DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 1 Episode 3 "Blood Ties" - Recap and Review

At the end of the previous episode, Carter Hall/Hawkman (Falk Hentschel) was murdered by Vandal Savage (Casper Crump). Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée) was severely injured and her condition was being closely monitored.

Similar to the previous episode, we see different team members go on separate missions (two of which are for greater good and one for decidedly personal reasons). All of these missions are motivated by their  loved ones and hence the title of the episode.

Sara Lance/White Canary (Caity Lotz) convinces Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) to go after Vandal's wealth. The rationale is to bankrupt him and weaken his attempts to take over the world. Or as Rip puts it, delay by a few decades.

Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber) guides Ray Palmer/Atom (Brandon Routh) as he uses his Atom suit to enter Kendra's body and heal her injuries. Ray faces defeat in his first attempt and it is upto Dr Stein to boost his morale in order to save Kendra's life.

A far less altruistic minded is the attempt by Leonard Snart/Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) to have a better childhood by preventing his father from going to jail for stealing a highly valued emerald.

After a great first part and a relatively weak concluding part of the pilot episode, the show returns to smashing form in the third episode.

I have remarked in the reviews of the previous episodes that Victor Garber, Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell are my favorite parts in the show. They are in good form here too.

But what makes this a standout episode is that even the actors who were bland so far really got to shine this time. I am referring to Arthur Darvill and Brandon Routh.

Brandon Routh finally manages to show some acting chops as Ray Palmer. We get to know more about what inspired Ray to make the Atom suit and become a superhero. His scenes with the always excellent Victor Garber were pretty good. The special effects were much better this time for the Atom. 

Equally good was Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter. He finally gets some screen-time to emote and not just stand around barking orders in a stiff British accent. Similar to Ray Palmer and Captain Cold, we get to know more about his background. Rip had crossed paths with Vandal 4000 years ago.

Despite coming close to killing Savage, Rip hesitated and that is one decision that has resulted in a lot of self-loathing for our Time Master.

The third cast member who comes into the limelight is Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/White Canary. She gets to beat up  a bunch of bad guys/assassins and looks totally at ease in the action scenes. She reveals how her recovery with the help of the Lazarus Pit considerably affected her psyche and unleashed a more brutal side.

Sara even gets to do some deduction using her skills of observation (like Sherlock Holmes) at the Brumberg Bank.

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The characters in the show seem to be taking turns to visit their younger versions. Last time, it was Dr Martin Stein. Now, it is Captain Cold's turn. This is getting a bit repetitive. Hopefully, the writers will stop using this plot device (or) at least resist using it for the rest of the season.

Finally, we come to the villain. Casper Crump is suitably macabre and egotistic as the immortal Vandal Savage. His brutal ritual involving drinking of the blood of the dead Carter Hall/Hawkman was captured quite effectively.

A notable guest appearance was made by Nikolai Witschl as Caleb, one of Vandal's cult members. Readers might remember him as Ansel Barbour from the FX Vampire series: The Strain.

Trivia

1. The song “Fight the Power” by The Isley Brothers can be heard as Rip and Sara do their slomo walk to the Brumberg Bank.

2. The song “I Got the Fire” by Montrose is played as Sara fights the assassins disguised as employees of the Brumberg Bank.

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Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Bonanza Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, The CW Television Network (The CW)

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DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Pilot Part 2 - Recap and Review

After the great first part, we get the concluding section that is wonderful in parts, but a bit lethargic in certain aspects.

As things stood at the end of the previous episode, the team had met Dr. Aldus Boardman (Peter Francis James), the son of Hawkman and Hawkgirl in their previous incarnations. Dr Boardman was killed but not all was lost. The rag-tag group came together as a team.

As this episode opens, the team determines that Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) must be somewhere near an impending auction for illegal arms and ammunition. Sara Lance/White Canary (Caity Lotz), Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber), Leonard Snart/Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and Mick Rory/Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell) are sent to infiltrate the event as potential buyers.

The savvy Vandal senses the presence of Hawkman and Hawkgirl and deduces that there is trouble afoot.

This results in a well executed action sequence with our heroes. While our heroes do manage to make it out, there is an unintentional outcome: Ray Palmer/Atom (Brandon Routh) loses a minor part of his suit in the melee.

Vandal sets his scientists to reverse engineer the advanced machinery. When Rip realizes the potential impact of Vandal utilizing the Atom's technology, it is time for yet another mission. This time, Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber) offers to visit his younger self, who is an expert on Alpha Particles. The plan is to use these particles to track the suit.

