The season continued on with more straight up good episodes... Nothing too spectacular but much better than anything from the past couple years. Ivan becoming Gold Ranger was solid (along with the buildup to it and flashbacks), and putting together his own Knights of Amber Beach for a minute was funny. I liked the classic style plot of Bones "removing" courage in the form of backbones.
Chase had another decent focus episode and Prince Phillip had a fun episode becoming Graphite Ranger. The Rangers trip to New Zealand was alright. I liked Albert's episode and how they showcased the Purple Energem but then got kinda bored with the Dr. Runga plot.
Really enjoyed Heckyl's debut, especially as it would serve as sort of a setup for him to break free and takeover for Sledge (who I have to assume will return seeking revenge either before Dino Super Charge ends or in a teamup with Ninja Steel). Lastly, it was great to have an actual mid-season finale again. Kendall finally earning
Purple, the zord fight and girls teaming up were done well. I loved how Tyler said
the catch phrase as he was about to take the plunge off the ship. But the pacing got kinda out of hand and I thought they could've done some thing differently, like having a longer fight on the ship, or if Tyler had deliberately destroyed the
console to send the ship to Earth to wipe out the prisoners. I
also didn't really care for Get-bot as an easy plot device to get the Red
Energem under the console, or how we probably won't ever see Kendall
making sure no monsters survived.
Grades: "WHEN LOGIC FAILS/"THE ROYAL RANGERS" 4/5, "BREAK OUT" 5/5, "KNIGHT AFTER KNIGHTS" through "WORLD FAMOUS! (In New Zealand" 4/5, "DEEP DOWN UNDER" 3/5, "WISHING FOR A HERO" 5/5 and "ONE LAST ENERGEM" 4/5. And for more, check out shyranger.com.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Like Old Times with Dino Charge
It's great to be excited for Power Rangers again as Dino Charge is really taking me back to the classic Judd Lynn days and is easily some of the best episodes I've seen on TV since the Jungle Fury Spirit Rangers' arc and early SPD.*
* RPM was great and all, but was never seen on TV in the Pacific Northwest.
- "POWERS FROM THE PAST" starting out with the villains and story for basically the entire first act is more than I ever could've imagined. And right from the get-go they had foreshadowing with all the monsters in the cages. This is how you use the completed sentai to your advantage. Tyler and Shelby's accidental morphing to protect themselves was a nice fresh take on a premiere, plus not seeing the whole team in the beginning.
- Riley's introduction and fight with Fury in "PAST, PRESENT AND FUSION" were pretty cool.
- I loved Sledge and his
crew coming to Earth in "A FOOLS HOUR" and immediately plotting to find the Rangers
command center... Something we don't see very often on the show. The Rangers got demorphed a little too easily but it was still a pretty decent introduction for Dino Steel.
- "RETURN OF THE CAVEMAN" and "BREAKING BLACK" continued good character development setting up backstories. I especially liked what they did with the footage for Chase's episode. Also, I'm enjoying how they're pacing introducing zords/Megazords and the various combos. Pretty sweet looking cockpit too.
- "THE TOOTH HURTS" was a fun episode with some great scenes on Sledge's ship and fight footage. Riley and Chase clashing over how to do things and eventually coming to an understanding was more good character development.
- "LET SLEEPING ZORDS LIE" through "THE ROYAL RANGERS" were all pretty good as well. I really like how they're doing the 6th Ranger storyline focusing on the gold energem before Ivan. I liked the Rangers plan to trick Fury with Tyler and Shelby pretending to be the Prince and Princess. Hopefully Dino Drive Mode will be seen outside the cockpit at some point.
* RPM was great and all, but was never seen on TV in the Pacific Northwest.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Taylor's World
When "Love Story" was released back in '08 I never would've imagined I'd be going to a Taylor Swift show someday. "Eh, she's a country singer." But oh how things would change over the years, eventually progressing into my favorite songs of 2015 being "Blank Space" and "Style."
