The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 28 29 30

World's Finest Part 1, 2, 3

 

It should have been a feature film! The three-part epic where Batman meets Superman is pure brilliance.  The joker steals a jade statue that’s actually kryptonite and solicits Lex Luthor.  Joker agrees to kill Superman for one billion dollars.  Luthor agrees to the deal.

 

Meanwhile Batman is on the case and Bruce Wayne travels to Metropolis to do some corporate team-up with LexCorp while doing Batman shenanigans at night.  Batman is causing havoc trying to track down the Joker.  In one of the most epic appearances ever, he crashes straight through a glass ceiling.  It’s the biggest F-you to the Fox censors the writers ever dreamed up.  Fox Kids were known for their restrictive rules in children’s programs, worse than government regulations.  One of the big rules was no crashing through glass.  Hence the weird animated sequence in the BtAS episode I Am the Night.  Since Superman was now on Kids WB that rule was gone and Batman crashed through glass in as epic a fashion as creators could ever imagine.

 

Superman arrives as Batman is interrogating a mobster for information.  Batman uses some judo moves and tosses Superman across the room.  That just pisses Superman off and he strong arms Batman and uses his x-ray vision to discover he’s Bruce Wayne.  A serious violation of the superhero code.  Batman whips out a small shard of kryptonite and messes up Superman’s mojo then tells him Joker is trying to kill him with a much larger piece.  

 

Superman returns home and discovers a homing device on his cape.  Batman is watching from a rooftop across the way.   Point to Batman!  They each know one another’s identities promising mutually assured destruction if either blabs.  

 

A few days go by, Bruce Wayne is dating Lois Lane because Superman never makes a move and she doesn’t even acknowledge Clark Kent exists.  The Joker shows up, causes problems, kidnaps Lois Lane because he knows it will draw Superman out.  Bruce Wayne is unable to stop it, he puts in a good effort though.    

 

Superman shows up after the excitement, while Bruce Wayne is giving a police statement.  Bruce warns Superman of the trap but Superman has to save his girl.  Superman traces them to a LexCorp lab but is wearing his toy selling lead suit.  Joker sprays it with acid because the suit is always destroyed when kryptonite is involved, (so why even have the suit? Oh yes, to sell toys).  The kryptonite is revealed, and Superman’s allergy acts up.  Batman shows up and destroys the kryptonite.  Superman gets his strength back and flies Lois and Batman out as Joker blows the building up.  

 

Lex is pissed Joker used a LexCorp location to attempt his murder and their partnership is crumbling.  An awesome chic fight between Mercy and Harley is happening in the background while Joker and Lex negotiate new terms.  

 

Batman pays a visit to Lex Luthor while he’s sleeping in bed trying to shake him down for information.  Mercy sneaks up behind him and Batman punches her out with the most awesome back hit you can imagine.  Batman makes some threats and leaves.  This freaks Luthor out so he ups his game.  

 

Joker creates a distraction for Superman while he sends the Wayne/Lex T-7 to kill Batman.  Batman is outmatched so he heads to the Daily Planet in hopes of finding Superman, only to find Lois Lane there.  At which point Batman is stuck trying to save both of them from the killer robot while trying to hold out long enough for Superman to show-up.  In the chaos Batman gets unmasked and Lois Lane learns his secret identity.  Superman arrives to destroy the robot.  While in Lois’ apartment she’s super pissed off but states she won’t reveal Batman’s secret because she’s in love with Bruce.  Batman is off to save the day again and Lois is upset because she doesn’t want to be with a guy who can die trying to save the world.  I guess Superman is exempt for some reason…The best part of their relationship is Dana Delaney was also the voice of Andrea Beaumont in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.  It’s as if her and Kevin Conroy are destined to be voiceover “tragic lovers.”  It’s a great dynamic between the two of them.

 

Once Luthor realizes the Joker failed again he goes to kill him but Joker and Harley are able to turn the tables and anarchy ensues.  We get more killer robots, a giant plane, the city is going to be wrecked.  While Lex and Joker’s relationship falls apart, Superman and Batman’s becomes stronger, they are able to team up and stop all the destruction and save the day.  Joker is presumed dead until he reappears again.  

