Top 10 Most Underrated Villains

Hi, I'm the Amateur Critic. I review just about anything.

I know I promised some editorials recently and the LarryBoy and the Bad Apple movie review. However, I've had some crazy ideas, besides the "Top 10 Weirdest Scenes In The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole." And yes, this is another countdown.
For this countdown, I'd thought I will recognize the bad guys from TV shows and movies that aren't as popular as big names like Megatron from Transformers, Loki from Marvel's The Avengers, etc. In fact, the villains that I'm going to count down as the most underrated aren't household names for most people. You know what? Let's do it. This is my Top 10 Most Underrated Villains.

10. Dr. Flurry from The League of Incredible Vegetables

Now this Veggietales DVD is about a year old now, but I had to mention Dr. Flurry in this countdown.
Anyway, Dr. Flurry was a mad scientist vegetable that wanted to literally freeze people in their fears. (Yeah, the show's theme was about handling fear.) He has three penguin minions that do most of his evil bidding.

What I found surprising about this villain was that he immediately showed remorse and tried to make it up to the League soon after LarryBoy saved him from his penguin ship collapsing. That was a rarity in most LarryBoy villains.

Anyway, probably why Dr. Flurry is underrated in a way is because again, the DVD is at least a year old, and is still attracting Veggietales fans.

9. The Bad Apple from LarryBoy and the Bad Apple

She was the talking-apple version of temptation. She was the epitome of evil in a green cape and spider legs.
What made her controversial, though, was that considering that she was supposed to represent temptation in the movie, her character and the fact that she's an apple refer to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, where a snake tricks Eve in eating an apple (the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Life) just by tempting her.

Despite her character and symbolism being a little risky, Appley was one of LarryBoy's greatest villains. Since this movie was the comeback of LarryBoy since his Cartoon Adventures fail, the Bad Apple could've been a household name, but I'm not sure what exactly happened to that. Nonetheless, she's a pretty bad-ass villain, "rotten to the core."

8. Music Meister from Batman The Brave and the Bold

This was the only villain that I paid the most attention to on this show. That's Neil Patrick Harris doing the voice of the Music Meister. And wouldn't you know it, Neil Patrick Harris is the same guy that did the voice of Dr. Blowhole from Penguins of Madagascar, especially on that TV movie The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole.

The Music Meister was pretty fun to watch, with his creative costumes, angelic singing voice, and such an attitude that you'd swear Dr. Blowhole himself broke into the recording studio and sang the songs.

Although this villain proved to be a 1-dimension character, he did have a soft side for Black Canary, because she too had a beautiful singing voice... but then he turns on her when she rejects him. Ouch!
If you haven't seen this show, especially this episode with the Music Meister, then check it out on Youtube or iTunes.

7. Awful Alvin from LarryBoy and the Angry Eyebrows

This villain was in the premier episode of LarryBoy The Cartoon Adventures. In fact, thank God that Awful Alvin is underrated, because this guy is practically insane. In fact, no Veggietales or LarryBoy episode could ever pull him off as normal.

Awful Alvin has a sidekick named Lampy, who's nothing but a floor lamp. He creates the Angry Eyebrows, because... I don't know; he must have a hair or eyebrow fetish(?)
Well, I guess the reason why he's not as underrated as the other villains that I'll announce later on in the countdown is because again, this was the premier episode of LarryBoy The Cartoon Adventures, which apparently got promoted in some way, and the series spawned a chapter book series.
Either way, this villain is insane as is.

Why? Well, don't tell me that the stuff he does or how he acts when he's evil was NOT influenced by a drug-induced imagination. I mean, there was no way that Awful Alvin could've been sober throughout his role.
Despite his craziness and how this movie got promoted, he's still underrated, because I don't hear anyone say his name when LarryBoy is mentioned.

6. The Fib from Outer Space from LarryBoy and the Fib from Outer Space

This was the first villain in LarryBoy history. His power was that whenever someone tells a lie and then more and more lies, he grows until he's giant and capable enough to eat people.
Why is he not talked about when we think about LarryBoy?

