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chongoblog · 5 years

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Hey I know that you all see me as the Grand Authority on Movie Opinions in that I am correct and can never be wrong and also my opinion on things is NEVER unsolicited because I’m literally the most important person on the internet and you CRAVE my opinions.

So I saw Shazam last night and I’m gonna talk about it under this readmore because I dunno how long it’s gonna be and I respect y’all’s dashes like that (plus if y’all don’t care abt what I thought then you can keep scrolling). There will be spoilers but I will clearly mark them.

So I’ve been thinking to myself on whether or not Shazam was the best DCEU movie. All things considered, it didn’t have too high of a bar to leap over, seeing how Wonder Woman, which was originally my favorite, had a lot of incredible moments, but was bogged down by a few of the scenes around those moments and a frankly terrible final act. And if I were to put it into numbers, (which people seem to love) I’d put Wonder Woman at about 50% INCREDIBLE 20% ehhhh and 30% GOD WHY, plus add a few bonus points for being so inspiring within its social context as a female-led superhero movie that isn’t terrible, sexualized or both. Shazam, on the other hand, doesn’t get those bonus points of social context, but has about a 60% Pretty Good and 40% ehhhh with one small bonus point for having one scene that personally hit me pretty hard that I’ll talk about later. It doesn’t reach any of the LOWS that any other film in the DCEU had, but at the same time, it didn’t really hit any of the highs either.

Something that’s worth addressing is that as someone who likes to partake in any and all drama because I’m a gremlin who loves seeing complaining, I saw plenty of DC fans complain that this movie was falling into a sort of trap set up saying “ITS ONLY BEING LIGHTHEARTED BECAUSE IT THINKS THAT IT HAS TO BE MORE LIKE MARVEL AND THATS WHY MORE PEOPLE LIKE IT” and I do want to address that because it’s a stupid argument. While Shazam is a departure from the DCEU’s more serious tone thus far, it’s not a black and white deal. DC isn’t strictly defined by being “the more serious Marvel” or vice versa. Being lighthearted did help Shazam out, not BECAUSE it was more like a Marvel movie, but because unlike movies like Batman v Superman, it didn’t try (and fail) to tackle more complex themes and down to earth schemes that made it lose focus and become an enormous mess. That being said, Shazam’s schemes and themes were much simpler, and it made for a much SMALLER mess if/when it did lose focus.

Before I dive into the spoilers, I’ll give my two cents on the film as a whole. Like I mentioned, the light-hearted tone did help out the movie, and it took itself a little less seriously with things while still balancing out some emotion in the story, and the whole theme behind it, while not PERFECTLY drawn out, still had a coherent message behind it. Visually, the movie was definitely trying to break out of the Zack Snyder mold that had been set up back with Man Of Steel, and while it still chills out in Low Saturation City a lot of the time, it IS doing a better job. Zachary Levi definitely deserves a shoutout in this movie for probably being the second best actor in the DCEU closely behind Gal Gadot in terms of casting choices, perfectly encapsulating the idea of Shazam, and pulling off the role of a Big Billy Batson, however he seems to have taken away the acting talent from half of the rest of the cast, because some of the acting in this movie is.....not great. And that’s not counting the child actors who did alright considering they’re child actors (Freddy in particular was fantastic).

The dialogue in this is pretty solid and indicative of the situation, and they really tried to lean into the idea that it’s some middle school (or early high I cant really remember) kid who just got these powers, and they do a pretty good job of that in both the dialogue and in the first half of the movie. And like I mentioned, there is a bit of Emotion in this movie that they really tried to deliver and they did a pretty good job delivering it. That being said, it’s very clear that they’re going for a kinda cheesy sort of vibe. Which makes sense, since the concept is Kid Becomes Superhero, which is ripe for picking like some kind of Cheese Tree....orchard.....thing.....and it leads to just a fun experience. It’s something that knows it shouldn’t be taken too seriously, which is why I’m writing an incredibly long analytical review of it, because I’m a curmudgeon like that.

ALRIGHT SPOILER TIME SCROLL DOWN TO THE VERY BOTTOM IF YOU DONT WANNA GET SPOILED

Lol alright so this spoiler section is gonna have a lot of negative points, so let me start with some positives.

The overall theme of this movie is sort of an idea of Found Family (which I’m an absolute sucker for), and there’s a subplot that follows this idea where Billy is looking for his mom. The movie starts showing a flashback where Billy’s mom gives him a compass saying “it’ll always help you find your way home” and then very shortly afterward, Billy gets himself seperated from his mother and had to be put into foster care and is now searching for his mother by looking everywhere he can to the point it causes him to run away multiple times. It’s not too surprising how this ends, with him finding his mother, only to find out that she just didn’t pick him up because she was 17 at the time and felt she COULDN’T take care of him. And that’s the point when he realizes “maybe my REAL family were the kids in the foster home all along”. Billy Batson sees that his birth mother’s life is tumultuous, taking on new lovers, working part time jobs, and not having time to even consider caring for Billy, moreso just hoping he turned out alright. Billy, as a sort of symbolic gesture, hands his mother the compass saying “you’ll need this more than me”. And then she replies with two words that just killed me for some reason.

“What’s this?”

I don’t know. It was a line that hit me. Kinda reflecting that sort of disconnect. Alright enough being nice, let’s talk things that are Alright but could be better.

The villain was alright. His character was pretty fun at the beginning, but after he got revenge on his father for Toxic Masculinity™ he became pretty boring, acting more like a CGI Monster Vending Machine. Of course it kinda leads into the whole Cheesy vibe they were going for, but it’s hard to make your movie seem like it’s gonna be campy and cheesy when your villain doesn’t really fall into the role once he actually fights the hero (also with the color palette). Just wish they would’ve sorta gone full Sam Raimi and just leaned into the campiness, with this movie kinda afraid to jump into the pool past its bathing suit.

And then there was the climax of the movie in the carnival, where I felt like it went a little bit downhill, not really being the best that it could be, but still pretty serviceable. The director seemed to be REALLY into using slo-mo, using it a little more than necessary to the point of being distracting, and while the Shazam concept was used in a few fun creative ways, there were some moments where it could have had more utility, or one moment in particular when he absolutely needed to change back and probably had time to say “Shazam” like twenty times over, but he didn’t, which was a LITTLE frustrating, but that’s way more nitpicky. Speaking of nitpicks, there were a few shots that were.....questionable (most notably the Santa.....moment? It seemed to be a clear funny moment, but it didn’t really land and didn’t flow either)

And also the climax has a bit of a fun twist moment that helps round out the Found Family moment where all of Billy’s adopted family also become superheroes, which is pretty sweet, but there was one SMALL nitpick that doesn’t overwhelmingly detract from anything but I found strange. Every character had a power, with one person showing the super strength, another showing super speed, another with lightning, another with flying, which were Shazam’s powers. And then Mary was there....and we don’t really get to see her powers? I did research and apparently she’s a character in the comics with all the powers of Shazam, but Mary was one of the only other characters with an arc and we don’t get to see her with any powers, which is a bit weird (we also don’t get to see her arc formally conclude. We can draw conclusions but still). So in the end it looks like Mary essentially kinda got Kairi’d. Oof.

But that’s really it for spoilers, in terms of the “bad” it’s really just that it didn’t really give it enough of an impact and while it knew what it wanted to be and isn’t disingenuous about it, it also doesn’t really commit to BEING what it wants to be.

ALRIGHT SPOILERS ARE ALL DONE YOU CAN LOOK NOW HERES MY BOTTOM LINE

Bottom line is that this movie is definitely flawed, and after consideration I don’t think I’d put it at the top of the DCEU, if only because Wonder Woman reached higher points than this one did, but that shouldn’t be a slight against Shazam at all. Heck, I would consider putting it a little bit above Captain Marvel if we’re inevitably comparing rivals.

So all in all I give it a Shazam/10. A good fun time. Not the BEST movie you’ll see this year, but you’re there to have a good time and you’ll have it.

#reviews i guess #dang im really just writing a review #ah well #shazam #dceu

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the-kool-kyle · 5 years

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Aquaman Review

Aqua-Man is one of DC comics most well known heroes and also on of the most controversial. For many decades he has been criticised for being being seen as a dumb and uncool character who never quite reached the type of praise or fame like many of other DC's champions have received like Batman and Superman. Mainly due to his boring stories, dated look and unimpressive powers FYI: talking to fish. But now with the newest instalment of the DCEU we've been give an Aqua-Man movie that does what 60 years of comic books couldn't do and make him into a badass acting, awesome looking and down right cool character throughout a movie that is surprisingly a very entertaining popcorn movie that gets more awesome every time you see it. Plus people can now see Aqua-Man as a real superhero and not a dated and dorky comic book character we all know and use to tolerate.

