Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall Film Review

Believe it or it's been TWO years since we last got an American direct to DVD DC animated movie with the last ones being released being Watchmen Chapters 1 and 2. Believe it or not its actually been longer then that since we last got an American direct to the DVD Batman movie as the last one of those came out THREE years ago and while we did get Aztec Batman that's a Spanish film not an American one and well now we have a new direct to DVD DC film and well you all just know that  had to check this film out the very chance that I got and so then join me as i review the film that is the first of a three part story with the film in question being called simply just "Batman Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when Arkham Asylum is blown up and every criminal escapes Batman and Robin have to round up every one of them whilst also working out who blew it up and to what end. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. To be frank here whilst this films plot is indeed really good as the plot of the film is one that is really fun to watch and is one that could very easily please alot of people due to the fact that it does feel like a plot that would be done in Batman: The Animated Series. However tho it should be noted that the films plot is rather thin and while this is something that does make alot of sense as the film is telling one story across three films there should have been more of an effort into giving us a more tighter and a more focused plot as alot of the time it is hard to make out just what the main plot of this even meant to be alot of the time as while sure we have the basic premise of Batman and Robin trying to recapture all of these past villains and that is a good premise to have but that's not enough to carry the plot for a movie and while this film does have the excuse of there being two other parts to be released hopefully this year there should have been an effort to give alot of the films plot some focus and not spend alot of time on scenes that might add something to either parts 2 or 3 but add nothing to the plot of this film as a whole with the plot of this films also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Inhumans star Anson Mount as Bruce Wayne / Batman and Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Brand New Day star Michael Mando as Bane. Also starring in this film is Orange Is The New Black star Pablo Schreiber as Jean-Paul Valley / Azrael ,  Jack Giffin as Tim Drake / Robin , Bruce Boxleitner as Commissioner Gordon , Late Night With The Devil star David Dastmalchian as Edward Nygma / The Riddler and James Bond Jr. star Simon Templeman as Alfred Pennyworth.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. The fact that this films acting is as good as it is in the first place really isn't all that shocking due to the fact that the film does have alot of really good actors in it and granted all of these actors that well known with perhaps the most well know at the very least to main stream audiences being David Dastmalchian and that's really it but even so if you've seen these actors in anything then you'll know how good tat they can be and all of them really do bring it in this film. With the best actor in this film being Michael Mando as Bane as he does get more of a chance to show off just good he is at being evil more so then what he does in any of the Spider-Man films that he's in and he really does nail it as this character so much so that you actively look forward to seeing him on screen as as an actor he is just a force of nature as this character so much so that I really would be happy if he became the official voice actor for this character as he is just so good to watch in this film with him having this natural nact for being evil that really does shine through in his performance in this film. With the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will com out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality f the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the animation for this film is the legend and the really greats that really are currently over at Studio Mir. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. To be frank it was both shocking and at the same time not all that shocking to find out that we have some really good animation in this film as direct to DVD DC animated films do typically have some really good looking animation in them but it was still shocking as alot of the more recent films had animation that whilst it was still really good was also quite lackluster and to be frank uninspired. Yet here with this film you can tell that there was a lot of genuine thought and effort put into this films animation with the animation at times looking like the comic books brought to life only with there own unique touch with the thing that helps to make the animation in this film be as good as it is being the fact the characters d have these really cool looking designs to them with Batman looking like how he did in the nineties only now he's got a cape that at times has spikes that look like bats and while he does look a bit to muscular that was also true for the comic books as well with it being made clear as day that the makers of this film are taking inspiration for the comic books, with the thing that does let the films animation down being the fact that the characters do have a lot of shadows on them which is something that does always look off putting as it takes your eye away from where it should be that being the film as now your looking at something that's hideous to look at.

This film is based on the thirst part of the Knightfall arc with the entire arc being published between April 1993 and August 1994. With the arc itself being one of the more famous comic book arc that Batman has been in due to the fact that in part one of that arc we do see Batman getting his back broken by Bane something which we had never seen before then and might not have seen since then as that moment is so iconic that there is no way to do it again without drawing comparisons to how it was done in this comic book arc with it even forcing Batman to grow as a character as now he has to learn to trust someone else something which due to the fact that he had just lost Jason Todd he wasn't able to do due to the fact that he was scared of loosing not just another Robin but another friend. While it is hard to say if this film is a good representation of the first part of the Knightfall arc what can be said is that just by going off of a very qu9ick read from the books Wikipedia page it does seem as if this film is just covering up until the part where Batman does get his back broken as there are more things that does happen in the first book that isn't in this film which is quite fair enough as these films don't typically last all that long but if your going to be doing three films in the first place and have all three films adapt each of three parts of the arc then why not adapt all of it as you have more then enough room to do so and it's something that the die hard comic book fans would love to see as the whole point of doing films based on these comic books is to give us the same stories but done in animation. Granted alot of what happens in the rest of book 1 might not have work in a film format which is a fair case to make but then why not just find away around that and only adapt the parts from book 1 that would work in a film format.

