Showing posts with label Karl Urban. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Karl Urban. Show all posts

Monday, June 22, 2026

What is my beef with "Homelander" & "The Boys"?

(Scene begins with a smartwatch screen and a finger as it taps the screen, and the 1994 American Gladiators plays as the scene cuts to a hand as it taps an app on his phone, as it opens a portal.) 

(It cuts to James and the characters he’s played until it cuts to his face and the credit of “James Faraci” is shown as it cuts to “The Last Of The Americans'” current iteration then slides away to different images of , Paulo Fonseca, Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca Yaun, Nick Yaun and the characters they’ve played until it cut to their faces. The credits of “Paulo and Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca and Nick Yaun” are shown then slides away to different images of Doug Yaun, Nick Lopez and Jessica Lopez-Barkl and Crosslyn Castillo and the characters they’ve played, until it cuts to their faces.) 

(After that, the credits “Doug Yaun, Nick Lopez, Jessica Lopez-Barkl and Crosslyn Castillo” are shown, as it then slides away to different images of Andrew Beach Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller and Olivia Horvath. Following this, the credits of “Andrew Beach, Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller, Olivia Horvath” are shown as the 0:00-0:21 mark of the theme song plays.)   

(Everything becomes a swirl of reds, whites, and blues, as the credits “Produced by First Choice Productions in association with Manic-Expression.com"; “Executive Producers: James Faraci, Paulo Fonseca, Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca Yaun, Nick Yaun, Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller, Andrew Beach & Olivia Horvath”; “Editing by Eric Kurtzke and James Faraci”; “Written and “Directed by James Faraci” are shown, as the 0:21-0:26 mark of the theme song plays.)  

(We then see an image of James as he jumps through the portal and lands with half of his team on his right. The other half on his left is on a black background. Finally, the title “THE LAST OF THE AMERICANS” is shown Lazer etched into Titanium as the last six seconds of the American Gladiators 1994 theme song plays.)  

(The scene changes to James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, in his office.)  

