Tuesday, 28 February 2017

‘The Flash’: ‘Attack On Central City’ Review

The Flash 314

The Flash 314The Flash continued its two-part Gorilla Grodd storyline as Grodd was making his move to get over to Earth-1 through Gypsy after it was revealed at the end of last week’s episode that she had been taken under his control. The episode opens up with the team members all getting into Valentine’s Day spirit, particularly H.R., which annoys Harry quite a lot. Wally asks Jesse if she is going to tell her dad that she is staying on Earth-2, which leads to that surprisingly easy conversation with the father who approves her choice, however, he is up to something.

Gypsy crashes Earth-1 as she, under the control of Grodd, starts to blast everyone. Later on, she explains to the team that Grodd and his army have invaded Earth-1. As the team try to come up with a plan, when they later on go to confront Grodd, he is nowhere to be seen. However, Joe starts acting weird as he gets taken over by Grodd who makes the West father turn a gun on him and tries end his life. Barry manages to stop him in just the right time, but once back at Star Labs, he begins to get really frustrated over the danger that his friends and family are put in, because of him. He tells Iris that there is only one way he can stop Grodd once and for all: killing him.

The team tracks down who Grodd is currently controlling as they find out that a general in the army, with access to nuclear missiles, is Grodd’s new victim as he plans to nuke the city. Barry takes off and tries to stop the missile by trying every combination of numbers that he can think of. Eventually, he succeeds in stopping it, but Barry is still determined that he has to kill Grodd. Later on, Vibe manages to convince Gypsy to help the team after all.

A battle with Flash, Kid Flash and Jesse Quick against Grodd and his army takes place in the city as they try to distract the army, while Barry takes on the leader. Gypsy and Cisco vibe over a familiar face as Solovar, from Earth-2, appears in the battle field and takes down Grodd. Solovar and his army are taken back to Earth-2 while Grodd is transferred to ARGUS. Later that night, Barry gives Iris a big surprise while Wally gets one of his own as he suddenly sees a familiar terrorizing face.

A lot went down in tonight’s big episode that we want to discuss. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of the important moments and highlights of The Flash Season 3 episode: “Attack On Central City”.

#5: Wally & Jesse’s Relationship

#4: Grodd Invasion Part 2

#3: Speedsters Vs Gorillas

#2: Ending With Barry & Iris

#1: Wally Gets A Surprise

The post ‘The Flash’: ‘Attack On Central City’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Monday, 27 February 2017

‘Supergirl’ 2.14 ‘Homecoming’ Review

Supergirl Homecoming Review

Supergirl Homecoming ReviewSupergirl picks up shortly after it ended last week, with Mon-El waking up in Kara’s bed. After Kara returns from a morning of saving the day, she and Mon-El share a moment before Kara asks Mon-El to keep their relationship a secret. Of course, the second they walk into the DEO, Mon-El announces their relationship to everyone. Not missing a beat, Hank and Alex start teasing the pair about needing to visit Human Resources.

Shortly thereafter, Winn gets a lead on a Cadmus convoy supposedly transporting a weapon, and Kara and J’onn speed off to the site. What they find is something neither of them expected: Jeremiah Danvers. Taking him back to the DEO, Jeremiah, Alex, and Kara all get in on one super hug.

As Alex is looking over Jeremiah and his damaged hand, he talks about his abduction by Cadmus, revealing he was taken to turn the real Hank Henshaw into Cyborg Superman. Afterwards, they kept him to utilize his knowledge on other projects. Jeremiah also reveals that, when Cadmus stole Kara’s heat vision, they used it to build a nuclear fusion bomb. Their plan? Detonate it in National City and blame aliens.

During Jeremiah’s speech at a welcome-home dinner, he asks to rejoin the DEO to help everyone take down Cadmus. He’s immediately welcomed back into the fold, but Mon-El can’t keep his worries about the convenience of Jeremiah’s return to himself. Publicly criticizing Jeremiah and his return, everyone, including Kara, turns on Mon-El and his outburst. The fight prompts Kara to worry that their relationship isn’t going to work out. As Jeremiah is leading Mon-El out of the apartment, he reveals that he knows who Mon-El really is, threatening to expose it to Kara.

The next day at the DEO, Jeremiah uses his newfound access to try and break in to the DEO mainframe, which Winn oversees. Mon-El and Winn then corner Kara and reveal that it looks like Jeremiah is spying on the DEO. Kara, Mon-El, and Winn approach Jeremiah who says he was accessing case files to see the good Alex and Kara had been up to over the past two years. This line of questioning immediately sets Alex against Winn and Mon-El and makes her upset with Kara.

When Kara tries to talk to Alex, the two sisters are at odds over Jeremiah’s return. Alex accuses Kara of siding with Mon-El, but Kara insists this is about the truth. Alex says Kara is choosing sides, but Kara remarks that “this isn’t about sides,” it’s about protecting them. With a sharp retort, Alex says, “You’re either part of the family or you’re not.”

Later, when Winn gets a hit on the fusion bomb, Jeremiah is at the DEO as Alex, Kara, and Mon-El raid the location. When they discover an empty warehouse, J’onn approaches Jeremiah, who begins hacking the DEO and reveals his bionic arm, attacking both J’onn and Winn. When J’onn gets back to his feet, he questions Jeremiah, who says his seeming betrayal isn’t the whole story. Then, it’s Jeremiah vs Martian Manhunter, while the DEO files download in the background.

When Alex, Kara, and Mon-El return to the DEO, they find an injured J’onn and Winn. J’onn recounts the events to Alex, who vows to end Cadmus for what they’ve done. Winn then reveals he hid a tracker on Jeremiah. Alex and Kara rush off to confront him, Cyborg Superman, and Lilian Luthor.

During the standoff, Cadmus creates a distraction by blowing up train tracks, which Kara races off to deal with while Alex pursues the three. When Alex catches her father, she questions him about his betrayal. Jeremiah says Alex will have to shoot him if she wants to bring him in, but she can’t pull the trigger.

Back at the DEO, Alex breaks the news to Eliza and Kara expresses her worries over everything that happened, but J’onn reassures her that whatever happens next will “make them stronger.”

At home, Alex hits the drink hard, and Maggie questions her about what happened. Alex breaks down, sobbing into Maggie’s arms. At Kara’s apartment, Kara is wrapped up on the couch when Mon-El comes in and holds her tight. Receiving a phone call, Kara learns that Jeremiah stole the National Alien Registry from the DEO.