This film does carry on the trend of them adapting the comic book as multi-part films which in all fairness is a really good way of giving the comics in a new format. However this film does end suffering thanks to that approach as for a long portion of the films running time there is nothing of interest happening as all we are seeing is Batman work himself into the ground as he spends two nights without sleep chasing every single criminal that escaped from Arkham which is fine for a scene or two as that gets across the state of mind that Batman is in right now but the film barely does anything with it and while the film doesn't really set up all that much for the other two films it doesn't also pay off anything that it sets up in this film either. This is kind of double edges sword when it comes to doing films in more then one part as of course you want to give your audience a reason to come back and watch part 2 but you also want to make part 1 feel as close to a complete film as it possibly could be and in some ways this film does that as you do get the iconic moment in this film that will force Batman to change as a character but due to the fact that we only see Batman acting out twice in the film and don't really get any hints of him loosing his edge at any other point in the film only when it's for other characters to call it out which does make the idea of Batman starting to loose it feel wasted as of course with the comic book they can and did do more of that by showing Batman getting weaker and weaker with every passing issue this is of course something that you really can't do with a film this is despite the fact that the idea of Batman going nights without rest without sleeping and without food and water is a good idea and it is a good way to show us that much like with GCPD in this film Batman is spreading himself far to thin and does need to take a step back.

This films main villain is of course Bane with the character looking like he just stepped right out of the comic books. Heck even how the character is presented in this film is so good as unlike in Batman & Robin this version of the character is always the smartest person in a room full of villains with him having this inner strength and desire to survive something that was tought to him by his mother and it is something that we see him use in the film as he refuses to let his captures from when he was a kid get the better of them and stays alive for years just to spite them and when he gets injected with the venom he lasts longer then anyone else that has taken it and with this ne found power he goes nuts killing everyone. The character is also quite smart as without first meeting either Bruce Wayne or Batman he deduces that the two of them are one in the same and because of that he is able to draw out Batman and his allies alot more easily with him letting Batman weaken himself for Bane which is such a smart move and it is something that does make this character be one of the more easier characters to adapt for a film or whatever as this is a character that you can use as this unstoppable force of nature and yet there's only been ne film live action film thus far that has gotten this part right about the character that being The Dark Knight Rises, with the villains plan in this film being to fix Gotham by removing all of the things that he deems to be wrong with it and given the fact that Batman doesn't kill anyone he's deemed as being one of the things that's wrong with Gotham as according to Bane he's allowed it to get into the state that it's in with this being plan that whilst yes it is a simple plan but it's also one thats affective due to how simple it is.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and eighteen minuets and thirty seven seconds. This was kind of running time that to be frank I wasn't expecting this film to have as alot of the direct to DVD DC animated films usually run for around about one hour and ten minuets and this film is almost ten minuets longer then that and it really didn't need to be as you very easily could have cut down ALOT of the pointless Bane origin story at the tart of the film to just it's bare essentials as we didn't need to see his mother giving birth to him and then showing her being put in jail as that's just pointless filler that would have been better of being left out of the film with the film having more then enough plot thee to really cover that amount of running time. The film really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely due to the fact that the film really doesn't take the time to fully develop what little plot that it ha this is something that this film really should have done or layed the groundworks for the other two films to do and yet this film does neither one and therefor should the other films develop the plot it would feel out of place as the groundwork hadn't been layed this is something that could easily have been done just by cutting down on the pointless flashback origin for Bane and using the time freed up from that to add things to the films plot with it being made clear as day that the makers of this film put alot more thought and effort into showing us Bane's full origin story then they did into giving the plot some actual plot development. The same thing is also kind of true for the films character development as while it is understandable as to why the characters in this film don't et any character development and they do lay the groundworks for Batman to get the same character development that he always gets it would have been really nice to see one of the smaller known characters get some character development in this film with the makers of this film instead putting more thought and effort into showing us alot villain cameos then they di into giving its characters some character development but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With there being alot of good looking action scenes in this film all of which are helped by the fact that the animation in this film does help to sell you on the action as the animation makes all of the kicks and punches land harder and it makes all of the action cool to watch with the film giving us alot of cool moments with really all of the heroes and villains in this film with them all getting a time to shine which was a nice touch. With the best action scene in the whole entire film being of course the fight between Batman and Bane at the end of the film as we get to see a weakened Batman who has several injuries at this point in the film struggle to even land a decent hit on Bane with Bane just beating the heck out of him and destroying huge parts of Wayne Manor with Bane even destroying a huge part of the Batcave and while that moment would have been better save for part 2 it was still effective in this film as it does lead to the most iconic moment in recent Batman history as Bane taunts a near death Batman and lifts him up into the back his back over his knee with that whole action serving to show us the audience just how strong that this version of Bane is and how easily he could and in this case does break Batman with the rest of the films action being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall whilst this film really is the first American direct to DVD DC animated film since Watchmen Chapters 1 and 2 this film does show that when it comes down to it DC really does still know how to make a really good animated direct to DVD film as while this film isn't as good as other solo Batman films it's also alot more better then what it really had any right to be in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in his very review from Amazon . Co . Uk , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Top Cat: Hawaii Here We Come Review

