Animated Superhero TV Series Episode Review: X-Men '97 - Season Two: Episode 5 - Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs

We are now one episode past the four episode drop that Marvel gave reviewers and influencers the preview the second season, so everyone is now on the same page as far as foreknowledge of the plot goes.

"Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs" is a title parody of the 1989 film Sex, Lies, and Videotapes. In the episode, Wolverine gathered up subjects of the Weapon X program for a mission regarding that program. The gathered mutants included Maverick, Sabretooth, and Lady Deathstrike. Wolverine also brought Morph along with the others on the X-Men's jet to the lab where it all started. They soon learn the island has been overtaken by the brood, which turns the mission into an Aliens level horror scene. Now, no one can trust each other, aa the brood might be nesting inside their bodies at any moment.

Last season, Magneto pulled the adamantium skeleton right off of Wolverine while he was conscious. He now has to fight with bone claws, a handicap that his team quickly notices. Fans of the comic know what happens after Wolverine loses his adamantium, and I won't spoil that here. However, I will say that X-Men '97 managed to deliver in that arena, and also managed to do so with a nice twist that fit into the situation into which the episode puts the mutant X team.

The episode has a strong theme of trust, which is tenuous at best with this ragtag bunch of mutants which are usually at opposite ends of team-ups. The brood quickly causes that tenuous bond of trust to break, and actions by the people on the team cause it to fray even further. Trust will definitely have to be re-earned after this episode, and it will be interesting to see if that is even possible.

"Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs" had fight scenes were fantastic, the animation is top-notch as usual, and the score once again impresses. The story acts as a bit of a break from the time travel shenanigans of the season, yet it is a necessary episode as it addresses a momentous event that occurred at the end of last season and has been largely avoided until this point. It isn't the best episode of the season, but it is still a fun episode.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

X-Men

X-Men (1992 video game) review

X-Men '97 season 2 episode 6 review coming soon

Marvel Multiverse

X-Men (1992 video game) review

Blade review

Platform Game Compilation Review: Disney Classic Game Collection

     

Disney Classic Games is a compilation of four classic games based on Disney animated films. It contains both the Virgin Games version of Aladdin as well as the Capcom version. It also includes The Lion King by Westwood Studios and The Jungle Book by Eurocom. The emulation in the compilation is handled by Digital Eclipse.

It is actually an updated version of Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King. This time around, they popped in a bonus game, the Eurocom version of The Jungle Book. Game Boy, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System versions are included.

The big draw of the updated version is one that rectifies the most controversial part of the compilation. The two most popular versions of Aladdin, the Virgin Games version, which was primarily released on the Sega Genesis, is included alongside the Capcom version, which was primarily released on Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The original compilation only included the Virgin Games version. The Sega version has still not been included, but that one doesn't top most of the best of the 1990s games lists.

Like the original compilation, the Virgin Games adaptation of Aladdin includes both the Sega Genesis and Game Boy versions. The Capcom adaptation includes the Super Nintendo Entertainment System version. The prototype version of Aladdin that was compiled the same month as the version that was demonstrated at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1993 is also included, which is worth playing as it is different from the final release.

The notoriously difficult video game adaptation of The Lion King by Westwood Studios is once again included. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy versions are included. Emulation gives the ability to rewind and save game play states. This is a boon for all of the included games, but it is especially true for The Lion King. I wore out my hands and my brain from beating this game as a little girl. I really appreciate Digital Eclipse's emulator, as it was not as hard to reclaim Pride Rock this time around.

The Disney Classic Games Collection is a fantastic update of an already excellent compilation of 1990s platform games. The emulation is really great, as is expected from a Digital Eclipse release. Saving and rewinding are a blessing when playing these retro games. The Aladdin adaptation by Virgin Games and the Westwood Studios adaptation of The Lion King play just as well as in the previous version of this collection, Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and the Lion King. The addition of Eurocom's The Jungle Book is a neat little extra, but Capcom's version of Aladdin is the big draw here. Even better, people who own the original can also get the new version of the compilation as DLC. It's worth purchasing or upgrading as Capcom's version of Aladdin is worth it all on its own.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Platform Game Compilation Review: Disney Classic Games - Aladdin and the Lion King

Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King is a compilation of two of the most well remembered platform game adaptation of Disney films. It brings the Virgin Games version of Aladdin and The Lion King by Westwood Studios to consoles and Windows through emulation by Digital Eclipse.

The headlining game is a bit controversial. There were three versions of Aladdin, one by Virgin Games, one by Capcom, and one by Sega. Since the 16-bit days, there has been a lot of debate over whether the Virgin Games or the Capcom version of Aladdin was the best. In most debates, the Virgin one, primarily released on the Sega Genesis, just barely comes out on top, over the Capcom version, which was primarily released on Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The Virgin game is the version included in this compilation. Digital Eclipse included both the Sega Genesis and Game Boy versions of Aladdin. The Genesis version is, without a doubt, the better version, but it's interesting to get to play the Game Boy port in the compilation as a curio.