Well, in my review and editorial for this movie, I criticized the Fib for not having an exact origin (aside from being from outer space), and for not having an explanation as to what kind of monster he is (aside from being a fib). For those reasons, he wasn't much of a household name... unless you're a die-hard LarryBoy fan like me.

Regardless, the Fib from Outer Space is the coolest monster that I had ever laid eyes on, and he continues to fascinate me to this day.

5. The Alchemist from LarryBoy: Leggo My Ego

The Alchemist is, by far, a momma's boy. He didn't do much in the movie. In fact, he let his mother do all the evil bidding. And no, I'm not including his mom Mother Pearl in the countdown, because she's not the main villain in this movie (although she could've been, seeing that she did all the evil deeds in that movie).

I guess, that's what makes him underrated is because he's a friggin' momma's boy. And besides, this movie wasn't promoted much as the premier episode, Angry Eyebrows. And plus, the Alchemist seems forgettable, now that I think about this.

4. The Grand Duke of Owls from Rock-A-Doodle

Now, I'll admit that I've never seen this movie before, but the Nostalgia Critic's review on the movie didn't really glorify this villain, let alone the movie itself.

The Duke was this fat-ass owl in a cape that has magical breath that turns people into different creatures.

Also, he plans to keep the farm's rooster Chanticleer away so that the sun couldn't shine and that there be rainy weather all day every day. Plus, he's manipulative with everyone, including his henchmen... and gosh! Even his own nephew!

By the way, did I forget to mention that this owl is played by Christopher Plummer? You know, the same guy that played Captain von Trapp from The Sound of Music and... (researching) he's also that old explorer guy from Pixar's Up- the explorer that that old guy Fredricksen looked up to ask a kid, but then gone bat-shit mad with power because he wanted to capture and kill a bird that got him into trouble?!! (By the way, I'm not putting Charles Muntz on the countdown, because if the movie Up is still popular to this day, then he wouldn't be considered an underrated villain.)
So what makes this despicable creature underrated? Well, the word was that the movie was one of Don Bluth's worst films. Plus, the Nostalgia Critic thought it was a crappy movie.

Anyway, the Duke was a total douche bag, and thank God he's underrated, because a creep like him does NOT deserve mentioning.

3. Ozzy from Land Before Time 2: The Great Valley Adventure

Now this guy is everyone's worst nightmare: an addict. He's the reason why we have that A&E show Intervention (in my opinion).
Ozzy was the main villain in this movie. He has this serious egg addiction. (Well, he's a dinosaur that eats eggs. It's his nature.)
Anyway, he has a brother named Strut who tags along with him during his quest to snatch an egg and eat it.

(By the way, Strut will not be in this countdown either, because he not as ambitious as Ozzy.)
Oh, and did I forget to mention that Ozzy is played by Jeff Bennett, the same guy that plays Kowalski in Penguins of Madagascar... okay. Wait. Jeff Bennett and Neil Patrick Harris... together in this countdown? Is this a Dr. Blowhole reunion? I mean, what's next, Ty Burrell, the voice of Parker from The Penguin Who Loved Me is gonna show up in this countdown?! (Don't count on it.)

Anyway, Ozzy seems underrated because I don't know... maybe his weird addict got in the way of being an unforgettable villain. He's weird; he's an addict; he needs help... I'll pray that he checks himself into rehab some time soon.

2. Drake from The Pebble and the Penguin

This guy should be every woman's worst nightmare. Why? Because he's abusive; he's manipulative; and he's nothing but trouble. So, if I were you, don't date anybody that's like him. Just don't. (In fact, I may do an editorial on his guy.)
There are so many things about this guy that make me cringe. Sure, he may be only a 1-dimensional villain who sees that violence is the only option; but he's also recognizes abusive, macho men for the demon fucks they are.

