Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Supergirl Season 1 Episode 3 "Fight or Flight" - Recap and Review

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The episode starts with a quick recap of the previous two episodes, right from the Krypton's scene to Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) whisking away Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) away for an one-on-one conversation.

Supergirl's interview with Cat Grant has more than a passing resemblance to the one that Margot Kidder's Lois Lane had with the late Christopher Reeve's Supes. While Margot's Lois took notes, Cat Grant uses her smartphone to record the interview.

Over the course of the interview, Supergirl unintentionally reveals that she is Superman's cousin. Being the savvy businessperson that she is, Cat Grant makes sure that this piece of information becomes the talk of the town.

This attracts the attention of Reactron (Chris Browning), a super-villain with a long standing grudge against the Man of Steel. Since he is unable to kill Supes, he decides to try his luck with the Girl of Steel.


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On the personal front, Kara Danvers faces yet another challenge from her boss. Not content with publicizing Supergirl's connection to the Man of Steel, Cat also wants to host a gala occasion to publish her self-authored critical piece about Supergirl.

Supergirl faces Reactron and manages to cause enough damage to his suit to make him flee the scene. To get back into a fighting condition, Reactron infiltrates Lord Technologies with the intention of abducting someone with the necessary skills and knowledge to repair his damaged suit. Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli) willingly offers to be the hostage.

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Supergirl takes Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan)'s help in zeroing in on Reactron's location. James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) is against Kara taking on the supervillain, who has proven to be a match even for Superman. James' fears come true when Reactron overpowers Supergirl and is about to finish her off, when the Man of Steel himself appears out of nowhere and forces Reactron to make yet another escape.

Kara is not happy with Jimmy summoning Superman to help her. James explains that he did so more out of old habit and a fear of losing her.

Reactron makes his re-appearance during Cat's aforementioned function. With help from Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) and Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), Supergirl finally defeats Reactron.


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The third episode of Supergirl turns out to be the best one yet. The actors are getting into the skin of their characters very well.

At the top of the list are Melissa Benoist and Calista Flockhart. Melissa has been under the costume and the cape right from the beginning. But her act as Kara Danvers was a bit too Tina Fey for my taste. In the last episode and particularly in this one, she finally manages to leave her own stamp on the role.

Same is true of Calista. Her Cat Grant is growing as a character. She hints at childhood trauma as well as a romantic past with Lords. Calista is clearly having fun with her part.

David Harewood continues to glower effectively as Hank Henshaw. This episode gives even more evidence that he is Martian Manhunter (MM). Hank Henshaw uses his telepathic powers to detect Alex's presence. Fingers crossed that he turns out to be MM.


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There is a newcomer in town and this is Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan Tatum). Lucy is the younger sister of Lois Lane and the former flame of James Olsen.

The writers included a number of winks and nods to current pop culture events (James Bond, Millenium Falcon from Star Wars, Caitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair, Keeping up with Kardashians).

But the best parts were the references to Superman mythology . The watch used by James to summon Superman to his help is a staple of the Superman Canon. James also accidentally reveals Superman's secret identity to Winn Shott.

Even better was the brief appearance by Supes himself. Needless to say, that was the highlight of the episode for me.

Melissa Benoist gets to mouth some of the best lines:
1. Supergirl's reply to waitress: “I am an alien”.
2. Supergirl's description of Cat Grant: She is a super interviewing villain

I also liked this line: Every Generation gets the Superhero it deserves.” A subtle nod to the Christopher Nolan's Batman movies, perhaps...

With great acting, fun action sequences and made by people who clearly love the DC Universe and especially Superman, this is becoming a must watch for fans of Superman/DC Comics.

Trivia
The song Wish I Could Fly” by Roxette plays during the scene in which Kara Danvers is entering the venue of Cat Grant's event.

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Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), DC Comics DatabaseWikipedia

Monday, November 9, 2015

Ash vs Evil Dead Season 1 Episode 1 "El Jefe" - Recap and Review

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The long-awaited sequel to the classic Evil Dead movies Ash vs Evil Dead is finally here. Yes I am ignoring the unnecessarily gory 2013 movie that only retained the basics of the original (the cabin settings, deadites, youngsters etc..) while completely sacrificing the fun and the spirit that underscored Sam Raimi's timeless and seminal movies.