The other game is not controversial at all, bar it's difficulty. The Westwood Studios game adaptation of The Lion King was released for both Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis. Both of those versions are included in the compilation, and this one really comes down to audio preference due to the difference in the sound hardware between the two systems. Digital Eclipse also included the Game Boy version of this game as well, although, like with Aladdin, it's merely a curio since it's not a great port.

A neat inclusion is a prototype version of Aladdin that was compiled the same month as the version that was demonstrated at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1993. It's a really cool inclusion, and it's really neat to see what changed from the prototype stage to the final release. The level inside the lamp, in particular, is quite different. Since this is an unfinished build, I recommend you play through the full Sega Genesis version of the game first before trying the CES version.

Disney Classic Games - Aladdin and the Lion King is a nice compilation of two of the most popular Disney video game adaptations of the early 1990s. It was created by Digital Eclipse, the studio that has been releasing emulation-based re-releases since its release of Williams arcade games in 1994, so the emulation is quite good. The regular emulation features like rewind and save anywhere really help for these games, since the 16-bit era was one where difficult platformers were still the norm. This version of the compilation doesn't have Capcom's Aladdin included, which is a bit of a bummer, but what is there is done really well, especially the inclusions of the original artwork and the CES prototype of Aladdin.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Platform Game Mega Review: The Lion King

The Lion King is a video game by Westwood Studios. It is a fondly remembered, if difficult, platform game recapping the events of the Disney animated film of the same name.

The most striking thing about the game is the art. Like Aladdin by Virgin Games, the art department had support from the artists at Walt Disney Feature Animation to ensure that the game captured the essence of the film. This resulted in beautiful backgrounds that highly resemble those in the film and amazing sprites that have highly detailed expressions and walk cycles. 

Like the film, the game features Simba as a lion cub and as a full grown lion. In the early sections, cub Simba roars at his enemies with his tiny voice, which causes them to get stunned or flipped over allowing him to stomp on them. When he becomes an adult, the enemies get tougher and so does he. Simba can now slash his claws at enemies as well as pounce on them to enact a two-pawed slash fest. 

The levels also get harder as they go on, but today's emulation-based compilations negate this aspect since it is now possible to rewind to before a failure occurred. The levels in the game take place at different parts of the film, from the early pride rock, safari and jungle areas, to the vegetation-deprived pride rock at the end. The levels are mostly straight forward, with easy to follow level layouts. The exception to this is a puzzle in the safari area where Simba needs to be thrown by monkeys in order to exit to the next level. He needs to roar at the right monkeys, so they will rotate in the correct order to have him be thrown in the order required for him to be thrown up and out of that location. This happens for several sections until the game returns to a standard platformer. This section of the "Just Can't Wait to Be King" area can be confusing and annoying, but if you keep an eye on the monkeys you can see the correct trajectory.

On the subject of the film's memorable musical numbers, the musicians at Westwood Studios did an excellent job making the music sound great in instrumental form on the Yamaha YM2612 FM synthesizer on the Sega Genesis aka Mega Drive and the Sony SPC700 sample-based audio chip on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The ports to Amiga, DOS, Game Boy, Game Gear, Master System, and Nintendo Entertainment System also do a good job translating the music to their respective sound chips. There are also sound clips on most versions which include spoken dialog as well as Simba's roars. The cub roar is just as cute here as it is in the film. 

The Lion King is an amazing translation of a film to a 16-bit video game. The art is amazing as it was supervised by Disney animators, the gameplay is fun for the most part, although the puzzle section in the safari can get annoying as it goes on a bit too long. One of the best aspects of the film was its music, and the musical pieces are translated quite well. Unlike Virgin Game's Aladdin, there is no clear cut winner in the music department here. The Genesis and SNES both have their charm and each sounds great, so either version is worth playing. Luckily, the emulation-based compilations by Digital Eclipse include both versions, so it is now easy to play either, or both, versions.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Platform Game Review: Aladdin

Aladdin was a successful Disney animated film during the time period known as the Disney Renaissance. This era occurred between 1989 and 1999 when the animated films finally shucked away the issues that the animated films suffered following Walt Disney's death. These films were of a quality that allowed the films to be critically and commercially successful, for the most part. Because of this, it was a sure thing that it would receive a video game adaptation.

Not including the games that came long after the release of the film, there were actually three Aladdin games. These games were developed by Capcom, Sega, and Virgin Games. This review covers the latter, which, not including the compilations that played the game through emulation, was released for Sega Genesis aka Mega Drive and ported to Amiga, DOS, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Windows. Out of these, the Sega Genesis game was the best version of the bunch.