The younger version of Dr Martin Stein (played by Graeme McComb) is a ladies man. He starts hitting on Sara, the moment he lays eyes on her. Dr Stein is concerned that his tampering with the timeline might prevent his own encounter with his future wife, Clarissa (played by Isabella Hofmann on The Flash).

Ray Palmer, Leonard Snart and Mick Rory have their own task to complete: retrieve the dagger that was used by Vandal Savage to murder Hawkman and Hawkgirl in their very first lifetime.

The owner of the house turns out to be none other the immortal Vandal Savage himself. His presence brings the whole team for the climactic fight sequence. Hawkman tries to kill him using “The Aman Dagger”.

This proves to be a fatal mistake as it is only Hawkgirl who has the ability to use the dagger to finish Savage once and for all. This knowledge comes too late, as Vandal ends up stabbing Carter Hall with the dagger, resulting in his death. A distraught Kendra repents at not expressing her love for Carter.

Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) repays Dr Stein's efforts to retrieve the broken part of Atom's suit, by ensuring that his younger self meets with his Clarissa.

Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell continue to be the best parts of the show. And Victor Garber's Dr Stein. These three nicely counterbalance the serious characters (Ray, Rip, Carter and Kendra).

The scenes featuring the trio of Wentworth, Dominic and Routh as they attempt to steal the dagger was hilarious. Ray's naivety was the perfect counterpoint to the career criminals. Things are also starting to heat up as Ray/Atom and Leonard/Captain Cold exchanged blows.

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The other enjoyable parts of this episode were the ones pitting the elderly Dr Stein against his much younger version. He realizes that despite his advanced age, he still retains the same arrogance as he did in his earlier years.

Even though Carter Hall/Hawkman dies, we know quite well that nobody ever stays dead for long in the comic books. And considering the fact that time travel is also involved, it is only a matter of time, before Carter Hall is up and flying along with Kendra Saunders (who has had a change of heart).

A surprise guest in this episode was Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) from Arrow. This was a nice touch to show the inter-connected nature of the universe that the show is building on.

Trivia

1. The song “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps Fire can be heard as Kendra, Carter, Rip and Dr Stein are walking in the University campus to see Dr Boardman.

Highly Recommended watch to fans of DC Comics/Comic Book fans.

Click here to read all my posts related to DC Comics.

Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Bonanza Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, The CW Television Network (The CW)

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DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Pilot Part 1 - Recap and Review

In a post-Avengers world, every Hollywood studio is working overtime to churn out their own version of an interconnected movie universe.

Universal Studios is trying to build one based on their collection of movie monsters (Dracula, Wolf Man, Frankenstein), first of which is the 2014 movie: Dracula Untold. Fox tried unsuccessfully to connect their popular X-Men movies with the Fantastic Four universe. The critical and commercial failure of the 2015 movie (Fantastic Four) does not bode well for the studio's plans.

Warner Bros. and DC Comics have now responded in two different ways: A movie franchise collectively titled “DC Extended Universe” and “DC's Legends of Tomorrow” on the small screen.

The CW show has an ensemble cast, drawn from both the Arrow and The Flash: Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber), Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson (Franz Drameh), Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée) and Carter Hall (Falk Hentschel). There are supervillains too: Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell).

Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) is the main baddie here. He is an immortal, who thrives by inciting trouble on a grand scale. Wars are his preferred modus operandi.

Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) is a Time Master who has lost his wife and son to Vandal's activities. He tries to get support from the Council of Time Masters to stop Savage. When his requests are denied, Rip takes matter into his own hands and steals the Waverider (a flying contraption fitted with all necessary tech) to assemble a rag-tag group of individuals.

One by one (and sometimes two at a time), he kidnaps our group of characters. Rip entices them to participate in his campaign by lying that they will become legends in the future. In reality, he recruited individuals who have minimal impact on the timeline.

Except for one reluctant individual (Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson), the rest are happy to join the mission. Dr. Martin Stein takes care of this issue by drugging Jax.

Rip and the team time travel back to 1975. The plan is to meet Dr. Aldus Boardman (Peter Francis James). Aldus has done extensive research on Vandal and willingly shares his information. He also happens to be the son of Joe and Edith Boardman, the most recent incarnations of Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders.

But trouble is not far behind. Chronos, a temporal bounty hunter has been sent by the Council of Time Masters to stop Rip and retrieve the Waverider. Our heroes work together to stop the villain. They manage to escape and Jax is inspired to become part of the team.

