The New Super Friends: Rokan: Enemy from Space (1978)

 

Over the course of its long run, Super Friends changed formats and titles many times. Probably the most famous and popular format was an hour-long format featuring two half hour segments. The first of these segments was called The New Super Friends and featured only Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman, Robin and the Wonder Twins (a pair of characters created specifically for this series) and they would most of time fight one-off villains created specifically for this show. There was also the Wonder Twins' pet monkey Gleek but more about him later. The second segment would be called Challenge of the Super Friends and would feature a wider variety of heroes and have them fight the legion of doom (a group made up of some of the greatest super villains from the comics. Rokan: Enemy from Space marked the first The New Super Friends segment. 

In this episode a giant dinosaur-looking monster attacks a city leaving destruction in its wake. The Super Friends come to the rescue but seem to be useless as the creature is as powerful as Superman. Superman soon realizes why this is. The creature comes from Krypton just like Superman. 

This episode is pure corny fun. Though this episode may seem too corny and dated for many modern superhero fans, I have always embraced and loved the sillier aspects of superhero stories making this a lot of fun. Also there is a certain charm to such a simple unpretentious story, that does not try to be anything complicated or epic. 

This episode certainly benefits from a great villain design. While this villain is simply a force of nature and has no personality to speak of, he is still quite memorable. He has a powerful and threatening look and one that simply looks how a child would imagine such a character looking. There is also something that is always satisfying about seeing superheroes face off against a giant monster. 

While Super Friends has often been criticized for its characterizations of the characters being bland, this episode really gets the character of Superman right. When it seems like the only way to defeat Rokan is to risk his own life, Superman has no problem doing this stating that they should do things according to "the greater good for the greater number of people." The fact that Superman never even hesitates to say this and shows little fear of what could happen to him, shows why he is such a great character. Superman is a character that should represent who we aspire to be and be someone we can always look up to. That is something that can perfectly be said about this version of Superman here. 

Now I have to get on to what will be my major complaint for many of these episodes. That would be Gleek the monkey. This character is a waste of space and often times just gets the Super Friends into more trouble. In this episode just as the Wonder Twins are going to help Aquaman, Gleek ruins their plan to. Gleek is in a long line of comedic animals to be featured in Hanna-Barbera action shows. The idea of having a comedic animal sidekick is not a bad one, but Gleek is never funny. There has never been a joke with this character that has made me smile once and when he ruins things for the Super Friends, it simply annoys the audience. Luckily He doesn't get much screen time in this episode but it is still too much. 

All in all (and despite Gleek), this episode is quite a bit of fun. 

Movie Review: DC League of Super-Pets

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent animated family film. 

I am someone who really enjoys the sillier aspects of superhero stories and therefore I am always glad when a superhero film comes out that not only has these aspects but fully embraces them. This is a film that only aspires to bring you a fun time at the movies, and it does so excellently.  This is a fast moving and unabashedly silly movie that is simply a lot of fun. This should come as no surprise as the director and co-writer of this movie is Jared Stern, who was also a writer on the wonderful, The Lego Batman Movie (2017) and his co-writer on League of Super-Pets was John Whittington who was also a writer on that movie. This film has the same charm that that movie had. While it pokes fun at superhero movies and conventions, it also shows the utmost respect for them. There are many little touches and moments here that are simply thrown in to make those who know their DC Comics smile, and thew humor is obviously done from a place of passion. Meanwhile this movie is also a superhero movie in itself and it is a darn entertaining one. The story, while familiar, is a lot of fun and even though it moves at a fast pace it never feels rushed. The villain is fantastic. Lulu the guinea pig (one of the few original main characters created for this movie) is a wonderfully fun villain and can even make the idea of a guinea pig being a threat against the Justice League somehow believable. It doesn't hurt that she is excellently voiced by Kate McKinnon. Our heroes are just as great. These characters are all very likable and the relationships between them was very well done. Each of the pets has their own unique personalities and are given their own chance to shine. The evolution of them as a superhero team is also done very well. Krypto and Ace's character arcs are very well handled and there is a surprising amount of real emotion in these scenes. The action is excellent and the big climatic action scene is a lot of fun. 

This movie is really a joke a minute type of film and this can cause the humor to be a bit hit and miss. However the humor that hits is more than funny enough to make up for the jokes that miss. 

On the downside this movie follows the superhero movie format so closely that it is very predictable. I am also not a fan of some of the Justice League designs, though the characters are handled very well (Batman gets some great laughs here). 

This is an excellent movie that superhero and cartoons fans everywhere should enjoy.    

Movie Trailer: Black Adam

Movie Trailer: Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Movie Review: The Suicide Squad

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

As someone who hated both the first Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey, I did not go into this movie excepting much. Man was I wrong, this film is a pure delight. 

James Gunn is a mainstream Hollywood director who has his own unique style that is apparent in even his most mainstream works (the Guardians of the Galaxy movies are great examples of that). Luckily Warner Brothers seemed to give him all the freedom he could want, when he made this film. Before even the opening credits this movie excellently sets up expatiations in typical comic book movie fashion and then completely destroys them. These gives us a clear idea of the film we are about to see, one that is not going to strictly follow the conventions of the genre and one where anything can happen. Because of this, The Suicide Squad becomes one of the few superhero movies where you can never be sure what is going to happen next, and that was something a greatly appreciated. 

One problem I had with the first Suicide Squad movie is that we never really got to see the villains be villains, making the main premise pointless. That is not the case here at all. Here we get to see the villains be truly horrible human beings. With the exception of Ratcatcher 2, we never asked to sympathize with or forgive these villains. We are instead simply asked to enjoy the ride and the mayhem. Yet at the same time we are able to root for them to save the day because the movie's antagonists are even worse than our villains, something this movie was able to pull off without ever having to play down the evilness of our main characters. That in itself is a fine piece of filmmaking. 

The humor here is fantastic and there were many times I laughed out loud. Pretty much anything having to do with King Shark cracked me up (Sylvester Stallone's vocal performance certainly had a lot to do with that). The humor is the perfect mixture of clever satire on the superhero genre and just plain silly immature jokes. Regardless of what type of humor most of the jokes got good laughs out of me and everyone else in the theater. 

While it is easy to argue that the gore is a bit excessive (and it is) the action sequences here are a lot of fun. They are big, bold and bloody in all the best ways and show perfectly just what an audience would want from an R rated Superhero movie. The climatic battles are in equal parts fun and intense and just a delight to watch. 

Unfortunately this movie is longer than it needs to be and there are a few moments were it really seems to drag. Yet these moments are hardly enough to bring this movie down.

This is a pure delight for both superhero fans and fans of James Gunn.     

Movie Review: Joker

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A very intelligent and thought provoking commentary on our society and how we too often treat the mentally ill.

While watching this movie, I spent a lot of time thinking about how someone as mentally sick as Arthur could make it in society. The more I thought the more I realized there was no way this could be possible. We live in a world where there is simply no way for many mentally ill people to make it. This was a depressing thought that ran through my mind for much of this movie. Maybe if society was more responsible with people like this, the horrors the Joker inflicted could have been prevented. After all the only “help” Arthur is given is being able to talk to a social worker (not even a real psychiatrist)  who doesn’t care about him and lots of medication that is taken away from him at the worst time possible. This is a film that holds up a mirror to ourselves and the world we live in and many of us won't like what we see.

People are saying that Joaquin Phoenix should win an Oscar for his performance here and I certainly can't argue. His performance manages to be both heartbreakingly real and genuinely frightening. There is a real sense of humanity to this performance. In the comic book The Killing Joke (to be honest I prefer this film's origin story over the one presented in that comic book), the Joker states that we are all just one bad from going insane, however in this film it is multiple bad days pushing him to become more and more crazy with each bad day. What is truly incredible about Joaquin Phoenix's performance is that we see this character slowly evolve from Arthur into the Joker we all know. At first it seemed hard to believe that this guy could possibly become the Clown Prince of Crime, but with each step we believe it more and more until there is no mistaking this character for anything other the Joker. This transformation is not immediate but happens step by step and moment by moment. This is definitely a hard feat for any actor to pull it off, yet Joaquin makes it feel effortless here. I personally feel this is one of the finest performances of his career.

This is also a very effective movie visually. One look at how Gotham looks and you have no doubt that it is the run down place that needs a savior (and in the sick and twisted world of this film it gets the Joker instead). However it is never too unpleasant to look at.

