Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Season 1 - Episode 5: 'The Song Of Mystery' (2010) - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Jinkies Guys, finally a truly good episod of the latest Scooby-Doo TV Show! That's right folks, the biggest problem about this series to date is that just about every episode that has been reviewed on this website to date have for the most part sucked!

I mean the bizarre way that Fred has acted... (He is still weird, but they have toned it down,) the bizarre style choices of the way that the shows creators have regarding which generation the Scooby gang are in is still there but toned down... As a matter of fact, the only really annoying thing about, 'The Song Of Mystery' (2010), is the ridiculous nature of the authorities and how they more concerned with their revenue stream, versus the safety of the town!

Written by: Paul Rugg (Freakazoid) & Co-Directed by: Curt Geda (Batman: Mystery Of The Batwoman), Victor Cook (21 Grams). Starring: Frank Welker (The Real Ghostbusters), Mindy Cohn (The Facts Of Life), Grey DeLisle (Batman: Assault On Arkham) & Matthew Lillard (Scream).

The Children of Crystal Cove appear to be changing when a monster playing a pan flute plays his magical song and changes the children in to raving monsters... The person taking credit for this latest mystery for the Scooby gang is, 'Que Horrifico'!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] This kid heard, 'The Song Of Mystery' and now is a new child![/caption]

The Adults are clueless and abandoning their children as they themselves flee the town. The Scooby gangs parents have at least one of their children arrested to keep them out of it... And the authorities are only concerned with the town's revenue stream and absolutely nothing else.

The only thing that is going to save these kids and the town is the Scooby gang... And this one has a twist that hits right where the gang goes to School at!

At this point I know the show is for kids, the truth is, is I have no hope for this show, so to say that this episode is slightly better... That is not hope... This episode is not slightly better, it is just a little less bad!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlcnXJ3A9lU&w=560&h=315]
 

Batman Beyond: Season 1 - Episode 5: 'Meltdown' (1999) - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

You know, so far I have to say that I am pretty impressed with, 'Batman Beyond'... I mean it is a fascinating look at a world where the mantle of, 'Batman' had to be passed on to a new generation... And with that new generation, a new generation of Super villain as well!

And speaking of new villain... Episode 5... Has our new Dark Knight fighting an old villain... Which did make for a very fun episode!

You see, this episode, which was written by: Hilary Bader (The New Batman Adventures), Stan Berkowitz (Justice League: The New Frontier), Alan Burnett (Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm), Paul Dini (Batman: Arkham City), Rich Fogel (Smurfs), Bob Goodman (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part 1) & Directed By: Curt Geda (Ultimate Avengers). Starring: Will Friedle (Kim Possible: The Secret Files), Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series), Linda Hamilton (Children Of The Corn), Michael Ansara (Broken Arrow) & Sherman Howard (Lethal Weapon 2).

Mr. Freeze (Michael Ansara)... A villain who when Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) fought him as, 'The Dark Knight', was a criminal that was hell bent on saving his wife's life... His only connection to humanity... What with being a cold emotionless immortal shell and all...

Well decades later he has become a different type of person... He wants to reform and come back in tot he world of the living... In comes Derek Powers (Sherman Howard)!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320"] Mr. Freeze goes to war with his benefactor![/caption]

You see, for his own nefarious reasons, Derek Powers has decided to help him out, and gives Mr. Freeze a new lease on life, with a new body and all...
At first everything seems to be going alright... As a matter of fact, it appears as if, 'Mr. Freeze' has gone to that cold storage in the sky, what with Victor Freese adjusting to his life as a law abiding citizen of the great city of, 'Gotham' real nicely!

In the end though... Victor Freese's body ends up reverting to, 'Mr. Freeze', (along with his mind as well)... In the end though Victor Freese may finally get the justice that he so richly wanted, in the revenge he thought he deserved to reap on Derek Powers and the group that tried to help him!

In the end, this episode was a lot of fun, and well worth it to see the character arc of Mr. Freeze... So in the end, check it out, I think that you might find this episode to be fun... I know I did!

http://youtu.be/22yMGXR2fqU

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Season 1 - Episode 1: 'Beware The Beast Below' - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

When I was a kid, one of my favorite cartoon's were the old, 'Scooby-Doo' cartoons, they were always fun, with scares, and thrills, and Scooby and Shaggy were always a hoot when it came to coming up against the villains that they face in all of the episodes...

