Supergirl Bites Off More Than It Can Chew In "How Does She Do It?"

The Good: Development of Max Lord, Moments of fleshing out James Olsen, Plot pacing
The Bad: Melodramatic romantic subplots, Somewhat obvious plot progression, Forced character conflicts
The Basics: "How Does She Do It?" diminishes Supergirl some by mixing a smart series of antagonist revelations with a cheap series of romantic subplots and a generic "women must want kids" theme.


One of the unfortunate aspects of the first season of Supergirl was that the show was erratic, in terms of quality. The show oscillated between the worst soap opera conceits and a generic Villain Of The Week (usually aliens) plot that has become the bane of most super hero dramas. Coming off the stunningly good and smart episode "Livewire" (reviewed here!), Supergirl struggled to maintain the sense of originality and character complexity with "How Does She Do It?"

"How Does She Do It?" quickly gets mired in the melodramas of James Olsen's relationship with Lucy Lane and Kara babysitting Cat Grant's son. There is something pretty overtly sexist about the first major female superhero in the DC Television Universe getting saddled with episodes that focus on the most banal romantic relationships and have the super heroine stuck babysitting. Cat Grant, up until now, a strong independent feminist icon type character, is reduced to another female stereotype - she is the woman who "has it all" and in the process of bothering to have a child (for no clear, particular, reason) is a terrible, neglectful parent.

Supergirl is blissfully flying around National City when she is targeted by a drone, which she brings down and returns to the DEO. Hank Henshaw denies that the DEO developed the advanced drone and they begin investigating the origins of the drone. When Cat Grant wins the Siegel Prize - the first time she has beaten Lois Lane - Kara volunteers to take care of Grant's son. When Supergirl rescues a building from a bomb, a drone spies upon her and evaluates her capabilities. Alex Danvers figures out that the drone Supergirl disabled came from Lord Industries, so she and Henshaw investigate Lord's company, posing as FBI agents.

When a routine sweep of Lord Industries finds a bomb, about to go off, Alex calls in Supergirl and while Kara is able to get the bomb outside of National City, Supergirl is wounded. Rescued by Henshaw, Kara witnesses his mysterious eyes while she is being healed in a tanning bed. At CatCo, Winn Schott bonds with Grant's son, Carter, who has a crush on Supergirl. Eager to get out of the "friend zone" with Olsen, Kara inadvertently advocates for Lucy Lane. When Max Lord goes ahead with launching his environmentally-safe, super-fast train, Supergirl is sent to prevent sabotage. But when a bomb threat is called in to the airport and Carter ends up on Max Lord's train, Kara is torn between the two targets.

At its best moments, "How Does She Do It?" is a decent episode that slowly reveals Hank Henshaw's true nature and develops the idea that someone is testing Supergirl's abilities. The episode's high points feature Max Lord slowly developing as a scientist who appears to the world as an altruist who is more than he appears. Lord, known to fans of DC Comics, as a villain, starts to get peppered into the Supergirl narrative with his source material's character defects.

The thing is, the romantic character entanglements in "How Does She Do It?" are not all bad, but the forced inclusion of Kara into them is. "How Does She Do It?" establishes the first season as a mess of romantic entanglements that are painfully soap operatic. Kara has a crush on James Olsen, Winn Schott has a crush on Kara, Lucy Lane is legitimately fighting for her relationship with James Olsen and Olsen is torn between choosing between Kara and Lucy; the web is presented in an annoyingly melodramatic and with a sense of "who will end up with who?" as opposed to having substantive relationships beyond flirtations.

The issue with "How Does She Do It?" is that the story actually has a romantic relationship that could be compellingly explored: Lucy Lane and James Olsen. Lane is troubled by how Olsen's obsession with Superman, and now Supergirl, influenced their romantic relationship. While Olsen is sore over being dumped by Lane, Lucy has come to National City to try to work on the relationship because she wants to try to salvage the good parts. The often familiar relationship issue of how work comes between two people could be given a fresh spin on Supergirl, but instead of giving James Olsen a real sense of owning the episode and a genuine conflict of his own, "How Does She Do It?" pays lip service to the Lane/Olsen relationship in favor of framing Olsen's romantic problems as a medium for Kara Danvers to feel hope and crushed by Olsen's arc.

