Wade Garret's Blog, page 3

Black Panther (review)

I've seen it and the review will be coming, safe to say, it's now tied as my favorite MARVEL TITLE/Single-Hero movie. The other being Captain America: Winter Solider (and if you know the history between Black Panther and Cap, this makes perfect sense :))



Ok. Wow. So, yeah, I'm soooooooooo far behind on this review it's basically pointless to write.
Too bad I'm still going to do it, but it's not going to be nearly as long or as indepth as it might've been had I not been a lazy ass.




 Wakanda

To
The best part of Black Panther, aside from the only other topic I'll briefly cover (because by now you all should've seen the movie at least twice) is how NEW and FRESH and NEVER-SEEN-BEFORE this world is.


The landscapes. The colors. The culture. The music. The costumes. The languages. The characters.
#1: The respect for this world was ON POINT.




And with respect, comes the complexity that can only be found at the heart of a truly interesting world.

The Villain

Killmonger made this movie for me.The greatest potential for destruction wasn't from without, but within. #AsitshouldbeEverything he hated, pushed him to become the worst/best he could possibly be, inorder to destroy and remake that which inspired and fueled his whole life. He was both:A) Everything they said he was—always in the negative; as both shield and sword: all the tropes turned on their heads, wielded like tools for a greater goal that set him apart from all classifications/tribes "they" wished to box him in. B) Everything they were—elite; which everyone along the way did their best to not see in him or value beyond their means to use him or dismiss him. And because of HOW he came to be...HOW he chose (if a choice) to grow....He remained a broken person and unable to see another path—or perhaps his POV wasn't blinded by the protections and pleasures of growing up in Wakanda, but growing up in America as a Black Man. Nevertheless, his existence forced T'challa to realize a truth: Wakanda wasn't perfect or without fault in a world they wished to hide from.  They could abandon or at best abstain from their duty, NO MORE. And that wouldn't have happened, without Killmonger challenging T'challa and the whole structure of Wakanda. In the end, like all great villains, he was T'challa's greatest teacher.

*My only ISSUEs1-I wish more Spiritualism would've come into play. 2-I wish some kinda African Magic would've been involved; not science or tec, but TRUE magic. I wish that's how Black Panther finally beat Golden Jaguar: That it turned out the Purple Flower and Suit weren't the last, but the first tools of the Black Panther. ~But these are only the complaints of a writer who wishes he'd gotten his hands on something as badass as this to play around with for hundreds of millions of people to see and fall in love with. :)
Bravo!

Black Panther

I've seen it and the review will be coming, safe to say, it's now tied as my favorite MARVEL TITLE/Single-Hero movie.

My review-ish of The Last Jedi—I cut it into a rant of sorts, because of how much time has passed.

So, it's been long enough. Too long actually that I doubt anyone gives a %$#@ about my opinion. With that in mind, I'll keep it short, more of a rant, given that you've already read dozens if not hundreds of these things.


Overall, the quick and easy rating system:
7-8 out of 10* (mostly for some big moments and nostalgia)
6-7 out of 10* (those moments removed)
5-6 out of 10* (when you really dig into the plot as presented)

And I kinda bounce somewhere along all three depending upon who I'm talking to about it.

So while I'm not conflicted about whether I liked it, I'm conflicted about how good it actually was.
As in, which is more important: How a movie makes you feel or How well the story actually unfolds.

Going off memory, let's begin with the characters—

Poe Dameron
In the last movie we learned that Poe was the best of the best of the best of the best.....
In the Last Jedi, we learn he's also a dick and the fact he's a dick leads to everything falling apart and going to shit. And like a child, it's only once everything is good and broken, he learns that the real leaders running things knew best all along.

And no, don't give me "Well, if only they'd told him...."
No, Poe is a PILOT. Let me say that again. He's. A. P-I-L-O-T.
Much like this guy:
EXCEPT...
Maverick didn't cause a whole fleet to be destroyed.
Maverick didn't totally disregard military protocols in actual combat.
Maverick didn't stage a CUE when he'd already screwed up and gotten alot of people killed.
*Also, Maverick would've been hung for his actions.*Also, despite being a jerk, Maverick did fear and respect his superiors.Finally, though Maverick's actions didn't cost the life of his best friend, it didn't take a WHOLE MOVIE FOR HIM TO GROW UP!!!!!!!!