It's Taylor's world and its been that way for awhile - pretty much every time the AMAs, VMAs or whatever is on and sure enough she wins multiple times, plus her power over major corporations like Apple Music. Despite all this, it took some time to decide to see the 1989 tour since I really wasn't on the Taylor bandwagon until the 1989 CD singles started to roll out last year with "Shake It Off."
I hadn't even been to Centurylink Field before and ended up basically doing a lap around inside the entire stadium. While it was nice to check out the place I quickly realized going the opposite direction to begin with probably would've gotten me to the area my seat was a lot sooner. Vance Joy was one of the opening acts and I still managed to get food and sit down about two songs before the popular "Riptide" came on.
After a break, Taylor made her debut on stage with "Welcome to New York" and it wasn't long before "Blank Space" came up, which was one of the big highlights of the night for me, and really, most of the reason I decided to go. As expected I didn't know half the songs as the night went on but seeing the current stuff and a few fun throwsbacks like "I Knew You Were Trouble" made it all well worth it, before the night ended with "Shake It Off." In between songs there were videos with celebs talking about Taylor and she did a lot of inspirational speeches that you'd expect of her, as well as the crazy performance of "Style" when Ciara came out followed by Russell Wilson.
Going to the show definitely left me with a sense of completeness as I go on living in Taylor's world, a place I'm happy to be part of. Also check out my pics!
It's Taylor's world and its been that way for awhile - pretty much every time the AMAs, VMAs or whatever is on and sure enough she wins multiple times, plus her power over major corporations like Apple Music. Despite all this, it took some time to decide to see the 1989 tour since I really wasn't on the Taylor bandwagon until the 1989 CD singles started to roll out last year with "Shake It Off."
I hadn't even been to Centurylink Field before and ended up basically doing a lap around inside the entire stadium. While it was nice to check out the place I quickly realized going the opposite direction to begin with probably would've gotten me to the area my seat was a lot sooner. Vance Joy was one of the opening acts and I still managed to get food and sit down about two songs before the popular "Riptide" came on.
After a break, Taylor made her debut on stage with "Welcome to New York" and it wasn't long before "Blank Space" came up, which was one of the big highlights of the night for me, and really, most of the reason I decided to go. As expected I didn't know half the songs as the night went on but seeing the current stuff and a few fun throwsbacks like "I Knew You Were Trouble" made it all well worth it, before the night ended with "Shake It Off." In between songs there were videos with celebs talking about Taylor and she did a lot of inspirational speeches that you'd expect of her, as well as the crazy performance of "Style" when Ciara came out followed by Russell Wilson.
Going to the show definitely left me with a sense of completeness as I go on living in Taylor's world, a place I'm happy to be part of. Also check out my pics!
Monday, July 27, 2015
Rockin' it at Week of Ranger Bar 2
Day 1
I arrived at Ranger Bar HQ Wednesday evening as a video game tournament was underway. Tron was already there, coming from New Orleans on Tuesday. I provided my Wii and put on Mario Kart (while Super Smash Bros Brawl, GoldenEye 007 and more Mario Kart would be played later on in the week). Afterwards, we had the "Master Vile's Villain Ball" and Batz made tacos.
Day 2
We headed out in the afternoon and dropped by the local hotspots for toys. Later that evening was a huge smokedown in which we were all inside for a couple hours with a fog machine, lots, and lots of water, along with the usual smoking activities.
Day 3
We had a remote control challenge and played a Power Rangers-style trivia game Batz put together. Kabuki Kelsey then drove us to Stonegate - a popular restaurant/bar in Tacoma that has live music. I joined the gang in doing shots for the first time since Ranger Bar's 4th of July 2014. It was pretty rad.
4th of July
Batz made hot dogs and setup a hall table with snacks and super punch. We had a fun game with toy weapons throughout the hallway. After it got dark, we headed out to a bridge not far. I had never seen so many fireworks go off over the skyline. They were everywhere!
Day 5
Tron had to leave early for a prior commitment and I ended up sleeping through the parade for Michael Pare. That evening was the "Fred Dryer Dinner" - a marathon of Hunter - my favorite 80's action police drama. It sort of felt like the annual Ranger Bar Fancy Dinner Dress Party as Batz served up mac n' cheese, soft pretzels, soft tacos, leftover goldfish crackers and garlic bread pizza - capped off with pie and ice cream. Afterwards I passed out harder than Thanksgiving night.