Director and co-writer Todd Phillips shows off his inner cinephile with this movie. This movie features some obvious but much appreciated homages to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver and King of Comedy. This film also shows clips from two classic films from Hollywood's golden age, Shall We Dance and Modern Times. Of course any movie that pays tribute to Charlie Chaplin and Fred Astaire has got my attention.

Despite the grimness of this movie, the film manages to fit in some good humor. In fact one of the funniest scenes in the movie follows its bloodiest murder (this film definitely is rated R for a reason). This is very helpful because with all the bleakness this film offers we need these lighter funny moments.

This is a superhero film like no other, which is nice when we are surrounded by superhero movies. It is also a very smart and well made film that definitely left a big impression on me as I left the theatre.

-Michael J. Ruhland  

Movie Review: Shazam!

Michael's Movie Grade: B

Review: After Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad set the ultimate low bar for superhero movies, DC movies have slowly been getting better. Wonder Woman and Justice League were decent, and Aquaman was an improvement over those. Shazam! continues this improvement, as it is actually a darn good movie.

 It may not be one of the all time great superhero movies, but I have the feeling that is not what it wanted to be. It does not try for the awe and wonder of Superman: The Movie or the pure scope of Avengers: Infinity War. Instead this movie just wants to provide its audience with a fun time at the movies while tugging at a few heartstrings along the way. With this it successeds surprisingly well. The humor is legitimately funny at many points. It satirizes all the clichés of superhero stories. It never does this in a mean spirited way, instead this is loving tongue in check tribute to all we love about superhero movies and comic books. As we laugh at the jokes we also remember why we love what they are making fun of. This humor also never distracts from the story. We legitimately care about our main characters and root for them the whole way. As they grow as people we like them even more and even take pride in them. With siblings like Darla, Freddie and Mary, it is no wonder Billy finally feels like he has found his family. The relationships between these characters is touching and completely believable. This movie also has quite a good villain. His motivation is completely understandable and relatable. Any of us who have ever been told we aren't good enough want nothing more than to prove it and it is completely understandable how this could drive a man mad. The seven deadly sins are actually quite terrifying. They look extremely creepy and the scene with them in the office meeting could have come right out of a horror movie. This adds an intense atmosphere to much of the film.

At one point this movie falls into a trap that too many superhero movies do. The climatic fight scene goes on much too long. It is very exciting and fun at first but this excitement and fun couldn't last for the entire length of the fight and what was fun began to drag. This movie also uses one of my least favorite movie clichés. These are the boring and typical school bullies that we have seen too many times in movies.

This may not be perfect superhero movie but it is a darn fun one and makes it obvious DC is stepping in the right direction.

-Michael J. Ruhland  

Movie Review: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

Review: While not as great as the first movie, this is an excellent film in its own right.


What this movie definitely has going for it is a clever and engrossing story and great characters. As predictable as this movie's story seems like it will be at first it delightfully takes it in unexpected and very well thought-out directions. Each plot twist makes perfect sense and even enhances what you have seen before. This movie also allows us to take a different look at the characters we thought we completely knew (except for Benny, he still only likes spaceships). Sometimes this is done for reasons of humor and other times much more seriously. We see how these characters could have become somebody completely different if only they had done things a little differently. While it has become a cliché in current animated movies to have a message about being yourself no matter what, many of them don't use that message as well as it is used here. Perfect for a movie about Legos, we see here that we shouldn't always repress the more childlike parts of our personality to become what society says we should be. Maybe just because the world becomes tougher and more cynical that doesn't mean we have to get rid of everything that is not cynical about us. There is a power to optimism and that is what this movie speaks to most of all. This is deeper than the usual be yourself message you find in most of these films and is important to keep in mind as the world's cynicism seems to be growing and innocence seems to be dying. This movie also contains a great message about the importance of embracing and understanding the differences between us and our loved ones. All these messages are told in a way that never feels preachy or out of place, but rather it all flows naturally from the storyline in an entertaining way.


