Action

Smallville – Hothead

  • Title: Smallville – Hothead
  • wiki: link

Smallville Saturday takes us back to Clark‘s (Tom Welling) first brief stint on the Smallville football team. “Hothead” also marks the first time an adult, rather than someone closer to Clark’s age, becomes a meteor freak. In this case it’s football coach Walt Arnold (Dan Lauria) whose quick temper and fiery disposition is enhanced by the meteor rocks in his steam room making him a Firestarter. The conflict from the episode comes from father vs. son dynamics with Clark disobeying his father and joining the team, and in a short B-story Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) making a similar bold move against his own father. We also get Chloe‘s (Allison Mack) investigation into the football team discovering the bad behavior of its coach (even before he sets the principal’s car on fire) putting herself, and eventually Clark, in danger.

Smallville – Hothead Read More »

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

  • Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
  • IMDb: link

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been rebooted so many times over the years it’s hard to keep track of the number of times they’ve changed since they first appeared on comic shelves in the mid-1980s. The latest iteration of the group found in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is neither the best nor worst version we’ve seen. Presenting a grungier animation, likely in hopes of pulling in comparisons to the Spider-Verse movies (it is not on that level), the script takes various aspects of the Turtles origins, altering and updating them slightly for a familiar and fresh feel for the foursome.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Read More »

Special Ops: Lioness – Sacrificial Soldiers

  • Title: Special Ops: Lioness – Sacrificial Soldiers
  • IMDb: link

Half of the first episode of Special Ops: Lioness offers insight into the life of an agent of the CIA (Zoe Saldana) on one of her worst days in the field and the immediate aftermath. The various aspect of the story hints at spy craft and the need to route out terrorist cells overseas but really is about the human toll on Joe following the events. The rest of the episode is devoted to Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) who leaves an unhealthy relationship to join the Marines and eventually get tasked into Joe’s program. It’s this half of the episode where Special Ops: Lioness leans its overtly patriotic messaging and imagery to such a degree it feels more like an Armed Forces recruitment film than drama. By the end of the episode the two women are working together, hopefully removing some of the fractured narrative found here, but the less stylish, but no less simplistic, Michael Bay-ish view of world politics is a tad concerning.

Special Ops: Lioness – Sacrificial Soldiers Read More »

Almost Paradise – Breaking Badminton

  • Title: Almost Paradise – Breaking Badminton
  • IMDb: link

After uncovering an underground badminton club and drug smuggling enterprise, Alex (Christian Kane) and Ernesto (Art Acuñ)  go in undercover as an unlikely team in the second episode of Almost Paradise‘s Second Season. Alex’s interest in the case comes from a local friend who was killed after discovering the drug smuggling and chose to try and blackmail his way out of his heavy debts. The episode is most memorable for Alex and Ernesto’s time on the courts, including Alex’s kill shot that embeds a shuttlecock into an opposing player’s leg, and Kai (Samantha Richelle) calling a late audible that ends up saving their lives and taking down the drug ring.

Almost Paradise – Breaking Badminton Read More »

Almost Paradise – The Magellan Cross

  • Title: Almost Paradise – The Magellan Cross
  • IMDb: link

After defeating his nemesis and reconnecting with his daughter at the end of last season, Alex Walker (Christian Kane) gets pulled into a new case to help Kai Mendoza (Samantha Richelle) and Ernesto Alamares (Art Acuña) to investigate the death of a local priest, the fire which burned down the church, and the theft of a priceless artifact. Also attempting to take his doctor’s advice to get back into the dating pool, the case is complicated by Alex’s feelings for a local woman (Max Collins) who quickly becomes one of their leading suspects. However, the one hiding in plain sight is the easiest one to see coming (except for the police).

Almost Paradise – The Magellan Cross Read More »