The game is a platformer in which Aladdin can defeat enemies, mostly by swinging a sword. He also can collect apples which act as weapons when he throws them at adversaries. 

The art of the game is beautiful and very faithful to the source material. This is because the Virgin Games artists worked closely with Walt Disney Feature Animation. This resulted in backgrounds that looked like they were ripped right out of the film and characters with pixel art that had expressive faces and smooth movement. As the result, this was one of the prettiest looking games when it was released.

The story of the film is presented with still pictures which lead to the levels. Each of them takes liberties in regard to the film, but have fantastic layouts. Some of the levels are really challenging, but it's worth it to make it through to the end. The most creative level, and the one that takes the most liberties in regards to the film, is a level that takes place inside of Genie's lamp. This one has gameplay that is not seen anywhere else. Aladdin will jump off of Genie's pointer fingers, use the Genie's hands as platforms, and jump off of the letter pedestals seen in the "Friend Like Me" segment of the film. The hardest part of the game is the sequence leaving the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin will have to jump off rocks above lava while avoiding Raiders of the Lost Ark-style rolling boulders. Then he has to fly on the magic carpet while avoiding obstacles above and below him. It is very difficult, but modern releases use emulation which allows for rewinding to the point before failure. This makes the game more fun for modern gamers who aren't used to the punishing difficulties of games of the 1980s and 1990s. 

There are bonus levels with Aladdin's monkey Apu that are available through collectibles. There are also collectibles that can be used to buy powerups from stalls manned by salespeople at the end of levels. These include extra lives and even more continues. These aren't as relevant to today's emulation based compilations, but they were nearly a necessity when the game came out. People have made it through without them, but I would never have made it through the game when I was a little girl without the help of the vendors.

Another impressive part of the game is the music from the film that is impressively adapted for the Yamaha YM2612 FM synthesizer in the Sega Genesis. There are also some voice clips scattered throughout the game in various places. This was quite impressive in the 1990s, since most games didn't have voiceovers outside of CD-ROM titles.

The ports also have adaptations of the songs for their respective chips, and manage to do a good job of it. The sound and art of the ports are actually pretty good adaptations of the Genesis original, but where they come up short is in the control, and in some cases, quite noticeable slow down. That makes the Genesis version the superior version.

Aladdin, as created by Virgin Games, is an impressive game that is a blast to play. It looks and sounds just like you would imagine of a 16-bit adaptation of a Disney film. The art, music, and level layouts are super impressive. The ports aren't as impressive as the Sega Genesis original, but with today's emulation-based releases, it's not hard to experience the game as it was meant to be played. As a bonus, the Digital Eclipse compilations also includes a prototype of the game that was previously exhibited only once. It's well worth playing Aladdin as it is one of the best games of the 16-bit generation and it still holds up remarkably well today.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Comedy Science Fiction Animated Web Series Episode Review: Futurama - The Impossible Stream

Futurama has returned from the dead yet again with the broadcast of the first episode of the eleventh broadcast season, or the eighth production season. Yes, the season numbering is weird, but blame the Cartoon Network executives for that because that channel's two seasons of Futurama were broken up into four parts.

I'll admit that I'm a huge Futurama fan. I briefly changed my screen name from Lopantu to Bender followed by Flexo, both in 2000, before settling with MetaFox the next year when I got my first arcade cabinet with a Seta game of the same name. I'm not the rose-tinted glasses type though, so I was cautiously optimistic about this episode but prepared for a possible letdown since the series has been off the air for 10 years. That's a long break, so I wasn't sure if the showrunners would be able to get back in the groove right off the bat. 

I didn't have to worry, as it managed to hit the mark with its usual dose of satire relating to today's world, as well as jabs at itself and the executives who cancelled it. The episode starts off right where the series ended in 2013 with "Meanwhile". The Planet Express crew learn that the time-stopping shenanigans of that episode messed with time itself, pulling the world ten years forward into 3023. Fry is distraught that he has been in the future for twenty-three years but has nothing to show for it. He decides to watch every television show ever made. This leads to some funny names of shows that are parodies of popular television and streaming shows, callbacks to previous shows-within a show such as their Twilight Zone parody The Scary Door, the Emeril Lagasse parody Elsar, and a surprisingly funny jab at Netflix's anti-trans comedy specials from Ricky Gervais and Dave Chapelle.

The episode truly kicks off when Fry decides to binge all of the episodes of All My Circuits, Futurama's parody of soap operas which is more like a telenovela parody today as those are the only variation of shows of that type that remain popular. The professor puts Fry into a binging suit, while the rest of the staff gets All My Circuits renewed so that Fry can keep watching episodes before he runs out of them.