Day 6 / the Finale
Another pretty lazy afternoon as we waited for Kabuki Kelsey to pick us up for the "Island of Illusion" campout. It was a fun night roasting hot dogs, but the cooler washed away (Luckily, Batz retrieved it the following afternoon). Soon the wind started to pick up so we went back to Ranger Bar HQ, and I left Tacoma about 5:00.
--
Looking back, things have sure changed for me in two years as Ranger Bar continues to evolve. This week saw the debut of "Late Night at the Ranger Bar" episode 3, while two years ago the Late Night web series was just an idea Batz had.
I look forward to seeing Ranger Bar continue to flourish with PMC5 coming up next year, as that in itself continues to expand each time. And I gotta say how good it feels to enjoy Power Rangers so much again (like the classic days) with Dino Charge here for another year and a half. Also check out my pics from the week.
I arrived at Ranger Bar HQ Wednesday evening as a video game tournament was underway. Tron was already there, coming from New Orleans on Tuesday. I provided my Wii and put on Mario Kart (while Super Smash Bros Brawl, GoldenEye 007 and more Mario Kart would be played later on in the week). Afterwards, we had the "Master Vile's Villain Ball" and Batz made tacos.
Day 2
We headed out in the afternoon and dropped by the local hotspots for toys. Later that evening was a huge smokedown in which we were all inside for a couple hours with a fog machine, lots, and lots of water, along with the usual smoking activities.
Day 3
We had a remote control challenge and played a Power Rangers-style trivia game Batz put together. Kabuki Kelsey then drove us to Stonegate - a popular restaurant/bar in Tacoma that has live music. I joined the gang in doing shots for the first time since Ranger Bar's 4th of July 2014. It was pretty rad.
4th of July
Batz made hot dogs and setup a hall table with snacks and super punch. We had a fun game with toy weapons throughout the hallway. After it got dark, we headed out to a bridge not far. I had never seen so many fireworks go off over the skyline. They were everywhere!
Day 5
Tron had to leave early for a prior commitment and I ended up sleeping through the parade for Michael Pare. That evening was the "Fred Dryer Dinner" - a marathon of Hunter - my favorite 80's action police drama. It sort of felt like the annual Ranger Bar Fancy Dinner Dress Party as Batz served up mac n' cheese, soft pretzels, soft tacos, leftover goldfish crackers and garlic bread pizza - capped off with pie and ice cream. Afterwards I passed out harder than Thanksgiving night.
Day 6 / the Finale
Another pretty lazy afternoon as we waited for Kabuki Kelsey to pick us up for the "Island of Illusion" campout. It was a fun night roasting hot dogs, but the cooler washed away (Luckily, Batz retrieved it the following afternoon). Soon the wind started to pick up so we went back to Ranger Bar HQ, and I left Tacoma about 5:00.
--
Looking back, things have sure changed for me in two years as Ranger Bar continues to evolve. This week saw the debut of "Late Night at the Ranger Bar" episode 3, while two years ago the Late Night web series was just an idea Batz had.
I look forward to seeing Ranger Bar continue to flourish with PMC5 coming up next year, as that in itself continues to expand each time. And I gotta say how good it feels to enjoy Power Rangers so much again (like the classic days) with Dino Charge here for another year and a half. Also check out my pics from the week.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Super Mega Sendoff and Charging Up
I'll just cut to the chase and consider "LEGENDARY BATTLE" the worst finale ever. For starters, it showed how much they tried to ride Countdown to Destruction's
coattails with the civilian scenes. The helmet animation was crap and
saving the abandoned boy wasn't the best way to showcase White Ranger
Tommy. Carter/Dana, and Cassie/TJ had decent cameos. Seeing Leo in the
same clothes all these years later, and Tommy with Saba and the
communicator felt very nostalgic to me. I'd like to think Tommy can just
alternate between powers now. I wish we could've seen
Karone/Damon/Wes helping people as well, and Mike/Emily at least be
there too! Also, if they really wanted to copy the In Space finale, they could've had the Megaforce team reveal themselves with crowd
reactions from Ernie and Mr. Burley.
