TL;DR – While this first episode does not give us much to go on, it was still a fun blast and has given me hope for the rest of the season.

Disclosure – I paid for the Binge service that viewed this series.

Creature Commandos Review –

Well, I don’t think you need to look hard to see the issues that the current DC slate of products has had in recent years. The DCEU never quite got on its feet and then floundered when choice after choice held back even well-performing films. Even their Elseworlds experiment has had issues with Joker: Folie à Deux floundering while The Penguin thrived. However, we are at an official turning point in the comic world. The DCEU is dead; long live the DCU.

So, to set the scene, the Belle Reve Correction Center is many things, including the Non-Human Internment Division. It is here where Waller (Viola Davis) and Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) watch as the Sons of Themyscira, led by Circe (Anya Chalotra), cross into the country of Pokolistan and start causing trouble. Waller cannot let that happen because America needs their oil, so it is time to activate the Creature Commandos, including The Bride (Indira Varma), GI Robot (Sean Gunn), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao), to lend Princess Ilana (Maria Bakalova) a hand. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

Right from the start, it was interesting to see just what a mark James Gunn would put on this universe, other than adding himself into the credits in a gag that I think Harly Quinn did better. To begin with, they are rewriting the canon of what came before, which is fascinating to watch happen in real-time. Out goes most of what came before, but Flag still died in Corto Maltese, and Viola Davis is still Waller. I am not sure how people will take these changes, but I understand entirely the latter. Much like keeping Judi Dench in the Bond films, when you have excellence, you don’t get rid of it.

It was also fun to see the show go straight for the jugular right from the start. Much as Rian Johnson channelled much of his frustration with parts of the Star Wars fandom into a character in Knives Out. The choice to make the first group of bag guys, at least as we know in the first episode, a group of crying man-baby incels fawning over an Amazonian that has promised they can go to the island where only women live. Well, look, there is making a commentary about parts of your fan base, and then there is bringing a literately equivalent of an A-10 Thunderbolt to the proceedings. I respect bringing the A-10.

The first episode is just part 1 of the opening story, but it does what you need to set the scene and move everyone to Pokolistan for shenanigans. I haven’t seen enough of the characters to know if they will shine in this scenario, but so far, they seem interesting enough to keep me along for the ride. I liked the animation style that they used because it allowed for a specific flow in the movement, which they got to show off in the Flag V Phosphorus fight, which balances the comedy and the action quite well. However, I will say that the best visual gag in the entire first episode is the one moment that was not animated.

In the end, do we recommend Creature Commandos: The Collywobbles? Well, this first episode is not a lot to go by, but what I have seen so far is quite good. James Gunn’s humour does not always land for me. But he has shown in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 that he can make it work, so I, for one, look forward to seeing what he has got here.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen Creature Commandos yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Creature Commandos
Directed by – Matt Peters
Written by – James Gunn
Created by – James Gunn
Based On – DC Comics
Production/Distribution Companies – Troll Court Entertainment, The Safran Company, Lorey Stories, WB Animation, DC Studios, HBO & Binge
Starring – Indira Varma, Sean Gunn, Alan Tudyk, Zoe Chao, David Harbour, Frank Grillo & Viola Davis with Maria Bakalova & Julian Kostov