Animation
Dead Sea Squirrels
Some 2,000-year-old squirrels offer some great lessons about both the Bible and life in this clever new Minno series.
First, there was the Suicide Squad, aka Task Force X. Made up entirely of convicted and incarcerated supervillains, the Squad was Amanda Waller’s answer to superpowered baddies after the apparent demise of Superman (as seen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice).
The idea was this: In exchange for their freedom (or at least a reduced sentence), the convicts would save the world from whichever god-like superhuman showed up next.
And it worked … sort of.
You see, Waller didn’t care much what actually happened to the cons. Hence the team’s nickname. And after more than a few of them perished in the line of duty—not to mention Waller’s own daughter exposing her mother’s dirty deeds—Congress disbanded Task Force X, informing Waller that she was no longer allowed to use humans in her supernatural Earth-defense schemes.
Well, that’s no problem for Waller. She just won’t use humans. She’ll use monsters.
Waller “recruits”—let’s be honest, she’s enslaving these guys—a team of superpowered monsters for her newly formed Task Force M (as in Monster).
Frankenstein and his Bride are first on the list. And the only thing they’re worse at than saving people is saving their “marriage.” Next up, Dr. Phosphorus is a radioactive skeleton. Sure, he used to be human, but now he’s more of an undead timebomb. Nina Mazursky, meanwhile, is an aquatic humanoid who was taught to talk by her scientist creator. And GI Robot fought Nazis in World War II, though his programming seems to be flawed since it can’t always accurately identify members of the Third Reich. Finally, nobody’s really sure what the Weasel’s deal is, but they really should’ve housetrained him before taking him on a mission.
And since Waller can’t trust any of these nonhuman agents, leading the Commandos is human soldier Rick Flag, Sr. It’s true, his son died while working for Waller; but either because of his naïve loyalty or Waller’s cleverly crafted lies, Flag Sr. is working for her anyway.
Waller’s track record doesn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence in the project. But since there’s an Amazonian sorceress named Circe terrorizing a United States ally on her mission to conquer Themyscira (Wonder Woman’s home), there aren’t really any other options at this point.
Creature Commandos is the first offering from the new DC Universe (DCU), a sort of reboot of the DC Extended Universe, created by James Gunn and Peter Safran. The first chapter of this cinematic universe (which will include a series of films and TV shows featuring heroes and villains from DC Comics) is titled “Gods and Monsters.”
That title right there may be enough to give some families pause. But if Creature Commandos is any indication of what’s to come, I’m truly worried for the DCU.
This TV-MA show includes animated sex, nudity and lots and lots of graphic violence. You’d have to be 17 to see this in theaters without an accompanying adult. Not that it’s pretending otherwise. The series’ trailer shows viewers as much.
Language is another problem, with several uses of the f-word, among other profanities. And of course, there’s the whole premise of godlike, superpowered beings trying to destroy the world.
In short, DC’s Creature Commandos isn’t something to gather round the television to watch. And again, if this is what we can expect in the DCU shows and films to come, probably better to steer clear of those, too.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
When an Amazonian sorceress named Circe begins attacking a United States ally, Amanda Waller forms Task Force M, a crew of superpowered nonhumans, to fight back. The Task Force travels to the country of Pokolistan to protect the people and Princess Ilana, heir to the throne, from Circe’s troops.
Circe uses her powers to lift and throw objects and people. She’s aided by the Sons of Themyscira, a group of misogynistic soldiers who are angry that the mythical island of Themyscira is populated solely by women. The Sons blow things up and fire guns in their attack.
Waller’s general disregard for life—human or otherwise—is immediately apparent. However, she calls Flag’s son (whose death she was responsible for) a hero, convincing the soldier to lead her new division of non-human fighters. She controls these monsters with implants that painfully shock them at the push of a button.
Dr. Phosphorus is a radioactive skeleton. (Waller warns that hanging around the guy too long will result in infertility.) He attacks Flag using his powers to burn the man and sets several rooms on fire, too. The duelers fall through a wooden floor after Phosphorus lights it up. They continue to duke it out until Flag grabs hold of the shock-control device. Flag sports a bloody nose after the fight.
Flashbacks show GI Robot killing Nazis in World War II. He shoots a Jenga game after falsely identifying a swastika pattern in the wooden bricks. He also threatens a few teammates, believing them to be Nazis in disguise. And he claims to send Nazis to hell. We’re told the Weasel killed 27 children. Flashbacks show how the Bride was created—a painful process involving electrocution.
Flag ogles Ilana at first but later turns her down. She attempts to seduce him, removing her clothes (we see nudity) and pushing him onto a bed, but Flag runs off. Nina, who is a humanoid fish person, climbs into a club, covering critical parts with her limbs. Some shots focus on Flag’s underwear-clad groin area. Prostitutes flirt with men in front of a brothel. A picture of Themyscira shows several female warriors wearing bikinis. Women wearing bikinis dance on a boat. A few female characters show cleavage. Portraits of Pokolistan’s royal family hint at incest. When someone tells Nina to “grow a pair,” she wonders what they mean.
The Weasel urinates on one of his teammates. He also regurgitates something before eating it again. Ilana’s personal guard threatens to kill Flag for performing the wrong bow; but it’s revealed to be a joke, and the guard laughs that Flag almost “made a mess in his pants.”
The Bride chugs a bottle of wine at a meal. Many of Circe’s soldiers drink during their attack on Pokolistan.
Even though Dr. Phosphorus betrays Flag by trying to steal the device that controls the monsters’ shock implants, Flag promises not to inform Waller since she has her own device and can shock them remotely. Nina grows upset with the Bride after the monster seemingly runs away, since the shock device affects them all, not just the one misbehaving.
We hear a couple uses of the f-word, as well as “a–,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” “h—” and “p-ss.” God’s name is abused a few times as well, sometimes paired with “d–n.” Someone displays their middle finger.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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