“Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise†is another hilarious, crazy and fun special from the crew of “Robot Chickenâ€. For the DC Comics fans who grew up with these characters in the past and for those reading the comic books in the present, to the “Robot Chicken†fans who love the series no matter which characters they feature, “Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise†is worth checking out!
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DVD TITLE: Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise
TV SERIES AIR DATE: 2014
DURATION: 22 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Full Screen, Dolby Digital English Stereo
COMPANY: Adult Swim
RATED:Â TV MA
RELEASE DATE: October 14, 2014
Directed by Seth Green
Written by Matthew Ireland Beans, Mike Fasolo, Douglas Goldstein, Seth Green, Geoff Johns, Breckin Meyer, Tom Root, Matthew Senreich, Kevin Shinick, Zeb Wells
Executive Produced by Seth Green, John Harvatine IV, Geoff Johns, Sam Register, Matthew Senreich, Eric Towner
Co-Producer: Ethan Marak
Music by Shawn Patterosn
Cinematography by Helder Sun
Edited by Jenny McKibben
Costume Design by Becky Van Cleve
Featuring the voices of:
Abraham Benrubi as Cyborg, Kilowog, Appa Ali Apsa, Icicle, Solomon Grundy
Alex Borstein as Wonder Woman, Giganta, Woman
Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Mr. Freeze
Brecken Meyer as Superman
Megan Fox as Lois Lane
Clare Grant as Cheetah, Ice, Abby Holland
Seth Green as The Nerd, Batman, Robin, Aquaman, The Penguin, Martian Manhunter, Toyman, Scarecrow, Gorilla Grod, Cheese, Swamp Thing, Abin Surg, Ganthet, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Jimmy Olsen
Neil Patrick Harris as Two-Face, Black Manta
Breckin Meyer as Superman, Mirror Master
Alfred Molina as Lex Luthor, Firestorm
Aaron Paul as Mister Banjo, Glenn
Paul Reubens as The Riddler
Tom Root as Captain Cold
Kevin Shinick as Narrator
Matthew Senreich as The Flash, Chillblaine, Brainiac
Tara Strong as Harley Quinn, Selena Gomez
Zeb Wells as Sinestro, B’dg
The Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II: Villains in Paradise returns the DC Comics universe of characters back into the twisted talons of the Emmy Award(R)-winning Robot Chicken. This time around, the villains take charge of the narrative, and their unpredictable tale takes them from the swamps to the sky to the beach, where they finally face a mind-boggling threat to their very existence! The all-star cast includes Seth Green as Batman and Robin, Zac Efron as Superboy, Alfred Molina as Lex Luthor, Sarah Hyland as Lex Luthor’s daughter Lena, Nathan Fillion as the Green Lantern, Alex Borstein as Wonder Woman, Clancy Brown as Gorilla Grodd, Giovanni Ribisi as the Joker, Tara Strong as Harley Quinn, Breckin Meyer as Superman, plus Hugh Davidson, Matthew Senreich, Clare Grant, Zeb Wells, and Kevin Shinick as the narrator.
In 2005, actor Seth Green (“Austin Powers†films, “Family Guyâ€, “Buffy the Vampire Slayerâ€) and Matthew Senreich along with writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root created the stop-motion animated comedy “Robot Chickenâ€.
Featuring many celebrity guest voice talent and taking on a variety of well-known franchises and doing parodies for “Star Warsâ€, “Cat and the Hatâ€, “Law and Orderâ€, “Voltronâ€, “Teen Titansâ€, “Beavis and Butthead†and more.
The series has won an Annie Award and three Emmy Awards and in 2013, with a total of six seasons and 120 episodes and five specials being made, the “Robot Chicken†staff will be releasing their new “DC Comics Special†on Blu-ray and DVD on July 9, 2013.
For those not familiar with Robot Chicken, the animated series uses action figures and shoots each frame until they put them together via animation. The series puts certain characters in hilarious and embarrassing situations and includes mouths on the action figures and are voice acted by the Robot Chicken staff or via celebrities.
In this second “DC Comics Special” of “Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise”, the story shifts from the heroes and focuses on the villains. What happens when the villains get some R&R in a private beach and Lex Luthor’s daughter Lena falls in love with Superman and Wonder Woman’s son (or the clone Superman/Superboy) and both want to get married?
VIDEO & AUDIO
“Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special †is presented in widescreen. For the most part, the Mego dolls and action figures look good on DVD, while the stage setups for the figures and the lighting was very well-done. There were some scenes with banding and artifacts issues. But for the most part, picture quality is very good on DVD.
Audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1 and dialogue is clear! And comes with subtitles in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise” comes with the following special features:
- The Making of #RCDC2VIP -(9:31)Â The making of “Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise”.
- Bad Hair, Musical Numbers & Sequels – (8:55) A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the music for “Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise”.
- The Ones That Got Away – (7:06) A therapeutic featurette with writers releasing some steam about their sketches being cut out of the final version of “Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise”.
- 20 Questions – (13:25) The “Robot Chicken” staff must answer 20 questions in regards to DC Comics.
- Cut Animatics – (5:19) Featuring five animatics and learn why they were cut.
- Cut Sketches – (2:16) Featuring two sketches and learn why they were cut.
- Chicken Nuggets – (1:02) Watch the full special and if you see a chicken, click on your remote (or mouse) and find out more about the behind-the-scenes via a video commentary.
- Actors Commentary – Featuring audio commentary with Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, Nathan Fillion, Breckin Meyer and Zeb Wells.
- Writers Commentary – Featuring writers commentary with Hugh Davidson, Mike Fasolo, Tom Root, Kevin Shinick and Zeb Wells.
If you are a “Robot Chicken†fan or a longtime fan of DC Comics, you can’t help but watch the “Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise†special and just laugh out loud!
Sure, the special captures the craziness that we have seen on “Robot Chicken” and as a longtime reader of DC Comics titles, what I enjoyed about this special is that the characters are not something created from today’s comic books but for those who read and grew up with DC comics.
From the use of Mego characters, the fact that the villains featured are those who grew up watching the old school “Super Friends” animated series and of course, putting an adult and hilarious spin on the characters. From utilizing Lex Luthor and showing his old rock n’ roll self known as Sexx Luthor and him having a child, or seeing the joke about the clone Superboy being the actual child of Superman and Wonder Woman. And what happens when Green Lantern gives Batman a ride?
Suffice to say, the series was crazy and hilarious because it focused on the DC villains with a “Grease” spin, so you do get to see the DC superheroes as well.
If there was anything negative to say about this special, it was too short at 22 minutes long. Fortunately, you get a good number of special features that makes this DVD worth while.
But aside from the short episode duration, I can only hope that “Robot Chicken” continues to do more DC Comics specials in the near future, because each episode has been crazy and hilarious.
So, while this special episode is short, fortunately, there are many special features included with this DVD release. It was great to listen to both audio commentaries.  From the writers about the inclusion of characters for the series to the actors on their thoughts of playing a character and both commentaries are hilarious and fun to listen to. And while 22-minutes long, definitely watch the special again with the hilarious “chicken nuggets” special feature and hear the “Robot Chicken” staff offer several tidbits about various scenes.
And just a reminder to those who have never watched a “Robot Chicken” episode, if you are a parent who is curious about “Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise”, this is not a children’s DVD. The special features mature language and it features adult humor.
Overall, “Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise†is another hilarious, crazy and fun special from the crew of “Robot Chickenâ€. For the DC Comics fans who grew up with these characters in the past and for those reading the comic books in the present, to the “Robot Chicken†fans who love the series no matter which characters they feature, “Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special 2 – Villains in Paradise†is worth checking out!
