Chuck, Journeyman, Bionic Woman (9/29 TV Roundup)

posted by Tygrrius @ 9:42 PM

I'm famous for not watching current television shows. I tend to pick them up later on DVD, if at all. This year, I've decided to watch some new TV rather than waiting months for the DVDs. With that goal in mind, I tried out a few new shows this week.

Chuck
Episode 101: Pilot
Airs Mondays at 8 PM Eastern, NBC
Official site
Though the blah title tried to turn me away, I taped this one on a whim and I'm sure glad I did. Chuck (Zachary Levi) is a geeky guy who is more comfortable with comic books and video games than he is with women. You know the type. He wants to write a five-year plan to improve his life, but hasn't figured out the right font yet. His fingers are chafed from playing Call of Duty for hours on end. And his sister (Sarah Lancaster) has to invite women from her work over for his birthday party in hopes of getting him a date.

Chuck, who manages the Nerd Herd at Buy More, receives vital security information and beautiful CIA agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) arrives to retrieve it from him. It was a terrific premiere episode, with a proper mix of humor and action. Adam Baldwin (Superman Doomsday, Firefly) is also featured. McG, who was one of many directors once set to direct the fifth Superman movie before Bryan Singer took the reigns, directed the premiere and executive produces the series. Don't miss it, folks. Rating: 10 (out of 10).

Journeyman
Episode 101: Pilot
Airs Mondays at 10 PM Eastern, NBC
Official site
When I saw the previews for this one, I immediately thought "Quantum Leap rip-off." Still, I thought I'd give it a try. With no explanation or warning, Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd) suddenly finds that he has traveled back in time. His sudden disappearances and bizarre behaviors in the current timeline cause his family and friends to think that he's on drugs. Dan has no control over the time traveling, though he begins to find a mission of sorts linking his various time travels.

I'm not sure how well Journeyman will fare with the general public (i.e., people who don't visit The Film Frontier on a regular basis). A lot of the time travel indications are rather subtle. Sometimes, you can tell he's gone back in time based on which hosts of the Today show happen to appear on TV screens. International audiences and others who don't regularly watch NBC may miss this entirely. Time travel stories are interesting but can often be confusing if not handled properly. They will have to be careful not to lose the audience.

The premiere starts off rather slowly and initially I was thinking I probably wouldn't be watching again next week. About halfway through, though, things finally pick up when a mystery begins to unfold. This is probably one of those season-long or series-long mysteries. This one could be promising and is worth checking out. Oh, and it didn't feel like a Quantum Leap rip-off after all. Rating: 7.

Bionic Woman
Episode 101: Pilot
Airs Wednesdays at 9 PM Eastern, NBC
Official site
I missed the original version of this series, though I've certainly heard a lot about it over the years. Since I like movies and TV series with strong female characters, this one seemed like it would be a good fit. Jaime Sommers (Michelle Ryan) is involved in a horrible car crash and loses both of her legs, an arm, and an eye. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for her, her boyfriend happens to be an expert in bionic technology and he rebuilds her.

There's a great scene in the premiere that looks like it would've been a fantastic cameo for Lindsay Wagner, the original Bionic Woman. Jaime sprints past a car driving along at a high speed. A little girl in the car tries to point her out to her mother, who is driving. The mother never sees her and tells her daughter not to make up stories. Though Wagner does not play the mother, it just feels like it was written as a cameo.

Maybe it's because the scene is likely an homage to the classic scene in the extended version of Richard Donner's Superman in which a little girl on a train (Lois) sees a teenaged Clark running past and her mom won't believe her. Her mother was Noel Neil, the original live-action Lois Lane. Her father, Kirk Alyn, the original live-action Superman.

The Bionic Woman premiere isn't great, but is interesting enough to warrant tuning in again next week. Ryan does a fantastic job in the lead and is very reminiscent of Helen Slater (Supergirl), one of my favorites. Plus, the episode concludes with bionic woman-vs-bionic woman martial arts action, so it can't be all bad, right? Rating: 6.

By the way, if you missed any of these episodes, you can watch them in their entirity on NBC.com through the links I've provided above. Seems that I didn't have to worry about recording them with my archaic VCR and VHS tapes after all.

