsibilities has potential, but the execution was just so-so. I don't think there was enough acknowledgement of how crucial his responsibilities as Superman are. The thing is, there's only one Superman. Other people literally physically can't do the things he does. There are times that he has to prioritize that. In particular, I thought it was painful that Clark promised Jordan he'd always be there for him in the future. Like, dude...you can't promise that.

Overall, it wasn't horrible. It wasn't great. It was OK. Would I recommend it? Not really, no. But if you're a Superman fan, or bored, you could give it a try.

Adventures of Superman: The Man Who Could Read Minds (1953) Season 2, Episode 3

Pretty good

[7/10 · 4 January 2021]

The Man Who Could Read Minds is a pretty typical for an episode in the first two seasons of Adventures of Superman: a crime story that is treated pretty seriously though it contains a gimmick that is a bit on the goofy side, with Superman thrown in. If you know anything about me, you know I don't consider this a bad thing by any means. I absolutely love the first two seasons of Adventures of Superman - in fact, they constitute my favorite piece of Superman media ever.

This one in particular focuses on a supposed "Phantom Burglar". Amusingly, the episode starts with Inspector Henderson (who is on the trail of the burglar) reading the riot act to the Daily Planet staff (Perry, Clark, Lois and Jimmy) because they published a story criticizing the police for their ineffectiveness in catching him. I always find it entertaining when Henderson clashes with the other characters. Maybe in part because, due to the way Superman has evolved over the years to become extremely cooperative with authority, it almost feels "edgy" to see him and his associates in disagreement with the cops, even if it's in a mild way.

Jimmy convinces Lois that they should try to catch the Phantom Burglar themselves in order to get the story. Lois seems a bit reluctant, which may seem a bit surprising, but I think it just shows that, while she may be a risk-taker, she has enough sense to know Jimmy is being quite ambitious. And in general, this show's version of Lois (particularly in season 2 and onward, when she was portrayed by Noel Neill) is not as extreme in terms of rushing into danger as some versions are. And anyway, she does end up agreeing to it in the end. Jimmy actually comes remarkably close to catching him, but predictably, he and Lois end up having to drive away while being shot at.

Clark and Perry realize the two have gone off and Clark ends up turning into Superman and saving them from trouble. Jimmy finds a clue the burglar left, which leads them to a cafe which Lois and Clark go to. The only noteworthy thing there is a magic show where a blindfolded man, who's supposedly a swami with psychic powers, is sitting on the stage while his female assistant goes around to tables and has people hand her objects, such as keys or other small items, from their pockets. Then, the swami says what the item is. Because of his X-ray vision, Clark knows that they're using a microphone and an earpiece. Overall, he doesn't think it's very suspicious.

In truth, though, when the female assistant gets a key from someone, she presses it into a piece of wax concealed in her handkerchief, and then her criminal associates use it to make a key to break into the owner's house. A fun and somewhat clever gimmick, even if it is somewhat silly.

Perry is unhappy with Jimmy and Lois going off on their own and takes them off the story, but this doesn't dissuade them, and Lois realizes there's a connection between the magic act and the burglaries. She ends up giving Jimmy a makeup disguise so he can pretend to be a certain wealthy Spanish man who is staying in town, and the two return to the cafe to lure the burglars. Their plan succeeds, but not-so-shockingly, they end up in a lot of trouble. Luckily for them, though, Clark receives a tip meant for Lois, returns to the cafe, and begins to piece things together, meaning he is able to intervene as Superman to save his friends' lives.

One thing that I found interesting here is the contrast in Clark's journalism style when compared to Lois' and Jimmy's. Clark is more reserved and not as suspicious or ambitious. However, though they have the same trait of rushing into life-risking situations to get a scoop, there is a contrast between Lois and Jimmy too, in that Lois is more intelligent, which may make her seem less risk-taking, but she ends up pushing Jimmy to continue with the story in the end, so this may not really be the case.

Something that I thought was a little weird is that, during the scene where Clark is combing through the backstage room at the cafe and figuring out what's going on, he opens a lot of drawers and compartments to look inside them. I'm confused as to why he had to do this instead of using his X-ray vision, especially since he was alone, so it's not like he was doing it so that people watching wouldn't become suspicious that he was just looking around and not opening anything. I suppose it could just be a habit or something, or maybe just an oversight.

Overall, this was a pretty good episode. The first half was strong, but I do feel that when it got to the point of Jimmy and Lois returning to the cafe, it began to slow down a bit. Part of this probably has to do with Clark having less screen time than usual, and I think they thought that Jimmy disguising as the random Spanish guy was more entertaining than it really was. The ending was also pretty weak, with Superman scolding Lois and Jimmy followed by a lame joke. However, it's certainly still worth watching.

Static Shock: Sons of the Fathers (2000) Season 1, Episode 8

Fun episode that covers a serious topic

[8/10 · 9 November 2020]

Sons of the Fathers (Static Shock season 1 epsiode 8), despite a somewhat silly name, is an episode I'm rather fond of. If I think about it, it epitomizes many of the traits I enjoy about the show in general: an honest treatment of heavy real-life social issues (albeit in a somewhat preachy and simplistic matter because the target audience is kids), showcasing the characters and their relationships (especially Virgil's relationship with his dad, Robert Hawkins, and with his best friend Richie Foley), and a sprinkle of cheesiness and superhero action.

It starts with a brief and entertaining sequence of Static fighting the Meta-Breed, a supervillain team he often clashes with. The leader Ebon and the comically crazy Shiv manage to get away, but bird-like villain Talon is arrested.

It then switches to Virgil's house where Richie is hanging out. Virgil points out that Richie spends a lot of time at his (Virgil's) house and with his family, but the reverse has never happened - Virgil hasn't even met Richie's family, despite the two being best friends. Richie seems evasive, but agrees to a day when Virgil can come over. But when the day comes, it turns out that it was a day when Richie thought his dad would have to work in the evening, and it just so happens that Richie's dad (Sean Foley) actually had the night off after all. Richie is not too happy, and Mr. Foley seems to take an instant dislike of Virgil.

As Virgil has dinner with Richie's family, things feel rather awkward as the family eats in silence. Optimistically, Virgil tries to break the ice, still trying to assume there's nothing really wrong, but it quickly goes downhill as he mentions rap music and Mr. Foley instantly criticizes it. Still, when the two boys go upstairs, Virgil continues to assume the best, pointing out it's normal for older generations to be disapproving of newer music. However, when Virgil walks down the hall, he overhears Mr. Foley talking with his wife, a conversation that makes it clear that Mr. Foley is explicitly racist toward black people. Disheartened, Virgil realizes that he's not willing to continue the sleepover. He communicates this to Richie and goes home. After this, Richie blows up at his dad, and shortly thereafter runs away from home.

The next day Virgil has a heart-to-heart with his own dad about the strangeness of the fact that someone as good-hearted and open-minded as Richie can have a father who's a bigoted jerk. His father points out that there's no logic to racism and that what matters is that Richie has made up his own mind. Shortly thereafter, Richie's mom calls Virgil and asks if he has any idea where he is, cluing Virgil into the fact that he's ran away.

The show cuts to a brief scene of Richie on the streets, then to Mr. Foley talking with Mr. Hawkins at the community center where Hawkins works, trying to find out information about Richie's whereabouts. Foley is rather hostile to Hawkins, but Hawkins challenges him on his assumptions of racism and manages to get through to him somewhat, at least to the extent that he's actually willing to receive Hawkins' help. Meanwhile, Virgil is searching for Richie as Static, and manages to find him. The two talk and Virgil convinces him that going home is the right thing to do. Unbeknownst to them, however, Ebon is watching and thus realizes that Richie is Static's best friend. Thus, when Static leaves, he takes advantage of the opportunity by kidnapping Richie.

