TV review #2: The Legend of Korra (2012-2014)

Image source: http://www.designntrend.com/articles/31700/20141219/legend-korra-finale-well-received-fans-dubbed-best-2014-forbes.htm

Well this could be seen as somewhat overdue couldn't it?  If I remember correctly, the last time I did a review of a TV show was way back in the prehistoric days of this blog when I reviewed the now defunct BBC3 show The Pranker (2011).  Of course you could tell from the title, picture and just going on google for 5 minutes that Nickelodeon's 2012-14 series The Legend of Korra is a tad different in a few regards.

Now there are a few things to get off my chest before we go into this review that may come back up later on so I'll just address them now:

1) I personally think this series is better than its predecessor Avatar: The last airbender (2005-08) but that does not meant that you should not see the original as it can help to understand some plot points but don't take this as meaning it is absolutely necessary to do so.

2) Season 2 is definitely the weakest one in this show but I personally thought it was okay.

3) The finale of the show at the end of season 4 I thought was great and the romance that it implied I thought was also great.

Right, so with that out of the way I'd say its high time to get into this don't you?

Image source: http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/03/31/eccc-voices-of-legend-of-korra-talk-acting-and-korrasami/

Set several decades after the finale of the 2005-08 original series, Korra takes up the story of the next avatar (a spiritual herald who can master all four of the core elements of fire, earth, water and wind) after the original series protagonist Aang passes on.  Whereas Aang was a bright-eyed young man from the wind-bending tribes with idealistic ideas of peace, this new avatar and new series protagonist Korra is a headstrong, aggressive and hard-nosed water-tribe girl with ideals of becoming the most powerful avatar of all time and surpassing her own personal limits.

Before I get further into the quality of the show I should of course mention that it is indeed an animated show borrowing both qualities from eastern Japanimation and western mainstream cartoons.  You probably could've told that from the pictures at this point but I should just say for the people out there not too partial to animated shows that this is still a great series worth considering.  I can understand the trepidation that some people have about animated shows but Korra is genuinely so well animated and told that I'd probably say go check it out anyway.  It'll hardly be a waste of your time if you do and at least then you can say you tried it out.

Off the bat, even from just looking at the protagonist motivations, you can tell that this sequel series is a certain degree more personal and intense on account of how the motivation for the main character this time round is something altogether more relatable than what was shown in the original show.  This isn't of course to say that anything that Aang did in the original series wasn't without motivation as his need and want to end the hundreds year war that was raging around him was more than understandable and sympathetic.  However, I found myself far more personally invested in Korra's drive to become more powerful and balanced in her role as the new avatar and the innate desire to become stronger and more powerful in all honesty was the main thing that drew me to her as a sympathetic and relatable character.  All in all, the motivations of the main and even side characters in the original series are great but I found myself drawn each episode without fail to Korra's drive to be the best person as well as avatar that she could be.

Image source: http://www.ew.com/article/2014/06/11/legend-of-korra-trailer-season-3

Korra herself is probably the main draw for myself to this series as not only is she a highly relatable young woman with understandable personal struggles and motivations but also marks herself out as a reasonably realistic representation of someone going through their late teens and early-20s.  Korra at multiple points throughout the series does things on a sporadic spur of the moment kind of motivation and sometimes this works while at others it explodes in her face.  This is how I remember trying to approach life in my late teens and found the failures that Korra incurred from this sympathetic but also a remarkably realistic way of building her character as she not only matures past her teens but also matures into the avatar she is destined to become.

Now as mentioned above, season 2 is the weakest out of the four seasons and the reason why I bring this up now at such an odd point in the review is that during this season, Korra's personal failings do become a bit frequent for my liking and a bit tiresome.  This is primarily because the first season was intended to be a one-off but when it exploded into being one of the most popular shows on TV in 2012, Nickelodeon (somewhat understandably) freaked the fuck out and pressured the companies that they made and produced The Legend of Korra with into greenlighting and producing at least another season.  Season 2 is by no means as bad as some others make it out to be but it certainly is the weakest overall as Korra seems to inexplicably return to an immature grouch.  By the end of season 2 this is averted through some good final-minute character development but the character development for the most of season 2 is really jumbled and quite clunky.  Thank goodness this never became that much of an issue again throughout the remaining 2 seasons after this but then again I don't think the animation studio or Nickelodeon were particularly well-prepared for or expecting of the success of the original series so I can understand the failings of the series in this regard.