I'm not going to say more, as it's definitely worth watching. So far Futurama has all of the humor and wit of its predecessor, reminding me a lot of the humor of the Comedy Central run of the show after the release of four films which ran for four years from 2009 to 2013. The voice actors step into their roles perfectly as well. This aspect of the show especially feels like it never went off the air in the first place. Time will tell if the series retains the heart of the show as well, but as Bender says about Futurama is definitely true. It's back, baby!

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Open World Action-Adventure DLC Review: Sea of Thieves - The Legend of Monkey Island: The Journey to Mêlée Island

The Journey to Mêlée Island, the first chapter of the free Legend of Monkey Island Tall Tale expansion for Sea of Thieves, is available now. It aims to blend the open-world action-adventure pirate swashbuckler with the inventory-based adventure mechanics of the Monkey Island series.

The story fits snugly in between Curse of Monkey Island and Escape from Monkey Island. The Pirate Lord invited Guybrush Threepwood and Elaine Marley Threepwood to honeymoon in the Sea of Thieves. However, there is a curse that makes Guybrush, and presumably Elaine in future chapters, relive memories of past adventures that create a skewed version of whatever island is being remembered.

This makes it possible for pirates from the Sea of Thieves to physically travel to Mêlée Island. Because of this, Kate Capsize and the Pirate Lord want to hire a pirate to free the honeymooners from their curse. The Pirate Lord wants to rescue them, while Kate wants revenge on Guybrush because he switched his face for hers on a wanted poster which caused her to be imprisoned on Phatt Island.

Most of the people on the island appear to be from Guybrush's memories because the SCUMM Bar patrons the chef, the lookout, the shady merchant, the shopkeeper, the ghost pirates, Otis the prisoner, and the three loitering pirates all appeared in Guybrush's first adventure. The presence of Murray could be from the skewed memories due to the curse. I'm glad the latter was included as I really loved Murray in this chapter, especially after he gets what he wants. The animators deserve a raise for Murray's animations.

One character that doesn't belong is a cursed skull from A Pirate's Life Tall Tale who is known as the Cursed Captain. He appears to have actually made it to Mêlée Island but got stuck up on the wall of the SCUMM Bar by the three important pirates. There's a lot of potential for story there and I hope Rare doesn't squander it in future chapters.

I thought the puzzles were fun. I liked how they integrated the Sea of Thieves mechanics into the puzzles too. The sword, tankard, and lantern all were used fantastically. The crane puzzle, especially, was great. It was a head-scratcher, especially when the crane wouldn't lift it. I was stuck for a while before I jumped into the water to see what was going on and saw the solution. That puzzle was something that felt like it could have been in the series proper.

The voices used the voice actors from The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition or Terrible Toybox's Return to Monkey Island for those that weren't in the LucasArts joint. They were just as excellent here as they were in the preceding games. The music was also used well, with the Monkey Island theme popping up as you approached Melee, the familiar SCUMM Bar music that faded out in volume as you got further away from the bar, and Walt the skeleton pirate playing the skeleton ship theme on his violin. Bonus points for the name Walt, too.

There were some aspects that didn't work as well, however. Hunting for pieces of eight was tedious and not fun at all. At the end of the chapter, I couldn't find all of the money needed for the optional content, so I just gave up and ended the chapter four pieces of eight short. The walk up and down the hill to get to the lookout and back also wasn't fun, and he didn't have enough pieces of eight for the trouble. I kept jumping off early on the path down and losing health. Getting hurt was worth it though, because it cut down on all the tedious walking.

The Journey to Mêlée Island was a good start to the Sea of Thieves Legend of Monkey Island expansion. The story, voice acting, music, and puzzles were great. I really hope the next chapter ditches the money collecting and long walks because it felt like artificially extending the time required to finish the chapter. If the issues with this chapter are sorted in future chapters, we could potentially be in for a great time.

Final Verdict:
3½ out of 5

Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island - The Journey to Mêlée Island Is Available

Rare's open-world online multiplayer pirate action-adventure swashbuckler, Sea of Thieves, now has more pirate goodness with the addition of a Monkey Island campaign. All of the voice actors from the Monkey Island series have returned as well.

There will be three episodes. The first episode is The Journey to Mêlée Island, which is available right now!

Arcade Action Game Mega Review: Fix-It Felix Jr.

For the film Wreck-It Ralph, Avalanche Software conceptualized a game that featured the film's characters and resembled a classic 1980s arcade game. To promote the film, Disney contracted Code Mystics to make the film's arcade game a reality.