Meanwhile, Mr. Foley and Mr. Hawkins are searching for Richie, and the Meta Breed are keeping the kidnapped Richie in their hideout. Their plan is to only let Richie go if Static breaks Talon out of jail - a "friend for friend" exchange of sorts. The Meta Breed try to get Richie to tell them how to contact Static, but Richie plays dumb, pretending that he and Static aren't actually that close. However, he secretly turns on his Shock Box (walkie-talkie) and semi-stealthily communicates his location.

The fathers are continuing their search, but they follow a bad tip given to them by a troublemaker and end up right at the Meta Breed's hideout. They confront the Meta Breed to ask them to free Richie, but unsurprisingly, they're not able to overpower them. However, Static zooms in just in time to fight them. At one point Ebon has the advantage over Static, but Mr. Foley helps by distracting the supervillain. Finally, the foes are defeated and Mr. Foley tearfully apologizes and hugs his son. As the final scene of the episode, Virgil is at the community center and Richie and his dad come up to him since Mr. Foley is giving the two boys a ride to the local comic-con, signifying a more positive relationship has developed between Mr. Foley and the two boys.

Overall, I think this episode struck a great balance between covering a serious and uncomfortable topic in a way that's reasonably true-to-life while still remaining fun and pretty lighthearted. Sean Foley felt like a realistic depiction of a narrow-minded, judgmental man who's also an uncaring father, including details such as him not knowing much about his son's life and feeling entitled to his loyalty just because he provides the basic necessities of life. He's the kind of person who thinks of himself as an upstanding citizen and judges anyone and anything that doesn't conform to his view of the way things should be. The only problem is that they show him turning away from the error of his ways too easily, but even then I don't mind it that much because, for one thing, it's a kid's show so a little unrealistic positivity is somewhat understandable, and for another thing, it is somewhat believable that such an individual would make a change like that on a superficial, temporary level, and the show never conclusively shows that he's changed deeply and "for good".

In addition to the moral lesson, this episode also contained some good humor, witty dialogue, and superhero action that makes the end result just plain fun. It's not high art or anything, but it's a well-written piece of children's media that's plenty entertaining.

All in all, it's a great episode that shows the strengths of Static Shock rather well, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to give the show a try.

The Batman: The Clayface of Tragedy (2005) Season 1, Episode 13

An amazing idea or a questionable one? I'm not sure

[7/10 · 29 October 2020]

This episode directly continues from the last one and goes in a very interesting direction. I thought the different origin for Clayface was clever and I always admire when a TV episode takes risks as this one does - in this case, making a major supporting character into a villain. But I keep mentally going back and forth on whether this was actually the best decision. For one thing, I find Ethan's turn to villainy (even if he isn't exactly "evil") to be a bit of a stretch. Yes, obviously he was going through a hard time and had a lot of things taking a toll on his mental health, but he still turned to violence, revenge, and generally acting crazy pretty darn fast. And a lot of the justification hinges on the Joker having driven him crazy, but in practice, it seems like the Joker's efforts in the last episode mostly consisted of spinning a swirly thing in front of Ethan's face. It kind of feels like the fact that he looks like a monster makes him act like a monster, which is something that bothers me a lot whenever I encounter it in media. In addition, I wonder if this is truly the best usage of Ethan's character since I liked him the way he is and he was a cool and welcome member of the cast in his previous role, and I'd like to see his existing character being built on rather than being taken in a radically different direction where he can no longer fill the same niche. All that said, it was an enjoyable and dramatic episode and overall felt worthwhile, and I do always respect daring choices such as this. I just don't know how I ultimately feel about it. As far as the central conceit of this episode (Ethan becoming Clayface) goes, I'm honestly torn between loving it and disliking it.

Shazam! (2019)

Thoroughly fun movie with a good amount of heart

[8/10 · 7 May 2019]

Shazam, based on the comics character of the same name (who was originally named Captian Marvel, but eventually got renamed to the magic word he uses to transform), is a winsome movie. I would never claim it's perfect, but it's the kind of movie that's just so easy to like and enjoy. It has moments of intensity and scariness as well as a lot, and I mean a whole lot, of fun, and while it may be cheesy and follow a lot of genre conventions and is certainly not the deepest thing ever, it still has a good amount of heart and a kind of transcendent charm that just leaves me with a sense of happiness.

The movie is full of humor and fun that mainly comes from the characters. Though it's hard to develop all of Billy's foster family when there's so many of them and a relatively short movie, they did a pretty good job of showing their personalities and making them engaging, and of getting a lot of entertainment and humor out of them. There is also a lot of heart and sweetness that comes out of the genuine goodness and love of the foster family. And of course, the portrayal of a child in an adult's body is just an endless fountain of amusement.

I thought this movie did a good job of utilizing the fact that it takes place in the DC universe rather than the real world, despite the fact that the other major heroes don't really appear. It just creates a fun layer of interest that Billy's superhero form is emerging in a world where superheroes (and specifically, major superheroes that are well known as fictional characters in our world) are already known and real.

I also think this movie deserves credit for creating some eerie, scary aspects too. The opening scene was absolutely chilling - I loved it.

That said, when we get to the villain, there are both negatives and positives. Despite showing his backstory in some detail, which was very cool, Dr. Sivana still came across as pretty unsatisfactorily flat for the most part, and the Deadly Sins were even worse in this regard.

A part of the movie that I'm honestly not sure whether to see as a positive or a negative (maybe a bit of both) is how lacking in natural heroism Billy is. It makes it more satisfying when he finally gets it together and saves the day, and I like portraying the idea that even someone who does not have a natural propensity for being a good hero can eventually pull through. That said, perhaps they went a little too far with it. I feel like the bit where Billy beat up the bullies was the only really "worthy" moment until he basically had no choice but to step up to the plate. A couple more moments where you see his potential and he doesn't just seem like a goof would've been nice.

Probably my least favorite thing about the movie was that the final battle felt a bit drawn out and sluggish - it had a hard time climaxing, and there was too much hero and villain just bashing each other without enough ups and downs to be interesting. Though not a minor flaw, as far as "worst things about the movie" goes, this is really not too bad.

Though I mentioned a few complaints, I want to emphasize that overall I thought the movie was great and I enjoyed it immensely. Just writing this review and recalling what it's like makes me happy, and I'm eager to rewatch it. If you like fun, comedic movies, superheroes, and/or movies with positive themes and themes of family, you should definitely give it a try.

Superman: The Animated Series: The Way of All Flesh (1996) Season 1, Episode 7

Metallic madness

[8/10 · 7 May 2019]

Like many of the early episodes of the series, this one is focused on introducing an iconic supervillain into the animated version of the mythos - in this case, Metallo. However, while it's the introduction of the Metallo identity, it's not the introduction of the character himself, as John Corben already appeared, which I think is a pretty smart and interesting way to handle it.

Corben is still in prison after being defeated by Superman in his earlier appearance, but he is shown to be enjoying a fairly luxurious lifestyle, including fine food, behind bars due to bribery. However, he's also experiencing a lot of pain due to an unknown condition. It turns out he has somehow contracted a lethal virus. Thankfully for him, his doctor has a plan - and connections to Lex Luthor. He hatches an escape plot and whisks John to Lex's lab where the "treatment" is put into motion - his brain is transferred to a robotic body that possesses invulnerability and strength comparable to Superman's, and all powered by a heart of Kryptonite.

Lex sends out Corben to get revenge on their shared foe, Superman. Though he revels in his newfound strength, Corben becomes discomfited by what life is like in his new metallic body, as he has lost much of his sense of feeling and can no longer experience physical pleasure. In fact, he is so distracted by this that Superman, with Lois' help, escapes from his rampage.