So you might ask yourself then, is this the only major failing that the series has as a whole?  And I'd say probably yes as most if not all other faults I could find when both watching the series for the first time and again in retrospective didn't yield any major faults apart from this bit of character crumbling in the 2nd season.  The villain in season 2 is a bit rubbish, a few of the side characters are a bit irritating like president Raiko or the plague of my existence during season 3 which was Meelo.  However, aside from the character crapping in season 2 I really can't think of anything too major to criticise about the series.  The end to season 4 is the one other major thing I've heard people criticise considering its romantic implications about two characters who I won't mention here so as to not spoil the ending for you lot.  I personally thought this ending was great and the romantic implications with it were very tasteful, believable and I thought capped off a series with such dark undertones with a hear-warming ending.  Say what you will about the sexual politics implied within it and the rest of the series but I thought it was superb.

This in turn leads into something else I thought was great about the series in that the romantic relations between characters were some of the most realistic in any animated work I've ever seen.  The way romantic couples worked off of each other and how certain relationships ended showed a surprisingly realistic understanding of young and romantic relationships on the part of Nickelodeon and the other people who helped create this series.  Its certainly nice to see this continued on from and even improved in some places from Avatar: the last airbender.  This not only comes with some heart-warming romance throughout the series but some relationships become great focal points for the development of some characters. 

Therefore, the romance is not only well done but actually helps the series move along again much like in the original show.  Some might say that this takes away from the pulse-pounding action but I'd really say its worth it for the plot being moved along which in turn helps the action to become even more engaging.  Some might disagree but I personally found the romance in accordance with the character development and action to be the other main attractions of the series.  Considering how often romance is fucked up in other children's animated series I think this is a great thing and cannot be understated.  Even more so considering I'm not usually one for romance particularly in my action shows but I can certainly make the exception here and there.

Image source: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/avatar-the-legend-of-korra/images/24369742/title/last-airbender-legend-korra-screencap

The other main positives I could then reasonably mention for the series aside from the action, relations between characters, romance and following on from the original series would be the respect that the series shows to ancient ideas of philosophy as well as multiple different eastern cultures.  Korra's own culture of the water tribe is heavily based off of the Inuit people of North America and Canada while the earth kingdom is based off of medieval China, the fire nation off of feudal Japan and the wind nation off of the Buddhist people of Tibet and Thailand.  The stark representations of these cultures and the values and philosophies they entail is truly remarkable for a TV show of this kind as I found the representations of said cultures to be both tasteful and truly fascinating. 

As someone who has actually travelled to China and Thailand I can say that the representations of eastern cultures and philosophies is among the best I've ever seen on TV let alone just in the sphere of cartoons.  Even if the action isn't your main draw into keep watching this show, I should wager that you'll be fascinated by the seamless integration of eastern Asian philosophy into both the story and character development.  Truly this is a beautifully written and presented as well as animated series.

However, if there is one other thing I can complement above the action, animation, philosophy and characters of the series, it is surely the villains of each season.

Image source: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/avatar-the-legend-of-korra/images/24369739/title/last-airbender-legend-korra-screencap

Even with the aforementioned weak villain of the second season (no its not the villainous Amon above, he's the villain of the 1st season and is superb) the villains for the most part are highly intimidating evil bastards with understandable and even relatable motivations particularly my favourite villain Kuvira who terrorises the whole of the earth kingdom and our heroes in the 4th season.  The aforementioned villain above Amon is probably the most subversively interesting though as his whole struggle is to remove the powers of all element-bending people to create an equal world of same-powered peoples to thus create an ultimate image of equality throughout the world with his 'equalist' movement.  I felt like this was a highly fascinating and subtle representation of communist movements throughout Europe in the early 20th century.  This representation of famous historical events and ideological conflicts is something that resurfaces multiple times throughout the series with the villainous Kuvira's attempts in the 4th season to take over the earth kingdom being particularly reminiscent of the 1911 Chinese revolution and the civil war that came in its wake. 

As someone who has spent most of their life interested in and studying history I found these reflections and elusions to major historical events very fascinating.  They didn't come as much into the development of the characters as the inherent and subtle philosophy did but even still they were truly interesting.   And if you don't agree, then the aforementioned Kuvira will mess you up good and proper alright?

