Showing posts with label Matt Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Smith. Show all posts

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Doctor Who Finale Part 2

We now return you to the season final of Doctor Who.

You may remember I showed much dislike regarding the previous episode of the Doctor Who finale. Well I'm happy to announce that the second part of the two-parter was significantly better. Not to say that it was perfect, but it was definatley an improvement and much more enjoyable.

We start out with the opening of the season, with young Amelia Pond praying to Santa (on Easter, so she's extra polite) for someone to help her out with the ominous crack in her wall. However, unlike that episode, the Doctor dosn't show up. Poor Amy, nobody is going to eat all the food in her fridge and break several plates before scarring her for life and then leaving for about a decade.
She is then visited by a therapist who worries about the fact that she keeps drawing night skies full of stars. This would be odd normally, but due to the events of the previous episode, all the stars around the Earth have been extinguished.

One day someone pops a brochure to the mueseum, where the Pandorica from the previous episode is being held for all to see. She goes there and touches it, opening it up to reveal herself from the future. Yay!

Okay, I'm not going to review every single aspect of the episode like that. Basically, The Doctor travels back in time to tell Centurion Rory, who has recently fatally shot Amy, to use his sonic screwdriver to open the Pandorica and set things up so that he can reclaim it in the future. In the future, The Pandorica opens as stated above and the Doctor arrives. The funniest part of the episode is the inclusion of a Dalek as a fossilised creature. Which is then promptly revived by the light of the Pandorica, and fixes the main problem with the previous episode by have a constant threat. Yes, we had the imminent destruction of the universe and a half dead Cyberman, but the Dalek had then running, giving us an actual sense of 'We aren't stretching this episode out.' Rory appears, having gained a level of immortality via being an Auton, and briefly wards off the Dalek.

This episode finally cemented Rory as a good character. He is still sort of Mickey.2, and even though he is technically a clone, the series pretty much stated he had the real Rory's soul, so I'm just happy to see him back. The story of him defending the Pandorica over the course of two thousand years was actually done pretty well, and I was actually able to see Rory with a certain level of badass.

The Doctor appears via Vortex Manipulator (the same way he's travelling through time so quickly) and dies. The Doctor then realises the plot has some Fridge Logic in that if there are no stars, what's keeping the planet illuminated? As it turns out, the crashing TARDIS is illuminating the planet while the universe is being ripped apart. He is shot by the Dalek and teleports. River kills the Dalek in a moment that should be awesome, but just had me facepalming because Daleks aren't cry babies, and this one was screaming for mercy.

We then learn that the Doctor did not die, with untangles the Fridge Logic as to why he didn't regenerate shortly after, when we've clearly seen him do so in the Series 4 Finale. No, this was just a lie so he could strap himself into the Pandorica and launch it into the crashing TARDIS's, which would then illuminate the entire universe with it's restoring light and fix everything. He does this even though he will be stuck inside The Void for the rest of eternity...along with all those Daleks from Series 2 (yes, there WERE Cybermen, but chances are they've all been Exterminated by now). The Doctor then explains to Amy that the Crack in her wall (the cracks with can absorb objects and people and make them never have existed) had apparently been eating away at her life for years, erasing her memories of alien invasions and causing the disappearance of her parents.

The Doctor uses the Vortex Manipulator to launch the box (it's too complicated for normal teleporting) and sends River one last message on her Technodoohickey, "Geronimo," say what you will, I personally would expect nothing less from any incarnation of the Doctor. It works, and everyone wakes up where their lives should be, Amy has her parents again and she and Rory (who I am assuming is no longer an Auton) are preparing to wed later in the day.
But first, The Doctor has to slowly trudge back through his life, and returns to Amelia on the night where she met him and waited for him to take her on adventures through time, before deciding he'll skip the rest of his past to avoid needing to bring back David Tennant. So basically...