This is Poe's arc: Poe is awesome, Poe is a dick, Poe ruins everything, but in the end, in the final moment, he's the one who then becomes the only leader left and so, yeah, what else should we do but follow him.

Vice Admiral Holdo
She was an interesting character. The first appearance of a female in leadership, who clearly regarded her femininity as a strength vs women histrionically catering to the male idea of what women in military leadership should look like and act like.
*Even me, as you'll read. Though I would say it would've been for the benefit of her character and Poe's (if that even mattered) had she been more Alpa about it and less Beta.
So, I'm very much down with her character. However, what I HATE. I HATE. Is how she acted towards Poe. She talked OVER HIM, not DOWN TO HIM, and not in a meaningful way. It was setup for the plot. We all knew what was going to happen after their "UH OH" conversation.

And it's NOT that it couldn't have be taken in a meaningful way, but Poe is a dick—such subtle logic and passive-aggressive language does nothing but piss him off: A-Typical Male bs is what drives his character.
AND SO we realize though Holdo (and what comes later) that if you don't counter said jerks with similar strength and direct confrontation...A.K.A "Pull his Man Card" they only dig deeper into their assholness—kinda like a tick.

And I just hated this, not for the voice, themes or even sub-themes the Last Jedi wanted to tackle via this character, but it kinda made the outcome too much of a gimmick and it made the Vice Admiral unaware of the most likely results.
Her character isn't a school teacher and Poe isn't the class bully.
Her character isn't a police commander and Poe the hot-shot cop who might, at worse, cause the death of a friend before learning his lesson and then being the great future leader everyone wants him to be...that was Maverick's plot.

This new trilogy is built upon a large, large, large, large scale Resistance/Rebellion/Military organization that's kinda on it's last legs: funding, resources, people willing to even commit to the cause.The stakes were too high for her to act as she did with Poe's insubordination, twice. And, she doesn't confront Leia about how she coddles him. Which again, is crap.

She should've know the type of person Poe is and should've pulled his card and verbally crushed him and it should've been dealing with HER that he learned his lesson. Also, after the fact of his failed CUE, she should've had him arrested. Up until the very end, Poe should've been looking at a potential execution for his actions/crimes. *That's what happens in real rebellions/resistances and no I don't care how "popular" Poe was or thought he was—popularity isn't how such organizations are run in the field, life and death.

So of course, that wasn't the play, the play was for the plot to go on because Poe is a dick and again like a child, must keep fucking things up.

*Odd how both Holdo and even Leia contribute to the same male ego bullshit, even just the breathing room of it, while attempting to NOT in their own way because their and Rey's characters are all about Female Empowerment.

General Leia Organa

As with Force Awakens, this character was really wakened for me—despite her cool solo/force moment and later seeing her talk with Luke. 1) Why wasn't the Resistance really the military of the New Republic? 2) Why did no one seem to really respect the General, come to her aid, listen to her, fear her? 3) Why was the Resistance so weakened? 
I could go on and on, but those answers weren't really covered in the Force Awakens or the Last Jedi. For that, you'll have to seek further information which makes me mad when plot points or character backgrounds are spread out. But we know why they do that: $$$$$$$$$
Anyway, in the Last Jedi Leia pretty much fails to do her duty and command the Resistance. She's not really viewed or revered he way a male character of such background and pedigree would be honored. I me, seriously, she's been fighting the Empire/First Order her whole life. She got the whole thing going by reaching out to Old Ben. Shen then joined the New Republic and then forged the Resistance to fight the First Order despite the New Republic not really considering it much of a threat—despite what they did in Force Awakens. 
So why does she exist? A) to show Kylo Ren/Ben Solo isn't really all that bad. Why? Because he doesn't blow up his mom. B) to get a "force moment" for fans of the books.C) to eventually pass the torch to the very ungrateful and unqualified Poe.D) to chat with Luke at the very end, cause he's the savoir—in the end she still needed saving.

