2 Razors

Detective Comics #24

Detective Comics #24The Wrath storyline wraps up here with the villain’s convoluted grand scheme to kill cops forcing them to buy defense armament from Caldwell’s firm defense which he will now activates to slowly kill them (so slowly it will in fact give Batman time to save everyone). As genius plans go, this one needs a little work.

After unceremoniously abandoning the cliffhanger of Alfred in the super-villain’s clutches, we get an air battle between Wrath and Batman followed later by a heavily-armored fist fight between the pair in the wreckage of the 13 Precinct where the Dark Knight leaves the bad guy at the mercy of James Gordon and a whole bunch of ticked off members of the GCPD.

The entire arc has felt largely uninspired, so I guess it’s no big surprise that the conclusion is a letdown as well. One interesting note: the main story ends on Officer Wallace’s “oh, shucky-darns Batman, you’re awesome” apology that I certainly don’t mind except that such unbridled naivete feels completely out of place in the gritty 90s realism of the New 52. Pass.

[DC, $3.99]

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The Shadow Now #1

The Shadow Now #1The problem with taking an iconic figure out of his element and reinventing him is that there’s often too much of an attempt to keep as much of his past as possible when a clean slate may work far better. Although Batman Beyond keeps Bruce Wayne around, by shoving him into the Alfred role the series gives the new Batman room to flourish. The same can’t be said for The Shadow Now.

The first issue opens in present times where Lamont Crantson III returns from overseas after learning to halt the aging process and appear as a much younger man to take up his fight against crime once again. This means checking in on his intelligence network, donning his trademark costume, and even visiting and old enemy in prison.

Although Cranston’s return mirrors The Shadow’s return, no one (not even those within his organization) think it suspicious. The plot of someone deliberately setting traps and taunting a vigilante who hasn’t been seen in decades also seems problematic. Also troubling is the appearance of Margo Lane‘s granddaughter whose role is all to easy to guess.

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The Crazy Ones – Pilot

  • Title: The Crazy Ones – Pilot
  • IMDB: link

The Crazy Ones - Pilot

The Pilot episode of The Crazy Ones is a trainwreck. At times an amusing trainwreck to be sure, but the over-improvisational style of David E. Kelley‘s latest leaves something to be desired. For the first time since Ally McBeal, Kelley goes all-in on zany with this tale of a crazy father (Robin Williams) and daughter (Sarah Michelle Gellar) advertising firm attempting to save their biggest account with the help of a pop star who doesn’t sing jingles.

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The Hofstadter Insufficiency

  • Title: The Big Bang Theory – The Hofstadter Insufficiency
  • wiki: link

The Hofstadter Insufficiency

In the show’s Seventh Season premiere Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) bond while Leonard (Johnny Galecki) parties in the North Sea on his science excursion, Howard (Simon Helberg) attempts to shake Raj (Kunal Nayyar) out of his funk caused by loosing his girlfriend (Kate Micucci) by taking his best friend to a faculty mixer, and Amy(Mayim Bialik) and Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) room together during a science convention out of town. The result is a rather lackluster opener to the season, with a few fun moments, that provides three separate stories, only one of which has much to offer.

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Pitch Black Deja Vu is Riddick-ulously Familiar

  • Title: Riddick
  • IMDB: link

RiddickHow much do you love Pitch Black? For those passionate few whose fandom is strong enough to warrant sitting through a nearly identical (but inferior) film with all the originality of say Teen Wolf Too, Riddick may offer some late summer mindless entertainment. Everyone else may want to wait for home video for this IMAX version of a straight-to-DVD sequel that may not skimp on effects but could have used at least one new idea. Well, at least this one’s got Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) in it.

Although it hasn’t as aged as well as I would like I will still admit to having some affection for Pitch Black, the 2000 sci-fi adventure about a murderous thief trapped on a world of monsters with people who want him dead, but I draw the line at the ridiculous trainwreck of a sequel that stalled this “franchise.” To call Chronicles of Riddick something akin to Underwold-level terrible is frankly being kind. That Riddick got made at all, even nine years later, and isn’t nausea-inducing is something of a minor miracle.

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