In the game, Felix jumps from window sill to window sill fixing the windows that Ralph broke with his magic hammer while avoiding getting hit by Ralph. Even though the game ran on Windows via a Hewlett-Packard desktop computer in the Nintendo-style arcade machine, it was specifically created to look, play, and sound like a game from the early 1980s.

The Avalanche Software concept appears in the Wreck-It Ralph film, and Code Mystics did a good job of making the actual arcade game look like it did in the film. There's a bit of a difference, mainly related to the voice clips and animation, as the film depicted a voice clip and some sprite animation that weren't in the arcade game, 

Fans have converted the game to retro home consoles with the missing bits to make it appear closer to the arcade game shown in the film. AtGames included Fix It Felix Jr. for their legends flashback line and use a retro console version, which is officially licensed by The Walt Disney Company.

Fix It Felix Jr. is a neat little throwback arcade game that actually looks, plays, and sounds like an arcade game from the early 1980s. It's pretty cool that the game featured in the movie is playable in the real world, especially because it appears close to what's seen on screen. The arcade game is expensive to acquire, but luckily it is available in home console versions that are closer to the game portrayed in the film. The easiest and least expensive route to go through to play this game is by AtGames as it has one of these console versions in its officially licensed Legend Flashback consoles. 

Addendum March 22, 2023: The game was also released as a free flash app. Flash is no longer supported in most web browsers, but the game can still be played using the Flash application for Windows.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Action-Adventure Television Series Episode Review: Agent Carter - The Blitzkrieg Button

In the fourth episode of Agent Carter Peggy and Jarvis get in contact with Howard Stark while the SSR continues their investigation of him.

Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis deal with black-market smugglers in order to get in touch with Howard Stark, who is still successfully avoiding capture by living off the grid.

Peggy keeps Howard from being caught when she discovers agents are covering even his better-hidden residences. Because of this, she has to sneak Stark into her apartment despite her landlady's extremely strict rule restricting men above the first floor.

Meanwhile, Captain Dooley leaves Jack Thomas in charge as he goes to Germany to get information by talking to the Nazi killer in charge of the concentration camp at Finow, the same place from which their two deceased suspects hailed. He is scheduled to be executed via the electric chair, so Dooley leaves quickly in order to get there in time.

The SSR looks through Stark's inventions, which leads to a humorous scene where Peggy stealthily takes pictures of Stark's confiscated equipment with the pen camera Stark invented while two scientists keep setting themselves on fire. 

Peggy and Howard turn her apartment into a dark room for developing the film she took at the SSR, while Peggy goes downstairs to have lunch with Angie, the waitress at the diner Peggy frequents and who is her only female friend. When she returns to her apartment, Stark reveals that one of the photos is of a weapon he called the "blitzkrieg button" that destroys the electrical grid of an entire city.

Sousa, an agent who was injured in World War II, conducts an investigation on his own. However, because of his disability, he is looked down on by Jack and the rest of his colleagues. Sousa investigates a homeless veteran from the pier.

Thompson comes in and offers the man a bottle of liquor, and he gives Jack the information, which disappoints Sousa as he was trying to respect the man for being a veteran but he fits the homeless stereotype instead. He tells the agents that a fancy man and a woman were involved. He tells them that she had dark hair, inching the investigation closer to Peggy. 

The double investigations in the United States and Germany are interesting because the US investigation pointed towards Peggy, and the German investigation took them closer to Howard Stark. 

On top of that, Howard told Peggy to prevent the destruction of the power grid which led to a great heist scene. Jarvis and Peggy work great as a duo, and I'm glad Jarvis is getting more to do. I also loved the twist on who the real villain turned out to be. It honestly caught me off guard, in a good way.

"The Blitzkrieg Button" was one of the most fun episodes of the run so far. It also included a Stan Lee cameo, which added to the fun. One of the best parts of the episode was Howard Stark's return. Dominic Cooper is always great at bringing out the smarmy charm of the Howard Hughes-inspired character, and he certainly doesn't disappoint here.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 3 Review

Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter Review

Animated Superhero Action Streaming Series Episode Review: What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?

What If...? is an animated version of the Marvel Comics title of the same name. It offers alternative events to those portrayed in the sacred timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first episode shows what would happen if Peggy Carter was given the super soldier serum.

The episode is narrated by Jeffrey Wright, who portrays Uatu the Watcher. The Watchers are a race of aliens that watch and record events in the universe without interfering. They were previously seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 getting information from a man known as the Informant, played by the late great Stan Lee. If Marvel Studios brings Uatu into live-action, I hope they continue to use Jeffery Wright. He has a commanding, yet soothing voice that fits the character perfectly.

