Dr. WhoBob's TV/Web Series Review Thread

[WhoBibbles]

WHY AREN'T YOU FINISHING YOUR MCU TOPIC WHOBOB?

I will, sorry.

For real, I have been thinking of finishing that project and I swear it'll be done but at first, I wanted to make a brand new thread of me actually discussion some shows with you guys. Let me just say that the full reason why I'm doing this is because television (and web) shows are my favorite media entertainment of anything. I love it more than movies, music, video games, even *gasp* comics because the biggest difference between tv shows and other entertainment (except comic books runs lol) is that tv shows are a form of entertainment that have a long lasting narrative. It gives us more time to connect with the characters of the shows than almost anything else to me. You get to see so many different adventures with them, you get to experience some out of box concepts, you get to spend the most time with them, etc etc etc. Of course, there's a downside of a long ass television, even with shorter ones because it can drag on its stories or make you so bored with it that you don't happen to care anything about it anymore. BUT when it's done right, it gives you a huge impact. Of course, that's how I view shows like that. Especially if you are binge watching and trust me, binging is so much fun. Without getting too into why I fucking love shows, this is basically my project. I'm gonna review shows that I binge watched and my primary focus is to watch shows that actually ended but still if I'm solely interested in it, I can do reviews of currently airing shows as well. So I hope you enjoy this project and lol, this time I don't have to worry about finishing a project of endless shows.

My first show is gonna be the most praised and most accurate repsentation of a character you all know and love (perhaps too much) and If that isn't obvious enough, I'll see you on the show I'm gonna explore very soon.

[WhoBibbles]

I wanna mention that all my reviews will be spoiler free or If I wanna talk about spoilers, no worries, I'll put them in spoiler tag.

 

so, we enter the topic with one and only

 

NANANANANANANANANANANANANANA

FUCK BATMAN

Series: Batman: The Animated Series

Network: FOX Kids/Kids' WB (The New Batman Adventures)

Seasons: 3 + 1 (TNBA)

Created by: Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski

Batman. Always Batman. Always driving the villains BATS!

Before, I get into the actual show, I wanna talk about the character himself. It's not worth arguing that Batman is the most popular superhero of all-time. Everyone knows how well acclaimed the character is and it's just insane. He has the best personality, best supporting characters, best rogues gallery, best mythos, best comics, best movies, best video games. Hell, he managed to surpass Superman and Captain America in terms of popularity and they were around before him. How come he gets the best care, reputation and heart put into it, while other superheroes don't get the same effort? I usually don't like popularity outshining the work and driving some people away from it but despite me loving the character, I happen to be kind of sick of him. I bloody loved Nolan's Batman movies and I've read some of the most famous Batman stories ever  (The Dark Knight Returns, Killing Joke, HUSH, The Long Halloween) and I enjoyed most of them, yet I happen to like some other superheroes more than him because he is just everywhere. It's worth noting that most of the time, the character's primary focus is the death of his parents, which yeah, it motivates the character but it does get a bit tiresome after a while. A minor nitpick and his origins are great but still. I'm also not the biggest fan of the overall tone and characterization of him. I love a good old depressed, dark and brutal character and Batman is that and I do like him but at the same time, he's a rich playboy with literally 4 sons. How come he's not happy once? He's basically super smart, he has great combat training, he has many incredible gadgets, women have crush on him, he manages to beat Superman, waaaaaatttttt. It does make me question why he's this perfect character who can do no wrong, raised good sons (except Jason but he's a calmed down now heh) and defeats criminals easily, yet he's miserable and can't get over his parents' death. Not the mention the common criticisms of Batman do drive me away from him like. If he's so rich, why doesn't he use that money to make Gotham a better place. Why doesn't he go out for corrupt politicians and rich criminals, while all he does is attacking mentally ill people and bunch of punks? Why does he always use violence as answer? These are legit good criticisms and again, I didn't read that much of Batman comics and while yeah, he's more than just these criticisms apply, those aspects don't make me appreciate the character much.