Out of all of the shows that Hanna-Barbera have produced be it Scooby-Doo and all of it's various versions to something like like Wacky Races the studio did have alot of great classic cartoons that people still talk about to this very day. The thing however cannot be said for Top Cat as while the characters have started to see a resurgence in popularity be it due to the movies Top Cat: The Movie and Top Cat Begins or them being featured characters on the show Jellystone really not alot of people talk about the original Top Cat show and well i'd thought i'd do exactly that by reviewing the first episode to be produced and so then join me as I review the episode that despite it being the first episode produced it was the third to air with the episode in question being called simply just "Hawaii Here We Come" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when Benny wins a trip to Hawaii Top Cat and the rest of the gang decide to sneak on board the ship and go with him while Officer Dibble has to track down a thief before he flood Hawaii with his counterfeit money.Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Plot wise this episodes plot is pretty standard Top Cat stuff with Top Cat scheming to get something all the while trying to avoid getting caught by Officer Dibble which to be fair is a format that down work. However the plot of the episode does become more interesting when you add in thief plot to the episode as that is something that does add stakes with the plot of the episode really picking up once all of the characters are on board the ship as up until that point the episodes plot had been pretty thin at best but once they all get on the ship the whole plot just comes alive, another issue in regards to the episodes plot is that despite being promised to be a featured main character in the episode the second the gang all get on the ship Benny seem to get forgotten about with him not even having any lines of dialog in that part of the episode this is despite the fact that it's Benny that gets the main plot of the episode started in the first place the episodes plot is one that does show alot of promise but its a case where something that could be considered the side plot is alot more interesting that the main plot despite the fact that the main plot opens itself up for more comedic moments with the plot of this episode really being really rather entertaining and ae well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this episode is Arnold Stang as Top Cat , Allen Jenkins as Officer Dibble and Maurice Gosfield as Benny The Ball and A Passenger. Also starring in this episode is Marvin Kaplan as Choo Choo and A Passenger , Leo DeLyon as Spook and Brain , John Stephenson as Fancy-Fancy , The Sergeant , The Boat Captain , The Purser , Mac and Boss Of The Deck and Don Messick as The Boarding Representative , The Crook , A Policeman , A Passenger and A Sailor.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. To be frank it was shocking to see good acting in this episode as usually for an animated sixties TV show you don't usually get good acting sometimes you but not always and thankfully this was one of the few times where you do get good acting with all of the episodes actors turning in performances that whilst they aren't going to be winning the any OSCARS is more then passable for the kind of show that this is. With the best actor in the whole entire episode being John Stephenson as the man plays SIX different characters in this episode and yet you can never tell that it's him doing the voices as he gives each of his characters a distinct voice which does help make them feel unique with John adding in enough of himself to all of the characters that he plays in the episode that you get a sense of he is just putting himself out there and giving us a glimpse as to who he is as a person with there being a reason that Hanna-Barbera would keep on bringing him back as he is just so good in this episode with is natural acting ability really shining through in this episode. With the acting that's in this very episode really being helped buy the fact that this episodes script is just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturedly which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.

Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Hanna-Barbera Productions. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. For a TV show that was made in sixties by Hanna-Barbera as while there is still that air of cheapness to the episodes animation with there being alot of repeated backgrounds and very limited movements by the characters this is still something that does add to the charm of the episode rather then detract from it. As with this being the first episode that was produced it would have been very easy for the makers of this episode to really go all out with the animation but that wouldn't gave left much for the rest of the show and therefor they do have to think more smarter and that does result in an episode that does look cheap and while yes the characters do show signs of having fluid animation alot of the time we do get this rather stilted looking animation which yes is cheap to produce as you only have to animate certain frames of the character it still would have made the episodes animation look all the more better and it will give people more of a reason to watch episode 2 of the show as now they would be thinking that the animation is going to be this good every weak but to be fair not having the animation be this good does mean that the episode has to rely more on the writing and the characters to carry the episode as unlike alot of animated shows today it can't just fall back on the animation as the animation isn't that good whereas the writing and the characters are likable enough to trump the animation in this episode.

This episode does have the stereotypical thief character in this episode with him making fake money for some unknown reason. Whilst it would normally be seen as a bad thing for an episode or a movie not to give any personality to someone that is essentially it's main character here it is something that does make alot of sense as this show is meant to be aimed at little kids to at best families and that does mean that the villain is going to be as bare bones as it gets with him running around the boat trying to avoid Officer Dibble who followed him on to the boat when he dressed as an old lady as he just wanted to return the money that he gave him and that's it with the character not really having interesting about him which is something that does make sense given the fact that this is an animated show made in the sixties. However it still would gave helped the character out alot if we get some background on the character even if it's just his name as he is literally credited as just The Crook and that's it and heck if they did give him a name and more of a personality then he could have gone on to become more of a recurring villain in the show instead of just being in this one episode as the idea of someone using obviously fake money is a good idea as is having Top Cat and the gang be the ones to come up with the idea to stop him in the first place but due to the fact that the makers of this episode treated the character like an afterthought when compared to the rest of that plot it does mean that a good character does get wasted as it would be super fun to see this character having interactions with members of the gang with them all believing that he is a Granny before revealing that he's actually a villain.