Superman Doomsday DVD

posted by JediSheltie @ 9:30 AM

The "Death of Superman" was the first time I started seriously collecting comics. It lasted through college, and after a small hiatus due to massive debt, has resumed with full intensity to this day. Superman has always been my favorite superhero, so I was there if they were going to kill him. I happened to be there a week late... but that's a story for another day...

Naturally one can then assume that I have a bit of an attachment to the original story, which was truly a spectacular effort at comic storytelling whose ramifications are being felt even today, in the "Sinestro Corps War" most notably.

Were I reviewing a animated feature based on that story, I might be quite harsh and unforgiving in my assessment of its merits. Fortunately, Superman Doomsday brings us quite a different story, so I'm able to step back, and review this story on its merits, instead of simply tossing off paragraph after paragraph about how they got so many "little details" of that rich, compelling comic saga wrong.

Though produced by Bruce Timm and done in the same style, this story appears to occur in its own little corner of the multiverse. There's quite a bit of pulling from multiple sources, including comics both old and new, and, as is common these days, the films. Here we have Superman (Adam Baldwin) and Lois Lane (Anne Heche), happily dating as Metropolis's most well known secret couple. Lois is concerned Kal-El isn't letting her in on the big secret identity, and a minor tiff ensues. The size of the next "tiff" is far more epic in scale.

Drilling through the earth, a team of Lexcorp scientists accidentally release a failed experiment in super-soldier development, a "Doomsday" weapon, buried on earth by some unnamed alien race, and patly explained by a trip through the archives of the Fortress. This Doomsday promptly eliminates the scientists and tears off for Metropolis. Yes, at PG-13, deaths, though not clearly shown on screen, are more than simply "implied."

The ensuing fight is well done. The fight choreography takes into account the power of the combatants. No one bounces off walls, they smash through them. Streets are torn up just in passing, and entire buildings crumble. The smashup is definitely a highlight of the entire film. Were I to retreat to my picky ways, I might suggest the whole "can't bleed" excuse did handicap the visual impact a bit.

What follows is a rather truncated exploration of the funeral and how Metropolis deals with the loss of their primary guardian. Lois promptly figures out her dead boyfriend's secret identity so she can have a chat with the, in this universe, solitary Martha Kent. But its really not all that long before Superman is back.

There in lies the third act, one which enters spoiler territory to even attempt to describe. If you've noticed Lex Luthor in a lot of the previews, there's a good reason for that. Lex, reacting with some disappointment that he was not ultimately responsible for the destruction of his arch nemesis, manages to turn his lemons into a rather dangerous glass of lemonade. Luthor's plot was certainly in character, and is, in some very abstract fashion, based on what he attempted in the comics.

Baldwin and Heche turn in decent performances in the lead roles. Though I like my Superman rather reserved, I might say Baldwin was a little too laid back in his vocal characterizations. Heche's Lois certainly rang a bit more true to the character than Kate Bosworth, and she only had to use her voice. Marsters' Luthor was serviceable, but he will forever be in the shadow of Clancy Brown's spot-on performance from Justice League Unlimited. The remainder of the cast was comprised of solid vocal talent.

Animation is what you've become accustomed to from any Timm production. This means you can expect rave boos from Tygrrius, folks, who hates it. I could give or take. Doesn't bother me, but I've always preferred more detailed art styles. I did find the cheekbone features on Superman oddly distracting, as they seem out of place.

I have yet to delve through the bonus features, so can't help anyone there. Tygrrius loves bonus features, so perhaps you can expect a detailed run down in his review

Since it seems important, I'll go ahead and do the grade thing:

Overall: B-
Voice Acting: B-
Animation: B
Plot: B-
Extras: N/A

"The 'Galileo' Seven" (Star Trek: Remastered edition)

posted by Tygrrius @ 7:24 AM

Star Trek (Remastered): "The Galileo Seven"
Remastered Episode #41 (9/15/2007)
Original Episode #14 (1/15/1967)

A new season of Star Trek: Remastered is upon us. By default, this is the last season--at least for updates to the original series. Unless, of course, they decide to CGI all of the visuals on the animated series. Once they had their approach down, they could even create new episodes to fill out the season. I'm sure there are some leftover scripts or concepts around somewhere.