Oatu explains that just one different decision is enough to cause a new universe. In this case, the Nexus point that creates a new timeline is when Peggy decides to stay with the military men watching the super soldier experiment rather than going to the viewing area upstairs. This causes Carter to notice the man with the bomb that was meant to distract the crowd. It causes him to detonate it before, rather than after, the experiment. This leads to Steve Rogers getting shot, which left the chamber without an occupant. Knowing that doing nothing would cause the experiment to be a failure, Peggy enters the chamber. Howard Stark pulls the lever, despite the objections of Colonel Flynn. The experiment was successful, giving Carter a taller, more muscular physique.

This leads to a dustup with the colonel, who feels the experiment was a failure because the serum went into a "girl", which is what would likely have happened in the United States in the 1940s, and reminded me a lot of the excellent Agent Carter television show.

She is finally convinced to go out into the battlefield by a still skinny and short Steve Rogers, who is recuperating in physical therapy. As she is not being touted out into USO shows, she managed to take the mind stone within the tesseract to Howard Stark.

This leads to a fantastic sequence where Peggy busts the Howling Commandos, including Steve's friend Bucky, out of their prison cell. When the Captain and the Commandos fight their way out, they are joined by Steve in a Howard Stark-designed, tesseract-powered, mechanical suit dubbed the Hydra Stomper. It was fun to see this early Iron Man suit designed by the elder Stark, and its inclusion made sense as, in the main timeline, Howard had said that he was restricted by the technology of his time.

We then get a scene as 1940s music plays over a montage of Captain Carter's accomplishments, as well as those of Steve Rogers in his Hydra Stomper suit. 

The most fun part of this episode was the ending, as Captain Carter's showdown with the Red Skull didn't go anything like Captain America's. Red Skull truly showed Captain Carter just what his organization meant with the name HYDRA.

I'm glad that Marvel is willing in phase four to show events that differ from the main timeline films. With Marvel slowly building up to the weirdness levels of the comics, we're really past the halfway point now, and it's brought us some truly great things. Captain Carter is a fantastic character that I hope we see a lot more of in the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Captain America: The First Avenger Review

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 1 Review

Action Television Series Episode Review: Agent Carter - Time & Tide

In the third episode of Agent Carter, Peggy settles into her new apartment at a ladies' only residence while still investigating the Leviathan and trying to stay one step ahead of her co-workers at the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

The SSR investigated the license plate that was pulled from the 10-ton ball of concrete and metal. After running the plates. they discovered that it was registered to a vehicle owned by Howard Stark.

They bring Jarvis in and interrogate him, but both he and Peggy have to pretend that they don't know each other. Jack Thompson, the SSR's best interrogator, reveals that Edwin Jarvis was found to have committed treason. He threatens to deport him and arrest his wife. The latter causes him to break his cool demeanor.

Carter pretends she lost the missing car report, which caused Chief Dooley to chew her out and make her apologize to Thompson, a huge misogynist. 

Peggy Carter was originally going to let the revelation go unsaid, but decided she didn't want to have anything further to do with Jarvis until he told her why he was charged with treason. He revealed he did it to get a Jewish person away from the Nazis and that Howard Stark used his influence to save both the Jewish person Jarvis tried to save as well as Jarvis himself. This improved her opinion of both Edwin Jarvis and Howard Stark.

After she's satisfied, Jarvis and Peggy head to the docks to look for a ship that is reportedly connected to the theft of Howard Stark's inventions. They find dangerous inventions, but not the nitromene. Not wanting to let the inventions fall into the wrong hands, she has Jarvis disguise his voice to phone in an anonymous tip about their location.

Meanwhile, one of Peggy's co-workers is killed along with the man that he was bringing into the SSR office, which only tightens their resolve to bring down Stark. 

Meanwhile, Peggy decides to work on her personal relationships as she finally confided in the waitress who had been trying to be her friend while a new resident named Dorothy Underwood moved into Peggy's apartment building.

Tide & Time is another fantastic episode. The action is once again fantastic, as is Peggy's quick thinking against men that are much bigger and stronger than her. The reveal of some of Edwin's background makes Jarvis a much more sympathetic character, and the dynamic between her and Peggy is quickly becoming one of the best parts of the show.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 2 Review

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 4 Review

Action Television Series Episode Review: Agent Carter - Bridge and Tunnel

In the second episode of Agent Carter, Jarvis gives Peggy Carter a place to stay in one of the residences used by Howard Stark for his romantic liaisons.

Agent Carter and Jarvis still need to find the nitromene. She uses her talent in accents to pretend to be a health inspector as she searches milk trucks for the dangerous substance with a vita ray detector she kept from her disastrous first attempt to get her hands on the nitramene. 

