Arrow season eight review

Arrow season eight review 

Intro: I don't know about you, but I'm worried about this season. Not because it has a lot of ground to cover with ten episodes, it's because the actress who played Felicity left the show. I can't be happy that Felicity is no longer on the show because she became a major character to the point where her absence could cause problems for this season. Even the cast is bothered by the actress not being in this series. With that said, did this season end Arrow on a high note, or did this show seal its fate? Let's find out... 

Arrow season eight: This season takes place sometime after Oliver left with the Monitor to prepare for the crisis. After his first mission, Oliver begins to wonder if he can be trusted, so Oliver comes up with a plan to stop him if he can't. That becomes complicated when the Monitor recruits Oliver's allies for his plan to stop the crisis. So Oliver has to decide if he's on the Monitor's side or not? 

This season is a love letter to the fans! I say that because this season did things that fans want to see, we go back to familiar locations, and we see some old faces. I'm fond that each episode ends on a cliffhanger because doing that makes this season feel like it's telling a continuing story. The mystery of can the Monitor be trusted is handled well because he does questionable things in this season. I appreciate that this season is focused on crisis instead of Oliver stopping a villain who wants to destroy or take over Star City, because it gives us something different. You can argue that the theme of this season is closure, but I don't think this season took full advantage of that theme. 

The flashforwards are OK, however, I wish this season didn't have them because it takes time away from the main story. The flashforwards are about the offspring of Team Arrow trying to reunite the Glades with the rest of Star City. That becomes difficult when the Deathstroke gang shows up to ruin things, so the future team Arrow has to stop them. The only gripe I have with the flash-forwards (besides the fact that they feel tacked on) is that I don't like how it ended.   

As far as the crossover goes, I didn't love it, that's sad considering how much build-up it had. The crossover is about the Anti-Monitor destroying the multiverse, why I don't know. So the heroes have to come together to stop him before there's nothing left. Basically, this is DC's version of Infinite War, but done poorly. The crossover suffers from bad writing, directing, comedy, and SJW nonsense. I like the fan service in this crossover and the high stakes it provides. I'm surprised that almost all the DC shows and some of the movies are involved in this event. The issue I have with the crossover (Besides how it betrayed Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent/Superman) is that the fight between the heroes and the Anti-Monitor was anticlimactic. Also, this crossover introduces another comic book character that suppose to help our heroes stop the Anti-Monitor, but he's useless. Since we're on the subject of characters, I was let down that some of the characters who was suppose to be a part of this crossover didn't show up. I don't have much to say about the characters this season because this season focuses on Oliver Queen.     

Speaking of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, he has to learn that to stop the crisis, he has to break some of his habits, like being controlling. I'm shocked at the role he plays in the crossover; however, I wish there was build-up to it. What bothers me about him is that he doesn't seem to learn his lesson because his action contradicts what he suppose to learn. A minor complaint I have with him is his suit. The design isn't bad; however, it looks like a downgrade from his last suit. His last suit looks like it can protect him from knives, bullets, and it can provide some tech support, unlike his current suit. 

John Diggle helps Oliver on his mission, and he does the same for the rest of Team Arrow. I'm not crazy about the direction the creators are going to take with this character because it opens up a can of plot holes. 

I don't like what this season has done with Laura Lance. It wants to make her sympathetic, but it doesn't work. You can't have her regret her past actions to the point where she doesn't feel like she deserves a second chance and not have her answer for it. This is the same problem I have with Felicity in season 5. I find it odd that Team Arrow welcomes her with open arms despite everything they've been through. I'm not crazy that she carries a gun because she doesn't need it.   

Roy Harper/Arsenal is beating himself up over what he did last season, but he has to learn how to deal with it. I'm annoyed that he's a part of this season because he barely does anything. I was outraged that this season wasted one of his stories from the comics. 

Mia Smoak (formerly known as Black Star, plus the daughter of Oliver and Felicity) is still unlikable for the most part due to her being a hothead and not admitting that she's in the wrong. What this series has done with her bugs me because A it was done on the Flash and B it's distracting. 