In fact, this movie thought that it was okay to show this kind of evil in a so-called family film. (Again, I'll do an editorial on this villain to clarify whatever isn't covered on this countdown.)
Plus, Drake is played by Tim Curry, who played another obvious shady character (that Romanian guy) in the movie Congo, which was released in theaters the same year that this movie did. And plus, he was Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King's It; Forte the talking pipe organ from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas; and that... transvestite from the Rocky Horror Show. So, what did you expect?!

Anyway, I'd say that Drake is an underrated villain, because he's not talked about this much. Although Tim Curry is best known for his villain roles, Drake is only a childhood nightmare to some people. Nothing more to say.

1. Dr. Blowhole from The Penguins of Madagascar

Why is Dr. Blowhole so underrated? Of all the villains that I had revealed in this countdown, Dr. Blowhole has to the one that's worth mentioning.

He's a dolphin super villain that wants to take over the world with his mad scientist wizardry; kill off the Penguins that try to stop him; and wants people to see that he's mad with power. I mean... that's the coolest villain ever!

Now, I got to admit that Dr. Blowhole's character can be weird at times (as mentioned in the Top 10 Weirdest Scenes in The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole), but he's pretty cool, when you get to know him. He has an army of lobster minions, a Segway that he can drive on land whenever he gets tired of being in the water, and a beautiful singing voice (provided by Neil Patrick Harris who does his voice).

Look, Dr. Blowhole can't be more underrated than this; I mean, it's just crap to see such villainy go to waste. I mean, I scream with joy inside whenever I see Dr. Blowhole on TV or on the Internet. Dr. Blowhole was the coolest idea ever.
I keep hearing that DreamWorks is going to do a movie on the Penguins of Madagascar; so I seriously hope Dr. Blowhole is the villain for that movie; otherwise, somebody will be Dr. Blowhole's next victim.
In the mean time, I declare that Dr. Blowhole is the most underrated villain in my countdown.

Thanks for joining me in this countdown. Stay tuned for editorials and for that LarryBoy and the Bad Apple movie review that I'm still working on.

Amateur Critic
Sources:
Veggietales
LarryBoy the Cartoon Adventures
Batman The Brave and the Bold
Rock-A-Doodle
Land Before Time 2: The Great Valley Adventure
The Pebble and The Penguin
Penguins of Madagascar

All rights go to Big Idea Entertainment, Warner Bros., Don Bluth, Universal Studios, and DreamWorks Animation

Top 10 Weirdest Scenes in "The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole"

Hi, I'm the Amateur Critic. I review just about anything.

As you may remember, one of the earliest reviews in his blog was the movie review for that Penguins of Madagascar TV movie, The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole.

Now, in that review, I found the movie great, but it also had some weird stuff in it. You know what? I'm just going to have fun with this and give the weird scenes their moment to shine. You'll laugh at some these, I promise you. So, without further ado, this is my Top 10 Weirdest Scenes in The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole.

10. Dr. Blowhole breaking 4th wall

Breaking 4th wall is uncommon in Penguins of Madagascar, except in a few episodes. However, this was an obvious 4th-wall comment made by Dr. Blowhole. Just listen to his line at the beginning of the second half of the movie:
Dr. Blowhole: "And now, part two...
(and then looking at the audience)
...of my plan."
I only broke 4th-wall to get your attention, audience. So, carry on.
In fact, on the DVD, the movie showed the movie's title at the beginning of part 2, which made the 4th-wall comment even more obvious (in case, some of y'all haven't known that yet).
The reason why I found this part of the movie weird is because... it's breaking 4th wall! What did you expect?!

9. Dr. Blowhole breaking into the Penguin HQ

It's bad enough when a prowler breaks into your house... but what if that prowler happened to be Dr. Blowhole? Dr. Blowhole would be the last person that anyone would expect to make one hell of an entrance. In fact, I got the feeling that he just wanted to make another big entrance on set, besides the one that he did at the beginning of the movie with his beach-ball-looking submarine lair.
What made this scene even more creepier was when Dr. Blowhole says the line: "Guess who, peng-you-ins..." (Not the game Guess Who? but the... well, you know what I mean.)

