3.5 Razors

Black Lightning – And Then the Devil Brought the Plague

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Black Lightning – And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light
  • wiki: link

Black Lightning - And Then the Devil Brought the Plague TV review

The latest episode throws a wrench into Black Lightning‘s (Cress Williams) return to action as headaches and blackouts being effecting the super-hero. At first these are only cause of concern for family and friends, but before the end of the episode they will cost the hero a chance to nab a street thug tied to his own father’s murder. This is the first time we’ve had mention of Jefferson’s father, but he figures prominently in the B-story as well as Anissa‘s (Nafessa Williams) invesigation into super-powers ties back to her grandfather and a group of kids who went missing three decades ago. Finding the end of a string, the young woman begins pulling (and does so in her fancy new costume thanks to a spending spree at a local fetish shop), but just where will this thread lead?

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X-Men: Red #1

/ / Comics

X-Men: Red #1 comic reviewCyclops is still dead, but X-Men founding member Jean Grey (the original, not some alternate timeline version of her) is back among the living. Troubled by the divisive and hateful world she she’s around her, the X-Man chooses to put together her own team with a new mission of bringing acceptance of mutantkind to the forefront of the public consciousness starting with an address at the United Nations.

Jean is certainly the star of the show, but there are some ringers amongst the group’s members including Nightcrawler, Namor, and X-23 Wolverine (seriously, I have no idea what to call this character now). Like pretty much every on of the half-dozen or so X-Men team titles these days the team is packed with other superfluous characters, but it’s pretty obvious which characters will drive the major plotlines.

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Altered Carbon – Out of the Past

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Altered Carbon – Out of the Past
  • IMDb: link

Altered Carbon - Out of the Past

Adapted from the science fiction novel of the same name by Richard K. Morgan, the new Netflix series Altered Carbon introduces us to super-solider Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman, and played in flashbacks by Byron Mann) awoken 250 years after his death in the new body paid for by a wealthy degenerate (James Purefoy) who expects his recent acquisition to solve a murder attempt on the billionaire’s life. You see in the future, a body may die but the memories (housed in a “stack” at the base of the spine) can be plugged into a new “skin” allowing those with enough money to effectively live forever, as long as the stack itself is never compromised. The concept proves to be a little goofy is spots, but there’s enough here (at least so far) to keep my interest.

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Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Batman: Gotham by Gaslight
  • IMDb: link

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight Blu-ray reviewThe latest DC animated feature adapts the first Elseworld story in which DC characters are reintroduced in other times and places. Taking several liberties with the source material, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight still takes place in Gotham of the late 19th Century where the new vigilante Batman (Bruce Greenwood) will match wits with the serial killer Jack the Ripper butchering women in the streets.

There are quite a few changes to the story in that the character revealed to be the killer in the graphic novel doesn’t even appear in the film, more of Bruce Wayne’s supporting cast is included, and Selina Kyle (Jennifer Carpenter), who wasn’t a part of the source material, is given a major supporting role as a friend to both Bruce Wayne and the Batman. The movie goes a bit out of its way to earn it’s R-rating (including an unfortunate take on Poison Ivy), but the setting and design, the mystery itself (including some nice misdirection), and fight sequences all make for a memorable (if flawed) feature.

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Black Lightning – Black Jesus

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Black Lightning – Black Jesus
  • wiki: link

Black Lightning - Black Jesus television review

When a dangerous new drug hits the streets and his school, Black Lightning (Cress Williams) hits the streets, including looking up an old friend (Jason Louder) who it turns out is the city’s major dealer. On the home front the family drama continues with Lynn (Christine Adams) hating her husband’s return to the spandex lifestyle, Jennifer (China Anne McClain) reacting to Khalil’s (Jordan Calloway) shooting by ignoring other responsibilities and Anissa (Nafessa Williams), inspired by the example of Black Lightning and emboldened by her new powers, decides to take justice into her own hands. The later holds the most promise, although the young woman’s ability to process putting a half-dozen people in intensive care (if not killing them) certainly raises reasons for concern.

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