TLOTA: 
I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans, and the views that I'm about to express are that of my own and some of yours. A lot of people have been asking me what I have against the Amazon Prime series "The Boys" and one of its big characters, "Homelander." (Cut to clips from "The Boys" across all seasons as James delivers a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.):
Now I understand the tone of the show, it's a tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of what would happen if Superman, The Flash and all the other superpowered people who supposedly do good, or what would happen if our world had superpowered beings and what they do, and if they cause collateral damage, do they care enough about who they hurt and what they do or do they think themselves as gods and whatever they do is what they believe is for the greater good (Cut to the clip from "Monstertober: Triple Crest" as the TWA say“The Greater good! ”
Cut to clips of "The Boys" from all the seasons as James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.):
Well, if the "Greater good" includes taking over Governments, slaughtering citizens like cattle, treating women like garbage, and forcing those with powers to join them even if they don't want to, only to make them feel inferior because their abilities aren't like theirs, they find those who have no powers who risk everything about them to stop these super powered beings are nothing but the annoyance of insects to them having these powers is something no one should aspire to and the supposed "Real Heroes" being nothing but anarchists where their goal is to destroy the system that made the "Heroes" unstoppable aren't better. (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
And before I get ANY comments, please know that I am talking about the series and its characters. Just because I cannot stand Homelander does not mean it is an attack on Anthony Starr. That being said...(Cut to clips of Homelander as James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.):
IF Homelander were real and I could kill him, after his powers were gone, I would NOT pull the trigger, I would make sure that he was properly detained and then put away from humanity, except for those who are like Homelander. I would show him that just because he has powers, he is not exempt from any law. (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
That being said, was I happy that Billy, played by Karl Urban, murdered "Homelander" in the finale of "The Boys," yeah, I should've put a spoiler alert here, I admit I saw the finale, and to be honest, it was not that good, but the answer is NO! (Cut to the finale of "The Boys" as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.):
Look, I get that the finale had to end the way it did because it was partly due to the comics, yeah, this show was based on a comic book, and it does end similarly to the book. I think the fact that, after losing his powers, he was embarrassed on a global scale would be bad enough. The fact that Billy just uses a crowbar and then is happy to do worse than Homelander is more than the producers think is "justified" by having Hughie, played by Jack Quaid, put Billy down like a dog. No, there is no justification for what Billy and Hughie did, or for what else happened in the finale. And the fact that Hughie does get a measure of peace after this means that "Hey, vigilantism against vigilantism can work, just be sure that you think you can walk away anonymously. " (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
Again, NO! Vigilantism is neither victimless nor a good idea. (Cut to clips of the different cinematic "Batman" as James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.):
The reason Batman has lasted shows that he might be a vigilante, even if he isn’t above the laws of man and has a morality, even if the last few cinematic outings have tried to politicize the morality of Batman and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne. (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
"Now wait a minute," you may be saying right now, "Homelander is right because he was a blend of what Superman and Captain America SHOULD be by our standards, because we need someone that zealous." is probably how you would end the argument as to why I should like "Homelander." My response? (Cut to clips of "Superman" in the DCEU and in past iterations, and of "Captain America" over the past few years, as James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.):
As much as the Henry Cavill Superman fell to certain thoughts I could see in him trying to be the noble character that Superman is, it was more studio interference and Zack Snyder, who was trying to modernize the idea that Superman, powers and all, into what people think is cool. Thankfully, when "Superman & Lois" and its performer Tyler Hoechlin allowed us to see Superman for the City Set Upon The Hill, as I mentioned when I talked about "Man Of Steel" a few years back. Superman tells us that we can be better not by using our powers for our own gain, but by using them to help those in need.  As for Captain America, the one exception being... (Show a clip of John Walker taking the shield and killing a flag-smasher.) You know who. Captain America is an ideal: just because you have powers doesn't mean you are above who you were before. It's a reinvention of who you were, and while it matters what that person does with those abilities, if you were someone like Homelander, then he would use those abilities for evil, and since Homelander already had Superman's powers, just knowing he was doing what he was doing in "The Boys" is not a surprise.  (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
So does that mean I don't recommend "The Boys" and that it should be TV Trash fodder? No! (Cut to footage of "The Boys" as James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.):
It is a series that I wouldn't even inflict on my worst enemies, including those assholes from Chicago. It doesn't deserve any more of our time talking about it. We should be looking at this show as what it is. A bad relic of the 2010s, when people thought that any hero had to be good, they had to be as dark and brooding as Batman or be in the MCU. If they wanted something to stand out, it was either a dark reinterpretation or go the Tongue-In-Cheek route and make the heroes so perfect that people have to think that there is something off with them, that there has to be something more to them that makes you think they're darker than the "Villains" they fight, or have some corrupt company bankroll their enterprise. Whatever it is, I am sure about one thing when it comes to this type of "Entertainment," if it feels like it's basically insulting your thoughts on Heroes, or how you believe that heroes and your world view are dumb or bad, because it doesn't meet someone else's thoughts on the world and what their perspective is, then just tell them: NO! This may be how you see it, but everyone else thinks you're nuts. (Cut to "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" as James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.):
If you are interested in the deconstructionist take on the hero/villain/citizen dynamics, then you should watch "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." It does what "The Boys" can't do. Take the deconstructionist route and use intelligence to show what the concept is, then turn it on its head. (Cut to "Superman vs The Elite" as James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.):
Or, if you want it more comic-book-based, I strongly recommend "Superman vs The Elite," which shows what would happen if Superman had to take on people like Homelander and his team. A team that would mock Superman and his beliefs. But at the end of the day, Superman would beat Homelander not by power but by showing Homelander and his team what it would be like if their type of vigilantism were turned on them. (Cut to the comic book in which "Homelander" and "Superman" fight as James delivers a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.):
Okay, so yeah, there is that, but I think I will leave it to Linkara to deal with it. (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans, and that's my opinion. (Cut to a couple of hours later as James pulls in with an R.V.)

TLOTA:
So what do you think? (Cut to the team)

Jessica Lopez-Barkl:
We're going to be traveling in this?

Nick Lopez:
I am getting National Lampoon's Vacation vibes from all of this. (Cut to James)

TLOTA:
Look, we've earned this road trip, and the best part is we can do reviews here when we decide to go mobile. It will save us on hotel fees, and on top of that, it has the same tech as the Time Space Device, cool, huh? (Cut to the team)

Crosslyn Castillo:
If we're going to fit in there the same way as the Time Space Device, I hope there's a pool so I can do some Mermaiding.

Renee Miller:
We're all wasting time; let's pile in and hit the road.