Well the truth is, is I have carried that enjoyment of that show as I have grown up, and because of that I believe is what, for me, made the movies so much fun, and even the Scooby-Doo/Johnny Bravo crossover episode fun as well! The problem is, is that this newest series, 'Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.' so far has not lived up to the awesome fun time that it's predecessor has!

You see, this first episode, which was written by: Mitch Watson (Totally Spies) & Directed By: Curt Geda (Batman Beyond). Starring: Frank Welker (The Real Ghost Busters), Mindy Cohn (Hot In Cleveland)), Grey DeLisle (Ultimate Avengers) & Matthew Lillard (Scream), tells the story of how in High School the mystery solving friends, Fred (Frank Welker), Velma (Mindy Cohn), Daphne (Grey Delisle), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), and Scooby-Doo (Also Welker) are just starting out as mystery solvers...

The only problem is that more often then not their solving of these mysteries ends up with them not only being in trouble with the Sheriff, but their parents as well... That is until a new mystery will help put them on the map...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] The, 'Mystery Incorporated' gang after their latest run in with the law![/caption]

The mystery being that while working underground, a group of workers ends up being attacked by an unknown monster... Well during this time, the gang of High School sleuths are on the case... They start off by searching out the tunnel after the attack occurred, but when they get down their they find a locket and the workers when they are paralyzed...

Well of course they decide to try and get the authorities involved... But when it looks like the Sheriff is not only not willing to help them, but is also seemingly only interested in the towns revenue stream, it looks like it will be up to, 'Mystery Incorporated' to solve this case before the town really will, 'Beware The Beast Below'!

Now the truth is, is that this episode had it's comedic moments, and it was fun to see a  new monster that turned out to be a crook trying to cause problems... But the problems are that this series seem to be set in the modern day, but Shaggy and the gang seem to be stuck in the 70s... This made things for me always seem to be a little disjointed through out the series...

Also, I really can't believe that even in a cartoon that the Sheriff would be more interested in the towns latest, 'attraction' or, 'revenue stream' then catching the bad guy...

Well I will say that this show has some minor promise, and I do intend to check it out further, but in all truth, if this episode is any indication, then I don't see much of a bright future for this series!

http://youtu.be/TvSuUj4ANzQ

Batman Beyond: Season 1 - Episode 1: 'Rebirth Part 1' - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

When I was a kid one of my favorite shows was, 'Batman: The Animated Series' It was sleek, it was dark, it was cool, and it had finally dropped all that campy stuff that made Batman so popular from the 60s through the 80s!

So when I discovered, 'Batman Beyond' in the early 2000s, I found the concept of, 'What if Bruce Wayne had to retire and pass the mantle of, 'Batman' to the next generation' and what that would be like.  Now I will admit that I have not really seen to many episodes of this new series yet, but I will admit that so far, that I have found this show to be pretty awesome!

And so far, starting with Episode 1 of Season 1, the show has been a great way to start... But we will get in to that in a moment!

Written by: Alan Burnett (Superman), Paul Dini (Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker) & Directed by: Curt Geda (Ultimate Avengers). Starring: Will Friedle (Boy Meets World), Kevin Conroy (Batman), Teri Garr (Tootsie), Michael Gross (Tremors), Sherman Howard (Day Of The Dead), George Takei (Star Trek) & Lauren Tom (Futurama).

This first episode tells the story of how 50 years in the future, Gotham City is a whole different place... The technology of the future is there, including hover cars, and an over grown bustling Gotham City... The only problem is that Batman retired years ago, and the Police are essentially under the control of, 'Derek Powers' (Sherman Howard)...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Derek Powers (Sherman Howard) as he is having a frank discussion with Warren McGinnis (Michael Gross)... And boy is it the discussion of a life time![/caption]

Now Derek Powers is an up and coming billionaire playboy who is slowly replacing Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy)... Being that Powers is buying up Wayne Enterprises one company at a time!

But there is a secret that Derek Powers is harboring, and it will hit the McGinnis family pretty hard!

You see after his fight with his father, Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle) takes off to go and be with his girl friend, 'Dana' (Lauren Tom)... While there Terry is confronted by, 'The Jokerz' a street gang that modeled themselves after the legend of the original, 'Joker'!

