Arrow Season Four: Legends Of Yesterday

"We should really get together more often"

Team Arrow and Team Flash try to protect Hawkman and Hawkgirl from Vandal Savage while the rest of their comrades try to come up with a way to defeat the immortal.

You know I bet when Arrow Season One started with a simple overall plot of one man trying to destroy the city I bet it didn't think it would have elements like immortality and reincarnation in the future lol. The Hawkgirl/Hawkman subplot continues and this time we get Flashbacks to ancient Egypt where their troubles began and it was handled so well like the amazing set and costumes. Again while their are a few changes (like Savage being in Egypt when he got his immortally from the meteorite as a caveman) I praise how closely they are sticking to the comic book origins of Hawkgirl/Hawkman. I liked how nicely they tied Savage's origins to them such as his need to kill them to sustain his powers rather than through his blood sacrifices in the comics, they made it make sense. Again all three characters are so good such as Carter having all of the past lives knowledge so he is more of a rash trainer because he already knows how it goes, Kendra going through the motions of such a burden but finding her courage in the end and Savage's impressive and menacing presence to the heroes. Loved the two fights between Savage and the heroes because again they used such great special effects like when Savage killed all of the heroes and destroyed the whole city! I also liked the final scene with Malcolm retrieving Savage's ashes probably to restore his body because first I knew even as ashes it wouldn't be the end of Savage and secondly it was such a Malcolm thing for him to do, double - crossing the heroes for his own ends.

This is how it all started

As for everything else time travel was brought back which was a surprise I never saw coming! Like the first time it was shown it was used in such a way that it didn't feel too convenient for Barry to exploit it. This is because when we saw the ghost even Barry didn't know what it meant which increases are sense of danger for them confronting Savage and when Barry does go back in time he changes just the right things. These are just Kendra finding her confidence, fixing the gloves and Oliver bringing everyone to the battle; it didn't feel too OP it felt like they did enough just for a fighting chance. Now since this is still an Arrow episode Oliver got more spotlight this time and that involved the subplot with his son and unlike the Well's subplot last episode this one fit in the overall plot a more nicely. Amell really was great in these scenes because it gave Oliver some really intense and emotionally confusing moments to deal with and he handled it brilliantly. I am looking forward to Oliver having more interactions with his son and how it effects him I future Arrow episodes, though I am slightly disappointed his son isn't named Connor Hawk like he is in the comics (maybe it's his middle name?). As for the let downs I found Felicity to be so annoying in Oliver's subplot, I mean couldn't she just keep her nose out of it because this was something emotional big for Oliver and I just hated her when she confronted him about it in the old timeline. Sorry I don't know about anyone else but since Oliver only really just found out he was a father I just really wished he told Felicity to shut up and mind her own business. Finally the pacing this episode was a lot more slower than the last one, especially during the scenes at the farmhouse which reminded me so much of Avengers 2.

"Ok birds lets get this over with"

Overall maybe not as good as part one but this nevertheless was still a strong Hawkgirl, Hawkman and Savage episode and a good set up for Legends Of Tomorrow.

SCORE: 7/10

Highlights: Hawkgirl, Hawkman and Savage plot/Flashbacks
                   Good use of time travel
                   Oliver subplot

Let - Downs: Felicity really annoyed me
                      Slower pace  

               
The great screenshots of these episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;





http://screencapped.net/          

Supergirl Season One: Livewire

Kara gets a surprise when she foster mother arrives in town for Thanksgiving meanwhile an accident transforms CatCo employee Leslie Willis (Brit Morgan) into the villain Livewire.

Supergirl has been a lot better with it's villains in the last episode and now this one because it shows us that it doesn't have to rely on the 300 escapees from the Phantom Zone but can create it's own villains. That is what we get with Livewire we see her origins, the beginning of this villain, as a radical radio host who got her powers by a lightning strike through Supergirl. I really liked Livewire herself because first off her powers are really cool; from her electrical attacks to her teleporting, the effects where pretty damn cool. Plus it was helped by Brit Morgan who was great in the role and brought a lot of enthusiasm, glad she didn't die at the end and I hope she appears again. However the best part that really helped the Livewire plot was the involvement of Cat and the fact that she is tied so closely to the villain. She herself played a part in creating Livewire because of how she treated Leslie who used to be her protégée of sorts and we also got to see a softer side of her with how she is opening up more with Kara and trusting Supergirl. Cat still steals a lot of the scenes she is in (she's like the best character after Kara) and I just laughed at some of her one liners, like her "YouTube commenter one" lol.

