Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Flash: Season 4

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season, but no major spoilers from season 4+++

Season four of The Flash aired during the 2017-218 TV season. The show picks up six months down the line from the end of season three in which Barry exiled himself in the speed force to maintain balance after his defeat of Savatar. Iris is leading team Flash from Star Labs, with mixed results, and Cisco eventually finds a way to get Barry out of the Speed Force without destabilizing it. Of course, once Barry is back, not all is right with the world. This season finally moves away from the speedster "big bad" instead bringing in the character Devoe, who was mentioned by Savatar during season three. The show does still have a bit of the case/villain of the week procedural aspect to it, but it has become, like the other Arrowverse shows, a show with a serial story arc that spans throughout the course of the season. The big Arrowverse crossover, Crisis on Earth-X, occurs eight episodes into the season and includes episodes from Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends. The season ends on a huge cliffhanger reveal that will have a big impact on season 5.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the A/V quality is the same as it has been for the prior season releases and for the other WB/DC shows. The 23 episodes (plus the three other crossover episodes from the other shows) are spread across four discs, and there is no "play all" feature, so you cannot pick back up from where you stop. For extras, you get the episodes of Arrow, Supergirl, and Legends of the crossover so you can watch it all at one time. Then there is a featurette on the crossover and the 2017 best of DC TV at Comic-Con that are common to all of the Arrowverse DVD and Blu-Ray releases from that season, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and a handful of other featurettes specific to the show.

Overall, the season is strong. There are a lot of recognizable guest and recurring actors this season including Katee Sackhoff (from Battlestar), Jessica Parker Kennedy, Jessica Camacho, Kim Engelbrecht, Neil Sandilands, Bill Goldberg, and Danny Trejo. And, of course, actors from the other Arrowverse shows make appearances throughout the season. I do think it was nice to mix the main bad guy up a bit this year and not do another evil speedster storyline while still giving the team a challenge. So, if you have liked the show up to this point, it is definitely still worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Flash: The Complete Third Season

 

Season three of The Flash has a lot going on. The season starts out with a variation of the "Flashpoint" storyline from the comics caused by Barry going back in time and saving his mother from Thawne. The fallout from that action really carries through the entire season. Then, about a third of the way into the season we get the big Arrowverse Crossover, Invasion, that involved Arrow, Flash, Supergirl (although Supergirl did not get a stand-alone crossover episode), and Legends. The big bad of the season ends up being yet another speedster, this time Savitar, who makes the team's life miserable for the entire season. And, of course, the show does mix in a bit of the case-of-the-week procedural episode, but those are definitely fewer than in prior seasons.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great, as it has in the prior seasons. Most of the special effects are pretty seamless, however, when they show close-ups of Barry or Wally super speeding, you can definitely tell they are animated characters. The extras include ten different featurettes including one of the villains, the Gorilla City episode, a portion of the 2016 Comic-Con panel, deleted scenes, a gag reel, a conversation with the showrunner and director Kevin Smith (who directed one of the episodes), and a feature on the crossover event. Plus, the crossover episodes of the other shows are included so you do not have to swap out discs with the other shows (or even get the other shows' sets) to see the entire crossover storyline.

Overall, the season is very good, even though the evil speedster storyline is a bit derivative of the Zoom and Reverse Flash storylines in the prior seasons. There are several additions to the cast this year, including Harry Potter's Tom Felton, Tobin Bell (from the Saw franchise), Violet Beanne, Jessica Camacho, Jessica Camacho (from House and Covert Affairs), and Danielle Nicolet. Some of the new cast members would have their roles expanded and some were only around for this season. The big crossover event was very good, but the mini-crossover with Supergirl which was a musical episode that allowed the vocal talents of some cast like Mellissa Benoist and Grant Gustin to be displayed was very good as well. So, if you are a fan of the Arrowverse shows, and especially The Flash, you will definitely want to watch this season.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Flash: Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season 1, but no major season two spoilers+++

Season two of The Flash picks up down the line from the events of season one, in which Eobard Thawne was defeated due to Eddie's sacrifice. The team has essentially split with Cisco working for the police department, Caitlyn working at Mercury labs, Iris mourning Eddie's death, and Barry trying to singlehandedly take down the various evil metahumans. The big bad is set up early in the season, revealing that Zoom, an evil speedster on a different Earth, Earth-2 is sending metahumans to Earth-1 to take out Barry. Barry is joined by Earth 2's version of The Flash, Jay Garrick, played by Teddy Sears (from the series Masters of Sex) to help Barry take down Zoom. Zoom's identity is kept secret until later in the season, but when he does make his first couple of appearances, he is voiced by Tony Todd.