Corben demands that the doctor who performed the operation "fix" him, but he says it is is irreversible, which causes Corben to snap. Realizing that he has become a truly inhuman machine, he dubs himself "Metallo" after the metal alloy his body is made of. He then goes after Luthor, who claims that he can make the necessary fixes once Metallo kills Superman. At that time, Superman shows up and Metallo begins the task, and at first seems dangerously close to success.

However, while Corben was undergoing his meltdown, Lois and Clark had been doing some investigative work, and through doing so, Clark has discovered that Luthor was actually responsible for Corben contracting the lethal virus to begin with. Superman reveals this to Metallo, causing him to set his sights on Luthor once again. Superman takes advantage of this to defeat both the supervillains. Though Metallo sinks in the water, we are shown at the end that he's still intact on the ocean floor.

Overall, I thought this was a great episode and a compelling way to handle the villain. Highlighting the disadvantages of being transformed into a robot, especially to a pleasure-loving man, added an additional layer of eeriness and a sense of depth that you wouldn't get if Corben only cared about physical strength. It also made sense to bring Lex Luthor into Metallo's creation as he's obviously the person with the genius, resources, and motives to do so, and it's nice when villains are at odds with each other and not just united against the hero. That said, as a consequence of this origin, Corben should be filled with a desire for revenge against Luthor, perhaps even greater than his desire for revenge against Superman. There's nothing inherently wrong with this at all - the problem comes in that Metallo's role as a character is to be an antagonist for Superman, so if he's equally or moreso fixated on antagonizing Luthor, that could potentially prevent him from functioning as a traditional supervillain character as effectively. So unfortunately, future episodes "fix" this by having Metallo mostly go after Superman anyway and seemingly forgetting about Luthor, despite the events of this episode, which is very annoying, but a somewhat predictable consequence of setting things up this way.

An issue I had with this episode is that Superman doesn't actually prove that Luthor was responsible for poisoning Corben - he just shows Corben the vial containing the virus without any context. But I guess it made for a nice dramatic moment, anyway.

Overall, this episode has what it takes to make a quality Superman story - an interesting villain, action and peril, Lois and Clark snooping, and some interesting depth. An entertaining and worthwhile watch.

Superman: The Animated Series: Feeding Time (1996) Season 1, Episode 6

Exciting episode and a great villain intro

[8/10 · 9 April 2019]

Superman: The Animated Series is a quality show, though in my opinion not a particularly visionary take on the character and has more shortcomings than it may appear to at first glance. That said, there are times when it is extremely good and comes close to being the ideal Superman, and this episode is perhaps one of those instances. It introduces the supervillain Parasite into the DC Animated Universe and shows him to be a compelling foe, as well as providing an exciting story with action, peril, and drama.

We are introduced to our villain before he is transformed - when he is just a pushover-y janitor for STAR Labs named Rudy Jones. He tries to help steal some dangerous chemicals from the lab, but instead ends up doused with them and turns into a being that can absorb energy from any living being by touching them, and in doing so also gains that being's knowledge and thoughts, as well as the ability to impersonate their voice. Rudy decides that, from now on, he'll be the one pushing people around. This puts him in conflict with Superman, obviously, and with his power set, Rudy is a formidable foe, and by absorbing the Man of Steel's powers, he becomes even more of a menace to Metropolis.

The only saving grace is that Parasite's power absorption is temporary, but this pushes Parasite to go to greater lengths to keep himself "fed". When Clark is alone in his apartment, Rudy ambushes him - since he gains the knowledge of beings whose energy he absorbs, he knows Superman's true identity. After draining Superman's powers again, he imprisons him underneath STAR Labs, planning to continuously come back to him to re-absorb power anytime the effects begin to wear off. Thankfully, help comes from none other than Jimmy Olsen, who cleverly hypothesizes where Rudy might be hanging out. With Jimmy's help and some cleverness of his own, Superman manages to defeat Parasite.

What's so great about this episode? Well, a lot of things. One of the fundamental reasons why it's strong is because Superman is challenged in a believable way. This show understands the importance of giving Superman a challenge, but unfortunately, sometimes it goes about doing so in a way that just makes Superman look strangely weak. Here, though, it makes perfect sense considering Parasite's powers.

However, it goes beyond just Parasite's powers in and of themselves - it's also what he does with them. The fact that this episode didn't shy away from putting Superman in a truly vulnerable position - Parasite knowing his secret, kidnapping him, and potentially keeping him in the STAR Labs basement forever - gives it a lot more power than if it were just another story where characters punch each other. You actually feel like Superman is vulnerable, and almost touchingly human. The moment where he says that his co-workers will realize he's missing and come looking for him really gets me. In that moment, it's like we look beyond the "super"-ness of the character and just see a human being in a desperate situation, not even seeming to be thinking about the secrecy of his identity. It's moments like these where the distinction between Clark Kent and Superman melts away and Superman feels like one of us.

Beyond that, I really love that Jimmy gets a chance to shine and that he's shown to be clever and willing to dive head-first into situation, as well as the action, especially when Superman is not at his full power yet and needs to be clever to defeat Parasite. I also like Rudy's personality and how he still comes across as a relatively normal (if evil) person and not as an over-the-top supervillain with crazy goals. Plus, the animation in this episode is quite nice and has a lot of great facial expressions.

That said, it's not perfect. Rudy's voice actor sometimes seemed rather under-expressive, which may have been intentional, but I didn't like it. In fact, it kind of took me out of it at times. Overall, though, it was a great episode and a great introduction to a new character that I would readily recommend.

Unplanned (I) (2019)

Stunning film

[9/10 · 3 April 2019]

Even though I'm a Christian, I was uncertain going into this movie because it's hard to know what to expect when it comes to films with a Christian bent. Thankfully, I found it to be excellent. Not one of those films with an overly preachy veneer, but at the same time, it got its point across powerfully. It is certainly a disturbing film, which makes sense given the subject matter. But in a way that's sobering, not in a way that's hopeless, and not going for shock value either. It had a sense of realism to it and did not go over-the-top in making all the characters either perfect Christians or completely monstrous - though, that's not to say it's an "even-handed" film, it certainly knows what side it's on, it just didn't go to cartoonish extremes in portraying that. Ultimately it is a chilling movie in many ways, but also a reminder of the nature of good and evil - sometimes what's evil can be wrapped up in packaging that makes it look noble, loving and heroic, and sometimes those involved in evil activities are not devoid of conscience, but have simply been snared into the lie that their actions are for good, and may still be able to realize what they're really doing and reject it. It showed the extent of the evil, but also showed how someone with good intentions could be snared into believing such evil actions are actually good, and to actively participating in them. A disturbing but necessary part of human nature to face, and it ultimately also gives comfort that those deep in darkness may still be redeemed.

Of course, no movie is perfect. While I understand they wanted to portray the fact that abortionists see themselves as heroic, to actually use Christian music to portray this is confusing and bizarre at best. I can only assume it was because it was easier to license or something like that, but I think it was still quite a baffling and unfortunate decision.

Overall, I would highly recommend this movie to anyone whose mind is open to the pro-life viewpoint. It is a dramatic, intense movie, but still with moments of charm, heart, and humor. If you're anything like me, you'll leave feeling impacted.

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: Soul Mates (1996) Season 4, Episode 4

Very fun episode, though one problem sticks in the mind

[6/10 · 3 October 2018]

I actually enjoyed this episode quite a lot, but it did have a certain major flaw that kept me from rating it more than 6/10. I'll get to that in a minute.

First, the good. This episode had the perfect cheesy premise that was a whole lot of fun and fits with this show quite well. For the record, I actually generally have a very strong dislike of reincarnation as a concept, but Lois & Clark (as you might expect from this show) doesn't take it very seriously, and as a results are very, very fun. We get to see the cast of the show in different lifetimes across different eras, with Clark cast in roles that seem highly appropriate, such as Robin Hood and Lone Ranger parodies, complete with secret identities.