“Aqua-Man” is the best DC live action movie in the DCEU to date. With it's perfect acting, great pacing, easter eggs, stunning visuals and memorable moments. As well as costumes and moments ripped straight from the comics which has become the DCEU strongest suit since Batman V Superman. This film proves that any character from a comic book can be made into a relatable and loving person that can inspire everyone.

Jason Momoa stars as the best and most awesome live action portrayal of Aqua-Man(Arthur Curry) to date. His take on the character with his big dumb tough guy attitude, badass look and epic one liners. This is a major improvement over what the character is like in the comics by ditching his blonde hair and goody two shoes personality for a version of the character that's both modern and likeable for young and old audiences. He has become to most liked character in these movies since Batfleck appear in BVS and has really made an impact on veteran readers who always saw him as the worst superhero ever made and can now see him as a total badass and a real superhero. But best of all Jason Momoa was the perfect choice they just couldn't have gotten anyone better to play him he is probably one of the best superhero castings of all time.

Amber Heard stars as Mera Princess of the Xebel tribe from Atlantis and well known from the comics for being Aqua-Man's love interest and future wife but is also known for her unique power of Hydrokinetic and telepathic powers that allow her to control aquatic environments and water at will and as well as her iconic long lush bright red hair. She completely pulls off a perfect performance as this female superhero as through the film she is seen as a no nonsense royal that delivers exposition and having a “love-hate” relationship with Arthur. But most importantly she is a strong empowering female character who has great chemistry with Arthur. Which I see is a great portrayal of this type of character rather than being the typical defenceless damsel who instantly falls for the hero because he's “The Hero”.

Now over the last decade it's become something of a hot button topic with comic villains in these movies as most of the time their generic, forgettable and disposable villains that only last one movie and don't make that much of an impact but some times they get them right. This movie however has two villains that are both great at being evil, have justifiable motives and good reasons for doing what they do and both make huge impacts on the film's narrative.

Orm king of Atlantis and Aqua-Man's half brother played by Patrick Wilson is the movie's main antagonist and one of Aqua-Man's arch enemies . Throughout the film Wilson is really committed to his role and bring to life this largely unknown villain from the comics. While he does have some cheesy dialogue that feels straight out of Shakespeare the one thing that makes him a great villain is because he has justifiable motives. Orm being the king of Atlantis cares about his people and will go to extreme methods to keep them safe and during this goal he has come to hate the surface dwellers because they pollute the sea, dumb all their trash into it, kill billions of fish and other aquatic creatures and generally just destroy the oceans beauty. So while he does make some dark decisions and acts like a complete monster can we really blame him for hating the surface world? So basically he's an evil character who is actually right which I think is a very interesting way to show us that not all super-villains are evil for no apparent reason to be good. Orm or “Oceanmaster” is probably one of the best DC villain to date .

The movie's second villain is of Aqua-Man's arch enemies.....Black Manta. Black Manta is one of Aqua-Man's most famous villains since his earliest adventures who is instantly recognisable for his black scuba suit and bug like helmet with big red eyes cable of firing a powerful laser beam. While the previous DC movies have had some pretty boring villains they finally give us a bad guy who is finally awesome because Black Manta is badass as hell! While he could have been used a little more he more than makes up for his limited screen time by stealing every scene he's in thanks to his dark and cold personality, epic lines of dialogue and best of all his costume. While Aqua-Man's classic costume is still up for debate Black Manta's costume is just awesome because it looks exactly like the comic book counter part with a few minor upgrades making him look both awesome and terrifying. Thanks “Iron Head”. One thing that really makes his unique is that in a way he is the hero of his own story and has a understandable reason for wanting to kill Aqua-Man.

So this movie has two great villains that feel like they were ripped straight from the comics, had justifiable motives and were both awesome. That's a major win for the DCEU.

Now this movie's best feature is it's visuals. This movie just looks amazing it's probably one of the most visually stunning movies in recent years with perfect CGI that makes all of the scenes underwater and the actors (while filming)look like their actually floating around in the depths of the ocean. Plus all of the movie's locations and set pieces such as Atlantis were stunning they looked so real and felt more like they filmed in real locations rather than created using CGI and green screens. The movie's action was just non-stop and all of the scenes were both really awesome and unique in their own way. The action was filmed using tracking shots and one shot takes that made the acton a whole lot more exciting as well as a few camera angles in certain shots that made the action more real and made us feel like we were actually in the movie instead of relying on multiple camera angles and quick cuts.

I have to give a 10/10 for the costumes and props this movie used. All of the main characters looked almost like their comic book counter parts their costumes were incredibly accurate and looked so awesome especially for Aqua-Man, Mera, Orm and Black Manta. Plus the many props they used throughout the movie looked so cool like Aqua-Man and Orm's Tridents, Black Manta's helmet, Mera's Crown and the weapons the Atlantian soliders wielded.

The story surprisingly did a good job sticking to original origins of Aqua-Man where his father was a lighthouse keeper and his mother was a queen of Atlantis. It also had great pacing and did a great job building up this world that Aqua-Man takes place in and also included so great flash back sequences which didn't feel out of place. Many of the films side characters were portrayed very well by their actors like Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry, Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Willlem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko and Dolph Lundgren as Nereus. Additionally if your a big DC fan like me I suggest you keep and eye out for the many easter eggs this movie had hidden in certain scenes so keep an eye out.

Final Verdict: Aqua-Man is the best DCEU movie to date thanks to it's great casting choices, classic story, awesome villains, great hero, strong women and stunning visuals. It's living proof that the DCEU isn't dead and is catching up to Marvel and is close to fully competing with them full time.

Final Score 8.5/10

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loycos · 7 years

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i finished watching the Judas Contract.

ok, guys, let me explain before i start. 1 )I’ve been a fan of the Titans for a long time. i watched the animated series when it aired, when i was 10 y\o. read the comics when i was 16. i prefer the comics version of the characters, but my favorite characters are still the titans i loved from the animated series- i just love their comic book, older personas better. these characters mean a lot to me.

2) i’m used to seeing a lot of shitty products with their brand name on them.

3) i have an entire au in my head that is based around them- it sort of combines my favorite elements from the show and comics into one.

I’m telling u all of it because this is the closest version i’ve seen of the titans i have in my head. and for that, i’m already impressed. i enjoyed this movie a lot- i know it’s far from being perfect, and i’ll address it soon. but my review is mostly positive, because i came in with very low expectations, and got a pretty good product.

spoilers from now on:

* i’m confused as to why the beginning flashback was the one they chose. it doesn’t have much to do with the subject of the film- you’d think they’ll open with a flashback that shows how terra even got on the team- the only thing we saw last movie was her flying on a rock towards the titans tower. by the second scene of this movie, you already have her on the team, and no one questions it. but even me, who saw the last movie and is very familiar with the story they’re gonna tell, was taken aback for a second. TL;DR- introduce this lady properly to the viewers before diving in the deeper meta of her existence.

* the dialogue is quick and most of the jokes hit right. i laughed quite a few times. Raven’s snarky-ness works here. actually, everyone’s kind of snarky- except Kory, ofc- but hey, theyre teenagers.

* they actually foreshadow?? quite a few things a s well?? like Kory randomly hangs weapons on the walls of their new apartment and Dick kinda questions it but it mostly seems like a comedic thing- but in a later scene it pays off. they do it a lot with other things as well.

*everyone’s relatable (except the villains, of course. unless youre sleeping with minors or taking a bath in someone else’s blood, that is). they added tiny scenes here and there to remind u that nobody on this team is perfect. the most obnoxious members for me are Damian and BB- and while they were cocky and bratty as usual, i didnt mind it as much cause they were given more depth and less screentime (ehm DAMIAN).

*the story follows the original comic pretty closely, for all the good parts. the cool machine the titans were put into- the exact same design. Nightwing saving the day. the cheesy traps the titans fell for. some shots are like panels from the comic, it’s insane.

*minor detail that i liked- in the last fight, when they were fighting against Deathstroke\Brother Blood simultaneously- notice how Robin and Nightwing took care of Deathstroke, who is an assassin without superpowers while the super powered titans- Starfire, Raven, BB and Beetle took care of the superpowered villain. small detail but it makes sense. no more Damian taking down a bunch of demons.

the characters, in general:

*Damian got his ass kicked. a lot. finally. and then Deathstroke makes a comment about it!?!? like dude knew exactly what i was thinking lol.

*BB shows some emotions beyond ‘turned on’ and ‘cocky’. his jokes are corny... it’s not even a complaint cause that’s comics bb for u. ppl who only watched the animated series dont know the pain.

*stop making him say ‘mama’ tho. it throws me off the scene.

*Dick finally has something to do!?! i would say he’s the most boring out of the main characters, but he’s not bad at all. he kicked some ass there.

*Blue Beetle. i loved his portrayal here. A+

*Terra was given an interesting backstory, and yet they didnt turn her into this woobie teenager that was mislead (i mean she was, but shes far from innocent) they showed that some people cant escape their dark past, even if they’re not 100% evil. I loved how Terra was handled here- shes more like her comic book version, but not as over the top and ridiculous. i can actually believe that they fell for her scam here.

*Raven didn’t have much to do in here, but she was definitely entertaining.i wish they would drag the Terra\Raven tension more, it was a big thing in both the comics and the show.

*and last but not least, my absolute fav, the orange wife herself, Starfire. She... was nice. she seem to have some debuts about her capability as a leader, shes never dumbed down. She visually looks better in this film (so does Raven, btw). i wish we’d seen more of her struggles, but i dont know if it’s just my inner fangirl starving for more or she was actually lacking something. i guess that because it’s not her story she doesnt get much of the spotlight, but comon. when is it EVER gonna be her story??? i’m waiting dc. that flashback doesnt count, it had nothing to do with anything.

*oh yeah, the villains. Deathstroke was so sassy lol. he broke the 4th wall a few times, called Damian a brat and kicked his ass (he’s a kid tho, slade, fucking chill). has a romance with Terra (i DIDNT think they would go in that direction holy shitttt)

*brother blood monologuing in his dramatic voice... very comic book like. ha.

*Jericho and Wondergirl.... well next movie i guess.

*some scenes were incredibly cheesy, but there werent that many.

* animation was AWFUL but it’s tolerable.

overall: its an ensemble film. and they did their best crouching as much character development and personality without losing track of the story. the result is decent enough. I personally loved it, if youre a fan of the titans i’d say its a must.

#teen titans #judas contract

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rate-out-of-10 · 7 years

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 REVIEW

In 2014 the MCU opened its arms to the lesser known (at the time) gang of heroes, the Guardians of the Galaxy. It was a head scratcher as to why, with the Avengers being the biggest thing in comic cinema ever, to launch a new film set so far away from everything happening in the MCU with a bunch of relatively unknown people. However, the risk paid off and Guardians of the Galaxy was a huge surprise hit. It surprised comic fans and casual movie-goers alike with its quick wit, lovable and unique characters, and its total embrace of its cheesy qualities. The best way to sum up the Guardians of the Galaxy is: 70s/80s rock & pop music laid over superheroes in space. It’s perfect, and let me tell you, Vol. 2 keeps that reputation going with ease.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Chris Pratt returns as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, and he’s as lovable as ever. He’s the perfect person to play this role. Vol. 2 gives Peter the chance to shine in some more dramatic elements with him meeting his father and learning the truth about his mother and his lineage. But even when faced with some lower, more dramatic parts, he’s still the wise-ass Star-Lord we’ve come to love. And that’s where the movie shines specifically; expanding some crucial parts for each character, while maintaining them. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and her relationship with her sister Nebula (Karen Gillian) is a big sub-plot here and I absolutely enjoyed it. Tackling abuse is a touchy thing to do in film, especially when it’s in the midst of a more light-hearted feel, but the importance is not lost on it. The rivalry between the two is apparent and I liked learning why and how it came to be. I do wish, though, that I saw the rivalry grow with flashbacks to younger versions of the two, even just one; I am getting tired of dead-pan close ups of angry/sad people just retelling their traumatic backstories, no matter how affecting they might be. And while I’m talking about Nebula and Gamora, these two seemed to fall into the pit of being a little too over the top with their lines. Most delivered by Nebula felt off and a little too dramatic. However, upon a second viewing I felt more content with the lines. Another character that is fleshed out rather well is Yondu, the Ravager who took Peter as a child and somewhat raised him. We learn why he kept Peter instead of returning him to his father, where he came from (in yet another sad dead-pan retelling), and something that was a great addition, his relationship with Rocket. It was touching and hilarious and something new that we needed to see out of the two. Yondu being specifically talked of as being Peter’s father figure put a smile on my face. “You may be his boy, but he was never your daddy,” that lined healed me. Plus his Ravager funeral was a very touching moment, especially with Kraglin’s heartwarming reaction when he sees his fellow ravagers come to the funeral blast their fireworks for him. I teared up a little there. Bradley Cooper turns in another great performance, however his fake laughs were a bit too fake and they got me feeling some sort of uncomfortable way sometimes. Rocket proving himself to be a professional asshole, but in the light of him being a young Yondu, being overly-protective of himself spelled really well through the movie. Perhaps the most adored character in the first movie, Groot shines again and steals the show in his baby form. His childlike wonder is so nice to have, especially in a genre where it’s easy to fall into the trap of melodrama, and taking things too seriously (I’m looking at you DC’s cinematic universe). Baby Groot was unspeakably adorable, but boy am I excited for Angsty-Teen Groot. While there is some cheesy, melodrama in Vol. 2, there was plenty in the first too, it’s always evenly offset by its wittiness, or its outrageousness, and Baby Groot is that refreshing glass of water. With Groot, there’s Drax the Destroyer. The naïve, natural-born killer works against the melodrama as well and it works quite nicely. Although I was disappointed in him in some regards. Is it me, or did he not seem to do much? He only really fought in the beginning sequence but from there on he was just sort of there delivery some funny lines. I didn’t like him just solely there comedy, I wanted Drax to be destroying things as well, and I was let down in that regard. Kurt Russell as Ego was very cool as well. It’s hard to personify a being of that magnitude with such competence. Ego is also, by every meaning of the word, is a cheesy comic creation. I mean he’s a planet with a face. C’mon. But it is used very sparingly and tastefully to where you’re not completely overwhelmed by that cheesy comic book genre stuff. What I did appreciate a lot was that he didn’t feel like generic villain that we’ve seen a dozen times in the Marvel movies. He felt slightly more real, even as a celestial. Overall, each character, even the new ones, like Mantis (who is absolutely adorable, by the way. A little cinnamon roll to perfect for this world, too pure), all got the chance to shine and be fleshed out a bit more, and remain themselves, while also staying fun to watch.

I have to applaud the writers right off the bat. These folk have some balls doing what they did. They knew Guardians 1 had to be big and ridiculous and different to be the success it was, and they knew after that they had to go even bigger, and they did without looking back. It’s very commendable. It’s tough to make a worthy follow up to something that surprised everyone because everyone will naturally be expecting to be surprised by this one too. That’s not fair at all I think, this movie is a great sequel to the original, and is great in its own right. The film is a creation made of pure character. The story follows along the plot it does simply because the characters naturally turned it out. No plot point or happening felt too forced, they organic and that’s important to superhero films. They need to feel inhabited by heroes we can connect to, make them feel real, even when they’re clearly not. James Gunn and team continue to do a wonderful job creating characters and allowing them to be themselves. And I was totally happy with The Sovereign have the bad-guy spotlight for time, as Ego’s plot line built up. I was anxious to see The Living Planet, and I wasn’t disappointed. The film also has some amazing CG work and action sequences, with a bomb soundtrack as well, but that’s to be expected. In addition to its fun, Vol. 2 also has some really dark sequences, with some serious carnage thrown in as well. Some pieces feel overwhelming and have serious repercussions in the universe, some are just flat out morbid; but it works very well with the film, it grounds it I think. With all the weirdness and absurdity that happens with the Guardians, those darker, heavier bits are definitely welcome in my opinion. I’m excited to see the rumors of Adam Warlock be confirmed here. An introduction to the soul stone perhaps? There was no sign of any of the last Infinity Stones in this. Even still, this movie was a whole lot of fun, and there are things here that really get you excited for the future of the MCU when the cosmic parts collide with the Earth-based heroes. It’ll put things into perspective for the Avengers too. It’ll be very affecting to see Tony’s fears in Age of Ultron confirmed, Earth is “hopelessly outgunned”. And with Thor: Ragnarok looking like it’s going to begin building the bridge to the cosmic MCU, we’ll be seeing all these heroes together very soon, and that is very exciting. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 goes big and owns every part of it, without a doubt. I could have done without some of the clichés, as well as some too-cheesy dialogue, Drax just being there for comedic effect, as well as some jokes that carried on for too long, but they don’t hurt the film too much I’d say because they own the rest so damn well. The film is bold, smart, funny, and very heartfelt. My final rating for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is:

8.75/10. Explosive fun.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is just awesome. Simple as that. Marvel can do anything that they want.

#guardians of the galaxy #guardians of the galaxy vol 2 #gotg #gotg2 #review #movie review #film review #reviews #out of 10 #comics #movies #superheroes #peter quill #chris pratt #film #comedy #action #marvel #mcu

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Star Trek: Bringing the Enterprise Home, 55 Years Later

https://ift.tt/3ivHwqV

All odysseys must end.