Too bad we'll never get to know her role in the final Star Wars movie... RIP
Rey
Ummmmmmm....
She basically leveled up: new clothes, new weapon, new powers/skills and that's about it.
She finds Luke, but he doesn't care about her or anything so he doesn't train her. She kinda trains herself, but that means all of nothing to me. Eventually Luke tells her a "tiny" bit about the Force and then before we know it she leaves Luke behind.

We really should've gotten a Star Wars type scene/relationship between Swank and Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby
But we didn't.

So why did Rey find Luke?
1) Cause that's what she thought she needed, but didn't—as evident by not really learning anything from him and going ahead just fine.
2) So we could learn about Luke and Kylo's history (one of the great scenes in the movie)
3) So we could learn that the past no longer matters.


Luke Skywalker


So, after thinking about murdering his student Ben, Luke runs away and hides.
He's later found, but doesn't care.
Eventually he tells Rey a little bit about the force.
However, Luke then finds Rey and Ben have been Foce-Video Talking and this pisses him off and scares him at the same time. And after a short argument with Luke, where Rey learns about his POV about how things went down with Ben, Rey leaves.
Luke later shows up to save the day at the end and faces off against Ben, but not really, though it's kinda cool and weird at the same time. This is around the time when he talks to Leia one last time.
Luke then dies.

Oh, and Yoda shows up—shortly before Luke comes to the rescue of the failed Resistance—and drops a force lightning bolt and destroys all this sacred stuff that doesn't mean anything.

*****Yeah, Hamill didn't really like/agree with aspects of this interpretation/portrayal of his character and I agree, but I'll accept it. I'm kinda just glad it's coming to an end.

Ben Solo/Kylo Ren

This character is really the only one who has an arc.
However, again, without A TON of info not included in the movies, you fail to fully go along with the story of HOW and WHY Ben became Kylo. You're just made to "get" it and move along. However, at least now with this movie we learn about the rift between Ben and Luke.....and at least that is enough for me to jump on board with a troubled character who lashed out and gave into something always inside of him, despite their also being good.


And now the character who didn't even really matter—

Phasma and Finn


Sorry, they don't matter.
Phasma is yet another Fett/Maul: She looked unique and ended up being a dud, but, there's a book or comic or w/e that's all about her backstory.....who cares?
Finn: Yeah, he goes on some long drawn out useless mission based on a bad plot, and yeah he fights Phasma in the end, but really, who cares? *The best thing that should've happened to Finn, didn't, because a new character saved him.

Rose

Her sister was cool. And I did like the first thing Rose did when she met Finn (one of the best parts of the movie) But then later falling in love with him and saving him and kissing him.....nah.....weak.

DJ

And this guy, who wasn't even the guy they were told Specifically was the only guy...THE ONLY GUY who could do the job—yet somehow comes along for the ride. Yes, like the mission to the casino he's there to show how everything sucks and that there's bad people on both sides and bla bla bla.....but wait, you can buy this comic and others and learn all sorts of cool things about him which aren't at all important to the actual movie.

SNOKE


Yep, like this blurry images, he doesn't matter because clarity and reason mean all of nothing.
Who are the Twizzler Knights, are they the Knights of Ren? Doesn't matter.
Why? Because like Snoke, they all die so who cares.

But wait, remember, there'll be a book coming out soon to let you in on all the juicy details about WHO SNOKE IS......yet it didn't matter for the movie.




Ok, enough of harping on the characters, let's dig into what was good before we close by talking about the shitty plot/script. And how the movie was really like three movies in one that relied on a few really cool scenes and alot of nostalgia, all to day "Fuck the past"—which while ballzy, and a dash of newness, is kinda a hard pill to swallow after decades of fan theory and baiting. Specifically by the forces behind Star Wars, simply to keep the whole thing going.....kinda like the whole fuel sequence :)


Ok. Great moments.

Epic!

The overall message, I enjoyed, but elements of it's delivery bothered me and the fact that Yoda even exists also bothers me, for it throws Luke's failures as a teacher all into question....

I have to admit, this scene got me.
I was so pissed when I first thought she'd been killed, but then I also was into her just being killed off in such a brutal way. Felt very GoT in how they just clip popular characters. I respected the choice, but then I was SOOOOO happy when she got to use the Force.

*Although, they should've maybe thought about a better way for her to move through space, the Marry Poppins memes are hilarious.