Supergirl does a decent job of making a slow revelation of Hank Henshaw, which is nice. However, the failure in "How Does She Do It?" of Alex or Kara to reference what Eliza told the pair in the prior episode is a problem with the show's neglect of its better serialized aspects. Henshaw is insinuated as having a nefarious past and Alex is suspicious of him in "How Does She Do It?" But when Alex gets new evidence that Henshaw might not be all she thought he was, she does not at all reference her father's fate.

Cat Grant is presented as problematic in "How Does She Do It?" as well. Before now, Carter has been referenced, but Cat Grant has shown absolutely no (good) maternal qualities. In "How Does She Do It?" Grant is erratically characterized as trying to get Carter to acknowledge Supergirl's non-physical attributes . . . right after deriding Kara's.

"How Does She Do It?" suffers because of its lack of focus. Knox is an interesting antagonist, as a bomber who seems to be a part of testing Supergirl's abilities. Olsen's character arc is potentially interesting, but it gets brushed aside in Kara's eagerness to get out of the friend zone and the wishy-washy relationship she has with Winn and (now) Carter. The episode feels distracted and while it is loaded with potential, the episode fails to satisfactorily develop any of its disparate plotlines.

For other works with Scott Michael Campbell, please visit my reviews of:
Push
Brokeback Mountain
Bulworth
Flubber

6/10

For other television and movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Jonah Hex Episode Of Legends Of Tomorrow: "The Magnificent Eight"

The Good: Guest performances, Dr. Stein's subplot
The Bad: Dull plot, Light ong character development, Some poor performances
The Basics: "The Magnificent Eight" is an unfortunately lackluster and predictable episode of Legends Of Tomorrow.


Ever since the DC Television Universe expanded with Legends Of Tomorrow, viewers have been teased with the idea that the show would be introducing Jonah Hex to the DTU. While the heyday of the character has probably passed, the addition of Jonah Hex has garnered a lot of interest from fans. Despite the general failure of the film Jonah Hex (reviewed here!), Legends Of Tomorrow worked to infuse Jonah Hex into the narrative into the episode "The Magnificent Eight."

"The Magnificent Eight" redirects the crew of the Waverider after "Progeny" (reviewed here!) in, as its name suggests, a Western episode. "Progeny" climaxed with Chronos advising Rip Hunter and the crew to run from the Time Hunters. Much of "The Magnificent Eight" is a typical Western, working to put in all of the familiar tropes.

The Waverider arrives as Salvation 1871, which is a temporal blind spot that Chronos and Hunter believe will allow them to regroup and hide from the potential threat of the Hunters. Ray Palmer's enthusiasm for the Old West leads the crew to disembark and explore Salvation. While at the bar, Dr. Stein is playing cards with a man who draws on him and his life is saved by Snart. Unfortunately, the man Snart killed was a member of the Stillwater Gang and now all of Salvation is in jeopardy from the gang. While at the same bar, Kendra runs into a woman and has a flash of visions. That leads her to try to find the woman again, heading out with Sara Lance.

As the Stillwater Gang prepares for an attack on Salvation, Kendra tracks down the woman from the bar. The woman is a prior incarnation of herself and Kendra becomes interested in a bracelet from their first life that might be used as a tool in the fight against Vandal Savage. The fight with the Stillwaters goes poorly, with Jax getting captured by the gang. Hex sets up a quickdraw to get Jax back and free Salvation from the Gang's influence.

The plot of "The Magnificent Eight" is unfortunately predictable. Outside amusing moments like Palmer naming himself John Wayne and the Kendra subplot, the episode is a remarkably straightforward Western. Captain Hunter's expository story about Calvert is almost enough to overshadow the obvious nature of the reveal for who the older woman is that Kendra is drawn to.