Image source: http://www.hypable.com/the-legend-of-korra-season-4-episode-3-recap/

In conclusion, would I recommend this series and who would I recommend it to?  In all honesty, I can only think of maybe two or three animated shows that I've ever enjoyed more than this show and I'd really recommend it to just about anyone.  Yes season 2 is a bit of a slog at times and there are one or two episodes in season 3 where I got a little bit bored and aside from a couple of side characters I was mildly irritated by I can't really think of anything to criticise this show on.  Were I to go further on complimenting its characters and story more than I have above I would be spoiling the show and were I to go further into my criticisms I would either be lying or just scraping the bottom of the barrel.  I really cant think of anything major at all to criticise and I can easily say that The Legend of Korra is not only one of my favourite cartoons of all time but is also one of my favourite TV shows period.  All this combined with the fusion of 1930s noire animation in allot of the episodes mixed in with the style and look of the original series creates for something truly special.  If you're either looking for action, romance, realistic character development or thrilling villains I'd recommend this show in all cases.

Image source: http://www.v-gamers.com/legend-of-korra-hinter-den-kulissen/

So of course I hope you all enjoy this show as much as if not more than I do and so I want you to have fun with whatever you're doing, take care, don't do anything I wouldn't do and until next time I'll see you all on the battlefield!

Animation & presentation: 10/10

Writing/story: 9/10

Characters/character development: 9/10

Action/set-pieces/key moments: 10/10

Design/style/artistry: 9/10

Series introduction: 8.5/10

Series conclusion: 10/10

Season 1: 10/10

Season 2: 7.5/10

Season 3: 8.75/10

Season 4: 10/10

Overall rating: Like a week-long holiday in Barcelona, you might feel a bit lethargic and not sure what you're doing sometimes but the experience of watching this show is something I would recommend without a moment's notice even considering its faults and downturns which even at their worst are really not that bad.

New Film Review 16: The Expendables 3

You know what kind of movie I like best?  The kind of movie that you can simply enjoy but that also gets you thinking about something either emotional, philosophical, political or ideological in any sense wether it be about the historical significance of certain events as in The Last Samurai (2003) or Joan of Arc (1999) or whether it be deeper and more psychological themes of contemplation such as in 2001: A Space Odessy (1968) or basically any film by the legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki.  Now in the last two films I reviewed, this was a clear staple of those two films from the lighting to the dialouge and characters.  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was essentially a post-apocaliptyc action survival thriller with in-built themes of tolerance, co-existence and ideas about who should lead who in a society that has fallen apart.  Sin City: A Dame to Kill for  didn't concentrate so much on deep themes like this but it did focus somewhat on political corruption, neo-noire gang violence and making outlaws into heroes (at least that's what the trailers say) while putting this all up against the backdrop of a highly stylised visual world.  On the other hand, there are films that aren't really looking for any high-class intellectual recognition like a proverbial black forest gateu made by a 3-star michelin baker but are more like a junky and fun proverbial tub of Ben & Jerry's half baked ice cream.   And the latter case is where Expendables 3 comes blazing in.

In fact, this is basically the whole premise and aim of the Expendables franchise so far; get together a wholly star-studded cast of action heroes and professional athletes and shoot up some hammy and memorable (albeit with that not being the case in the first film because the villain there was as memorable as a cucumber sandwich with nothing else on white bread) and shoot your way through legions of inept minions in a trashy and cheesy yet endearing and enjoyable throwback to similar action movies from the 1980s and early 1990s.  Now some have said in the past that the second film in the franchise was the weakest by far with the least interesting plot and most uninteresting screenplay but I beg to differ.  While the first film was undeniably fun, its story jumped all over the place, the vilains apart from 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's muscle bound henchman were forgetable as all hell and there simply wasn't enough character drama or shots of Terry Crews ripping up bad guys with his rapid-fire shotgun.  This was in part thanks to how the action of Expendables 2 was bigger, the story was bigger and while Jet Li was barely in it, that issue was more than made up for with Jean-Claude Van Damne's darkly enjoyable and badass villain uh...Vilain...seriously?  Why not just call him 'Blatantly evil madman'?

But one sentiment that many reviewers and critics are passing around that I simply cannot disagree with is the argument and ideas put forth that point to this entry into the franchise being the best one yet and honestly?...I absolutley agree.  Expendables 2 still has the best villain but Mel Gibson does well in this film as the vile and murderous Stonebanks but apart from that, Expendables 3 feels bigger in every way from the quality of the action to the lighting, character development, overall story, final battle and humour as well as the obvious threat that is implied about Gibson's diabolical arms dealer/mass-murderer Stonebanks.  So what's the story?   This time round, Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) kicks things off by taking his team to free fromer teamate and professional smooth-talker Doc (Wesley Snipes) to then go after a mysterious arms dealer.  Unfortunatley for Ross and his team, they're sucker-punched by the sudden appearance of the arms dealer as former co-founder of the expendables team and professional murdering psychopath Conrad Stonebanks who in an enseuing battle wounds ever-lovable Caesar (Terry Crews) and prompts Ross to disband his team of seasoned old veterans and form a new team of young, spunky and highly skilled professionals with different skill sets. 