The final year of the starship Enterprise’s five-year mission has long been speculated about, but never before been given such descriptive and reverential treatment as in IDW’s Star Trek: Year Five, a comic written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly. Yet, it too must come to an end as the intrepid crew of The USS Enterprise complete their final year of exploration in this true-to-The-Original-Series story that wraps up this summer. Den of Geek was able to sit down with Lanzing and Kelly to talk about the journey, its challenges, and how they managed to bring the Enterprise home in this epic comic series that gives the final year of James T. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise’s mission the proper examination it deserved.

“I’m happy to have finally landed the ship,” Lanzing tells us, before continuing in a bittersweet tone: “I’m sad. Star Trek means so much to me and Collin. We’re enormous fans and we have been shaped by it in a lot of ways and fought really hard to get to work on it. Hitting that point, and getting to work on it with such an iconic crew of the original series – it felt like we couldn’t drop the ball on this. When we got it – we felt the enormous weight of responsibility that it had to stand apart from other Star Trek books.”

Which, of course, was the purpose for this odyssey. This series had to be different from other Star Trek comics and there could be no other way to show its distinction by exploring the ending of The Original Series. As any loyal Trek fan knows, TOS ran for only three seasons. It survived, sporadically appearing in novels and other literature. There was room to create stories about the seasons that never were. For many writers and fans, additional stories were just accepted to be in that missing time span. Some even accept The Animated Series to be the missing years, but there was never any formal acknowledgment that, when that series ended, so did the Enterprise’s five-year mission.

Star Trek: Year Five boldly announced its finite nature from the start. With 24 issues in two years, Lanzing and Kelly created a set of stories that filled a void by incorporating elements and recognized work from other comic creators that any TOS fan would have instantly recognized and accepted into the canon of the franchise. While this may have been the Enterprise’s last leg of her journey, it was certainly a full one.

“I really felt it was important to know what had come before,” Jackson says of the series. “I’d read everything Mike Johnson had done, the work the Tiptons put out, but I had to also look at the DC and Marvel works as well. I had to know what we were living up to.”

Both creators cut their Trek teeth on The Next Generation, DS9 and Voyager; in Lanzing’s case, it wasn’t until his early twenties when TOS would be available for greater study: “TOS was the distillation of everything I had learned about Star Trek. It was the first, there were Utopian visions, character studies, dramatic military stories, morality plays! It was everything that I had learned from TNG, DS9, Voyager and it all came from this core … thing that I originally dismissed as cheesy or old, but it evolved into the stories it tried to tell, the lessons it tried to teach and the characters it grappled with. I found myself blown away and Kirk, Spock and Bones became the focus.”

Kelly had this to say about his formative Star Trek experiences: “For me, it was about spending time with my dad in middle school. We moved a lot and we were different people. I was a pale, bookish kid in Hawaii and my dad was an outdoorsy type. But the one thing that we could come together about was Star Trek: Voyager. Every Wednesday night, we would create a big old meal, and sit down for some solid father-son bonding time. Even though we were different, my dad was a big nerd, especially when it came to Star Trek and we would bond over the higher-concept science fiction ideas that we wouldn’t be otherwise be talking about.”

The most exciting adventures begin with the simplest of vessels. Both Kelly and Lanzing were avid table-top role-players and really wanted to create their own Star Trek adventures. Within months, they had small, persistent Star Trek universe, it swelled to over thirty player characters, over a hundred and fifty games and was essentially four seasons of television in its own right. They incorporated characters from the Federation, Romulan, Klingon and Cardassian Empires and by the end of the experience, they had learned how much they loved telling Star Trek stories. This became the core of and the first step of their Trek writing journey.

“Who gets to write Star Trek stories?’ Kelly laughs.

“We loved it,” adds Lanzing. “But what we realized from this experience was that how many people could become Star Trek fans if you gave them the right in. That game taught me that. We had friends who wanted to be part of the game but didn’t know Star Trek. We were like: that’s fine! No problem! Here’s a watch-list. Watch some Star Trek, pitch me an idea and we’ll figure something out! We had so many people become Star Trek fans through the game and saw that people could become fans if they were interested in astrophysics, or religion or they are pulp-adventurers and love that style of storytelling.”

Kelly adds: “My wife really loved sneaking around and betraying people, utterly savagely, with a knife in the back! So, she loved playing a Romulan! She was a part of the Tal’Shiar and then eventually usurped the throne for herself!

“Yeah – she was great at it!” Lanzing confirms.

Meeting new people along the way is a characteristic of an epic journey. In this case, Lanzing and Kelly were able to not only meet new people but they were able to turn them into Trek fans. That’s a pretty impressive accomplishment. “We found all sorts of entrance points for people to get into Star Trek,” says Lanzing. “So, we thought, well, shoot, If we could write something like this that gets people into Star Trek, then … “

How Star Trek: Next Generation’s “The Chase” Changed Canon Forever

By Ryan Britt

Why Star Trek Needs More Characters Like Captain Lorca

By Lacy Baugher

After all this preparation, how did Year Five start?

“Jack and I have been writing together for about a decade until this point in our journey,” recounts Kelly. “Our first comic we wrote was Joyride – we pitched it as ‘teenaged punk rock in Star Trek’. We used the Kirk-Spock-McCoy triumvirate as the apex of storytelling, which if you get that, it’s the most powerful engine for storytelling in any genre. We wrote 12 issues and it remains one of our all-time favorite books. That was around when we started to get into comic book sphere, make relationships and get us to the door of IDW.”

“We literally thought: who’s going to pay us to write Star Trek? So, we wrote our own!” Lanzing says, with a laugh. After a series of different editors at IDW, eventually Lanzing and Kelly managed to find a launching point for their grand adventure. “We put together a two-year multi-book plan, to take all of the characters from TNG and Voyager and do what we had done with our role-playing game and create a multi-threaded, Game of Thrones–style of story. It was a tapestry. We had a book that was going to be a ship book, another that was going to be a station book and then a Section 31 book. They were all going to work together to tell this story and it was going to be over two years. We pitched it to IDW.”

With that pitch came the first challenge to the odyssey.

“We pitched it with all the Trek maps, the official maps of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants,” says Kelly. “We spread them all over the table – told everyone to clear their notebooks off the table – four square feet of space! We had a conspiracy board. The Federation was going to cross over into the Beta Quadrant, they’re going to face Romulan forces … we had this whole thing mapped out! The pitch lasted a while and it was gripping! They were eating out of the palms of our hands! I am happy to say it was one of our proudest pitches!”

“It was a great pitch,” Lanzing continues. “We went out for lunch with David Hedgecock afterwards and he thought it was going to happen. Awesome … let’s do it, he said. We got really, really close and then they greenlit Picard.”

This meant that Lanzing and Kelly couldn’t use the characters from TNG, so it was over and it looked like this odyssey was over before it even began.

“We went from ‘this is going to happen!’ to ‘No Star Trek for you’!” says Lanzing, with a laugh.

However, Star Trek IDW editor Chase Marotz was in the room when it happened.

“We got a call from Chase. He was like ‘Hey guys – I was in on that pitch. You clearly love Star Trek. We’re doing an issue of Star Trek: Waypoint. Are you interested? We pitched one about Data and Spot, and Spot manages to save the ship. We turned it in and suggested Sonny Liew. We never thought it would happen – but Sonny made time out of his schedule to do twelve pages of Star Trek. Lo and behold, it came out and that was our first Star Trek story.”

Chase came back to Lanzing and Kelly on the success of that story and offered them Star Trek: Year Five.

“Chase said they were going to run it like a television writers’ room,” explains Lanzing. “They were going to have writers pitch stories but if we had an idea for an over-arcing plot that would run from Issue #1 to Issue #24, then please pitch it. If that worked, we would be hired to be the showrunners. We would write the first 12 issues, run the writers’ room and then our plot would be the over-arching narrative for the rest of the story.”

With that, the odyssey was afoot.

What is striking about this series is the overwhelming attention to detail in the presentation of the characters. The dialogue reads like script lines from a TOS episode; speech patterns, turns of phrase and even body language is emulated. In Issue # 1, Page 9 in the second panel (drawn by Stephen Thompson), we see a Kirk in an all-too familiar, arms-outstretched pose as he describes the importance of the decision to become Admiral Kirk and leave Captain Kirk behind.

In Kirk’s own odyssey, this is a pivotal moment in the lore and no other series has taken the time to examine this process of the final year of the Enterprise’s return and Kirk’s career. It’s the detail that not only pays homage to that essential piece of Trek lore but gives it the reverential consideration it is due. Every TOS fan would pick up on the importance of this transitional moment.