For whatever reason, I'm just very tickled by this concept of reimagining familiar characters in very different settings, and seeing the similarities and differences. I got my first taste of it from "Fly Hard", where the flashbacks inexplicably use the modern characters to play the characters in the past. I loved it then and I still love it here. Plus, the highly silly yet endearing way that it's handled (not just having Lois and Clark play familiar roles in different lives, but a whole lot of other regular characters) adds a lot of appeal to me. I remember something similar from Tempus' first episode where Clark's parents' ancestors looked identical to his parents. This willingness to embrace the goofy often (though unfortunately not always) works quite well for this show.

There's an extra layer of interest with the fact that Superman doesn't have powers in his previous lives, obviously giving him a challenge. On top of that, I thought it was interesting how they had to go to another life because of how they messed up, with the explanation of them messing up the "balance of good and evil".

Unfortunately, that leads me to the biggest problem with this episode. I was extremely unhappy that their "solution" in the first era they visited (the Robin Hood one) was to let the bad guy get what he wanted, rather than defeating him. In fact, I think that's ridiculous. These are our HEROES, people. You know, Superman? The champion of truth and justice? And his equally-committed-to-fighting-evil soulmate Lois Lane? Why is this the solution they arrive at? Why don't they care about the people in the past and selfishly only care about breaking the curse and going home? They're literally giving the bad guy what he wants and...ugh, I'm sorry, it just makes me so mad thinking about it! This is one part of the episode I hope I can forget.

Other than that, yes, there was a lot to love about this episode. Aside from what I mentioned earlier, well, this episode gave us some nice looks at Clark's muscles, so if you're shallow like me, that'll definitely give you something to enjoy about it! And at the end of it, when Lois and Clark finally got the opportunity to do what they've been waiting to do for a very long time, it just feels very satisfying, knowing that after everything that happened, these two are finally together. A nice warm feeling to help wash away the bad taste left by what I described in the previous paragraph.

Unfortunately, despite the large number of great points, the flaw I described just flies in the face of what Superman is all about to a rather egregious degree, and as a result I can't overlook it. But in most other respects, it's a good episode, and if you're anything like me you'll have a fun time watching it. And it certainly deserves kudos for making a plot about reincarnation so very enjoyable to someone like me who normally despises the very idea.

Superman: The Animated Series: Livewire (1997) Season 2, Episode 5

Highly entertaining, but...

[7/10 · 24 August 2018]

This episode is the first of the series to introduce us to a series original supervillain, a Superman-hating shock jock named Leslie Willis who gets electric powers (how punny) after an electric storm at a live show and who is now even more mad at Superman for failing to save her from being struck by lightning. Then, she goes on a rampage throughout the town with her newfound powers and Superman obviously has to save the day.

First things first, I absolutely love Leslie's personality. She's the definition of a fun, energetic, and oftentimes amusing villain. She has a lot of attitude and a lot of immaturity, though you also "respect" her in a way for getting a pretty strong grip on the town's consciousness through her crazy talk show. All things considered, she makes this episode a whole lot of fun.

That said, she also presents a bit of a problem - a serious lack of sense-making motives, particularly once she becomes a supervillain. Theoretically, a part of her motives is her anger at Superman for failing to save her, but uh...Leslie seemed to recover completely and got some great powers that she obviously enjoys using. So why be mad? Perhaps even more glaring is everything else she does after becoming a supervillain. Going from a mean shock jock to a pointlessly destructive maniac who threatens the whole town is...a bit of a jump. I'm just literally not even sure WHY she's doing all this villainous stuff. There's a little implication that money may be part of it, but it's not emphasized very much. Overall, there's just not much reason for her to turn into a supervillain other than genre conventions.

But while that may seem like a fairly big flaw, it doesn't really keep the episode from being a very entertaining and fun watch. Livewire's fun attitude is more than enough for me to love her as a villain and thoroughly enjoy watching her. And overall, this episode was well-done in most respects and should be more than satisfying for the vast majority of viewers. But yeah, if they had managed to combine Leslie's fun personality with actual motives it would be even better.

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding (1996) Season 4, Episode 3

Pretty great!

[8/10 · 9 August 2018]

I found this episode entertaining and satisfying. I personally think the villains were a fascinating concept, and handled quite well. It started out seeming like Myrtle was just a typical entertaining and well-done but silly villain and it turned into something deeper, and it was especially fascinating how the truth about her doctor "assistant" unfolded. I just love how the entire thing developed, from the beginning to the end. Yes, the way in which the titular couple finally got married in this episode was extremely cheesy and weird...but this show is no stranger to cheesy, weird things, which isn't all a bad thing!

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: Battleground Earth (1996) Season 4, Episode 2

Not as good as I might've hoped

[6/10 · 9 August 2018]

(Note: This is actually a review of the two-parter as a whole - both Lord of the Flys and Battleground Earth.)

Normally, Lois & Clark does an impressive job balancing the goofy, cheesy side and the dramatic, emotional side. This two-parter does not necessarily demonstrate that, though. There's too much of going into irrelevant things or not taking things seriously when things that should be a HUGE deal are happening. And while I often find the over-the-top villains in this show to be extremely entertaining and fun, in this case, I wish they could've taken things a little more seriously as far as Lord Nor's portrayal goes. It doesn't help that, while he may have been cartoonish, he wasn't terribly interesting - which is not a good combination at all. I barely even know what his motives are, other than generically wanting power. I don't know why he even bothers conquering the people of earth in such a gradual way, or even why he bothers enslaving them rather than just killing them, considering that he and his men have the power to do virtually anything with an infinitesimally minuscule expenditure time or effort. It definitely had good moments and enjoyable parts, don't get me wrong - the ending in particular was great. The final battle was powerful, and there was really great follow-through on previously introduced elements. But overall it felt like a bit of a drag, and a little padded out, which was disappointing considering how very compelling the setup and preceding episodes were. There were some very interesting ideas in here that weren't necessarily made full use of - I especially liked the Kal-El on trial bit, but I think it could've been even better, especially since, honestly, Clark actually WAS pretty guilty of what they were accusing him of! A fact that they didn't seem to highlight much. All things considered, it's not bad, you should watch it if you're going through the whole series, of course, but if you're just picking out an episode to watch for fun or something, you could do better...especially since this is a two-parter; if you don't like it, you'll have more to sit through.

2 Broke Girls (2011–2017)

Painful and pathetic

[1/10 · 14 April 2018]

I know I'm not breaking any new ground by writing this review, but I just think the horribleness of this show is remarkable enough to deserve to be commented on repeatedly. Even just listening to it from another room, I felt like I was losing brain cells, as well as "humor cells" and "morality cells". The "jokes" and their delivery are both pathetic. Ha ha, we acknowledged the existence of several different movies. Hee hee, we said something sexual. What exactly is the appeal of this supposed to be? It's the "perfect" combination of stupid and blatantly uninteresting, and at the end of the day, just fails at being funny. Even when it comes to low brow humor, I'm sure you can do better than this.

Spider-Man (2003)

Unique, compelling show with great characters and darker themes

[8/10 · 6 August 2017]

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series ~ It's easy to see how this series could be a little polarizing, with its unusual usage of cel-shaded 3D animation, its mature elements, and a few unfortunate departures from Spider-Man tradition, such as Aunt May never appearing, J. Jonah Jameson having precious little role, and most of the villains not originating from the comics (though, since I'm a pretty new and inexperienced Spider-Man fan, I'm probably not as bothered by these things as long-timers). And as with any show, some episodes are better than others. Don't let that turn you off! I personally believe the show has quite a bit of merit and is definitely worth watching. (A bit of warning: The series originally aired out of order and as a result, the episodes are also in the wrong order on Amazon Prime. I recommend you use Wikipedia to determine the right order and watch it that way, as there is some continuity in the show even if it's not a whole lot.)

