By: Chad W. Shreeves

The following review covers episodes 1 and 2 of the new MAX series ‘Creature Commandos.’ Spoilers may be present.

While the wait is on for the rebooted DC Universe to begin with next year’s ‘Superman’, James Gunn’s new universe officially kicked off this week with the new animated series, ‘Creature Commandos’.

The first two episodes debuted on Thursday, ‘Creature Commandos’ follows commander Rick Flagg Sr (voiced by Frank Grillo). Following the events of ‘Peacemaker’, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) finds herself forced to disband Task Force X. Now we meet the new team, a collection of classic monsters.

It’s a team of some of the wildest and most C-list DC characters assembled. While it’s a hallmark of James Gunn’s traditionally crazy rosters, it does feel on occasion weird that this is how the new DCU is starting out. But how does the series fare? It’s a mixed bag, but one that falls more on the good side than not.

A New Universe

‘Creature Commandos’ opens with a classic “assemble” type of a scene. We’re introduced to the team, we quickly learn their quirks and personalities, and then it’s off. They don’t really take a lot of time building anyone (although we get a little bit) and it seems more often than not to be used as a joke.

Using characters like this is a bit of an odd choice to start a universe, especially with a ‘Superman’ movie on the way and a ‘Batman’ movie in development. Most of these characters are barely used in the comics even. But in Gunn’s style, he chose to use this group and it works.

But after that, it’s clear who the two major stars of the show are. The majority of the two episodes focus primarily on Flagg and “The Bride” (voiced by Indira Varma). While other characters do get their moments, like Dr. Phosphorous and GI Robot, we see characters like Weasel barely used. But there are still several episodes to go, so that very well may change as the series progresses.

Pilot: ‘The Collywobbles’

As with many pilots, the first episode is mainly setup. We meet the team, the setup that includes a plot by the villain Circe to overcome the fictional country of Pokolistan. There they meet the Princess Ilana and the plot goes on from there.

It’s sort of a messy pilot, really never developing further beyond its core introductions. More of a “by the numbers” pilot script. And we know from ‘Peacemaker’ that James Gunn can do better. While Flag gets some good moments at the beginning, nobody really stands out and the humor falls flat more than it succeeds. But it’s only the first episode, and as we see with the next one, it gets better.

Episode 2: ‘The Tourmaline Necklace’

In episode 2, the action improves significantly as The Bride returns to Frankenstein’s castle where she was created and we learn her origin story. An interesting take on the classic character, with a love triangle between the doctor and his Monster (David Harbour) that ensues. It’s definitely an improvement over its pilot, with some good character work. What happens next is a time-spanning character piece that sees the Bride continue to grow. Seeing the conflict between her and Frankenstein’s Monster through the decades adds a special touch. It’s a shame that the rest of the quirky cast was unable to receive the same treatment. And a final few shocking minutes that surprised me with how far they were willing to go.

There’s a significant amount of good, especially in the second episode. It leads its cast through its events in a decent pace considering the 20 minute runtimes, and so far all of the voice performances are stellar.

Violent Origins

This show makes one thing very clear from its very beginning. A kid’s show, this is not. While the animation may look reminiscent of the Saturday Morning cartoons we loved as kids, it’s a very adult show.

It’s not quite as violent as Gunn’s other DC projects like ‘The Suicide Squad’ and ‘Peacemaker’, but the show features plenty of violence. Blood and gore splatters abound. Characters curse freely and it earns its TV-MA rating very quickly and the show does work with it. With plenty of doses of blood, sex, and language, it’s a well rounded adult show.

The Verdict

‘Creature Commandos’ is not the best start for Gunn’s DCU, but it’s solid and entertaining enough that it can hold attention. Can it hold attention for its remaining five episodes? We’ll see. With some fun voice acting, and some good character development of Flag and the Bride. It’s a decent start, if not the home run that DC Studios desperately needs after the last few years.

One surprising aspect is that, while this is the new DCU, there’s still a lot of connective threads. There are plenty of references to the finale of ‘Peacemaker’ as well as Operation Starfish from ‘The Suicide Squad’ are mentioned.

The animation quality, however, could use some work. It’s not bad, but there’s nothing much there that screams good animation either. And nothing quite as stylish as ‘X-Men 97’ was able to pull off earlier this year.

It’s also, just a simple step down from Gunn’s other work. ‘The Suicide Squad’ and ‘Peacemaker’, were both wonderful achievements from him at DC. I was left slightly disappointed this one did not quite meet up to the standards he has set. But overall, it’s not bad, I just have to admit it didn’t reach the high expectations. And there’s enough interesting content for this to start from that it doesn’t feel wasted.

Final Score (First Two Episodes)

3.5 / 5 Good

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