The humor is both a fault and a strength of this movie. This movie can be a bit too eager to please at times and will just throw joke after joke after joke at us. There are many laugh out loud funny moments in this movie and many of them are extremely clever. However with the bigrade of jokes there are quite a few that don't hit as well. Jokes like the Queen singing about how she is not evil, the methods of "brainwashing," the sheer amount of things Rex Dangerfield says he is, the dialogue between the raptors and the song over the closing credits are absolutely hilarious. However jokes like the intermission, and a banana tripping over his own peel, seem to do nothing but be unneeded and unfunny breaks in the story, that couldn't feel more out of place. Also references to the Everything is Awesome song are not funny, but instead forced as if they just wanted to remind us how memorable that part of the first movie was without any of what made it memorable.

Again though this is certainly an excellent movie in its own right.

-Michael J. Ruhland              

Movie Review: Aquaman

Michael's Movie Grade: B-











Review: This movie does not come close to reaching the heights the recent Marvel movies have, but it is quite fun and I definitely enjoyed myself.


This is not by any means a thinking movie. It is instead a turn your mind off and enjoy yourself movie and it successeds quite well at being this. There is nothing subtle about any of the characters, what you see at first is who they were. Despite this our two leads (Jason Moma and Amber Head) are quite likable and we really root for them here. The two also have great chemistry and their banter is often quite good. How they grow from being weary of each other to developing a friendship (or maybe even more (yes I know its more in the comics, I have read some)) is done in a gradual and completely believable way. The main villain (Patrick Wilson) is dislikable enough for us to root against him and he does feel like a legitimate threat. The big CGI fights are actually quite well done and I found myself getting into them. They were fast paced and really well shot. They never dragged as so many action scenes tend to lately. Plus they look really cool. The humor here is often quite good as well.


The plot of this movie is nothing new at all. In fact those who have watched more than a few superhero movies can tell what is going to happen next. It doesn't help that this movie is so long.
Near two and a half hours of pure clichés can get tiring at times and does. I felt these clichés would have bugged me less in a shorter movie. The character of Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is also completely unnecessary here and only seem to pad a movie that was already too long. This is also a rather bland interoperation of this character as well.

Despite these faults and the fact recent Marvel movies have been better, I enjoyed myself and I hope you will too.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Teen Titans Go! to the Movies

Review Written by Michael J. Ruhland











Michael's Movie Grade: A-

Review: Teen Titans Go! makes a shockingly good transition to feature length. This film not only retains the charm of the show, but improves upon it heavily.

The show has given me moments that made me laugh out loud, but this movie had me laughing consistently throughout. The humor of this movie ranges from very clever satire of superhero movies to immature poop and fart jokes. The two mesh perfectly though because the immature humor comes naturally out of the Titan's immature personalities, while the satire is woven into the actual story. Even though I knew the show's humor is not as devoid of wit in the way so many of its detractors feel, I still didn't except the clever humor to be this clever. There is no superhero troupe that is not made fun of here. Each joke about these troupes is so funny because they all ring perfectly true. The film also makes fun of the very essence of DC's most popular characters. Two scenes involving Batman's origin story were unbelievably funny and perfect examples of dark humor at its best. The movie even makes fun of the show that inspired it. Though the show has used some of the complaints lodged against it for humor, those episodes always ended up being some of the show's weakest. However this movie surprised me by using these complaints for humor that was actually really funny.

The storyline itself in many ways feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. Usually this is a bad sign for animated movies, because when this happens more often than not the film feels padded to reach feature length. However this movie feels just the right length to tell the story and the time just breezes by.


This film will upset many fans of the 2003-2006 show for portraying the characters in such a different light. I will admit though I don't have the same fondness for that show many others have (I mean I think its a good show, but I like many superhero cartoons more), so none of those complaints ring true for me. This movie is a comedy and it made me laugh all the way through and I am very satisfied with that.


But don't go away we have a short to talk about.


The Late Batsby

Michael's Movie Grade: D

This short film is really a brief sneak peak at Lauren Faust's new TV show, DC Super Hero Girls. However this short does not really make me want to see the show. However it is so brief I don't know how much this will determine if I like the show. However here, the humor feels forced, the story uninteresting, the designs not standing out and these versions of the characters, not being the most engaging. This film was too brief and inconsequential, as to leave me with nothing else to say, but I was not a fan.


-Michael J. Ruhland