I really enjoyed this scene, though it and much of these new movies fail to tell you WHY this scene makes sense.
Ben had only begun training with Luke after he already had some notion of his powers, and he only trained with him for a little while, before learning that Vader was his grandfather (which is also alot of the reason behind why Leia is as she is in this new trilogy) and then THIS happened, which gave him reason to join with Snoke. And he was only a Knight of Ren for a few years more before the Force Awakens...so all in all, he wasn't trained very long as a Jedi and only a little more as Knight of Ren before Rey showed up. They're only ten years apart in age. So in this scene, Ben is still very very much a boy and not a man.

I'm totally fine with Snoke dying, but I hate the way he dies. Snoke's dialogue doesn't make sense...he CAN'T know what Ben is doing, his every thought and action and all the power displayed thus far by joining their minds across the galaxy....while at the same time, BEN hiding his "true" intent from him. It doesn't work that way.
*IF you hack a computer, the user of said computer can't HIDE what they're doing on it from you—likewise, if SNOKE is truly all in Ben's mind and knowing his every action, BEN can't hide his true thoughts from Snoke. 
I mean, without a setup for that along the way, which we didn't get. 

No, instead we're just now to assume that Ben picked the right time to use this new power or that Snoke's ego is so much he dropped the ball—AND YES, the hubris argument is lame and weak writing and terrible justification for a powerful foe to just suddenly die in a stupid way,

We need a MOMENT where Snoke realizes he's missed something. Or we need a moment where Rey and Ben join to kill Snoke together....or any number of situations to get the same results.

Also, they then fight the Twizzler Knights and though it looks cool, they do come pretty close to dying, both of them, vs just these Force Sensitive baddie bodyguards.....

So again, you killed the main boss only to struggle against the henchmen? Nah.

It looked really pretty though. :)

I enjoyed this, but hated the shoulder-dusting. Not my choice for non-verbal reply.



Epic. I loved the sitdown between Leia and Luke.
I loved Luke being fired upon and Kylo's rage, though I didn't like the shoulder-dusting.
I enjoyed Luke and Kylo's fight, though some of the choreography bothered me.
I enjoyed Luke's final words to Kylo the most.



Ok, so all of those were great scenes and visuals and moments to be remembered. But we're not done cause we're going to quickly go over the plot.


The plot is basically a run-away train scene, with a chase involved.
And it's got multiple climaxes and side missions, cause no one could choose a Middle and End point to settle on so they found a way to throw it all in...

So, despite Rey's side adventure to find Luke while the train is running, they threw in a SECOND side adventure for Finn and Rose to go off on (instead of somehow including the person they need being ON THE TRAIN WITH THEM???? But then they don't really need that ONE GUY, really any guy will do and it has nothing to do with the Will of the Foce: Shit Just Happens) and that adventure leads to a second part, where they've got to board the enemy ship. And of course they're betrayed (subtle messages there) and this allows Finn to fight and kill Phasma, but nothing is solved or fixed about the run-away train/chase so then we Crash the Train...
Climax Number One.
Awesome, but that isn't enough So we jump back to Rey and Kylo and Snoke.
Snoke is killed and Kylo becomes the new big baddie.
Climax Number Two....

But that isn't enough, because the First Order follows the ships down to the planet where the second plot of the movie comes in.

It's now a castle under siege plot (reminded me of Helms Deep from LOTR) and then we need someone to come save the heroes because there's magically a weapon specific for this circumstance and ships that look pretty when they ride the sand but none of this matters or really needs to make sense because no one comes to save the leader of the Resistance, who was a main leader of the Rebellion—which without knowing Leia/Ben's background related to Vader, this is really confusing and depressing when you think how the whole Republic is basically giving a blind eye to the First Order despite how they blew up like five or more planets in the first movie and had created the ultra mega death star and killed a prominent hero of the Rebellion.

But then we get the Third Climax because Luke shows up and fights Kylo and we're all good and the Resistance goes on and the First Order is reborn as well. Good.

So, yeah....that's The Last Jedi.

Because it's STAR WARS it gets alot of room to make shitty choices and yet still be loved.
That's the best I can do.

The Review IS COMING!