The first question someone might feel inclined to ask is, "What even is this show?" It's definitely a bit non-traditional. It was aired on MTV, is designed to be a follow-up to the first Spider-Man movie (though the movie sequels ignored it), it's not geared towards kids in any way, and of course, the cel-shaded CGI animation style. And it only lasted one season, though it wasn't intended to. In a sense, it feels like this show doesn't have a "place". It's an animated Western superhero show for teens/adults. You don't see many of those. Even other mature superhero 'toons, such as Batman: The Animated Series, still maintain some pretense of being children's shows, eliminating swearing and the like, while this one doesn't.

And you know, it's almost kind of a shame that such cartoons aren't a "thing". Because in my opinion, this show demonstrates the potential of action cartoons geared to teens and young adults. Sure, they may have gone a bit too far in the "gearing to young adults" thing considering it apparently kept them from showing much of "old people" such as Aunt May, Uncle Ben, or J. Jonah Jameson. But even though it takes a while to get used to, overall, I'm actually super sold on this show's aesthetics and how much they seem to jive with the target audience. The unique style seems to already separate this show from traditional kids' cartoons, the character designs are a bit more grounded and even sexier in places (though it's certainly not overkill), and then there's the neat EDM soundtrack. It all just seems to work together rather nicely.

Yes, I'm not gonna lie, at first the animation seemed weird and bad to look at because it was so unusual. But when you get used to it? Honestly, it's pretty cool. The character designs have a feeling of being relatively grounded and it has the capacity to be very expressive and dramatic. It just works a lot better than you might imagine. And they use it for some great action sequences in places, too.

Beyond aesthetics, this show has a ton else to offer. For me, how characters interact and their relationships with each other is one of the most crucial aspects to me really getting hooked into any series, and this show delivers on that front. The interactions between Peter, MJ, and Harry are well-developed and make them feel like a real group of friends. There's complexity to their relationships and room for growth, some of which happens, some of which is tragically unresolved. They're good friends, but there are plenty of rough spots. There's the fact that MJ and Harry are "normal" college kids with actual social lives, while Peter is the nerd dedicated to his studies...and secretly being Spider-Man. There's the fact that Harry has a deep personal grudge against Spider-Man due to believing him responsible for his father's death. There's the unresolved romantic tension between Peter and MJ that's made all the more complicated by Peter's interest in a show-exclusive character, Indy. There's an air of authenticity in the combination of casual, fun interactions and other hallmarks of friendship and the many problems the characters have. And the problems don't just exist, there are attempts to make progress on them...some more successful than others.

The interpersonal issues and superhero adventures are not only rather well-balanced, there's often quite a bit of overlap that usually works pretty well (there are even a couple times when Peter's friends have to help him save the day). There's quite a bit of quality dialogue, and the story lines are usually pretty good and sometimes very nicely dramatic. It's not a perfect show, and some of the episodes are rough in various ways. But there's still a fair amount of good plotting to be found.

The two-part series finale deserves a special mention as among the series' best, yet also rather heart-rending (it took me a little while to "recover"), as it's a MASSIVE downer ending that makes it seem like even more of a tragedy the series didn't go on longer. Extremely dramatic, gutsy, and well-done. They really pulled no punches here and it works! Even thinking about it gives me chills.

Overall, there's SO MUCH about this series that is great. It has drama, emotional depth and intensity, compelling character relationships, aesthetics that can be awesome when you get used to them, a splash of more dark and mature themes that work rather well, and much more. No, it's not perfect, but it's definitely worth a go for anyone interested in Spider-Man or superhero cartoons in general.

Soul Surfer (2011)

Powerful and well-done faith-inspired movie

[8/10 · 27 June 2017]

I watched this movie when it came out in theaters, but over the years I've grown less accepting of flaws in faith-based films (though I am a Christian), so I expected that on my recent re-watch that it might not be as appealing as it originally was. I was very pleasantly surprised! I won't say this isn't a pretty straightforward inspirational film and there are definitely clichéd aspects, but if you can accept that, you will hopefully find what I found: a very good movie. I think the thing I love best about it was the portrayal of Bethany's character and her character arc. It is not only a film about overcoming adversity, but character growth. Bethany's incredible unflappability is admirable and powerful, and it refuses to accept that she can't do what she feels she was born to do. And yet, while this is powerful, it almost borders on being in denial, and once this "breaks", Bethany is lost. It is by truly embracing her faith, not for a superficial form of comfort but for its teachings of casting off selfishness and caring about the world around oneself, that she finds purpose again. I love this portrayal of the tension and ultimate reconciliation between the need for self-actualization and unselfish, others-focused love. It's simple yet so profound and necessary. Ultimately, this is what we all need as human beings - we have a need to become and fulfill "who we are", yet it is most important to show love to others. This movie shows how both are possible, and the beauty that results from this. Its Christian message is incredibly powerful, but without being preachy or dogmatic.

On top of this, the movie also has excellent cinematography, production values, and special effects, and the surfing scenes are a total treat. I also personally appreciate that the shark bite wasn't drawn out or gory. It was very tasteful, and still incredibly dramatic without feeling like it was trying too hard.

Overall, I would highly recommend this movie, especially to Christians. I'm sure it wouldn't be to everyone's tastes, but unless you're positive you're not in its target audience, it's definitely worth a try.

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: Tempus, Anyone? (1996) Season 3, Episode 14

Great core of a story, but not well-developed enough to meet its full potential

[6/10 · 5 March 2017]

This is one of the few Lois & Clark episodes were I actually knew the basic storyline long before watching, thanks to reading Lana Lang's Wikipedia page, I believe. At any rate, this episode is a follow-up to the beloved Tempus Fugitive from Season 2, probably one of my favorite episodes, and it makes use of the ever-intriguing trope of alternate dimensions. At its core, the story being told here is a really compelling one: one of an alternate Clark Kent whose life turned out differently and who didn't become Superman as a result, and of how the time- (and dimension)-hopping villain Tempus gets himself - and "our" Lois Lane and H. G. Wells - involved in this whole situation, which includes a very interesting twist as to why.

Overall, this episode is definitely enjoyable and had plenty of interesting concepts. It's hard not to be intrigued by wondering how much could change if Clark's life had turned out differently - and how much could stay the same. Still, on the whole, I wasn't quite as satisfied with it as I might've hoped. Reflecting on it afterward, the first thing I realized is that perhaps I found the alternate Clark less compelling for the same reason I actually didn't find the Superman of the Christopher Reeve films to be a compelling character: it feels too much like their motivation for doing the whole "Superman" thing derives directly from being "told" to by someone else they barely even knew before. I mean, it is cool to see Lois using her knowledge of Clark in her home dimension to make a difference in an alternate one, but from the perspective of alternate-Clark being an interesting character, "being encouraged by a lady from an alternate dimension I never met before in any way" isn't compelling enough of a motivation for me.

Another issue is that ultimately, the concept was great, but how that concept was developed wasn't quite good enough. Lana Lang, a.k.a. a major part of the reason why alternate-Clark hasn't become Superman, is given only the most basic and simplistic character and motivations possible. She's treated as nothing more than an obstacle in the way, and isn't made sympathetic enough for us to understand why she means so much to Clark.

I also feel that a problem I have with this show rears its head, in that it doesn't really take Superman seriously enough. When alternate-Clark stopped bullets with his hands in front of people's very eyes, one man fainted, but the other one was way too unperturbed. Ditto for Clark's co-workers learning that their friend was an alien from outer space. It just didn't feel real to me. The way alt-Clark himself treats Superman feels silly and trivial as well - he's so worried about "looking silly" because of his outfit or whatever, which is especially unfitting because it's not like the outfit is what it's about anyway (heck, if he wanted to, he could design another one - it's not like he HAS to be like "our" Superman). I know that very many pieces of Superman media have this problem to some degree, but I still feel it's not too much to ask to have just a BIT more of a sense of awe and a focus on the actually important elements of Superman.