It's hard for me to consider the Monitor a character because we don't learn much about him. Plus, the actor who plays him doesn't show any emotion while he's talking. That doesn't help make this character compelling either. He feels like an NPC in a video game that tells you how to control your character and what to do in the game. 

One of the many problems I have with this season is that it left more to be desired as far as continuing the story and wrapping up all the loose ends in this series. I mean, it's the last season after all. Also, I wish that there was a side villain to get in Oliver's way of preparing for the crisis, by doing that it adds tension. The subplot of Oliver wondering if he can trust the monitor is contrived because this is something he should have done last season. I'm not crazy about the aftermath of the crossover because it retcons some of the things that happened in the past seasons. 

I wish certain characters would witness Oliver's big moment because it doesn't feel right to not have them there to see it. Plus, I find it weird to see characters who did and didn't appear in the last episode because it's awkward considering what that episode is about. Episode 9 is a back-door pilot to this series version of Birds of Prey, why!?! This wouldn't bother me so much if this show was going to air at the same time as Stargirl, but that's not the case. What's the point of using this season to set up another show if it's not going to air anytime soon? There is a scene in the last episode that makes no sense, and it will rub people the wrong way. A minor complaint I have with this season is that it doesn't have a signature arrowhead. 

Overall, this season gave Arrow a fitting ending to this series; the season could have been better if it had gotten three more episodes. I would recommend this season if you wonder what this show could have been if Felicity didn't exist or if she didn't have a lot of screen time.   

My rant about exclusive games

My rant about exclusive games 

Is it me, or are gamers trying to sabotage the video game industry? Do you remember the jokes that the gaming community made about wanting other video game mascots in Super Smash Bros. Well, I guess they weren't joking because the creator of the Smash Bros games is asking people on Twitter who they want to play on Smash bros, and they pick Master Chief from Halo and Sora from Kingdom Hearts. I'm not being funny, I'm dead serious. They want them so bad that they threaten the creator and his wife. I can't believe they're acting like this; if I was him, I would stop making these games. Why waste my time developing games for people who are this ungrateful? I guess Samus, Link, and Ike aren't good enough anymore. OK, I can see Sora in Smash (Despite the can of worms that can open.) but Master Chief really? 

The reason why people think Master Chief can be in Smash is that Banjo and Kazooie are owned by Microsoft, and they are playable characters in Smash. OK, first of all, Banjo and Kazooie has history with Nintendo, Banjo and Kazooie are one of the top games of the N64. Second, Banjo and Kazooie are family-friendly. Before you bring up Solid Snake being in Smash, he was on the NES. How is this going to work? How do you expect Nintendo to take a character from an M-rated game and put him in Disneyland? That's like putting Chucky in the Toy Story movies. 

I know Nintendo made a handful of mature games; however, they don't put the main character from those games in Smash. Do you really think Microsoft is willing to give up its bread and butter? I have a crazy idea, if you want master chief in smash bros so bad, why don't you tell Microsoft to make their own smash bros game or an all-star game? Since you want Master Chief in Smash, you should have no problem with Mario being in PlayStation All-Stars. 

The people who want this to happen must be casual gamers because they don't know why exclusive games are important. If we don't have exclusive games, then what's the point of having different consoles or a console war? That's the purpose of exclusive games to get the consumers to buy your console and to give it value. With that said, I have mixed feelings about them. On one hand, the more access you have to games, the more you want to play them. Also, this can reduce the risk of being alienated from your peers because they can't play together due to exclusive games. I dealt with this growing up because I mostly played Nintendo games, so I missed out on the online stuff. This is why I don't have a problem with the first three Crash and Spyro games being remade on all three platforms, because A those games are over twenty years old, and B Sony doesn't have the rights to them. 

On the other hand, what incentive do you have to buy a PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch without them? Is the quality of graphics, features, and hardware enough to make up for not having exclusives? This is the problem I had with the Xbox with it first came out, I just wanted to play the Star Wars games. I don't see the point of wasting 300 or 400 dollars to buy another console just to play a handful of games. 

