Villain Profile: Arthur Petrelli

Arthur Petrelli is the father of Peter and Nathan Petrelli.  Through the first couple of season we were told multiple stories of how he died, but the truth ends up being that his wife poisoned him because he was planning on killing Nathan for standing against his illegal activities.  She thought he died but he didn't; instead he spent a year being paralyzed.  Due to his ability to absorb other powers, he eventually recovers and even steals Peter's abilities, making him virtually unstoppable. 

Arthur is the main Villain in the first half of season 3, the worst season of heroes.  Arthur is a villain who could have been pretty cool, but instead of focusing on some grand scheme of his, it's mostly about him simply having a lot of powers.  If we hadn't already seen this from Sylar it might have been alright but at this point he feel kind of like a recycled character.  His whole story line feels like a soap opera anyway.  They thought he was dead but he isn't, he tells Sylar he is really his father, but he isn't, etc.

Another problem is his plan doesn't really make any sense.  I have no idea why he is trying to give everyone superpowers because he is constantly paranoid about anyone with powers who could be a threat to him.  Unless his goal was to give everyone powers so he could steal them all, I really don't know what his motivation was.  Like all of season 3, there was some really good stuff and some really bad stuff...Arthur is just a product of that.  

It's unfortunate his story wasn't all of season 3 so he could be devolved more.  Perhaps given some grand reason why he wanted to do what he wanted to do.  The second half of season 3 is the worst overall story from heroes so it would have been nice to see this one fleshed out and made sense of.  Arthur is even warned that the world will be destroyed because of his plan (by someone who can see the future) but he still doesn't listen.  Whatever his motivation was, apparently it was a strong one.  Sadly, we will never know since he died in the middle of the season.

On a side note, I am not sure why he didn't heal from his gun shot would after the Haitian was gone.  They had already established multiple times (Claire, Sylar) that if someone with a healing factor dies because their powers are blocked in some way, they will heal and come back as soon as their powers return.  Both Arthur and Future Peter Petrelli died from being shot because the Haitian was around and never came back (as far as we know).     

Rocky Balboa

With the recent passing of Sage Stallone, Sylvester Stallone's son, I decided to review the last Rocky movie, Rocky Balboa.  

Rocky is a movie character who is so classic Sylvester Stallone was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame for his film series.  Rocky Balboa picks up many years later.  Time has not been kind to Rocky, his wife passed away, his son blows him off constantly, and all of his winnings from boxing are long gone.  But on the bright side he does enjoy daily life, even if it is lonely.  Rocky has a restaurant he owns that keeps him busy and has a few customers from the old days who hang out there.

Everything changes when there is a computer simulation comparing old vs new fighter in their primes.  Rocky vs Mason "The Line" Dixon (the current undefeated heavyweight champion).  In the simulation Rocky wins their match by KO which makes Dixon feel disrespected.  Rocky has also made some new friends and decides to box again.  He isn't looking for anything big, just some local fight, but of course promoters see a chance to make some money so they talk Rocky into taking a fight against the champ.

Even though Rocky movies take place in the world of boxing, boxing isn't really what they are about.  Rocky is about the underdog, the everyman, the average Joe, who becomes more than anything thinks he can.  He doesn't do this for the fame or money, or even to impress anyone, it's for himself.  It's what he loves to do.  The constant training, the striving to be the best you can be, to push yourself beyond what you are supposed to be able to do.  

Rocky has a talk with his son, who has become an office drone with no self-worth and also attempts to talk Rocky out of fighting again.  Of course someone could understand his son's thoughts, he doesn't want his father to get hurt, but that isn't his motivation.  He doesn't want his dad to fight because he has no faith in him (projecting his own fears on his Rocky) and doesn't want to get embarrassed when Rocky is smashed.  The speech Rocky gives him is a great motivational speech for anyone.

Needed to say, Rocky and his son grow close again and he trains hard and puts up a fight no one expected from him.  It's a great film and shows even when things are bad, even if you are old, it's never to late to chase your dreams and do what you want to do.  Like Rocky says, it's not about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. 

Dragon Ball Z ep 3: Unlikely Alliance

The episode opens with Goku down and unable to get up.  His brother Raditz wants him to kill 100 earthlings in 24 hours or threatens something bad will happen to his son Gohan.  Frankly, with what we know about Raditz already, there is no reason to believe he is lying about hurting or killing Gohan, this is one bad guy.

On top of all of that, Raditz has decided to conquer the earth and clear it of life, so they can sell it as the Saiyans do with other planets.  Though things seem hopeless, Goku remembers something that could aid him.  When he had a tail, it hurt him when someone grabbed it.  The same trick may work on his brother if he can get a hold of his tail.

Next thing you know Piccolo shows up on Roshi's island and it looks like things just went from bad to worse but Piccolo makes an interesting offer.  Piccolo suggests him and Goku should team up, forming an unlikely alliance, in order to defeat this new more powerful foe.....with the understanding that as soon as Raditz is defeated they become enemies again.  It's not the greatest deal ever but what choice to they have?

Meanwhile, Raditz gets a reading on his scouter that can't be correct.  His crying nephew Gohan has a power level higher than his Dad's and Piccolo's combined!  He assumes his scouter is broken until Goku and Piccolo show up and that confirms what his scouter was reading off to him.  How could such a little child, who doesn't even train, be so powerful?

Goku and Piccolo reveal they are both wearing weighted clothes and when removed their power levels a little higher but still no match for Raditz and he easily moves past them both and attacks without them even being able to react to it.  The episode ends with a standoff that it looks like our heroes just can't win.

I give this episode 3.5 out of 4 stars. 

Plants vs Zombies

Has anyone played this game?  I highly recommend it.  It's a silly game but very fun and involves some strategy and quick hands.  The only down side of it is hours can pass by before you even know what happened!

