Review: Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero ”Chicken or Fish?; The Old Old West”

Spoilers Below

Chicken or Fish?

Penn and the gang travel to a world where they are a fish people fighting to defend their city from Larry and Rippen whom are leading an army of octopi into battle. Problem is, Boone is a hermit crab that is afraid to swim and he is the only one with the power to unlock a trident that would be instrumental on the field of battle. As a result, Penn has to go up to the surface, grab Boone, and flight him near the trident inside of a jelly fish. Eventually, Rippen captures both Penn and Sashi causing Boone to finally face his fears of swimming and unlock the trident. Penn gets it and goes to town on the calamari thereby saving the city.

Penn Zero officially returns with an under-the-sea rendition that should make fans of Fish Hooks, Little Mermaid, and other aquatic adventures more than happy. The fight scene at the end was a lot of fun, and Boone was pretty funny. His stubbornness is comical and provides for a great tug of war between him and Penn. I would’ve liked to have seen more of the sea people, as other episodes typically give us a guest star that helps usher in our interest in the local folk, but this one didn’t give us that. In any case, still a great way to kick off a bunch of episodes for the month ahead.

The Old Old West

Penn and the gang head to a world where there are cowboys roaming the town area with dinosaurs. It isn’t long before Rippen and Larry show up to rob the local bank and take off to the county line. As a result, our fabled trio get a load of dinosaurs of their own and team up with a mangy local sheriff named Scaley Briggs. On the way to catching up with the Rex and his riders, Briggs opts to prove his worth as an able-bodied hero so he sends the kids in the wrong direction long enough for him to catch up to Rippen and challenge him to a showdown. Unfortunately, he ends up dislocating his hip, and just as it looks like Rippen is about to take off with the town’s cash, Penn and the kids show up to serve justice. Scaley calls on the power of a pack of raptors that allow him to take hold or Rippen’s T-Rex and head back home with the money.

Beau Bridges playing the role of ‘Scaley’ could NOT have gone any better. He was funny, definitely old-timey local that made you want to root for him no matter what. Problem is, if you have a Western with a bunch of dinosaurs, is it too much to ask for some sort of showdown? If you are a fan of Westerns, those showdowns have guns. If you are a fan of dinosaurs, you get dino fights ala King Kong or Jurassic Park. Instead, we get what was more or less a competition, and couldn’t help but think more could’ve been done here.