"The Magnificent Eight" is notable for how most of the main cast seem uncharacteristically giddy. Caity Lotz, especially, trades in her recently dark performances for smiling almost the entire episode. While that is addressed in-episode, the explanation is hardly satisfactory. Lotz seems to come through much more than Lance in her performance. The subplot involving Dr. Stein curing a boy of Tuberculosis allows Victor Garber to shine and perform as the ethical compass of the group, as usual. Garber is predictably good in his usual role and, unlike Lotz, does not smirk through his entire performance.

While most of the hype for the episode was on the apprearance of Jonah Hex, it is actress Anna Deavere Smith who steals the episode. Smith is an incredible actress and the role of Kendra is a satisfying departure from her recurring role on The West Wing; she is able to emotively present what could otherwise be fairly dull exposition. She actually nails some of the speech patterns of Ciara Renee to convincingly be another incarnation of Kendra.

Thor Freundenthal directs "The Magnificent Eight" well-enough, but the set pieces and costumes are far too clean to truly sell the viewer on the time and place of Salvation, 1871. Ironically, when the Hunters show up inevitably, the special effects for the characters like Firestorm and The Atom do not pop against the equally-clean building signs in Salvation.

"The Magnificent Eight" is light on character development, with only Kendra getting a real arc . . . which, ironically, merely re-establishes where she was at the middle of "Left Behind." For a limited series like Legends Of Tomorrow, bottle episodes hurt the overall narrative and "The Magnificent Eight" is no exception. The episode seems like a cheap excuse to add Jonah Hex without truly caring about the story of the overall season.

For other works with Johnathon Schaech, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Vice
Quarantine

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Legends Of Tomorrow - The Complete First Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the premiere season of the time traveling hero team here!
Thanks!]

3.5/10

For other television season and episode reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Best Yet. “Out Of Time” Makes The Flash Great Television!

The Good: Excellent character moments, Performances, Effects, Plot progression
The Bad: One important detail . . .
The Basics: Everything happens for The Flash in “Out Of Time!”


After yet another hiatus, The Flash returned with “Out Of Time.” And it was worth the wait. The Flash has been one of the pleasant surprises for the current television season and its odd “on again, off again” schedule on The CW (especially while they are teasing the next DC Universe spinoff in the news almost daily) has been frustrating. “Out Of Time” more than makes up for the frustration by taking an unlikely concept and pulling it off amazingly. “Out Of Time” acts as, interestingly enough, a direct sequel to the pilot episode “City Of Heroes” (reviewed here!) and encompasses all of the information learned since. Without seeing “The Man In The Yellow Suit” (reviewed here!) and “City Of Heroes,” the climactic events of “Out Of Time” are nowhere near as significant; this is definitely an episode for the fans!

Following the events of “Fallout” (reviewed here), the suspicions surrounding Harrison Wells are growing. With the revelation that Wells is the Reverse Flash, a whole boatload of questions have been raised and “Out Of Time” does an awesome job of bringing together those plot elements while addressing some of the most significant character issues in the first season. The Flash suddenly becomes less of a CW science fiction soap opera and instead develops into a well-rounded character-motivates superhero story.

Opening with a flashback to the night of the reactor disaster, Clyde and Mark Mardon escape in their small plane from Joe West and Chyre moments before the reactor goes critical. Both Mardons, as it turns out, survived. A year later, on a night when Iris and Eddie are out bowling, Barry Allen and Linda Park end up at the same bowling lane while Mark Mardon resurfaces. Mark goes after the City Coroner, looking for information on who killed his brother Clyde. Called to the murder scene, the police (include Eddie, Joe and Barry), hear the dead coroner give up Joe West, which puts the Central City Police Force on the defensive. With Joe targeted by the Weather Wizard, Barry and Eddie close ranks to protect him.

