Jungle Fury has yet to really redeem itself after "A TASTE OF POISON." This was just a weird episode. Do I blame Geki for doing this originally or JF for straight ripping it? I haven't seen Geki's version yet (which I'm sure is a little better anyway), so probably both is to blame but more so our writers complete lack of doing anything but a translation. -_-
Monsters getting character development. Oh boy. Of course we'll never get anywhere with the Rangers but monsters hooking up is okay! o_O GAH... Do they have to keep in EVERYTHING?!
The "Thriller" dancing Rinishi were cool. I did like that.
Disney must love being able to use the pop tracks as background music. I really don't mind it, actually. But I can't help but wonder who the artists are.
I liked how Lily had to practice the dance moves with the guys, but I really wasn't feeling their rivalry. These fillers are getting old fast and I'm awaiting the Master Phant episode coming up after the next one.
Yet again, 3/5.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
"CAN'T WIN THEM ALL" (PR-1605): Blue Wonder
For Theo's first focus episode, it was alright.
The episode was a bit superfluous, but I did like how they made Theo out to be a whiz at JKP.
Him just giving up and really having to regain his confidence was dumb. But hey, great speech by RJ -- still the shows best character.
Some deja vu with the Five Fingers was inevitable, but at least it's early (not late) in the season and Dai Shi is still very in control, not one of the Fingers.
Gacko was cool. I enjoyed the battle scenes and how they took place on the side of a building.
3/5
The episode was a bit superfluous, but I did like how they made Theo out to be a whiz at JKP.
Him just giving up and really having to regain his confidence was dumb. But hey, great speech by RJ -- still the shows best character.
Some deja vu with the Five Fingers was inevitable, but at least it's early (not late) in the season and Dai Shi is still very in control, not one of the Fingers.
Gacko was cool. I enjoyed the battle scenes and how they took place on the side of a building.
3/5
Monday, March 10, 2008
"A TASTE OF POISON" (PR-1604): Strike Rider Strikeout
It's that time again. Time for -- THE BIKE.
First though, I enjoyed the introduction and debut of the Five Fingers of Poison. I wish the Rangers meeting Jarrod had happened later, but you really can't expect much from the 32 episodes.
The tower formation was pretty cool, although the return to more wire-fu wasn't. I was kinda starting to get used to not having so much of it. And I'm really enjoying the emphasis on kung-fu and martial arts, even if it is straight ripped.
More fight scenes between Casey and Jarrod would've been nice. A little weird seeing the Geki battle be a dream sequence that was never brought up.
The Five Fingers aren't getting along? Rantipede goes off on his own? (Leading to a battle from the next episode of Geki) Here we go again! -_-
That was absolutely ones of the worst bike sequences the show has ever done. Bad CGI, unnecessary armor and the eyes make it look like it belongs in a Go-onger adaptation, not GekiRanger. o_O They could've at least had Casey use it on Rantipede, not just a horde of Rinshi mostly. I'll give props to Nick for having the better bike at least.
Casey and Lily? Eh, why even bother hinting at a romance? And what was the point of the poison if all it took was a good nights rest?!
3/5. Yeah, I see more 3's coming whenever the Strike Rider is used. -_-
First though, I enjoyed the introduction and debut of the Five Fingers of Poison. I wish the Rangers meeting Jarrod had happened later, but you really can't expect much from the 32 episodes.
The tower formation was pretty cool, although the return to more wire-fu wasn't. I was kinda starting to get used to not having so much of it. And I'm really enjoying the emphasis on kung-fu and martial arts, even if it is straight ripped.
More fight scenes between Casey and Jarrod would've been nice. A little weird seeing the Geki battle be a dream sequence that was never brought up.
The Five Fingers aren't getting along? Rantipede goes off on his own? (Leading to a battle from the next episode of Geki) Here we go again! -_-
That was absolutely ones of the worst bike sequences the show has ever done. Bad CGI, unnecessary armor and the eyes make it look like it belongs in a Go-onger adaptation, not GekiRanger. o_O They could've at least had Casey use it on Rantipede, not just a horde of Rinshi mostly. I'll give props to Nick for having the better bike at least.
