2.5 Razors – Page 82 – RazorFine Review

That Harley Quinn Birds of Prey Movie

Alan Rapp / June 26, 2020 / Home Video

Title: Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn
IMDb: link

I had much the same reaction to Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn as to Suicide Squad. There’s low-rent fun to be had here in this crass tale of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) striking out on her own after leaving the Joker. Robbie reprises her role from Suicide Squad, but is forced to carry much more of the story this time around. The script makes Harley the film’s narrator, often telling events out of order or forgetting key points. The idea is fun for a few minutes, but this isn’t Rashomon or Memento. It’s a B-movie with delusions of grandeur.

On the bad side of mob boss Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), and no longer under the Joker’s protection, Harley finds herself working off a debt by tracking down a young street thief (Ella Jay Basco) in possession of a diamond far more valuable than anyone realizes. She’s also got to stay one-step ahead of Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), the film’s cliched one good cop in the city.

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Jumanji: The Next Level

Alan Rapp / June 16, 2020 / Home Video

Title: Jumanji: The Next Level
IMDb: link

Jumanji: The Next Level brings back the cast of 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle for another trip into the video game version of Jumanji as Spencer’s (Alex Wolff) friends follow when the isolated college Freshman goes looking for something familiar. This time around, however, the players are all in different avatars and two of the players have been replaced by Spencer’s grandfather (Danny DeVito) and his former business partner (Danny Glover).

I wasn’t all that impressed with the 2017 film which was fun at times but also lazy and largely forgettable, and The Next Level offers more of the same: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson smoldering, characters hashing out their issues while running for their lives, and Karen Gillan running around the jungle in short-shorts. The addition of the older players does offer some new dynamics (along with quite a few easy old people don’t understand technology jokes), and having none of the players in the avatars they expected is one of the sequel’s best choices.

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Birds of Prey

Alan Rapp / June 9, 2020 / Comics

Title: Birds of Prey (One-shot)
Comic Vine: link
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Emanuela Lupacchino

Originally conceived as the start of a new series for DC’s Black Label, this giant single-issue from writer Brian Azzarello and artist Emanuela Lupacchino features Harley Quinn‘s return to Gotham City where she quickly becomes involved in the Huntress stalking a brutal crime syndicate and a trio of assassins. Of course, Harley sees circumstances as fate pushing her in a new direction.

Reading this all at once, you can tell very quickly that the story was meant to be broken up into several issues with climaxes every 22 pages or so. I’ll admit I was a bit confused what versions of each character we’re getting here as well as when exactly this is supposed to take place.

I also have some complaints over Dinah mooning over a former friend-with-benefits (who gets way too many pages here) she admittedly didn’t even like and introducing Renee Montoya as a dirty cop with questionable allegiances. The scenes of Dinah rolling around in bed or in just a towel also feel a bit forced (perhaps trying to fit into the more “adult” themes of the Black Label?).

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Scooby-Doo! – Never Ape an Ape Man

Alan Rapp / May 28, 2020 / Television Reviews

Title: Scooby Doo, Where Are You! – Never Ape an Ape Man
wiki: link

Throwback Thursday takes us back to Scooby Doo, Where Are You! for another mystery involving some meddling kids and their talking dog. An invite from Daphne‘s (Stefanianna Christopherson) uncle brings Mystery, Inc. to the movie set of The Ape Man of Forbidden Mountain where a real apeman begins terrorizing filming. With Daphne’s uncle playing one of the few guest-stars, it’s not hard to guess who is masquerading as the apeman (who oddly isn’t unmasked in the show’s tradition). The episode is memorable for Scooby-Doo (Don Messick) acting bravely early in the episode to save an actress from the apeman’s first attack and Daphne triggering a trap that sends Fred (Frank Welker) falling into a secret passage behind a bookcase (which would become part of the opening credits). As to the odd appearances of the parrot and a Scooby mask or the questionable motives of the stuntman putting a co-star’s life in danger merely in hopes to get a bigger role in the picture (which wouldn’t exist without the co-star), those are inconsistencies the episode doesn’t attempt to explain.

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Star Trek: Voyager – Ex Post Facto

Alan Rapp / May 19, 2020 / Television Reviews

Title: Star Trek: Voyager – Ex Post Facto
wiki: link

Throwback Tuesday takes us back to the Delta Quadrant and to the misadventures of a starship crew 70,000 light years from home. In a story more than a little similar to Star Trek: The Next Generation “A Matter of Perspective,” Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) is accused of romantic entanglements with the wife (Robin McKee) of a scientist and the scientist’s (Ray Reinhardt) murder. Convicted of the crime before Voyager is made aware of the situation, Paris has had memories of the murder (from the victim’s perspective) implanted in his mind, forcing him to relive the murder every 14 hours. Given his more questionable character, and a living record of the murder, Paris’ possible guilt is an easier sell than Riker‘s in “A Matter of Perspective,” although no one ever accepts the evidence against him. The idea of implanting memories as punishment was also used by Deep Space Nine in “Hard Times.”

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