While Joe tries to evade the Weather Wizard, Cisco encounters Iris’s coworker, Mason Bridge. Bridge has suspicions about Harrison Wells, based on the disappearance of Simon Staggs six months prior. Cisco begins to ask questions and when he discovers that the trap the Reverse Flash was placed in might have been deactivated by Wells, he enlists Caitlin Snow to distract their boss while he looks into it. Cisco’s search for the truth puts him in mortal danger while Barry and Iris find themselves trapped as pawns in Mark Mardon’s revenge scheme!

Peppered throughout “Out Of Time” is an incident that furthers the time-travel plot concept that finally became explicit in “Fallout.” While running to his first crime scene, Barry sees another version of himself running beside himself and that sets up a mystery that leads to a somewhat problematic ending. The troubles with the episode’s final shots come after a series of powerful acts where the biggest real problems are an obvious stunt car (Joe and Barry are driving along in a car that has way to much play for an ordinary vehicle, setting up an event with it) and an integral decision that makes no real sense for the otherwise careful Harrison Wells to make.

On the character front, “Out Of Time” does not at all disappoint. The brilliance of “Out Of Time” is that minor characters who have been neglected, like Captain Singh, have decent character moments, without at all diminishing from the main characters. Mark Mardon is anything but a monolithic villain and Linda Park is not treated as a stupid love interest. But all the main characters have something significant and important to do in “Out Of Time.” While Caitlin Snow might be used only as a decoy in the final stratagem, her inability to credibly lie plays perfectly into the plot events that follow.

After weeks of completely neglecting Eddie Thawne, Eddie pops back to the forefront for two key scenes. After bowling with Iris, Eddie delivers an incredibly evolved and emotionally-realized scene where he tells Iris that she was not honest with him about her lingering feelings for Barry. A scene that could have been written or acted as troubling and misogynistic is delivered and executed as a surprisingly highbrow metaconscious discussion of relationship and emotions and it works perfectly. Following that, he is restored to truly being Joe West’s partner in the hunt for Mardon and that works brilliantly.

After weeks of speculation, Harrison Wells is truly revealed in “Out Of Time.” His part in the episode is to give little more than plot exposition for several episodes worth of questions, but actor Tom Cavanagh does it well-enough to be perfectly compelling television. It also allows for Carlos Valdes to bring on the performance of the season for him as Cisco.

Candice Patton and Grant Gustin deliver undeniable on-screen chemistry in “Out Of Time” that completely reinvigorates the Barry/Iris relationship. While elements of “Out Of Time” might be just a little predictable (that Joe West is walking into a trap is telegraphed by the weather in ways that are troubling Joe does not notice!), the big leap forward in the Iris/Barry relationship comes at a welcome time and is perfectly executed!

Unfortunately, “Out Of Time” sets itself up to be undone in the very next episode. There are huge events and while I was initially excited by the idea that Singh’s paralysis might lead Dr. Snow to finally put together that Wells is not paralyzed, “Out Of Time” went in a delightfully different direction. But the seeds are there; Barry Allen knows how dangerous Mark Mardon is, he knows that Mason Bridge has an encrypted file about Harrison Wells and all signs point to the idea that the three biggest moments of “Out Of Time” will be undone by time travel in the subsequent episode make the engaged viewer instantly frustrated. But that is a problem for the next episode; “Out Of Time” sets it all up immaculately!

For other works with Fred Henderson, check out my reviews of:
The Interview
“Duane Barry” - The X-Files
“Beyond The Sea” - The X-Files

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into The Flash - The Complete First Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season here!
Thanks!]

9.5/10

For other television and movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Entertaining, Smart And Well-Developed Hotel For Dogs Opened My 2009 New Movie Reviews High!

The Good: Funny, Cute, Decent characters, Interesting concept, Great animal wrangling
The Bad: Predictable, Dangling character elements
The Basics: Funny, fun and with good messages Hotel For Dogs might be a little predictable, but it is worthwhile and makes for a good time for viewers of all ages!