Overall, it was a pretty good episode, but that feeling of being too basic was hard for me to ignore, personally. Ultimately, I'm not sure it really had enough time to develop an alternate dimension and an alternate version of the main character in a compelling enough way. If you think about it, the pilot episode took twice as long developing the original version of Clark and his own transformation into Superman; it may be too much to ask to ask for this story to essentially be retold in half that time, and with less familiar details at that. Maybe it would've been overkill to make this a two-part episode, but I wouldn't be surprised if the end result was a lot more satisfying, honestly. At any rate, it's certainly worth watching, but I could've done with a bit more "meat" on the skeleton of a captivating tale that was there.

Adventures of Superman: The Riddle of the Chinese Jade (1953) Season 1, Episode 20

A very nice, solid episode if you can ignore a bit of injustice at the end

[8/10 · 9 February 2017]

The first time I watched this episode, I was very put off by a character's action at the end that was treated as a good thing despite being very hard to justify (even if it makes sense from a certain narrative view). Now that I've adjusted so that I don't let it bother me, I think this is quite a solid and enjoyable episode.

This episode follows the Season 1 pattern of being very grounded (well, considering it's Superman!) and taking things very seriously; Season 2 was still fairly sober-minded, but could certainly be a bit more light-hearted, fantastic and even goofy (elements which the colored seasons unfortunately took to an extreme, mostly to their detriment). I think Season 2 was more immediately appealing to me because Season 1 seemed a little boring at times, or even like it was playing everything TOO straight, but I think I've just had to get used to it. I think one line in this episode exemplifies the serious Season 1 demeanor - an older Chinese character, grasping for an English idiom, utters the phrase "a scoop of news". Lois calmly gives the correction that it's a "news scoop". There's not so much as a laugh or a smile, or any attempt to be jocular about the strange phrase. It's extremely hard to imagine this happening in later seasons, including Season 2. It just goes to show the straightforward, serious, play-it-completely-straight nature of Season 1. Maybe I used to think it was a bad thing, but now, I just think it's interesting - not necessarily inherently superior, but not bad either.

One noteworthy aspect is that the criminals aren't overly demonized - one is viewed in a downright sympathetic light, and the other, while more blatantly bad, certainly isn't over-the-top evil and tries to provide justification for his actions. I really appreciated this little bit of nuance, since this show usually doesn't seem interested in portraying criminals as much more than straightforward practitioners of evil, due to its generally black-and-white morality (no pun intended).

This episode did a good job utilizing some of the show's greatest assets, such as showing Clark's propensity for investigative work as a reporter as opposed to him just being someone who has powers; his relationship with Inspector Henderson, which in Season 1 tended to be somewhat strained at times (though not in a particularly serious way), with Inspector Henderson expressing annoyance at Clark's meddling, which I personally find very humorous; and Phyllis Coates' excellent Lois Lane, who was not only bold and feisty, but also had a genuine sense of compassion and care, which was great to see here. It truly is a shame she only lasted one season; no offense to Noel Neill, but I think Coates was probably one of the best Loises ever.

Overall, a pretty nice episode that played to the show's strengths, and which I would recommend to any fan who likes to see Superman involved in more relatively "real life"-styled mysteries.

Adventures of Superman: Crime Wave (1953) Season 1, Episode 24

Probably about 50% clip show and stock footage, with a simple story...yet still very enjoyable

[7/10 · 12 January 2017]

If you look at its actual content, this SHOULDN'T be a very good episode. The story is simple and a fair percentage of this episode consists of clips from other episodes, with some stock footage thrown in the mix too for even more padding. It's very easy to tell this episode was made as cheaply as possible.

And yet...it's actually still really enjoyable. I mean, this is hardly the best the show can offer or anything, but at the end of the day, it was entertaining and satisfying. Sometimes, just seeing Superman getting down and doing some crime-fighting is all you really need. In this season of the show, Superman actually beating up criminals usually only takes up a very small part of the episode, and it was almost kind of cathartic to see all those little criminal-punching bits strung together into one whole. And in general, for me, it's just impossible not to love George Reeves' acting as a Superman who is so serious about fighting crime, which was clearly displayed here. The simple story was enjoyable too, with just enough tension and twists to make it interesting.

An unfortunate bit is that not having much story doesn't mean that the story that exists always makes sense. It was extremely weird that they had the criminals learn Superman's secret identity, and then do nothing with it other than just to contact Clark so he can contact Superman (which, in later episodes, is something which many characters do on a regular basis without even knowing Clark is Superman - they just know they're friends). It's just not made an issue of at all. Apparently, these criminals just know Superman's secret identity, but it doesn't effect anything. In fact, I'm not even clear on whether or not Superman knows that they know his secret identity. Very odd to bring up a plot point like that and not resolve it. That was probably my least favorite part of the episode, but the fact that it's not really THAT bad a thing should show that this is a good episode overall.

Adventures of Superman: Ghost Wolf (1953) Season 1, Episode 23

Not a great story, but Phyllis Coates' Lois Lane makes it worthwhile

[7/10 · 29 December 2016]

This episode had an interesting setup that I can't say paid off too well. The entire solution to the mystery was given by the antagonist just saying what it was while none of the main characters were even present. Our trio of journalist heroes didn't get to really put their investigative skills to use, even though that's what Perry sent them to do. Plus, the solution to what was going on had nothing to do with anything that was previously established in the episode, making it kind of uninteresting. It's even more disappointing considering that Perry had a theory the paper mill was being sabotaged to disadvantage the Planet, which could have been really interesting, but it turned out to have nothing whatsoever to do with the Planet.

Thankfully, this episode had a major saving grace in the acting and dialogue of the main characters, with Clark Kent's and Lois Lane's interactions with each other sticking out to me in particular, provided both by snappy dialogue and excellent acting by Reeves and Coates. You really get such a strong impression of Clark and Lois being two people who don't get along and have disagreements and issues, despite ultimately being friends. I think that caustic element is an important part of their relationship that keeps things interesting. Coates' Lois is such a treasure - a woman who may have some "damsel-in-distress" elements, but who is never afraid to speak her mind or do what she thinks needs to be done (even if she ends up making a questionable decision and/or getting herself in trouble). She was practically a perfect Lois, and this episode does a great enough job of showcasing that to be worthwhile. Of all the things I love about this show, quite possibly the thing I love the most is the way it made the characters feel like real people, and this episode certainly had that.

Another weak point is too many longish sections of stock footage to pad out the episode, which makes it seem duller. Overall, it's not a great episode, but Reeves and Coates ensured it was still enjoyable and worth watching.

Adventures of Superman: A Ghost for Scotland Yard (1953) Season 2, Episode 8

A solid episode, though the villain could've been better developed

[7/10 · 25 December 2016]

Though this episode may take place in England, a notable change considering all the action usually takes place in Metropolis, it doesn't make a huge difference outside of the characters having mildly annoying stereotypical British accents and mannerisms. What's far more distinctive is the seemingly supernatural focus, a relative rarity this early on in the series. A late magician, Brockhurst, claimed that he would reappear as a ghost five years after his death, and of course, it's been five years since he died. Now Clark, Jimmy, and the local inspector have to figure out what's going on, especially since Sir Arthur, Brockhurt's manager and a friend of Perry White's, is pretty freaked out - he thinks that Brockhurst wants to come after him because he was always kind of nutty in real life and thought that Arthur was cheating him.