After the Wedding, Amy notices River walking by, and starts to feel strange. Rory gives her a Wedding Present apparently left by River, and opens it to find it is an empty book. She then realises that someone is missing from her Wedding, her good friend The Doctor. And then all the viewers at home clapped their hands and chanted, 'We believe in Doctor Who, we believe in Doctor Who,' and the TARDIS materialised right the at the Wedding, and suddenly everyone remember all the amazing adventures, and those who didn't know about them aren't too concerned about the Police Box that just teleported into the room from nowhere.

At the wedding party, the Doctor Dances...Oh, I see what you did there...and eventually decides it's time for him to leave and meets River outside, revealing the book is now full again (this has to do with Silence in the Library, but I missed that episode, so I don't fully understand). Rory and Amy then enter the TARDIS and ask if he's leaving. This is affirmative. They ask if this is good bye. This is affirmative. So then, Amy heads out of the miraculous Blue Box...and promptly yells goodbye to everyone outside as the TARDIS dematerialises and sends the trio on another adventure, and finally gives us another multiple season companion! Thank You!

And that's the second half of Series Finale. Is it better than the previous episode? Hell yes. I especially liked how they got out of the silly Legion of Doom concept by having the strange universe causing event erase them from time, though it was pretty predictable that if any were to get revived and chase the team around, it'd be a Dalek. Unfortunatley this also brings up how very wasted the idea of bringing in all the Doctors enemies truly was.
Second, I may have missed something, but what exactly was causing the whole universe collapsing event, anyway? I'm assuming the idea is the crashing TARDIS's, but that really came across as more of a steroid for situation as opposed to the castalyst. But I don't really mind, this episode did not feel as stretched out and was much better.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Doctor Who Season Finale


Technically the season hasn't ended yet, but I just want to share my thoughts on what I've seen so far in the first episode. How to sum it up in a single word...

Does Almost-Disappointing-But-Not-Quite count if it's hyphenated?

Okay, I speak for many when I say my all time favourite DW villains are the Daleks, but we can admit that they're being a bit overused. And even though the Mighty Morphin' Dalek Rangers were hilarious, but that episode was a massive Missed Oppertunity of Awesome. I suppose I don't mind a single story per season as in season 3, but maybe a whole season break would be nice. You need to make us want to see them again, not make us want to watch Power Rangers.
Back on track, the image of all those DW villains in one room was kind of cool, but in the end it felt much more like they just emptied out the costume shed. I decided upon that the moment I saw the Hoix from Love & Monsters. It also felt so damn simplistic. Why not just call them the Legion of Doom? The whole thing could have simply been solved with an immense group of brand new villains, but no, we had to save us some cash.

The Pandorica twist was pretty clever I'll admit. It hit me that it would open and the Doctor would step out, but the end result was much better. As was the image of thousands of ships hovering above the planet. But then again lets compare this story to the previous season finals. Here we have the Doctor being locked inside Pandora's Box by his greatest enemies to prevent the destruction of the universe, which is apparently going to be ripped apart by the actions of the Doctor.

Season 1 had the Doctor uncover a mass invasion of Daleks in a time where homicide is mere entertainment for the human race, with the only option to save the universe is to destroy the Earth, and his companion briefly becomes a god.

Season 2 saw the new Doctor captured by Torchwood, with Cyber-Men passing through to our side, greeted with open arms, as the Daleks lay in waiting to unleash thousands of their numbers into the fray.

Season 3 saw the Master become the bloody Prime Minister, then SUCCEED in taking over the world and weakening the Doctor using his own TARDIS and a hoard of Galactic Refugees he had recently rescued.

Season 4 had the Daleks steal entire planets to exterminate the entire universe, forcing all the different shows spun off from Doctor Who to team up, and included Daleks speaking German at one point.

Quite frankly I'd have to say that in comparison, this one has much to improve upon. But of course that's simply because of how great the other ones were. Don't get me started on the awesome End of Time, or The Next Doctor. This one would just simply be the weakest out of the bunch.