“We didn’t want to tell Star Trek comics; we wanted to tell Star Trek stories. We had to drop our egos and tell the story that Gene Coon would have approved of. We couldn’t write Kirk as we imagined him. We had to write Kirk as Bill Shatner would have performed him.” Lanzing adds about the artistry in the series: “Stephen Thompson doesn’t just get Shatner or Kirk – he gets the essence of Kirk.”

Every odyssey needs a hero, and Kirk is at the center of this series—a decision that was made intentionally.

“We wrote a ‘bible’ heading into the writers’ room,” says Lanzing. “We noticed that comic writers love Spock. They love Bones. So, Spock and Bones get all these great stories. Kirk gets forgotten a lot in Star Trek comics because they feel like he already had the stories to begin with … He also gets lampooned a lot. When an audience thinks about Kirk, they think about a portly sex-fiend! And that’s hard – especially for people who don’t know the character. They don’t see him as the brooding, stoic warrior genius that he is, so, we saw that and Kirk needs to be at the core of this.”

Lanzing reads from the “bible” he presented to writers Jody Hauser, Brandon Easton and others in the writer’s room: “When in doubt: Kirk. James Kirk is the unabashed protagonist of this series. While Spock and Bones will both have arcs, Kirk must remain a focus. He is not the reckless youth that the Abrams movies have ingrained into the public consciousness but instead a thoughtful, mercurial warrior poet, who couldn’t bear to waste Khan’s potential in a Federation penal colony. He’s 37 years old; he’s a father who does not know his own son and he is completely without close friends other than his first officer and the ship’s doctor. In his own way, he is a tragic figure and we are catching up with him on the cusp of a life-change that we will know he will come to deeply regret. This story is about legacy and responsibility and giving up command after five years. So, think about whatever story you tell as a chance to tell the last tale of Kirk in whatever field your story attacks.”

Q’s Return on Star Trek: Picard Season 2 will Follow “Significant Trauma”

By Joseph Baxter

Star Trek Villains Who Actually Had a Point

By Ryan Britt

This is the Kirk loyal fans who grew up with him as their idol would recognize. Not only is this true of the Original Series, but it is also at core, the essence of Star Trek, as Kirk is the figure who epitomized all of humanity’s passions, failings, ambitions and capacity to learn. This is James T. Kirk as he was meant to be and has now been realized in this missing gap of his career.

Along with Lanzing and Kelly, the writers’ room boasted the talents of Jody Houser, Brandon Easton, Jim McCann, and a one-shot Valentine’s Day special by Paul Cornell. The artists on this series included Stephen Thompson, Martin Coccolo, Silvia Califano, Christopher Jones, Angel Hernandez and one of my personal favorites: J.K. Woodward. The cover of the inaugural issue was by the legendary Greg Hildebrandt. The crew of the odyssey was a rich and accomplished one.

Sadly, it has to end. Why? “We ask ourselves the same ding-dang question!” Kelly answers. “It’s been the highlight of our careers to write these characters. The nature of the title suggests that it has to, but it’s something we regret every day.”

“The power of the book comes from the fact that it does end,” Jackson adds. “We know that the story is ending. We know that it is a tragic story about Kirk giving up the captain’s chair. So, we knew that we were going to land somewhere poignant. Kirk giving up that chair is inherently poignant. So, the challenge is how poignant we can make it. The real power behind this story is turning around and going home and sadly, the odyssey has to end. It’s no good if he doesn’t get back to Ithaca.”

At the time of this article, Issue #20 is the current one. We have four more issues to go, with the finale coming in July. Jackson reports that he had received the art for Issue #24 and, with that, the ship is safely at port for him. For loyal readers who are loathe to see this series end, at least there are more issues to read and enjoy until then.

On social media, fans exclaim that it should be considered canon, high praise for writers who saw the appeal of this franchise to the point that they felt they had to explore its origins, eventually writing what some consider to be the defining story of this missing period. Not only have they given fans something that is acceptable but they have done it with the kind of careful observance the television series deserved.

However, both Lanzing and Kelly take effort to report that this would not be the last time they are to be involved in writing Star Trek. Perhaps we might see them create stories within TNG, Voyager or the other iterations that this franchise has created. In that, perhaps we will see, and enjoy, other odysseys of their creation? If so, then here’s to the next journey.

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Star Trek: Year Five is available to buy here.

The post Star Trek: Bringing the Enterprise Home, 55 Years Later appeared first on Den of Geek.

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ty-talks-comics · 4 years

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Best of DC: Week of March 4th, 2020

Best of this Week: Strange Adventures #1 - Tom King, Mitch Gerads, Evan "Doc" Shaner and Clayton Cowles

This is the Tom King I love.

The first book I read by Tom King was the awesome Grayson (2014) series post Forever Evil (2013) after Dick Grayson was “killed” by the Crime Syndicate. That book had a levity and coolness that no other book was really exhibiting at the time and King was kinda on my radar. Soon after, I’d heard that he was writing a solo Vision book and I was skeptical, but after a few issues I was sold and absorbed everything Tom King had written up to that point.

From Sheriff of Babylon to Mister Miracle, I was fully on board up until Batman got long in the tooth and Heroes in Crisis became a disaster. I have slung my fair share of mud, but Strange Adventures is an awesome return to form that blends the two amazing styles of Evan Shaner and King’s longtime collaborator Mitch Gerads. This book forms a tale of heroism and then overshadows it with horrific implications.

Adam Strange has always had something of a STRANGE presence within the DC Universe, mostly having stories in anthology books like Mystery in Space, miniseries or being part of various teams, he’s never quite been consistent. Adam Strange is a product of the sci-fi boom of the 50s and 60s, an archaeologist from the planet Earth whisked off to protect the spaceways and his beloved second home of Rann with his lover, Alanna. He’s always been kinda silly.

Tom King takes this silliness and turns Adam’s story on its head as we open to Strange doing a book signing of his memoir, Strange Adventures. At some point, he seems to have sold the story of whatever he did during some terrible war on Rann (that will definitely be expanded on later) and his name is on the lips of every American citizen, talk show host and politician as he and Alanna bask in their newfound fame.

In just the first few pages, Gerads and Shaner illustrate what kind of contrast we’ll be seeing throughout this series. During Gerads’ scenes, Adam is doing normal things, signing books, accepting awards, doing press and lying in bed (in more ways than one). King scripts the dialogue as being pretty casual in these scenes, the way that people talk when they’re alone or have a spotlight shone on them. Colors are striking, but the scenes aren’t dynamic, more somber with specific focuses.

Shaner, on the other hand, get’s splash pages of Adam flying through the skies and facing down hordes of his enemies with heroic poses, laser gun fire and explosions. It looks like a high action, pulp comic or Saturday morning cartoon and the dialogue is comparably cheesy. These scenes are meant to paint Strange as the persevering hero as he has to face down insurmountable odds and get by by the skin of his teeth and his very handsome smile. Almost immediately, there’s a pit made in the stomach because it’s almost too unbelievable.

The closest real life comparison I’m willing to draw, before the next few issues come out, would have to be that of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle. A few years after leaving the Navy, Chris Kyle published the book which detailed his time during the Iraq War and a lot of the media painted him as a hero for his actions. The book sold gangbusters. He went on to the big talk shows, did the magazine interviews, he even got a great movie made by Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper, but it didn’t come without controversy.

Tom King seems to be channeling a little bit of that for Adam Strange and it works to great effect as in one scene, a pair of talk show hosts laud Strange as a hero before their interview. Gerads gives the scene a television like static as if we’re looking at it all like the rest of America. In the background we can get excited too as Adam emerges from the crowd with his jetpack and makes a grand entrance.

However, not everything is smiles and praising as, after a fan carrying volumes of Sheriff of Babylon and Mister Miracle thanks Adam for his service, we see a panel of Adam taking off his boots in the foreground while the focus is on a bloody picture frame in the background. The picture depicts Adam, Alanna and their daughter Aleena, who is conspicuously absent from the present day scenes. The blood on the picture speaks volumes more than could be said in these initial pages.

After another man screams at Strange, calling his depiction of events a lie, the pit in the stomach grows deeper as the first seeds of doubt are sown. Things are made even worse as we get a scene soon after with Shaner’s stellar art. The earlier scene made use of Cowles perfect letters with “BOOOOOOMs” and “PEW PEWs” to sell the sci-fi aspect of it and takes it to a higher level with even better balloons that placed comical emphasis on the more outworldly elements of Strange’s origins like Zeta Beam and Protector of Rann.

This comical heroism is emphasized as Adam screams about protecting his family while firing lasers at a mech created by Rann’s enemy, the Pykkts. Shaner draws Adam as being miniscule by comparison, but also nimble enough to dodge it’s blasts and taking it down with a few shots from his laser pistol. As he raises his hand in victory, one can’t help but wonder...was the event true?

