Sep 18 2023

Top Ten Star Wars Live-Action Animals

Star Wars is famous and groundbreaking for many reasons including the depiction of unusual and captivating alien animals. The most recent and memorable examples were the magnificent purrgils that appeared in Ahsoka. Whether they’re reliable beasts-of-burdens or savage wildlife, here are the ten best Star Wars animals to appear on live-action films and TV shows. If there are any other Star Wars animals that deserve to be on the list be sure to comment below.

10. Mudhorn (The Mandalorian):

Resembling a giant wooly rhino, the mudhorn earned a lot of sympathy from fans despite its ferocious demeanor. Even though the fierce animal inspired the sigil of Din Djarinn, it was only protecting its egg, which made its death at the hands of Djarinn and Grogu much more disturbing.

9. Rancor (Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi):

Caged and forced to eat its victims, the gigantic rancor was a fearsome beast that tried to make a meal out of Luke Skywalker. The rancor also had a scene-stealing appearance in The Book of Boba Fett as Boba rode the animal and used it to stop his enemies.

8. Kowakian Monkey-Lizard (Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi):

Jabba the Hutt’s cackling pet creature was a hilarious standout during the first act of Return of the Jedi by the way it parroted the sadistic laughter of the sinister gangster. Salacious Crumb, the name of the animal, also displayed a malicious side thanks to its vile owner.

7. Exogorth (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back):

Talk about being in the belly of the whale! This behemoth produced many gasps after it was revealed that Han Solo actually landed his ship inside of the spaceborne slug instead of a cave in an asteroid. Han’s escape from the exogorth’s closing jaws was one of the film’s most thrilling moments.

6. Loth-Cat (Ahsoka):

When the loth-cat made its live-action debut in Ahsoka, its appearance captured viewers’ eye with the accuracy of its appearance and charm from Star Wars: Rebels. Can’t wait to see how the loth-wolf is eventually depicted.

5. Reek and Acklay (Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones):

These two giant animals that were dispatched in the Geonosian arena to kill Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Senator Padmé Amidalla were two unique and deadly creatures that harkened back to the giant animals featured in a Ray Harryhausen epic.

4. Purrgil (Ahsoka):

The gentle space-faring whale and squid-like creatures were a truly impressive sight when they made their live-action appearance in Ahsoka. Even more impressive and inspiring was when the peaceful giants demonstrated their ability to travel into hyperspace.

3. Bantha (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope):

As one of the first animals featured in the Star Wars franchise these mammoth-like creatures with huge ram horns helped give the planet Tatooine a naturalistic and live-in look. Their further appearances in other films and TV shows cemented their status as the planet’s unofficial mascot.

2. Varactyl (Boga) (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith):

There have been many notable beastly mounts in the Star Wars films but Boga, the long iguana-like varactyl ridden by Obi-Wan, rode stood out with its loyal and spirited nature. Even though it and its rider were fired upon, Boga faithfully obeyed Obi-Wan and kept him from harm while emitting truly unique animal sounds.

1. Tauntaun (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back):

This two-legged beast-of-burden was so eye-catching it was even featured prominently in posters for the film. Looking like a hairy theropod with ram horns, the tauntaun was a hardy mount ridden by Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. The way it was brought to life (at the time of the film’s release) through go-motion and puppetry made the animal realistic thanks to small touches like strange animal sounds and a frosty breath.

Noteworthy Mentions:

Blurrg, Colo Claw Fish, Dewback, Corellian Hound, Dianoga, Eopie, Fathier, Frog-Dog, Kaadu, Krayt Dragon, Luggabeast, Mynock, Opee Sea Killer, Orbak, Porg, Rathtar, Ronto (they taste great!), Sando, Sarlacc, Shaak,  Vexis Snake, Vulptex, Wampa

Sep 10 2023

In Celebration of Star Trek: Prodigy

During the recent official celebrations for the 57th anniversary of Star Trek, its many spinoffs, and the 50th anniversary celebration of the original Star Trek animated TV show, it was noticed by many how the powers-that-be conveniently failed to mention Star Trek: Prodigy. It was so glaring because in the Paramount + Star Trek Day special and related promo material, even though all the Star Trek TV shows were noted, the animated TV show, Star Trek: Prodigy, was absent as if it never existed.

