ReBoot: The Guardian Code - Needs Several Upgrades, Some Recoding, and Patchwork

ReBoot: The Guardian Code is a Canadian animation/live-action adventure produced by Netflix and Mainframe Entertainment Studios involving four teenagers enrolled in a technocratic high school, complete with unnecessary teenage drama. The four intrepid heroes consist of Austin aka Vector (Ty Wood), Tamra aka Engima (Sydney Scotia), Parker aka Googz (Ajay Friese) and Trey aka D-frag (Gabriel Darku).

The original ReBoot aired in 1994, and was a bit of a landmark milestone in animation. This was a CGI cartoon that was released one year before Toy Story hit the big screen which set the standard for the medium and propelled it forward. Several characters from the original make an appearance in some form or other (at least in the last half). Despite the acknowledgement of its origins and nostalgia, I felt like, the new series was fairly cringe worthy.

There’s an evil and mysterious hacker called "The Sourcerer", an awkard villain that tends to talk to himself. He seems to be attacking random parts of the internet in order to bring about chaos and pandemonium for no real rhyme or reason. (Audiences are left questioning his motives. What brought him down this dark path? Why does he want to cause disorder and cyber-terrorism?) The only time we ever see the fruits of the Sourcerer's labor is when the supercomputer (NOVA X3J) is stolen from the POGO Computer Systems Tech Lab. More processing power makes him formidable as a foil to the Guardians, and that's the only time his actions are ever explained in a cohesive manner.

Using his technological prowess, he revives Megabyte, a super-virus that the Guardians of the past sealed away. He then upgrades him with a new (albeit still distinguishable) look, and some formidable abilities with a built-in deletion code should he ever betray his new "master".

Audience members can easily determine that this nameless individual must be a malicious hacker because he wears a dark hoodie, with the cowl up, for the vast majority of the show’s 10-episode run. The trope that "Evil Makes You Ugly" exists here alongside a very dirty and poorly illuminated lair and thanks to a few lingering shots on his hands, we can see that he has absolutely filthy fingernails. He quite literally reeks of evil. To me, this is just poor hygiene and in poor taste. He scarfs Chinese food like a caveman and has absolutely no tact or manners. It's the kind of thing I do not want to see on the big screen.

The latest addition to the series has numerous faults, which include cheesy, outdated dialogue, problems with the acting quality during HUD (Heads Up Display) moments, and significant plotholes. (Granted, the first season is only 10 episodes, but with that in mind, more time needs to be spent addressing and fine tuning these issues.) Two episodes alone are spent trying to recover a spherical portion of data from Megabyte's throne room and the second attempt is rendered completely futile. (Why Austin doesn't pocket the orb and ensure its safety I will never know. It completely boggles my mind that he would be that irresponsible TWICE. Teenagers can act irrationally at times, but they CAN learn from mistakes.) It ends up only piquing Megabyte's curiousity even further than was necessary.

The show manages to have a nice clear shot of the "Gender Neutral" bathroom when Parker aka Googz (Ajay Friese) get a text alert from V.E.R.A the Virtual Evolutionary Recombinant Avatar, (Hannah Vandenbygaart), an Artificial Intelligence program that ends up with a humanoid body at the end of the first episode. I think this was to make the school appear more "advanced" or "progressive". It felt sort of out of place.

Personally, I feel as though the power outage in first two episodes was not made more dire and should have been. They needed to emphasize that even with backup generators, people could die without life saving medical treatments in hospitals, there would be traffic accidents caused by the blackouts, et cetera in order to really drive the sense of urgency and significance home.

Another particular concern of mine is that ReBoot: The Guardian Code just can't seem to get the tone right. One minute it's campy and cautiously optimistic, and the next it gets dark, intense, and drastic without proper gradual progression (this was clearly evident when Austin decides to visit his father's grave).

The potential risk of fatality was also something that should've been at the forefront when V.E.R.A was explaining to the rest of the Guardian what their mission objectives were. Why do they not have heart monitors in the software? Even if they're atomized into the code, (and can later bleed from wounds) there should be some monitoring visualization of increased heart rate or lack thereof.