My review of Justice League

So, if you read my review of BvS: Dawn of Justice, and you follow me on FB and Twitter, you're likely surprised I even saw this movie. Me too. But, it just so happens an opportunity fell into my lap and so I decided to check it out.

No, this isn't at all the JL I'd hoped for, but it's what we got.

First, as I did with BvS I'll jump right in and say IT ISN'T TERRIBLE!!!!!!! (unlike BvS)
Ok, Now, let's rate it:
Overall, it's between a 6ish and 7, depending on what you think are the pros and cons, which we'll get to. (Again, I rated BvS a 3.5 to 5, so much improvement)



The plot is kinda straight forward and so I won't really much comment, though, the gathering of the team was weak. To be fair, really, the first half of the movie was bad to not very good—it was really  simple, worse than childlike in it's reasoning: "Hey guys, lets make a team to save the world" and so, we'll cover each teammate in turn because that took up about half of the whole film.




YES!!!! Spoilers are coming!!!! 


So, let's get to the tough stuff.

Here's the Baddie:
So, this is Darkseid's Uncle, but you care.....well....you don't.
He's just a big heavy hitter that'll be fun for the JL to try their powers out on as a team.
Why they went from Man to Monster/Goat thing, I've no idea.
Wish it was an actor mixed in there somehow, instead of straight CGI (not every big baddie has to be like HULK, I mean, in LOTR they made the hobbits seem small compared to people, so....)

But, he is big and he tough and he can take and give a beating.
That's really all that's important about him as far as the movie goes.
I mean, he's there to plan Darkseid's invasion, but you barely get to know this classic DC character, so what's the point of even bringing up Darkseid yet, right?


So, back to the JL:
The first team member Batman goes after:

Above is what we were teased.
Remind you of anything? 
So, I was good with his look.
Even without the harpoon hand (cause maybe that'd come later?)


But then we got this:
Yeah, not a fan of the fish-scale armor. I'm just not. The image of him swimming in this, to me, is hilarious. And yes I know that the orig Aquaman had orange and green scales, but justification thru bad history doesn't make it any better for me.
Never mind though, cause this is actual mostly what we got:  And I get it. Lots of meaty eye candy. I'm cool with that, but.... other than this, he really wasn't even involved in much of the story. So, let's go a little into detail here.

So, Bruce Wayne—not Batman, not Wonder Woman (who would make way more sense given the later historical context between Atlantis and Themiscrya)—roles up without the cowl, in daylight, announcing he knows all about Arthur to the people he's feeding and protecting and helping.


Now, I'm not saying this little village in the middle of nowhere might just up and use that info against Bruce, but ya know, that's the sort thing Batman is always thinking about: Ya know, protecting his secret identity....except, not in the DCU. EVERYONE ends up knowing WHO HE IS. *Shakes head*
AND then Arthur, when faced with the idea of a coming threat—ya know, the kinda maybe that Atlantis has dealt with before......not to mention the revelation that Bruce Wayne is The Batman and he's in fear of some kinda threat....WHAT DOES HE DO? He takes off his shirt, slips into the water *as seen above* waits a min so the audience can really really really take it in, metaphorically gives Bruce the middle finger and BLASTS OFF through the water!Now, seeing the first time he blasts through water was kinda cool, but later it's almost more like Aquaman doesn't so much swim, as flys through the water....like a torpedo that can change direction and never really uses his arms or legs for propulsion. 
Kinda silly. He didn't even do that Dolphin Kick thing?
So from there, we get a few more insertions of Viking Aquaman with his shirt off, slow motion, rock music, lots of water spraying everywhere....but at least he's saving people. Right? So that's kinda good.

But then later the Throne is attacked (this is further in the movie, but I'll cover it now)

Atlantis looks more like the kingdom in Little Mermaid than a bad-ass sunken city hidden at the bottom of the ocean, filled with strange and other-wordly technology *as it is in the comics and animated shows.


 (Comic)
 (Movie)Nevertheless, when Stephenwolf shows up, they fight and Aquaman kinda gets his butt kicked, which, well, is a bit silly given his foe shouldn't be nearly as good as he at underwater combat, right? But Aquaman has got to lose in the long-rung, so w/e.