Troy and Orion fighting Mavro on the ship was awesome and I liked the Space Ranger Legendary change to escape the crash. It was pretty bad seeing the Emporer go out like that so I was glad to see the actual final fight in the extended cut. I was surprised New Powers Blitz, Prism and Lightning were all left out (here and the Legendary War), after being kept in all those other times. I liked the action but the ADR was a mess of season names, morph calls and attacks ("Magibolt" gets the season award for the worst). Also why "Legendary Battlizers"? Troy could've said something along the lines of "Let's powerup!" and it would've been more reasonable.
Bonus point for the sweet helmetless roll call.
The X Borg army made more sense in the extended cut since they were coming for Mavro but they could've thrown in some Bruisers. The giant shot of all the teams looked really nice and I assumed they had Overdrive with Mighty Morphin since the colors matched. I thought maybe they left out the futuristic teams from the roll call on purpose but it doesn't explain leaving out Alien Rangers or Space other then to cut corners for time. I loved the shot of Astronema and the cameos putting their helmets on but man they were underused. I thought you know, we'd see them fighting and the battle would be longer.
Wow, just wow. I still can't believe they used the shot of the powers sacrifice. Way to piss off the fanbase, Seth Walther!
And there you have it. Not even a call from Gosei. I gave it a 3/5 based on the original broadcast and the extended cut really didn't help matters much. Even Samurai and the Kalish seasons had better closure. It's a shame it came to this after Megaforce opening with what would become nearly the same fight, and the excitement over the armada coming in at the end of the season last year. This was Tzachor throwing together cameos at the last minute while no one behind the show gave a crap. Now I see why he was fired after blowing the budget on this. I'd like to think they would've included the supporting cast if they hadn't ran out of money paying for underused cameos. I just hope to god everyone who did these episodes (besides the returning James W. Bates and Jason Smith, the possible Dino Charge story editor) was dismissed.
--
Last year I gave Megaforce an edge and ranked it slightly above Super Samurai, despite the former having a couple better episodes. But everything went wrong in Super Megaforce placing it at the dead bottom. They could've turned things around but instead the apparent difficulty working with Tzachor and his tiresome formula of only caring about the product just made things worse.
Continuing to use the Megaforce suits never bothered me too much but it got inconsistent when they'd be skipped, while the mechazords were mostly forgotten about (and ignored at the end). An even bigger wasted opportunity was spent by doing very little with the armada and underwater base sets they had around.
The Rangers never got it together and were made to look like they had won way too often. It was like production just didn't want to deal with the entire team, and only focus on Noah, Jake, Emma and Orion - so Gia was never given anything to do and Troy's backstory was dropped. For never having her own focus episode and seemingly in the background more this year, Gia still managed to be one of the most decent Rangers along with Jake. There were some bright spots along the way but still, I'll never forgive the Samurai/Megaforce era for basically having the motto "Kids are stupid." If you're a kid watching the show, we'll talk down to you and pretend our team are the ONLY active Rangers out there. And as much as I loved watching the Gokaiger footage, the show was never made for us and no real attempt was made to creatively use footage to honor PR's legacy (Of course, the show would count the Legendary War in that regard).
With Dino Charge approaching, I can only be optimistic, knowing Judd Lynn won't ever allow those kind of things to happen (unless it really is a corporate mandate) and actually cares about good written episodes and character development, which we haven't seen much of since RPM. I imagine Judd Lynn beating the Kalish seasons but not on the same level as during the golden years, which will be just fine. Also, the theme is such a nice change. I was expecting "Go Go Power Rangers/Ranger Forever" to be in yet again which is the only downside from the theme really being great. Without the lyrics, the instrumental is pretty amazing, which I haven't felt since DinoThunder.