This is where Batman: The Animated Series comes in. People don't kid themselves when they say this IS the best representation of the character himself. Sorry Dark Knight trilogy, love ya but you ain't like this one. This reminded myself why I love Batman in the first place. This show answers all the criticisms of the show and makes me appreciate how the character is written this well. This Batman doesn't just go after ill people and small criminals. He goes after mafia, gangs, corrupt politicians, even terrorists and even if he goes after low or insane criminals, he doesn't always solve his problems by punching them. He actually talks to them, tries to reason with them, use his brain to solve the issues. Batman here is miserable but not ALL THE TIME, he does have a fair share of happiness in his life. He actually fucking smiles at times, which is rare for a character like him. He occasionally makes snarky comments and even if he's serious, he's not that violent and even if he's violent, people do call him out on this behaviour. Characters actually criticize Batman in this series but they don't shit on him either. He's loved, his good qualities are appreciated and they know he's a good person trying to do what's best to save Gotham. He rescues people, even when he's Bruce Wayne he makes charities to help people in need. After how people love to point out Batman isn't actually a hero, this show is a get example of how Batman is an actual hero. And best of all, he's still a flawed character. He doesn't get to solve every issues regarding Gotham or fixes criminals, he does get too out of hand sometimes, when something goes terribly wrong he gives up trying to save people. He's such a three dimensional character. He has issues but he's still sympathetic and we root for him. Best episodes of the show explores the character of both Bruce Wayne and Batman, as well as people around him. While this version of Bruce does get pricky from what I've heard later on in Batman Beyond and comics that continued the series

Spoiler

especially when it involves his implied dates of Barbara Gordon, YUCK. Bruce Timm sucks sometimes...

but Batman: TAS Bruce Wayne/Batman is the best example of how to stay true to the character and make him the most likeable version ever. And voice of Kevin Conroy helps a lot, he's the best person to have the role of both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Even if you aren't fond of the character himself, I would still suggest the show for having the best Batman ever.

...or just other aspects of the show.

When it comes to Batman mythos, having a good superhero doesn't count, it needs to have a great amount of supervillains for him to deal with. And this show's villains, MY GOD, they make them impressive! I'm not gonna lie, my favorite aspect of Batman stories and probably anyone else's isn't the character himself, its his villains. From his arch nemesis Joker to some B-C rated ones like Mr. Scarface and Baby Doll. They steal the spotlight of the show in a way no superhero shows or movies do. Just like Batman, I've had enough with massive popularity of Joker but just like Batman here, Joker here is perfect. He's not just some philosophic character that question our morality or he's soooo obsessed with Batman. He's still those here but just like a true comedian, his crimes involve around him actually making silly schemes, getting attention for himself and making jokes along the way. But he's capable of showing sadness, frustration and anger while enjoying himself and he has a calm mind even with all those laughs he makes. Mark Hamill will always be the best person to portray Joker and the way he's written in the show couldn't have been more perfect. Other villains like Riddler, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Bane, Ra's Al Ghul get to shine as much and their portrayal are the most faithful to the source material. The show's influence over villains is impressive when it introduced Harley Quinn and made her an icon. Sure, her popularity has gotten annoying and I know DC loves to make her its own Deadpool but her beginnings are still great. She's tragic, funny and a sympathetic character. I find it oddly funny how some shows love to give characters love interests but never develop their characters, the show doesn't do that. Harley's relationship with Joker is abusive and one-sided that you can't help but root for Harley to be away from him. It not only makes Harley an interesting character of her own, it makes Joker even more brutal. The show also boosted Mr. Freeze's popularity, a C/D lister villain that turned him into one of the most sympathetic villains ever. So much that his origins were injected in comics and other media as well. I disagree with the thought that adaptations doesn't have to stay true to the source material. Yeah, it doesn't have to be all the time and some fans do some off as annoying about it but staying far away from source material is most the time insulting to the original work or its fans. Guardians of the Galaxy movies are great to me but they are disservice to the source material and their characterizations effected recent GOTG comics that drove people away and it makes sense why. Arrow tv show is 99% inaccurate to comics that it drives me nuts. Even Deadpool in movies don't hold a candle to a very tragic and depressing character Deadpool himself is. If ain't broke, don't fix it. There are more examples of this and yes, inaccuracy doesn't have to be bad storytelling but I always think the best adaptation has to be not only staying true to the source material, it has to expand it as well. That's what the show does but mainly when it comes to villains. Villains of Batman: TAS are tragic or people that has an understandable goal. Even if their motivations aren't revealed, you still get a kick out of these colorful and fun villains.