Back to reality, though. "The Galileo Seven" kicks off the 2007-2008 season, a perfect choice for the lead-in. One of the best Star Trek episodes, it also offers a potential extravaganza of visual effects. With last season's 40 episodes under their belts, is CBS Digital ready to take it to a new level?

Things start promisingly enough, as we get a fantastic view of the Enterprise approaching Murasaki 312, a quasar-like formation. (Check out our preview article about this episode for a still of this and other key effects sequences.) The Enterprise is en route to Makus III with urgent medical supplies but since he has a couple of extra days, Captain Kirk decides to send a shuttle out to investigate the quasar.

Kirk claims he must do this, due to "standing orders to investigate all quasars and quasar-like phenomenon." I don't buy it, though. I think he just wants to get under the skin of Galactic High Commissioner Ferris, on board to deliver the medical supplies. Ferris is one of those annoying Federation bureaucrats that the Enterprise carts around from time-to-time. You know, the ones who are always trying to order Kirk around aboard his own ship. The plague of government bureaucracy is alive and well in the 23rd Century, it seems.

Though he stays aboard the Enterprise (someone has to organize the subsequent rescue attempts, after all), Kirk loads the shuttlecraft up with just about his entire senior staff. Also joining Spock, McCoy, and Scotty are Yeoman Mears and Lieutenants Boma, Gaetano, and Latimer.

The shuttlecraft launch is outstanding, and we even get a nice view of another shuttle, Columbus, sitting on the flight deck as the Galileo departs. We've seen other shuttle launches on Star Trek: Remastered before, but I still can't get over how real the effect looks. To see the Enterprise and other classic vehicles from original Star Trek fully realized for the first time has been nothing short of amazing, a lifelong Trekkie's dream-come-true. CBS Digital is doing all of this with budget limitations that are rivaled only by time constraints.

As you might expect, things go horribly wrong and the shuttle crashes after losing contact with the Enterprise. Not only has the Murasaki effect crashed the shuttle, it has also severely limited the Enterprise's sensor capabilities (not unlike the Mutara Nebula, actually). They are essentially left to search for the shuttle within four solar systems by sight. Ferris, who opposed the scientific mission in the first place, is none too pleased when Kirk informs him that finding a needle in a haystack would be "child's play" compared to finding the lost shuttlecraft.

All of this before the opening credits!

While Kirk has to deal with the nagging Ferris, Spock has his own set of naggers to deal with during his first command. Dr. McCoy gangs up with Lieutenant Boma to pester Spock at every turn. Though I'm a McCoy fan, the writers take him a bit too far in this episode. It seems out of character for him to allow Boma to insult Spock so often and even to jump in with a few thorns of his own. Sure, Spock and McCoy have an ongoing "feud" about passion versus reason but it is usually good-natured.

Here, McCoy just seems mean. Perhaps he has a hard time dealing with stress when Kirk isn't around, as the only other episode I can think of where he seems so out of kilter is "The Tholian Web"--where Kirk is presumed dead and Spock is in command.

The rest of the episode overcomes the problems with McCoy, though. As we see Spock in command for the first time, the Vulcan learns a number of lessons about logic. As he would later tell Valeris in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, "Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end." Full of tension, drama, and action, "The Galileo Seven" represents Star Trek at its best.

Speaking of one of his command decisions, Spock notes, "I may have been mistaken."

McCoy retorts, "At least I lived long enough to hear that." That's the McCoy we know and love, so the writers weren't completely off target.

As for Boma, he places extremely unrealistic demands on the Vulcan. Though he is supposed to show the human consequences of Spock's logical decisions, his constant nipping at Spock gets annoying. When the planet's ape-like natives kill two members of the shuttle crew, Boma insists that they take the time to bury them despite the enormous ongoing danger posed by the natives (the damaged shuttle needs to be freed of excess weight if she is ever to lift off).

While I understand the need to give the dead a proper burial, it's just not the right time for it. You don't jump out of the trench in the middle of a battle to bury the poor guy killed next to you. Otherwise, you'd better dig two holes.