Andrew Beach:
She's right, where are we going? (Cut to James)

TLOTA:
Philadelphia on July 4th, the best BBQ competition in August, back here by September, and we get to have little adventures on the road in between the reviews. So load up and let's ride. (Everyone piles in, and James closes the door as the R.V. starts up and the scene fades to black.)

Saturday, March 23, 2024

In Defense of... Dredd (2012)

(Scene begins as a hand as it taps the 1994 American Gladiators plays as the scene cuts to a hand as it taps an app on his phone as it opens a portal, and it cuts to different images of James as the characters he’s played until it cut to his face and the credit of “James Faraci” is shown as it cuts to “The Last Of The Americans'” current iteration then slides away to different images of Paulo Fonseca, Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca Yaun and Nick Yaun as the characters they’ve played until it cut to their faces and the credits of “Paulo and Brenda Fonseca & Rebecca and Nick Yaun” is shown as it then slides away to different images of John Ross and Mike Santos, Andrew Beach, and Ed Champion as the characters they’ve played until it cut to their faces and the credits of “John Ross Santos, Mike Santos, Andrew Beach, Ed Champion” is shown as it then slides away to different images of Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller and Olivia Horvath and the credits of “Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller, Olivia Horvath” is shown as the 0:00-0:21 mark of the theme song plays. Everything becomes a swirl of Reds, Whites and Blues as the credits “Produced by First Choice Productions. Edited by Eric Kurtzke and Paulo Fonseca. Written and Directed by James Faraci” as the 0:21-0:26 mark of the theme song plays. We then see an outlined image of James as he morphs into “The Last Of The Americans” and lands with half of his team on his right. The other half on his left on a white background and the title “THE LAST OF THE AMERICANS” is shown Lazer etched into Titanium as the last six seconds of the American Gladiators 1994 theme song plays. Cut to James in his office)

TLOTA: I'm James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, and The Views that I'm about to express are that of my own and some of yours, and welcome once again to "In Defense Of...(Show pics of maligned pieces of pop culture while the fanfare from the Olympics plays and James comes up after Vanilla Ice slides back and his right-hand thumbs up and the words "In Defense Of..." before cutting to clips of "Judge Dredd" 1995 as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.): In 1995, the Sylvester Stallone movie "Judge Dredd" came out in the same summer as other great Superhero movies like "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie," "Batman Forever," and blockbusters like "Apollo 13." While it did mildly well at the box office, it did about as well as something around that time. By today's standards, it is so filled with ham that a Rabbi wouldn't call it Pareve. But it is also considered a cult classic, along with other movies of Stallone's that came out then. (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA: But today, we will discuss the 2012 movie that tried to reboot the Judge Dredd movies simply titled "Dredd." What's that you say? You never heard of the 2012 "Dredd" movie? Well, let's see what came out around that same time. (Cut to the posters of "Marvel's The Avengers" & "The Dark Knight Rises." Cut to James physically)

TLOTA: Well, talk about deja vu luck!

(Cut to clips of "The Avengers," "The Dark Knight Rises," and "Dredd" as James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.): Yeah, in the same year that Marvel had one of its greatest movies released and the same year we put a bullet in the Christopher Nolan Batman "Dark Knight" trilogy, "Dredd" quietly came and left, not even making its budget back, however as the years have gone on, this movie went on to gain a cult status of its own. Much like the 1995 Sylvester Stallone version of "Judge Dredd." (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA: So why did it fail? (Cut to clips of "Dredd" as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.): Was it the plot or the cast? Well, the plot involves Judge Dredd played by Karl Urbam having to work with and give a final evaluation to a rookie judge, played by Olivia Thirlby, and have to deal with the drug lord known as Madeline "Ma-Ma," Madrigal played by Lena Headey, as she pumps her drug known as "Slo-Mo" into the citizens of the Mega-City One and its slums known as Peach Trees with the Judges being stuck in a bigger plot and in lockdown. So, of course, it sounds like a great plot for a movie about Judge Dredd. Especially since the character is from a comic book. The cast did a great job. Lena played "Ma-Ma" just like the great white shark going after everything in sight to get things her way, and Karl Urban killed it as Judge Dredd. Olivia Thirlby was great as the rookie Judge Anderson. Was it the marketing? The movie's marketing was average for a movie of this caliber, but Karl Urban considers this one of the biggest marketing failures of all time. The critical response was positive. But why did the movie not do as well as it should've? (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA: It's happening right now and, with more intensity, Superhero burnout. It has happened before, and we're seeing it in the most intense right now. (Cut to the current Superhero movies as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.): We're watching fans of the MCU start to feel it, as the mainstream audience seems to be not into what they're selling. I felt that way when I watched "Captain America: Civil War." The best thing I did before getting into "Avengers: Infinity War" and then "Avengers: Endgame" was to give myself a break from Marvel. And in that break, I watched "Dredd" for the first time and enjoyed it. I also watched the 2017 "Power Rangers" movie, the "Wonder Woman" movie, the 2016 "Ghostbusters" movie and other genres. So I was revived and ready for both "Infinity War" and "Endgame." (Cut to clips of "Dredd" as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.): "Dredd" is a great movie and a surprise for anyone who wants to watch a comic book movie that feels like the source material and doesn't feel like a comic book movie in the traditional sense. It's more like one of those indie movies that would benefit from a sequel to gain a better audience. Even now, fans, including myself, are hoping for a sequel, and Karl Urban is ready to go whenever everyone else is on board; I will be ready to see him be The Law. (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA: I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and that's my opinion. (Cut to Holographic James as it sees the final time saved lock finally be unlocked)