8. Dr. Blowhole, the Penguins, and the lemurs watching King Julien's iPod turn into a monster

Question: What would you do if you came across an inanimate object turning slowly into a live creature?
A. Get the hell out of there
B. Try and fight it
C. Find a way to turn it back to normal
D. None of the above.
Now I can tell you right now that for this scene, Dr. Blowhole, the Penguins, and the two lemurs stupidly chose Answer D. Like I was saying in the movie review: Feel free to leave, guys.

I mean, they just stand there looking at the mutating iPod, as if they're watching grass grow. Just remember, guys. If something is going erratic and/or is about to do the most wicked things to society, then your best bet is to either leave this to the professional and get the heck out of there, or do something about it! This emphasizes my point in most of the characters not doing a great job in problem-solving. Weird!

7. Dr. Blowhole driving his attack pod

Kind of a lame joke in this movie is that Dr. Blowhole can't really fit into his attack pod. This results in obnoxious close-ups to his face, and a subtle moment where he straightens his neck as soon as he gets to the Penguin HQ.
Plus, Dr. Blowhole's driving is insane. Cutting off a bus and taxi? Playing Russian Roulette with a subway?

Not only his this guy evil, but also... insane! Nothing but the weirdest for this dolphin super villain.

6. "Thump, Thump" song
This song had to be on of the weirdest songs in this movie. That's King Julien dressed as a wannabe super star and singing to the mutated iPod that's in the control of Dr. Blowhole.

The plan of that song was to lure the iPod towards King Julien so that the Penguins come jump on board and stop Blowhole. Unfortunately, the plan failed, resulting in an embarrassing fall from the sky and into a billboard... that so happened to come fresh from the fireworks factory.
How was this scene weird?

1.) King Julien is singing. As I said before, this was the singing choice that I didn't like. The Penguins chose him out of all the zoo animals, because apparently, he was the best singer that they had, and for that, he's the only one that can out-sing Blowhole. NOT TRUE! Kowalski did a much better job than him. Just refer to the duet that he did with Blowhole!
2.) While Julien is singing, Blowhole is trying to control the iPod, but struggles. It's like trying to handle a hyper dog on a leash! That had to be an awkward moment for Blowhole.

5. Dr. Blowhole's motivational speech to his minions

Blowhole makes this lame, long-winded speech to "inspire" his minions that his evil organization can do anything under his power.

Just remember: he makes this speech after threatening one of his minions of boiling them in hot water and turning them into a gourmet meal (that would prove worthy of Red Lobster restaurants).
I don't know. I just found this scene weird.

4. Dr. Blowhole using his Mind-Jacker on Skipper

This scene became the focal point of the movie: Skipper robbed of his memories to his arch nemesis.
This scene was technological BS with a side of pending doom to the victim.

Is it weird to say that during this scene, all I'm thinking about is why the Mind-Jacker looked like it was sucking up Skipper's soul instead of his "memories"?
Plus, Dr. Blowhole mentions that Skipper will forget everything, especially simpler things, such as swimming, because... Skipper (now drowsy, I guess) passes out and falls directly into the ocean. This sort of takes Blowhole's evil demeanor a whole new level, because in most Penguins of Madagascar episodes, it's rare that the antagonizing figure would want to kill the protagonist(s) and side character(s)... but in here, Blowhole just wants Skipper dead! How weird is that!
And also... this inspired an online game on Nick.com called The Revenge of Dr. Blowhole, where the player has to match at least three symbols of Skipper's "memories in order to fill up Dr. Blowhole's Mind-Jacker.

Pretty sadist, for a game. I mean, geez!