The same can be said when Shaner draws Adam zipping past a giant lizard creature, flossing his teeth as he goes in and out of his mouth like a real action hero. Adam Strange has always been capable, but this has an air of embellishment to it. Things get even worse for Adam as the man who screamed at him is found dead with what appears to be an exploded head due to laser gun fire. It’s an absolutely horrific scene that only Gerads could pull off.

We get a number of awesome pages of both Adam and Alanna doing damage control. The symbolism of Adam’s jetpack being a focus with a reflection of both Alanna and the picture is powerful as the implication seems to be that whatever happened to Aleena was somehow his fault, but Alanna still carries the scars of Rann, but doesn’t blame him. During a press conference, we see Alanna crying before wiping away her tears as Adam denies killing the man.

Where King scripted and overused the nine panel grid in Heroes in Crisis, he has Gerads use the format twice with powerful effect.

Something about Strange’s denial of war crimes on Rann feels off, much like how people called Chris Kyle a war criminal during the movie’s release, we get that same feeling here. There are almost always horrors in war and Strange has to have left out some of the worst details of things he’s done or seen, especially since this is a Tom King story and he doesn’t shy away from the morbid.

As the pressure intensifies, Strange turns to Batman, the World’s Greatest Detective, as someone who can help clear his name. Adam is convinced that he didn’t commit the crime, nor anything else that he’s being accused of, but Batman refuses to accept the case. Batman cites their longtime friendship as a reason that he wouldn’t be able to stay impartial and that makes a lot of sense. You never want to show favoritism, especially when there’s a chance your buddy could be a murderer.

The book ends with another nine panel grid showing Adam flipping the bloody picture down, almost as if to avoid looking at his shame and guilt while he meets that man who’ll take his case. There will certainly be some “Fair Play” in his future.

This first issue of Strange Adventures was absolutely phenomenal. I think King does well with characters and stories like this. He did it with Mister Miracle and he did it with Kite Man in the pages of Batman. Adam Strange has always been that character who showed up in the background or the odd Hawkman story to show just how large the Universe was, but I’m glad he’s being given a focus like this.

Of course, with Tom King, there’s always a worry that as the issues go on, things will start to go off the tracks, but I have hope. Even the worst issues of Mister Miracle or Omega Men were fantastic reads.

Evan Shaner and Mitch Gerads absolutely smashed it with their art. I love the idea of having two contrasting visions of one's life with one bright and wondrous and the other real and dark. Separately, these two are phenomenal, together they are AMAZING. I would look forward to every issue of this series for their art alone, and with King’s scripts, this is just perfect.

This one gets a high recommend from me!

Also, support me on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/join/TyTalksComics

#dc comics #adam strange #strange adventures #tom king #mitch gerads #evan shaner #dc black label #comics #comic review

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geekade · 6 years

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Zwia Reviews: Justice League aka At Least it's Better than Batman V Superman

Right up front, here are some things I want to make clear for this review.

Justice League is not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination.

I personally LOVED it, and will be spending much of this review explaining why it was bad but also why I can’t wait to see it again.

To get into A LOT of what I liked about it, there is at least one big (and super obvious) spoiler, so I will have a section dedicated to those thoughts at the end of the the review.

Anyway, THE REVIEW!

Let's talk about all the bad parts. First of all, the dialogue is cheesy. It’s just... it’s bad. It also doesn’t help that the plot is basically the plot from The Avengers. Now, I get it. Building a superhero team-up movie isn’t the easiest thing, and you’re naturally going to have some similarities between Justice League and The Avengers… but it’s too similar, right down to the magical Earth-destroying boxes they have to find. At least with Marvel, the characters are fleshed out in their own movies, so The Avengers feels way more like a celebration after taking all the time it took to get there. Justice League, on the other hand, is largely rushed and forgettable. Going their own non-Marvel way, the DCEU went ahead and put all these multi-faceted, interesting characters together without delving into most of them with their own movies. That decision didn’t do Justice League any favors. The backstory to each of the new characters is instead established through off-topic jokes. They try their best to connect with the audience by being almost comically over-the-top in their “personalities,” and the first half hour of the movie with Batman and Wonder Woman trying to get the team together is just the choppiest piece of editing I’ve seen in theaters since Suicide Squad. Literally the minute you get almost kinda connected to one of the recruitment stories, it just jumps without warning, to a whole other character. If there was ANY movie in the DCEU that should have been more than two hours, it’s this one. Instead, they squeezed as much as they could in every scene EVER, and the movie is worse off for it.

There were a lot decisions made in this movie that you could probably gather were a direct result from the outcry of people upset about Batman V Superman. Justice League is shorter than BVS. The writing has a different tone, and there's cheesy comedy strewn about. The big change that stood out to me, though? The visuals. This movie has color. The reds are red. The blues are blue. The grass is… radioactive looking? This is a movie that was very clearly designed in pre production to still be all dark and gritty looking, but was lightened up afterwards. As such, some of the colors looks VERY off. This decision to lighten things up is also probably why the special effects look RIDICULOUSLY bad. Like, bad for a cheap indie film-level bad. That is HORRIBLE for how much money went into this.

As you can see in everything from pre production to post production, there are huge amounts of glaring issues all over this movie. Even the acting, which I praised in Batman V Superman, isn’t quite up to par here. Affleck, who I still think is an incredible Batman, just seems a little off at times. Gal Gadot, I’m starting to think, isn’t really a great actress but simply has a lot of interesting weight to her words because of her accent. (You know, kinda like how British people still sound super smart all the time even if they are saying something dumb.) And then the rest of the League, well, are just comically over-the-top in their “personalities.” But the characters are actually where we get into why I love this movie. These characters ARE the Justice League. Maybe its because the characterization for DC has been so poor in the past that I just have low expectations, but when I sat in the theater I was giddy because THIS IS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE. THESE ARE COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS TO A T! This is a Batman who isn’t killing people left and right, who goes out of his way to be self-sacrificing and smart, rather than the toughest guy in the room. I especially adore how many times he realizes he can’t fight and just runs to some Bat-Vehicle. This is a Wonder Woman that... okay she was perfect in her own movie too. I don’t really have to sing the praises of Gadot’s Wonder Woman. She’s noble and fierce and one of the big guns, as she should be. This Aquaman? I mean, he’s not accurate to the comics at all, but damn he’s a comic book character if I ever saw one. Plus, Aquaman does occasionally have a pretty stubborn streak, so I’ll take it. This Cyborg? Sure, maybe he’s the super loner of the group, but this is early Cyborg. I can accept him having some struggles and learning to get comfortable in his… skin. Cyborg has always had those underlying difficulties, and it was great when Cyborg didn’t think about his differences and had times to shine.

Then we have this Flash. Okay, this is NOT Barry Allen, AT ALL. Barry Allen is nice to a fault, and boring as hell because of it. He’s the type of guy who would wear bow ties to work every day at a place that allows jeans. This is NOT Barry Allen. But God help me, he’s a speedster through and through. Ezra’s performance is much more in line with some other fan favorites like Wally West or Bart Allen. You know, the playful, sometimes distracted, but well meaning Flashes. I think he’s the farthest thing there is to Barry Allen, but Barry is kinda lame so I am totally okay with the movie adopting some of the other Speedsters' qualities here.

And honestly, at the end of the day, this is why I liked the movie. The characters. This movie felt like a longer episode of the Justice League cartoon. It was largely forgettable, not deep or complex, but the characters were all themselves and it was a lot of fun to watch. Sometimes that's all you need. By no means am I going to tell you to go watch it. It’s a pointless movie. But if you love DC and their characters as much as I do, you might enjoy it. Finally, the biggest reason I enjoyed it is in the Spoilers section. Read it at your own risk. Its a huge spoiler, but its nothing that you won’t see coming. SPOILERS BELOW

FUCKING SUPERMAN. Okay, so Superman historically is a character that I usually write off as boring. To me, if Superman is your favorite character in DC, I always figured you either didn’t know enough about the character, or were a fool. Lately, much like my similar growing love for Captain America, I’ve learned to appreciate this big blue boy scout and I think I can, in an odd, sick way, thank Batman V Superman for that. See, Superman IS a symbol for hope in comics. When Superman shows up to help in other character’s stories, there's usually a feeling that things will be okay. It’s why Superman going evil is such a big thing for DC to do, since it really shatters those hopeful expectations of the character. He is someone who, when he isn’t around or when he’s fallen from grace, it's a rough experience for everyone. And when he is there, you know that no matter how tough, he’ll always take time for the little guy and be as supportive and kind as he can.