Aboard the Enterprise, Ferris repeatedly stalks on and off the bridge, reminding Kirk constantly of exactly how much longer he has to conduct the search before he assumes command of the ship to deliver the medical supplies. Kirk shows great restraint by not knocking the guy on his bureaucratic ass.

The ape-like creatures have not been updated. They still throw small spears that suddenly turn larger (a creative but failed attempt on the original episode to give a sense of enormous scale to the creatures) and they still look way smaller than 10 to 15 feet tall as they approach one of the crewmembers for a kill.

CBS Digital usually does not tackle these sorts of changes to the on-set costumes and effects, though they did make the Gorn blink last season on "Arena." The end results would likely not justify the time. I think it's fine as it is, as I don't want every single piece of the classic show to be updated anyway. Yes, the creature looks fake, but it's a charming reminder of the simpler television times of the 1960s.

The newly created visuals are breathtaking throughout. We even get to see the Columbus ferrying back and forth from the Enterprise as she searches for the Galileo. One of these includes a movie-quality shot of the Enterprise from below. Fortunately, the Columbus is not similarly affected and crashed or Kirk would have even more officers to find.

If you have an HD DVD player, it's episodes like this one that will make the remastered Star Trek season 1 set worth the seemingly high cost in November. Since "The Galileo Seven" was part of the original series' first season, it is included on the set. (The remastered episodes air out of sequence in syndication.)

"The Galileo Seven" represents the finest work of both the 1966 and 2007 creative teams. This is a must-see.

Dramatic Content: 10 (out of 10)
Effects Upgrades: 10
Overall Experience: 10

The Film Frontier's Related Articles

Sept 5th Comic RoundUp

posted by JediSheltie @ 6:56 PM

Star Trek Year Four 2

Can't say what I'm missing with this series. I want to like it, but the plotting is simply beating me back yet again. Even though my personal "favorite Trek period is the original cast films", I started out with TOS in syndication and will always have a soft spot for it. These comics are simply not finding that soft spot.

Issue 2 brings us "The one with the Prime Directive," as a Friends episode may have put it. The Enterprise stops by Aarak 3 to pick up some shiny new dilithium on the way to Starbase 14. This is certainly a nod to TOS, as from what I recall, damn near everything that ever happened to the Enterprise happened when they were on the way to a starbase.

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy soon find themselves the attempted collateral damage in what appears to be an assassination attempt of the local head honcho. The Federation officers prevent the attempt and McCoy gets to rattle off an only mildly amusing "I'm a doctor, not a..." line. What follows is supposed to be a tale of political intrigue and philosophical rumination on the nature of the Prime Directive.

What it ends up being is a confused mess that makes a play for being a "relevant episode" somewhere in the middle. That Kirk and Company don't entirely sit out the climax of the story is one of the few improvements over the first issue. I was going to complain about how the Prime Directive was handled as well, but research has shown it eventually grew beyond dealing with "primitive, un-contacted" species to deal with interfering with any planets internal affairs.

Pacing is certainly the same problem here. Not to say much of this could have been salvaged with some additional pages, but it may have helped. I might counsel Tischman to start thinking about writing some "2 part episodes" instead of trying to cram everything into a single issue. He has yet to prove up to the task. Art is the same, which I found acceptable in the first issue and can faithfully report that it was equally acceptable here.

Supergirl 21

Okay, I can say Bedard is doing much better, that's for sure. At no point did I feel anyone trying to reach out and touch the teenage girl within. Fortunately I had her surgically removed years ago. Rather expensive operation, actually...

Coming off events in Amazons Attack, Kara is suffering from a bit of anxiety. (Didn't bother reviewing much of AA, did I? Take that for what it's worth..). She seeks solace at the Kent farm, which is point 1 in Bedard's favor. The Kents are the understanding parents you wish you had. They mention that their other adopted kid isn't perfect and he's screwed up from time to time as well. Kara is slightly reassured, but she knows she's going to have to face up to him sooner or later. Kinda-sorta-almost killing the President of the United States is one of those "let's talk" moments, after all.

Her reckoning is delayed by a crossover event, though. If you haven't been reading Countdown, then perhaps you're not altogether familiar with Karate Kid and "Una," otherwise known as Triplicate Girl when there's more than one of her. Don't fret, as long as you can glean they've been wrongfully pegged as meta-human terrorists playing hobos on a train, you'll be okay. Much like the Enterprise and any particular part of the universe, Kara is the nearest member of the Teen Titans able to respond after this "threat" has been called in.