Anyway, after the battle, and this was silly, Mera—

 Again, not a fan of the costume. Would you like to swim in that thing?   (This is one of her better looks)

—creates a giant bubble (she can do lots of water magic, but isn't very useful in this scene fighting Darkseid's henchmen, ya, I know, kinda weak?) for her and Aquaman to talk in. Cause, I don't know, they can only chat thru air?
They don't have any other means of communication?
No telepathy?
No Atlantian language developed to be spoken UNDERWATER?
It's really stupid.

During this time, they basically tell the audience the big points about their background and then Aquaman dips out to get his gear, which he then appears in later wielding his Trident and joins the rest of our heroes.

From that point on, he's basically a brute. That's it. The Aquaman.  Meh? (too bad)

FLASH

Sorry, not this one. This is the good one.

This is who we got:

Sorry, it looks like a Flash Fanboy went crazy on a speed-bike suit.
Why did it have to look like armor to be "realistic" ? It's Comics. It's SciFi.
No fantasy/scifi fabric we could've used? No distortion of reality, he's got to actually look like you could drop him from space and he'd survive re-entry into the atmosphere?

Nevertheless, the actor did a fine job with what he was given. Barry was EXTRA FUNNY and that's ok, but plenty of his humor was used to cover up bad moments within the story.  And aside from just being there, well, we got alot of Blue/White CGI fire and blur....which makes me wonder if they've ever seen a flash comic or any of the animated series: Cause, the lightning and fire and blur should be YELLOW OR RED OR ORANGE>>>> Ya know, WARM COLORS?Anyway, again, like Aquaman, he's just another member of the team that Bruce Wayne (NOT BATMAN) recruits to go and save the world. *Yes, I again have the same issue with Bruce Wayne one again revealing his secret identity. Also, we again skip the Star Labs. Skip the fact Cyborg's dad works/worked for Star Labs.
We get a moment between Barry and his dad, twice, but that doesn't really matter...so never mind.

Moving on, to the character that most surprised me: 
Cyborg 
A tragic event and a father without options forced alien tec to save Victor Stone's life and create Cyborg. His involvement in the plot seemed the most organic, even if not great. At the same time that Bruce Wayne is tracking down all those SUPERS Lex (won't talk about how terrible that actor/character was) had dirt on, Cyborg counter-hacks/tracks back Bruce's searches and discovers that he's The Batman....
Kinda cool. :)




Cyborg then reaches out and Wonder Woman intervenes, and yet the still reluctant hero, fearing maybe he's more alien-tec/monster than man, chooses not yet to get involved. Of course, something pushes our hero into action—the abduction of his father. Cyborg then reaches back out to the group just in time to realize there's big things at work and this of course all bleeds into the greater mission and formation of the team. Overall, I liked the look and I liked the actor. I wish it was maybe less CGI and more actual armor and suit. Practical FX would've gone along way to making this character feel more real (think the actually built Iron Man suit: helps alot to make you buy into it) *I hope they do more of that in the upcoming movies. Next up and still one of the best Characters DCU has yet to offer:Wonder Woman For all intents and purposes, she's pretty great. However, there's still some lines in the movie I didn't like that were written for her—but at this point I can't remember. Also, can she get dirty, have her armor damaged or bleed some? She's a badass warrior. Her hair and makeup don't always have to be perfect, and that's kinda some of the best things about her. :)*Side note. I hated the whole cut-scene where the Amazons were all laid waist to by Stepphenwolf, not THAT it happened, mostly HOW it happened.*Also, too much of that scene (LIGHT THE BEACONS) and the flashback history lesson later finally given to Bruce about Stepphenwolf's first arrival on Earth—was like a total re-write of Lord of The Rings. JL: Atlantians + Amazons + Men, with the help of some Old Gods and One Green Lantern, fight off Stepphenwolf from joining all three Mother Boxes.LOTR: Elves + Númenóreans + Men, with the help of other heroes, fight of Sauron from keeping The One Ring to Rule Them All.It was terrible. So bad. Called into question issues with Aquaman's story, plot (as it relates to this actual movie) and Wonder Woman's own actions and character during this movie. Lots of things that should've been known/addressed early on, which would've affected both character's motivation......
So let's get to the Leader of this Rag Tag Bunch....if you were expecting Superman, you'd be wrong:

Bruce, through no concern for his secret identity, has assembled this team and then goes forth with them to battle the forces from another world set on destruction and invasion. 
I like Ben, but this Batman isn't very good—though the dialogue in this is better than BvS, but that's not saying much. He was a little funnier than he should've been, because Batman doesn't crack jokes....What usually happened, was someone funny cracks a joke and it's Batman's stern, creepy, dark or w/e response that makes it funny.