For some odd reason alot of this episode does take place on this one boat which wouldn't be bad thing were it not for the fact that the boat isn't all that interesting. As there's nothing on the boat that makes it a visually interesting place to spend alot of the episode and yet the makers of this episode thought that it was a good idea idea to spend alot of the time on this boat with us not really getting to much of the boat outside of this one floor which the episode pretty much uses up a few minuets after all of the characters embark on the boat with alot of the other locations in the episode being more interesting as we of course have the gangs alleyway which is always a fun place to visit and we have a random shop which could have worked as a main location for the episode. Granted the boat might have looked this empty due to budgetary reasons as these Hanna-Barbera shows were always done quickly and cheaply and that does mean that alot of the backgrounds are going to look empty alot of the time hence why we never seen alot of people walking in the background and it would have to mean animating alot of things that aren't important to the episode in the grand scheme of things but if your going to make a boat the main location for that is essentially your first episode then why not go as all out as you can and make the boat look full not only with staff and holiday makers but also with various activities while these are small things they are also things that will make the boat look like a more interesting location rather then being the flat and boring location that it does end up being as there is clearly no thought put into making the boat look like a place we actively want to spend more time on especially as the episode does have other and more interesting locations.

Something that was rather annoying in this episode was the fact that they used the same running sound effect over and over again. Granted this sound effect is something that you do think of when you think of how cheap Hanna-Barbera are but when you have alot of characters running in the episode and your hearing the exact same sounds over and over again it looses all of it's charm and starts to become more of an annoyance then it is charming and while it's not a bad sound effect and it is something that does it job really well it's not really something that you want to be hearing every single time a character is running on screen and alot of the characters in this episode are running for a long period of time which means that we stuck hearing the same stock running sound effect for a long period of time. This is something that does hit home just how cheap Hanna-Barbera were as they did reuse alot of sounds effects in there shows ad movies which OK fair enough they had the right to do that but it does get to the point where your left thinking of other and better shows that you've heard it in with taking you out of this episode however to be fair even this episode that running effect is only used at the right time and it isn't used when the characters are running all of the time but it something that we didn't need to hear alot of the time as creating a new running effect for when the characters are running on something wooden would helped the episode alot more as the one that they do use sounds like the characters or running on carpet which is fine for something like Scooby-Doo as that could very easily be the case but for his episode where toy see the ship is made of wood and have no carpet it doesn't really work all that well.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty five minuets and thirty five seconds. This is pretty much the bogstandard running time for alot of animated shows from around this time period and to be frank this episode really doesn't need a long running as the show itself doesn't take the time to set up how the gang met and became friends and runs on being an episodic show which does mean that you can watch just a few episodes of the show and get a good idea as to how the rest of the show is going to go and it means that you can start this show with any episode you want and just jump around from random episode to random episode with the episode having more then enough plot to really cover that amount of running time. Yet this episode still doesn't use its running time all that wisely as the episode doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot as while the episode does full explain the main plot with Benny and the gang as well as they could have done when it coms to its subplot with Dibble trying to catch The Crook that doesn't get developed at all with that plot not even getting introduced until the third act of the episode when a plot that is this important being something should be introduced alot more earlier but in all fairness Dibble isn't the main title character of the show Top cat is and therefor any plot with him in it is going to always be the amin plot of the episode with the makers of this episode caring more about reusing the same running effects that they did about giving the plot any kind of development. Whilst none of the characters also get any kind of character development in any of the shows episodes this isn't that big of a deal as the show was an episodic TV show and therefor of course none of the episodes characters are going to be getting any kind of character development as they have to rest the status quo by the end of the episode but in all fairness it would have been nice if we did get at least a hint of character development from either Dibble or Top Cat but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that that actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. While this episodes jokes are more cute then laugh out loud funny this is something that does work for the show as the show was made at a time where all of these jokes would have been seen as being laugh out loud funny and the makers of this episode did for obvious reason have to cater to the audience of the time and not the audience that they didn't know that they were going to have. With the best joke in the whole episode also being the most simplest joke that they had as when Benny gets on the ship without knowing that his friends are also going to sneak on board they al pack themselves into Benny's trunk with Benny only finding out when he's alone in what is quite possibly his room and he hears them banging on the trunk with them all being either rightside up or upside down for some strange reason this joke being a cute little joke that does tell you just how smart that Top Cat is a character as he thought up that entire scheme in a few seconds flat and pulled it off with it being a joke that granted won't get alot of laughs out of people but it is one that that will get a small chuckle or two out of people and that's the very thing that this joke really was always meant to do it was always meant to be this small cute joke that will get a chuckle out of people and it does exactly that with the rest of the episodes jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this was a really fun episode that does let you know just what kind of show that you are in for with the episode being ten times better then both of the theatrically released Top Cat movies as there is alot of thought and effort put into making this episode be as good as it was in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in his very review well then boys an girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon. Co . Uk , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