3. Dr. Blowhole threatening one of his minions

I found this scene not only weird, but also threatening.
First of all, why would you want to threaten the life of your employee? If they give you lip, just write them up or fire them. Plain and simple.
Second of all, Dr. Blowhole has attempted murder twice on Skipper. So why does he have to keep trying to kill people, including his own minions? It's like he has an addiction of killing people and being violent. Kind of typical of a super villain, right?
Third of all, listen to how Blowhole says this line to the minion has give him attitude: "You know, that big pot of water in the back that I keep at a steady slow boil... next to the movie butter?"
Minion: (Whimpering) "Okay. Sound is frozen." When I first heard that line, I remember getting goosebumps. Not only was this scene weird, but it was also creepy.

2. The Many Times Dr. Blowhole Sticks His Face In Front of the Camera

I remember criticizing Dr. Blowhole for being too photogenic when it came to his appearances. When he gets right into the camera lens, he just takes advantage of it by showing off to the audience on how evil he is and can be.

I understand that he's a bad-ass villain and all, but why waste time getting up close to the camera, when you've already proven that you're evil and stuff? It's like the movie can't go on if he doesn't stick his face into the camera for two seconds. And guess what? He did this in his first appearance, Dr. Blowhole's Revenge, and up until now still hasn't learned his lesson.

Well, that's also typical of him. A super-villain almost always never learns their lesson.

 

1. Almost Every Scene in "Brand New Plan"

I'll have to admit... this was one of my favorite songs in the movie. Neil Patrick Harris was top-notch during his performance. His voice was so out there, that it felt like he was singing directly at you.

However, for the weirdness, I will say that the song is weird, because one, we're in Dr. Blowhole's mind. We're given an insight on Blowhole's psyche. It's like: what are we looking at?

It's like the world of Tron if it was suddenly pimped out into a nerds-and-technology psych-ward asylum room-looking place... Or it's like the Nintendo GameCube main menu if it was controlled by Awful Alvin from the LarryBoy Cartoon Adventures!
And plus, wait until Dr. Blowhole sings the last lyric in his song. We get to the end of the song, and then... literally zoom out of his eye (emphasizing that the song was all in his head the whole time).

As I pointed out in the movie review: What the heck is he doing?! Did he get possessed on his way to the zoo?!

Despite the song being serious and all that, I still think that this was the weirdest scene in The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole.

Well, that was my countdown. I hoped you enjoyed it; and please stay tuned for editorials and for the LarryBoy and the Bad Apple movie review.

Amateur Critic
Sources:
The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole
Dr. Blowhole's Revenge

All specials are from Penguins of Madagascar. All rights go to DreamWorks Animation.

Top 10 Most-Viewed Post in the Week of 10/26-11/2/13

Hi, I'm the Amateur Critic. I review just about anything.

I got a little bored this weekend... and I'm at my laptop computer. That can only mean one thing: another countdown. Now, for this countdown, I'm looking at the top 10 most-viewed posts in the Week of Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2013. So let's not waste any time! : )

10. Lamb Chop's Play Along: When You Grow Up TV Show Review

I kinda expected this one to be scored low. In fact, this score was pretty good, compared to the first countdown that it was in during this blog.
Anyway, this episode of Lamb Chop was okay... not all that spectacular at the end, but okay.

9. Top 5 Most-Viewed LarryBoy Reviews
That's great how one of my countdown's is in another countdown that I had concocted. (No comment, sorry.)

8. LarryBoy and the Rumor Weed Movie Review

I'm surprised that this review scored low in the countdown. In fact, this review didn't show up at all in the first countdown I had.
Anyway, this movie was fun to review. I praised it for its bold approach, the amping-up of the "cinematography," having the feel of a theatrical movie, and for pushing it farther than The Fib from Outer Space. Despite its over-the-top dramatic moments and minor flaws, it wasn't so bad.

It took chances; it had a clear message; and it's one of my all-time favs in LarryBoy history.

7. The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole Movie Review

It's the 1-hour TV movie dedicated to Dr. Blowhole. He's one of my all-time favorite bad villains. Now, for his appearances on Penguins of Madagascar, I'll like him no matter what. However, I just wish that DreamWorks can feature him in a theatrical movie, that way he can... I don't know.