This is perhaps the biggest selling point of the film in every conceivable way.  Not only do we have the old guard of the previous installments inevitably return for an action-packed finale but the new young blood of Kellan Lutz, Victor Ortiz, Glen Powell and the beefy yet strikingly beautiful Ronda Rousey as well as some new veterans of old 1980s and 1990s action films in the form of the tough 'n' gruff Agent Drummer (Harrison Ford), the enigmatic Bonaparte (Kelsey Grammer) and the high-octane and energy Galgo (Antonio Banderas) who eats up every scene he's in with bizzare action stunts and crazed humour.  And yet, despite how much I have to admit that I gushed over the casts of the last two films, the new entries into the cast both new and old, adds some fresh life into the already expansive and star-studded cast of the franchise.  This is perhaps what sets apart the film the most from the previous two in that despite how expansive the last two film's casts were, they were nothing as golden and nostalgia-inspiring as the cast of this latest installment.  Add to this the fact that the new, young actors like Rousey or Ortiz add some relatable freshness to the cast and the sheer coolness of adding legends like Ford, Snipes and Banderas into the mix and you have a potent mix that is sure to ensure that the next entries into the franchise will be equally fresh for the forseeable future.

As mentioned before, this means that the action is bigger and by that I also mean more varied.  Oh sure we have a climax centring around a sprawling building complex with wave after wave of minions and tanks for our heroes to chew through and a bloody showdown between Stallone and the main villain.  But Expendables 3, while still essentially being a cheesy thowback to 80s action flicks includes more than its share of precise computer-hacking, hand-to-hand rampages, vehicular slaughters and some stunts that intially seemed stupid, unrealistic and pointless (like Powell's Thorn juming up the side of an apartment block on a motorbike while blazing away with an MP5 sub-machine gun) which, while ultimatley silly, only serve to highlight the sheer enjoyability of the action segments.

Needless to say as is the case with throwback films to popcorn-munching action flicks from the Regan-era of popular culture, the action segments cover up most of the film's 126 minute run-time but despite that, you feel more invested in the struggles of the main characters this time round thanks to some genuinley shocking moments (in the visual sense) of how evil Gibson's character is, the emotional turmoil Stallone's Ross goes through throughout the film and the clear and stark if somewhat cliche tension between the new and young recruits and Stallone's old team.  This elevates Expendables 3 from the status of 'enjoyable and cheesy' as was the case with the first two films to 'COME ON GUYS, LETS FIND THIS EVIL BASTARD AND MAKE HIM PAY!' pumped-up and almost wholly enjoyable in a trashy kind of way.

Now naturally, there are some issues and no film is perfect with exception to Citizen Kane  (1941), The Godfather (1972), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and My Neighbour Totoro (1988).  As in the last two films, the actors involved are kind of aware that they're making a series of cheesy action flicks and thus, in some places, the acting comes across as a little hammy, cliche or run-of-the-mill.  On top of this, it's again disappointing that very little of the film features what are arguably the best actors in the franchise in the shape of Crews and Li.  Furthermore, while the storyline is certainly more stable and adept at conveying meaning and enjoyment to the audience than in the first film, some sections of the story move way too quickly and lack any real, emotional and visceral depth as was the case with Liam Hemsworth's shocking death near the beginning of Expendables 2.  However, the action, storytelling and development of the characters is certainly up at least a notch over the last two films so you'll definetly see some improvments.

As you guys can tell, I had a blast watching this movie.  Not only is it the best entry into the franchise yet; it also includes interesting new and old actors fresh to the franchise, better camerawork, better action-coordination, better directing, superb base-level enjoyment and a story and motivation for the main characters that is suprisingly competent and compelling.  I could go on and on about how good this film is and while I certainly wouldn't say that its in any way a groundbreaking or amazing film, I'd be more than confident in saying that its one of the best films of the year so far and worth your time if you're the type of person who'd want to go see this.  If you don't, I don't blame you.  However, as it is as a straightforward action flick?...I'd give it a thumbs up, a tip of the hat and a salutory puff on one of Stallone's cigars.

Plot/Storyline: 8/10
Acting: 7/10
Directing/Writing: 7.5/10
Action/Set pieces: 9/10
Camerawork/SFX: 7.5/10

Overall score: 39/50