This causes her to come at odds with her fellow agents at the Strategic Scientific Reserve, as they work through the ten-ton ball of metal and rocks that used to be a building as well as a bumper from Howard Stark's car. Jarvis disposes of the car since it would be full of vita radiation, which would link it to the building implosion.

Making things harder, Peggy has to test every woman who works for Stark's competitor for vita radiation, while also having to rid herself of anything that contains vita radiation. If she recognizes someone, she can't say so as it would prove she was at the scene of the implosion. Instead, she uses her wits and once again proves that she is a better agent than the men she works under.

That's not to say the men are incompetent, as they employ torture tactics to get the information that they need, a method that was unfortunately common at the time.

Meanwhile, a waitress named Angie tries to make friends with Peggy, but she is busy with her job, revealing a major drawback in her work.

A fun aspect of this episode is the Captain America radio show, which portrays Captain America in a virtuous voice and Peggy Carter, or "Betty Carver", in an overly sexy female voice.

Carter and Jarvis track down the nitramene, and the men transporting it. They try to get information about the organization behind the nitramene theft, Leviathan. The truck crashes into the ocean, causing a huge implosion. Jarvis and Peggy then have to flee the scene.

Meanwhile, the man's accomplice runs down the road tied to a chair, where he is picked up by the SSR. He reveals that he was tied up by a woman matching Peggy's description, leading them to get closer to discovering her secret investigation.

Bridge and Tunnel is a fantastic episode full of mystery and intrigue with a bit of humor mixed in. It's a fantastic episode that proves just how much fun Agent Carter was and how much of a shame it was cancelled before its time.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 1 Review

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 3 Review

Comedy Pop Music Video Review: I Want Your Cray Cray

"I Want Your Cray Cray" was a song that Trish Walker, a character played by Rachael Taylor, was said to have recorded in the early 2000s in "AKA I Want Your Cray Cray", the seventh episode of the second season of Jessica Jones. 

To promote the episode, Marvel released the full-length song on iTunes and released an accompanying music video on YouTube. The song was created in the style of an early 21st-century pop song and the lyrics were purposefully simple and repetitive both as a parody of 2000s pop songs and because the song was said to have prevented Trish Walker's attempt at a career comeback in Jessica Jones.

They succeeded in making a song that was cringy yet catchy, which could be said for many of the 2000s-era pop songs it parodies. The music video is the preferred method of experiencing this song, as it is created in the style of the popular VH1 music video series, Pop-Up Videos. Throughout the video, comments about the song, Trish, and her mother-manager Dorothy, would pop up on the screen in text bubbles. They were even accompanied by a "pop" sound effect like the one heard in the VH1 series.

The music video is a nice accompaniment to the episode, as well as to the Jessica Jones series as a whole. The comments that pop up throughout are perfectly reminiscent of those in Pop-Up Videos, such as mentions about the movements made by Trish and comments about the backup dancers. The popup comments about Trish Walker's substance abuse and Dorothy Walker's use of her daughter to help her own social life fit within the story of the episode and within the overarching story of the series. 

"I Want Your Cray Cray" is a fun supplement to the Jessica Jones web series. The song itself is a tongue-in-cheek parody of early 21st-century pop songs, with a catchy melody and repetitive lyrics. The music video is the preferred method to experience the song. It has oversexualized women making provocative movements, which emulate early 2000s music videos. It's the VH1 Pop-Up Videos parody that is the main joy to be had in watching the music video. It's a pitch-perfect imitation of VH1's popular series with text bubble comments that vary between humorous for the sake of being humorous and humorous expansions on the show's lore. It's well worth watching for fans of Jessica Jones, fans of the formerly Netflix-exclusive side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or just fans of the weird Marvel Comics character Patricia Walker, aka Hellcat.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Spider-Man 2 (2004 film) Review

Guardians of the Galaxy (2021 video game) Review

Agent Carter Review

Before she became the co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter received a Marvel Studios One-Shot. This was a format for ideas that didn't warrant their own film. They have been used for humor, to fix continuity issues, and as springboards for television series. It's the latter use that Agent Carter falls under, as it acts as both a sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger and as a prequel to the Agent Carter television series.

After the end of World War II, women returned to their status as homemakers. Those who didn't were ridiculed for continuing to work in an all-male environment. Peggy Carter was expected to leave the Strategic Scientific Reserve, however, homemaking was not in her nature. She was a better agent than the men in her office, but they kept getting field work while she was forced to act as a secretary.

When a late-night call comes in, she is the only person in the office. Peggy saw it as an opportunity to prove herself, so, going against regulations she goes out in the field to take care of the mission alone rather than relaying the message to the men in the office.