This movie franchise has not had that Superman. This Superman is an angsty, whiny, brooding boy, who abuses his power and portrays himself as a God more than a friend. I’ve enjoyed these movies, but I have hated how Superman was portrayed because it disrespected everything I expect from Superman. Superman is someone who would always find a way and always be able to lighten the mood. Well, then Superman died. And then he came back. And suddenly, after he got done fighting the Justice League, he got himself together and finally became the Superman I’ve been waiting for. (Also real quick, Superman and Flash during that fight? THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING) Superman spent the entire finale helping the other heroes. He would be the big gun when he needed to be, but he also would just be moral support, or assist Cyborg, or assure Cyborg that everything would be okay, or assist Flash with saving people and giving him work he knew was in his ability. Superman was just a kind, fun guy the entire fight, who never showed an ounce of doubt in his trust that everything would be okay. That fight had stakes, but you didn’t feel them BECAUSE Superman let you know everything would be okay. (Also because of the entire town of people that were in danger we only saw one tiny family… so… yeah) I just really loved Superman in this movie and I NEVER thought I would say that.

Also that end credits scene where Superman and Flash race for fun??? LIKE COME ON!!! HOW COULD YOU NOT LOVE THAT???? I honestly still think we should expect better from DC, because seriously… these characters can do SO MUCH BETTER. But this is a small victory in the right direction, and I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it.

#Movies #articles #Comics

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jakelace · 7 years

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Marvel Ranked: Part 3 (22-12)

The night of the Spider-Man: Homecoming premier is upon us now, so again Aaron Hahn and I are going through our rankings of all of the Marvel movies since 1998. In case you have missed any of the previous installments, you can read Part 1 here, and Part 2 on Aaron’s blog here. Without any further ado, lets dig into those Marvel films that are just on the verge of being some of the best of all time.

22. THE WOLVERINE

“Eternity can be a curse. It hasn't been easy for you, living without time. The losses you have had to suffer. A man can run out of things to live for. Lose his purpose. Become a ronin. A samurai without a master.”

Jacob: The train scene, Aaron! The train scene! It was moments like that that left me so high after viewing this film. In fact, the first two acts of this film are really great. James Mangold was on his way to directing one of the greatest X-Men films ever! Sure, we can say he’s done that now, but not with The Wolverine. It is really a shame how quickly this film goes downhill once the final battle begins. While the film doesn’t squander all of its goodwill it had with me, it certainly tries by including last minute villains and plot twists that were so obvious they barely felt like twists at all.

Aaron: Yes, yes, the train scene is an innovative and thrilling action scene, as are many of the early samurai-inspired battles, but they’re almost drowned out by the goofy, muddled CGI climax. For the first two thirds of the movie, starting with that harrowing Hiroshima opening, James Mangold’s Noir-influenced character study is a refreshingly nuanced, involving superhero flick. Hugh Jackman is great as always, as are Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushima. It really is such a shame about the third act being so overblown, but thankfully Mangold and Jackman took this film as a learning opportunity, and fixed those tonal inconsistencies the second time around.

21. X-MEN

“I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul who comes to that school… looking for trouble.”

Aaron: A lot of the commendation for the original X-Men film is directed towards its significance in the history of comic book adaptations. Fueled by some pitch perfect casting choices that went on to pervade the venerable franchise, including Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Patrick Stewart as Professor X, X-Men was the first successful superhero blockbusters in the modern era, paving the way for the MCU and more to follow. It’s a significant film, but also a pretty good one. Beyond the excellent cast, the film features plenty of exciting (though dated) action, and there’s a lot of charm in its plot’s embrace of comic-book wackiness. While the X-Men franchise would have better (and worse) entries later on, the original film remains a well-made, enjoyable foundation.

Jacob: Of all the X-Men films, this is the one I’ve seen the most by far. While I would never claim it is the best, there is something to it that I just can’t stop coming back to. I love our introduction to Jackman’s Wolverine, the villains’ oddly convoluted plot, the oddly inconsistent accents of Rogue and Storm, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the “toad and lightning” line in some dark and twisted part of my soul. That line is absolutely horrible, from the writing to the stilted delivery of it, but I consistently laugh at it every time. Not for the right reasons, mind you, but I still laugh. I think that’s the best way to describe my feelings for this film honestly. It isn’t always good, but it has charmed me to the point where I can forgive its shortcomings and laugh along with it.

20. ANT-MAN

“Baskin-Robbins always finds out.”

Jacob: Just so everyone knows, it kills Aaron that Ant-Man is this high on the list. I, however, had fallen for Ant-Man the minute the credits rolled. It is flawed, sure, but there is a lot here that works. Paul Rudd is a charismatic lead, Ant-Man’s power set makes for interesting and often times hilarious set pieces, and the bits left over from Edgar Wright’s original vision for the film are sublime. On top of that, it was the first film in the MCU that really made the universe feel like a living, breathing world, and that is no simple tasks. It’s hard to shake the thoughts of how great this film could have been if Wright had stayed on the project, but if you can manage, there is a lot to love underneath.

Aaron: Going in, we both knew this was going to be one of the most contentious films to place, and, yes, I’d personally put it lower. Ant-Man was one of the first films I reviewed for my blog, and I received a lot of flak for my indifferent response to it. Sure, Paul Rudd, the humor, and the set-pieces are great, but all these elements are just loosely strung together by a series of forced emotional beats and clunky “Hey, this will be important later!” dialogues. I like what you said about it making the MCU feel more like an authentic world though, as the film’s small-scale stakes are refreshing (and fitting for the character). It’s noticeably clunkier than your average MCU film (that Falcon detour is so contrived), but hey, that Thomas the Tank Engine gag never fails to make me laugh.

19. AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

“The city is flying and we're fighting an army of robots. And I have a bow and arrow. Nothing makes sense.”

Aaron: Avengers: Age of Ultron’s reception was perhaps unfairly damaged by the inescapable pressure put on it following the all-out success of the first film. It could never have completely recaptured the magic of watching these various heroes unite on the big screen for the first time, but that doesn’t stop it from trying, to marginal success. The quipy writing and excellent chemistry of the all-star cast once again shines, especially in quieter moments that ended up being the best parts of the film, such as the roundtable attempts to lift Thor’s hammer. There’s plenty of cool visuals and dynamic team-up action, and while Ultron’s inconsistent characterization is disappointing, one can’t deny that James Spader was absolutely perfect casting. Age of Ultron can’t help but pale in comparison to its predecessor, but is still a blast for comic-book fans.

Jacob: Speaking of the inescapable pressure of the original, poor Joss Whedon, man. Nearly everything that doesn’t work in this movie can be directly traced back to Marvel mandated content that he had fought against during the film’s production, to the point where it burned him out on working with them altogether (although now he’s with DC, so it couldn’t have burned him out too badly). When this movie shines though, it’s fluorescent. The attempts to lift Thor’s hammer are certainly fantastic, but the moment that shined through the most to me was the introduction to the Barton farm. It’s scenes like those that really prove what Whedon is capable of. He can take characters who we know or care very little for and turn them into some of the most fleshed out and cared for in the series, and that’s really something special...or Thor can take a bath in some cave or something. Not entirely sure what was happening there, but that was in this movie for some reason.

18. IRON MAN 3

“Is that all you've got? A cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner?” “Sweetheart, that could be the name of my autobiography.”

Jacob: Let’s continue the train of Marvel films Jacob loves that Aaron barely tolerates! Next stop: Iron Man 3! Man, I really dig this movie. From Shane Black’s excellent direction to another show-stopping performance from RDJ, it’s hard for me to believe that people hate this movie. I mean, I even like the parts that people hate, like the Mandarin reveal and the fact that Iron Man is barely in it. This is partially helped by the fact that I love watching films where characters who are out of their element have to find creative ways to solve their problems, and the whole second act fits the bill for me there. On top of that, the finale is bonkers and is everything I wanted from the final solo Iron Man outing. House Party Protocol anyone?

Aaron: Yeah, that “need to find creative ways to solve problems when out of their element” part doesn’t really work. In the first one, Tony Stark is able to create the Mark 1 suit as a captive in a cave in Afghanistan. Here, with access to an entire hardware store, he makes… a electrocuting glove..? And couldn’t we have traded that annoying kid’s screen-time for more Iron Man action? Nevertheless, I have become a lot more favorable to this film after embracing the fact that this is more a Shane Black film than your typical Marvel one. The humor’s great, the parade of new Iron Man suits is delightful, and the examination of Tony’s PTSD is surprisingly heavy material for a summer blockbuster. The Mandarin twist even adds some fascinating political commentary to the mix. It’s too bad it also leaves us with Guy Pearce’s bland villain.

17. THOR

“Your ancestors called it magic, but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same.”