 

Lois states she can’t be in a relationship with Bruce because of his nightlife and they part ways.  Bruce and Clark come to an understanding and depart one another’s company as friends.  

 

Everything about this is done right.  The entire meeting, the characters, the story, the epic battles.  The creators got it perfect.  It takes the two biggest characters in DC comics and tells one of the greatest stories.  They aren’t friends right away but they come to a mutual respect for one another.  If a live-action film just copied this story it would be the best comic movie ever made. A can’t miss even if you skip the rest of the DCAU. 

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 27

Ghost in the Machine

 

This has one of the most impactful moments in the DCAU and you’ll miss it if you blink.  Brainiac is back after uploading himself into LexCorp system before getting destroyed in his last appearance.  He screws up some test Lex Luthor was running and Superman saves the day. Lex is super pissed and starts investing what happens.  He discovers Brainiac is rebuilding himself and needs Luthor’s help for the final touches.  

 

Clark Kent grows wise to Luthor’s disappearance and uses his sleuth reporter skills to inform Mercy Graves, Lex’s bodyguard.  Then Superman is on the case and is working with Mercy to find Lex.  Superman tries to convince Mercy to ditch Lex because he’s a total douche.  Mercy makes a plea that Lex is awesome and brought her up from nothing.  

 

They find Lex in a closed off section of LexCorp.  Superman busts in and does his thing.  He fights an incomplete Brainiac.  While the structure is collapsing around them Lex and Mercy make a run for it.  Mercy gets trapped and Lex leaves her to die.  Mercy gives Superman advice on how to take out Brainiac, he uses some special weapon kills the robot in a horrifying fashion (since there are no standard and practice rules on the death of robots), saves Mercy from being trapped, saves Lex while climbing a ladder. 

 

Mercy goes back to work for Lex like someone trapped in an abusive relationship.  Lex learns nothing from his experience and is only concerned about harvesting all the Brainiac tech which was built with LexCorp supplies. 

 

It’s a great episode, one of the best. Lex gets shot with a blast from Brainiac.  It actually injects him with nanites that gradually influence his thinking until in culminates into some awesomeness in Justice League Unlimited. That’s years away though.  The main issues is how Lex left Mercy to die after being trapped.  Lex Luthor is far from a coward but he is callous and selfish.  This moment made him look more cowardly but one could argue he calculated her odds of survival and determined she was a lost cause.  Either way, Lex is a douche and the bitter ending of Mercy still working for him after that is so exponentially a Batman: the Animated Series ending, it is what makes the episode amazing.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 26

Brave New Metropolis

 

It’s a Lois Lane centric episode and a good one.  Lois gets sucked though a portal to another dimension where that Lois died and resulted in Superman teaming up with Lex Luthor to rule over Metropolis as a dictator.  The appearance of Lois Lane throws the entire world into chaos.  Eventually Lois comes across Superman and convinces him to become a good guy again.  They join forces and defeat alternate dimension Lex Luthor who is exactly like the real Lex Luthor.  

 

The “what if” scenario is a great episode, the world Lois ends up in is never explored again or really mentioned but the entire concept is recycled in Justice League with the Justice Lords.  Then Justice Lords is heavily referenced in Justice League Unlimited and drives the entire Cadmus plot.  

 

These alternate versions are always fun, especially when the traditional version is firmly established.  Not to drift into other Superman media but the problem with Zach Snyder’s DC film world was he embraced the “what if” scenarios too much instead of giving audiences a more traditional approach.  Snyder’s DC was too fanboy.  StAS (which appeared before Snyder’s work) makes revisions to Superman but it all fits with the narrative.  They kept the classic lore intact.  Outside of the comic, Max Fleischer’s Superman set many of the standards for Superman lore.  Christopher Reeves’ Superman did not alter those hard coded rules but told its own story.  StAS can have a “what if” episode but they can’t devote an entire series about Superman going bad.  This concept will be explored more in the review of the series finale.