I could go on talking about how awesome these characters are but I wanna get into other supporting characters of the show. They are just as great. Dick Grayson aka Robin/Nightwing is the best portrayal of the character. Sorry Teen Titans and Young Justice cartoons. I like that he's the lighthearted version of Batman. He makes jokes, he's uplifting and he has a sense of hope and brightness in him. Of course, he's not always like that, he can be pretty serious and angry but that doesn't stop him from beginning a fun character on his own. Alfred is so joyful and he's a great father figure to Bruce as well as a great character on his own. His wisdom, sarcasm and wholesomeness make me love him so much. Barbara Gordon/Batgirl is a fun superhero to help Batman in his cases and she managed to prove herself to him and she is cheerful, smart and good with computers. Jim Gordon is the best friend Batman could ever ask for. Harvey Bullock is the detective that doesn't like Batman but he has issues on his own and it makes him an interesting character to write. Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman is often an ally or an enemy of Bruce that has great chemistry with him and she's basically an obsessed thief but she is caring and helpful when she needs to be. Lucius Fox, ok well, he's fine here but I like him better in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy hehehe. Villains are one thing but having a huge amount of great protagonists makes the show more alive around Bruce's/Batman's world.

How the show's made is very impressive, especially coming from a 90s action cartoon. Animation is very charming to look at. I love the way Gotham is represented as a gothic (lol) version of New York but still having an identity of its own. Character designs (at least in first animation) are good. The atmosphere of the show is dark, upsetting and as a good crime noir should be. Music is without a doubt one of the most impressive aspects of the show. The way its composed with af full orchestra, it's so beautiful to listen to. It's magical and dark. What else to say about it? Episodes are often good with action and drama. It grabs you with episodes to think what's gonna happen to this character. I'm a guy that prefers story arcs over episodic stories these days but the show, despite having a continuity, has a great track of being one of the best episodic shows ever. Every episode have their own stories to tell and it makes them more unique, memorable and stand on their own. I would still recommend for you guys to watch this show in order due to return of certain plot points (also watch Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub zero movies before season 4/The New Batman Adventures, trust me, they are amazing movies) but after you are done with the show, you can pick an episode you love and rewind it just fine. When the show tries to be comedic, it's hilarious, especially the way Joker and Harley Quinn episodes are written. It has good sci-fi, horror and fantasy elements put in them as well. The show doesn't get afraid to be comic booky and bizarre for a superhero that literally has no superpowers. If there's one downside of how the show's made is definitely the last season, aka The New Batman Adventures. Don't get me wrong, animation is still great but compared to the beautiful and mesmerizing first three seasons were, it's a step down. Especially when it comes to certain character designs. Some characters got upgrade from this like Scarecrow, Madhatter and Batgirl. Some designs are acceptable like Poison Ivy, Bruce and Gordon and some designs are samey like Harley Quinn or Two-Face but others like Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman don't work out so well to me. ESPECIALLY JOKER. My god, what a bad design he got in the last season. I don't wanna look, I DON'T WANNA LOOK. Ok, he's not that bad but he just feels so off and lame. It's only worse when he's more violent in this version. As for episode quality, first three seasons have a few episodes Iegit don't give a fuck but most of the time, they are near perfection to me. Fourth season is still good to me and it does some very excellent episodes that can be compared to best of first three seasons but not just character designs, a few of characters like Catwoman and Mr. Freeze are ruined in their last appearances and the last season's guest appearances of other comic book characters can feel out of place for the show. Some new characters they introduced in the last season  can be either very fun and interesting characters or just bland. One character that does appear new and frequently in the last season into Bruce's life (not gonna give away who) is a good addition to the show, even if he is probably the only inaccurate character of his comic version. At worst, the show can feel slow and uninteresting depending on couple of episodes and action of the show isn't much memorable to me, especially first season's action, which I found to be kind of slow. My last complaint will be that the ending of this series was just a regular episode. That was a letdown that I wish they would work on a proper series finale at least.

If you are a big Batman fan, don't skip on this, AT ALL. If you aren't a Batman or a superhero fan, I still recommend you to give this a chance. The show is a great tale of a vigilante who wants to make his city into a better place, save lives and never let anyone suffer the way he did. With an impressive cast, gorgeous animation, haunting music and cool stand alone episodes; the show is without a doubt one of the greatest superhero/comic book shows ever and it quickly become one of the best cartoons to me. I don't think it is my personal favorite superhero show but it's a masterpiece and will always be the best representation of Batman and his mythos. 

P.S. Make sure you watch Batman: The Mask of Phantasm and Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero as well. Both are terrific.

Favorite Episodes:

1 ) Almost Got 'Im

2 ) The Man Who Killed Batman

3 ) I Am The Night

4 ) Over the Edge

5 ) Mad Love

6 ) Robin's Reckoning

7 ) Heart of Ice

8 ) What is Reality

9 ) Joker's Favor

10 ) Perchance to Dream

11 ) Legends of the Dark Knight

12 ) Two-Face

13 ) The Demon's Quest

14 ) Harley's Holiday

15 ) Trial

16 ) Dreams in Darkness

17 ) House & Garden

18 ) Beware the Grey Ghost

19 ) Double Talk

20 ) Old Wounds

Yes, there were that many great episodes, I didn't want to make it 10, it's injustice!