As for everything else the subplot with Kara and Alex's mother Dr Danvers (Helen Slater) wasn't nearly as good because the whole "disapproving mother" thing is nothing new. I honestly found her character to be annoying, her scenes boring and her ones with Alex (like at the Thanksgiving table) just plain awkward to watch. I've already said I don't like Alex (you got to admit she is the least interesting character on the show) but this whole subplot didn't help her because she just whined a lot throughout it and I couldn't stand her during that dinner where she just drank throughout it. The only interesting thing about this subplot was the Flashbacks and the reveal that their father (Dean Cain) worked and died under the DEO and Hank Henshaw. Wish their father was still alive because he seemed like a more interesting character with his work on Superman but this also makes me think that Henshaw and the DEO will be villains in a future season. Finally Winn is now getting to be a really good character because him caught in the middle of that awkward dinner was pretty humorous and I liked the mention of his criminal father. Now I knew he shared the name of DC villain Toyman but I didn't see his character becoming him but it is likely his father is Toyman so I can't wait to see how this plays out.

Overall a we got to see the origins of a great villain and I liked how heavily involved Cat was in this as well. It's too bad that not more screen time was devoted to this because half of it had to spend time with the disappointing subplot of Alex and her mother.

SCORE: 7/10

Highlights: Livewire and how Cat tied with the character
                   Flashbacks
                   Winn and the reveal about his father

Let - Downs: Alex and her mother
                      More screen time should have been given to Livewire

The great screenshots of these episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;





http://screencapped.net/           

Suicide Squad Trailer Breakdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEfjrvKugHM

Back with another trailer breakdown for the upcoming Suicide Squad film however with this one it is really hard to guess what the story is going to be about so this will really be my thoughts on several of the scenes.

Jared Leto's Joker: Was absolutely damn creepy; his voice, the close up and the line he delivered was so awesome. I really think Leto has nailed it as the Joker and I wish people would stop going on about his tattoos. This is just a different look for him in the new DC franchise I am sure he will still act as the Joker we all know and love from the comics.

The Joker torturing someone: My guess is that it is either Harley Quinn or Jason Todd because the film is going to have flashbacks for several or all of the characters. The reason it could be Harley is because I have seen set photos where she is still Harleen so this could be the Joker transforming her into Harley but it could be Jason because Batman is going to appear in the film's flashbacks as well.

Origins: Like I mentioned above it looks like we will get flashbacks on several villains and while that is good I do hope it lasts no longer than a few minutes because I don't want the whole film to be one massive origin story.

The Squad: It was awesome seeing the whole squad together, I don't have anything bad to say about them because their costumes are just so perfect. Well if I had to say one thing is that I wish there was more Captain Boomerang because he is my favourite Squad member.

How Killer Croc gets captured: In the trailer it shows someone wearing a hardhat with a light attached to it in a very dark place. Now this is just my guess but I think it is going to be someone who gets attacked by Killer Croc in the sewer and we see how he gets captured.

Katana commits seppukku: I don't know about anyone else but to me it looks like she is trying to impale herself on her sword in the trailer. I'm not too worried about this because her sword does have special powers to either make her survive it or bring her back.

The costumed robbers: I actually have no idea how these will fit into the film because it is not like the squad is tasked with stopping normal robbers however the one wearing the Batman costume was funny.

That is it really, unlike the Batman vs. Superman trailer it is hard to guess what is going on because it hasn't really revealed anything about the plot.

Gotham Season One: Red Hood

"Bang!"

When several banks are robbed by the Red Hood Gang Gordon and Bullock investigate meanwhile Fish does something drastic and Alfred reunites with an old friend.