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 25

Monkey Fun

 

This is another a good episode, it’s another Lois Lane central episode.  We get to learn about her childhood.  We meet her sister and father.   It’s lighthearted but still exciting.  As an eight-year-old child Lois had a chimpanzee named Titano that her military dad was caring for.  Titano is being used in the space program for testing.  Despite her dad’s assurances nothing would go wrong, something goes wrong and Titano is believed to have died in space.

 

Twenty years go by and we learn Lois Lane is 28 years old.  Superman is working with his buddy Professor Emil Hamilton to stop some asteroids from causing problems to a space station.  He discovers Titano in suspended animation.  They bring him to Earth, he’s bummed out, sees Lois and gets happy again.  Everyone accept Lois thinks it’s a good idea for her to care for Titano.  The chimpanzee wrecks her apartment, she scams Jimmy Olsen into chimp sitting while she gets a massage.  The chimp starts growing in size and becomes the size of a building. 

 

Superman and Professor Hamilton discover this is occurring during their research of Titano’s condition. Superman rushes off just in time to save Jimmy Olsen as he causes himself to fall out the balcony of Lois’ apartment.  Titano gets the blame for that but Jimmy was running away from the supersized chimp toward the balcony, slipped and fell. 

 

Titano runs around Metropolis causing problems and fighting with Superman.  Eventually the Special Crimes Unit (SCU) shows up along with recurring cops Dan Turpin and Maggie Sawyer.  They come up with a plan to gas the monkey.  A bunch more action occurs, Titano gets gassed, STAR labs stops his growing issue, and he is safely taken to an island where he can roam around with no issues. 

 

In the comic book it is based off of they had to kill Titano.  Since this is a cartoon for kids they couldn’t do that.  So Superman saves the day with a happy ending.  Apparently cartoons have no problem with the planetary genocide of Krypton and its billions of people but killing extremely large chimpanzees is not allowed.   

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 24

Solar Power

 

Edward Lytener bust out of prison and starts calling himself Luminus.  He turns the sky red via hacked LexCorp satellites to make the atmosphere like in Krypton and Superman starts losing the power he gets from the yellow sun.  That’s a brilliant plan; power Superman down.  Superman losing his powers still decides to help which is really what makes him Superman.   Anyone who’s invincible can fight bad guys.  A real hero does it when he isn’t invincible.  One of the rare occasions Superman is in actual danger and not just pulling his punches. 

 

The plot is stretched thin a little when it’s revealed Lex Luthor is in on the plot to depower Superman.  Lex had originally fired Lytener for being a whistle blower. It is likely Lex hates Superman more than Lytener and decided the enemy of my enemy is my friend.  So he hooks Luminus up with a bunch of tech, helps him bust out of prison, gives him access to the LexCorp satellites to take out Superman. 

 

Superman struggles through Luminus’ hideout, over comes the booby traps, eventually takes him out.  The episode ends with Superman getting his powers again.  This is the second time a villain in Superman starts out as a regular guy then ups the antagonist to get revenge on Superman.  Metallo started out as a regular guy then got super powers, Lytener was attacking Lois then enhanced his powers via tech to take out Superman.  It’s a logical concept that people who cross paths with Superman and lose learn from it and try to level up to take him out.  Very smart of the creators to keep raising the stakes when utilizing foes for Superman.

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 23

Double Dose

 

A fitting name for this episode, it’s the return of Livewire and she teams up with Parasite for revenge against Superman.  Livewire bust out of her holding cell due to janitorial incompetence.  She really shouldn’t have been locked up to begin with since she had a solid case for insanity in her debut episode.  Her rematch with Superman makes her realize she needs some more power.  Livewire tracks down Parasite and promises him a taste of her electric powers if he helps her kill Superman.

 

Parasite agrees and after he breaks out tries to molest her throughout their partnership, all told through allegory of course.  But it’s clear as day he keeps sexually harassing her and she’s thwarting his advances.  Superman covers himself in a clear rubber suit that is immune to their powers. Not sure if they ever made a toy out of it but it seems like they were trying to sell something.  

 

The villains destroy his suit and start roughing him up.  Parasite betrays Livewire and sucks her dry and takes her out of commission.  Superman then uses Livewire’s weakness against Parasite and fries him with some water.  Both villains are defeated, the day is saved.