The thing about having high standards is often then is a small contingent of people who look at your standards, then wait around for a moment they find a chink in your armor, a slip from your moral high ground. We delight in that with politicians, we cringe when directors of our favorite series' mess up, and when it comes to reviewers, there are those who wait around to be able to make big picture comparisons (like "Come on! Hoodwinked! is NOT better than Return Of The Jedi!). I detailed my standards for reviewing some time ago (that article is here!) and since then, I'll occasionally get a note from someone with a comment like that. Because I rate from the perspective (in movies) of the whole medium, for enduring value, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is in direct competition with Casablanca; I don't curve for comedies or excuse lack of character development for . . . well, anything.

So, when I rate a film like Hotel For Dogs with a 7, it is worth noting right off the bat that I have not lowered my standards or curved the rating for "children's movies." No, on the scale of all films I have ever watched and reviewed, Hotel For Dogs is an above average film in the 7/10 (or slightly more) range. And for those who know me and my reviews, this is just icing on the cake as I am well known for not liking kids (there were many at the screening I attended) and for loathing children's movies.

Hotel For Dogs is just that good.

Andi and Bruce are sister and brother, living in foster care following the deaths of their parents. They live with the somewhat dimwitted Scudders, keeping care of their dog, who is not allowed to be with them, in secret. Chased by Animal Control in Central City and plagued by the police who catch them scamming to earn money to feed their dog, Andi and Bruce find themselves in an abandoned hotel, in the company of two dogs, who their dog immediately bonds with.

Trying to feed the three dogs, Andi and Bruce find themselves in the company of pet shop workers Dave and Heather, who learn about their little dog hotel and contribute with their time, talent and resources from the pet shop. Soon, they are boarding a slew of dogs - part of their operation to rescue all of the strays in the city before Animal Control captures and kills them - and becoming the best of friends. They are joined by Mark and while Andi and Dave grow closer, Bruce illustrates a mechanical genius that makes the abandoned hotel into a dog activity house unlike anything the city has ever seen!

Because they come easiest to mind for me, the negatives. First, this is not the most original movie of all time. It is a feel-good movie that sets up some terribly obvious plot and character points and more or less sees them through. In fact, the only two things that surprised me about Hotel For Dogs was that Heather did not turn out to be related to Bernie (come on, it's a generally predictable movie with more than two black characters in them and it would have been age appropriate, what were the odds?!) and at no point in the movie did the song "Who Let The Dogs Out" get played (thank you, director Thor Freudenthal!). Outside that, the people who get together get together and the resolution between Andi and Bruce and their foster situation is so obvious, I would be surprised if children did not call it.

Second, there is a dangling character element with Heather. Heather has an obvious crush on Dave, who she works with (wonderful acting on the part of Kyla Pratt, by the way, as this is never explicitly articulated in the movie). I can live with there not being too much made of this, but as Dave and Andi become closer and Dave slips further and further from her, Heather never deals with it and as a result, the character arc of Mark and Heather seems like a default relationship.

Third, and maybe this is just something I am ignorant of, I found it problematic that Andi lied about being in foster care when she first met Dave. I mean, this seems to either create or reinforce a stigma I was not aware existed and it makes little sense for the characters in this particular movie. I mean, IF foster care is something kids look down on in their peers, it's pretty hard to not see the kids who feel that way as the [adult expletive deleted]'s in this situation as Andi and Bruce's parents died in an accident. It takes a pretty heartless kid to stand there and mockingly say "Ha ha, you don't have real parents!" "Yeah, well, they died horribly in an accident" and their response not be to feel like either a moron or a horrible person. So that Andi felt the need to lie about not having parents when she met Dave, baffled me. Of course, because it is That Type Of Movie, it all gets resolved by the end.

Finally, the speed of the story necessitates several (at least three come right to mind) montage musical segments where progress is made at an accelerated rate and it's just a lot of footage of dogs running, pooping, eating, etc. This is where Freudenthal should insist to the people at Paramount/Dreamworks that he is accountable to that whomever cut the trailers for Hotel For Dogs never work for him again (though being shot would be preferable, I am THAT sick of over-revealing preview trailers!); the inclusion of footage from those montages in the preview trailer gutted some decent moments of the movie for those of us who saw the preview the night before. We don't need to see the whole movie in the trailer and if part of the movie itself is cut like a movie trailer, then don't stick that part in the trailer!