My SPOILER FILLED First Impressions Of Lanterns

It's safe to say that interms of cinematic output the DCU has been of to a rocky start and yet when it comes to it's TV output it's been a roaring success. With nearly all of the shows that are set in the new DCU being big hits well now there is another show out there and well I just had to check out this first episodes the very first chance that I got to see if the DCU can bounce back from Supergirl and so then join me as I gibe you my SPOILER FILLED first impressions of the show that doesn't lack the color green with the show in question being called simply just "Lanterns" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan and his trainee John Stewart have to investigate a small town when a group of people are murdered. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. To be frank this episodes plot could have been a lot more better as this is the first episode of a new show and therefor you do want to start out with your best foot forward and this is something that isn't really coming across in this episode as the plot does feel thin at best. With the episode itself not really giving it's plot alot of focus which is something that it really should have done as it does make the plot of the episode feel more like an afterthought when compared to anything else in the episode, heck the episode doesn't really devote that much time to it's main plot as it spends more time in setting up the rest of the show which is fine as you do have to set up alot of things in the first episode of a new show but here it comes at the expense of the episodes plot and it does get to the point where you are left wondering what the main plot of the episode even is as so little time is spent on it that you do have to remind yourself of what the plot of the episode is even meant to be in the first place and is something that does end up doing more harm to the episodes plot then it does good with the plot of this episode not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this episode is Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan / Green Lantern and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart / Green Lantern. Also starring in this episode is Kelly Macdonald as Sheriff Kerry Kane , Garret Dillahunt as Will Macon , Poorna Jagannathan as Zoe Macon , Jason Ritter as Billy Macon , Chris Coy as Waylon Sanders , Michael Ocampo as Deputy Lopez , Cristina Marie Frias as Janet Sloane , Shirl Boe as Nice Woman , Doug Long as Thick Neck , Ben Strickler as Sheriff Simpson and Tony Toboada as Sheriff Everett.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. To fair here this episodes acting is the kind of acting that you would expect to see in the first episode of a new TV show as all oof the shows actors are still trying to find there characters and that does mean that the acing in this episode won't be as good as the acting in say the season finale for example and while there are a few bright spots in this episode acting wise with the likes of both Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre being good examples of this the rest of the episodes acting just felt rather flat and lifeless. With the best actor in this episode being Kyle Chandler with him making for a really good older version of Hal Jordan with him making what could have been seen as being a dull take on the character still seem charming with his performance reflecting that and heck he even has some really good chemistry with Aaron Pierre which is perfect for this show and this episode as there chemistry is going to carry the show moving forward, Kyle while he isn't as good as Ryan Reynolds was as Hal he does give you a good performance that while it does have room to grow his performance is of to a good start with his natural charisma really shining through in his performance. With the acting that's inn this very episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so bad as it gives none of this episodes actors anything to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does help to harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.

Doing the CGI for this episode is the really legends and the greats that are currently over at Legacy Effects. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. There shocking isn't that much CGI in the episode was the episode barely even using any kind of effects at all which for a superhero show is oddly refreshing to see as alot of the time they are filled to the brim with withe CGI effects and yet here in this little show just by going off of this first episode alone there really isn't that many effects to be seen in the episode. With the only three effects that I saw in the episode being a scene with Hal taking off flying , the numerous shots of Hal using the ring and an explosion and that's really it and to be fair to this episode they all looked really good or as good as they could be given that this is still a TV show after all and those do come with certain limitations when it comes to things like the budget as while this episode doesn't really have alot of effects in it when it does have some effects they hit all the more harder as we are not being bombarded with tons of effects like we do in alot of modern superhero movies which does make it refreshing to see a superhero show actually hold itself back and not do everything inside off of a computer with the effects that we do get looking really good with the digital double for Hal looking fairly impressive and the effects used to the create the things that the ring makes looking as good as they could have done with the the one effect is a slight let down being the explosion near the end of the episode but that really it with the rest of the effects looking really good.

SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankfully the one thing that should never an effect isn't an effect as we get to see what looks to be a fully practical Green Lantern suit. Which we do get to see Hal wear at the start of the episode and while he suit is only seen very briefly in the episode it does look really good and is easily better then the CGI mess of a suit that they used in the 2011 film of course there is always a chance that the suit was done in CGI as as of this writing there hasn't been any VFX breakdowns for the episode released but if it is a CGI suit then one does have to wonder why they bothered to do it as the 2011 film proved that something like that doesn't work and if it's a fully practical suit then it does look really good with the suit being a slightly more modified version of the suit used in the comics. This episode does have someone who does know his way around science fiction television directing as this is episode is directed by James Hawes whom has directed five episodes of modern Doctor Who it's 2005 and 2006 seasons respectively and to be fair having him be the one to make the first two episodes of the show is a smart choice as he would have had that expirence not only working in science fiction on as mentioned Doctor Who but also working on American science fiction as he made an episode of Raised By Wolves with him being able to make the script by show creators Chris Mundy , Damon Lindelof and Tom King somehow seem more filmable this doesn't make there script good but James does show a skill for being able to make sense of the script and knowing what to film with something like Hal's practical suit being something that did need to be filmed as it shows us just how the Hal of the past is different from the Hal of 2016.

There really is nothing all that interesting about the episode and this something that does make alot of sense as the makers of this show are more used to tell stories that last years and drip feeding us information. This is something that would be perfectly OK if this show was a bogstandard twenty two episode season yet it's not it's eight episodes and we don't even know not only what the season plot is but also who the main villain of the show is as this is something that really should have been set up in this episode and while there is some merit to drip feeding us information in a shorter season show the show still needs to have talented writers that know what there doing to make it work and judging by this first episode that is something that it the makers of this show are missing. Again this is not to say that having information given to us slowly couldn't work as somethin like Game Of Thrones has proven that it can but inorder for it to work all of the episodes have to knock it out off the park and find someway of advancing the plot where as with this episode it takes so long in starting of the episodes main plot that it forgets to start of the plot for the season this is something that very easily could have been fixed just by removing the pointless prolog scene with a young John Stewart and his family as that scene adds nothing to the episode out of John giving one throwaway character some advice and that's it and heck that prolog scene is even quite confusing as John's brothers act as if there father is going to abuse them if they he catches them watching TV and yet he doesn't do that he just takes John outside puts an apple on his head and shoots the apple off him and that's which makes you wonder why his brothers were acting like he was going to abuse them in the first place.