 

It’s a nice follow-up for both villains.  The writers always felt the need to team parasite up with someone to fight Superman.  Perhaps they painted themselves in the box because Parasite doesn’t have much motivation to commit crimes.  He was a slow-witted crook who became a monster via a freak accident.  Livewire wants revenge against Superman for turning her into a freak but as stated in her origin episode her new look is a vast improvement and she can harness electricity.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

 Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 22

Mxyzpixilated

 

One of the few people that can truly mess with Superman is Mxyzptlk.  He’s a magical being from the fifth dimension who likes to annoy Superman.    The only way to get rid of him is to trick him into saying, writing, spelling his name backwards, Kltpzyxm.  Superman easily tricks him time and time again into doing this.  Eventually Superman is growing tired of being annoyed and makes a deal that if Mxyzptlk does the backwards thing twice in a row he’ll leave forever.  Superman tricks Mxyzptlk into doing that.  The episode ends.  Mxyzptlk is home and all pissed off but his wife Gsptlsnz convinces him to let it go in exchange for sex. Mxyzptlk embraces the exchange but still secretly holds a grudge against Superman.  

 

Mxyzptlk is beyond annoying in the comic.  The show get’s his introduction story spot on!  The episode is funny, clever, well made.  It’s a fun episode to watch. Gilbert Godfried was the perfect casting as the character. 

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 21

Action Figures

 

Metallo returns again.  John Corben in his third appearance and second as Metallo emerges from the sea with amnesia.  It’s actually one of the few amnesia storylines that make sense.  His memory got all foggy from wandering at the bottom of the ocean for so long.  His human brain was implanted in a giant robot so it makes sense an issue like this might come up without a lack of communication with humans.  

 

The news report intro summarizing his origin was way expositiony and unclear why that was included in the episode.  It’s a giant billboard stating who the villain is going to be.  Plot wise it is ridiculous a TV report would do a “where are they now” segment on a missing villain and an hour later the villain appears. 

 

Other than that, the episode is okay.  He shows up, saves some children.  The kids' parents are scientist who are on an island with a volcano that’s about to blow-up.  Dad is busy working but thinks his kids are staying out of trouble playing somewhere away from danger and plans to evacuate the island with plenty of time.  It basically works in terms of the plot.   

 

Metallo saving them, becoming their friend is nice.  It shows Corben isn’t inherently evil.  The kids have him save other people and that works too.  He becomes a giant douchebag when he gets his memory back and it doesn’t make sense.  Him hating on Superman and Lois Lane makes sense.  Giving the kids crap doesn’t make sense.  Metallo’s character is inconsistent in the story which might be blamed on the amnesia but his actions in the start versus his actions by the end are a stretch.  

 

The show missed a great opportunity to make the villain a tragic hero.  Instead of being defeated while saving his new friends or some variation on that, he fights Superman and loses, gets incased in lava, spends the rest of the episode training his mind to not get amnesia again.

 

It’s similar to the BtAS episode Sideshow.  That episode is truly a tragic episode, there Killer Croc had the potential to be a better person but Batman ruined it.  Here Metallo is just a jerk who accidentally did some good deeds.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - DCEU Review Series

DCEU Review Series

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

2023

Director: James Wan

 

The torture is finally over.  The last DCEU film. We didn’t like the first Aquaman but the audience and critics seemed to tolerate it.  Therefore it got a sequel.  Aquaman is sporting his traditional comic clothes and beating up pirates and recounting the story to his son and dad Boba Fett.  We get a lame voiceover from him summing up the first film.  We see Amber Turd have Aquaman’s baby’s excrement hit him in the face.  Life imitates art.

 

Aquaman is not too happy about his role as King of Atlantis but isn’t miserable.  He’s somewhere in the middle.  Meanwhile in the arctic some scientist and Black Manta find a monster.  Aquaman needs to bust his brother Ocean Master out for help. Some mediocre action ensues and now we have a 48hrs style comedy with Aquaman and Ocean Master. Perhaps it’s more of a rip off of when Thor teamed up with Loki in Thor Ragnorok. 

 

They journey to Black Manta, action ensues. There’s a fairly nice fight sequence here, Black Manta takes on Ocean Master and Aquaman at the same time.  Then it gets overloaded with CGI and loses all its cool factor.  