Troy and Orion fighting Mavro on the ship was awesome and I liked the Space Ranger Legendary change to escape the crash. It was pretty bad seeing the Emporer go out like that so I was glad to see the actual final fight in the extended cut. I was surprised New Powers Blitz, Prism and Lightning were all left out (here and the Legendary War), after being kept in all those other times. I liked the action but the ADR was a mess of season names, morph calls and attacks ("Magibolt" gets the season award for the worst). Also why "Legendary Battlizers"? Troy could've said something along the lines of "Let's powerup!" and it would've been more reasonable.
Bonus point for the sweet helmetless roll call.
The X Borg army made more sense in the extended cut since they were coming for Mavro but they could've thrown in some Bruisers. The giant shot of all the teams looked really nice and I assumed they had Overdrive with Mighty Morphin since the colors matched. I thought maybe they left out the futuristic teams from the roll call on purpose but it doesn't explain leaving out Alien Rangers or Space other then to cut corners for time. I loved the shot of Astronema and the cameos putting their helmets on but man they were underused. I thought you know, we'd see them fighting and the battle would be longer.
Wow, just wow. I still can't believe they used the shot of the powers sacrifice. Way to piss off the fanbase, Seth Walther!
And there you have it. Not even a call from Gosei. I gave it a 3/5 based on the original broadcast and the extended cut really didn't help matters much. Even Samurai and the Kalish seasons had better closure. It's a shame it came to this after Megaforce opening with what would become nearly the same fight, and the excitement over the armada coming in at the end of the season last year. This was Tzachor throwing together cameos at the last minute while no one behind the show gave a crap. Now I see why he was fired after blowing the budget on this. I'd like to think they would've included the supporting cast if they hadn't ran out of money paying for underused cameos. I just hope to god everyone who did these episodes (besides the returning James W. Bates and Jason Smith, the possible Dino Charge story editor) was dismissed.
--
Last year I gave Megaforce an edge and ranked it slightly above Super Samurai, despite the former having a couple better episodes. But everything went wrong in Super Megaforce placing it at the dead bottom. They could've turned things around but instead the apparent difficulty working with Tzachor and his tiresome formula of only caring about the product just made things worse.
Continuing to use the Megaforce suits never bothered me too much but it got inconsistent when they'd be skipped, while the mechazords were mostly forgotten about (and ignored at the end). An even bigger wasted opportunity was spent by doing very little with the armada and underwater base sets they had around.
The Rangers never got it together and were made to look like they had won way too often. It was like production just didn't want to deal with the entire team, and only focus on Noah, Jake, Emma and Orion - so Gia was never given anything to do and Troy's backstory was dropped. For never having her own focus episode and seemingly in the background more this year, Gia still managed to be one of the most decent Rangers along with Jake. There were some bright spots along the way but still, I'll never forgive the Samurai/Megaforce era for basically having the motto "Kids are stupid." If you're a kid watching the show, we'll talk down to you and pretend our team are the ONLY active Rangers out there. And as much as I loved watching the Gokaiger footage, the show was never made for us and no real attempt was made to creatively use footage to honor PR's legacy (Of course, the show would count the Legendary War in that regard).
With Dino Charge approaching, I can only be optimistic, knowing Judd Lynn won't ever allow those kind of things to happen (unless it really is a corporate mandate) and actually cares about good written episodes and character development, which we haven't seen much of since RPM. I imagine Judd Lynn beating the Kalish seasons but not on the same level as during the golden years, which will be just fine. Also, the theme is such a nice change. I was expecting "Go Go Power Rangers/Ranger Forever" to be in yet again which is the only downside from the theme really being great. Without the lyrics, the instrumental is pretty amazing, which I haven't felt since DinoThunder.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
PRSM #19 "THE WRATH": Poor Man's Countdown to Destruction
Well that got ugly... and just as it was getting good I thought.
Orion leaving was easily the most unexpected start to a episode they've done. This should've been Act 3 of the finale. I do like how they've been kind of trying to pair Emma with him throughout the season. Also I liked watching Levira get tough but the Megazord fight was over too quick.