This episode does take place across three different time periods with the prolog taking place in 1986 with the rest of the episode taking place in 2016 and the final scene of the episode taking place in 2026. This something that does look like will be happening across the rest of the show as well as we know from how this episode ends that Hal and John are still in this small town heling out the local Sheriff which would place the main bulk of the action in 2016 with the mystery surrounding what's happened to the seemingly dead Hal and where his ring is taking place in 2026 which to be fair to the makers of this show is a really good mystery an it's one that should get alot more focus on as it is something that does open the door Guy Gardner to come back in at the end for a quick cameo as it wouldn't make sense for John to not know that Hal is dead as he'd have his ring but if the ring went to someone else then it would make alot of sense and having Guy have the ring would make sense as we know in Superman 2025 that he is using a Green Lantern ring therefor who's to say that the ring he's using isn't or wasn't Hal Jordan's ring of course there could be someone else who ends up with the ring and that would work as well there is of course a chance that Hal is somehow alive or that the ring was stolen and not given to someone, this is where this series could well and truly as if the makers of this show were smart then they'd get right on giving us clues as to what actually happend not only to Hal and his ring but also what happend to clearly cause him and John to become distant after the events of this first season as this is something that would make what is sadly appearing to be a dull and lifeless show appear to be alot more interesting.

Now the this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly fifty six minuets and twenty eight seconds. Which is something that does make this episode a bit of chore to sit through as there was really no need for this episode to be this long as you could have told the entire plot of this episode in well under that amount of time and that's even taking into account all of the things that this episode has to set up and given the fact that it does have alot of things to set up it does mean that something does end up falling threw the cracks which in this case does end up being the episodes main plot as the makers of this episode just don't seem that interested in the plot of the episode with this episode having more then enough plot there to really cover that amount of running time. With this episode not even using it's running time all that wisely as the episodes doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot as while this is understandable as the season does have seven other episodes to develop its plot there still needed to be some foundation being layed in this episode for that development to not only happen but also make sense as yet there was none of that in the episode with the episode feeling more like an episode of Lost and it's approach to storytelling then it it's own thing with the makers of this episode being more focused on giving us a pointless prolog scene then there were in developing the episodes plot. Sadly this is also something that does also effect the episodes characters as well with this also being understandable as you could make the case for the characters getting there development in the other episodes which is fair enough as this really is only the first episode but again much like with the plot there still really needs to be that foundation built for the development to happen and going off of this episode that does seem like something that we're really not getting with the makers of this episode putting more thought and effort into to one interrogation scene then they did into giving the characters character development but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho. 

So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty OK at best. As much like with the House Of The Dragon season 2 finale his episode does have more of a focus on drama and not on action however unlike the House Of The Dragon season 2 finale there is a couple of brief action scenes in the episode both of which happen to feature Hal and both of which happen mostly in the background altho the latter one play more of a role in the episode tho. With the best action scene in the whole entire episode being the interrogation fight scene as we see Hal and Waylon Sanders trying to first outwit each other with Hal being convinced that Waylon is an alien and when he gets proven right Waylon then proceeds to taunt him by reciting the Green Lantern oath amongst other things with Waylon using the bomb in his body to to try and blow up the police station with the whole thing being stopped by Hal using the last of his rings power to contain most of the blast with some of it getting threw with this action scene working because of the fact that it is a key plot point in the episode and is something that could prove to be a key scene in the rest of the first season moving forward  as while it is is more of a drama focused scene we do get some hints of action in it that help to make be as good as it id is with the rest of the episodes action being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall if this episode is anything to go by that yikes does this show have a long way to go before its good but in all fairness to the show it very well could start t turn around next week but the show has left a bad first impression and that is something that will always be hard to shake off in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad thigs that are in this very episode in this very post and wit this being the first episode of the show I won't be giving this a rating however if i'm still watching the show by the time the final episode is released then i'll do a review of the show as a whole.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally sued in this very post well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very post from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

An Unlikely Fandom: The Impact Of Thomas The Tank Engine Film Review

Thomas The Tank Engine the series has been going since the eighties with it only just wrapping up a few years ago and the book the series is based off of has been going the forties. With there naturally being a fandom developing over the years be it from people who loved the show the show or people who read the books with alot of those fans not only being little kids but also being adults and well one of those fans has released a documentary about the fandom as a whole and I thought i'd talk about and so then join me as I review the film that proves you don't have to be a little kid to like Thomas the Tank Engine with the film in question being called simply just "An Unlikely Fandom: The Impact Of Thomas The Tank Engine" enjoy.

