Tag: Commentary

Ninjago Crystalized or Not, They Aren’t Dead

Ninjago Crystalized shows the team still grieving one year later, and what they better do is get their act back together!

Ninjago Cystalised

After Nya made the ultimate sacrifice to save the city from Wojira, much has changed. The latest series, subtitled Ninjago Crystalized, shows the team still grieving. A year has passed since that day, and what I’ve last expressed in The Calm Before the Storm with Ninjago: Seabound sums up my hopes and dreams for this newest season.

The episode, “Farewell the Sea” begins with a new team of ninjas dealing with crime around the city. Miss Demeanour is back, and she’s making another delivery of Vengestone. This differently coloured group doesn’t know what’s happening and are merely putting a stop to a petty crime. On the other hand, Lloyd, Cole, Kai, Jay, PIXAL and Zane aren’t doing much to investigate these days. Their desire to figure out who is receiving these goods is on hold. Plus, The Green Ninja doesn’t believe he’s the leader he once was.

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LEGO Ninjago Crystalized. Concerning Its Forbidden and Fragile Start.

LEGO’s animated series Ninjago is getting Crystalized. Despite finding this upcoming season had a strange release to online first, the wait to see how the story will continue is still worthwhile.

Ninjago CrystalizedComing to Teletoon Canada
June 18th 10:00 am (PST)

LEGO’s animated series Ninjago is getting Crystalized. Despite finding this upcoming season had a strange release to online first, the wait to see how the story will continue is still worthwhile.

That is, those lucky enough to see the series on The LEGO Company’s YouTube page got more than a preview before being removed days later. Soon afterwards, it appeared on Netflix before also getting pulled. The reason may be due to arrangements with television networks. Its unusual start was certainly confusing, but thankfully, this season should be on track for debut on networks this coming week. In Canada, the first pair of episodes (out of twelve) are coming to TeleToon this weekend. As for other territories, please check your listings.

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Firestarter. Is Anyone Fanning the Flames for Stephen King Horror Anymore?

The remake of Stephen King’s Firestarter is not entirely a dud and has its moments which I liked.

A young girl stares forward with an angered expression, as fire rages behind her.Spoiler Alert

The remake of Stephen King’s Firestarter is not a total dud. It has a few good moments where we see Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) trying to have a normal life in school. But when the kids are provoking her, it’s obvious what’ll next happen will be deadly. They’re only fanning the flames to awaken her pyrokinetic powers. Plus, she’s more likely to fight back instead of continue hiding.

She’ll have to make a hard choice to be a devil in disguise or an angel of vengence. Either way, the choice will result in people being immolated. However, in the grander scheme, this subplot doesn’t matter. Instead, it’s about the prisoners wondering what to do next after escaping the Gulag. Technically, this place is called The Shop, a place to train psychically gifted individuals to do their bidding. It’s easy to build upon this particular plot where gifted individuals (from other films, like Doctor Sleep) are brainwashed to fight for America. Charlie’s parents escaped from here, and whe was a baby when that happened.

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Doctor Strange is More than Multiverse of Madness. Thoughts and A Review

Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness takes notes from Wandavision and Loki, and goes further with it.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness poster.jpgSpoiler Alert

One terrific thing about having Sam Raimi back to making comic book films is in how those movies are imbued with his viceral style. His passion for whichever property he’s sculpting will forever bear his mark. That’s especially evident with Spider-Man 2, and in Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, the use of Dutch angles or some other cinematic trick distinguishes which universe the master of mystic arts is in. Seeing this film through the eyes of the monster is another camera technique he loves using.

This MCU product feels more Evil Dead than anything else and I love it since it may even suggest Marvel’s Zombieverse will return. This film marks the second time the heroes have visited this realm. Marvel’s What If (“…Zombies!?”) introduced fans to this danger.

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Star Wars: The Bad Batch in Review & Commentary

Although the wait will be long for the next season, I’m finding The Bad Batch is essential watching for any Star Wars fan.

STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCHThe Bad Batch finished its first season run, and I’m still wondering when and if Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus will meet. Technically, part of the runaway Jedi’s journey was covered in the comic book series published by Marvel Comics and written by Greg Weisman. I doubt the two-parter with Hera can be left just like that, with her and us knowing she’ll become a resistance fighter. As for getting cameos from past fond favourites, like Ashoka, I feel that’s not the direction Dave Filoni is aiming for. 

What this season represents is in how various civilizations are not pleased at the fact The Republic has fallen and the Empire is taking over. Democracy has fallen. 

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How to Be A Black Widow Isn’t Easy in MCU’s Latest

As a stand-alone product, Black Widow is a very moody film.

Black Widow (2021 film) poster.jpgNow Playing in Theatres and Disney Plus
Spoiler Alert

The long wait to understand why Black Widow is who she is gets muddled on the big screen. I’ve known about her origins by reading the graphic novel collections and consulting the Internet. To finally see her solo adventure in cinema is more of a let’s stick to the MCU tradition: Every hero needs his or her solo adventure, and let’s try not to riff off of Captain America: Civil War too much.

We’ve seen snippets of this superspy’s training from past films. To know how these past scenes and other bits play to her psychology isn’t examined. I was hoping part of the tale would flashback to specific moments of her life and lead up to how she died in Avengers Endgame. Sadly, this would mean viewers would have to know those past movies. There’s no guarantee everyone would understand when the film ends with her broken body, and the last words from her lips muttering, “No regrets…” It can work had it started as an intro, and reference those movies so some fans can go rewatch them again. Movies that are built through flashbacks can be done.

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