Casey and Lily? Eh, why even bother hinting at a romance? And what was the point of the poison if all it took was a good nights rest?!
3/5. Yeah, I see more 3's coming whenever the Strike Rider is used. -_-
Saturday, March 1, 2008
"WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, I and II: Spirit Unleashed and "SIGH OF THE TIGER": The Next Karate Kid
Between the toys, the Ranger promos (albeit short) and the fact it's the last year (at least in New Zealand), I couldn't help but feel excited for the new season this year. I was a little afraid it would go unwarranted, but it didn't. For the first time, I watched the premiere knowing exactly what happened in the sentai. It makes GekiRanger more fun for me and (at least in this case) didn't take away from it. Another reason I was ready to get this underway -- I absolutely love Geki's story theme and the suits. Yeah, Jungle Fury is basically a straight rip, but there should be enough new and re-done fight scenes to keep my interest in both than to feel like deja vu. Can't get any worse than some of MF and OO's weird footage adaptations/character development -- or Ten Terrors eps. >_>
Now let's break it down:
Turning on the premiere, it was great to hear the theme for the first time (which hadn't happened since the "DAY OF THE DINO" ABC Family premiere). Reminds me of sort of a lighter mix of the Ninja Storm theme. Sounds much more like something Disney would do than the power-pop rap.
I like how the show began with Lily, Theo and Jarrod honing their kung-fu skills before being chosen to go up to the next level by Master Mao. And then Jarrod gets expelled and Casey the cub is chosen to take his place. A little more focus on Jarrod being a bully would've been nice, but I liked it. And great to have a Red who's there right from the start.
Interesting how the great evil spirit was sealed by warriors over 10,000 years ago. Couldn't they have made the box say, have a lock? -_-
I like how it was setup that the Rangers met RJ at Jungle Karma Pizza and the command base is a simple loft up and behind it. Now of course they work there. Fran joining the staff so quickly was pretty silly, but for the most part I thought the humor was well done (especially when they thought the old Asian guy was their master). The "12:32 lunch rush" reminds me of the high school lunch rush at the grocery store I work at.
Really liked when RJ gave our heros the morphers. Yeah, I'm sure that ol' what's-his-name had something to do with it, but that name doesn't need to be mentioned in the show ever again. As for the sunglasses, I wasn't sure what to except at first, but it's kind of a new spin on morphing and I like how the helmets are formed out of them. The transformation sequence is pretty cool.
Right away RJ reminds me quite a bit of Toby. Barnie Duncan doing this role wouldn't have worked because of that obviously, so I'm glad they have someone who seems they'll do a good job with it (not to mention becoming a Ranger when that episode happens). Also, nice to see a tough Blue Ranger this year in Theo -- a total change from Dax. Lily's ditzy attitude was kinda lame. Gotta say she looks pretty good though, especially in the work clothes and normal attire. As for Fran -- How funny. Ya know, it's fun to be a regular of Rangerboard sometimes. <_<
I liked how Casey couldn't figure out how to morph at first. Of course they gotta do something to make Red go last and this was a nice change from always showing up to save the day when the others are in danger.
I don't mind Bae so much in Geki, but having to listen to Flit will be more annoying it seems. They better give him something later on.
It would've been cooler if they had waited until the third of fourth episode to reveal Jarrod as Dai Shi, but at least they waited until the end of the premiere. Great job making his voice deeper. And wow! Holly as Camille is totally different than Leelee! NICE! Also, I rather like that they kept the name Rinshi and how they can be powered up to create the MoTDs (even if getting the power ups does seem to be random).
Hopefully this will be a year I like the villains for the ENTIRE season, but they do always seem to mess SOMETHING up (i.e. As much as I liked the underworld villains for much of MF, we all know what eventually happened). The villains(s)-of-the-week theme in OO wasn't too bad, but at this point I'm really digging Dai Shi and the gang. Nice job recreating the RinJuDen too.