This is peculiar because until a few months ago, Star Trek: Prodigy was streaming on Paramount + until it was yanked out of the schedule and cancelled. This was part of a wider cost-cutting move by Paramount Pictures with its streaming platform that saw the cancellation of many projects. The sudden cancellation of Star Trek: Prodigy was unusual because a second season was already under production and the TV show was removed from the platform mere days after the cancellation announcement.

Honestly, this move by Paramount was disrespectful to the Star Trek franchise and its fans that were only starting to discover Star Trek: Prodigy. This action only reminds fans of how the studio is disdainful of its franchise.

Star Trek: Prodigy was met with a skeptical eye from many fans when it was first announced. Many automatically dismissed it as a kid’s TV show and what did not help was the prominent Nickelodeon logo plastered on top of the TV show’s logo and the announcements in promo materials that it was aimed at children.

While this reaction was understandable many missed out on how unexpectedly solid Star Trek: Prodigy turned out. Yes, it was not as complex as some other Star Trek shows but its stories were imaginative and embraced the Star Trek lore. It actually felt like it was part of Star Trek thanks to its stories, themes and characters. It also boasted beautiful 3D animation that showcased truly unique aliens and landscapes, while being grounded in the Star Trek Universe.

Star Trek: Prodigy takes place in the distant Delta Quadrant at a prison mining colony where a young alien prisoner named Dal R’El (Brett Gray) discovers in a mine an abandoned Starfleet ship called the Protostar. He activates the ship and escapes the colony with his companions who include Gwyndala (Ella Purnell), the daughter of the show’s antagonist, Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas), a young Tellarite mechanic, Zero (Angus Imrie), a Medusan in a floating containment suit, Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui), a huge rock-like alien who is actually a brilliant young girl, and a gelatinous alien called Murf (Dee Bradley Baker). On the Protostar, they meet a training hologram that is patterned after Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). She helps them run the ship and mentors Dal and the others on becoming Starfleet officers. The motley crew decides to embark on a voyage to return the Protostar to the Alpha Quadrant and the United Federation of Planets. Along the way they carry on with the Starfleet mission of exploring new worlds and civilizations in the hope they can become Starfleet officers once they return the ship.

The Protostar is an experimental starship that actually changes its shape to travel at tremendous speeds in warp space. The starship and its new crew are hunted across the galaxy by Gwyndalla’s father, the Diviner (John Noble), who rules the prison colony and has a personal vendetta against the Federation and its Starfleet. He covets the Protostar to use it as a Trojan Horse to decimate the Federation.

Also pursuing the Protostar is the real Janeway, who is now a Starfleet admiral commanding another Starfleet ship. Years ago, the Protostar was lost in the Delta Quadrant along with its crew, which was commanded by her former first officer, Chakotay (Robert Beltran).

For a TV show supposedly oriented towards children Star Trek: Prodigy has a surprising amount of depth considering that many episodes featured character arcs that fully developed the characters. Throughout the first season we see Dal change from an impulsive and rebellious teenager into a responsible and mature person who had the qualities for a Starfleet officer. The best episode that illustrates his development was “Kobayashi”. Dal activates a holo-training program that is the famous Kobayashi Maru test given to Starfleet cadets where they hopelessly try to rescue a freighter from Klingons. Making up his crew in the simulation are popular Trek characters like Spock (Leonard Nimoy) from the original Star Trek and Scotty (James Doohan) from the original Star Trek films. As Dal tries to win the test’s no-win scenario and learns some hard lessons about command, he interacts with these characters, which was amazing since some of the actors voicing the roles are no longer alive. It was a nice way to give tribute to the franchise.

Most of the other characters saw significant development, as well. Gwyndala fought an inner battle within herself as she was at first hostile towards Dal and the others but gradually formed a deep bond with them. In the episode “Time Amok” Rok and the others are trapped in different temporal loops. Being that in Rok’s loop time runs at the slowest rate she uses this as a chance to learn to become a scientist and save the crew. Many of the others have tragic backgrounds and this journey on the Protostar serves as a means to give them some meaning in their lives.

The best way to think of Star Trek: Prodigy is to compare it to Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Star Wars: Rebels. On the surface both TV shows were apparently made for children, but before long they evolved and became more complex and appealing to adults who otherwise might have been turned off by them. I’m pretty sure that if Star Trek: Prodigy was not cancelled and allowed to fully tell its story, which included the search for Chakotay, the show would have reached the same level of admiration that the animated Star Wars TV shows has received.