With this film being a documentary there really isn't a plot to speak off outside of the fact that the films director is going around not only interviewing people involved with making both the show and also Shining Time Station but also the fans. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. This films plot is genuinely a good idea as it would have been super easy for the plot of the film to just be about the making of the franchise as a whole but to also include things from the fans and the various aspects of the Thomas fandom from the websites to the fan made episodes and fan made models that actually is a really good idea. As the Thomas fandom is perhaps the most creative fandom out there at the very least when it comes to kids media anyway as they don't just limit themselves to drawings and fanfictions some of them will spend months creating a fully animated episode or some will spend months making models to create a full episode in the style of the early seasons of the show with the thing that lets this idea down a bit being the fact that they don't rally delve all that much into the creative process be it from the fan perspective or the perspective of those that made the show whilst this is something that would have made the films plot feel more thought out and be more in like with how creative the Thomas fandom is on the whole with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Abi Grant , Brandon Stone , Britt Allcroft , Daniel Coffey , Isaiah Ferguson and Jordan Neidert. Also starring in this film is Ken Friedel , Louis Cantone , Luke Ryan , Marvin Jerry , Michael White , Mike O'Donnell , Nicholas Jones , Vinnie Smith , Ricky Imparato , Rick Siggelkow , Samuel Knappett , Thomas Carter , Tom Denham , Tom Jedski , Veronica Chambers , Doug Blaine , Bradley Bledsoe , this films director , producer , editor and cinematographer Brannon Carty , Jadan DiStefano , Eric Drouin , Brandon FitzPatrick , Lachlan Kyle , Christian La Rocca , Hunter Lohse , Robert Magee , Matt Michaud , Jamil Morris , Adam Phelan , William Poletski , Vincent Sekafetz , Stephen Sheredy , Jackie Stitt , Nolan Thunder and Matthew Twillman.

The fact that the makers of this film managed to get as many key people who were involved with the creation of the show as they did is nothing short of a miracle. As they managed to get the daughter of Rev. W. Awdry to appear in the film and share the tale of of how the first book in the series essentially came to be which was something that they never had to do and yet the fact that he makers of this film got her to appear in the film does show you that they have a deep level of love for this franchise which does make sense as Brannon Carty is himself a Thomas The Tank Engine fan with hm even being on good terms with alot of the people that appear in this film with none of the crew that he interviews coming across as being stuck up which they very easily could have done. Heck he was even one of if not the last person to interview show creator Britt Allcroft before she passed away with him even dedicating the film to her that is just something that he never had to do and yet because of the fact that he loved these characters so much he did it anyway and while he of course doesn't mange to interview every single creative person that helped to make the show and the books a success as sadly alot of them are no longer with us it still would have been nice if we got interviews from some of the narrators of the show just to get there perspective on things and heck it would have been nice if as well as well as showing footage from The Magic Railroad if we got interviews from some of the cast members from that film as like it or not they apart of the franchises history now albeit in a small way but not having them in the film does work as well with allowing for more interviews with the fans and giving the fand a chance to show us why thy love this franchise and these characters as much as they do in the first place.

Even tho the films does gave alot of interviews from some of the key people that helped to make the franchise and to keep it alive. This film does feature alot more interviews with the people that share this deep unbridled love for Thomas those being the fans of the franchise and this is where the beating heart of the film does lie as without these passionate fans going against the social grain if you will and not only liking but loving something that was made with little kids in mind then there wouldn't a be a franchise to speak of and yet its due to the fact that we do have these fans that not only own the books but also watch every episode including the bad ones but also own the toys and are willing to do these creative things to show there love for these characters that we have a franchise to speak off. With all of them giving us great insight into not only what there hobby is in the Thomas fandom but for alot of them also giving us great insight into the kind of bullying that they got from kids when they found out that they liked Thomas The Tank Engine with this being something that really hasn't been explored before and it really should be as the one thing that Thomas The Tank Engine always teaches us through it's more villainous characters is that bullying is always wrong and that the bully will always end getting punished because of it with that lesson being something that whom ever those bullies were seemed to have forgotten about as there is nothing wrong with openly liking a show that was made for kids just look at all of the adults today that like Bluey as that show much like Thomas was is a really well written show and yet despite that there will be people out there who see both Bluey and Thomas as being nothing more then shows for babies and will openly mock the adults that like it when there's nothing wrong with liking a show that i actually good.

In what was a surprising move is the fact that they actually got an interview with the writer of what is technically the final the episode of Tomas And Friends Michael White. With him revealing that prior to being a writer of the show he was a fan and had to keep it a secret for almost two years that he had been given the job as a writer for the show with his friends and family only finding out when his first episode "An Engine Of Colors" back in season 22 and heck he was brought back on to write episodes of THAT animated Thomas show with him giving us some good amount of information like the fact that he himself had no idea of how The Royal Engine was going to turn out let alone who they were going to get to open the episode. With him quite frankly being more nervous about writing the anniversary special then anything else which is understandable as it was a big anniversary to celebrate and had the show still be on the air when the eightieth anniversary rolled around there more then likely would have been a special made for that as well, Michael even saying how much of a headache it was for him to write as he struggled to even came with a plot with the special and yet he still put in the work and did the special because of the fact that he was a fan of the franchise with him even saying that he put in alot of throw backs to over scenes in his episodes so that the kids watching it might be tempted to go and watch the classic episodes to see where those references previously came from which in all fairness is a good way to get little kids to watch classic TV with the only things that would have made that segment of the film even better being if he talked about some of the creative choices behind alot of the special and how he feels about it being the last Thomas And Friends episode.