Going into "SIGH OF THE TIGER" the first thing that came to mind was whether Casey would be cleaning the floor. I enjoyed the flow of the episode and how RJ had him do various things that tied into training to fight Bullalord. Unlike past Reds, Casey wanted to get BETTER, not quit. Good job.
Camille breaking into the museum was pretty OO-ish, but it was okay. I figured they'd use part of and/or redo some of the Rinirinshi stuff from Geki.
Poor Fran. She really got it. Jungle Karma Pizza = Best use of the Rangers hang out/employer and extras since DinoThunder BY FAR.
Not surprised Casey did clean the floor, but I would've thought they'd use the Geki battle footage.
LOVIN' the one minute instrumental.
4/5 for all three episodes. I'm pretty much ready to write-off Operation Overdrive altogether. <_<
Now let's break it down:
Turning on the premiere, it was great to hear the theme for the first time (which hadn't happened since the "DAY OF THE DINO" ABC Family premiere). Reminds me of sort of a lighter mix of the Ninja Storm theme. Sounds much more like something Disney would do than the power-pop rap.
I like how the show began with Lily, Theo and Jarrod honing their kung-fu skills before being chosen to go up to the next level by Master Mao. And then Jarrod gets expelled and Casey the cub is chosen to take his place. A little more focus on Jarrod being a bully would've been nice, but I liked it. And great to have a Red who's there right from the start.
Interesting how the great evil spirit was sealed by warriors over 10,000 years ago. Couldn't they have made the box say, have a lock? -_-
I like how it was setup that the Rangers met RJ at Jungle Karma Pizza and the command base is a simple loft up and behind it. Now of course they work there. Fran joining the staff so quickly was pretty silly, but for the most part I thought the humor was well done (especially when they thought the old Asian guy was their master). The "12:32 lunch rush" reminds me of the high school lunch rush at the grocery store I work at.
Really liked when RJ gave our heros the morphers. Yeah, I'm sure that ol' what's-his-name had something to do with it, but that name doesn't need to be mentioned in the show ever again. As for the sunglasses, I wasn't sure what to except at first, but it's kind of a new spin on morphing and I like how the helmets are formed out of them. The transformation sequence is pretty cool.
Right away RJ reminds me quite a bit of Toby. Barnie Duncan doing this role wouldn't have worked because of that obviously, so I'm glad they have someone who seems they'll do a good job with it (not to mention becoming a Ranger when that episode happens). Also, nice to see a tough Blue Ranger this year in Theo -- a total change from Dax. Lily's ditzy attitude was kinda lame. Gotta say she looks pretty good though, especially in the work clothes and normal attire. As for Fran -- How funny. Ya know, it's fun to be a regular of Rangerboard sometimes. <_<
I liked how Casey couldn't figure out how to morph at first. Of course they gotta do something to make Red go last and this was a nice change from always showing up to save the day when the others are in danger.
I don't mind Bae so much in Geki, but having to listen to Flit will be more annoying it seems. They better give him something later on.
It would've been cooler if they had waited until the third of fourth episode to reveal Jarrod as Dai Shi, but at least they waited until the end of the premiere. Great job making his voice deeper. And wow! Holly as Camille is totally different than Leelee! NICE! Also, I rather like that they kept the name Rinshi and how they can be powered up to create the MoTDs (even if getting the power ups does seem to be random).
Hopefully this will be a year I like the villains for the ENTIRE season, but they do always seem to mess SOMETHING up (i.e. As much as I liked the underworld villains for much of MF, we all know what eventually happened). The villains(s)-of-the-week theme in OO wasn't too bad, but at this point I'm really digging Dai Shi and the gang. Nice job recreating the RinJuDen too.
Going into "SIGH OF THE TIGER" the first thing that came to mind was whether Casey would be cleaning the floor. I enjoyed the flow of the episode and how RJ had him do various things that tied into training to fight Bullalord. Unlike past Reds, Casey wanted to get BETTER, not quit. Good job.
Camille breaking into the museum was pretty OO-ish, but it was okay. I figured they'd use part of and/or redo some of the Rinirinshi stuff from Geki.
Poor Fran. She really got it. Jungle Karma Pizza = Best use of the Rangers hang out/employer and extras since DinoThunder BY FAR.
