Penance Review

So your daughter has been killed at school.  What do you do?  Do you spend fifteen years hunting down the killer?  Do you spend fifteen years being depressed?  Do you take it out on some little girls, who will go on to spend the next fifteen years suffering the consequences?  All of the above.  This is Penance.

Penance is an interest little series, centering around a woman called Asako Adachi and four little girls after they become adults.  These girls aren't just any random girls, but friends of a little girl who was killed who just happens to be Asako's daughter.  These girls didn't see the girl get killed, but they know who did it and won't say who it was for...reasons.  Naturally this pisses off Asako, who challenges them to find the killer or pay an appropriate penance.

This is the last time anyone saw Asako's daughter.

These four girls know who killed Asako's daughter, but say next to nothing...

...leading Asako to say this to them.

Each episode follows one of these girls fifteen years in the future.  Some have successful careers, some are married, but all of them are living miserable lives.  Asako meets each of them and ask them if they've found the killer or decided on a penance.  But the series is called Penance, not I Found The Killer, so the girls choose penance.

Some of the girls grew up to be screwed up...

...while others grew up to be a little less screwed up.

Most of these women's tales have sad endings.  There's murder, cheating, fighting, mystery, depression, and a dash of horror believe it or not.  The one person who gets something resembling a happy ending is the one who deserves it the least.  One of these tales had an ending that was so stupid and unintentionally hilarious, it actually inspired this review.  So, there's a little something for everyone in a twisted way.

Eventually, the killer is found and the story puts itself together for a satisfying conclusion.  This, however, is when we discover that every major character is messed up.  The girls are messed up.  The people they get involved with are messed up.  The killer is messed up.  Even Asako is messed up, though she has a reason for it.

Only a true bitch like Asako can sit back and drink tea while another woman has labor pains.

What we have with Penance is an enjoyable, if sometimes nonsensical series.  The execution is a little off at times, but the conclusion is satisfying.  It's worth a view.  Check It Out.

Saban's Power Rangers Review

Ah, the Power Rangers.  The ultimate do-gooders.  They always stand up for what's right and never get in trouble.  They are role models for kids and adults alike.  At least they used to be.  This is Saban's Power Rangers.

In this reimagining of a childhood classic for many, the Power Rangers are back, but not quite you remember them.  Yes, they are the five original teens and they are, in fact the Power Rangers.  Yes, Zordon , Alpha, and the Megazord are here, as well.  And, yes they must beat the crap out of Rita Repulsa her Putties.  So, the basic framework for those childhood memories are there.

You have the teens and the new Alpha...

...as well as Zordon.

Here come the Power Rangers.

Rita's new look.

The Megazord looks...interesting this time around.

This movie, however, goes the complete opposite direction with EVERYTHING.  The teens spend their days lounging in detention instead of Ernie's Juice Bar.  They elude their parents and parole officers, instead of making fools of Bulk and Skull.  Zordon is an asshole.  And to top it all off, they don't know what they are doing.  In other words, this is a total reimagining, from the floor up.

Well, it's time for Jason to break the law.

"You just got knocked the F out."

As you may have deduced now, these Power Rangers are in a darker, grittier world.  There are guns and people get killed.  These are things that the original Rangers (whom these kids are) didn't have to deal with on the TV show.  Put another way, they Batmanified the Power Rangers.

Things start off dark...

They break out the boomsticks...

...and shit gets real pretty fast.

All in all, Saban's Power Rangers is a solid movie with the potential to become a nice series.  This darkening of the Rangers and their world is an interesting twist.  The Power Ranger tradition wall-to-wall action was kind of lacking, but that's to be expected in an origin story.  What any potential sequel does after this is just as interesting.  Check it out.