Finally get two origins I have been wanting to see for ages; Alfred and the Red Hood Gang and I didn't expect the latter until season two, I'll start with them first and I got to say that the Red Hood Gang is one of my favourite origins so far. I always enjoyed seeing them in the comic and that they are connected to the Joker however I liked that in this the red hood itself became sort of a symbol of power. It was interesting that the gang members fought and killed over it and the way it saved one of their lives, made them famous and gave other confidence made me sort of believe that it could be a kind of cursed object. I do hope the red hood surfaces again and maybe the Joker could be part of the gang in the future; I still believe he was in the last episode and not the kid at the end. As for the gang themselves I did really like them, their different personalities and goals, the cool shootout with the GCPD and that the citizens started to cheer them on as vigilantes; all in all the Red Hood Gang was pretty damn great in this episode. As for Alfred it was of course obvious for a while he had some dark military past but it was great that we got some light she'd on it. He had some great scenes with Reginald like how good friends he is with him but didn't approve of his less honourable method of fight Reginald was teaching Bruce. I think for the next few episodes it might focus on Bruce tracking down Reginald but the reveal of the Wayne board behind Alfred's stabbing was a pleasant surprise and I just wonder how Bruce will deal with them.

Avenge him Bruce!!

As for the rest of the episode Fish's eye stabbing was gruesome and cool and it is great we may see the Dollmaker soon but it felt over the top. I mean is being leader of a group of nobodies in a basement important enough to mess with the Dollmaker or stab her own eye out? However I was more interested in her former comrade Butch whose brainwashing is not what I thought it would be like. He still seems to act like himself but the scars and shaky hands is a reminder that he is different now and very helpful to Penguin by securing some booze for him. I had read some criticism that Penguin doesn't seem to know anything at all but they need to remember that he is young and new at this and I like that the brainwashed Butch is teaching him a few things. Finally the Barbara moment with Ivy and Selina would have been nice if she still wasn't drinking heavily; why do writers (Gotham and Arrow) feel the need to put their female characters through substance abuse? It gets no sympathy from me, especially with Barbara when it is ALL HER FAULT things ended with Gordon, and I just think these characters can go through different crucibles to change. Also props to Selina for wounding Barbara like that; honestly what the hell was Barbara going on about with that whole beauty weapon stuff?

Got to admit that, that is really cool

Overall despite just two minor flaws this was a really solid episode with a great origin story to the Red Hood Gang.

SCORE: 8/10

Highlights: Origins on Alfred and the Red Hood Gang
                   Penguin and Butch team up
                   Fish stabbing her eye out but........

Let - Downs: ...........Might have been too much just to be leader of a basement?
                      Barbara as always

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;





http://screencapped.net/

Gotham Season One: The Fearsome Dr. Crane

"This is my city!"

While Fish tries to get back a Penguin, Gordon and Bullock hunt a killer who is targeting people with serve phobias and Bruce confronts Gordon about his lack of progress on his parent's murderer.

So this episode explored the origins of one of my favourite DC villains, Scarecrow, or to be more accurate his father. I think Julian Sands as Gerald Crane did an awesome job and we got to delve into his own madness and obsession with fear and he came off as a really creepy serial killer. We also got to see some creative ways he used to kill his victims and I am guessing his exaction of the glands could be the origin of Scarecrow's famous fear toxin. We also got to see Jonathon Crane as a teenager and I hope we get to see more of him in the future, maybe even don his Scarecrow mask. Another highlight of the episode was Bullock because he took the lead in the investigation this time and I got to say whenever he is the main focus over Gordon it is a really entertaining episode; like the Goat killings episode. Plus I think his fear story in the meeting was actually true so maybe we got one of the reasons way he chose to be on the take at first, also I liked the chemistry between him and that other phobia member so I wouldn't mind something more happened between the two. Speaking about relationships I think this one between Gordon and Leslie has been handled ALOT better than the one between him and Barbara (which just felt unbelievable) so I hope they stick with this one and don't  find some stupid reason to break them up for Barbara to swoop back in.

Penguin always manages to come on top in all situations

As for the rest of the episode Penguin got into a spot of bother and his scenes with Maroni, especially the one during that truth game, was done really well. Seems like Penguin will now work for Falcone full time now since he wasn't even able to talk his way out of his mess with Maroni, he had to convince someone else. Nygma continues to be a great addition to every episode and I just wish that they would make him the main focus of an entire episode rather than a few scenes. However I do think we have gotten a hint of his villainous ways by how he framed the medical examiner because lets face it that was kind of overboard. Seems like Fish has been captured by some military type of thugs and even though I really still hate Fish I am kind of interested to see where this goes (though her charging at the solider at the end was silly) and I am glad she wasn't in this episode much. Finally I do like that Bruce has addressed the issue of his parent's murder with Gordon once again but it is a shame we only got the one scene with them and we didn't get to see much of a reaction from Gordon about the whole thing afterwards.