Not surprised Casey did clean the floor, but I would've thought they'd use the Geki battle footage.
LOVIN' the one minute instrumental.
4/5 for all three episodes. I'm pretty much ready to write-off Operation Overdrive altogether. <_<
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
"Wild For... Wild Force!" Revisited
During PR's off-season I was revisiting Wild Force -- looking back 5 years later. The days of playing back the most recent season during the winter are LONG over and as the years go by it's fun to look back on the older stuff.
Over the years the thing I hear most about is how awful the acting was. Yeah, Ricardo was no TV actor, Alyssa was a little too cheerful... Danny, Princess Shayla... eh. I've never really let the acting bother me much though and everything else Wild Force had going pretty much made up for it. It was close to the sentai but not a totally straight rip like the latter part of Time Force.
One thing I realize much more now is how BEAUTIFUL Wild Force was in terms of directing (Gotta hand it to Koichi and Taro for that). "THE MASTER'S LAST STAND" is still one of the most unique eps the Production team did and easily the best time I had (since revisiting Lightspeed in 2005) watching an episode I hadn't seen in a couple years. I always enjoyed the villain dynamics the show used to have (especially towards the end) and Jindrax/Toxica were fun to watch progress.
As we all know, Wild Force was a huge end of an era. It was a great 10th anniversary for the show and a nice final hurrah for MMPR Productions.
**All-new episode commentary begins soon!**
Over the years the thing I hear most about is how awful the acting was. Yeah, Ricardo was no TV actor, Alyssa was a little too cheerful... Danny, Princess Shayla... eh. I've never really let the acting bother me much though and everything else Wild Force had going pretty much made up for it. It was close to the sentai but not a totally straight rip like the latter part of Time Force.
One thing I realize much more now is how BEAUTIFUL Wild Force was in terms of directing (Gotta hand it to Koichi and Taro for that). "THE MASTER'S LAST STAND" is still one of the most unique eps the Production team did and easily the best time I had (since revisiting Lightspeed in 2005) watching an episode I hadn't seen in a couple years. I always enjoyed the villain dynamics the show used to have (especially towards the end) and Jindrax/Toxica were fun to watch progress.
As we all know, Wild Force was a huge end of an era. It was a great 10th anniversary for the show and a nice final hurrah for MMPR Productions.
**All-new episode commentary begins soon!**
Thursday, January 24, 2008
In the jungle, the mighty jungle...
Although I got a little worried when it was reported Jungle Fury has a smaller budget, I'd say it's looking good so far. We have a nice batch of actors and among them the return of Holly Shanahan. I'm still very glad this'll be PR's last season premiere and hope it'll be done better than "KICK INTO OVERDRIVE." I dunno how I'll feel about another story with a training academy, but if the show does its own thing well enough and makes sense, I'll be happy.
The most I'm excited about as we wait for the premiere is definitely the toys. The main and PR-exclusive Rangers look great and I really like the Jungle Pride Megazord. I don't own very many zords and only have the TF and WF Rangers (and the non-articulated anniversary Reds), but I can't pass these up. It sounds like the exclusive Rangers will be in the show too, so this should be a good way to go out. And we have the new Lord Zedd and original Green Ranger coming in March. Good times.
The most I'm excited about as we wait for the premiere is definitely the toys. The main and PR-exclusive Rangers look great and I really like the Jungle Pride Megazord. I don't own very many zords and only have the TF and WF Rangers (and the non-articulated anniversary Reds), but I can't pass these up. It sounds like the exclusive Rangers will be in the show too, so this should be a good way to go out. And we have the new Lord Zedd and original Green Ranger coming in March. Good times.