Well in the end, they chase Terry up to Wayne Manor... Once there McGinnis meets an aged Bruce Wayne, who helps McGinnis take down the, 'Jokerz' and after helping Bruce up to, 'Wayne Manor', Terry ends up accidentally stumbling on to the Batcave and discovers who Batman really is! Well after he gets home and discovers that his father is dead and decides to enlist Bruce's help in trying get vengeance...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] It's gonna be like a buddy cop movie, ya know?[/caption]

Since this is a 2 parter, stay tuned for part 2 of this review!

In the end though, the acting in this episode was good... Not exceptional, but good... The animation was good... Not exceptional, but good... In the end what really held my interest in this episode was the story! I love stories that quickly establish great back stories... which this episode did really nicely (what with having shown how Bruce Wayne initially retired as, 'Batman'... And it also quickly established a great story and motivation for bringing, 'Batman' back to life!

In the end, this episode was fun, and if this series continues this way, it is sure to get better and better!

http://youtu.be/3ABcSoiDnFQ

Ultimate Avengers (2006) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Marvel has been hitting it big in the new millenium, what with having released movies that for the most part almost all of them were summber block busters! Such movies as the X-Men series, the Spider-Man series,the Iron Man series, and now with the success of the big screen box office smash hit, The Avengers (2012)! And speaking of the Avengers, before the recently released movie came out... As a matter of fact, before most of the sub-series for the characters from this team was released, there was great animated movie series version of, 'The Avengers', (which I also belive may have eventual spawned a cartoon series on TV) called, Ultimate Avengers (2006)! Written by: Greg Johnston (Planet Hulk) and Directed by: Curt Geda (Batman: The Mystery Of The Batwoman), Steven E. Gordon (Terminator: Salvation) & Bob Richardson (Daredevil Vs. Spider Man). Starring: Justin Gross (Ninja Gaiden), Grey DeLisle (Bolt), Michael Massee (Millenium), Oliviia d'Abo (Point Of No Return), Marc Worden (Sky Blue), Nolan North (TMNT), Andre Ware (The Cost Of Heaven), David Boat (The Super Hero Squad Show) and Fred Tatasciore (Team America: World Police).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="290"] Captain America & Black Widow as they are trying to recruit Iron Man for the, 'Avengers'![/caption]

The first thing that I thought that I should mention that I thought that you guys would find pretty interesting is the fact that this Avengers Team is very different then the one that you saw in the live action movie! What I mean by that is that in the live action movie that came out just a few months ago, that, 'Avengers' team consisted of, Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and the members of S.h.i.e.l.d. that they work with... In the, 'Ultimate Avengers', the team consists of Captain America (Gross), The Wasp (DeLisle), Bruce Banner (Not the Hulk, and he is voiced by Michael Massee), Black Widow (d'Abo), Iron Man (Worden), Giant Man (North) as well as the S.H.I.E.L.D. Crew that work with them! As for the story, this movie (which I was really quite impressed with the animation for), tells the story of how near the end of World War 2, Captain America and his United States Soldier, are about to win the war when Nazi Germany gets some help by an Alien race that has given the Nazis the technology for the Atom Bomb! Now of course this can't work for Captain America, and takes out the nuclear weapon while it is in mid air, the only problem is that after he takes out the bomb, and with the U.S. Millitary giving him up as being killed in action, Captain America falls in the the Atlantic and freezes in to a glacier (where he is able to stay alive by being kept in suspended animation! 60 years later, the U.S. Government and the people who work at S.H.I.E.L.D. are fighting a super secret war against the Aliens that have stayed on Earth... When they find Captain America and thaw him out, General Nick Fury (Ware), is ordered to iniiate the, 'Avengers' program and bring together the above mentioned heros to fight against the alien invasion and stop this secret war before it comes out in the opening!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="448"] Nick Fury, Black Widow & Captain America as they are prepping to kick some major ass![/caption]

Now like I mentioned above, the animation in this movie really was cool, the reason for that is the fact that I always enjoy watching the comic book characters (literally) come to life in the style that they were drawn in the comic books... (With the exception of Thor, and to a degree Iron Man... But still the animation was great!) Also I have to admit that story was a lot of fun! The last thing that I thought that I would mention is that this movie would in the end produce a sequel, as well as I believe a really awesome cartoon series!

http://youtu.be/R_Tgw6f61Vg