Ok, enough about how the character wasn't great.The action was good. So, that's a plus. And there's a scene where Bruce totally rips into Diana for staying out human affairs for decades, which was good.
But I hated the Batman Tactical suit, also, hated that one video of Batman "dropping down and striking a super hero pose" which the internet went nuts over. *See the last video above, the second scene where Batman lands, and rises before the professor.....THAT's How It's Done; in JL, he's more Owl Man from Watchmen than Batman (Yeah, fuck you Singer, we all know what you did there)
 vs
Yeah, they might as well be the same character portrayal.  
Sorry, I'll take THIS!Cloaked. Form hidden in darkness. All Black. Ya know, like a Ninja.



And The Batman Carrier, oh, I'm sorry...the FLYING FOX was, well stupid. 


He doesn't need a Troop Transport. *I mean, unless you want to sell more Toys?Bring the Batwing, not the mobile, Everyone can Fly or Run Super Fast, and maybe one can ridge bitch.... Could've had a great Scene where Aquaman attacked from the Ocean using some bad-ass Atlantis-Ocean Monsters :) and you could've done the same overthetop fight using the Batwing instead of the car, in the sky, instead of the streets and it would've made more sense, but you wanted to get them all lined up, in a row, cause, ya, they need a Heroic Pose for the poser. Nah, not a good move.

********We won't mention how Martha loses her Home, only so Bruce can later buy it back at the end of the movie—I mean, how did the World's Greatest Detective overlook MARRTTHHHAAAAA losing her home in the first place, we'll never know? 
And Finally, Superman.... OH, but wait, we didn't get that storyline. Sorry, no, Batman didn't realize that Superman was like a giant battery and if he was exposed to Sunlight he'd come back to life. He'll Superman wasn't even dead that long really, so guess it didn't matter—he wasn't Superman that long either, so, yeah I'm just so confused. :)

We do however get a kinda gross gooey return of Superman via the same way Doomsday was born, which the argument leading up to that was kinda cool. Also, it was very funny: Superman's body is removed from his grave, he's in a full suit and tie, and once resurrected...he's suddenly shirtless....yeah, go figure. 
Anyway, he comes back, acts like himself at the end of MoS (the guy from BvS is gone, thankfully) and he jumps right in and saves everyone....well, at first he kinda comes back and doesn't know who he is—Snyder orig wanted Superman to really really fight the JL for awhile and then go back to being good—so there's a brief moment where there's kinda showdown with the JL and he kinda takes them all to task. *That was fun. I really enjoyed it.

Snyder's plot was going to involve brainwashing or w/e, something about Darkseid, but I mean, you've maybe barely gotten to know Steppenwolf, so, what's the point, right? 
But yes, after he gets his mind right (seeing Lois usually does the trick) he does jump right in and become the hero he should've never failed to be since MoS. They fight off Steppenwolf and all his Parademons (wait...how and why did Batman have a nightmare about them in BvS having never seen or known what they were ever before he events of this movie? Yeah, exactly) and save the world and then it's all good.
The end. 
Honestly, I wanted it to be a much better story. But the gist I've given you, well, yeah, it's choppy and maybe a little random, but really not much better than the movie. And I'm not even talking about the terrible reshoot CGI Super-Lip craziness.....
For me, it's MoS, WW, JL in that order and I just don't think about the mother movies and really don't think much about these cause at best, since MoS they've been Meh.

Anyway, checkout  movie if you want, hope you can redbox it instead of paying full price at the theaters. :)

GO SEE IT!

No review.*Instead of wasting your time reading my review, go see it. It's awesome. AWESOME!

Reivew: The Dark Tower

I've read the whole series and I've read all the comics...
I enjoyed the movie. Lots of good things to talk about it. Few bumps. One or two bad moments.Overall, good movie. I hope they make more.
So, let's get into it—and since I enjoyed the movie, it won't be that long of a review: more to talk about when it sucks :) 

So, this is the world you know....