 

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. FYI, I'm also doing a review for all DC Animated Universe shows and I already finished watching Superman: The Animated Series but in between those shows, I'll also putting reviews of a few shows as well. Until next time.

[WhoBibbles]

uhhh ummmmmmmm AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I'm back once again with a show I have been wanting to review and............it's finally here.

Series: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), aka the canon one (sorry Genndy stans but I'll give that show a chance <3)

Network: Cartoon Network (season 1-5)/Netflix (season 6)/Disney+ (season 7)

Seasons: 7 + A Theatrical Movie

Created by: George Lucas

Developed by: Dave Filoni

WATCH THIS SHOW WITH THIS CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OR PALPATINE WILL STAB YOU WITH HIS LIGHTSABER!!!

https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-clone-wars-chronological-episodeorder

This show can be summed up in this sentence: "A surprise to be sure but a welcome one."

Remember prequels? Remember how they butchered Anakin's transition to Darth Vader and fill it with a badly done CGI, awkward dialogue, piss poor acting, stereotypical characters etc? Ok for real, I don't really hate prequels. I haven't seen Revenge of the Sith because I'm saving it for season 7 of Clone Wars (more on that later) but I have seen first two movies already and my opinion was that both of those movies' stories were actually fine. Well, okay I didn't like certain character decisions Anakin made in Attack of the Clones but I understood Anakin's frustrations in both of those movies, how he suffered so much and how he feared death. Those made him an interesting character. The problem was the whole damn execution. First movie was a huge focus on annoying stereotypical characters and boring political stories and the second one was an awkward and toxic romance story that made me groan. Like I said, I haven't seen the third movie but that one is always considered as the best of the prequels and even that one has a huge chunk of bad dialogue that gets memed every single day.

Spoiler

And there is Clone Wars. The fucking CGI cartoon for kids that managed to not only correct the prequels but became its own entity that became one of my personal favorite shows. Does Clone Wars have some glaring flaws? Of course. It has some fillery episodes that don't matter too much to the contiunity, the show can have some same kind of childish humor prequel movies have, small political arcs in it are still sort of boring and I can assure you'll not like every single character on the show.

With all that being said, why is this show so special to me? Firstly, I'm a massive fan of stories with worldbuilding. If there's one thing to praise prequel for is that it gave us a great look at the universe before The Empire took over. What does Clone Wars do? It expands upon it, not just through planets and alien species, brand new protagonists, villains, it goes beyond the movie lore and it there are plenty of unique storytelling that was barely done in all of Star Wars movies. The show was built on 3-4 episode arcs with occasional stand alone or two parter episodes and these arcs doesn't always have the same character. If there's one arc about our main protagonists Anakin and Obi Wan, there's an another arc about clones or bounty hunters or the villains themselves. The show doesn't just go through the actual clone wars, it literally celebrates everything going on in its universe. And that's why I love it. It'd be understandable if people weren't looking for a show that switches the cast in each arcs but trust me, you'll love a lot of the characters here. The stories explore the concepts of loss, hard choices, betrayal, corruption and the most importantly "how does war effect people?". Clone war's biggest theme is definitely people's point of view on the war surrounding it. This is something movies don't always explore. Therefore, this show, the very extended Star Wars saga, can tackle these themes and man, they do an astonishing job with it. The show isn't just a show for kids to have fun with it. It has a lot going on that gets you invested in these arcs and later most of these get connected and make for a wild af time.

The characters in the show are just incredible. It mixes the prequel cast with its own cast and it creates a whole new meaning to the franchise.