Cancelling Star Trek: Prodigy was one thing, but to remove it from Paramount + and having it unavailable to easily view elsewhere was a foolish decision. Even though it was not a massive hit it still would have found an audience. Right now the only way to see Star Trek: Prodigy is to buy it through Amazon Prime, Vudu or other video on demand services or to actually purchase it on physical media. It’s certainly worth buying and will help hold us over until season two is ready. As of this writing, post-production of season two of Star Trek: Prodigy is underway and the show’s producers are finding another place to air it. Given the way the actors and writers strikes have ground film and TV productions to a halt Paramount should reconsider its decision and bring back Star Trek: Prodigy to its streaming platform to at least let the fans see the final season.

José Soto

Sep 5 2023

Star Trek’s Many Timelines

By now Star Trek fans acknowledge that the official canon timelines of the Star Trek franchise is daunting. Being that Star Trek is 57 years old there are bound to be continuity problems but what has been more glaring are contradictions with the timeline and the more “modern” look of current-day Star Trek that clashes with older series.

There have been pretzel-twisting explanations in the TV shows and films to explain the contradictions, but they tend to fall apart on closer examination or are just ridiculous. More and more, fans have to accept the fact that either modern Trek is a soft reboot of the franchise or it represents new timelines that branched off the original Trek ages ago.

When Star Trek was relaunched in 2009 with the film Star Trek it was a good vehicle to reboot the franchise but the filmmakers did not want to completely alienate many fans. So an explanation was given that the events of Star Trek took place in an alternate reality that was created when the film’s Romulan bad guys time traveled to a time before the original series and changed the timeline.

However, this was not the first time that an alternate timeline was created in Star Trek. Actually this has happened many times in previous Star Trek TV shows starting with the original.

In the classic episode, “City on the Edge of Forever” a new timeline was created when Dr. McCoy went back in time and changed history so that the United States never entered World War II. This created a timeline where presumably the United Federation of Planets or Starfleet did not exist. Supposedly, the original timeline was restored when Kirk and Spock went back in time themselves and prevented McCoy from altering history. Or did they? The timeline McCoy created would still exist simply because he traveled to that pre-World War II period. Remember the scene where the hobo steals McCoy’s phaser and accidently kills himself? That created a new timeline where that man no longer existed. Even if that man never amounted to anything, his erasure would create a small ripple in time and this was never corrected by the end of the episode.

Here are some more examples: In Star Trek: First Contact, the crew of the Enterprise-E journey back to the mid-21st century to prevent the Borg from assimilating Earth. The Borg’s actions wound up killing many people who were involved with humanity’s first faster-than-light voyage. Even Riker and La Forge joined Zefram Cochrane to pilot the Phoenix, the first human-made warp ship. This created a new timeline even though the Enterprise-E crew stopped the Borg and the people the Borg killed remained dead. The crew interacted with people in the past including Cochrane, who was now aware of his destiny and this certainly had an impact on how he acted.

In Star Trek: Enterprise, a major arc involved the aliens called the Xindii who attacked Earth in the 22nd century, but it was revealed that such an attack never took place in the original timeline. More importantly, this attack was never undone when the story arc ended and was now part of the established canon timeline. It was stated that these incidents were part of a so-called Temporal Cold War that took place centuries in the future.

Another instance of the Star Trek timeline being changed was in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”. In that episode those pesky Romulans are revealed to have changed the original Trek timeline in that they prevented the rise of Khan and the outbreak of World War III from the original time of the 1990s. Now these events are supposed to take place in the middle of the 21st century and evidence of this change was shown in Star Trek: First Contact when it was mentioned that the war took place in the mid-21st century.

There are many other instances of permanently changed timelines throughout Star Trek but in the end it does not matter too much. The real-world reason for these changes are to keep Trek relevant with our times. After all, it would be strange to keep saying that the Eugenics Wars and World War III took place in the 1990s or that the dated look of the original TV show with buttons on consoles is supposed to represent a realistic future for humanity. There have been non-canon efforts such as novels to try to explain this away but the results are nonsensical.

The best advice is to just accept that the Star Trek timelines are very fluicdic. Do not give it too much thought and enjoy the stories.

Aug 27 2023

Disney + Has Damaged Pixar, Star Wars & Marvel

When it was announced that the streaming app Disney + would feature exclusive content for their purchased intellectual properties Star Wars and Marvel, most fans were understandably excited. In the closing years of the 2010s both properties were riding high, especially Marvel with its Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The people running Disney + promised that subscribers would have access to a vast video library of its properties and that the exclusive content would be top-of-the-line when it came to quality. At first, this seemed to be the case. At first.