Haley Atwell was one of the best parts of Captain America: The First Avenger, so it was great to see the story of her hard-hitting heroine continue onward after the apparent death of Captain America. The storyline and fight choreography are top-notch and make the best out of the smaller budget given to the One-Shots. It is no wonder why an Agent Carter television series was greenlit, as this was and still is, one of the best One-Shots ever released.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 4 Review

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Marvel Multiverse

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 4 Review

Spider-Man (1982 video game) Review

Action Television Series Episode Review: Agent Carter - Now Is Not the End

This review was originally posted on the McMurray Internet Channel website on December 10, 2018.

The first episode of Agent Carter picks up after Captain America: The First Avenger at the end of World War II. Agent "Peggy" Carter of the Strategic Scientific Reserve is still trying to cope with the loss of her love interest Captain America while finding herself in a world that is becoming ever more hostile to her life as an active field agent at a time when men are returning home from war while women are laid off from the jobs they had during wartime to return back to their expected roles as wives and homemakers.

Her former war ally Howard Stark, a wealthy inventor, founder of Stark Industries, and the best civilian pilot she had ever seen, finds himself sidelined from founding S.H.I.E.L.D. and in trouble when the United States government. Congress believes that he had staged a break-in at his secret vault so that he could sell his most dangerous weapons on the black market. With no one else he could trust, Howard Stark turns to Agent Carter, granting her the services of his butler and driver Edwin Jarvis, so that together they could retrieve his weapons and clear his name.

The first weapon, and the most dangerous, is the formula for an experimental implosion device, molecular nitromene. It uses the same vita radiation as used in Project Rebirth, the top-secret government program that created Captain America. Stark and Jarvis want Peggy to try to get the formula back before the thieves can weaponize their own version.

The short runtime of this season, with only 10 episodes, did a great deal for it, since the episode manages to introduce the main characters exceptionally well while still maintaining an action-film level of excitement as Agent Carter and Jarvis rush to keep Stark's implosion device from the hands of the mysterious Leviathan. By the time the episode reaches its conclusion, it hardly feels like it has been on for even half its 42-minute runtime, and the conclusion leaves you wanting more. Thankfully, in the era of Blu-rays, Hulu, and binge-watching, that's easily accomplished.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

What If...? Season 1, Episode 1 Review

Agent Carter Season 1, Episode 2 Review

Adventure Superhero Film Review: Captain America: The First Avenger

This review was originally posted on the McMurray Internet Channel website on December 9, 2018.

The first film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, chronologically, did an excellent job of maintaining an exciting story that never felt bogged down by the world-building elements. These elements, such as the Tesseract retrieved from Odin’s Vault and the shield made from vibranium, fit right into the story without feeling out of place.

The film follows Marvel’s oldest property for which they retained the film rights at the time. The film follows Steve Rogers, a sickly thin boy from Brooklyn in the 1940s. When the United States joins the Allies in World War II, Steve Rogers is a man, but his frail sickly body prevents him from being enlisted. He tries to enlist five times with five different addresses, but he is marked 4F – unfit to serve – at each examination. His childhood friend “Bucky” Barnes warns him to stop falsifying his information in trying to enlist, as it is a criminal offense that could result in prison time.

Steve ignores his friend’s advice and is caught during his next attempt to enlist. Thankfully, he was caught by a German scientist named Dr. Erskine who recognizes that Steve is a good man who wants to enlist, not for the satisfaction of killing, but to prevent the Nazis from bullying the world as he has been bullied his entire life. Steve becomes the second person to be given Erskine’s super soldier treatment after a Nazi soldier named Johann Schmidt was given the treatment prior to the point when Dr. Erskine fled to the United States. The treatment amplified what is inside people, turning Johann Schmidt into the villainous Red Skull and turning Steve Rogers into the virtuous Captain America.

Captain Rogers proves that he is more than a marketing tool when he saves his friend Bucky, and soldiers from other Allied units, from deep within enemy lines.

Red Skull has been building up Hydra within the shadows of the Nazis, an organization named after the Greek legend. The group is intent on taking over the world, including Nazi Germany, and imposing the Red Skull’s rule over all of humanity. To combat the Red Skull, Captain America forms an elite group named the Howling Commandos from a group of rescued soldiers, including his friend Bucky Barnes.

He also has help from Agent “Peggy” Carter, of the top-secret war agency the Strategic Scientific Reserve, or SSR, who develops feelings for Steve Rogers over the course of the film. Her character will later be further developed in her titular short film and television series, but Agent Carter already shows herself to be a fantastic asset to the SSR here, as she kills the driver of a car from many meters away.

The film is a fantastic adventure and a modern take on the adventure serials of the 1940s, much in the same vein as Raiders of the Lost Ark before it. It remains one of the best films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is well worth watching at least once, if not multiple times.

Final Verdict:
5 out of 5

Captain America: First Vengence Review

What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger? Review