Continue on to read the review of season two’s fourteenth episode, “Homecoming.” It’s separated so you can tackle all of the super Supergirl happenings in chunks and explore the episode’s key moments and highlights. Click Next to scroll through, or jump straight to the part you’re most interested in:

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Sunday, 26 February 2017

‘The Walking Dead’ “Hostiles And Calamities” Recap

the-walking-dead-episode-711-eugene-mcdermitt-2-935

the-walking-dead-episode-711-eugene-mcdermitt-2-935
Last week on The Walking Dead, Rick and company met a few “new best friends.” After proving himself in the most badass way (fighting an “iron maiden zombie), he worked out an alliance with the “garbage people.” Meanwhile, Daryl and Carol finally reunited. However, Daryl lied about the deaths of Abraham and Glen, to protect Carol from her own murderous self. Ezekiel still tried to toe the line as he wants The Kingdom not to go to war with The Saviors, but it’s only a matter of time before he must join Rick against Negan.

This week focuses on The Saviors as we return once again to The Sanctuary and the fallout of Daryl’s escape. Eugene is also brought to The Sanctuary at the same time. Unlike Daryl, he already has more of an importance with The Saviors since he can make bullets. Eugene gets the royal treatment while Dwight has to deal with the fallout for letting Daryl escape under his nose.

Dwight must make things right and find both Daryl and his wife Sherry (who is also missing), so he’s off to find the both of them. Dwight goes to him home where he finds a goodbye letter from his wife confirming that she let Daryl escape, but he’s also the evil person he is on her account.

Eugene is also getting oriented to life in The Sanctuary as Negan has to use for him, thanks to his ability to create bullets. He even has his own handler. After showing his intellectual prowess, he earns cool points with Negan, but he still can’t have sex with any of Negan’s wives, but he does show them how good he is with everyday chemicals. A few of Negan’s wives take a liking to Eugene afterward and offer him a terrible option.

Dwight once again, showed his evil side by telling what happened to his wife to Negan, which had disastrous consequences for another member of The Saviors which Eugene got a front row seat to see. After that, Eugene answers the question as to who he is.

Before we can get to that next week, here are a few of the top moments of the episode. Click next to continue…

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DCTV’s Arrowverse Episode Roundup: Finding Peace With Words

dctv's arrowverse episode roundup

dctv's arrowverse episode roundup

It’s time for DCTV’s Arrowverse weekly episode roundup!

Supergirl had to deal with a magical imp from the fifth dimension who was wreaking havoc on National City because he wouldn’t take “no” for an answer to his proposal; The Flash headed back to Earth-2 and tangled with Grodd and Solovar in Gorilla City; Legends of Tomorrow found out that Camelot and King Arthur and his knights of the round table did indeed exist; Arrow tangled with familiar foes and someone who’s questioning Oliver’s dual identity.

This week’s over-arching theme was finding a way to make peace with different people through words.

You can check out all of the episode roundups for each show in DCTV’s Arrowverse by clicking through the gallery!

Next up: Supergirl

The post DCTV’s Arrowverse Episode Roundup: Finding Peace With Words appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Thursday, 23 February 2017

‘Riverdale’ 1.04 ‘The Last Picture Show’ And 1.05 ‘Heart Of Darkness’ Reviews

Riverdale Chapter Four Chapter Five Reviews

Riverdale Chapter Four Chapter Five ReviewsSouth Side Serpents, shady dealings, sassy teens, salacious affairs, and so much more. Riverdale continues its speedy clip as it dashes its way through season one’s 13 episode run.

In “Chapter Four: The Last Picture Show,” Jughead went on a mission to save the Twilight Drive-In, Betty dug into Miss Grundy’s past, and Hermione Lodge came clean. The school newspaper’s intrepid reporters (and Veronica) refused to let anything go even though the mayor, Archie, Hermione, and Alice wanted them too, and their digging turned over quite a bit of dirt.

Thanks to Betty’s persistence, Miss Grundy was completely exposed as Jennifer Gibson, a woman trying to leave behind an abusive ex. Betty, Veronica, Alice (Betty’s mom), Fred (Archie’s dad), and Archie all discovered the truth and it ended up driving Miss Grundy from both town and the show as Sarah Habel ended her run on the series with episode four (at least for now).

Meanwhile, Jughead visited both the mayor and Fred to try and save the Twilight Drive-In – a place he and his family (including his sister?) went during better times. Although his efforts proved futile thanks to a deal Veronica’s father (and now mother by proxy) struck with the South Side Serpents gang to devalue the land so Hiram could purchase it and continue his “business” dealings, we did learn that the main South Side Serpent Hermione is dealing with is Jughead’s father and that Jughead had been living in the drive-in.

Kevin also got a little action in the episode as one of the Serpents cornered him during the drive-in’s final showing and the two launched into a make-out session. Sure to cause issues in the future, Kevin and his father (the town sheriff) returned home that evening to find more pressing matters at hand – namely, someone broke into their house and destroyed the sheriff’s files regarding Jason’s death.

In “Chapter Five: Heart of Darkness,” we returned to Riverdale High and more high school related storylines as well as attended Jason’s memorial.

On the high school front, Archie was laser-focused on football until Valerie (one of the Pussycats) encouraged him to not give up on his music, first by giving him the number of a music coach in town and then later by telling him he’s the only person standing in his way. Although Archie initially fought for the role of captain on the football team, when the time came, he turned it down so he could still play and pursue music.

In the meantime, Betty and Jughead kept digging into Jason’s death and uncovered some shocking information about Jason, Polly, and a Cooper-Blossom family feud. It seems that Jason and Polly were in fact engaged but, after a particularly nasty fight, Betty’s dad came home to find Polly in the middle of trying to commit suicide, which is why she was sent away. In the end, we were also shown that it was Hal Cooper who broke into Sheriff Keller’s home and stole the files on Jason’s murder.

Veronica and Cheryl shared some time together as well, with Cheryl inviting Veronica over for a sleepover before Jason’s memorial. The “sleepover” turned out to be a colossally awkward dinner with Cheryl, Veronica, Penelope and Clifford Blossom, and Cheryl’s grandmother. The true nature of Cheryl’s parents was on full display as they ordered Cheryl not to speak at Jason’s memorial. However, after some prodding from Veronica, Cheryl ended up storming the memorial in full white and stealing the spotlight to speak about her twin.

Elsewhere, at the diner, Hermione received a snake in a box. She called Fred, who disposed of the snake, and questioned why Hermione didn’t call the police. She then revealed that the snake was a message from the Serpents because Hiram still owes them money. Later at the memorial, Fred approached Hermione and offered her the bookkeeping position he originally turned her down for.

Continue on to read the reviews of episodes four and five. They’re separated so you can tackle all of the juicy Riverdale drama in chunks and explore the episodes’ key moments and highlights. Click Next to scroll through, or jump straight to the part you’re most interested in:

The post ‘Riverdale’ 1.04 ‘The Last Picture Show’ And 1.05 ‘Heart Of Darkness’ Reviews appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

‘Powerless’: ‘Emily Dates A Henchman’ Review

Powerless

Powerless

Emily ventures back out into the dating world and Van channels his inner Boy Wonder in this week’s episode of Powerless, entitled “Emily Dates a Henchman.”