When I was in high school, he wasn't really a household name. In fact, this gives me an idea: why don't I make a countdown dedicated to the "most underrated villains"? (There's an idea.)

Now, this TV movie was fun to do as well. I got down and dirty with spotting the plot holes and all the weird stuff that was in it. (Another idea: the top 10 weirdest scenes in The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole... and it's coming soon!) Despite its nostalgia and criticism, I still gave it credit for effort and entertainment.

6. Lamb Chop's Play Along: The Wallet Movie Review

Why isn't this episode of Lamb Chop's Play Along the most-viewed?!
I'm sorry, but this episode was funny, when it came to solving the problem. Well, I'll admit that the ending kinda sucked a little, but the rest was funny. I mean, wanting to keep the wallet with $50 in it... I died a little inside because of the laughing.

As I mentioned in the review, $50 was a lot of money back in the 80s and early 90s. Imagine what today's standards would be...

5. LarryBoy: Leggo My Ego Movie Review

This episode of LarryBoy was a field day for me. Why? Well, I remember calling the Alchemist a momma's boy, and criticizing him for letting his mother wear the pants the majority of the time.

The point is, the plot was ridiculous; the hero was clueless (which brings LarryBoy unnecessary shame to his name- I should know; I'm a die-hard LarryBoy fan!); and I felt like the Alchemist could've been a legit bad guy if he had left his mother out of all of this.
But, hey. If LarryBoy is in a sucky video, then, as a die-hard LarryBoy fan, I'll keep coming back for more.

4. LarryBoy in the Good, the Bad, and the Eggly Movie Review

Behold! The weakest LarryBoy episode in LarryBoy history!
Geez, I never got why Big Idea came up with this episode. I mean, the 3D-animated installments of LarryBoy had more dignity than this phony.

I criticized it for having a mixed messages; the characters being morons; and the episode not being a legit LarryBoy story. So, if you haven't read this review, go right ahead.

3. LarryBoy and the Angry Eyebrows Movie Review

This was marked as the beginning of my frustration on the beginning of Big Idea's taking terrible advantage of trying to bring LarryBoy back in the spotlight.

I remember that the villain was basically insane; the story made LarryBoy seem all watered down; and the story was too fast-paced.
That was my analysis of the movie in my review.

2. Lamb Chop's Play Along: The Guys TV Show Review

So far, this episode of Lamb Chop is still ranked #1 in most-viewed post of all time (so far).
I'll admit that this episode had a powerful message behind it, and the dialogue could be funny at times.

But, look at it. It's Charlie Horse trying to be somebody that he's not. In fact, I bet you that he doesn't learn his lesson: just check him out in the Shari Lewis Passover special, where he's running for class president and is doing everything in his power to get everyone to vote for him!
Despite my criticism and all that, I still like that episode; and I don't care if I watch it again in the future.

1. LarryBoy and the Yodelnapper Movie Review

Right now, I'm thinking why such an imperfect episode of LarryBoy would make it to #1 as a movie review.
Perhaps, it was because of my totally complete honesty when it came to revealing that the message that's trying to get across... is hiding in the over-the-top yodeling enthusiasm that this movie has!

Or perhaps it was the spawning of a segment that will be used in future reviews: the Awkward Face Moment.

No matter the reason, this review came up on top. I must say that I had fun with this review, because it not only spawned a segment that I'm going to be using in this blog from now on, but also because that was the first time I used my Nintendo DSi for some of the pics.

And that was my countdown. Next time, for countdowns on this blog, I'm going to pick and choose between the following:
-Top 10 Most-Underrated Villains
-or-
-Top 10 Weirdest Scenes in The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole
(I'll be the judge of that...)

Amateur Critic
Sources:
Lamb Chop's Play Along
LarryBoy (franchise)
Penguins of Madagascar

All rights go to Shari Lewis, Big Idea Entertainment, and DreamWorks Animation