I had been wondering if Karate Kid had any enhanced strength or something for a while now, and Bedard answered that question in an entertaining fashion. The Kid discovered that attempting to apply even the best karate in the universe against an earth-bound Kryptonian doesn't work so well. Though that fight doesn't last long, the instigator of the terrorist complaint soon appears to provide a slightly higher challenge.

Equus, a 2 bit C-lister who made his debut being beaten up by Kara's cousin, decides to take matters into his own be-clawed hands after Kara and the assembled law enforcement officers fail to off his targets for him. Bedard is the guy who finally gets to wrap some of Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes into the main comic, and so far it's handled well. Kara suddenly notices her two terrorists look very familiar, in a strange way, which allows Equuis to get the drop on her.

Guedes art is awesome as always. I'm disappointed he's only around for 2 more issues, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Overall I'm feeling better about this comic. Definitely looking forward to see how Bedard handles this first arc, which promises to let Kara "find her place" in the current DCU.

Action Comics #855

posted by JediSheltie @ 7:17 PM

August 28nd One Comic Comic RoundUp

Think of this as "rounding down" to one.

Action 855

Disclaimer: Overall there's so much about the setting of this issue/arc that trips my personal "Superman prejudices" that I won't even begin to call this a fair review.

Almost surprised me when I got this issue. Forgot that this "Donner" guy was still working on this comic. The giant floating holographic head reminded me pretty quickly he was. Really, what's up with the head? Though I find Donner a perfectly respectable director, he and I disagree on a few things, and one of them is the need for giant holographic heads. This guy have daddy issues or something?

If he does, we're about to talk a big walk through them, as not only does the floating holographic head of Jor-El make it's obligatory appearance in this first issue of the new "Escape from Bizzaro World" arc, the story itself centers on the kidnapping on Johnathan Kent by Bizzaro. Thus the whole "escape" thing. Yes, out there in the space of the main "New Earth" universe is a big square planet filled to the brim with vintage Silver Age wackiness.

I have mentioned in the past there's many things about the Silver Age I feel should remain there, and I have to count Bizzaro World as one of them. Basically, Johns and Donner are working at a distinct disadvantage when trying to sell me on this idea. Did they succeed? Once again I'll come down with an extremely non-committal "it's okay." Seriously, I know it could have been a lot worse, and I really can't think of any constructive ways to make it much better.

Thankfully they've taken the track of trying to bring some Modern Age sensibility to a old Silver Age concept, unlike Morrison in the All-Star series. Bizzaro world is a dank, gray place that is not the happy-go-lucky, carefree idiot utopia most commonly seen in the Silver Age. We don't learn much about how it came to be in this first issue, only that it exists and Bizzaro has imprisoned Johnathan Kent there. Clark spends most of his time on world in this first issue dealing with those little "cultural idiosyncrasies" of the local population, before getting into a smash up with Bizzaro.

Bizzaro and the world are mostly scripted in the "backwards talk" form, though I think it sliped into "simpleton" mode a few times for editorial convenience. Bizzaro is number one criminal, etc. Always gives me a headache, honestly. Leob's use of the character in Superman/Batman was almost infuriating sometimes, and Johns/Donner don't do much to improve my opinion of this character's particular linguistics.

My hope is that this plot will be a good way to all Clark some deeper reflection on his relationship with his father and how that differs slightly from his relationship with a giant floating holographic head. Remains to be seen, though, as there wasn't much of that in this issue.

Art by noted "Goon" artist Eric Powell fit the "Bizzaro" concept well. His mildly exaggerated art style captures the kind of twisted reality that encompasses Bizzaro world and the residents without sacrificing too much with the "normal" characters. I still prefer more realistic art styles, but I can certainly see why Powell was chosen for this arc. I presume he can also turn in work on time, as well, another stellar reason to choose him, I presume.

Well, even though I want to go back and rewrite this to be even more negative, I'll let it stand. Not really too bad for a heavily prejudiced review, I think. Then again, I could be biased...