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Around halfway through the immediately engaging first episode of Netflix’s Narcos, the voiceover from Stephen Murphy (Boyd Holbrook), an energetic, clever DEA agent, points out that the death toll of the drug war, solely in relation to American street crime, got so bad in the 1980s that bodies had to be stored in refrigerated trucks for restaurants. Director José Padilha, who also produces the series and directed the incendiary Bus 174, could have used any kind of truck for the shot where we see a young man’s lifeless body splayed out, but he makes certain that the eye catches the Burger King logo on the back. It’s a quick moment in a series paced as if its story were hitched directly to a greased-up Roadrunner, but it’s one of the more crucial, if blatant, nods to the series’ caustic view of capitalism, both at home and abroad.
Marvel’s merry mutants are back in all-new, all-different (not really) animated adventures on Disney Plus. A direct continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992 to 1997, X-Men ‘97 features a similar art style and most of the same voice actors from the original. The new series borrows heavily from dozens of X-Men comic books, with some original flourishes sprinkled on top and many events chronologically rearranged. In some ways, the series works as a quick and convenient way to enjoy multiple comic-book arcs in 30 minutes. In others, it feels like a nostalgia play that lacks depth and nuance.
To dissect and discuss the first season of X-Men ‘97, RPadTV host Raymond Padilla enlisted the help of Turtle Beach’s MacLean Marshall and PaulSemel.com’s Paul Semel. This episode will mainly be Mac and Raymond talking about what they liked and disliked about the show, with Paul commenting as the curmudgeon that disliked the first episode so much that he couldn’t stand to watch another.
Raymond and Mac will discuss the plot points, changes, performances, problems, and CliffsNotes-ification of the comics in X-Men ‘97. Paul will chime in and (hopefully) explain how he could make it through the wretched Green Lantern movie, but couldn’t watch a sometimes entertaining X-Men cartoon.
The Big Cigar Review: This show is an entertaining and intriguing watch that is thrilling in the right doses.
Baahubali: Crown of Blood Review: This animated series has nothing to offer and makes you question why it was made at all!