Overall, this was an enjoyable episode mostly because Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen were wonderfully portrayed by George Reeves and Jack Larson as always. I found it amusing, if perhaps a bit weird, just how angry Clark got over being asked to cover a story about something he thought was based on superstition. Reeves' ability to convey such intense emotion in Kent was truly excellent (one of my all-time favorite aspects of the show is how it makes Clark feel like a real person with genuine emotions), but I guess it also felt odd that Clark would get SO angry about something like that. He is an intelligent, logical, and down-to-earth person, so I'm not surprised he would have no patience for treating the fanciful as reality, but I wouldn't have expected him to get quite that worked up about it. It's also dreadfully ironic considering that Clark himself is an alien living among us who can fly with no means of propulsion, which isn't exactly the most grounded, believable thing ever. I can only speculate that Clark's passion for his job and for helping his community made him hate the idea of wasting time on what seemed to him to be a worthless assignment, especially since Superman's time would be wasted too.

This episode, while certainly solid, isn't one of the series' best or anything, mostly because of how they handled the villain and his schemes. For one thing, if they wanted to tell a story about a person faking supernatural happenings, they could've stood to come up with more interesting tricks, especially since Brockhurst was supposed to be one of the best magicians in the world. There wasn't anything wrong with the ways in which the ghost's appearance were faked, they were just quite mundane. But a bigger issue is how the villain's motives were not well developed; he thought his manager was cheating him, but apparently, this was ONLY because he was insane - no other elaboration whatsoever required. What's even more inexcusable is how they allude to Brockhurst having a bone to pick with the local inspector because Brockhurst got in trouble with the law, but don't see fit to elaborate on that beyond vaguely mentioning some heist. Why would a famous magician even want or need to commit a crime, anyway?

Another flaw connected with Brockhurst is how they explain several really major plot points by citing his amazing disguise abilities, but they do this in a way that's barely expanded on and very hard to believe. Yes, plot holes are par for the course in this show, but at the very least, they could've mentioned his disguise abilities earlier on so it would feel more natural and less like a cop-out.

Of course, I always enjoy seeing Clark and his friends investigating mysteries as opposed to just Superman punching villains (another major reason I love the show), and this episode had that, which is definitely a positive point in its favor. It was especially nice to see Jimmy doing some investigating and not just Clark, as I love seeing that he has some skills as a reporter despite his lack of sense at times.

Overall, this was still a fine episode, with an interesting premise and the primary characters being lovable and well-acted as always. There are just several aspects where I can't help but wish they'd done a better job and made better use of the premise. I can look past plot holes, but it's a little harder when patching up the plot holes would have made the story not just more sensible, but more interesting. Still, it's not really that big a deal; if you like this show, you'll enjoy this.

Bee Movie (2007)

It's a great meme...and a pretty good movie too!

[8/10 · 22 December 2016]

After Bee Movie became my favorite meme, I decided I ought to see for myself how the movie fared. It seems this movie has been stereotyped as a "bad movie", or at least mediocre, but I have to admit, even just from reading the entire script, watching the movie sped up to fit in the span of a few minutes, hearing a reading of the entire script, and watching countless variations of the trailer in which the word "bee" triggers instances of video editing brilliance that would make YouTube Poop proud, I actually saw quite a few glimmers of potential that made me genuinely interested in the film for its own sake. Its semi-bad reputation caused me to worry that it might turn out to be a waste of ninety minutes after all, but these fears turned out to be completely unjustified. And as long as you don't set your expectations super-high or anything, I have high hopes that your experience will be similar.

In many ways, the storyline is absurd and silly and doesn't try to be logical or actually make sense, but this is nowhere near as big a problem as you might assume. To be honest, I actually like the fact that it doesn't take itself seriously or try to analyze the implications of the world it's set up. It just is what it is, and it's just trying to be fun and humorous. Not every animated cartoon needs a super well-designed story as long as it's funny and creative, and this movie is both.

This movie's approach to depicting bee life was equal parts whimsical and absurd, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Everything about their clever take on anthropomorphism of bees and bee society is easy to love. The aesthetics of the bee world are really fantastic, and I dug the character designs a lot too. As someone who's passionate about anthropomorphic cartoon animals in general, there's few things that please me more than a clever and effective blending of human traits and animal ones, and this movie had that in spades. Imbuing a beehive and bees and a society that's very much inspired by bee society (even if it's not exactly accurate) with so many familiar human traits serves as a really great backdrop for a comedic film.

The comedy of this movie is really pretty solid too, with a fair number of great laughs and a subtle sense of humor throughout that made it very pleasing and fun overall. A lot of the humor appeals to adults and would completely fly past the heads of kiddos, at times even creating a strangely incredibly enjoyable sense of awkwardness due to the jokes being so unfitting for a kid's film (apparently, a major cause of the ironic fandom over on Tumblr). As an over-the-age-of-18 individual myself, this was mostly a good thing for me, but I did wonder whether or not kids would find the film as amusing. I guess maybe the occasional bee puns are for the kiddos. Of course, the over-the-top-ness and absurdity of the situations was also a really major source of humor, and I think that would appeal to everyone.

The characters were a lot more lovable than I expected. Barry just seemed like such a likable and genuine guy, and I really appreciated the fact that they neither tried to make him uber-talented or cool, nor a lame loser. I particularly loved how they handled his failure to quite line up with bee society: they didn't try too hard to make him look like a total hero for being a non-conformist or make the bee society around him look extra evil. They used a much more even-handed light, showing how he could both be someone interested in the outside world and not content to fit in the confining guidelines of society, but also how others might consider him crazy for doing so. Vanessa similarly came across as a very genuine character, which is pretty remarkable considering her feelings about bees! And her boyfriend, Ken, was a great source of humor.

Something special about this movie is that, as absurd as it was, it also wasn't too loud, frenetic, or fast-paced. It was relatively subdued for the most part, not relying on constant slapstick or musical numbers or other things that try too hard to keep kids' attention. Personally, I really like this tone, especially since the more down-to-earth feel creates a nice and very extreme contrast to the ridiculousness of what's actually going on.

Overall, if you're looking for an animated movie that can be genuinely funny even for adults and don't mind (or even enjoy!) absurdity, I recommend you give Bee Movie a chance. If you're like me, you'll find yourself surprisingly satisfied.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Very solid and satisfying despite not being as engaging as I might've liked at times

[8/10 · 22 December 2016]

Though I thoroughly enjoyed the original trilogy and liked The Force Awakens, I'm not exactly an obsessive fan of Star Wars; I like it, but I haven't even bothered to watch the films multiple times. But even for someone who lacks that craving for fan service, Rogue One managed to fill the bill for being an enjoyable movie. It's far from perfect, considering the characters aren't THAT compelling and I often found myself simply failing to track with what was happening in the movie and actually losing focus, but honestly, at the end of the day, it's was still very satisfying. They took a pretty small story focus - one small element that went into the events of Episode IV happening - and managed to create an entire movie out of it. Ultimately, I think that small focus is the most intriguing element of the movie and a major reason I liked it so much - because I just found it so interesting that they managed to do so much with one small thing (not saving the galaxy, just one step to saving the galaxy!) and it sort of sent a message of the impact of one's actions. It's not a matter of being THE one to "save the day", but doing something that ensures that other people will be able to continue the fight you started, and how utterly valuable that can be. It's about being brave and doing the right thing, even if you're not the one who will be remembered, because your actions still make a difference. Having a lot of disparate characters thrown in actually helped with this - each character may have not gotten an enormous amount of development or especially deep characterization, but they all were a part of a story that was essential to the salvation of a galaxy. Remarkably, the lack of detailed characterization actually created a feel that served the story's "message", because it showed that even the people we didn't remember for their personalities or who didn't seem particularly special can be part of what it takes to do what needs to be done to impact countless lives.

