Arrow Season Two: Identity

"I want your head Arrow"

The episode begins with a truck heist by China White, Roy attempts to stop it but is instead arrested by the police. At the SCPD Laurel, Thea and Oliver try to talk him out of his vigilantism but Roy says the Glades hospital's medical supplies are being stolen, in a Flashback Slade finds a map on the men they killed. Oliver visits the hospital where he meets Sebastian Blood (Kevin Alejandro), an alderman for the Glades, who insult's Oliver's family for The Undertaking on TV. Felicity meanwhile is not happy with her new job as Oliver's secretary and we have a Flashback and Oliver and Shado are getting intimate. Oliver then suits up as Arrow to stop another heist but China White has backup in the form of Ben Turner AKA Bronze Tiger (Michael Jai White) who uses his claw weapons to put up quite the fight however they are interrupted by the police and they flee. Thea later tells Roy that she wants him to chose her or the Arrow and Sebastian later visits Oliver to apologise for earlier and two agree to hold a charity event.

Blood for Mayor!!

In a Flashback Slade, Oliver and Shado follow the map while in the present Arrow visits Laurel for help on the heists but she refuses because she blames him for Tommy's death. Oliver is later forced to abandon the charity event because of a report of a new heist which causes Sebastian to slander him. Arrow and Diggle arrive at the heist where Arrow holds back and defeats Bronze Tiger, made difficult again by the interference of the police. Diggle drives the truck away but his attacked by China White but Arrow arrives in time to pin her to a post and later employs Roy's help to be his "eyes and ears" in the Glades. In a Flashback the group arrive at a cave where they find many deformed skeletons and Oliver finds the stone he would later give to Thea. The episode ends with Arrow trying to convince Laurel he is not a criminal but she has set him up and is surrounded by the police.

Awesome!

Season two looks like it is not going to hold anything back with episode two bringing back China White (who also debuted in episode two of season one) and a new antagonist Bronze Tiger. China White was good in this because I have always liked the character but it was Bronze Tiger who stole the spotlight. We got some truly awesome fight scenes from him, with a great use of martial arts, combined with those cool claws and the fact he swatted away the arrows. This is the kind of villain I wanted to see more of in season one; someone who could psychically stand up to Arrow so much it didn't faze him being shot by an arrow and took an electric shock to put him down . I liked his personality as well; they way he taunted Arrow to fight better and mocking him for his choice not to kill, it was like he cared more for a great battle. Also I did like the team up of China White and Bronze Tiger because whether it's comics, TV or films I just really like villain team ups and they had a great two vs. one fight against Arrow.

"Things just got weird"

Another great new character was Sebastian Blood who was really charismatic in every scene he was in and I just liked his character straight away. With the introduction of Sebastian it again shows that they are not abandoning the Glades and will play an even larger in this season. I'm sure Sebastian will continue to play a large role as well and from the looks of it in this episode he will be more of an enemy to Oliver, though that was largely Oliver's fault lol.

"I was just in a car crash, show a little compassion?"

As for the rest of the episode I did like that Arrow has employed the help of Roy because it is one more step for him becoming his side kick.  I was annoyed however with Thea, Laurel and Oliver constantly trying to dissuade him from his vigilantism because to be fair in Roy's mind he is the only one protecting the Glades right now. Speaking of Laurel she again proves to be the bad thing about the episode because again her turning on the Arrow just doesn't work because it was such a sudden change in her attitude. Not to mention she betrayed him at the end and was probably the one who made the police keep interfering and why did she go with them as well? she has just become really unlikable so far. Lastly there is the Flashbacks and I know I didn't mention them last review and that is because I don't really think much has happened in them yet. Them finding the skeletons was pretty interesting but other than that it hasn't been too exciting.

"How to get out of this one?"

Overall we have got some great new characters in this episode along with some awesome fight scenes.

SCORE: 8/10

Highlights: Bronze Tiger kicking ass!
                   Strong introduction for Blood
                   Awesome fight scenes

Let - Downs: Laurel once again
                      Flashbacks haven't been that exciting

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         

Arrow Season One: Dead to Rights

"I never miss"

The episode begins with a hitman arriving by helicopter however he is quickly killed by The Hood, at the Arrowcave Diggle trains Felicity so she can defend herself more but Oliver soon arrives and asks her to hack the hitman's phone. We then have a Flashback and Oliver has gotten a radio to work but they can't send transmit ions, in the present Felicity discovers a protected hit - list and Oliver warns  Quentin about it however Quentin wants a name. Later Malcolm tries to patch things up with Tommy and Laurel convinces him to go to his award ceremony elsewhere China White hires Deadshot to kill Malcolm. Oliver then tries to find the Chinese Triad are targeting Malcolm and then calls Quentin about it, Laurel then gets a call from her mother but doesn't answer. Everyone attends the ceremony, even China White as a guest and her Triad who are waiters.