When Emily (Vanessa Hudgens) receives an invitation to her ex-boyfriend’s wedding, Jackie (Christina Kirk) insists that she needs to meet a man, so Jackie and Wendy (Jennie Pierson) join Emily for a girls’ night out. At a bar, she meets a guy named Dan (iZombie’s Robert Buckley), who she has a good feeling about. Turns out, her inner gage for good guys is crap, as she soon discovers that Dan is one of the Riddler’s henchmen.

Meanwhile, the Teddy (Danny Pudi) and Ron (Ron Funches) find one of Batman’s batarangs. Van Wayne (Alan Tudyk), holding a grudge against the Caped Crusader, joins them as they set out in search of the Dark Knight in Charm City. This, of course, leads to Van trying to live out his secret fantasy of becoming Robin.

I’ve been looking forward to this episode since the first images of Van in the Robin suit hit the internet. Is this the episode where the show finally finds its footing? Let’s see…

There’s a lot to talk about in this week’s episode of Powerless, so hit the next button below to follow along as we break down the highlights and critical moments of “Emily Dates a Henchman.”

5. 5 Signs You’re Dating A Henchman

4. Reggie’s Betrayal

3. Van v The Dork Knight

2. DC Easter Eggs

1. Final Thoughts

The post ‘Powerless’: ‘Emily Dates A Henchman’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Wednesday, 22 February 2017

‘Legion’: ‘Chapter 3’ Review

Legion2

Legion
Last week’s Legion was equally as satisfying as the series premiere, but can the third episode keep up the pace? Some may tire of the style of storytelling that Legion has been heavily leaning on, but I genuinely like the concept of an untrustworthy “narrator” particularly in moving image media. The subjective view of David’s that we see share in allows for a certain sense of empathy. We experience just a fraction of the insanity going on in David’s head and can understand where he is coming from just a little bit easier.

This week, we get a good amount of subject perspective as we take another journey into David’s memory. But it goes very badly this time. I’ll try to summarize some key sequences as best as I can and comment on anything that strikes me. Click on next, or one of the sections below to get started!

#5 David’s Powers Revealed

#4 Stress Test

#3 A Visit to Amy

#2 “I’m not so sure those are memories”

#1 Verdict and Final Thoughts

The post ‘Legion’: ‘Chapter 3’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

‘Arrow’: ‘The Sin-Eater’ Review

Arrow 514 Review

Arrow 514 ReviewArrow was all about the female baddies this week as Cupid, China White and Liza Warner returned in tonight’s episode as they broke out of prison. The episode opens up with Oliver tracking down the mother of Justin Clayborne’s son to try and identity Prometheus. She doesn’t cooperate though as she fears that her son would get locked up and not the help he deserves.

Cupid, China White and Liza cause trouble in the prison bus and manage to take the wheels as they drive to Star City to get Tobias Church’s $100 million deposit. As the team finds out that they broke out, the three women begin to terrorizing the city. Green Arrow and Quentin confront the three women as a showdown takes place. However, the ACU shows up as they are there to arrest the Green Arrow for the murder of Detective Malone.

Thea asks Felicity for help in investigating what’s going on with Susan Williams as she has been asking Oliver if he is the Green Arrow. Secretly, they manage to get Susan fired in the media.  She confronts Oliver about everything she knows about Oliver’s time in Russia and that she put two-and-two together. Oliver confronts Felicity about hacking Susan’s computer and she confesses to it, that Thea asked her to do it.

Dinah gets officially welcomed to the Star City Police Department, while she also continues her path as the next Black Canary. With everything that’s happening, the team encourages her to suit up, but Dinah isn’t ready to step into Laurel Lance’s shoes completely, while Felicity convinces her to at least wear a mask. Quentin also gives her his blessing as he felt confident that Laurel would approve of Dinah.  She joins the team and helps them take the three women down, along with the help of the ACU.

The episode concludes with Oliver seeing a news report that someone is claiming that the mayor had Billy Malone’s death covered up, which could possibly mean the end for Oliver’s administration. A lot went down in tonight’s heavy episode so we got a lot to discuss. So hit the next button below and let’s go through some of the highlights and important moments of the Arrow Season 5 episode: “The Sin-Eater”

#5: Russian Flashbacks

#4: Thea’s Sin

#3: Star City Sirens

#2: Dinah’s Progression

#1: The Ending

The post ‘Arrow’: ‘The Sin-Eater’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Tuesday, 21 February 2017

’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘Self Control’ Review

Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. 415

Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. 415Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ended on a major cliffhanger last week as we learned that Coulson, Mack, Mace and Daisy had been replaced by LMD versions of themselves. This episode opens up with the infiltrators continuing to executing Radcliffe’s plan as they intend to replace more agents, including Yo-Yo. However, during a scene with Radcliffe, we learn that Daisy was actually not replaced: she is still on their list.

While Fitz and Simmons are trying to figure out what to do in this intense situation, it’s discovered that one of them is also an LMD. Simmons pulls a gun on Fitz as she demands to prove to her that he is still human and while he slips his wrist to show that he has blood, Fitz knocks her out, revealing that he is an LMD. He tries to plug her into the Framework, but Simmons tries desperately to escape. She manages to get the upper hand and kills the LMD-Fitz before running away.

Daisy discovers a room with multiple LMD versions of herself as she realizes that they are trying to replace her. She blends in with them when Mack enters the room and she knocks him out before escaping. Daisy watches the security cameras and discovers that Coulson and Mace have been replaced, as well as Fitz.  She later runs into Simmons who is terrified of Daisy as she still thinks she is an LMD. Daisy, however, uses her Quake powers to prove to Simmons that she is still her before suggesting that they need to enter the Framework to save their fellow agents.

Later on, Daisy goes after the LMDs and almost gets taken down when shot by “Coulson” and “Mack”, but she ends up destroying one of the androids.  While Simmons and Daisy get stopped by “May”, she lets them go. When Coulson shows up, she admits that she can’t do what she wants him to do and decides to blow them both up. Daisy and Simmons enter the Framework to save their fellow agents, while knowing that they are taking a huge risk. Once inside, we see most of the agents living happy lives, orchestrated by the Framework that reveals the return of a familiar enemy.

The episode concludes with the discovery of what AIDA was doing this whole time in the episode, as an android version of The Superior wakes up. Given everything that happened in tonight’s intense episode, there are a lot of things we want to discuss. With all of that said, hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of tonight’s biggest highlights and important moments in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 episode: “Self Control”.