Another complaint is that some of the terminology used is either horribly wrong, or a total mouthful when it should just roll of the tongue. D-frag has a weapon called Bashtagger? Why not just call it a Cyber Mace? They use the word "cyber" so much it's as if the term is going out of style...cyberspace itsleef is used so often that it feels as though you can make a drinking game based on every mention per episode. They also shouldn't be announcing every action or weapon they utilize. That's poor tactics.

The "Sourcerer" (terrible pun name by the way) constantly says "Impossible. IMPOSSIBLE!" during many of his botched attempts at taking over real world networks and he sounds like Asher Mir, the Fragmented Researcher from Destiny 2. (It's about as annoying as the loot drops in that virtual world.)

One thing that was sort of bothering me as well is that the series is so close to many of its predecessors that there's a lack of uniqueness (It's as if they copied Code Lyoko and VR Troopers). There should be a trope of "Genius courts Cybergirl" because Parker is just like Jeremie Belpois trying to date Aelita Schaeffer (Code Lyoko). The situation only differs slightly in that V.E.R.A was born as an Artificial Intelligence made human whereas Aelita was a human girl trapped in a supercomputer. It's only one of several similarities between the shows, many of which I feel have been ripped off completely. Googz's Proto Blaster in the third episode titled "Fortress Command" is basically just War Machine's Gatling Gun. (Honestly though, I thought that was a cooler weapon than what he ended up with later on.)

Also, another deeply odd and out of place moment is when Austin's mom mentions that she has bacon chocolate chip cookies in the oven...WHY?!? Why would the writers subject us to such horrible culinary terror?!?

Some of the plot holes of the series are also never addressed. How do the guardians have access to the school during closed hours? That's something that always bugged the heck out of me.

There's also a lot of really, REALLY bad dialogue. For example, the Sourcerer says "We're just beginning, getting started." (Yes, that's what came up in the closed captions too.) It should've been "We're just beginning to get started." It's a classic line and if it's not broken, don't fix it.

The problems in the real world are never fully organized in a coherent fashion. In on episode, Trey aka D-frag (Gabriel Darku) is in hot water with his father due to having sub-par grades. If he can't maintain a B average, he'll be kicked off of the basketball team. However, at the end of the episode, he passes the test with no signs of increased effort on his part to study other than a small reminder about semicolons from Parker. That's not how studying and preparation works...you're supposed to show the added effort to memorize and practice.

There are some nostalgic moments from the original series.

SPOILER WARNING!!!

Bob, Dot, and Enzo make a brief cameo towards the end of the series along with their "user", some random fanboy of the Guardians living in the basement of his parent's home (wow, way to stereotype there, Mainframe Studios!).Yet we never see any sign of adult Enzo or AndrAIa, the two characters I was most looking forward to.

Hexidecimal returns at the end too in order to help stir up more trouble, but nothing gets really resolved. The Sourcerer is still at large, along with Megabyte, and no one is safe.

Overall, this gets a 6.5/10.0 D

The animation is pretty good (except for the "rubberized/plastic" looking Bob, Dot, and Enzo), but everything else leaves much to be desired. Reboot: The Guardian Code simply refuses to give a proper homage to the cult classic and if anything, acts as an insult to longtime fans of the original.

My Review of Marvel's Iron Fist on Netflix: Impurities of the Iron

Marvel's Iron Fist, or simply Iron Fist, is an American web television series created for Netflix by Scott Buck, based on the character featured in Marvel Comics. This superhero is the most mystical entry into the list of the Defenders, which consist of Daredevil, Jessica Jones (a.k.a Jewel), and Luke Cage which debuted not long ago.

Finn Jones stars as Danny Rand (a.k.a Iron Fist), a martial arts kung-fu expert with the ability to call upon the legendary power of the "Immortal" Iron Fist. Rand is the son of a rich Caucasian businessman, who is found by a monastery after his private jet crashes into the mountainous region of the Himalayas. He later returns home to only to discover that 15 years after his disappearance, he must now fight an evil syndicate within his own company, a common theme which takes several notes from Batman, Green Arrow, and even Doctor Strange.