The season also expands the Arrowverse. First, there is the annual crossover with the parent series Arrow, which set up the cast and storyline of the first season of Legends of Tomorrow and served as a backdoor pilot for that series. Second, later in the season, Barry crosses over to Supergirl, which was in its first season and airing on CBS. That established that Supergirl was on yet another Earth, fully entrenching the multiverse concept which would be key, especially for later crossover episodes. Of course, the show has a ton of twists and turns, and given the multiverse and time travel aspects of the show characters who are dead do not always stay that way. The multiverse also gave a way for the show to keep Tom Cavanaugh (who of course played Eobard Thawne impersonating Harrison Wells as Earth-2's Well, called Harry, comes to Earth-1 to help the team take down Zoom.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the show again looks and sounds great in HD, with the special effects looking nearly seamless. Because the Flash's speed requires using animation, you can tell the difference between when it is Grant Gustin in the suit versus an animated version of the character, but even that blends in pretty well. The extras include deleted scenes, several short behind-the-scenes featurettes, a gag reel, and a half-hour-long panel discussion with the showrunners and cast from the 2015 Paley Fest.

Overall, the season is very good. It is well-written and very well-acted. The season ends on a pretty massive cliffhanger that will definitely have an impact on season three. It is more light-hearted than Arrow, overall, although it does have some dark moments of its own. It also includes a lot of good guest stars including Peyton List, Mark Hamill (reprising his role as Trickster), Aaron Douglas (from the remade Battlestar series), and more. Of course, characters from Arrow appear on the show, and Amanda Pays reprises her role as Tina McGee, a version of the character she played in the 1990 Flash series. So, if you liked or loved season 1, you will probably feel the same way about season two. Since the Arrowverse is now starting to tell intertwined stories within the case or metahuman-of-the-week procedural format, you almost have to watch all of the shows to understand everything that is going on in the others.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Flash: Season 1

 

The Flash is the first show spun off from the series Arrow, creating what has come to be called the Arrowverse. It had a backdoor pilot in season two of Arrow, introducing Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) who at that time had no powers and was just a CSI for the Central City police department who was also trying to solve the murder of his mother (who was killed when he was a young boy) and to free his father from prison. The actual pilot episode gives the backstory of the death of Barry's mother and why the police believed his father, Henry (who is played by John Wesley Shipp, who also played The Flash in the 1990s series). The pilot establishes that Barry gets his powers because of an accident at the nearby Star Labs in which a particle accelerator explodes, which has ramifications throughout the season. As Barry discovers his powers, he is aided by the Star Labs staff including Dr. Harrison Wells (played by Tom Cavanagh), Cisco Ramon (played by Carlos Valdes), and Caitlin Snow (played by Danielle Panabaker). We also learn that Barry was taken in by Joe West, a detective at the CCPD (played by Law and Order's Jesse L. Martin), and raised basically as his son. We also learn that Barry is in love with Joe's daughter Iris (played by Candice Patton) who is engaged to another Central City cop, Eddie Thawne (played by Rick Cosnett).

As most of the Arrowverse shows are, The Flash is a mix of a case-of-the-week procedural (in the Flash's case kind of like the "freak of the week" ala Smallville) in which different people who got powers because of the particle accelerator explosion (called Metahumans) have to be tracked down by the team, and a serial with a large story arc that plays throughout the season. That arc is the mystery of the murder of Barry's mom, which has a lot of twists and turns that are slowly revealed throughout the season. There is a Big Bad of the season, but who it is (although chances are most people reading this by now know) is a huge reveal that is not apparent until well into the season. There is also the first crossover with the parent series Arrow, in which a storyline starts on Flash and finishes on Arrow. Besides the crossover, characters from Arrow make other appearances on the show throughout the season. By the end of the season, some of the storylines are wrapped up, and others are revealed as the season ends on a huge cliffhanger going into season two.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great in HD. There are a lot of extras including a Commentary by Executive Producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg and DC Comics' Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns for the pilot episode, about 35-minutes of deleted scenes spread across all the discs, a feature called Behind the Story: The Trickster Returns! that runs just under nine minutes, about the original series; a making-of/behind-the-scenes featurette titled The Fastest Man Alive (30:39/HD), a neat history of the character. You also get Creating the Blur: The VFX of The Flash that runs about a half an hour, a feature on Emily Bett Rickards and Grant Gustin's chemistry together, a half-hour long feature on the DC Comics Night at the 2014 Comic-Con 2014, and a Gag Reel that runs about eight minutes. So, a lot there if you like the extras.

Overall, this is a very strong season for the show. It has a much different tone than Arrow and really stands on its own as a show despite leaning on the characters from Arrow from time to time. It also has several nice tie-ins with the original Flash series using John Wesley Shipp, but also using Amanda Pays as Tina McGee (who also starred in the 1990s series) and Mark Hamill as The Trickster. Season One also introduces characters that will have much larger roles in the Arrowverse down the line. It is definitely worth watching if you are a fan of superhero shows like Smallville (which was really the predecessor to all the CW Superhero shows) and Arrow. It is well written and very well acted, and worth the time to check out.