Maybe this wasn't really an incredibly engrossing film with an immaculately crafted story and characters, but it was still very well done in many regards (with the action scenes, visual impact, and overall sense of intensity and darkness when necessary being particularly excellent highlights) and definitely had that Star Wars feel, and even if it wasn't quite "amazing" overall, it had this amazing kernel of goodness, of a truly heroic story, that I couldn't help but love.

Superman (1988)

Cheesy, but really enjoyable for what it is

[7/10 · 27 July 2016]

If you're looking for a deep, expertly crafted, cutting-edge cartoon that's destined to be appreciated by many adults as well as kids, you won't find it here - that's not what this show is, nor what it's trying to be. Honestly, it's cheesy and doesn't exactly try to have super-tight writing. But if you look at this show for what it is - a 1980s kids cartoon about Superman - well, it actually does its job well. If you don't set your expectations too high, you might, like me, end up enjoying yourself quite a bit.

This show's take on Superman and his mythology feels really reminiscent of the Christopher Reeve movies to me - the creators even admit in an interview that they directly took inspiration from them for Superman's character. There are even several direct allusions to the movies, such as Superman flying with Lois in a similar manner and calling himself a "friend" upon first meeting her as Superman. Despite not being as big a fan of that interpretation of Superman as most, it definitely has its charm and I think this cartoon captures it well, making Superman a somewhat unreal and cheesy yet immensely likable character, so if you actually ARE a fan of the movies, I have to recommend this cartoon all the more! Apart from the movies, this show also takes some cues from the post-Crisis Superman comics, such as making Lex Luthor an evil businessman - but he has a humorous personality like his movie counterpart, complete with a ditzy female sidekick. While the serious Luthor is cool too, I have to admit this version is really entertaining. Clark Kent is definitely NOT influenced much by the new take on him in the comics, as he's clearly based on the more traditional cowardly and clumsy Kent as opposed to the more assertive one the comics were "rolling out" at the time. He's certainly not as amazingly humorous, adorable, and generally well-done as Christopher Reeve's (not many are!), but he's still fun and endearing. His journalistic skills do come into play occasionally, which is always a treat.

I REALLY appreciate this show having a pretty heavy emphasis on Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen (especially in contrast to the later and obviously better-known Superman: The Animated Series). They figure prominently in almost every episode and even do some helpful stuff sometimes, in addition to their regularly-scheduled rescue-needing. Their portrayals are pretty rockin' overall, nothing ground-breaking or special, but solid and true to the characters. Lois even gets some romantic scenes with Superman, nothing serious or emotional, just some cute fun you can't help but smile at. Perry White doesn't really do much, which is too bad, but I guess you can't cram everything into such a short run time.

The artwork and animation in this show is pretty good. I'm not going to say it's mind-blowing, but it certainly has a reasonable level of quality, especially for the time. There are a few too many errors and inconsistencies for my liking, such as multiple instances where they reverse the colors on Superman's S-shield for a few frames (seriously, that should be pretty easy to catch!), but overall it's not that big a deal. The main characters are all quite well-drawn, especially Lois and Jimmy. Unfortunately, non-recurring characters frequently have pretty bad character designs, and that's kinda too bad, but oh well.

The stories in this show aren't amazingly well-written, but they're usually inventive, entertaining and charming on some level. Overall, they're definitely geared towards kids, but there's still effort put into them. Some may be disappointed at the general lack of iconic supervillains, but I'm not sure I can share the sentiments - we do get a few of them at least (the Prankster and General Zod & co. get one episode each and Lex Luthor appears in a few), and honestly, I really feel like this keeps the show fresh and always doing something different, unique, and all its own. Superman: TAS felt a bit samey after a while, just having supervillain after supervillain. So, in all honesty, I prefer this style - unique plots with new characters most of the time with occasional appearances by iconic, comic-derived villains. The stories are usually very science-fictiony (with a few exceptions) and may be a bit goofy, but not depths-of-the-Silver-Age goofy. There's honestly a good deal to love, as long as you're the sort that can enjoy kiddy stuff like this that doesn't take itself very seriously.

Another interesting and fun trait of the show is the "Superman's Family Album" sections, each only a couple of minutes long, detailing an episode from Clark's past - over the course of the series, we're taken from his adoption by the Kents all the way to him assuming the Superman mantle. These can be extremely endearing sometimes, and I LOVE the way younger Clark is drawn (aside from when he's a baby) - he has such a powerfully "Supermanny" look with a really pronounced spit-curl, and is just adorable! They're a little dull sometimes, and there's not much you can do in such a limited time-frame, but every now and again they'll just make me feel so happy.

Needless to say, this show isn't going to appeal to everyone. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend this show to most - most people don't watch random 1980s kids cartoons for fun, after all. But if you happen to be a fan of Superman, I'd happily suggest you give it a go. I mean, at the end of the day, it does really succeed in, well, being a show about Superman. It's got Superman being Superman, it's got Clark being Clark, it's got Lois being Lois, it's got Jimmy being Jimmy, it's got Lex being Lex, it has Superman saving the day. If that sounds good to you like it does to me, chances are you might just find something to like here!

Superman: The Beast Beneath These Streets/First Date (1988) Season 1, Episode 10

Pretty good

[6/10 · 4 July 2016]

At first, this episode seemed a little bit dull - Superman vs. a generic supervillain (a mutant mutli-animal hybrid named Dr. Morpheus) with little in the way of motivations, with nothing to spice it up. Honestly, this episode made the idea of a mad scientist from 100 years ago who combined his genes with animals to turn into a monster a lot less interesting than it could be. And on top of that, the animation was kinda unimpressive in too many places for my liking, especially on Dr. Morpheus' face. However, it got quite a bit better once Dr. Morpheus stole Superman's powers, leaving him powerless, and Superman had to enlist the help of his Daily Planet friends to save the day, so overall, it turned out to be a fairly entertaining episode. (Though, it is really goofy that Superman literally keeps Kryptonite in his closet - a fact that Lois expressed shock over, and yet still wasn't explained at all.) Not one of the best episodes of this show, but not bad either.

I really liked the Superman Family Album segment, First Date. It was just super cute, and I love seeing Clark dealing with everyday stuff like that. Very endearing.

Superman: Bonechill/The Driver's License (1988) Season 1, Episode 9

I'm the angriest woman alive!

[6/10 · 21 June 2016]

In this episode, Clark asked Lois to be a date at a dance, and I was so hyped! I was watching them dancing, full of euphoria...but sadly, it stopped. The storyline moved on in mere seconds. Boo hiss, Larry Ditillio! Boo hiss!

All joking aside, that...actually annoyed me a lot. Heh heh. But I know that Clois-shipping is not everyone's number one priority (for some weird reason), so how about the rest of the episode?

It had nice moments for sure, but overall it was a bit on the so-so side. It's rather odd that a magical supervillain should offer Superman barely any challenge at all, considering that's generally cited as one of the few areas in which he has no advantage over any regular person, but well, that's how it happened. Bonechill's character design was also VERY weak, even by this show's not-super-high standards - he literally just looked like a man in a lame, very simple Halloween costume. I don't expect the villains in a kids' show like this to be authentically creepy, necessarily, but he was so much the utter and complete opposite of scary that it was actually distracting. Plus, the villain's motivations were never explained - why does this random guy want all this power? He even says he wants to destroy the world at one point...WHY? He LIVES on the world!

It certainly wasn't horrible, and it's not as if this show's other episodes are masterpieces or anything, but there was nothing about it that was too great either. And I'm still mad that I didn't get my Clois scene. Early on in the episode I was actually enjoying myself a lot, but that eventually fizzled as not enough interesting was being done with the potential it had.

On the upside, I actually really liked the "Superman Family Album" segment in which Clark got his driver's license. Sometimes I don't even bother commenting on them because there's not much to say, but for some reason I just found this one very charming. I guess I really, really like the idea of seeing Superman dealing with everyday stuff like this, just like all of us have to do.