This looks to be the most fun adaptation based on DC Comics. Yes, even more so than Supergirl and The Flash.

The reason is simple: As good as these two shows are, they still suffer from very minor drawbacks. Supergirl has the insufferable Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen. The Flash on the other hand often gets a bit melodramatic for a show featuring a superhero who can run really fast.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow (from what we have seen so far) seems determined to be a fun ride for fans. The # 1 reason is the presence of  Victor Garber as Dr. Martin Stein. Victor is a blast as the quick-witted and brilliant scientist. He has arguably the best one-liners in the episode and Victor pulls them off with effortless ease.

Victor's presence has been a great value addition to The Flash and the episodes featuring his Dr Stein tend to be my favorites. I had wished often that Dr Martin would be a more regular feature and thankfully, this show seems to have rectified that anomaly.

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Giving good competition to Victor is Franz Drameh as Jefferson Jackson. The interchange between these two are probably the funniest.

Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell are the other pair that manage to hold our attention. The scene at the pub where they get into a fight, along with Sara Lance was executed well.

Falk Hentschel and Ciara Renée are adequate as Hawkman and Hawkgirl respectively. They have the serious characters to play and accordingly do not indulge in much of levity. Caity Lotz is good as Caity Lotz, though she does seem to be packing some attitude as the assassin.

Brandon Routh is a bit bland as Ray Palmer/Atom. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that his turn as the Man of Steel in Superman Returns (2006) did not set the box office on fire (or) capture the public imagination as the studio would have wanted.

However, the one to make the least impact is Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter. Arthur seems to be just going through the motions. His IMDB page informs us that he has played Rory Williams, a companion for Matt Smith's Doctor Who. If this was the basis for casting him, then this is a disastrous one. Arthur seems to be having absolutely zero interest in the role or the show. Hope either the character gets recast (or) Arthur develops some passion for the project. At least, we can wish that there will be more scenes of Rip get slapped around by team members, like we had in this one (thanks to Sara Lance).

There were a couple of Star Wars references: Chronos is referred to as both Darth Vader and Boba Fett at different points in the episode.

Trivia

1. The song “Shining Star” by Earth, Wind & Fire can be heard as Kendra, Carter, Rip and Dr Stein are walking in the University campus to see Dr Boardman.

2. The song “Love Will Keep Us Together” by Captain & Tennille is played in the fight scene at the pub.

In the recent past, there has been constant criticism about DC being too dark and serious. Well, here is your answer - a lively and colorful comic book adaptation that wholeheartedly embraces the nature of its source material.

Highly Recommended watch to fans of DC Comics/Comic Book fans.

Click here to read all my posts related to DC Comics.

 

Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Bonanza Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, The CW Television Network (The CW)

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Suicide Squad Trailer - Reaction/Review

The first official trailer for the upcoming DC Comics movie Suicide Squad has been released.

Directed by David Ayer (Fury, Sabotage, Street Kings), the movie stars Will Smith as Floyd Lawton/Deadshot, Jared Leto as The Joker, Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen F. Quinzel/Harley Quinn, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Waylon Jones/Killer Croc and Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

For the uninitiated: Suicide Squad (a.k.a “Task Force X”) is a group of villains who are (forcefully) recruited by Amanda Waller to complete deadly missions. For obvious reasons, the trailer does not reveal the exact mission for which they have been assembled in this movie.

Check out the trailer:

I was not a big fan of the Comic Con trailer. But this trailer looks promising. Set to the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” by the British rock band Queen, this one manages to differentiate the movie from the unnecessarily serious trailers we have seen for the other DC Extended Universe movie - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Jared Leto seems to be a great casting choice as The Joker. Margot Robbie and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje also look to be having fun with Harley Quinn and Killer Croc respectively.

The major drawback is Will Smith as Deadshot. He is way too serious. His casting is understandable: The Studio wanted a big name actor to ensure a decent opening for the movie. But Will probably wanted a bigger role for himself. This is pretty obvious considering that Deadshot is on an equal footing with Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman), the squad leader. At least, Rick manages to land a line in the trailer.

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As readers might know, Tom Hardy was first cast as Rick Flagg. But supposedly, his scheduling conflicts due to the then ongoing Leo DiCaprio movie, The Revenant made him skip Suicide Squad. We can only speculate.....

Even the usually dull as dishwater, Jai Courtney seems to be enjoying himself as Captain Boomerang.

