When Villains Return With A Vengeance

 Tonight's marathon comes with a vengeance. The formula for each film is exactly the same with the story centering around the return of a major and menacing villain according to the film's respective plots. Whereas the villains got defeated in the films prior or according to their storylines, they find a way to comeback and wreck havoc on those who defeated them and the societies that surround them. This is an extremely fun and thrilling marathon that plays off the nostalgia of many peoples childhoods while also making for a great Friday evening of pure entertainment. These villains have returned back into the picture and you better believe they are pissed off and coming for revenge. For tonight's fantastic marathon, we have on the following and unforgettable menu:




The Return Of Jafar 1994, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ll: The Secret Of The Ooze 1991, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie 1995, Star Trek ll: The Wrath Of Khan 1982, Superman ll 1980, and Batman 1989

If that doesn't make the simplest movie buff proud and happy then there's no telling what can. This is a fantastic concept that allows for pure epicness and the scope to rise to the occasion. Not only do the villains get bigger and more menacing but so does the heroes in each film whether it's in animation, space, or reality. There was a saying once that the same story can be repeated in another film but it's the way each different filmmaker tells the story that makes them unique. The same can be said here with the theme of villains returning with a vengeance. This marathon was specifically designed to play off the childhoods of many filmgoers and to show the different lenses of the same story being executed. The first movie of the marathon is the sequel to the Disney classic Aladdin titled The Return of Jafar. The film is a landmark Disney film because it started a trend for better or worse of Disney sequels being released on home video instead of being a theatrical motion picture. Return Of Jafar centers around Jafar being released from the lamp he became trapped in and sets off to exact revenge on Aladdin for defeating him in the first film. The Jafar in this film is more powerful and menacing than in the first movie. This time he attempts to seek a way back into power with the help of a thief and his bird Iago, who betrayed him to turn to Aladdin's side. Return Of Jafar is perhaps one of the best direct to video sequels from Disney ever made and perhaps one of the most faithful ones. It continues the story of the first film without tarnishing it and ends up being as good as its budget restraints allows it to be. The film was a huge success on the video market upon it's release in 1994. One wishes it had Robin Williams back as the voice of Genie and a higher budget to make it a theatrical release. The second movie of the lineup is the epic sequel to the 1990 box office smash Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie. The sequel titled The Secret Of The Ooze centers around the defeated villain from the first movie named Shredder surviving the fall into the back of a garbage truck and coming after the four turtles and Splinter for revenge. Shredder attempts to reestablish a klan of ninja criminals named The Foot, and kidnaps a scientist using the same Ooze that created the turtles to create a new breed of mutants. While the sequel didn't fare as well as the first movie in terms of box office, it remained a very faithful sequel to the original classic that continues the story from where it left off with a bigger budget and a more menacing Shredder. The third movie of the lineup is the 1995 classic titled Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. Based on the hugely popular television show that aired on FOX back in the 1990's, the movie plays a Wrath Of Khan type of theme with an old enemy coming back from the past that the Rangers leader Zordon once defeated thousands of years ago. The new villain named Ivan Ooze is set free by the Power Rangers current antagonists named Rita and Lord Zedd in hopes of putting the Rangers and Zordon out of commission but instead intends to do all the above and take over the world for himself. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie is the first of two and perhaps the best depiction of the iconic hero team on the big screen until further notice. The original Power Rangers team is the best there ever was and probably ever will be. The fourth movie of the marathon is the iconic scfi classic titled Star Trek ll: The Wrath Of Khan. Whereas the first Star Trek was viewed as a box office success and critical disappointment, the sequel improves leaps and bounds over the first movie and takes things to the next level. Generally considered as one of the greatest Star Trek movies ever made if not the best, the story centers around an old villain from the past named Khan who plans to seek vengeance

on Capt Kirk and his crew for the past and is using a weapon called The Genesis Device as a doomsday device. It is up to Kirk, Spock, and his crew to stop Khan from using the weapon to conquer the galaxy. The film is essentially The Empire Strikes Back of the Star Trek series and continues to be highly influential in the science fiction genre of filmmaking. The fifth movie of the marathon is the 1980 classic titled Superman ll, the thrilling sequel to the 1978 classic starring Christopher Reeves, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackmen, Terrence Stamp, and Ned Betty. In this sequel, an old villain from the first named General Zod is freed from his prison and travels to earth with two other aliens to conquer and rule it. With the assistance of Lex Luthor, the three aliens from Krypton plan to take out their vengeance on Jor El's son on Earth named Superman aka Clark Kent who gives up his powers to live life as a human with the love of his life named Lois Lane. Superman ll went through production hell with the firing of the original movies director Richard Donner from the set and being replaced by Three Musketeers director Richard Lester. The tragedy of this incident led to two versions of this film being released to audiences with Donner's version being called Superman ll: The Richard Donner Cut. The version that will be played tonight is the Richard Lester cut because it fits as being the more appealing film for this type of marathon whereas Richard Donners movie feels like part ll of the first film and should be watched with that one alone. The sequel received unanimous critical acclaim upon it's release in 1980 and is generally considered one of the definitive comic book movies of all time. The sixth and final movie of the night is the Tim Burton classic turned 1989 summer blockbuster titled Batman starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger. Winner of an academy award for Best Art-Set Decoration and one off the biggest blockbusters of all time snagging 250 million upon its release, the storyline for this one centers around Batman beginning his campaign against crime and the origin story behind The Joker. The Jokers origin story is essentially a revenge tale with his normal alias named Jack Napier being tricked by his boss into going to a chemical plant to destroy files when in actuality its a setup for the police to capture him. When he attempts to flee, he runs into Batman who accidentally drops him into a tank full of chemicals transforming him into The Joker. Feeling angry and wanting to seek vengeance, he first kills his boss for double crossing him because he was seeing his woman behind his back then terrorizes the city of Gotham, taunting Batman into a cat and mouse game. The famous plot twist in this film that made a huge impact on comic book adaptations of Batman that came afterwards is Bruce's realization that Joker is responsible for the death of his parents as a young teenager and making the hero seek vengeance for the evil deed that changed his life forever. This is the perfect ending and the most satisfying for such an odd yet clever and fantastic lineup.

So what are all these movies trying to say when you put them all together? The message basically says that just when you thought you got rid of someone from your life who caused you harm or grief, they can return without a blink of an eye and cause further harm. It is up to you and the people who support and love you to push that person out of the picture once again indefinitely. If there's wrongful doing by someone you once defeated, it's up to you to solve the issue because given the situation, you may be the only person who can make a difference.

Our heroes for this evening: