Reviews for The Batman "Ring Toss" and Battlestar Galactica: Razor (Spoilers)
Also a review for King of the Hill and A Goofy Movie which I foolishly recently purchased on DVD.
The Batman "Ring Toss"
I can now see why certain fans consider Hal Jordan boring. He has absolutely no personality in this Green Lantern/ Batman team-up. That's not to say the episode was bad, because it was good. I'm just saying that if THIS is the Hal Jordan fans of him are always slobbering over I definitely prefer John Stewart on JLU.
I really liked the episode throwing the Penguin into the mix since he hadn't been seen yet this season. I like it when the team-ups with the Justice League on this show throw Bat-Rogues into things since they've been somewhat downplayed this season. I like Sinestro too because his design was so freaky.
Robin had some good geeky lines this episode and I really loved the kids at his school asking him if he was going to a funeral.
This was a good episode but Hal Jordan was VERY boring. ****.
King of the Hill "The Minh Who Knew Too Much"
Outside of the disgusting Lucky garbage subplot I can't remember enjoying an episode this much. I like how at the end Khan and Minh GOT their membership into the country club but she was still able to keep her friends at the gun club. It's rare for this show to have such an unqualified happy ending for all concerned. I'd give this episode five stars but I'm knocking a star off for the grossness of Lucky. Yuck. ****.
Battlestar Galactica: Razor:
Broadcast version:
HUGE disappointment. Admiral Cain is my least favorite character EVER and it's quite galling that the producers of BSG liked her character so much they designed an entire movie around her. EXTREMELY unpleasant to watch as we see the indefensible actions she took on the Pegasus in play on-screen and they are just as horrific when you see them. You know, I MIGHT have been able to live with this movie had they not had Lee and Adama at the end saying that Cain made tough decisions but they may not have been the wrong ones. Bullpoop. Cain is a monster and nothing justifies the crap she pulled. I notice that for all her calls for sacrifice from the crew that SHE never had to sacrifice anything. Murdering people for the greater good and expecting her crew to accept that is fine as long as she personally doesn't have to give up anything. She's a monster and a coward. The very definition of a chickenhawk. If you actually HAD to do the things she did to "survive" then maybe the Cylons are right and humanity isn't worth saving.
I also "loved" how they centered the movie around a character who was SO unimportant she wasn't even MENTIONED on the series even though she was Lee's first Ex-O. Retcon much? Were we supposed to be impressed that she sacrificed herself for the crew after she shot a young girl in the face?
The flashbacks were confusing too. I oftentimes couldn't get straight which time-period we were actually in. Lost handles flashbacks much better.
Any things I liked about the movie? Yes, the flashbacks to Adama's youth at the Cylon base at the end of the first war kicked butt. I loved every second of that mission and wish they had spent more time there. The two and a half stars I give the movie is solely for that brief part. The rest of the movie sucked. **1/2.
Unrated and Extended Version:
Oooh, more blood and guts and more reasons to hate Cain (she left her sister to die; are we supposed to think she is less of a monster for having guilt issues?). Color me unimpressed. On the plus side we got even more of Adama's mission. **1/2.
Minisodes:
I loved this. We got to see Adama's WHOLE mission as a kid without having to actually see the rest of the movie. Normally I'd complain that most of these episodes are actually IN the extended version but honestly, being able to see the whole mission in a cool framing structure without being in a movie that sucks is gratifying. ****1/2.
A Goofy Movie:
I am absolutely flummoxed that Disney Animation actually made a movie this bad that was actually seen in theaters. Yeah, they've made some horrible DTVs but up until this point in their history they had NEVER made an animated film for theaters this awful.
The movie is basically about Goofy taking his absolutely rotten and annoying punk son on a camping trip while his son spouts the lamest nineties mall-speak while trying to get to a concert featuring somebody M.C. Hammer thinks looks tacky.
The movie features every cliche in the book and the most infuriating thing about it is that it's billed as Goofy's first movie but the main protagonist is his cretin of a son. HOW the heck are you supposed to sympathize with a kid who is absolutely mean and horrible to a character as well intentioned as Goofy? There was a REASON I hated Dr. Pulaski and the way she treated Data on Next Gen. Like Data, Goofy is a character who is absolutely innocent and putting him in a dysfunctional family is REALLY quite galling and something the writers never thought through to how that would come across to the audience.
And what is the moral of the story? It's totally okay to treat your parents like garbage and lie to everybody? That MUST be it because there are no real consequences for Max doing either of these things. He and Goofy just sing awful songs to express how they feel about each other and Max is off the hook. Ick.
About the best thing I can say for the movie is that the animation is quite fluid and flailing. It's also probably notable as the one of the few projects in which Pete is not actually a villain and is somebody who although is kind of a jerk is more misguided than anything. He's certainly a better person than Max at any rate (voiced by the always annoying Jason Marsden). I also like that Pauly Shore had an unbilled cameo as Max's friend with a cheese obsession not because he was funny but because I find the idea of a movie so bad that PAULY SHORE doesn't want his name attached to it hilarious.
I remember preferring this movie in the theater VASTLY to Goof Troop which thinking back makes me NOT want to ever see Goof Troop again since this movie was so bad and I already HATE Goof Troop. There's a Goof Troop episode on the DVD and I don't know if I'll have the stomach to actually sit through it. I was a teenager when this movie came out so I already had somewhat of a snobbery when it came to GOOD cartoons so it says something that this movie is so much worse than I remember it. It says that when I was a teenager I wasn't snobby enough. *.
Disneyland "A Goofy Success Story"
This was a much better Goofy collection of vintage cartoons. I think the framing structure suffered from how boring ALL Disney sixties cartoon shorts are but outside of the last one with Goofy being a raging motorist the cartoons themselves wee pretty good even if the framing structure was as white-bread and slow moving as they come.
Disney cartoon shorts are just not as good as Disney comics but I enjoyed it anyways. ***.
Goof Troop "Calling All Goofs"
My world is spinning. This cartoon was boring and stupid and cliche but it was STILL roughly ten times better than A Goofy Movie. However I AM almost positive that this isn't one of the worst Goof Troop episodes by a long shot which were even worse than the movie. I liked seeing Goofy's whole family even if the cartoon itself was kind of boring. **.
The Batman "Ring Toss"
I can now see why certain fans consider Hal Jordan boring. He has absolutely no personality in this Green Lantern/ Batman team-up. That's not to say the episode was bad, because it was good. I'm just saying that if THIS is the Hal Jordan fans of him are always slobbering over I definitely prefer John Stewart on JLU.
I really liked the episode throwing the Penguin into the mix since he hadn't been seen yet this season. I like it when the team-ups with the Justice League on this show throw Bat-Rogues into things since they've been somewhat downplayed this season. I like Sinestro too because his design was so freaky.
Robin had some good geeky lines this episode and I really loved the kids at his school asking him if he was going to a funeral.
This was a good episode but Hal Jordan was VERY boring. ****.
King of the Hill "The Minh Who Knew Too Much"
Outside of the disgusting Lucky garbage subplot I can't remember enjoying an episode this much. I like how at the end Khan and Minh GOT their membership into the country club but she was still able to keep her friends at the gun club. It's rare for this show to have such an unqualified happy ending for all concerned. I'd give this episode five stars but I'm knocking a star off for the grossness of Lucky. Yuck. ****.
Battlestar Galactica: Razor:
Broadcast version:
HUGE disappointment. Admiral Cain is my least favorite character EVER and it's quite galling that the producers of BSG liked her character so much they designed an entire movie around her. EXTREMELY unpleasant to watch as we see the indefensible actions she took on the Pegasus in play on-screen and they are just as horrific when you see them. You know, I MIGHT have been able to live with this movie had they not had Lee and Adama at the end saying that Cain made tough decisions but they may not have been the wrong ones. Bullpoop. Cain is a monster and nothing justifies the crap she pulled. I notice that for all her calls for sacrifice from the crew that SHE never had to sacrifice anything. Murdering people for the greater good and expecting her crew to accept that is fine as long as she personally doesn't have to give up anything. She's a monster and a coward. The very definition of a chickenhawk. If you actually HAD to do the things she did to "survive" then maybe the Cylons are right and humanity isn't worth saving.
I also "loved" how they centered the movie around a character who was SO unimportant she wasn't even MENTIONED on the series even though she was Lee's first Ex-O. Retcon much? Were we supposed to be impressed that she sacrificed herself for the crew after she shot a young girl in the face?
The flashbacks were confusing too. I oftentimes couldn't get straight which time-period we were actually in. Lost handles flashbacks much better.
Any things I liked about the movie? Yes, the flashbacks to Adama's youth at the Cylon base at the end of the first war kicked butt. I loved every second of that mission and wish they had spent more time there. The two and a half stars I give the movie is solely for that brief part. The rest of the movie sucked. **1/2.
Unrated and Extended Version:
Oooh, more blood and guts and more reasons to hate Cain (she left her sister to die; are we supposed to think she is less of a monster for having guilt issues?). Color me unimpressed. On the plus side we got even more of Adama's mission. **1/2.
Minisodes:
I loved this. We got to see Adama's WHOLE mission as a kid without having to actually see the rest of the movie. Normally I'd complain that most of these episodes are actually IN the extended version but honestly, being able to see the whole mission in a cool framing structure without being in a movie that sucks is gratifying. ****1/2.
A Goofy Movie:
I am absolutely flummoxed that Disney Animation actually made a movie this bad that was actually seen in theaters. Yeah, they've made some horrible DTVs but up until this point in their history they had NEVER made an animated film for theaters this awful.
The movie is basically about Goofy taking his absolutely rotten and annoying punk son on a camping trip while his son spouts the lamest nineties mall-speak while trying to get to a concert featuring somebody M.C. Hammer thinks looks tacky.
The movie features every cliche in the book and the most infuriating thing about it is that it's billed as Goofy's first movie but the main protagonist is his cretin of a son. HOW the heck are you supposed to sympathize with a kid who is absolutely mean and horrible to a character as well intentioned as Goofy? There was a REASON I hated Dr. Pulaski and the way she treated Data on Next Gen. Like Data, Goofy is a character who is absolutely innocent and putting him in a dysfunctional family is REALLY quite galling and something the writers never thought through to how that would come across to the audience.
And what is the moral of the story? It's totally okay to treat your parents like garbage and lie to everybody? That MUST be it because there are no real consequences for Max doing either of these things. He and Goofy just sing awful songs to express how they feel about each other and Max is off the hook. Ick.
About the best thing I can say for the movie is that the animation is quite fluid and flailing. It's also probably notable as the one of the few projects in which Pete is not actually a villain and is somebody who although is kind of a jerk is more misguided than anything. He's certainly a better person than Max at any rate (voiced by the always annoying Jason Marsden). I also like that Pauly Shore had an unbilled cameo as Max's friend with a cheese obsession not because he was funny but because I find the idea of a movie so bad that PAULY SHORE doesn't want his name attached to it hilarious.
I remember preferring this movie in the theater VASTLY to Goof Troop which thinking back makes me NOT want to ever see Goof Troop again since this movie was so bad and I already HATE Goof Troop. There's a Goof Troop episode on the DVD and I don't know if I'll have the stomach to actually sit through it. I was a teenager when this movie came out so I already had somewhat of a snobbery when it came to GOOD cartoons so it says something that this movie is so much worse than I remember it. It says that when I was a teenager I wasn't snobby enough. *.
Disneyland "A Goofy Success Story"
This was a much better Goofy collection of vintage cartoons. I think the framing structure suffered from how boring ALL Disney sixties cartoon shorts are but outside of the last one with Goofy being a raging motorist the cartoons themselves wee pretty good even if the framing structure was as white-bread and slow moving as they come.
Disney cartoon shorts are just not as good as Disney comics but I enjoyed it anyways. ***.
Goof Troop "Calling All Goofs"
My world is spinning. This cartoon was boring and stupid and cliche but it was STILL roughly ten times better than A Goofy Movie. However I AM almost positive that this isn't one of the worst Goof Troop episodes by a long shot which were even worse than the movie. I liked seeing Goofy's whole family even if the cartoon itself was kind of boring. **.