Friday, October 22, 2010

DVD Review - Wolverine & the X-Men

So I had a rough week, and it was a late Saturday Night, when
I came across this cartoon find. 26 episodes of Marvel Universe fun in a complete series box set.

I grew into the Xmen primarily due to the Fox cartoon during the 90's. Not to mention the Xmen Evolution during the early part of this decade. Both cartoons had their flaws and both had many great moments and awesome character takes on the Xmen Universe. So Wolverine and the Xmen was already starting behind the 8 ball as series when I saw the dvd box set on sell last week. Three disks, 26 episodes, and a couple of making of documentaries later… and I'm ready to give my assessment. To sum it up in one word sentence: "The cartoon was okay, with some really cool pay-offs".

Wolverine and the Xmen was the answer to the popularity of the Up-coming Xmen Origins: Wolverine movie, that at the time was in the works. Executives wanted a Wolverine cartoon and the writers emplored the company to include Xmen. So around the Focus of "Logan" as the center point, the concept grew. Wolverine would be put in a situation where Charles Xavier was unable to lead and Scott Summers would be the Loner of the team. Basically a role reversal of every other incarnation of the Xmen. And it works. Sort of.

I've written and re-written a couple of reviews and I keep going back to things that bother me about the series. Ultimately is ok. It really is worth a watch. But of the 3 (4 if you count the stuff that came in the mid 80's), it’s the poorest version of animated xmen. I can't seem to get ahold of Steve Blum as the voice of Logan… it needs to be raspier, grittier. Scott shouldn't be such a down daisy. I understand they wanted Logan to run the show, but did they really have to make Scott suck so much? And the fact that Magneto has signs all over the road with his face on them… might as well have "Welcome to Genshoia" postcards floating out there too. The plot really tried to keep it simple and edgy, but sometimes it really felt like a kids cartoon and others it felt like it was ONLY geared towards geeks. That was my favorite part of Xmen Evolution, it really knew the balance of core fans and children. Ok that’s the bad.

The Good! Kurt Wagner was awesome. They nailed Nightcrawler! Perfect. A few solo stories and a possible love interest with of all characters, The Scarlet Witch?! I loved the episodes with Kurt. EVEN the episode with Mojo… who is my least favorite villain, IN ANY UNIVERSE. Also the having Charles in the Future with Bishop and older versions of Xmen easter eggs was genius! I liked how they handled the Mr. Sinister shadowy figure and I can't say enough about how they end the series. Truly ending it on a home run, making you long for more episodes.

This cartoon was well worth the buy for Xmen fans. I enjoyed each episode. But honestly, Marvel… this isn't as good as other hero cartoons out there. JLA and Teen Titans blow this away. I think Xmen Evolution was incredibly stronger than this incarnation. What happened to the momentum of the Hulk VS cartoons and not to mention the Next Avengers?

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Routh to be considered as Synder's Superman

Zack revealed that Brandon WILL be considered for the role after he saw an online fan campaign to have the 31-year-old star reinstated. And you can count me as leaning in that dirction too. No matter my feeling overall about the previous Superman movie, I still stand by my feelings that I think Routh fit perfectly into what I want my Superman to Act/look like.

http://www.supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=8709

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Fan Made Superman Movie Trailer, Doomsday!

I stumbled on this fan edit of Superman Returns and some video games, and some surprises. This short has a really cool ending. Check'er out!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Help get Ring Capacity on the Green Lantern Soundtrack!


Due to my podcast adventures, I've found out how much I like the band "Kirby Krackle".

You can check the band out here: http://kirbykracklemusic.com/

But more importantly, The Summer Blockbuster of 2011, Green Lantern is missing the perfect credit rolling song on their soundtrack. Help get their song, "Ring Capacity" on the Green Lantern Soundtrack.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

David E. Kelley Bringing Wonder Woman to TV


If Ally McBeal puts on a tiera and has a remote to automatically flush toilets... I'm out! BUT If Denny Crane turns out to be Zeus... we're in business. Check out the full story here: http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/david-e-kelley-bringing-wonder-woman-to-tv--1609