"I should not have messed with Nygma"

Overall a really enjoyable episode, a definite improvement over the last one and looks to be the first of a two parter in to the origins of Scarecrow.

SCORE: 9/10

Highlights: Scarecrow origins/Bullock focused episode
                   Gordon and Leslie relationship going well
                   Strong scenes from Penguin and Nygma

Let - Downs: Could have expanded more with Bruce and Gordon

 

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/       

Top Fifteen DC Villains

Carry on from the DC heroes I will now list my favourite villains.

15. Black Adam
Not so much of a villain just more of a tragic character who believes more in a different kind of justice that clashes with Shazam. I really like his design and backstory and I am really looking forward to seeing Dwayne Johnson portraying him in live action.

14. Sinestro
The former Green Lantern who created the Yellow Lantern Corps based on the power of fear. As I said in the heroes list I really like the powers of the lanterns with their rings so I had to have another user on this list and who better than Hal Jordon's greatest foe.

13. The Crime Syndicate
I know this is a group but the Forever Evil storyline in the New 52 is one of my favourites ever and it is all thanks to this group which consists of evil counterparts to some of the main heroes.

12. Talia al Ghul
One of the biggest love interests for Batman and the only one to have a child with him, Damien Wayne. She is a really cool assassin and whenever she faces Batman she always tries to mess with his mind not just hurt him.

11. Black Hand
One of the most insane villains I have ever seen; Black Hand was so obsessed with death since his early childhood that the events of the Blackest Night storyline (one of my favourite comics) began because he killed his entire family and then himself and then became the wielder of the Black Lantern ring.

10. Scarecrow
Has a really awesome design and I just really like his fear toxin that he uses to combat Batman and infect Gotham with from time to time. Batman chose a bat because he wants to instil fear into his enemies so it is always fear vs. fear when these two battle.

9. Cyborg Superman
Hank Henshaw is one of the most tragic villains in my opinion because after being exposed to radiation and watching his body decay, he acquires a robot body only for his wife to comics suicide. When he reappears as Cyborg Superman his design was just so freaking badass and he destroyed Coast City which is changed Hal Jordon forever in the pre - 52 comics.

8. Ra's al Ghul
Batman's second arch nemesis (beaten by Joker) Ra's al Ghul is really interesting with the fact that he doesn't want to kill Batman because he finds him to be the only worthy successor as Head of the Demon. While battling him Ra's constantly tries to convince Batman that death is the only way to combat evil in the world.

7. Captain Cold
An awesome Flash villain who deserves to be in this list for being one of the founding members of the famous Rouge group. He has always been a cool villain either with his ice gun or his ice powers in the New 52 and it was great seeing him as hero Citizen Cold in Flashpoint.

8. Deathstroke
DEATHSTROKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even though this list is about the comic version his Arrow TV series version does really help show how much of a badass this guy really is.

7. Bane
Has to be on this list as the villain who broke Batman's back. A foe who is a match for Batman in a fight in body and intellect, Bane was even considered a successor for Ra's al Ghul a few times.

6. Lex Luthor
Superman's greatest foe who always proves quite the challenge for him because even without powers his superior intellect makes him a match. He was just so freaking awesome in the Forever Evil storyline which is one of my favourite New 52 comics.

5. Hush
The Hush comic is one of my favourite Batman storylines of all time and it is all thanks to this epic villain. He spends the entire comic manipulating a lot of Batman's villains to combat the caped crusader and wear him down. I also really like that he is the childhood friend of Bruce Wayne and thus has a connection with his past.

4. Captain Boomerang
Started out a bit of a wacky villain for The Flash but became a really serious mercenary and my favourite member of the Suicide Squad. I just really like that boomerangs can be used so effectively in battle and I his zombie design in the Blackest Night storyline was so cool and he played an important part after being resurrecting in Brightest Day. Plus his perfect portrayal in the Arrow and Flash crossover really did help as well.

3. Harley Quinn
The Joker's psychotic girlfriend who his completely crazy and also really funny at the same time. She actually first appeared in the Batman Animated Series but became so popular they just had to put her in the comics and I am glad they did. She has some great designs and she is also a great member of the Suicide Squad.

2. The Joker
The clown prince of crime just has to be in everyone's list of villains because he is the most iconic out of all of them. The Joker is chaos incarnate and the complete opposite of Batman in every respect; everything he does is just for the fun of it no matter how evil the act is. I have also really liked that despite being in the Batman comics since the very early days he always lies about his origins so he is constantly a mystery.