Looks like David Ayer has finally managed to make an enjoyable DC Comics movie since Christopher Nolan left the DC Universe.

If this movie is even half as much fan as the animated movie Batman: Assault on Arkham, we are in for a major treat.

Click here to read all my posts about DC Comics.

 

Image Sources: Atlas Entertainment, DC Entertainment, Dune Entertainment, Lin Pictures, Warner Bros.

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X-Men: Apocalypse Trailer - Review and Recap

The first trailer for the upcoming X-Men movie is here. And it looks promising.

After helming X-Men: Days of Future Past, Bryan Singer returns to the director's chair. As is typical of a X-Men film, this one has a large ensemble cast. Joining the regulars (James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult) are newcomers: Oscar Isaac as the titular antagonist En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse, Tye Sheridan as  Scott Summers/Cyclops, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Alexandra Shipp as Ororo Munroe/Storm, Ben Hardy as Warren Worthington III/Angel, Lana Condor as Jubilation Lee/Jubilee, Olivia Munn as Betsy Braddock/Psylocke, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler and Tómas Lemarquis as Caliban.

Check out the trailer below:

The trailer manages to get one's attention without giving too much of the plot (or) crucial plot/character developments away.

Here is a synopsis of the trailer: Jean Grey is having visions of mass destruction across the globe. She is not comforted by Charles Xavier's assertions that her premonitions are just dreams and will not come to fruition. Moira informs Xavier about a mutant who could quite possibly be the very first one to walk the Earth.

Unfortunately, Jean was right in her thoughts and Apocalypse is here. He has a definite purpose in mind: to destroy the world and create a better one in its place. To this end, he recruits Magneto, Storm, Angel and Psylocke to be his four horsemen. Nice touch there with Moira contending that the Bible took this idea from the mutant himself and not the other way around as Havoc thinks.

We get a look at some of the destruction caused by Apocalypse and his horsemen as the X-Men struggle to prevail over such an powerful enemy. The trailer concludes with James McAvoy's Charles Xavier getting his full bald look. McAvoy makes a fantastic Xavier and I prefer his version over Patrick Stewart's. This decision by Bryan Singer wins brownie points for the trailer right away.

If there was one mutant who gets a bit shortchanged, that would be Michael Fassbender's Magneto. He has no dialogues at all (kind of like Henry Cavill's Superman in the Comic Con trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice).

On the other hand, if there was a mutant who gets too much attention, that would be Jennifer Lawrence's Raven (not Mystique). The significant aspect is that Lawrence does not have the blue body-paint at any point throughout the trailer. I guess the studio and producers want to capitalize on having Lawrence in the movie rather than the fact that she is playing Mystique. Even the first shot featuring her with others deliberately reminds one of her character Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games.

The trailer also gives us a look at the new and a younger X-Men team consisting of Cyclops, Jean Grey and Nightcrawler suited up for action. As a fan of Cykes, I enjoyed the brief but powerful scene of Scott Summers going full optic blast against an unseen opponent/obstacle.

Finally, we come to Apocalypse himself. He looks and sounds very much like what a God-like mutant would do. There were complaints about the character being not big enough in the promotional images so far. Bryan Singer seems to have paid attention and we get a beautiful shot of just how big En Sabah Nur can get if needed. His motto is: “Only the Strong will survive”.




Apocalypse is the main antagonist to X-Men just as how Darkseid is to the Justice League or Doomsday is to Superman. Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder seem to be either clueless or just plain lazy with regards to Doomsday as the recent trailer suggests. Bryan Singer shows us how to pull off such an important super-villain in the right way. Live and Learn, Warner Bros.

Other points of interest: More Quicksilver, which is a good thing.

Bryan Singer's X-Men released in 2000 started the current Hollywood craze for Superhero genre. It is also the longest running Superhero movie franchise. Despite a few hiccups here and there (mainly X-Men Origins: Wolverine), the series has produced some of the best movies in the genre.

Credit to Bryan Singer who has been the driving force behind these movies. He has been instrumental in making the casting choices that have made these movies so great - From the great Ian McKellen, Rebecca Romijn, Hugh Jackman and James Marsden to the current crop of actors including James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Evan Peters. Hoping that he would have the same luck with the new set of actors cast as the younger versions of mutants.

The X-Men movies also enjoy a good blend of humor and pathos, like Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie and Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. Unlike both the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies that tend to be too jokey or the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) movies that are too serious for their own good.

In Bryan Singer, we trust.

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