Whilst the Thomas brand isn't as well known today thanks to All Engines Go which never gets mentioned in the film at all. The brand is still loved by a great many people not just here in the UK or in America altho those are the two biggest fanbases for the brand but all around the world which makes it odd that only Australian fans get showcased in this special as there are fans in Asia and in other countries that still love the show and yet they never get mentioned grated since this documentary is essentially just a fan film that was made for the fans by the fans it would've been impossible for the makers of this film to fly to Asia to get interviews with those fans and it would have been a tough ask for them to get Asian fans to fly from Asia to either her in the UK or to America and attend a Thomas themed event. Would it have ben nice if we id get to see people from other countries other then American , the UK or Australia sure it's not really needed to make the film work as the film does still work regardless of if there was Asian people but it would have been interesting to see what creative things that they came up with to help express there love for the franchise as Asian people do have different ways to express there fandom and there love of something then alot of others do as heck one of them might have come up with a Thomas which would've been cool to see and while we do get told of people who created songs and music based ff of either the show or there favorite characters it would have been cool to hear ne of the songs and if it was an Asian person that did create a song then odds are it couldn't have had a fun anime vibe to it.

As the title of film would suggest its all about fandom and what it means to be a fan of something with this film giving us a good idea of what it means to be apart of a fandom that inspires creativity alot more then say the Doctor Who or the Marvel fandom does for example. As none of those fandoms inspires people to create full length and fully cast episodes using just the toys alone and yet with the Thomas fandom that's exactly what we get and it's why the Thomas fandom is this huge creative space as we do get people being creative and expressing there love for for this little blue engine in ways that other fandoms could only dream of doing and yet because of the fact that this is a kids show this fandom will always be looked down upon when in reality it needs to be looked up to. With the film even going to great lengths to show us all of the genuine loves and friendships that people in the fandom have made over the years with alot of them making life long friends that go on holiday together and aren't afraid to just be who they are with this being being something the Thomas series has told us time and time again is an OK thing to be, with the people in this fandom even putting together events on there own not for the show or the books but for the toys with there oddly being a big enough want out there there that alot of people do turn up to the events just to show off there Thomas toys and make new friends out of it this is something that you don't see happen in any other fandom but due to how welcoming and how forward thinking the Thomas fandom is it's something that they do alot of the time in America whereas here in the UK we do get people going to meets ups on railways that helped to inspire railway sights in either the books and the show as we get people going to Thomas events all of which is still a really crazy feet in it's own right.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and twenty four minuets and thirty four seconds. This is pretty much the exact running time that would expect a Thomas documentary to be as alot of stuff in regards to the show was covered in a previous films called "Thomas The Tank Engine Man" with footage from that film being used in parts in this film and therefor the film really only needed to cover things from the fans perspective and what it means to them to be apart of this fandom either in a small way or in the case of Michael White in a fairly big way with the film doing a good enough job of getting across just how much this film meant to those that were making the shows and the books and what it still does mean to those that are fans of both the book and show. However tho this film doesn't really need to be this long as there several dull points in the film that don't really add anything to the film but this is something that could be chalked up to Brannon Carty being a first time film maker and therefor he is of course going to be making some mistakes when it comes to the pacing of this film as we didn't need alot of the stuff with the fans just repeating how Thomas has inspired them to be creative as that does feel like that they were included to either pad the film out or they were friends with the director with alot ot the more interesting stuff like alot of the early Thomas fan made videos not being given the time that they should have gotten. With alot of them only being given a few seconds each at best and alot of the time more shall we say darker videos just being covered in one montage when they could have been given a few more minuets as it would have been interesting to see and hear how and why the makers of those videos came up with those ideas and inspired them to make those darker videos and the first place but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a drama that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual rama thats actually featured / presented to u in this very film was in all honesty really good. With all of the people that were being interviewed really getting across well just what it was that this franchise means to them and while none of them have these big dramatic moments the fact that we do get to find out that alot of them were being bullied by kids just for liking something that is typically seen as being for little kids does show you that they did have to struggle with coming to terms with the fact that they love this show. With the best bit of drama in the whole film being where newly filmed footage of the now late Britt Allcroft plays near the end of the film and she just talks abut the lasting impact of the Thomas franchise and how it manages to only still be relevant to this day be it in this case through the Wonders Of Sodor video game but how it will in some respects always be relevant as both the stories and the characters are timeless as they are these well written stories and character and that is something that absolutely true as Thomas right now as a fandom is still going strong with a united fandom behind it whereas alot of the other fandoms have become splintered and yet a fandom about a blue Tank Engine is still strong and is still united and is more accepting then alot of the fandoms that are meant for adults with the rest of the films drama being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall if you haven't seen this film go on to Youtube and look it up on the Stash - Free Documentaries Youtube Channel as the film really is worth watching as if your a Thomas fans you might see other fans that you know or recognise and if your weren't a fan then really might find some new respect for something you forgot abut in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then a for where I personally got all of the images that I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review ell then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.