#5: One More LMD Twist

#4: Analyzing The Framework – Part 1

#3: Analyzing The Framework – Part 2

#2: The Post-Credit Scene

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

The post ’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘Self Control’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

‘Legends Of Tomorrow’: ‘Camelot/3000’ Review

Legends of Tomorrow

Legends of Tomorrow

The Legends of Tomorrow get medieval in tonight’s episode, “Camelot/3000.”

While searching for the shards of the Spear of Destiny before the Legion of Doom can get their evil hands on them, the Legends discover that the pieces are scattered across different time periods. Thier first stop is Detriot in the year 3000, where that fragment is being guarded by Justice Society of America member Dr. Mid-Nite aka Charles McNider (Kwesi Ameyaw).

Next, the Legends head to the past to Camelot, where they find JSA’s Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl (Sarah Grey) looking after that fragment. However, Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) is still evil, so the Legends must find a way to defeat King Arthur (Nils Hognestad) and his Knights of the Round Table to keep the shard out of the wrong hands.

There’s a lot to talk about in this week’s episode, so hit the next button below to follow along as we break down the highlights and critical moments of “Camelot/3000.”

5. The Year 3000

4. Camelot

3. Justice Society of America

2. Mind Control

1. Final Thoughts

The post ‘Legends Of Tomorrow’: ‘Camelot/3000’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

‘The Flash’: ‘Attack On Gorilla City’ Review

The Flash 313

The Flash 313The Flash picks up right where we left off two weeks ago as the team deals with Harry Wells being kidnapped by Gorilla Grodd in Gorilla City. The episode opens up with a brief flashback with how Harry got captured, followed by Jesse explaining why Harry and his team head over there. Barry remembers that one of the headlines from the future was the attack of Grodd in Earth-1, so he decides to save Harry while making sure Grodd doesn’t come over to Earth-1. Flash, Cisco, Caitlin and Julian travel together to Earth-2 to save Harry from Gorilla City.

However, they end up getting captured and put into cages as a mind-controlled Harry shows up and speaks as Grodd who wants Barry to take down Gorilla City’s leader, Solovar. If Barry kills him, Grodd promises them that he will spare Central City and let the team go. Barry is against killing Solovar, but agrees to fight him while trying to come up with a plan. During the fight in the Gorilla Arena, Barry defeats Solovar, but spares his life as he tells Grodd that he isn’t killing him.

Grodd gets angry and gets Barry back into the cage as he reveals the true plan, which was to get Solovar out of the picture, so that Grodd could be seen as the stronger leader. Grodd, through Harry, orders Cisco to open a breach for Gorilla City to invade Earth-1. While Grodd is gone, Harry wakes up and the team tries to come up with a way to get out of the cages. Barry gets Caitlin to use her powers on him to make it look like he was dead in order to lure Grodd.

They get Grodd to return and he falls for their trick as he drags Barry’s body out of the cage. Once he is gone, Barry lets everyone out and gets them back to Earth-1. However, the episode ends with Grodd having another way to get to Earth-1. A lot went down in tonight’s big episode that we want to discuss. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of the important moments and highlights of The Flash Season 3 episode: “Attack On Gorilla City”.

#5: Enter Gorilla City

#4: Julian & Caitlin Bonds

#3: Battle Vs Solovar

#2: Wally & Jesse

#1: Setup For Part 2

The post ‘The Flash’: ‘Attack On Gorilla City’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Monday, 20 February 2017

’Supergirl’: ‘Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk’ Review

Supergirl 213 Review

Supergirl 213 ReviewSupergirl opens up with where we left off last week as Kara and Mon-El get to know Mr. Mxyzptlk who is there to win Kara’s heart. However, this fifth-dimensional visitor has abilities that, pretty much, lets him to do whatever he wants as he teleports Mon-El to the D.E.O. when he tries to punch Mxyzptlk. Kara however isn’t interested in him, but Mxyzptlk isn’t going to give up that easily. Later on, when Supergirl is trying to stop robbers, Mxyzptlk tries to help her by almost shooting the baddies, but that’s not how the Girl of Steel rolls. Kara and Mon-El are having a big disagreement in how to defeat Mxy as he wants to kill him, while Kara is against it.

Alex is trying to get into Valentine’s Day spirit, but Maggie makes it clear that she isn’t the biggest fan of that holiday. As Kara fills Alex in on Mxyzptlk, Alex asks her about advice on how to celebrate Valentine’s Day with Maggie. Kara suggests that they just do it their own way and asks Alex to do something that Maggie likes. Later that night, Alex tries to surprise Maggie, but Maggie tells her that she doesn’t appreciate when people don’t respect her wishes and tries to leave. Alex tries to calm Maggie down who starts telling the story of how the Sawyer parents find out that Maggie was lesbian when she was 14 years old. Later, Maggie apologizes to Alex as the two women finally celebrate Valentine’s Day together.

When Parasite is, somehow, back in the city and is asking people. Supergirl and Mon-El tries to stop him, but Mxyzptlk, dressed up as Superman, swoops in and saves the day. Mxyzptlk reveals that he was the one that orchestrated the Parasite attack and when Mon-El mentions how to defeat the imp, Kara tries to deal it with it on her own. Later at the D.E.O, Kara and Mon-El have a massive fight about Mxyzptlk as they aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on how to deal with this situation.

Mon-El tries to take on Mxyzptlk alone, but he is way over his head. While Mon-El uses an amulet that he stole from the D.E.O., it isn’t enough to stop Mxyzptlk as he manages to destroy it. Kara shows up just as he is about to kill Mon-El and agrees to marry Mxyzptlk. The next day, Kara shows up at the Fortress of Solitude where Mxyzptlk is waiting for her. Kara drops the bomb that she was never going to marry him and that pisses Mxyzptlk off as he gives life to the Jor-El statue that starts to attack. Kara takes the statue down and locks the Fortress down while activating a self-destruction. Mxyzptlk begs her for the code and she manages to get him to write his name backwards which forces the imp to go back to the fifth dimension.

The episode ends with Mon-El congratulating Kara on taking Mxyzptlk down without killing him while also apologizing for how he behaved towards Kara earlier. Kara confesses that she didn’t mean everything that she said to Mon-El about him when they were arguing. As the two of them put their issues behind them, they share a kiss. A lot went down in tonight’s big episode that we have to discuss. So let’s go through the top 5 highlights and important moments of the Supergirl Season 2 episode: “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk”

#5: Enter Mr. Mxyzptlk

#4: Alex & Maggie’s Valentine’s Day

#3: Winn Gets A Love Interest

#2: Showdown With Mxyzptlk

#1: Kara & Mon-El

The post ’Supergirl’: ‘Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Sunday, 19 February 2017

‘The Walking Dead’ S7E10 “New Best Friends” Recap:

Rick

Walking Dead Rick
Last week on The Walking Dead, Ezekiel refused a partnership. However, Daryl found a new hideout to lay low from The Saviors. Father Gabriel frantically left Alexandria with most of the food. Many thought he was being a coward, but Rick knows he’s loyal and went after him knowing that Gabriel had a plan. When Rick headed after him, he discovered a new group of people, possibly “new best friends.”