"Your just practise hitman"

At the ceremony the Triad have turned off the power but Malcolm rushes up stairs with Tommy who is stunned when he takes out several pursers. Oliver arrives as The Hood and fights China White but ends it when McKenna almost has the drop on him, elsewhere in the building Malcolm is shot several times by Deadshot who is sniping from another building. Though Malcolm was wearing a vest the bullets are coated with poison, The Hood gets there and convinces Tommy to give his father a blood transfusion by revealing his identity to him. After Tommy is questioned by Quentin but says he doesn't know who The Hood is, in a Flashback Slade and Oliver hear Fyers talking about a monster over the radio and they later find out it is a missile launcher. At the hospital Diggle is upset that Deadshot is still alive and Malcolm says to Moira that he suspects there is a traitor, not knowing it is her. Tommy later tells Oliver, after talking with his father, that he will keep is secret however he is not happy about it or that Oliver is The Hood. The episode ends with Laurel's mother Dinah Lance (Alex Kingston) arriving at her apartment and telling her she thinks Sara is still alive.

Shame, this part easily could have had a panty shot

I knew that Deadshot was still alive and now he has his trademark missing right eye and special eye piece that goes over it. Really glad that Deadshot is back because they couldn't have killed him after one episode and the fact that Diggle knows he is back too makes me think that these two are going to have some conflict in future episodes. I really liked the team up of him and China White; that is what we should have in future episodes, several villains who have lost to The Hood team up to try and take him down. China White was also good in this as well and I really liked the whole attack on the ceremony by her Triads and she had a really good fight against The Hood. It is a shame though that Malcolm never got in to his Dark Archer gear to battle Deadshot because that would have been cool however he still kicked some ass and that scene where he almost grabs his costume was great.

"I plan to destroy you all and you award me HAHAHA!"

Tommy is also continuing to be a great character; it looks like he has repaired the relationship with his father but his one with Oliver is now damaged. As I said before I really like the moments between Tommy and Malcolm and this episode I think is an example that the two still care for each other despite recent conflict between them. As for his one with Oliver, Tommy has made it clear before that he doesn't like The Hood and finding out that it is Oliver probably did hurt him. I think for now he will keep the secret but I have no doubt that will be getting to him over time and he may even hate Oliver. Heck he may even become another Dark Archer like he is in the comics if he and Malcolm are getting along now, kind of like the Osborn's with the Green Goblin lol.

"So, keep my identity secret for me?" 

As for everything else in the episode I am interested to know what Moira will now do about The Undertaking; since Malcolm suspects a traitor she is going to have to be extra careful. We also have Oliver and McKenna still going on with their relationship but I don't care much for that because I never for a second thought this would lead anywhere. A big reveal at the end was that Dinah thinks Sara is still alive and I guess will we see what evidence she has to support it next episode. However when I first saw this I thought Dinah was forced too much into the plot; we haven't seen or barely mentioned her for this long and now she introduced with this revelation, they could have built up to it a bit more. As for the Flashbacks things are starting to look bad for Slade and Oliver now that Fyers has a missile launcher, does he plan on bombing the island for them?

The eye piece does look really cool now all he needs is his helmet

Overall this was a good and even though I won't mark it down for this I wish that Malcolm could have been the Dark Archer again.

SCORE: 8/10

Highlights: Deadshot and China White team up
                   The action at the ceremony
                   Tommy was a standout in this

Let - Downs: Dinah and her whole "Sara is alive" reveal feels really forced into the plot

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/       

Arrow Season One: Honor Thy Father

"Eyes on me and my white hair"

The episode begins with a Flashback of Oliver arriving to the island on the lifeboat, it then changes to the present and Oliver has just suited up and has taken out another person on the list on top of a roof. The next day, after discussing about the vigilante everyone is calling "The Hood", Walter and Moira would like Oliver to take a position in Queen Consolidated however he is reluctant to do so. Later at court Laurel is trying to build a case against Martin Summers for murder, who is also a target of Oliver's, and runs in to Oliver who is getting his death revoked and is still angry with him. That night Oliver threatens Summers to confess to the murder, he does not however and refuses to give any useful information to Quentin and even threatens Laurel.

Hasn't any of those guards got a gun?

Quentin then visits Laurel and advices her to drop the case however when she doesn't we then see that Summers has hired an assassin from the Chinese Triads named China White (Kelly Hu) to eliminate Laurel. Later Thea shows Oliver his gravestone and admits that she became more rebellious after he and their dad "died", this motivates Oliver to get closer to Laurel instead of pushing her away. He goes to her apartment to patch things up but shortly afterwards China White and several of her men show up to kill Laurel. Fortunately Diggle was there to fight them off but China White escapes, however Oliver was forced to use a knife during the attack and Diggle didn't fail to notice how skilful he was with it.

You go Diggle!