Aaron: I remember, back before the MCU carried a sense of obligation, being very hesitant to see Thor in theaters, having never been a huge fan of the comic character. However, I ended up loving the film, even more than most, as it still ranks as one of my favorite MCU films. The casting is solid all around, including the charismatic performance of the at-the-time relatively unknown Chris Hemsworth, the gravitas generating presence of Anthony Hopkins, and, of course, the introduction of surprise fan-favorite Loki, played by Tom HIddleston. From the elaborate costumes to the various unearthly realms, the film is visually fantastic, embracing its colorful comic book roots. Sure, the detour to Earth slows down the film significantly, but when swept up in fantasy drama of Asgard, imbued with the excellent Shakespearean sensibilities of director Kenneth Branagh, the film is magical.

Jacob: Alright, it’s been a while, so I guess it’s time for me to have another confession time: I don’t really like this movie. I think it might have something to do with not really liking Asgard as a setting, but I find it hard to feel connected to this film and its stakes. On top of that, this is easily Hemsworth’s worst go at the character, and I find it hard to put my finger on as to why that is. Perhaps it’s because Thor is really whiny in this movie? Oh yeah, that’s it. As much as I could nitpick at this film, it’s hard to dismiss it entirely. There are some fun moments like anything with Agent Coulson and our short introduction to Hawkeye, and of course this film introduces us to Hiddleston’s Loki, but on the whole, this is a film I’m content to skip when looking through the MCU’s filmography.

16. BIG HERO 6

“Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion.”

Jacob: A Disney team-up was practically inevitable from the moment Marvel was acquired by them. I wasn’t expecting much from this film, but thankfully, Big Hero 6 is way better than it has any right to be. A lot of this is helped by a great voice cast including Scott Adsit as Baymax and Alan Tudyk as Alistair Krei (side note: why is Tudyk so fantastically talented? There’s no reason for that.) This film is gorgeous, hilarious, heart-warming, tear-jerking, and pretty much everything else that we’ve come to expect from this most recent string of Disney films. Thankfully for Marvel they were lucky enough to be along for the ride.

Aaron: I guess I’m the opposite in that I expected great things from this film, and was left somewhat disappointed. The story was far too predictable, and for a film called Big Hero 6, the rest of the team are completely overshadowed by Hiro and Baymax. Still, this imbalance is understandable, given how absolutely hilarious and lovable Baymax is. His antics never fail to make me smile, and Scott Adsit is fantastic in the role. It has the expected gorgeous animation of your standard Disney film, and its exploration of grief and depression represents another emotionally mature, yet still fun for the whole family, effort from Disney. I hope we get a sequel to this wonderful, heartwarming film someday, one that moves us further away from this one’s familiar material.

15. DEADPOOL

“You're probably thinking, ‘My boyfriend said this was a superhero movie but that guy in the suit just turned that other guy into a f***ing kabab!’ Well, I may be super, but I'm no hero.”

Aaron: Deadpool is perhaps the most accurate comic book adaptation ever made. After four failed comic book entries (including #39 on this list, Blade: Trinity), Ryan Reynolds found the role he was born to play, perfectly embodying the manic eccentricities of the anti-hero, uninhibited by the unnecessary muting the character received in X-Men: Origins: Wolverine (#36 on this list!). Mocking everything from the X-Men franchise’s convoluted timeline, to the film’s low budget, to Green Lantern, Deadpool is a riotous blast, with plenty of inventiveness in the action scenes as well. Considering how well it sends up the superhero genre, it is a bit disappointing that it’s clichéd origin story takes up so much of the runtime, but the film packs in enough jokes and absurdities into its brisk runtime to more than make up for all of its shortcomings. Deadpool was a breath of fresh air for the superhero movie genre, and its risk-taking was thankfully rewarded with critical and commercial success.

Jacob: Thankfully is right. Remember when there was a time where Deadpool wasn’t one of the biggest heroes in the world? Well, keep that memory close, because I’m pretty certain we won’t be seeing anything like that again for years to come. Whenever Deadpool is actually being Deadpool in this film, you can’t help but smile from ear to ear. This film is unbelievably gory, raunchy, and hilarious in all of the best ways, but all of that is set to the side for about twenty minutes or so of runtime. While that might not sound like a lot, it’s enough to have you begging for more action, based on the fact that all of it is so good. It’s those twenty minutes that keep this film out of the running for the top ten Marvel films, and that’s no joke. Deadpool is really that good.

14. DOCTOR STRANGE

“Dormammu, I've come to bargain!”

Jacob: It was only a matter of time until the MCU started to dive into the mystical side of the Marvel-verse, and it was a moment I had been eagerly anticipating. Before Doctor Strange was released I did my best to stay away from promotional materials, and I’m thankful I did, because I was completely blown away by what I had seen in that theater. While the story is fairly well- worn in its genre and beyond, Strange differentiates itself by being a spectacle to look at. The way the rooms and cities fold in upon each other all while containing well shot action is nothing less than kaleidoscopic and mesmerizing. That’s without even mention the climax which is the most original in Marvel’s history bar none.

Aaron: The fourteenth film in the MCU, Doctor Strange both adheres strongly to the established studio template, and completely breaks the mold. The story bears strong similarities to the likes of Iron Man and Ant-Man, but, man, those M.C. Escher/Inception-esque kaleidoscopic set-pieces really are just some of the coolest, most visually arresting action scenes ever put to film. There’s also a fantastic cast, with Benedict Cumberbatch doing the type of arrogant genius role he does best, Mads Mikkelsen elevating his underdeveloped villainous role with sheer talent (Man, that “Mr. Doctor” exchange is just sublime), and Tilda Swinton once again proving she’s one of the best actors currently working. And that climactic showdown was fantastically surprising, inventive, and perfectly fitting for the hero. Just wish the rest of the plot had shown that much risk-taking.

13. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

“He says, Welcome to the frickin' Guardians of the Galaxy! Only he didn't use ‘frickin'.”

Aaron: It’s always hardest ranking the newest entries for a list like this, as they hasn’t been enough time for their impact to be fully gauged. However, it seems like a safe bet to place Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 this high on the list, considering it fully delivers on more of the same irreverent humor, colorful visuals, and rockin’ 70s tunes that made the first film such an unexpected success, even if it is a bit too much of the same. The plot may be a bit sluggish, but that allows the film to spend lots of time further developing the wonderful character dynamics between the fantastic cast, and engaging in extended comedic beats. It doesn’t quite recapture the magic of the first film, but at the end of the day, getting to go on another zany adventure with the endearing Guardians is just an absolutely great time at the movies.

Jacob: I think you’re right in assuming that this placement is somewhat free of a recency bias. Now is it free of my bias for these characters? No…no, it probably isn’t, but man it’s hard to argue against just how much fun this movie is. From the very opening battle to the five (yes, five) after credits scenes I couldn’t help but be fully engrossed in this world and its characters. James Gunn has done such a fantastic job with writing and directing these movies, and though the plot takes a backseat in this entry, it allows Gunn to prove just how much he adores these characters by giving nearly everyone a moment in the spotlight. Oh, and I’ll put the “Come A Little Bit Closer” scene up against nearly any other MCU scene. Don’t @ me.

12. X2: X-MEN UNITED

“The war has begun.”

Jacob: Despite the original X-Men still being quite good and a landmark for superhero cinema, X2 is a quantum leap forward in quality. In fact, a lot of people cite this as their favorite superhero film of all, and while I certainly don’t agree, I can see exactly where they’re coming from. X2 takes the groundwork of the original and builds upon it with great characterization for the series mainstays and newcomers alike (Nightcrawler especially), and well-choreographed action sequences for all of the mutants. Plus, Brian Cox’s Stryker is one of those great villains that I absolutely love to hate.

Aaron: That wicked, intense opening scene of Nightcrawler in the White House is just such a perfect way to kickstart this great movie, and then it’s followed up by that Magneto prison escape, the X-Men Mansion invasion, and that Wolverine/Lady Deathstrike battle? X2 not only contains a plethora of magnificent action scenes, but a lot of strong character work as well, particularly the exploration of Wolverine’s origin (If only that hadn’t felt the need to follow it up with that Origins film…) Plus, Magneto’s betrayal and ultimate master plan is legitimately haunting, helping make X2 not only one of the best X-Men films still, but also one of the best superhero movies ever.

That’s all for today, but be sure to check back tomorrow on https://thiscleverblognameisalreadytaken.tumblr.com/ for the final part of our Marvel Ranked series, where we talk about the best Marvel has to offer in the realm of film.

#Wolverine #X-Men #MCU #spider-man: homecoming #Guardians of the Galaxy #Vol. 2 #Doctor Strange #The Avengers #Thor #Deadpool #Disney #Big Hero 6

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