The episode begins with members of The Kingdom once again giving The Savior their supplies in order to maintain the truce. Angry Savior once again continues to taunt Richard, which leads to a brief confrontation between the two camps. It’s clear that eventually that this fragile truce is going to come to an explosive end very soon.

Meanwhile, Rick meets a new community, which is unlike any they have encountered before. Let’s call them the Garbage People. Their leader, Jadis, strikes a bargain with Rick and the Alexandrians as they once again offer their services to yet another community in exchange for assistance against Negan and The Saviors (same as they did with Hilltop). After Rick proves himself in the most metal way possible, they have an alliance. They will get supplies for the Garbage People and the Garbage People will assist them.

Meanwhile, Richard tries to get Daryl to strike against The Saviors, but there will be some unfortunate collateral damage that Daryl cannot accept, Carol. Upon learning that she is still alive, he pays her a visit where the two unite. Daryl has the difficult choice of telling her the truth about Glen and Abraham, knowing that she would go full on Carol against them. Daryl opts to protect her from herself and opt not to tell her. Daryl then makes the decision to head back to Hilltop as they are more like-minded in the idea of taking on The Saviors.

Before we can get to that next week, here are a few of the top moments of the episode. Click Next to continue.

The post ‘The Walking Dead’ S7E10 “New Best Friends” Recap: appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

DCTV’s Arrowverse Episode Roundup: Pulling Double Duty

arrow supergirl episode roundup dctv double duty

Stephen Amell Open For Arrow/Supergirl

DCTV’s Arrowverse episode roundup is back again!

This past week on The CW, only Supergirl and Arrow had new episodes. The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will be back next week!

Supergirl dealt with the possibility of Lena Luthor’s betrayal when her mother, Lillian, is broken out of prison. Arrow contends with gun violence and puts pressure on Oliver Queen to face an issue he can’t deal with as the Green Arrow. Both superheroes pulled double duty, but relied more on their un-costumed selves to help their city and friends.

Click through the gallery to read Heroic Hollywood’s episode roundup with the breakdown of the story’s plots and to read commentary on what did and didn’t work in the episode.

Up next: Supergirl

The post DCTV’s Arrowverse Episode Roundup: Pulling Double Duty appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Friday, 17 February 2017

‘Logan’ Review: The Wolverine Film We Deserve

Logan Wolverine

Logan Wolverine

Where do I begin? It’s the year 2000 and I’m a young boy excited about the first X-Men film. Our favorite mutants are leatherclad and kicking the villainous Magneto’s behind. While the film was in action, something we couldn’t predict happened. We didn’t know it at the time, but this film introduced us to something very special, something that has only happened once. It gave us Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.

There were many great things about the first X-Men film, but the greatest one was Wolverine. Jackman’s tenure as the clawed mutant lasted 17 years and 9 films, with the latest one being his last. He is the only actor to ever portray the character.

Although his spin-offs started a little rocky, his solo outings slowly progressed throughout each film into something spectacular. X-Men Origins: Wolverine was underwhelming and The Wolverine was a much needed improvement, but there was still something missing and I think Jackman and director James Mangold knew.

Logan

Much like Deadpool, Wolverine is an R-rated character. He kills, he swears and things get really bloody. All previous Wolverine films were PG-13 and lacked the gore that is expected with the character. Then, 20th Century Fox announced that a third film was coming. The still-untitled film was heavily promoted at 2015’s San Diego Comic-Con, where Jackman confirmed that this would be his final go playing the character, unveiling a poster with the tagline– One Last Time. The film would go on to be titled Logan and the first trailer showed off a cerebral, western vibe with our weary berserker at a very low point in his life. I can officially say I’ve seen the film and I will give my thoughts about it below.

The marketing leading up to Logan led me to believe that the film was shaping up to be nothing short of a masterpiece, and boy was I right. The film starts out with a weary Wolverine. He’s old and doesn’t heal like he used to, but he definitely hasn’t lost a step. As the film progresses they introduce us to a senile Charles Xavier, who is trying to convince Logan to take a young mutant girl named Laura — who is very much like him — to a safe haven. While on the run from a group called the Reavers, who work for the sinister Transigen company, Charles, Logan and Laura travel to the safe haven and experience a lot of the good and bad things in life.

Logan sets the bar really high for this year’s set of comic book movies. It gave me everything I wanted in a Wolverine film. This was the movie I’ve been waiting for since the day I opened up my first X-Men comic. It had the right amount of action, blood, gore, and tear-jerking moments and performances that would make the most cynical person weep.

Jackman delivers his best Wolverine performance yet. He plays the tired world-weary old mutant so well that he’s somewhat an entirely different character from previous versions. Death, living longer than most people and seeing the things he has would do that to a person. I think Jackman delivers this with expert precision. We also get to see a different side of Patrick Stewart’s Professor X in Logan. He’s a foul-mouthed, wise-cracking, senile old man with the same heart as his younger self and I loved every bit of it.

Logan X-23

Newcomer Dafne Keen absolutely shines as Laura/X-23. She kicks so much ass and has just as much rage as Logan.  You will leave the theater thinking two thing: This girl can act and she can probably take a grown man down. By the end of this film this girl will have you rooting in her corner every step of the way and she has this way of making Logan get his act together that would make everyone smile. They’re a perfect duo.

Even the supporting characters add a certain weight to the film due to the fact that the main trio pose a risk to their well-being and you’re constantly worried for them because of how dastardly the villains are. The Reavers, led by Boyd Holbrook’s Pierce, are the main antagonists and are as chaotic as they can be. Holbrook plays a dick so well that I wanted him to get brutally mauled by Logan every time he was on the screen. Richard E. Grant doesn’t have much screen time as Dr. Rice, but he’s the most villainous of all as the puppet master for the muscle of the film.

Overall Thoughts: With its amazing cast and the emotional weight of being the final X-Men film starring Hugh Jackman, I believe Logan nails it. The all-around performances of the cast and newcomers gives this film the edge to make sure Jackman’s final bow as the Wolverine didn’t go quietly into the night. The story, rating, performances and the gore make this the perfect end to the Wolverine trilogy. This the Wolverine film we’ve been waiting for. It’s a masterpiece.

Rating: 10/10

Logan opens in theaters on March 3rd. Don’t miss it.