It has been 30 years since Ashley Ash J. Williams (Bruce Campbell) escaped from the nightmare he encountered in the woods. He is living a lonely existence in a trailer in Mossy Haven Trailer Park. His only (non-human) companion is Eli, a pet lizard.

He works at ValueStop, a local store and his waywardness doesn't make him a favorite with his boss, Mr. Roper (Damien Garvey). Ash does have an admirer in the wide-eyed Pablo Simon Bolivar (Ray Santiago).

In his free time, Ash tries to pick up random women at the local bar. He is not above fabricating stories to explain some kind of heroic explanation for losing his hand. One of them is saving a 8 yr old boy from the tracks. Bruce Campbell is his usual self in these scenes and he hasn't lost a bit of his charm.

In one such drug infused encounter with a lady at his trailer, Ash unintentionally releases the deadites (again) by reciting the words from the Naturom Demonto/Necromonicon also known as Book of the Dead”. Soon he starts seeing deadites everywhere.


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His fear of deadites is not completely unfound. When local cops, Amanda Fisher (Jill Marie Jones) and John Carson (Mike Edward) arrive to investigate reports of a woman screaming insider her house, they are attacked by a deadite. Though they manage to kill her, Carson also becomes one and Amanda has to shoot him dead to escape with her life.

Now, Amanda faces an Internal Affairs homicide inquest and a possible psych evaluation.



Ash also feels the evil growing all around him. Even his friendly neighbourhood (no pun intended) lady, Vivian Johnson (Sian Davis) seems to be a deadite waiting to kill him. Ash has seen enough and decides to leave town as soon as possible.

When he arrives at his store to get his paycheck, he is rebuked by Mr. Roper. But it is not a complete waste of time, as he comes across a new employee. This employee is an attractive young lady, Kelly Maxwell (Dana DeLorenzo). Ash's usual tricks do not work on Kelly and she is the second store employee to put him in his place.


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Ash's troubles are far from over at the store. He is attacked by a doll. This is similar to the scene in Army of Darkness, when Ash is attacked by three miniature versions of himself. Ash is rescued by Pablo. Pablo believes that Ash is El Jefe i.e. the person destined to save humanity from the oncoming deadite apocalypse. Pablo's uncle is a shaman and happens to be the source of this prediction.

Ash does not share Pablo's beliefs and heads back to his trailer. Kelly has her own share of troubles. Her mother, who died six months back, has come back from the grave. Kelly's Father (Phil Peleton) is in mortal danger and Kelly is desperate to save his life.

The climactic fight takes place at Ash's trailer. Pablo takes Kelly to meet Ash and hopefully get him to help them. The trio face off against not one but two deadites: Vivian and the cleaner who works nearby.


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This is one of the most enjoyable episodes I have seen in quite some time. The casting is top notch. Bruce Campbell can probably portray this character in his sleep and it shows. He slips back effortlessly into the role that has since become a genre legend.

Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo are good. The people who make the best impressions are Jill Marie Jones as Amanda Fisher and Damien Garvey as Mr. Roper. Both these characters undergo transformation through the course of the episode.

Amanda's encounter with the deadite is the highlight of this episode. This is vintage Sam Raimi (he directed this episode). All his trademarks are there: the legendary Evil Dead tracking shot, genuine horror et al.

Damien is makes a charismatic Mr. Roper. He is a classic horror movie character and he should make a great deadite in the upcoming episodes.


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Lucy Lawless makes her entry as Ruby and promptly disappears. She informs Jill that she is not hallucinating and that she is very right in her misgivings. No doubt, we will see more of Ruby as the series progresses.

I also liked the scene at the store in which Ash recalls the events of the first Evil Dead movie. That part was shot beautifully and credit to Sam Raimi and the cinematographer.

In addition to horror, the episode also features some nice suspense building scenes. The scene at the trailer park (featuring Ash and Vivian) as well as the scene shot outside ValueStop stand out in this regard.


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This is Classic Sam Raimi. Classy Combination of Horror and Humor. In these days of torture porn, this is how horror is done. Learn from the Master.

Must watch for fans of Evil Dead/Horror movies.

Recommended watch to fans of Horror movie genre.


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Image Sources: Renaissance Pictures, Starz Entertainment, LLC

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