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Reviews
Gotham Knights: Night of the Owls (2023)
Who the H3LL is Henri Ducard?
I did my review already - before the finale - and I predicted it: An even bigger twist to Turner Hayes than finding out his parents were Owls and The Batman had to kill them. And I already said it: I'm not a comic book fan, so I don't know who Henri Ducard is. According to the movies, I thought Bruce Wayne learned everything he knew from the League of Shadows.
Upon searching DC Fandom. I discovered that "Henri Ducard is a legendary French manhunter. Bruce Wayne was his greatest student, although he quit in protest when Ducard murdered a suspect..." and that the League of Shadows was more of an adversary; this is why Ducard said, "I taught Bruce everything he knows. Now, I will teach you everything you need to know..." To Turner.
And for a moment, I thought Henri Ducard was with the League of Assassins. Can you imagine my lack of comic book education?
Apparently, Henri is a rich assassin with his own army; they saved Turner from certain death at the hands of Rebecca and her Talons seconds before Wayne Tower got exploded (shades of building 7 on 9/11). That was, perhaps, the most tense scene of the episode.
I loved the extreme fight scenes; it was also very scary because Gotham LE were no match for the Talons - and certainly not Robin's mother with her back turned to one of them. The Gotham Knights were amazing against the Talons. My question to Stephanie Brown is when did she get time to train to know how to use that Bat baton so well? And Brody March, OMG. When did he train in martial arts? And I love that Bluebird (Harper) found her special toy.
But as far as Misha Collins, I don't blame him if he doesn't want to come back as Harvey Dent; that twisty face makeup looked very painful. But I love this guy as Harvey Dent because he literally turned into the comic book character. On the other hand, I would love to see more episodes of Road Food if no more Gotham Knights.
BTW, it was all up to Harvey to release his Dark Side; he did it to save Duela the best way he knew how, by choking the crap out of Rebecca and fighting off the Owls. That's when Rebecca splashed Harvey with "something" and screwed up his face.
If Greg Berlanti finds some way to bring back Gotham Knights, he should continue the 'ship between Turner and Duela - in spite of everyone in Gotham believing him dead. As far as I could tell, they brought out the best in each other. We'll see.
Gotham Knights (2023)
They should have used a different title
Because there are DC Comic Fans who know "Gotham Knights" as a video game featuring well known Batman Universe Characters. "Gotham Academy" is already taken, so I was thinking "Arkham Academy." The fact is the CW Producers in charge of the DC Universe are always rewriting the DC Comics.
"Gotham Knights" is no exception. The lead character, Turner Hayes, yet another different adopted son of Bruce Wayne is NOT part of the DC Universe; that should be the giveaway that "Gotham Knights" is a different story - Not of the DC Universe.
On close observation, a lot of really hard work went into "Gotham Knights," in front of and behind the scenes. When the series first started, I found someone wrote a "Gotham Knights" TV Series page at Wikipedia; whoever did that wanted to make a point that all the other characters except Turner Hayes is part of the DC / Batman Series.
Given the chance, I believe a further twist would have been made upon Turner Hayes as is usually done in DC Comic Book Stories. I mean an even further twist than his discovery that he was the son of Owls who were killed by Batman.
Personally, I'm OK with new characters, especially new takes on old characters like Harvey Dent. In "Gotham Knights," Harvey is split personality only on the inside which would have given his character so much more depth - including his duel life in fathering Duela, yet another story twist - for people who don't read DC Comics.
I'm no fan of any Comics - because I can't keep up with fiction - AND my own life. But I have no trouble taking a little time to find out what the "Gotham Knights" team put into the series. At DC Fandom, a good explanation of "electrum" is provided: "The Court of Owls learned to use the metal from Doctor Leviticus centuries ago to save and reanimate their Talons over generations..."
The story of "electrum" keeps getting weirder. The fact that the "Court of Owls" has been around for centuries is more than enough "dark underground society" material. In the comic book, "The Court of Owls, Part Five: Face the Court," Batman was accidently exposed to "electrum." Therefore, how do we know that Bruce Wayne is actually dead? That's another twist we'll never know.
"Assault on the Court," volume 2, issue 10 in the Batman Series has the Batman finding the "Court of Owls" dead at the same table setting as "City of Owls" when the "Gotham Knights" found them. As you see, there are a different set of twists and turns in the live action CW Series, but they ARE there. And I believe, had "Gotham Knights" been allowed to continue, especially with all the character development that it was doing, it would have been one of the best series on TV.