The post ‘Logan’ Review: The Wolverine Film We Deserve appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Thursday, 16 February 2017

‘Powerless’: ‘Sinking Day’ Review

Powerless

Powerless

Let’s all celebrate “Sinking Day” with the Wayne Securities team in the third episode of NBC’s DC Comics comedy Powerless.

When Van Wayne (Alan Tudyk) loses the company’s biggest clients (Ace Chemicals), his father, Vanderveer Wayne Sr. (Corbin Bernsen), makes an angry landing in Charm City to inform his son that he has lost his respect. Soon, Emily (Vanessa Hudgens) is forced to step up and try to help sign the people of Atlantis on as new clients in hopes of helping Van win his father’s approval.

Meanwhile, Teddy (Danny Pudi), Ron (Ron Funches) and Jackie (Christina Kirk) suspect their new co-worker Alex (Matthew Atkinson) of being a new superhero named The Olympian.

There’s a lot to talk about in this week’s episode of Powerless, so hit the next button below to follow along as we break down the highlights and critical moments of “Sinking Day.”

5. Sinking Day

4. Vanderveer Wayne Sr.

3. The Olympian

2. DC Easter Eggs

1. Final Thoughts

The post ‘Powerless’: ‘Sinking Day’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Wednesday, 15 February 2017

‘Legion’: ‘Chapter 2’ Review

legion chapter 2

legion chapter 2
Last week, I went over the series premiere of FX’s Legion and how I thought that stylistically the show is already in a different league. Based on one episode, it also had a very interesting narrative, but now that David is out of custody, I wasn’t sure if there would as much drama to go off of.

Thankfully, the team has a brilliant way of allowing us to keep going back into David’s mind. We are still able to see David’s memory and time jumps through Ptonomy Wallace’s (Jeremie Harris) mutant ability of “remembrance.” With this convenient plot device, Legion continues to confuse but also sheds light on some unanswered questions from the season premiere. However, don’t be fooled, “Chapter 2” is still a profound mystery.

Check out the Table of Contents below for a quick preview of what we will be discussing, or just click “next” at the bottom of this page to get started!

#5 A Strange Bedtime Story

#4 Counseling Session

#3 “A Romance of Mind”

#2 MRI Memories

#1 Final Thoughts and Verdict

The post ‘Legion’: ‘Chapter 2’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

‘Arrow’: ‘Spectre Of The Gun’ Review

Arrow 513

Arrow 513Arrow focused a lot this week on Rene Ramirez a.k.a. Wild Dog, one of the newest members of the team as we learn about his background of how he became the vigilante. But the episode also deals with the subject of gun control and gun violence. The episode opens up with the team trying to locate Prometheus’ mother and Felicity, through her Helix access, is getting closer to finding out, which Oliver observes.

Thea is back in Star City as she is back at the office with Quentin while surprised to find Rene there as the new deputy mayor’s assistant. A mystery shooter shows up in city hall and ends up injuring several staff members, including Adrian Chase. Back in the bunker, the team tries to find out who the shooter was as he left one of his weapons behind. Later on, Felicity finds out the identity of the shooter as a man who lost his family in a tragic mall shooting.

Throughout the episode, we see flashbacks to Rene’s days with his family and we see that there was a conflict between him and his wife. She isn’t fully comfortable with Rene wanting to carry a gun outside of his home. Rene however calls her out on doing drugs again as the two argue before their daughter Zoey shows up. When the two get back from the match, Rene finds the dealer that was hooking his wife up with drugs and demands that they pay up. Rene manages to get his gun out of his safe and kills the intruder, but as the man falls to the ground, the gun fires off a bullet that kills the wife. It is later revealed that child custody had to take Zoey away and we see Rene witnessing the death of Damian Darhk.

While Diggle is out looking for the shooter, he and Dinah bonds a little. He asks her again if he can help Dinah find a better place to stay. Dinah explains why she can’t apply for an apartment due to everything she has been though in the past three years. Later in the episode, Diggle finds out that Dinah managed to get the apartment and has joined the Star City Police Force.

The shooter shows up at Starling General as that is his next target, but Oliver tries to talk him out of it. As Oliver starts to get through to him, the shooter tries to end his own life in order to pay for his sins. Oliver talks him out of it and gets the gun away from him before the SWAT team arrests the shooter.

Oliver has a meeting with a council woman who is against a gun registry, but Oliver is determined to find ways to setup reasonable guidelines for gun registry. Later in the episode, he and Rene put together a proposal that she temporary agrees to as it would make her look bad if she tried to defy the mayor after the recent events. Later that night, Oliver and the city are holding a vigil for the people that died in the shooting. He reveals to the citizens that a new gun control act has been approved.

A lot went down in tonight’s heavy episode so we got a lot to discuss. So hit the next button below and let’s go through some of the highlights and important moments of the Arrow Season 5 episode: “Spectre Of The Gun”

#5: Rene’s Tragic Origin Story

#4: Dinah Drake & Diggle Bonds

#3: Arrow Dealing With Political Topics

#2: Where The Heck Is Prometheus?

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

The post ‘Arrow’: ‘Spectre Of The Gun’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

‘Iron Fist’: Colleen Wing Doesn’t Want To Be A Love Interest

Iron Fist Colleen Wing

Iron Fist Colleen WingOne of the big characters we will be meeting in Marvel’s upcoming Netflix series, Iron Fist, is Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing who will be entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe next month. In a recent chat with Interview Magazine, Henwick spoke about what the biggest definition is with her character. According to Henwick, Colleen is best defined as being a loner.

“The most defining word that comes to mind is alone — in all its positives and negatives. She doesn’t want to be anyone’s love interest and open herself up in that way.”

“Fifteen years after being presumed dead in a plane crash, Danny Rand mysteriously returns to New York City determined to reclaim his birthright and family company. However, when a long-destined enemy rises in New York, this living weapon is forced to choose between his family’s legacy and his duties as the Iron Fist.”

Iron Fist, starring Finn Jones as Danny Rand, Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing, Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum, Tom Pelphrey as Ward Meachum, David Wenham as Harold Meachum and Carrie-Ann Moss reprising her role as Jeri Hogarth, is currently in production and is set to be released on Netflix on Friday, March 17. Jones will also be reprising the role in Marvel’s fifth Netflix series, The Defenders, which premieres this summer.

Source: Interview Magazine

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Tuesday, 14 February 2017

‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ ‘The Man Behind the Shield’ Easter Eggs & Other References

Coulson

Agents
This week on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson leads the team to rescue both Director Mace and May from The Superior and The Watchdogs clutches, with some surprising results!

As the war with The Watchdogs (assisted by ADA and Radcliffe) intensifies, The Superior lures Coulson to his location using mace and May as bait. Meanwhile, we finally learn of The Superior’s beef with Coulson via a flashback when he and May went to Russia to retrieve an item which had disastrous results for him and his fellow comrades. In the aftermath of the rescue, ADA’s real plan comes to fruition, which will have calamitous impacts for S.H.I.E.L.D. for some time to come. You can check out our full review here.

