The TV series of Power Rangers is always good fun, with the suits and story pretty colourful and fun. A few seasons took a more serious side with the story, and even in the more light-hearted ones there were some serious moments.
But no-one really expected those spandex suits and cheap effects to change to reflect that more serious tone. Here then, with the first in the new Rangers films, a more serious tone is presented with the effects and suits to match.
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After that ridiculously long post of Mighty Morphin', I'm glad all of these will now be less than a hundred episodes to cover. With the next two series, it was clear Saban was trying to push for bigger changes more quickly to allow the popularity of the franchise to thrive.
Zeo changed everything right off the bat. Well, all but the Rangers themselves, and Angel Grove as a living community. Turbo also did the same thing. So let's take a look at Zeo, then Turbo, and see how they shape up. As I said in this month's Update, I was never an active watcher, and the point at which I started - Dino Thunder - was effectively The Force Awakens to A New Hope. Familiar with its concepts but presenting them in a new approach.
From an evil Ranger who turns good, the comic relief trying to expose the Ranger's identities in numerous ways, and most importantly of all - Tommy Oliver returning as a core member of a team. So from someone who's first experience into Power Rangers was from Dino Thunder, what kind of opinion would that one get watching the original? I'm going to keep this one short and sweet, and as spoiler free as possible. The story presented in Rogue One is as we've known for a long time. The Death Star plans are stolen.
But the journey it takes to get there is an interesting one, with plenty of scenes that make you feel for these characters. Most of them get developed very well across the story. The year of 2014 was a big one for me. Nothing too fancy, but quite a bit of stuff. 2014 was also a year in which I continued trends which I'd set in 2013. For instance - going to ComicCon. In 2013, it was my first ever ComicCon, up at Telford. Went with a few friends, and ultimately ended up doing little. In 2014, at Birmingham, I went with one of the friends I'd gone with last time.
And this time did a lot more. In fact, I met Brian Murphy, star of George and Mildred and Last of the Summer Wine. Though I didn't talk all that much with him (nerves, can't really blame me), I did get a photo with him, as did my friend. And there was also a Star Wars parade. Who can't love a parade? Said I would do this, to give my feelings on the show, and whether the rest of the world should be excited for this when it finally airs elsewhere. The answer is - yes. I can literally say this is one of the best crafted cartoons of Sonic I have watched.
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog felt like it was nothing but a comic fest. Nothing but joke after joke with little story. Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic X felt more serious in nature, a bit too off tone, and relying too much on gimmicky power ups so as not to make Sonic too powerful all the time. And Sonic Underground... It tried to strike the right balance, but it either came off as too annoyingly comic or too serious about itself. Well, this was interesting. I was already anticipating the release of this, and the forty minutes of greatness has finally arrived. What we have here is two episodes put together to form a season opener, or a conjoined arc, if you will.
The first half gives all the main characters time in the spotlight. The second half expands on them. I'll try not to go into that much detail on plots this time, but it should still be a decent review. It was a real surprise when The Clone Wars ended, though not totally unexpected. Whisperings began as far back as before Season Five even aired, with the change in time slot on American Cartoon Network, some believed the show was to end soon. After all, Disney had just recently acquired Lucas Film at the time. Season Five airs as normal, and then we get the video of Dave Filoni announcing the end of The Clone Wars, but that the stories weren't finished. Indeed, they weren't.
Despite Rebels being the main focus of Filoni and his team, thirteen episodes of The Clone Wars were put out onto Netflix, delving deeper into both Order 66 and the clones' origin. Oh, and Yoda learning the true meaning of victory. But the team gave out yet another part of The Clone Wars in the form of the Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comic mini series. And then, not even two weeks ago, the full outline of this program - The Clone Wars Legacy - was revealed to us. So first off, let me say that I've seen this subject cropping up everywhere Star Wars related, in various forms, and decided I'd offer my thoughts on it.
I've been invested in the Star Wars Expanded Universe for as long as I've been a fan (it was Star Wars Battlefront 2 that got me being a fan in the first place - that has to mean something), and started out with the opening book to the Republic Commando series, and Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader. I loved those two books, and collected many more since. But there was a slight hitch. The original Ice Age film was one of the first I ever actually owned. It was one of the best films I had seen. When the second film then came out, I loved that one too. The films of Ice Age have references for all ages, and when I was growing up, I might not have understood them all at first, but over time I did.
I have watched all four films countless times [the fourth less so, due to it being newer], and each have held a lot of thoughts, and all of them are different depending on which film it is. |