Mech-X4

Ohh, boy! This show is right up my alley! It's like if you took "Pacific Rim" and "Power Rangers" and mixed them together. It has action, fun characters, and some pretty good humor. Ryan is a teenager who discovers he has the power to control technology around him, and that these people are called Technopaths. He finds out someone knows about his ability, and built a giant robot suit that only he can pilot. He's told that he, his 2 friends, and his brother, need to work together in the suit to fight the monsters that are being created and attacking the city. Ok, so the CGI in this show for the monsters isn't the best, but hey, it's a TV budget, I'm willing to be forgiving. The monsters actually have some really cool designs. Each monster is a hybrid of two different animals. One's half crab and half baboon, one's half Jaguar and half Stegosaurus, One's part T-Rex, Rhino, and Scorpion, you get the idea. These monsters are really cool, and some are actually pretty terrifying. There's also a lot of wit from the main characters, especially the character of Harper. He's basically this universe's Tony Stark, complete with the same personality. The action is pretty fun to watch, reminiscent of shows like Power Rangers, and there's actually some really good and surprising twists in some of the episodes. This show is obviously a niche, and it's not going to be for everyone, but if you love Pacific Rim or Power Rangers, than check out MECH X4.

I have to admit, I was skeptical when I started watching...but then the plot unfolded, and it was more than just a good guy fighting a bad guy with a giant robot. No, there were layers. Just when you think you have the villain figured out, you are suddenly questioning yourself. Also, I love the friendship dynamics. The boys start as friends, but it's clear they become family. Maybe the characters are a little cliché at first, but Disney elaborates on them as the series continues. It's clear they are not defined as the geek, or the comic relief. I do admit the cgi isn't the best, but I enjoyed the show so much I could overlook that. Overall, I think it's a hilarious, sweet show with a powerful message.

You see, I did not enjoy this show as much as I was hoping, as the advertising looked much better than the actual show, but let's get to the real stuff. The story line is basic, the acting isn't too bad, the CGI is also pretty bad, but, for the estimated 1,000,000$ budget, I have to give it to them, they did good for that, but, they could have done a lot better, like add a little less CGI into the monsters. Overall, It was bad.

The thing that stands out the most from this show is that lots of episodes are better in hindsight. A plot twist may seem predictable when it's first revealed, until the writers throw in another twist making the previous, "predictable" twist much more clever. I won't go into specifics to avoid spoilers, but the villain side of things always keeps getting better.

Characters: Every character has good characterization and decent acting. I just wished Spyder got more screen time as he is by far the least developed hero.

Action: The fight scenes are well made, besides the cgi. The monster designs make up for it though, being both awesome and bizarre, such as a squid-snake.

Overall: the cgi knocks a point down, but the plot and characters are brilliant.

Ok. I first thought another Gundam/Power Ranger wanna be series, but this show was very well done. It had action that wasn't overly violent. It touched on a few small but very real issues (family and identity). The cast didn't ham up the acting ether. I hope to see more.