My only disappointment in the series - as it was left - makes no mention of well known Batman Characters: Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson the original Robin, Batwing, Batwoman, Selena Kyle / Catwoman, and all the other Batman Villains - except for the Joker, Duela's "adopted father." And Where does "Gotham Knights" fit in the big picture / time line of the rest of the CW / DC Universe? Or is "Gotham Knights" in a universe all its own?
If Greg Berlanti somehow resurrects this, maybe he should take a survey of CW viewership first, find out where their heads are at, but first, find out where yours is.
Triangle (2009)
10 because I can't forget it
My apologies to the previous reviewer, but TRIANGLE is NOT a story about regret, remorse, and second chances.
I can only imagine the negative gossip this film got in 2009 as I can see from the gross earnings. I saw Triangle a few weeks ago on Comet TV and I can't get it out of my head.
It's not a happy ending to this movie. In fact, there is NO ending, but you do get to leave the movie wondering...
What I figure is that Christopher Smith may have been inspired by Thomas Bearden's "Excaliber" - or even Holy Scripture to make Triangle.
Triangle: The Yacht, The Ocean Liner, Home - never ending. Jess' uncharacteristically homicidal behavior upon her own friends. Losing myriad numbers of necklaces down the same grate when she only has one. Throwing the dead seagull among the same pile of dead seagulls again and again.
When Jess goes home again (and again) that's the giveaway; this is hell, Jess' Hell.
This is how the mind works: When you fail to be accountable again and again, you are building your own hell - and you're doomed to repeat it.
Maybe I'm the only one who thinks she's in hell, but, if after that car crash wherein she sees both her and her son dead, then where is she?
Gotham: A Dark Knight: One of My Three Soups (2018)
There's a brilliant, hidden message in this ep.
One or two seasons ago, there were people cursing the writers for "killing off" the Joker whereas I would question: "What makes you think he's dead?" Then Gotham fans were gushing (esp. on Facebook) when they thought Joker and Penguin would join forces in Arkham Asylum. In "Three Soups," we see a carefully crafted collaboration between Joker, Scarecrow, and the Mad Hatter which represents something very important.
Let's skip to the diner scene wherein the Joker, strangely and surprisingly, put himself in a compromising position wherein he is being held down by a big guy, then his "uncle" / diner proprietor pours an ultra hot bowl of soup into his mouth. What? No henchmen to help the Joker? He escaped from Arkham with plenty of Loyalists. Although we know he's a masochist who enjoys his pain, the moment is still questionable. In bursts, young Bruce: "Unhand that man and save him for the police!" Selina told Bruce in the previous ep. not to be a douche bag. I guessed that he was still brain dead from all his benders, but wait! Bruce gets into a fight with the big muscle guy at least twice his size in defense of the Joker! Therein, the Joker questions the irony of this. So do I! The writers must be trying to tell us something! In another scene, there are 1000's of Gothamites hypnotized by the Mad Hatter, poised and ready to step off a roof from a high rise at midnight. Bruce, as yet to be Batman, is supposed to be representing/defending them, but he's chosen to defend the Joker - to save him for Arkham Asylum via GCPD which loses control of and allows violent criminals to escape on a regular and continuous basis; Young Bruce is almost like the Adam West version of Batman. I half way expected to see "Pow!" "Wham!" "Zing!" cartoon balloons.
In pounces Young Selina to save Young Bruce with her trusty whip; she grabs the gun and attempts to do what is reasonable and logical in Gotham: To stop a psycho-killer before he kills anyone else. Thereupon, Bruce jumps Selina, stops her, then hovers over her on the floor in a prone position in a strangely romantic moment that he didn't deserve.
Then it occurs to me: All you people who complained that the Joker was dead "because he's so pertinent to Gotham," you're like those hypnotized Gothamites ready to step off the roof of a high rise. Why would you jump to the defense of a psycho-killer? Like Gordon said: "You have to save each other," because all we really have is each other - not the psycho killers, not the people who would drive us insane to kill ourselves.
I know there are those of you who won't be able to fathom "Three Soups" beyond the splattering of two people by a wrecking ball. For those of you with actual morals, ethics, and brains, you will find a real message here.
Inhumans (2017)
A Review of the other Reviews
For those of you of somehow "tolerated" the show instead of changing the channel. For those of you how chose to give Inhumans a negative review instead of just going to the local theater to watch your fav movie. You have made it clear that you are used to crapping on the works of others who have worked so hard. This is given that I read what Imax did with the first two eps; that was unfortunate. As TV shows go, Inhumans far out weighs most of the content filler series out there as far as special f/x, action, cinematography, characters, and writing. It definitely out weighs The Gifted - which is a pretty good Marvel Drama. It's unfortunate that Inhumans, the TV show, has been sequestered from the rest of the Marvel Universe because it would be an excellent crossover continuation of the Marvel Series on the big screen.