TLOTA: Excellent! Now to...What the? (Show the screen as Holographic James sees another month of prerecorded reviews as Holographic James screams "No!" in anger while smiling. Cut to Doug and Hiram Stupidiot.)

Professor Stupidiot: Whew, That was close. Anything yet?

Doug Yaun: I'm about to call someone, and I hope he's there. (A thud is heard) Crap! Hope he's on here now and can get us out of danger. (Another thud is heard as it cuts to Rowdy distributing the weapons)

Rowdy: So, now everyone is sufficiently armed, we need Comicron-One to teleport us to... (Rowdy's Ringtone plays) One second, I'm sorry about this. (Rowdy answers his phone.) Yello!

Professor Stupidiot (Audio Only): ROWDY!

Rowdy: Stupidiot? What are you doing on this phone? And just for the record, you'll be the first to be...

Professor Stupidiot (Audio Only): I AM THE INSIDE GUY JAMES HIRED!

Rowdy: WHAT?!

Professor Stupidiot (Audio Only): HIS HYPNOTIZED TEAM IS ABOUT TO BREAK THROUGH THE FINAL SAFETY BARIER AND KICK OUR ASSES! GET HERE NOW!

Rowdy: We're on our way! (Rowdy shuts off the phone) Okay, Linkara, teleport us to Sullivan County New York. Linkara, You got the Magic Gun? (Cut to Linkara and ERod The Blockbuster Buster)

Linkara: Check!

ERod The Blockbuster Buster: And I got the hammer ready to go if I need it. (Cut to Rowdy)

Rowdy: Next stop, Sullivan County, NY! The next fight is most likely our last. (Cut to the real James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, as he lands only to have his boots burned up as James takes them off.)

TLOTA: My boots! They lasted so long. (James looks to see that he has landed outside a shoe store, then breaks the fourth wall) What an unbelievable coincidence. (James walks in his socks and walks out with a new pair of Black Tactical Work Boots.) That's better. Now, let's see what has happened. (James looks at the phone to see what his holographic doppelganger has been up to.) DAMN IT CHAD! How could he make my schedule without my consent? He's gone too far, I'm kicking his ass. Wait a second, I just jumped from the island to... (James looks and sees he's a few towns away from his studio.) WOW, I am really close to the studio. (James sees lightning in his eyes) Okay, I've got Sith lightning power. Something is not pareve right now. (A message ding is heard as James checks his phone as a video opens and it's Alex in the hut.)

Julia Alexa Miller: James, if you're watching this, then I've made my choice, and I am returning to the pod, but as I stayed before we reunited, I was contacted by Emmalina's spirit, I needed to lose most of the powers I had, and I wanted to transfer it to someone worthy. I chose you, so don't waste it on busting bad movies. Use them for good. I love you, but I can't let these powers go to waste if this is our end. I'm keeping the scream and a few others. The rest I'm passing to you. A last gift from me to you. Goodbye, I love you James. (The video shuts off as James sadly smiles but realizes he has work to do and runs as it fades to black.)