Tonight’s episode was had some Easter Eggs related to Marvel comics, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and other things as well. Let’s take a look at a few of them. Click next to continue….

The post ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ ‘The Man Behind the Shield’ Easter Eggs & Other References appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘The Man Behind The Shield’ Review

Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. 414

Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. 414Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. picks up where it left off last week after Director Mace got kidnapped by The Superior. Coulson and Daisy are trying out the virtual reality, similar to the Framework, which is where the real May is trapped at. The team is alerted about where Mace is being kept at, but the signal just leads them to Mace’s abandoned uniform. Coulson however notices a big wall that is covered with photos of him as the team starts to realize that someone is after him.

Radcliffe is spending quite a lot of time within the Framework, which is bothering the Superior. As Coulson and the team are trying to figure out what their enemy’s obsession with Phil is, he starts remembering a mission from “some time ago” in Russia with Agent May, back when she was level 3. The flashbacks explain the Superior’s hatred towards Coulson as he was there to retrieve an object. Meanwhile, Mace tries to escape from the facility. However he is ganged by the Superior and his men who still believe Mace is an Inhuman. Mace tries to take him down, but the Superior gets the upper hand and locks the director up again. Superior continues to try and make Mace shut down S.H.I.E.L.D., but the director refuses. Mace is released by his captive before the Superior’s men show up and start beating him down.

The team arrives as the Superior confronts Coulson who could care less about his enemy’s hatred towards him and let’s Quake take care of him. Fitz and Simmons reunite later with the team after they saved the Superior, but learned that May was never there and despite wanting to keep going, Coulson tells them to retreat. While the team managed to rescue Mace, Fitz and Simmons are suspicious about the time table of the mission as a whole. Simmons discovers that the LMD detector system had been disabled and they learn that it was by Coulson. As they review the footage, they discover the horrific truth: S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated once again.

Given everything that happened in tonight’s intense episode, there are a lot of things we want to discuss. With all of that said, hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of tonight’s biggest highlights and important moments in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 episode: “The Man Behind The Shield”

#5: The Superior’s Origin Story

#4: Flashbacks With Coulson & May

#3: Director Mace Fights For Survival

#2: Major Twist Ending

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

The post ’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘The Man Behind The Shield’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

‘The Walking Dead’ S7E9 Recap: “Rock in the Road”

Rick4

Walking Dead Rick4
After a long mid-season break, The Walking Dead is back. At the mid-season finale, Daryl escaped the clutches of The Saviors and reunited with a newly inspired Rick. It’s now time for the Alexandrians to fight back against the Saviors and his nemesis, Negan.

The episode began with Father Gabriel packing supplies in a panic as he prepares to leave Alexandria. As he vacates the premises, he has another passenger traveling with him. Who that mystery passenger is at this point will remain a mystery.

At the Hilltop, please with Gregory fall on deaf ears and he is still too much a coward to want to take The Saviors head on. Good for Rick, though, he’s starting to gain some followers over at the Hilltop as there are a few people who are interested in joining the fight. The numbers still aren’t enough to deal with a group as vast as the savior. Jesus decides that now’s the time to introduce the Alexandrians to King Ezekiel and The Kingdom.

They have the same reaction Morgan and Carol has when meeting Ezekiel, Shiva and his extravagant ways. Rick and everyone has a reunion with Morgan (who finally finds the bad news about Abraham and Glenn) and then make a plea with Ezekiel to join with them against The Saviors. Even after a few good pep talks from both Benjamin and Richard, he still decides against an alliance. However, he does offer asylum for Daryl to remain at The Kingdom away from The Saviors.

After managing to find some of The Saviors’ dynamite, they head back to Alexandria where The Saviors are looking for the missing Daryl. After once again tearing the place apart, they warn that Daryl will die if found. Rick and co learn about the missing Gabriel and try to find him knowing, only to be caught by a new group. Surprisingly, Rick is happy.

Before we can get to that next week, here are a few of the top moments of the episode. Click next to continue.

The post ‘The Walking Dead’ S7E9 Recap: “Rock in the Road” appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Monday, 13 February 2017

’Supergirl’: ‘Luthors’ Review

Supergirl 212

Supergirl 212Supergirl was all about the Luthor family as we learned about how Lena became a member of the villainous family. The episode opens up with a flashback as we see a young Lex playing chess with Lillian before Lionel Luthor walks in with a little girl who is going to be staying with them, her name is Lena.

Lena is dealing with her mother’s trial and Kara decides to pay her a visit to offer some support. Kara encourages Lena to visit her mother, despite their differences. Lena takes Kara’s advice and visits Lillian in prison who opens up about the complicated family situation. It turns out that Lionel had an affair with Lena’s real mother and that is why Lillian has always struggled with Lena throughout her childhood. She asks for s second chance from her stepdaughter and Lena seems to agree to it.

Meanwhile, John Corben gets a secret package which contains his Kryptonite heart. The scene cuts to Lillian’s trial where he is defending her. Corben starts to get aggressive and ends up attacking the whole courtroom by shooting his Kryptonite beam. Metallo breaks Lillian out of her cuffs and leaves with him. Supergirl tries to stop them, but the two villains split up with Metallo attacking citizens. Maggie finds out that Corben only had one visitor that night when he got the Kryptonite and it is being painted that Lena was the one who did it.

Lena gets arrested by Maggie and back at Cat Co, Snapper is making Lena’s crime the front story which Kara is upset with. Metallo goes back to the prison to break Lena out, but Guardian arrives as the two have a showdown. However Metallo gets the upper hand and takes her down, although he seems to have used a little too much of his Kryptonite heart, before he breaks Lena out. Kara and James argue about whether or not Lena is a criminal as she tries to convince everyone that Lena has nothing to do with Cadmus and Lillian. Lena is cross with Lillian for breaking her out as it will only make her look a lot worse. Lillian tries to convince Lena to forget about thinking about what’s right and leave her old life behind by joining Cadmus instead. What Lillian doesn’t notice though is that Metallo’s Kryptonite heart is starting to spread the Kryptonite all over his body. They arrive at Lex’s arsenal which contains his iconic warsuit and a lot more recognizable items. Lena refuses to open up the arsenal, but Cyborg Superman forces her to open it.