Even if you eliminate exclusives, I doubt the games will be the same for all the platforms. That's not the case when it comes to third-party games. For example, Batman Vengeance looks better on the GameCube than it did on the PS2 or PC. The Xbox version of the 2002 Spider-Man game has a level with Kraven the Hunter. Soul Calibur 4 has Star Wars characters, but Darth Vader was only available for the PS3. The GameCube version of Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast is not as good as the PC version. The Wii got the short end of the stick when it comes to third-party games, for the most part. 

The bottom line is this exclusive is a double-edged sword; it's up to you to decide if the benefits outweigh the cost. 
   

My thoughts on future X-Men movies

My thoughts on future X-Men movies 

 

Since this year marks the 20th anniversary of this franchise. Now it's a good time for me to give my thoughts on how 20th Century Fox handled it and what direction Marvel Studios could take with this franchise. 

20th Century Fox X-Men movies have their ups and downs, part of the reason why is because the continuity in these movies is a mess. I like some of the movies; however, none of them stand out the way Spider-Man 2 or The Avengers: Infinity War did. NO! Logan doesn't count because that's a solo film. This franchise could have ended on a high note if Matthew Vaughn ( The director of X-Men First Class) was still involved with this series. Mr. Vaughn planned on ending this franchise with Days of Future Past, before that, he wanted to do another X-Men movie with a younger Wolverine and have us get to know the mutants more. Of course, the studio had to ruin that by undermining him. 

I'm surprised fans have issues with Mr. Singer before he allegedly molested children; he directed X-Men 1,2, Days of Future Past, and Apocalypse. I say that because it seems like he's familiar with this franchise at first. The first X-Men movie he directed is a standard X-Men story, the second one reminds me of a X-Men comic book called  God Loves Men Kills, Days of Future Past is a mess continuity-wise, and Apocalypse was a letdown. I'm shocked that he didn't let the cast read X-Men comics because some of them embrace their comic book counterparts. Are fans still mad at him for X-Men 3? He said he regrets not working on that movie instead of Superman Returns. As far as the black suits goes I'm going to defend that. before the first X-Men movie, what was the last superhero movie that was colorful? 

That's right! Now, do you want to do anything that will remind people of that movie? 

 

Then again, Spider-Man came out two years after X-Men, and that was successful; I got nothing to say about that. 

The fans should be mad at Jennifer Lawrence for not wanting to play mystique, if she didn't enjoy being covered in makeup, why did she agree to do these films? Like I said before, I'm not crazy about Marvel Studios getting the rights to the rest of their characters because I want to see variety. Plus, I'm not happy with how this studio handled Spider-Man so far. It's not just that the Spider-Man movies are bad it's that I don't like that Spider-Man's villains have a beef with Iron-Man. (The next Spider-Man movie better be good now that he's out of the picture.) This Studio is doing their own thing with the X-Men is going to be hard because of Wolverine and Magneto. Magneto is the X-Men's arch-nemesis; he was the villain in most of the movies. Wolverine was overexposed to the point where other characters barely got any development. I feel sorry for the guy who's going to play Wolverine because he'll have a hard time getting out of Hugh Jackman's shadow. 

I know how to fix the Wolverine problem, have him be a part of X-Force, if people want to see him make an X-Force movie. I have a better idea if the movie is not R-rated, then I don't want to see Wolverine, what's the point of having a character with claws if we can't see him cut people into pieces? I'll talk about what Marvel Studios could do with Magneto later. Another thing that can hurt Marvel Studio's X-Men is that 20th Century Fox own this franchise for 19 years, because of that it's going to be hard to go in a different direction. Plus, they told almost every X-Men story that I'm familiar with. I'm not crazy about these movies being a social commentary on prejudice, I'm not saying this isn't a serious issue; however, prejudice existed for a long time, and it seems like we're not doing anything to fix this problem. ( I'm sorry I'm not saying we're not trying to fix it however, were going about it the wrong way.) I don't know how this franchise can address this issue in a new way.  