Now, the WHEEL has turned and Roland has been returned to the beginning....and yet, it's not the beginning as you know it, nor is THIS "The Gunslinger" the same as the one you've read, the world has moved on and many things have changed and yet some things are still the same.....
So, that's crucial point in understanding and accepting this movie as BOTH (book) 8 and yet the start of a WHOLE NEW ADVENTURE. 
IF YOU CAN'T ACCEPT THAT, DON'T EVEN BOTHER WATCHING THE MOVIE

 But for those who can, let us continue. 
 !SPOILERS!






So, this time around the story focuses on Jake Chambers. He is the central character.
And since we know Jake had a very tough go-of-it in the books (his deaths*) I'm was good with this.


First we get to see WHAT is happening outside our world:
The Tower is being assaulted by psychic children, via the pyramid and strange, futuristic technology  *As is revealed in later books and kinda is brushed aside as a fact. But then why reveal it early? Why start here? BECAUSE this time Jake is important for that very reason...



The early part of the story follows Jake suffering from visions and hallucinations and nightmares about The Man in Black  and the DARK TOWER  and then later Roland. His life, family and friends are a mess because of it.

His father is dead. Different from the books. Fine. *The "reason" for his mental state in the movie. His mother has either remarried or has a live in bf/ Fine. ~Not sure how much time has passed since Jake's dad died, so, this could either be reasonable or not. Seems like he'd only recently died, like say within the last year(s) So this was something they could've explained better.

Jake sees some very important and telling things before the movie gets really going. 1) Roland has the horn
Though we know when and where he lost it the LAST time
 2) Steven LIVED!
In the books, Roland never got to grow-up with his Father being around. BUT this time around the wheel, Roland never loses the horn and his father survived long into the war against The Man in Black and his forces....So, wow, very different history this time.

The Man in Black fled across the Desert and the Gunslinger Followed...

 
So, as Jake appears to go crazier and crazier with his visions and darkness and The Tower being attacked and the Man in Black and Roland and everything, guess who show up?
~I will say, I wish Jake's potential insanity was developed more, scarier.. 


And the movie did a pretty good job with the creatures, various ways they were shown.


Of course, with the servants, comes the Master


Matthew did a pretty good job being evil and yet I do wish he'd looked more like Marten Broadcloak and less like Matthew
Or perhaps splice in abit of the Walking Dude *cause they're the same character really :)

Never the less, I enjoyed Matthew's portrayal and he used more magic in the movie than every in the books, which was great and yet some of the effects in the movie were a bit cheap—specifically during the final fight: ricocheting ONCE or TWICE is fine, but WOW... and trope thinking: "Telekinesis solves everything and NO BODY, ABSOLUTELY NO BODY IS TIRED OF IT YET" was just a bonehead idea. Fire that person. But otherwise, yeah, pretty good. 


After fleeing his abductors and realizing he's not insane, Jake crosses over to Mid World via means similar to the book and meets the Gunslinger himself. From there, the plot grows as they both learn WHY Jake can see what he sees and that he's infact linked to the Tower too and that means The Man in Black is going to be coming for him, which is good for Roland because he wants revenge above everything else.



I won't tell you what happens, or how it happens or what BIG monsters show up or how the movie is pretty similar to the books in particular plot points....you've got to see it for yourself.

However, I will say, fans of King's Dark Tower Universe will have lots of great Easter Eggs, showing just how far the reach of this movie was and where their eyes might be headed for the future.


So, Ka is a Wheel and it's turned again.
I can't wait to see if/when they do The Drawing of The Three (how it'll be reinterpreted and updated and blended with other elements of other stories) Or hell, they might jump to Wasteland or my favorite, Wizard and Glass. That's the best thing about this for me, it's new and familiar.

Enjoy.

The Dark Tower

I've read the whole series and I've read all the comics...
I enjoyed the movie. Lots of good things to talk about it. Few bumps. One or two bad moments.Overall, good movie. I hope they make more.
~Full review to come

Are you reading this?

It's crazy!
Make sure you get all the tie-ins. *So good :)

GUESS WHO'S BACK?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?