Oliver then tracks down Summers at the docks and forces him to confess that he is guilty of murder but then China White shows up and the two are forced to fight. It is cut short by the arrival of Quentin and the police and the two are forced to flee. Quentin almost corners Oliver but he manages to escape and even leave behind a recording of Summer's confession, which Laurel then uses to convict him. The next day at Robert Queen's memorial Oliver pretends to be selfish and irresponsible so he doesn't have to take a position a Queen's Consolidated and so no one can suspect him as The Hood. Moira is then seen getting into a limo and reveals that the Queen's Gambit was sabotaged by herself and an unknown person. The episode ends with a Flashback which shows Oliver discovering the books with the list of names on it and being shot with an arrow by a hooded figure.

Sunglasses; the perfect disguise

This was a really good episode, the mysteries of the island and what Oliver's mother is involved in just keeps getting more interesting and we actually got a proper villain in this episode. I will say this now that I have not heard of China White before so I don't know if she is adapted from the comics or is an original character but it is still good that we now have a comic book - like villain in the series. Not just a corrupt businessman or gangster we got someone who can put up a fight against the Arrow, who has a villain name and bit of a costume even if its just a white wig. I know that it is only the second episode in the series but I want Arrow to be full of costumed vigilantes and villains.

Mortal Kombat

We also got some great fight scenes not just between Arrow and China White but from Diggle as well. Diggle is a really great character in this and I like how he is figuring out that Oliver is definitely hiding something. Another character I like is Quentin; he may come off as a bit of an ass but that's just who he is and while he may be hunting down The Hood he isn't above using the evidence that is given to him. Like last episode I am really not liking Laurel or Thea that much, there both alright but I just think that there characters are just an annoyance for Oliver at this point, just there to create some conflict in his normal life.

"This is MY island rich boy!"

We also got to big reveals in this, the first one being that Moira helped an unknown person or persons sink the Queen's Gambit and it is somehow related to the list that Oliver has. Whether or not Moira has done this willingly or not is yet to be revealed but I am interested in seeing if the one behind all this is a major DC villain. We also got to see a hooded figure shoot Oliver with an arrow and this person must obviously have a connection to the costume Oliver has chosen and why he uses a bow and arrow.

Must be weird seeing your own grave

Overall there isn't too much to say about this episode, if it wasn't for the character of China White the events of this episode would have felt similar to the second half of the Pilot. However I get the feeling that for the first few episodes of this season it is going to be really episodic with Oliver crossing out names on the list and maybe coming across some DC villains each episode. Also you have probably noticed but I am now putting screen shots of the villains or heroes at the beginning of the review because the first screenshot is the one which everyone sees before they click on the review so I thought it would be better for it to be a relevant/important character in the episode.

SCORE: 7/10

Highlights: China White
                   The Flashbacks/Moira's secret meeting
                   The fight scenes in this series so far have just been great

Let - Downs: Laurel and Thea
                  If not for adding a comic book villain this wouldn't have stood out to much from the Pilot

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/      

Film Review: Psycho (1960)

My first film review and I thought I would on one of my favourite films and an all time classic; Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Like all my other reviews this will contain SPOILERS so I advice you to only read on if you have seen the film.

This film stars Janet Leigh as Marion Crane who steals $40,000 from the realtors office she works for in hopes of giving it to her boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin) because he is massively in debt and does not want to marry when he can barely afford it. Marion flees out of town and ends up staying a night at the Bates Motel run by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a troubled man with a domineering mother. That is the first half of the story, the second half stars Marion’s sister Lila Crane (Vera Miles) who searches for her and also introduces the character Milton Arbogast (Jon McIntire) a private detective.

I really liked this story; it is simple but effective and really gets the audience involved with it. It also has a lot of suspense, for example when Marion is on the run there is a cop who stalks her and you just don’t know his the cop suspects her or not. (MASSIVE SPOILER) This film also contains the famous shower in which Marion is killed by Norman Bates and it is one of the best film scenes I have ever seen. The camera work and the acting by Janet Leigh is so convincing, this was a time when bloody violence and nudity was frowned upon but they do an amazing job making it as realistic as possible. That is another thing I really liked about the film; the brilliant camera work, they do a lot of excellent close up shots on the faces of the characters and there is a great scene where Arbogast is falling down the stars and like the shower scene they really convince you it is happening.

Every single character’s performance in this film is perfection but the highlight of them all is Anthony Perkins for his portrayal as Norman Bates. He makes the character seem as polite and shy as possible while at the same time really disturbed, especially during the conversation he has with Marion and he explains his hobby about taxidermy. The music is also great in this as well, the one that plays during the shower scene has become iconic and the fast paced one that plays when Marion is on the run really suits the moment.

Overall this is one of the most iconic films ever created and one of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest. Even though this film was not the first slasher film it is certainly started off a new craze for it that began in the 1980s. I really do not have anything bad to say about this film because it is a fine example of cinema at its best.

SCORE: 10/10