 

We finally get information about The Lost Kingdom, the 7^th ocean kingdom.  They got frozen solid for being douchebags.  Black Manta discovers them thanks to global warming.  To awaken the people in The Lost Kingdom it requires blood from the royal family.  Aquaman’s baby is target number one.  Black Manta severely injures Boba Fett who’s babysitting, Aquaman and friends show up after all the excitement.  Amber Turd overacts the crap out of the scene. 

 

Everyone teams up to rescue Aquaman’s baby. A giant assault on Black Manta’s base happens.  We’re left to wonder if a six-year-old wrote this.  We get another fight between Aquaman and Black Manta.  The fight’s pretty cool until it gets overly CGI again.  Ocean Master gets possessed by the true big bad Kordax.  Aquaman talks him down but not before Kordax bust lose.  Aquaman throws his trident at Kordax, killing him.  As everything starts to collapse Black Manta chooses to die instead of being saved by Aquaman.  

 

Aquaman decides to fake Ocean Master’s death as a backdoor way of giving him his freedom.  The we get some lame ass Superman IV: The Quest for Peace ending where Aquaman gives a speech to a bunch of people.  And the last sequence in the DCEU is Ocean Master eating a hamburger and adding a cockroach for flavor.  A perfect summary of the entirety of DCEU.  A burger with a cockroach in it.  

 

The film does not move.  It’s a giant standstill 40 minutes in. A common problem with DCEU movies. It doesn’t get remotely interesting until the 1hr 17min mark.  It then gets very boring again.  This film is a dud.  The DCEU opened with a soul sucking intro via Man of Steel and closes out with a less than mediocre Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.  Let’s be grateful this universe has been put out to pasture.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 20

Target

 

This is a nice episode, a solid base hit.  Someone is trying to kill Lois Lane and Superman keeps saving her.  As an investigative reporter she’s made a lot of enemies.  Were introduced to the jerk Detective Bowman who has a payoff in a later episode.  There are some nice twists and turns over who’s actually trying to kill Lois Lane.  The culprit turns out to be Edward Lytener a former employee of Lex Luthor who got fired after whistle blowing on LexCorp.  He was angry because he had a thing for Lois Lane but she never noticed.  There are now whistle blower laws that would protect Lytener from getting fired for such actions.

 

It’s a nice change of pace.  Superman and Clark Kent are not the focus, neither is one of the villains.  We get a nice look at Lois Lane.  She’s an aggressive news reporter, strong willed, confident, etc.  This reinforces her character but doesn’t add anything we didn’t know from prior episodes.  It’s nice to see the spotlight directly on her as opposed to being just a side character or person Superman needs to save.  

There is an interesting dream sequence where Lois Lane is sleeping in her apartment, an intruder breaks in and throws her over the balcony.  It pushes boundaries, we see the fall, not the splatter, she wakes up at the last moment.  Her pajamas are the stuff of male fantasy.  She’s wearing this little black number and no woman is sleeping in something that elegant when she’s alone.  Her curtains are wide open which allows anyone in the nearby high rises to peep on her.  Maybe she’s hoping Superman will flyby one night.  It's unrealistic how completely exposed she is.  Especially since someone is trying to kill her.

Also, the place is fantastic. Well above her pay-grade.  Yes, she’s an award winning newspaper reporter but that place is well above her means.  Maybe Metropolis housing costs are incredibly reasonable but it’s one of the largest cities in the world, so that’s doubtful.   How does Lois Lane afford that nice place?  One would have to guess she subsidized her income with a book deal.  There’s plenty of money in the book industry, she must have an unmentioned best selling book under her belt. 

Once the villain is discovered, Superman saves her with relative ease.  Problem solved, the episode ends.

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 19

Identity Crisis

 

Bizarro makes his first appearance.  His origin is different from the comics and much more logical.  He’s a Superman clone created by Lex Luthor in an attempt to have a Superman he can control.  Something goes wrong in the cloning process and Bizarro is the result. Bizarro isn’t truly a bad guy, just really stupid, and causing lots of problems in the process. 