Monday, December 31, 2007
OO Wrap-up
Ranking the episodes favorite to least favorite:
1) Face to Face I/II
2) Man of Mercury I/II
3) Both Sides Now
4) One Gets Away
5) Once a Ranger II
6) Pirate in Pink
7) Once a Ranger I
8) Behind the Scenes
9) Red Ranger Unplugged
10) Home and Away I/II
11) Nothing to Lose
12) Heart of Blue
13) Follow the Ranger
14) Ronny on Empty I/II
15) Crown and Punishment
16) Two Fallen Foes
17) Things Not Said
18) Kick Into Overdrive I/II
19) At All Cost
20) Just Like Me
21) Weather or Not
22) The Underwater World
23) It's Hammer Time
24) Out of Luck
25) One Fine Day
26) Lights, Camera, DAX
27) Way Back When
I enjoyed celebrating the 15th anniversary and meeting the OO Rangers at Power Morphicon was very cool. The actors were great and the group we had this year was one of my favorites along with SPD, Time Force, Lightspeed and "Zordon Era" seasons.
Tyzonn's introduction eps were definitely my favorite of the season and the best thing adapted/changed-for-PR from Boukenger. As much as Will quitting got annoying, I gotta say the Will-Kamdor/Miratrix eps were excellent (aside from their final battle which could've been done better). I wish they could've done more with the ninja villains. Rose had a great episode in "PIRATE IN PINK" and the city destruction/plot in "BEHIND THE SCENES" made it another standout. As for Ronny and Dax, I'd have to say "RONNY ON EMPTY, I" and "HEART OF BLUE" were the best (Of Course, Dax was undoubtedly my least favorite Ranger of the season).
OO easily had the best Red Ranger and 6th Ranger since Kalish took over and the search for relics bridging the episodes together was certainly a nice improvement. It could've been a good end to the shows run if it had a proper 2-part finale (And unless you've been living in a cave, you know Jungle Fury is it).
On the down side, Hartford being in charge and running things could've been done better. Why was the base so deep underground? Why did we only ever see Spencer and no one from Hartford Industries? What DOES the company do, anyway? What did they do with all the zords after the last episode? And why the hell was there NO security?! -_-
I know I'm too nice, but still -- They DID learn from SPD/Mystic Force and they tried, so I gotta give them credit for that.
More soon.
2) Man of Mercury I/II
3) Both Sides Now
4) One Gets Away
5) Once a Ranger II
6) Pirate in Pink
7) Once a Ranger I
8) Behind the Scenes
9) Red Ranger Unplugged
10) Home and Away I/II
11) Nothing to Lose
12) Heart of Blue
13) Follow the Ranger
14) Ronny on Empty I/II
15) Crown and Punishment
16) Two Fallen Foes
17) Things Not Said
18) Kick Into Overdrive I/II
19) At All Cost
20) Just Like Me
21) Weather or Not
22) The Underwater World
23) It's Hammer Time
24) Out of Luck
25) One Fine Day
26) Lights, Camera, DAX
27) Way Back When
I enjoyed celebrating the 15th anniversary and meeting the OO Rangers at Power Morphicon was very cool. The actors were great and the group we had this year was one of my favorites along with SPD, Time Force, Lightspeed and "Zordon Era" seasons.
Tyzonn's introduction eps were definitely my favorite of the season and the best thing adapted/changed-for-PR from Boukenger. As much as Will quitting got annoying, I gotta say the Will-Kamdor/Miratrix eps were excellent (aside from their final battle which could've been done better). I wish they could've done more with the ninja villains. Rose had a great episode in "PIRATE IN PINK" and the city destruction/plot in "BEHIND THE SCENES" made it another standout. As for Ronny and Dax, I'd have to say "RONNY ON EMPTY, I" and "HEART OF BLUE" were the best (Of Course, Dax was undoubtedly my least favorite Ranger of the season).
OO easily had the best Red Ranger and 6th Ranger since Kalish took over and the search for relics bridging the episodes together was certainly a nice improvement. It could've been a good end to the shows run if it had a proper 2-part finale (And unless you've been living in a cave, you know Jungle Fury is it).
On the down side, Hartford being in charge and running things could've been done better. Why was the base so deep underground? Why did we only ever see Spencer and no one from Hartford Industries? What DOES the company do, anyway? What did they do with all the zords after the last episode? And why the hell was there NO security?! -_-
I know I'm too nice, but still -- They DID learn from SPD/Mystic Force and they tried, so I gotta give them credit for that.
More soon.
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