Winn is investigating the security footage that made it look like Lena got the Kryptonite and discovers that it was actually Cyborg Superman. Kara tries to save Lena, but Lillian uses a sonic device to stun Kara who warns them that Metallo is about to explode. Winn warns her that the more he uses it, the quicker it will explode. Martian Manhunter arrives and just as Metallo explodes, the heroes get away with Lena. Later on, Lena’s name is cleared and in a later scene, she thanks Kara for believing in her. Kara comes clean about her feelings to Mon-El and as they are about to share a kiss, a mysterious man appear in her apartment. A lot went down in tonight’s big episode that we have to discuss. So let’s go through the top 5 highlights and important moments of the Supergirl Season 2 episode: “Luthors”

#5: Luthor Flashbacks

#4: Lillian & Lena’s Relationship

#3: Return Of Metallo

#2: Healing Between James & Kara

#1: The Arrival Of [SPOILER]

The post ’Supergirl’: ‘Luthors’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

Sunday, 12 February 2017

‘The LEGO Batman Movie’ Review: Not All Brooding For This Dark Knight

LEGO Batman

LEGO Batman

*Spoiler Free Review*
The LEGO-fied version of Batman that we all loved in 2014’s The LEGO Movie is back, this time in his very own film. I thought the first LEGO film was surprisingly great, but I was really looking forward to The LEGO Batman Movie, as it’s more in line with my particular geeky interests.

Batman (Will Arnett) is used to working alone as the sole protector of his city and the people of Gotham adore him. This all changes, however, when Jim Gordon (Hector Elizondo) retires as Police Commissioner and is replaced by his highly-accomplished daughter, Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson). Barbara has a new plan for fighting the city’s crime and it involves Batman working alongside the GCPD. Bats is not a big fan of the Commissioner’s new initiative, but when The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) becomes hell-bent on once and for all proving himself to be Batman’s greatest nemesis, the Dark Knight must learn to open up and start working well with others, including a young orphan he’s recently adopted by the name of Dick Grayson (Michael Cera).

The big theme of this movie is family. Like just about every other version of the character you see these days, LEGO Batman is the ultimate loner. The big difference is, this Batman has people around him that care enough to try and intervene. His loving butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) hates seeing Bruce push everyone away. He knows it’s unhealthy. Batman has fully immersed himself in his crusade, rarely even taking off his cowl and assuming his true identity of Bruce Wayne, which is true to form as any true Batman fan will know that the Bruce Wayne persona is the real mask he hides behind. He usually much better at hiding behind it than he is in this film, though.

The thing that really shines a spotlight on the film’s core theme is the Robin storyline and this is the part of the story that I found the most emotionally compelling. We may not see much of this sort of thing anymore in the mainstream Batman media, but family has long been a big part of Batman’s identity. The great thing is that if the filmmakers choose to make another LEGO Batman movie, there’s plenty of other great characters from the Bat-family to introduce down the line.

Across the board, all the characters are perfectly depicted (for a LEGO Batman movie) and the voice cast assembled here is amazing. Arnett again nails it in a truly hilarious take on Batman. I love it so much that I fear his voice might creep into my head from time to time while reading Batman comics (which is crazy, because I’ve only ever heard Kevin Conroy’s voice in my head since childhood). From the trailers, I thought Cera’s Robin would quickly grow tiresome, but I was happy to discover that it’s just too hard to hate the lovable young ward. This character often cracked me up with just a simple dumb facial expression. Rosario Dawson makes for a tremendous Barbara Gordon, displaying all of the things that make the character from the comics one of my all-time favorites: she’s brilliant, she’s brave and she doesn’t take crap from anybody, billionaire playboy superheroes included. Also, I can’t tell you how much I love seeing Batgirl in action on the big screen and done justice, for a change. Fiennes’ Alfred was spot on, but I do have to say that I found it utterly baffling that they didn’t have the actor voice another specific character in the film (if you’ve seen the film and know Fiennes’ work, then you should know who I’m referring to).

On the villain front, I love Zach Galifianakis, and though his Joker voice might not be able to contend with Mark Hamill’s (an impossibly high bar, I know), I found that I really dug it for this iteration. Filling out most of the remainder of the cast, the bulk of Batman’s Rogues Gallery is voiced by some excellent comedians such as Conan O’Brien as The Riddler, Doug Benson as Bane, Jenny Slate as Harley Quinn, Jason Mantzoukas as Scarecrow, Garfunkel & Oates’ Riki Lindhome as Poison Ivy and Kate Micucci as Clayface. As a big comedy fan, I enjoyed listening for these talented comedic performers as they embody some of my favorite villains from comics. I would have liked a bit more of some of these villains, though. And although she’s not a comedian, Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman might have cracked me up the most, interjecting a particular phrase at some point during most of her lines (it’s so dumb, but I couldn’t help but chuckle every time).

One of the great things about a character that has stood the test of time like Batman is that he has changed so much in his 78-year history that a version like the LEGO Batman totally feels in character. It’s pretty apparent that director Chris McKay and his small army of writers truly know this character in and out (in fact, if McKay really wants to try his hand at a live-action DC film, I say let him). They struck just the right balance of honoring the storied history of the character, across all mediums, while knowing just what to poke fun at when it’s rightfully deserved. One amazing example of honoring the legacy came in the casting of Billy Dee Williams as the voice of Two-Face. Williams, who played Harvey Dent in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, never got to play Two-Face, so it was nice to finally see that wrong righted, even in such a minor way. In addition, the film not only honors Batman lore, but the DC Universe as a whole, with plenty of nods to various people/places/things from the comics, as well as some fun cameos from some of Batman’s Super Friends, like Superman (Channing Tatum), Green Lantern (Jonah Hill) and The Flash (Adam Devine).

This character’s world, as established in the comics, is so incredibly vast and this film somehow manages to explore aspects of it all in a way that works exceptionally well. However, this fact does bring me to the one problem I had with the movie. It’s a little tough to go into this completely without entering into spoiler territory, but I’m going to try and be vague enough about it, in case you haven’t seen the film yet (or if you’d prefer, maybe just skip the rest of this paragraph altogether). Joker’s big plan involves working with some people that are a bit unexpected and this took me out of the world that I had previously loved for being so beautifully crafted. I would have been totally fine with cameos in this vein, but I thought having them be such a big part of the film’s story was a mistake. It was cute, but it just didn’t work for me. There were so many other options here that would have felt more in line with what this film already established, but I shouldn’t get too specific.

My singular gripe aside, as a whole, this is a truly outstanding film. It’s pretty close, but I liked LEGO Batman better than The LEGO Movie, though that’s mostly because it’s all Batman, all the time. McKay and company delivered a fantastically fun and funny adventure that should please Bat-fans of any generation. And if you’re a parent, don’t fear, this is a perfect film to take your kids to. They’ll love it and you might just end up loving it yourself.

Score: 9/10

The LEGO Batman Movie is in theaters now.

Have you seen the film yet? If so, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

The post ‘The LEGO Batman Movie’ Review: Not All Brooding For This Dark Knight appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.