DVD/TV Series Review: The Flash (1990) Complete Series

 

This was, as of 1990, the latest attempt to produce a comic book superhero show on network TV, which had happened over the years, with varying degrees of success (e.g., the George Reeve's Superman series in the 1950s, the Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman series in the 1970s, and Superboy in the 1980s). This one aired on CBS and was totally an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the 1989 Batman movie. In fact, the soundtrack for the series was very similar to the score used in the Batman movie, even sounding nearly identical at times.

This starred John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen, who is a forensic scientist working for the Central City police, is struck by lightning and doused in chemicals in his lab giving him super speed. He is joined by Research scientist Dr. Tina McGee (played by Amanda Pays) who works at S.T.A.R. Labs and helps Barry fight crime while trying to understand how his powers are developing. Unlike the current version of The Flash running on the CW, this one is a procedural case/villain of the week show and does not have the larger story arcs from the comics like Barry's dad being in jail for the murder of his wife, or elements like that. It also never clearly defines the relationship between Barry and Tina. In one episode they would clearly have a relationship as just colleagues and in the next, they would be made out as potential love interests, and it would swing back and forth. The was also no real "big bad" in the series, although Mark Hamill was being built up as one playing The Trickster.

The DVD set is very bare-bones. It does have captions, but there are not really any extras or bonus material, just the episodes themselves. I do believe that the series is available on some streaming services, so if you only buy physical discs when there are a lot of extras available, you may want to go that route.

Overall, the series was good and really better than it gets credit for. It was definitely still finding its footing at the time it was canceled, and CBS pretty quickly juggled what days it was aired on, and given the smaller fan base that the comic book shows tend to have, and it kind of just ended with a whimper. Of course, the series was brought into the Arrowverse (which I argue could also be called the Smallvilleverse) during the Crisis on Infinite Earth's storyline. John Wesley Shipp did play different characters on the Arroverse's version of The Flash, including playing other Universe's versions of The Flash, but it was in Crisis in which we saw him as the 1990 version of the character. So, while the series did not get a proper ending (since it was canceled after the 22 episodes had aired) the character does get a conclusion in the Arrowverse. It is definitely worth watching.

4kUHD Review: Justice League (Theatrical Cut)

 

+++Warning, this contains minor spoilers from the movie+++

The theatrical cut of Justice League is definitely a mixed bag. Joss Whedon is blamed for ruining the movie, and certainly, his additions range from chuckle-worthy to downright stupid, and there was, of course, his on-set behavior that was leaked out by Ray Fisher and later confirmed by Gal Gadot, which then caused an avalanche of accusations about him going as far back as when he was working on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel and pretty much ended (for now) his career. However, it is clear that Warner Brothers really was the entity that fucked up this movie, and caused a version of the movie that was totally out of place with the movies that had come before it was released.

As most know, Zach Snyder had intended for Justice League to be a three-part story, with this movie split into two parts (which he essentially got to do with the Snyder Cut of the film four years after the theatrical release) then a third movie set in the nightmare world that was teased in Batman v. Superman. However, when Snyder had to step away from the movie due to a death in his family, Whedon was brought in to cut the running time of the movie down and make it a stand-alone movie. The result is a mish-mash of Snyder's story with Whedon's additions (mainly to add humor because WB thought the DC movies were too dark and wanted to infuse some of what worked for the MCU into their movies). For the most part, the theatrical version is stuff Snyder filmed, with some changes like tweaks to the battle with Superman when he is brought back to life, Lois' role in the movie, the race between Flash and Superman at the end, and the really dumb subplot of the family living next door to the contaminated nuclear reactor (which was a fictional Chornobyl) and would not leave the second the aliens showed up. Steppenwolf's arc was dramatically altered (as well as his look), so a lot of his dialogue ended up changing.  And, the post-credits scene was quite different than the scene that came at the end of Snyder's version. But, what Whedon cut was far more substantial than what he added (which is why Snyder still got the directing credit). 

For those who get the 4k set, there are two discs. The UHD disc just has just the movie itself, and a Blu-ray disc that has the movie and the bonus material. That includes multiple behind-the-scenes features (clearly shot when Snyder was still on set, as Whedon was nowhere to be seen), deleted scenes, and a gag reel. There are also some features on how the Justice League has evolved from the comics to the various animated series to live-action. A good amount of material for those who like watching the bonus content. 

Overall, the movie is not as bad as its reputation, but it was definitely not as good as the movie that Snyder intended to make. I still think WB/DC would have been better off establishing the main characters through solo movies first like was done with the main heroes of the MCU movies, then doing the big team-up. But, diverting from what Snyder had set up made the problematic DCEU even worse because this movie just feels out of place. I would say it is worth watching if nothing else to compare and contrast with the Snyder cut of the movie, but it is not something that I would come back to a lot.