Shortly after Disney + became available, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which shut down theaters and the streaming platform became the only medium available to get new content based on Disney IP, Pixar, Star Wars and the MCU. Due to the pandemic many films were delayed and this happened with the Pixar films scheduled for release. At the same time, Disney was desperate to generate streaming traffic for Disney + and to gain subscribers, new product had to be available. The easiest solution was to take the delayed films like Soul and premiere them exclusively on Disney +.

For a short while, this tactic worked, but unlike the other MCU films that were released exclusively in theaters, Disney kept debuting other Pixar films like Luca and Turning Red on the streaming app. This gave the impression that the Pixar films were inferior in quality, because people began thinking that these films were not good enough for theatrical releases. Also, when the Pixar films Lightyear and Elemental actually premiered in theaters, viewers were conditioned to wait for them to come out weeks later on Disney + and save some money. To be fair other streaming apps like HBO Max did this as well, but this tactic was abandoned soon after studios realized they were losing revenue. It took Disney some time to forego premiering some of their films on the app.

The app premiered with The Mandalorian, the hit TV show set in the Star Wars universe about a Clint Eastwoodish, intergalactic bounty hunter and his infant alien ward. The Mandalorian became a huge hit and actually helped keep the Star Wars brand alive. Actually, for a couple of years it was the only Star Wars-related property for fans to watch. Obviously, Disney had to put out more Star Wars content and last year more Star Wars-related TV shows streamed on Disney +, which included The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and now Ahoska. While some of the TV shows were well received and even earned Emmy nominations, the Boba Fett show was a huge misfire with its unfocused scripts. Unfortunately, these same problems bled into the third season of The Mandalorian, and Ahsoka is receiving criticisms, as well. It is clear with The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka that Disney wants to create a more integrated universe with a part of Star Wars history: the period of time after the fall of the Galactic Empire. Reportedly the goal is to have the TV shows lead to a film that ties all the elements together. While it is ambitious and echoes what happened with the MCU, there are problems in that the Star Wars universe is becoming too convoluted. Viewers are forced to watch other shows and even animated programs like Star Wars: Rebels to fully understand what is going on with many of the Star Wars TV shows. With interest in the Star Wars brand waning, this development could not have happened at a worst time.

The problem with the scripts for some of the Star Wars TV shows also plagued the MCU TV shows. What was worse was that the production values for many MCU TV shows was shockingly poor. The MCU, like Star Wars, got off to a promising start on Disney + with TV shows like WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But the quality of the MCU TV shows soon began to falter and it became more and more obvious that budget limitations were impacting the shows. For example, with the time travel TV show Loki, even though it was well acted and written, it seemed as if there was a lot of talking instead of showing. Instead of time traveling to pivotal events in the MCU, the main characters traveled to mundane time periods.

The problem with limited budgets affected some of the effects work on later TV shows. This was best seen with Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Secret Invasion. With She-Hulk, the limited special effects was fatal for the show because its poor, unfinished special effects left She-Hulk looking like a SIM character. The same budget limitations has severely affected Secret Invasion, which has a lot of talking scenes about world events with limited action scenes. What is even more unbelievable is that the budget for the TV show was about $200 million. Where did that money go? The budget for Secrect Invasion is not the main reason for its poor execution, it is actually due to the scripts which make the show feel small scale. This also went on with many other MCU TV shows that should have had great payoffs. This even happened with WandaVision. For the most part that show was terrific with clever scripts and acting. But the payoff at the final episode felt like a letdown with the scope of the confrontations between characters.

Disney CEO Bob Iger recently said that the market was oversaturated with Star Wars and Marvel TV shows and films, and he is correct. There was a lot of pressure for the Disney + app to have new and original content, which meant that there had to be a lot of content about two of its most popular IPs. Unfortunately, the demand stretched the capability to keep up the quality of the products in order to meet scheduling deadlines. The result was that many fans were disappointed with the finished TV shows as the brands became diluted. To correct this, the brands need to pull back and Disney is doing this as per Iger’s orders. They are giving their properties the time needed to produce quality over quantity. However, there will be more inferior TV shows until the better-produced TV shows come out.

Disney and other studios are facing a new problem with their inability to provide new content thanks to the crippling writer and acting strikes which have shut down productions for film and TV studios. As content dries up and films and TV shows get delayed again or canceled, there will be increased demand. Will the studios make the same mistakes they did earlier this decade and force creators to pump out products before they are ready? Probably, so it is up to the studios to learn from their missteps regarding their streaming platforms.

Aug 19 2023

Blue Beetle Is A Charmingly Fun Intro To The New DCU

Blue Beetle, the latest live-action film based on a DC Comics superhero, is a fun and charming adventure that could not have come at a better time for DC films.

The track record for DC films has been troubled for several years now. Most of them have not been well received by fans or critics and performed poorly in the box office. Sadly, Blue Beetle will not rake in the big bucks while it’s in theaters (it was just released yesterday in late August, a dumping ground for films). But whether or not it flops, it does signal a return to form for DC films not centered on Batman.

Blue Beetle stars Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes, a recent college graduate who returns to his lower-class home in the hope of finding a good job to help his family. He goes to Kord Industries in Palmera City to meet with Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine) for a job opportunity and gets involved in corporate espionage. Jenny steals a strange object shaped like a blue scarab from her company and entrusts it to Jaime.  She does this because she does not trust her aunt, Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), the CEO of Kord Industries, because Victoria is focused on trying to create exo-skeletal armored suits called O.M.A.C.s (One Man Army Corps) by using the scarab.

After Jaime brings the scarab home, it activates itself and attaches to Jaime’s spinal cord. The scarab then forms a blue exo-skeletal armor around Jaime complete with futuristic nano weaponry. It’s revealed that the scarab is extra-terrestrial, sentient, and forming a symbiotic relationship with Jaime as its reluctant host.

Before long, Victoria learns that Jaime has the scarab and sends her forces led by her bodyguard Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo) in his own O.M.A.C. suit to find Jaime and obtain the scarab at any cost. This not only endangers Jaime but his family and Jenny, as well, and it is up to them to confront Victoria and her forces.

On paper, Blue Beetle sounds like your typical superhero origin film and to an extent that is true. Much of what is seen in Blue Beetle we have seen before in other films like Iron Man, Venom, Black Panther, and so on. But it stands out in many ways. It is largely centered on Jaime’s Latino family and their interactions are one of the best parts of the film. Thanks to the performances of the actors like George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, and Belissa Escobedo the family dynamic is humorous and endearing. It is clear that they are a close-knit family who care about each other and will go through any length to support each other. Also being that the main character is Latino and his culture is represented in the film, it actually helps the film stand out from other superhero films.

What also makes Blue Beetle so winning is the charming performance by Xolo Maridueña who perfectly pulls off the reluctant young hero who only wants to do what is right. He is the core of the film and his journey was quite engaging as he learns to embrace his new role as a superhero. The film itself has some terrific action scenes and moves briskly. What is even more amazing is that the film’s budget is around $100 million and its special effects are more impressive than some of the recent superhero films that boasted larger budgets. Its director Angel Manuel Soto should be commended for delivering an enjoyable and fun superhero film.

Of course, the familiar superhero tropes are a drawback to the film. They include the theme of the hard-luck everyman type who reluctantly has to deal with the life-changing aspect of becoming a superhero. This aspect also comes complete with pep talks by trusted family figures that help him on his emotional journey. Another gripe is that the villains, especially Sarandon’s Victoria Kord, are one dimensional, although Carapax has an interesting revelation at the end. As much fun as Blue Beetle was, it was very goofy and silly at times, especially with the scenes where his grandmother starts blasting away goons with a futuristic Gatling gun. Still, Blue Beetle on the whole is a fun viewing experience that exceeds expectations.

Thankfully, James Gunn, the head honcho of the DC films has already announced that Maridueña and his character will be part of the new DC Universe (DCU) films that will replace the troubled DC Extended Universe (DCEU) films. Blue Beetle was made while the DCEU was still in existence but it barely acknowledges that it is part of any film universe aside from a couple of throwaway lines to a handful of DC superheroes. This was a wise move since it is not clear which universe Blue Beetle takes place in. It could be part of another universe altogether like The Batman is for all we know. But even if the film does not make a lot of money, the characters in this film deserve to return and be part of the DCU. While Gunn keeps claiming that the upcoming Superman: Legacy will be the official start of the DCU, given how winning and charming Blue Beetle is, it should be given that honor instead.

José Soto