Also, River Song. Good god. I know she's supposed to be this way because of how the Doctor supposedly interacts with her in the future, but she annoys the hell out of me. She's so full of herself and plays the Magnificent Bastard card to impressive effect, but I'm supposed to be on her side? That's my opinion, and I suppose its a minority, but that's how I feel.

This season on a whole hasn't been the best. It's not a terrible season at all, it just hasn't been as good as others. The Weeping Angels were much scarier before we learnt all that stuff about them. I thought they were much cooler when they killed you in the most polite way possible, sending you back in time, now that they snap your neck they've degraded into a more basic enemy.
Also irritating is the Vincent Van Gogh episode. I don't mind meeting one historical figure each season, but why is it that every companion has a sophisticated side. Keep in mind I missed the Agatha Christy episode. The monster was a bloody giant chicken, how am I supposed to take that seriously, let alone be afraid of it? And not only that but it was invisible. Kind of cool, but it felt like they were just saving money. I guess it would have felt less that way if it didn't look like a goddamn chicken!

Also, I rather liked Rory, so why do you keep killing him? You did it in Amy's Choice, technically twice, and that episode is already strange apart from trying to make old people scary (it didn't work) and having a heavily pregnant woman kill herself (technically dosn't cross the line as it was a dream, and they knew it was a dream, and its not exactly shown, but still). You killed him in the next story, and now that he's an Auton its likley that he'll die again. Running Gags like that only work if they're played for laughs, not tragedy.

I'd hate it if this was the season that killed the show. Matt Smith is rather enjoyable as the Doctor. He's a bit too much like Tennant but he's brought a good dose of his own deleriousness into the character to stand on his own (though you can pretty much give half of his good quotes to Tennant and not notice the difference). He seems much more ditached from humanity than any previous incarnation I've seen as well.

I guess I can't really complain until I've seen the whole thing, but so far the series has been a bit odd, so hears hoping things pick up next time.

One more thing. I understand that the idea is that the universal destruction is so horrifying even they tremble at the thought, but how can the Daleks team up with the others? I don't think this sort of thing has ever bothered them before.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

The Eleventh Hour.


Doctor Who is probably my favorite show. I could tell you a number of cartoons which I enjoy, but Doctor is probably my favorite show. I love how it manages to fit in special effects scenes with genuinley interesting characters. Heck, even the effects for the original series are creative.

The latest Doctor, David Tennant, cemented himself as a figure of Doctor Who history by being hilarious, yet at the same time quite serious. He was probably the best Doctor since Tom Baker, but didn't let it go to his head. So, naturally people were a bit upset when it was announced that he'd finally be handing the torch over. While I didn't cry at his death scene, I might as well have. And yesturday, the Doctor returned to our screens as Matt Smith. So, how does it fare up? Ahem...

OH MY GOD IT WAS AWESOME! The Doctor was hilarious, the story was cool, the plan to save the world brilliant, the effects great, and oh my godness!

Okay, actually I have a few complaints I suppose. The Doctor seemed a bit too much like Tennant, but he was still funny in his own right (Beans are evil!) The bad guy, known as Prisoner 0, while scary looking, didn't do much. He snarled, he threatened, but really all he did was stand there, to the point that the Doctors Big Damn Heroes moment is slow enough to laugh at. It was like, 'I HAVE LARGE BIEY TEETH AND AM QUITE DISTURBING! NOW LOOK AT ME! But I guess he wasn't the overall threat. The overall threat was a giant eyeball attached to a spaceship. It didn't do much either, but it's very being there was cool.

I had heard that there would be a totally new set of theme music made for the series, being a fan of the music, I was angry. I was delighted to find that the new mmusic was just yet another cover of the original, and sounded great. The new opening sequence was okay, but I preferred the original.
I was surprisingly not put off by the new Sonic Screwdriver and TARDIS Interior. In fact, the most annoying thing about that was that the new screwdriver is green now. I suppose watching Doctor Who has wired me to expect change.

Long story short, I look forward to the rest of the season. It'll be great.







Custard Fish.