Rosario Dawson reprises her role as nurse Claire Temple, (originally from Daredevil) and acts as a voice of reason (once again), this time for Colleen Wing (portrayed by Jessica Henwick) and for Danny Rand as they come to terms with the notion of potentially killing members of the criminal organization, the Hand.

Now as a side note, it is perhaps worth mentioning that Steve Buck has been accused of "whitewashing" the character "Iron Fist" in choosing Finn Jones to portray Danny Rand over, say, another equally capable Asian or Asian-American actor, but these arguments seem rather petty overall, especially when one thinks about the alternative of stereotyping a racial background for the protagonist depicted. This is especially true when one considers that the source material, written in the ’70s, is rampant with Orientalist stereotypes and racist remarks. I also feel that Marvel probably would've gone with a non-Asian actor to depict Danny Rand anyway as they did so in the Ultimate Spider-man Animated Series, but that's not really an issue in my mindframe. They have a reasonably experienced and moderately known actor. That's all one really needs.

Finn Jones performance isn't terrible (although the fight scenes seemed to leave much to be desired despite being incredibly gruesome at times... The actions choreographed seem sluggish and stiff, not nearly as fluid as one might expect), However, a more conducive script is probably what could've really been improved upon. The narrative is severely lacking of any innovation or emotional impact.

This unfortunate problem is further enhanced due to the fact that all three villains (Madame Gao, Bokuto, and Harold Meachum) were constantly tackled head-on with little to no tact, and only the last of whom had any real closure or afterthought. (This is partly why I enjoy Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple because she seemed to be the more level-headed and pragmatic of the three protagonists, trying to persuade Danny Rand NOT to rush into dangerous situations with half-baked plans).

Arguably, there is a consistent issue of contradictions in character developments. For example, Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup) is Danny’s childhood friend, and her position at Rand Enterprises makes her one of the series’ more intriguing characters as a woman of respectable standing (especially as she's rediscovering her moral conscious). Yet, her executive decisions never make any logical sense for her character. One minute she’s cautiously optimistic at the prospect of the return of Danny Rand, then the next, she's tainting his tea in order to promptly stuff him into a mental institution. In addition, she's constantly at odds with trusting her brother and father (both of which make a rather toxic family to be honest), and then the audience ultimately witnesses her consulting the Hand to have Danny Rand killed. At this point, I'm rather confused as to whether Joy is supposed to be a savage ice queen who embodies hatred, or an emotionally broken individual.

Danny Rand's character development contradicts what his training encompassed in that he vehemently reminds those closest to him of his years of training which aided the forging of his mental and emotional fortitude yet, despite this, he is STILL prone to fits of rage and violence. The internal struggle is briefly mentioned with Danny's friend Davos in the car towards the end of the season, but it doesn't feel nearly as compelling even with Davos trying to find his own "center" during every interaction he has, especially with those people reminding him that he was not the chosen one to fulfill the role of the Iron Fist. Granted, one has to believe that "training never truly ends" but, it would've been better had someone actually stated something like that in dialogue. There are plenty of words of wisdom that this series could've benefitted from, manly quotes from Confucius, the Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher. These could fit with the Mandarin Chinese spoken throughout the series. Shoot, we could even have the Thunderer return as a mental mentor or another equally important character remind Danny of focus.

1. "The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence."
2. "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
3. "Wherever you go, go with all your heart."
4. “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” 
5. “Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.” - (When Danny is angry at Colleen for the betrayal)
6. “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” 

I felt a complete lack of tension or surprise when *SPOILER WARNING* Harold Meachum turned out to be villainous and it was utterly predictable that the timid, (but ultimately forgettable) assistant Kyle, wouldn't make it to the second season. To me, it seemed similar in many ways to DC's The Arrow.

6.5/10.0
Not really changing up the formula and as a result, suffers from predictable tropes leaving the audience feeling empty.