The plot is simple.  You are a man who is defending his home from a zombie invasion...with the help of some kind of mutated plants with different abilities (that you grow yourself).  Each level increases in difficulty, adding new zombies with different items helping them get through your defenses and some levels take place at night (with fog), on your rooftop, etc.  For each level a new strategy must be used to overcome your foes.

Even after you finish the main game there are plenty of extras that take some time to complete.

Heroes season 4, ep 1: Orientation

Today I am going to start reviewing the tv show Heroes, starting with season 4 because that is the season I am currently watching on DVD.  I have already watched the first three seasons but I like to write reviews directly after watching an episode so my feelings and thoughts on that episode are fresh.  After I am finished with season 4 I will go back and rewatch the first three seasons again. 

The first episode, entitled Orientation, is a double length episode.  This episode is really good and really bad. 

The Good:

We are introduced to some new characters from a carnival.  Lead by the mysterious and creepy Samuel Sullivan, they intend to find a replacement for Samuel's dead brother (he died off screen so we have no idea how he died or why).   We don't know exactly what they are after or what their end game is but they seem a little shady and we know they are willing to kill people to meet their ends.  These character have interesting (and mostly new) powers.  Finding out what exactly these characters are up to is an interesting mystery that starts this season off with some anticipation. 

Peter is back to work as a paramedic, savings people's lives using the powers he acquired from Mohinder (he is basically like Spider-man minus the webbing). Hiro has started a business with his friend Ando called "Dial a Hero".  Things go down hill quickly though when we find out something is wrong with Hiro and he is no longer in control of his powers fully.  Instead of stopping time, time is stopping him. 

There are several stories going on that involve the ever popular Sylar.  Nathan (actually just Nathan's memories in Sylar's body) is starting to have powers manifest he never had and he doesn't understand why.  Elsewhere, Matt Parkman is starting to see visions of Sylar, whose consciousness is trapped in Matt's mind, causing him trouble. 

Noah and Danko (the villain from the second half of season 3) have to deal with Tracy who is out for revenge against them for their plot to round up all people with abilities.   

The Bad:

All of this is pretty interesting and you may be asking yourself, what is so bad?  One name: Claire.  Her story line of starting college and having an annoying roommate seems completely useless, pointless and distracts from all of the other interesting stories going on.  It seems like everything with her was thrown into the show because her character is popular with teenage girls.  It also seems like her annoying story line gets more screen time than any of the other stories.  This may not be the case, it could just be that her story is so bad and slows down the pace of the show so much it just seems like an eternity.  Her character probably should have been written out of the show after season 3 (or at least reduced greatly). 

This season does feel a little different, more like the 1st season (which is a good thing) and it does show promise for an interesting season.  It has my curiosity peaked. 

I give this episode 3 out of 4 stars (it would have been 4 out of 4 without Claire's storyline bringing it to an annoying crawl constantly). 

Dragon Ball Z Ep 2: Reunion

Here we go, episode 2!  Things really swing into gear in this one.

We open on a little get together of some classic Dragon Ball characters like Krillin, Bulma and Master Roshi.  Not much has changed with them, besides not seeing each other for years.  Krillin wants a girlfriend, Bulma is mad at Yamcha for going out with another girl and Master Roshi is, well, still Master Roshi.

Goku and Gohan then shows up on Roshi's Island with everyone else.  We find out that Gohan isn't allowed to train in martial arts because his Mom thinks it's a waste of time and instead spends his time studying (which is why he is such a wimp unlike his Dad at that age).  Goku apparently hasn't been training much either but is still stronger (as noted by Master Roshi) then he was 5 years ago.

Here is where the revelations really start.  Goku's brother Raditz shows up and explains that Goku is an alien who was sent to Earth to destroy it (making Goku like Superman, just coming to another planet for the opposite purpose).  Because Goku hit his head as a baby he forgot his mission and started over with a blank slate.  He then grew up to be the hero we all know.  We find out why Goku turns into a giant ape when there is a full moon, it's an ability all Saiyans (Goku's race) have.

Raditz wants to recruit Goku for a job, but when Goku turns him down we quickly learn Goku is no match for his brother who has been out fighting powerful beings his whole life.  Since Gohan still has his tail (which is what lets Saiyans turn into giant apes) Raditz decides to recruit him instead.  At this point we see that DBZ is going to be very large scale and have epic battles with beings far beyond anything we have seen so far in DB.

4 out of 4 stars

Dragon Ball Z Ep 1: The New Threat

Hey guys, welcome to my first Dragon Ball Z review.  I have seen every episode before, but it's been a while so I have the pleasure of rewatching them for this review.

Where else to start but at the beginning?  The New Threat is the first episode of the series and picks up 5 years after Dragon Ball ended.  Our heroes have been experiencing a time of peace but things are about to change when a mysterious new villain arrives.

This episode mostly just introduces us to several of the main characters, including Goku, Chi-Chi (Goku's wife), Gohan (Goku's son), and Piccolo (the strongest villain from the original Dragon Ball).  It also introduces a new villain we know nothing about except that he can from another planet, somehow knows Goku (but for some reason calls him a different name) and is very strong (stronger than Piccolo). 

Though it's a fairly tame episode for this series it does it's job of showing what happened to some of the characters from the original Dragon Ball series, or introduces them to us for the first time if you have never seen the older series (you don't have to have seen the old series to enjoy this one, you will just know a lot more about the main characters back stories and connections to each other). 

This episode peaks a Dragon Ball fans interest to see what is going on and to find out who this new villain Raditz is and if he is stronger than Goku.  Though it's not that action packed it does set everything up for a future fight.

I give The New Threat a 2.5 out of 4 stars.