 

A bunch of wacky and life endangering stuff happens.  Bizarro realizes he’s not the real Superman and sacrifices himself to save Lois Lane and a bunch of other people.  There isn’t much to critique in this episode but it’s still a fun watch.  It’s Bizarro’s best episode.  His follow-ups are far more annoying.  His origin story is spot-on.

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Blue Beetle - DCEU Review Series

 DCEU Review Series

Blue Beetle

2023

Director: Angel Manuel Soto

 

The DCEU burn-off continues with Blue Beetle which had a lot of potential but ultimately comes off as a made for TV comic book movie.  The acting is weak, the plot is derivative, the characters are one dimensional.  The big Hollywood trope these days is the need to emphasize family when making films that don’t involve white people.  Hollywood leans on the family devotion card anytime they make a film with a main character of a nontraditional Hollywood ethnicity.  It’s like Hollywood feels the need to explain to white people that ethnic people have families.  Or they don’t think white folks watching the film will be able to relate to anything other than family devotion.  

 

Xolo Maridueña Comes with a lot of clout as an actor after his stint on Cobra Kai.  He plays Jamie Reyes/Blue Beetle which should be perfect casting. The acting is phoned in like a bad single camera format sitcom.  Susan Sarandon as Victoria Kord does no better.  All the performances are staler than a soap opera.  This isn’t the result of poor talent.  It’s poor writing and bad directing.  

 

The plot is Blue Beetle comes back from college and finds out his family is broke.  Susan Sarandon is making military weapons despite Jenny Kord’s (played by Bruna Marquezine) objections.  Blue Beetle sports a total crush on Jenny Kord and befriends her.  

 

Through circumstances which require movie magic Jenny passes a special scarab to Blue Beetle which gives him his power.  It’s some piece of tech which infuses itself to a host and gives him superpowers.  One nice twist on the superhero trope is his entire family sees him get the powers, so there isn’t a secret identity.  The implementation of that could have been better.  George Lopez was too over the top with his reactions.  The director went for comedy where it should have been genuine concern.  The discovery of his powers is a rip off of Iron Man.  

 

Jenny pops in and explains the origin of the scarab and how Susan Sarandon will kill Blue Beetle to get it back.  Team Blue Beetle form a plan to get intel to help him remove the scarab.  Antics ensue and they infiltrate the bad guy compound.  Blue Beetle fights a villain very similar to Iron Man’s villain Warmonger.  We learn Blue Beetle doesn’t want to kill people but the robot voice in the scarab attached to him has no issue doing that.  Blue Beetle learns the scarab is attached to him until he dies.  It’s a Hollywood requirement to dislike this finding, need time alone to think, followed by a pep talk from a mentor, love interest, or elder. In this case George Lopez gives him the talk. 

 

Susan Sarandon attacks Blue Beetles family to draw him out.  Blue Beetle shows up to save them and action ensues.  During the battle Blue Beetle’s dad has a heart attack and dies.  This distracts Blue Beetle enough that he ends up getting captured.  His family rallies together to rescue him with the help of Jenny.  She hooks them up with the original old school Blue Beetle tech.  Before they can reach him, Blue Beetle is about to die while Susan Sarandon downloads the scarab’s code.  Blue Beetle’s dead dad shows up in a vision as he’s about to die and gives some extra inspirational guidance, like in Thor: Ragnorok.  He bust loose from his captivity and takes down the bad guys. Everyone gets a happy ending.  Blue Beetle gets the girl. 

 

It’s not a terrible film but there’s nothing truly unique or interesting.  They took Marvel plot points, tossed them in a blender, and we got Blue Beetle.  The film is a four-ball walk.  There are arguments this is not part of the DCEU but the intention was there.  It has been made clear it’s not part of the new DC film universe but the lead actor is supposed to play Blue Beetle in future installments of the new universe.  Xolo can thank how awesome Cobra Kai is for the second chance and the job security.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 18

Speed Demons

 

Superman meets the Flash!!!  It doesn’t get more exciting than Superman’s first superhero crossover.  Yes, there was his episode with Lobo, but Lobo was a villain in that episode and he’s more of an anti-hero.  This is a legit future Justice League member who is going to race Superman for charity.  