That said, Hotel For Dogs is pretty wonderful. The characters are interesting, at least Bernie (Andi and Bruce's social worker), Andi and Bruce. It is not explained why Bernie and his wife do not have children and honestly the viewer does not need that explanation. Bernie is, from the very beginning, a decent guy who clearly cares about the children he tries to place.

Similarly, Bruce is a wonderful character who fits this story perfectly. Socially isolated, it is wonderful that the writers (Hotel For Dogs is based upon a book by Lois Duncan, which I have not read, so I am unsure if that is from the book or just from the screenplay) chose not to cheapen his character with any firm human relationships outside the one he has with Andi. He is a mechanical genius and it is refreshing to see young loner characters who are not evil or terribly maladjusted. Instead, he applies himself and makes the concept of Hotel For Dogs an actualized reality. Bruce is quiet, but has a clear love for his sister and animals and he applies that knowledge, desire and innate talent to making the hotel a success.

As well, Andi is a nice mix of protective child-adult (she looks out for Bruce in a very adult way) and girl who just wants to be a girl. Andi is clever, funny and has a big heart. She is played by Emma Roberts, who is being pretty clearly groomed to be the next Anne Hathaway. Roberts has both the plain Hollywood-approved young beauty and quiet strength of Hathaway, but the real common element between them is their ability to play the quiet moments and convey a lot through their body language. Roberts speaks volumes with the flash of her eyes to costar Jake T. Austin (Bruce) and nervous movements of her hands when she steps into situations that would be socially awkward (like entering the party scene). Her smile is appropriately illuminative, but she is able to carry the serious, dramatic moments with appropriate gravitas - i.e. not stepping over into melodrama - when called upon (and being That Type Of Movie, they are there). One only hopes that Roberts treats here career as serious in the way that Hathaway does and smart money would be on her continuing to have a strong, smart career . . . like Hathaway.

Jake T. Austin plays a character who is pretty naturally overshadowed, but he takes the role and does what he can with it very well. When he is not forced to play the part hunched over working on some device or another (it is Bruce who automates the dog hotel with homemade mechanical devices) Austin emotes well in scenes opposite Roberts.

When the opening credits were rolling and I saw Don Cheadle's name come up, I groaned a little because I figured this had to be a sellout role for him, but Cheadle proved me wrong. He knew what he was doing; Bernie's character arc might be predictable and obvious, but Cheadle brings his best to it and makes it work perfectly. Similarly, Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon add to the movie with their performances, as opposed to doing the work for the paycheck (adult actors in kids movies seldom can portray what they need to when they're just taking a job). In fact, the acting is astonishingly good in Hotel For Dogs.

The dogs are all appropriately cute and the animal wrangling on the movie is extraordinary, earning it legitimate praise from me and any other reviewers who see the film. While there are one or two matted or CG-enhanced shots, largely the film is done with actual dogs all together and it makes a difference in the final product.

For adults who might be dreading being dragged to this movie, there is nothing to fear; Hotel For Dogs has a lot for us. Despite the predictability and the sheer number of "awww, cute dog!" shots, there are jokes and concepts that only adults will appreciate (my favorite has to be when Bernie puts up his badge and proudly declares "Social services!" and everyone ignores him). The movie is fun, but it is also surprisingly smart in places and it has a good message (everyone shows up to help and there is a good feel-good "let's all be friends" thing working throughout) that adults could stand to have reinforced as much as kids ought to have it imprinted.

So, yes, if you have a kid, a niece or nephew, or a friend with kids who you'd like to use as a prop so you're not the creepy adult sitting in the theater watching kids movies, grab your young person and take them to Hotel For Dogs. It's worth it.

For other works with Lisa Kudrow, check out my reviews of:
Easy A
The Other Woman
Friends

7/10

For other movie reviews, be sure to check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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