Reboot

Reboot - Daemon Rising / My Two Bobs

Reboot - Season III, Vol. 4: The Viral Wars

The third season of this computer-animated series stumbles to a conclusion in these last four episodes. Despite the numerous writing credits, each episode juxtaposes long stretches of filler, where nothing really happens, with periods of frenzied but difficult-to-follow action. In "Showdown" archvillain Megabyte, who sounds like George Sanders as Shere Kahn in Disney's The Jungle Book, prepares to escape in a reddish sphere after a duel with Enzo. Mouse does something on a keyboard that causes tentacles to sprout from the sphere and destroy Megabyte. What she does and how she does it is never explained, and her preemptive strike prevents Enzo from destroying the villain, as a hero should. Simulations of Megabyte pop up in the next episode, while Bob struggles to save the cybercity, only to vanish inexplicably. The first all-computer-animated television series, Reboot inadvertently showcases the limits of the technology. The motion-capture technique gives the characters an unsettling weightless look, which robs their fights and gymnastics flips of any power. The elaborate surface patterns, brightly colored special effects, and three-dimensional camera moves can't disguise the fact that motion capture is still inferior to limited drawn animation. Rated "suitable for all ages," but violence (including suggestions of torture), grotesque imagery, and ethnic stereotypes are inappropriate for children under 10. The show played in an edited form on the Cartoon Network. --Charles Solomon

Returning from the wastelands of the Web, our hereos find themselves in the ruins of what was once their beautiful home. Through stormy skies and collapsed buildings, the battle for Mainframe continues as they reunite with their family and friends, overcome personal demons and find themselves face-to-face with their old enemies, Megabyte and Hexadecimal. Third season, episodes 13-16.

Reboot - Season III, Vol. 3: The Web

Enzo Matrix, who has grown up to be a sullen, muscular hero, continues to search for Bob, his Defender friend and hero. He's accompanied by Andraia, now a curvaceous babe in a revealing costume. They take up with Capitain Capacitator, a.k.a. Crimson Binome, a pirate of the "aargh, matey" school; his motley crew; and "web surfer" Ray Tracer, whom Matrix regards as a potential rival. As they journey through cyber-dimensions, Andraia receives a life-threatening bite from a "web creature," then Capacitator's ship, the Saucy Mare, is attacked by a host of strange-looking "Web Riders," whose leader turns out to be Bob. After reviving Andraia, Bob heads the ship back to continue the war against the evil Megabyte. The animation lacks any sense of weight--a problem with motion-capture computer graphics: despite all the elaborate visual patterns, tracking shots, and reflections, the characters move like marionettes. There are also numerous story problems: e.g. when the Saucy Mare is attacked by "pixels," the Web Riders and Tracer defeat them with some sort of light beams that are never explained. The first computer-animated network series, Reboot has its fans (thanks in part to the show's exposure on the Cartoon Network), who are the obvious audience for this disc. Contains these episodes: 9. "The Return of the Crimson Binome," 10. "Edge of Beyond," 11. "Web Riders on the Storm/Interface," 12. "Mousetrap." Rated "suitable for all ages," but violence and grotesque imagery are inappropriate for children under 8. --Charles Solomon

Accompanied by a ship of software pirates he has sprung from prison, Matrix's quest takes him into high adventure in the uncharted reaches of the Web. Join Matrix, AndrAIa, Frisket and the mysterious Web Surfer as they head into battle with the Web Creatures they encounter. As the Web threatens everything around him, Matrix completes the first leg of his journey and is reunited with his mentor and long lost friend, Bob. Somehow they all have to work together to find a way out of the Web and back to Mainframe. Third season, episodes 9-12.

ReBoot - Season III, Vol. 2 - The Net

Future techies in search of screen-popping adventures souped up with the latest cyber lingo need look no farther than ReBoot: Season III, Vol. 2, (a series that airs on the Cartoon Network), which finds the formatless Matrix and AndrAIa along with their virtual pup, Frisket, fighting their way through a gamut of games, all of which have been infected by evil. The goal of the hard-bodied and green-tinged yet still good-looking pair, known among the folds of funny-looking creatures who inhabit the games as guardians, or good guys, whose job it is to "mend and defend," goes beyond superheroics. Mostly, they're interested in hopping a ride onto the Internet, where they can navigate their way back to their long lost home, Mainframe. In this endeavor, they're consistently stymied, but not much else stumps them, at least not for long. In episode 1 of this four-part tape, Icons, something suspicious is sucking the life out of a nearly defenseless system; Matrix assembles an army of R2-D2-like recruits and heads off to Chron the Destroyer where, after a successful reboot, he's able to help make repairs. From there, in Where No Sprite Has Gone Before, Number 7, and The Episode with No Name, the pair defies deletion through crash-threatening tears, identity altering reboots, superviruses, and hostage situations. Whether they'll ever make it back to Mainframe is anybody's guess, but boys and girls 8 and up whose hard drives occupy a special place in their hearts will have an "alphanumeric" time waiting to find out. --Tammy La Gorce

Traveling the Games, we follow our cynical hero Matrix, once a young and energetic sprite named Enzo, and his companions AndrAIa and Frisket as they wander the Net in search of his mentor Bob and the Game Cube that will bring them home. Each time the Cube rises they find themselves in a new system where they assist other cities in defeating their fears and the User. It is the lessons Matrix learns by helping these others that ultimately convinces him to aggressively pursue his future, continue his search for Bob and finally finds him entering through a portal into the Web. Third season, episodes 5-8.

Reboot - Season III, Vol. 1

ReBoot was the first computer animated network series, and these episodes from its third season (1994) reveal how quickly computer visual effects has advanced. The designs look decidedly passé, and the motion-capture animation is limited and uneven. Enzo, the hero of ReBoot, is an adolescent guardian-in-training, fighting to protect the cyberworld from the evil virus Megabyte. Enzo's older sister, Dot Matrix, serves as commander of the defense forces; they both miss Bob, the hunky Guardian who disappeared at the end of the second season. Enzo's duties involve assuming roles in different games with AndrAIa, the obligatory spunky girl. The scenarios include heavy-handed send-ups of Pixar films, Warner Bros. cartoons, and the stained-glass knight in Young Sherlock Holmes. The filmmakers try to infuse these sci-fi adventures with the appeal of anime, but the timing and direction aren't strong enough to generate that level of excitement. ReBoot is more interesting as an example of early computer visual effects than as entertainment for modern kids. Although it is rated "suitable for all ages," violence, including suggestions of torture, grotesque imagery, and ethnic stereotypes, are inappropriate for children under 10. (Episodes: "To Mend and Defend," "Between a Raccoon and a Hard Place," "Firewall," and "Game Over.") --Charles Solomon

Prepare for "Reboot," the world's premier computer-animated TV show, as it takes you on an odyssey of epic proportions into worlds never explored before. Follow our heroes Dot, Enzo, Mouse, AndrAIa and Phong into the uncharted reaches of The Web, where the search for a lost friend leads to a high-tech battle for survival. Watch the evolution of the young and energetic sprite Enzo into mature and cynical hero Matrix as he attempts to find his friend and mentor Bob, who is his only hope of returning home to save Mainframe from the evils of Hexadecimal and Megabyte. Third season, episodes 1-4.