3.5 Razors

Star Trek – Where No Man Has Gone Before

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Star Trek – Where No Man Has Gone Before
  • wiki: link

Star Trek - Where No Man Has Gone Before

After the first Pilot, “The Cage,” wasn’t picked up by the network Gene Roddenberry and crew went back to work crafting “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” The second Pilot recast the role of the ship’s captain bringing in William Shatner as James T. Kirk, but “Where No Man Has Gone Before” still shows signs of early growing pains and a show in transition as the role of ship’s doctor was played not by DeForest Kelley but by Paul Fix, and the uniforms on display match those of “The Cage” rather than more vibrant (and less sweatery) Starfleet uniforms which would become the show’s trademark going forward. The episode also puts both Scotty (James Doohan) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in gold-colored uniforms rather than the trademark red and blue they would wear going forward.

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Edge of Tomorrow

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Edge of Tomorrow
  • IMDB: link

Edge of TomorrowAdapted from the Japanese graphic novel All You Need is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow stars Tom Cruise as military recruiter Major William Cage forced into service on the front lines of a war between humanity and an unstoppable alien race known as Mimics. Despite dying rather early on his first day in the field, Cage finds himself somehow still alive reliving the previous day’s events over and over, each time more aware of events and what what must be done to win the war.

With the bad taste of Oblivion still fresh, I wasn’t expecting too much from Cruise stepping so quickly back into a sci-fi film. With a structure which will get it compared to Groundhog Day and Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow delivers a smarter-than-expected summer flick which relies heavily on Cruise and co-star Emily Blunt as the kick-ass face of the United Defense Force who alone understands what his character is going through. Although I think the end is a bit too cute for its own good (much like Source Code) director Doug Liman balances action, suspense, and horror with a surprising amount of humor.

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Teen Titans Go! #3

/ / Comics

Teen Titans Go! #3Parties and business are the themes for the latest issue of Teen Titans Go! In the first story the team attempts to throw a party without a theme, a party-party, if you will. Leaving Starfire to handle the guest list leads to as many super-villains at the party as heroes.

The second story features Cyborg becoming a Bill Gates-style inventor and putting the rest of the Titans to work for his Silicon Valley start-up ChirpFolio. Although he shows no initial interest, eventually even Robin joins the team to cash-in on the profits. However the group’s overspending on blimps, diamond-encrusted bo-staffs, and ponies for Raven eventually brings the house of cards tumbling down.

The party story works a little better than Cyborg’s start-up (with references most young readers aren’t going to get), but Teen Titans Go! #3 delivers another fun issue based on the current cartoon. Worth a look.

[DC, $3.99]

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Star Wars: Rebel Heist #2

/ / Comics

Star Wars: Rebel Heist #2After last month which saw Han Solo captured by Imperial agents, the four-issue mini-series continues on the pleasure planet of the planet pleasure of Feddasyr where Princess Leia has been dispatched to get her hands on an Imperial top-level security code needed by the Rebellion. Like the first issue, the events are presented from the view of a green Rebel recruit, this time a red-skinned Twi’lek exotic dancer named Sarin whose cover has been blown just in time to get Leia into a lot of trouble.

The template from the first issue works well again as this time we don’t get the view of a hero worshipper crushed into reality but the disappointment of a young woman realizing the Rebellion sent a princess rather than soldier to get the job done. Putting her life in danger to take Sarin’s place and get the code, which turns out to be harder to move than either expected, the princess grudgingly earns the respect and admiration of the recruit but still suffers the same fate of Han Solo in the end. Next month: Chewbacca. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $3.50]

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Samurai Jack #8

/ / Comics

Samurai Jack #8In an issue without dialogue the focus of Samurai Jack #8 becomes the art as Samurai Jack‘s attempt to hide from the noise of the future city leads him to a sleeping pod. Thanks to the maneuvering of his old enemy Aku, Jack awakes in a mirrored cave where his reflection creates distorted doubles of the samurai out for blood.

I like the idea of doing a Samurai Jack storyline without any dialogue, something “Jack Renumbers the Past” put to tremendious use for most of the episode, but a throwaway one-issue adventure doesn’t have the same impact of Jack returning home for the first time.

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