This show fixes a lot of the problems I have with prequel characters. Anakin is not some edgy boi that kills not only men but the women and the children too. Here, we actually see why he's the holy "chosen one". He rescues people, he stops the bad guys, he has a great control of the force. Anakin really looks like someone who could bring balance to the universe but of course he's a very irresponsible, risky and sarcastic character that make him flawed and grounded. And we do explore Anakin's fears and anger as well without making him a complete psychopath. There are times he has to be ruthless in order to achieve his goals and that does remind me of his Darth Vader alter ego in the original trilogy. Obi Wan gets to do more here. This show finally gives us answers of who Obi used to be during clone wars and he's actually so much fun. He might as well be my favorite protagonist in the entire show. He's very sassy, charming and pretty lighthearted Jedi who enjoys his life but also take things seriously and stops the bad guys before it's too late. I also enjoy his dedication to Jedi rules like no emotional attachments to other people and stuff like that makes him have conflicts with different characters. All Padme was in prequels was being Anakin's girlfriend/wife who would give birth to Luke and Leia. But here? She's a well known politician that wants to bring order to the universe and stop the war before it consumes both sides. She understands how people feel about the war, she doesn't stand for corruption and she sometimes takes matters into her own hands. I never gave Padme a shit before this series made her why she's an important character to the saga other than being Anakin's lover. Speaking of, I love that the show calls out Anakin and Padme's relationship being toxic and dysfunctional. I never understood why they ended up being lovers in Attack of the Clone but this show explains why but also shows it's not sunshines and rainbows. Yoda is always great and his own episodes are some of the best in the library of Star Wars. Boba Fett's origins were explored in Attack of the Clones but they turned the character into a bounty hunter in this series and he ended up being more interested than any of his scenes in the movies to me. Even the damn Jar Jar Binks can be tolerable sometimes. If there's one character I thought was changed for the worst was probably Mace Windu who could have been a complex character after something he did in episode 2 but they completely dropped all of it and made him look he's the right one and act smug about it. He's also the same in a canon novel called Dark Disiple (8 unfinished Clone Wars episodes). Ironically he is actually great in a two parter with Jar Jar Binks, mind blowing right? In the end, the show saved all these poor misunderstood characters into something special.

If we are gonna get to the show's own characters, lets not wait further to talk about Ahsoka, one of the main characters of the show and Anakin's padawan (Jedi student). I was a bit interested that they managed to give Anakin his own padawan when episode 2 was just him being a padawan to Obi Wan Kenobi. Oddly enough they introduced her in a kind of the eh-ish theatrical movie but she ended up becoming a fully fleshed out hero in the end. Ahsoka shared similar traits of Anakin. Irresponsible character who doesn't always follow the rules, makes sacrastic lines and boost her own ego but unlike Anakin, she becomes a more mature person that goes through difficult tasks to a point that almosts gets herself into dear death experiences and she learns from those mistakes. I can't tell you more but Ahsoka ended up being a welcome addition to Star Wars. Since the show was called Clone Wars, what about those damn clones? I can tell you that they are badass. Of course it's hard to remember some of these fella's names but I'll say that Rex, Echo, Fives, The Bad Batch group and plenty more will be in your hearts. Other protagonists like Dutchess Satine, Master Plo, Lux gets to be loved as well. Literally everyone except The D Squad, idk those fuckers, except R2D2.

What about the villains of the show? Ventress, Hondo, Cad Bane, Savage, Death Watch group; they all are terrific and complex or sometimes plain entertaining villains that shows who's the boss. Dark Sidious makes some appearances and he's just as devilish as the movies. Sadly Grievous and Count Dooku are the only characters that are one note but Grievious has many moments of entertainment value and some threat behind him. And of course the villain that got resurrested later on the series... DARTH MAUL HIMSELF!!! And he's plain brutal. If there's one character that got the best treatment, it's gotta be him. He's no longer that wasted potential in The Phantom Menace. He is cunning, smart and sickening throughout the series and the show not only made him so threatening, it made him quite tragic villain too. I never thought i'd care this much into Maul's characterization. And if you are worried about how they made him return from the death, they explain it very well.

The animation is very impressive not just for a CGI show but as an action show that have magnificent imagery. Character designs, the background details, the action and more. Music is very good and voice acting is superb as hell. Episode pacings are mostly well balanced and structured. In the end, the show's production is awesome. 

That's kind of all I gotta talk about the show. I love it with a huge passion and I would even go as far as saying this is my favorite Star Wars material besides The Empire Strikes Back. Yes, the show has some stuff that bug me but its best are some of the best tales of Star Wars ever and the amount of character development, emotion, humor and well made action scenes prove it.

I don't have a ranking of my favorite episodes because it can be an entire arc or an actual episode, so I'm gonna list some of my favorite stories ever.

- Darth Maul/Mandalore arc (5x1, 5x14, 5x15, 5x16)

- Ashoka arc (5x17-5x20)

- Ambush

- Mortis arc (3x15-3x17)

- Trespass

- Lightsaber Lost

- Lair of Grievious

- Return of Maul arc (4x19-4x22)

- Obi Wan bounty hunter arc (4x16-4x19)

- Order

- Umbara arc (4x7-4x10) 

- Yoda arc (6x10-6x13)

That's all for now. Thanks for reading this review.

P.S. The show ends in s7 this fall. I'll definitely cover the season once it ends. *wink*