 

Little do they know, the duo are being manipulated to generate energy for The Weather Wizard who wants to hold the world hostage with his weather control device.  It’s really a ridiculous plan.  The man can control the weather.  He can make billions by selling his device to governments.  Plenty of locations want water for dams, snow for ski season, proper sunlight/rain balance for crops. Instead of marketing his invention for countless amounts of money he holds the world ransom for pennies on the dollar of what it’s actually worth.  In the process he tries to kill his own brother who actually invented the machine when he doesn’t want to participate with the plan.  Superman and Flash save him though. 

 

Send this idiot to Arkham.  If you look at someone like the Mad Hatter who made a million dollar invention but turned evil after being rejected by a woman he was obsessed with, that makes sense.  It wasn’t a crime for money, it was a crime of love.  Weather Wizard is small-minded.  

 

Superman and Flash team-up and stop him.  He goes to jail.  They agree to finish their race but we don’t learn who won.   Also, Weather Wizard is a weak villain without his weather staff.  He loses that in this episode but goes on to return in Justice League with it again.  We already know he wasn’t the inventor, so how does he recreate his destroyed device?  The brother he tried to kill gives him a second one? Doubtful. Lots of plot holes.  

 

Overall since Flash is in it, the episode holds up.  But we have another weak poorly executed motivation from a Superman rogue.  We never learn which Flash this is in the DCAU.  Is it Barry Allen? It’s a different voice than his Justice League actor but voices get recast often in the DCAU.  Is it Wally West, the hero we love in Justice League?  Best guess is this is Barry Allen since the costume is a little different and the voice is different.

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

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The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 17

Livewire

 

Livewire is a custom made villain for the TV show because the writers wanted to flesh out Superman’s rogues gallery.  Leslie Willis starts out as a female Howard Stern copy who talks trash about Superman for ratings.  During a big anti-Superman rally she is hosting in the Metropolis version of Central Park, a lightning storm happens.  Superman shows up and tries to convince the crowd to disperse, for their own safety.  The crowd refuses, Willis incites them.  Lightning strikes, Superman tries to stop her from getting struck, in the process they both get struck and she ends up with electric super powers. 

 

It’s the most tired trope in television and film.  Lightning is this magical finger from the gods that gives abilities to everyone who comes across it.  Once you get past the trope the episode moves along.  Livewire looks all white and blue now.  She’s upset she looks like a freak but she’s actually much hotter than her human self ever did. 

 

She discovers her electric powers and holds the city hostage for money.  It’s a ridiculous plan.  She’s a popular radio DJ who was deformed in a freak accident. She could make more money with a book deal or possibly a lawsuit against the city.  Holding the city ransom with the power of electricity is not needed.  She could easily land a job with her electric powers and not have to resort to super villain status.  There could be a logical argument for insanity in her case. Her physical transformation could have affected her mind and caused her to freak out.  

 

Superman confronts her and during the fight she gets water all over her and totally fries her abilities.  She’s catatonic and placed in special holding facility to return again later.  

 

The villain herself is great.  Her origin is weak.  How can Superman being struck by lightning transfer powers to other people?  If a piece of his power is now in her, how can she ever be a challenge for Superman?  He’s still the stronger one.  Giving him a weakness to extreme electricity is believable.  If someone can generate enough voltage, Superman can be hurt.  It appears the writers struggled to create comparable adversaries to Superman.  Ultimately they succeeded but the episode demonstrates how thin they were truly stretched in this endeavor.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

The Flash - DCEU Review Series

DCEU Review Series

The Flash

2023

Director: Andy Muschietti

 

We’ve talked about reasons to boycott this film and stand true to that stance.  Our main issues stem from Ezra Miller’s poor conduct and how WB had the ability to edit him out and recast him, considering the money they dropped on Batgirl and didn’t release the film.  A few extra dollars replacing the star actor with a person who has better morals is certainly possible with the technology.  Kevin Spacy was completely removed from All the Money in the World and replaced with Christopher Plummer. 