As for the New Powers, I just assume it was a mandate to make the Legendary War easier on the kids. And Tzachor must have loved trolling us. I bet only the really early sentai teams will be edited out.
I thought it was cool seeing all the zord attacks get used and I wasn't surprised to see New Powers even be included in it. Why was the Q-Rex flight mode not explained? Hard to buy Noah piloting the damn thing when we saw him with the others in the cockpit. I would've believed it more if Tensou had done it. And come on, millions more ships just appear that fast?
3/5. I had hoped for more right before the end but too many weird things and plot choices on top of no one behind the show caring.
Orion leaving was easily the most unexpected start to a episode they've done. This should've been Act 3 of the finale. I do like how they've been kind of trying to pair Emma with him throughout the season. Also I liked watching Levira get tough but the Megazord fight was over too quick.
As for the New Powers, I just assume it was a mandate to make the Legendary War easier on the kids. And Tzachor must have loved trolling us. I bet only the really early sentai teams will be edited out.
I thought it was cool seeing all the zord attacks get used and I wasn't surprised to see New Powers even be included in it. Why was the Q-Rex flight mode not explained? Hard to buy Noah piloting the damn thing when we saw him with the others in the cockpit. I would've believed it more if Tensou had done it. And come on, millions more ships just appear that fast?
3/5. I had hoped for more right before the end but too many weird things and plot choices on top of no one behind the show caring.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
PRSM #18 "EMPEROR MAVRO": Mavrolous
A photo of Vekar and Vrak inside the ship would've been nice but I get why they didn't do it. I was just glad Mavro said "sons."
I loved how Jake's wacky fighting was explained and the Rangers being confident about the armada not having a leader. It was fun to see the them goofing around with each other, and although they really should've morphed sooner I enjoyed the unmorphed stuff. Odd seeing Mega Blasters get used but I don't blame them if they can't decide on weapons.
Troy being helmetless but blindfolded made sense I thought since we can assume he morphed and lost quickly. It does come off as a cheap way to keep the secret identity, but if his face was shown, we wouldn't have had a crowd reaction to him anyway. Also kind of wish they had kept Green Lost Galaxy that was cut immediately before Jake's Mystic Force change.
So, this was a good climax to killing off most of the villains, and when I look back, I'll remember it as the best episode of the past two years. I'm not even gonna fault it for Antonio and Mia not being acknowledged or credited since it was a very Megaforce thing to do, and I liked the setup to it of Troy and Orion hanging out while Troy got the tickets. Plus the idea of a rock concert being foreign to Orion.
A two-parter of Gokai's episodes would've been spectacular but for a single episode they made it work, even better than I would've guessed. I'll go with just barely a 5/5 and the only episode I'll end up giving it to ("DREAM SNATCHER," which I loved, came pretty close). And as I'd expect from the show, it sounds this will end up better than the finale.
I loved how Jake's wacky fighting was explained and the Rangers being confident about the armada not having a leader. It was fun to see the them goofing around with each other, and although they really should've morphed sooner I enjoyed the unmorphed stuff. Odd seeing Mega Blasters get used but I don't blame them if they can't decide on weapons.
Troy being helmetless but blindfolded made sense I thought since we can assume he morphed and lost quickly. It does come off as a cheap way to keep the secret identity, but if his face was shown, we wouldn't have had a crowd reaction to him anyway. Also kind of wish they had kept Green Lost Galaxy that was cut immediately before Jake's Mystic Force change.
So, this was a good climax to killing off most of the villains, and when I look back, I'll remember it as the best episode of the past two years. I'm not even gonna fault it for Antonio and Mia not being acknowledged or credited since it was a very Megaforce thing to do, and I liked the setup to it of Troy and Orion hanging out while Troy got the tickets. Plus the idea of a rock concert being foreign to Orion.
A two-parter of Gokai's episodes would've been spectacular but for a single episode they made it work, even better than I would've guessed. I'll go with just barely a 5/5 and the only episode I'll end up giving it to ("DREAM SNATCHER," which I loved, came pretty close). And as I'd expect from the show, it sounds this will end up better than the finale.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)