1. Reverse Flash
My absolute favourite villain and I like all of his incarnations but I think Eobard Thawne AKA Professor Zoom is the best because everything he does is to torment Barry Allen. I liked that Thawne's idolization of Barry in the distant future caused him to go insane which lead's him to gain speed powers and be the first Reverse Flash to where the reverse colours of the Flash's costume. Of course my favourite comics he is on has got to be the Flashpoint storylines.   

Top Fifteen DC Heroes

With live action adaptions of comics being so big lately I thought I'd do a top ten of my favourite heroes and villains from the comics. Thought I'd start off with DC and then do Marvel and remember this list is based on the comics and NOT the TV series and films.

15. The Huntress
Those who have read my Arrow TV series reviews know that I think they have ruined The Huntress but I still really like her in the comics because she has a way better backstory, she is a valuable member of the Birds of Prey and even though Batman believes she is violent and unpredictable he still relies on her from time to time.

14. Red Hood (Jason Todd)While not my favourite Robin when Jason Todd became Red Hood he turned into a complete badass! He methods are very similar to Batman but does not mind using lethal force, he started out as an enemy to Batman but eventually became an ally. His most well known storylines; A Death in the Family and Under the Hood are so epic and his recent Red Hood and the Outlaws in New 52 is great as well.

13. Firestorm
Firestorm is one of the most powerful heroes in my opinion and I have always really liked that he is a fusion of multiple people because we get some great banter between them.

12. Catwoman
Some may say that Catwoman is a villain or the very least an anti - hero but I have always though of her as an ally of Batman. My favourite comic she has been in his the Hush one where Batman actually reveals his identity to her and contemplates being in a relationship with her as well.

11. Superman
Superman may be really down on this list but that is because I was never really bothered about him until recently after seeing the new Superman film so I decided to get some of his most well known comics. I realize now that he is a really great hero and I liked his new origins in the New 52 DC comics.

10. Green Arrow
If this was a list of live action heroes he would be near the top but I didn't like how he started off in the comics (just a copy of Batman) and I didn't like that he looks like Robin Hood with a beard. However in recent years he has gotten a lot better such as his Year One comic in 2007 and his team ups with Black Canary.

9. Black Canary
She is quite the badass in the comics and as mentioned above I like her team ups with Green Arrow but also with Birds of Prey. It is such a shame that she doesn't have her sonic scream in the TV show but maybe she might get Meta Human powers.

7. Green Lantern (Hal Jordon)
One of my earliest comics that I read Green Lantern has always been one of my favourite comics and if it wasn't for him there wouldn't be the Blackest Night storyline which is one of my favourites. I have always really liked Green Lantern's powers and my favourite storylines was when Hal Jordon failed to story Cyborg Superman destroying Coast City and he had to deal with the consequences.

6. Booster Gold
The hero I want to see the most in the Arrow/Flash TV series because with time travel it could work. Booster Gold always brings good humour when he appears and I have always liked his origins of how he became a hero.

5. Batgirl/Oracle (Barbara Gordon)
The best of the Batgirls in my opinion because of the amount of character development that was given to her. She was great as Batgirl and had a cool costume and then when she was shot by the Joker she became one of the best computer geniuses in the DC universe as Oracle, helping Batman and the Birds of Prey. Felicity from the Arrow TV series was obviously based on Oracle.

4. Arsenal
Arsenal has always been my favourite archer in the comics more than Green Arrow because I think his transformation from Speedy/Red Arrow to Arsenal was really well done. While I never liked his drug addiction storyline in the old comics I liked how it keep haunting him when he got his new right arm.

3. Nightwing
Dick Grayson started out as Robin but then he became one of my favourite super heroes ever. Like with Arsenal I just liked the transformation Grayson had to becoming Nightwing and I have all his New 52 comics.

2. The Flash (Barry Allen)
By far the best Flash there is because in my opinion Barry becomes the most powerful user of the Speed Force to the point where he becomes to Speed Force. He is such an important character as well because of his time travel ability because if he changes anything it effects everything in the DC universe (Flashpoint). His best storylines are Flash Rebirth and Flashpoint.

1. Batman
Of course number one just had to be one of the most well known and most popular heroes of all time. Batman was also the first comic I ever read so I owe him quite a lot and he has some of the best storylines and villains there are.