 

With that said, even without the controversies of its leading man, the CGI is something out of 1998.  It looks cheap and unrealistic.  Flash saves a bunch of babies from falling out of a building and it’s the worst effects ever.  It’s not compelling, funny, entertaining, or important to the plot. Ezra Miller’s performance with his high squealed voice and comedic timing is grating on the ears when leading a film.  

 

Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot return as Batman and Wonder Woman in their last appearances to-date.  Some lame jokes occur, coupled with lame action.  The movie then tries to set up Barry Allen just like Peter Parker in Spider-Man 2 but with none of the interest or endearment that film had.  The nondescript Indian/Pakistany boss that’s a douchebag to him but also saying he likes him was ripped right from Spider-Man 2. 

 

We then get some lame clunky exposition about Barry’s family history.  The film tries to not make it clunky, they just failed.  Some points for effort at least. Barry wants to travel back in time to stop his mom from getting killed and his dad being framed for her death.  Bruce Wayne tells him it’s a bad idea.  

 

He ignores the advice and goes back anyway.  Flash changes crap, causes problems.  Then starts talking to his past self. His past self is a bigger more annoying douchebag than present self.  It’s supposed to be funny but it’s just annoying.  The film unknowingly acknowledges the annoying thinking it’s being funny but nope, just annoying.  The time doubles is painful.  Doubling up on an unlikable actor, playing the same character, with that screeching voice, is nails on a chalkboard. 

 

Older Flash loses his powers in the time whammy but makes certain Young Flash gets his powers.  Old Flash thinks that will power him up but it doesn’t work.  His fiddling with time takes us back to Man of Steel and the Zod invasion is happening.  This is actually a cool idea, though not very original, they go back to the film which starts the entire DCEU. The intent of this film, was a soft reboot of the DCEU but it evolved into a hard reboot.  The Flash’s time alterations have caused all these crazy changes to history.  

 

Flash and Young Flash pay a visit to Bruce Wayne for advice but come across Michael Keaton Batman instead on Ben Affleck Batman because time has changed him.  Michael Keaton explains time as a river, not fixed points.  Therefore if you change something in the past it ripples backwards and forward.  An original and appreciated twist on time the travel trope.  

 

Keaton’s appearance adds a nice balance of energy but is far different from the version of Batman he played in 1989.  As required when using super heroes who are “retired,” they always say no first, then after plot progression change their mind and say yes.  In this case he experiences no plot progression, just randomly changes his mind.  Batman agrees to help the Flashes to find Superman in order to stop Zod.  

 

Batman and the Flashes bust into some government compound and we see Batman pull off fighting moves that he never did in Batman 1989 or Batman forever.  He’s not the same guy.  The director wants us to feel nostalgia, but he never fought like that.  Or maybe the creators wanted Christian Bale to comeback but he said no.  They come across Supergirl while trying to find Kal L.  She’s being kept in a red sun chamber to stifle her powers.  Once she gets some sun she proceeds to beat the crap out of all the guards at the facility.  

 

They return to Wayne Manor and Batman offers to help Older Flash get his powers back.  Supergirl steps in to add the final touch. Supergirl, Batman, both Flashes team-up to stop Zod.  Fights ensue, nothing spectacular or interesting.  They fail but Young Flash decides to go back in time and start making fixes, Old Flash follows.  They do this a few times and keep failing.  Young Flash bugs the fuck out and keeps trying which causes all the universes to collide.  Then they start fighting a really old Flash.  We see a few different versions of DC characters in films through the years.  A crappy CGI Christopher Reeves Superman, 1960s Batman, a funny nod to the film that never was Nicholas Cage Superman fighting a giant spider.  Older Flash realizes he needs to let his mom get violently murdered in order to save all of existence.  

 

The only time change he can do is allow his dad to be exonerated for her murder.  His alteration causes George Clooney to become Batman.  It’s supposed to be funny but Miller overplays the joke and ruins it.  

 

This film is a turdfest.  Whatever decent parts and ruined by a poorly acted and written lead character.  Supergirl was cool, Michal Keaton Batman was enjoyable.  Ezra Miller ruins this film.  It’s not even his personal life actions. It’s his horrible acting.  After this the rest of the DCEU is just burn off because they were too far into production to cancel the projects outright.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com