Now, let's get into the things I want to see in this franchise. 

The first and most important thing I want is for you to give Cyclops justice. For those of you who don't know Cyclops is the leader of the X-Men. He's like Captain America but he's willing to bend the rules. Yes! He can be a flat character if the writer and director portray him like that. He got the cold shoulder in the early movies. That bugs me because there are deleted scenes in the first movie where he's more fleshed out, also what's the point of bringing him back in X-Men Apocalypse if the creators are not going to do this character right? As far as his relationship with Jean goes that needs to be done better too because I didn't buy that they were a couple in the early films. When Cyclops and Jean came back in Apocalypse I like how their relationship was set up. This is another reason why I want Wolverine to be with X-Force because we don't have to deal with the love triangle which was unconvincing in the early films. Speaking of Wolverine he and Scott have the same dynamic as Leo and Raphael from TMNT. Also, find a way to incorporate Scott's family into whatever story you come up with for him.   

The second thing is world-building. The X-Men have so many characters that they can rival the MCU. Plus they know characters in space, so I would like to see the X-Men travel in space more often. Plus there are other mutant groups like New Generation, X factor, New Mutants, etc etc. It would be nice to see the X-Men go through the growing pains of becoming a team. That's what I like about the X-Men Evolution cartoon, The first two seasons deals with them learning how to control their powers, how their powers affect them and becoming a team. That would be refreshing not every movie has to be about them stopping the villain of the week. Another thing, if we get a danger room scene I want the scenario to be about them learning how to escape captivity. I'm tired of watching them get abducted in movies, cartoons and video games. 

This leads to the third thing and that's the crossovers. It would be cool to see the X-Men team up with the Fantastic Four because they both have allies from space. The Fantastic Four can fit right in with the X-Men, The human torch and Iceman are both comic reliefs, the thing and Colossus can test each other's toughest and Mr. Fantastic and Professor X can pick each other's brains. Heck, I wouldn't mind seeing them come across with the Inhumans and show them the error of their ways. As far as an Avengers team-up I'm going to have a hard time buying that because the X-Men feel like they are in a different world. In the comics, the Avengers are praised but the X-Men are hated in the comics. Also, how will the writers explain where the mutants have been all this time? Well with the Sokovia Accords it's possible that both parties can share the same universe. It would be interesting to see a movie where the world leaders form the Acolytes or create fantomex. If Marvel Studios decide to do an Avengers and X-Men crossover I want them to adapt the House of M story.  

Finally, the villains I want Mr. Sinister to be the first adversary for the X-Men to face, because he was set up to be the next big bad after X-Men Apocalypse. I also want the X-Men to face Omega Red or Xorn, sorry he isn't a baddie kind of. If Marvel studios decide to do an Apocalypse story they should adapt X-Force the Apocalypse solution. As far as his horsemen goes they should be Magneto, Professor X, Storm and Nightcrawler. It would be interesting to see how the X-Men and the Brotherhood will go about stopping Apocalypse with their leader and mentor on his side. Let's go back to Magneto have the creators kill him off or have us think he's dead. Since the MCU takes place in real-time Magneto would be in his late 80's or early 90's since he was a child during the Holocaust, he's too old to do anything.  

Well in X-Men Evolution he uses a machine that keeps him from aging, if the movies borrow that from the cartoon, I wouldn't mind it. How about replacing him with Polaris. (Polaris is Magneto's daughter she can control metal too.) Have Magneto bring mutants onto his island of Genosha, If Magneto cares about mutants he wouldn't start trouble with the humans. You can have Polaris do bad things on his behalf. Plus I want the brotherhood to last longer than one movie. As far as Magneto being Black I'm not crazy about that because if a character looks a certain way for decades you shouldn't change that look.              

That's all the suggestions I have for Marvel Studio's, hopefully, there's nowhere they can go but up.