James Review -- Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover

This week I decided to review Spider-man: Hostile Takeover by David Liss. 

The story begins shortly after Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin, returns to New York claiming to have reformed into a benevolent philanthropist. While roaming the city, Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, hears of a robbery at a Snake store and moves to intervene. He captures the thief, a young man named Andy. To convince Spider-man to let him go, Andy tells Parker of a supervillain active at a nearby construction site. Parker arrives at the site and defeats a handful of thugs but is ambushed by a new enemy able to match both his moves and his abilities.

Parker returns to Andy to find the would-be thief dead and is soon confronted by police lieutenant Yuri Watanabe who reveals that Andy had been murdered by a impostor Spider-Man, known to be an impostor due to slight errors in his costume. Watanabe also reveals that the construction site Spider-Man was ambushed at secretly belongs to Fisk, and Watanabe, who also wishes to bring Fisk down, forms a secret alliance with Parker.

Soon after this, the fake Spider-Man begins a series of actions designed to ruin Spider-Man’s reputation. And the conflict becomes more personal when one of these incidents leads to the death of Anika Adhikari, a young woman who had recently started working at the same research lab as Parker. Eventually, Parker and Watanabe realize that the fake Spider-man is just a diversion meant to distract Parker while Fisk makes his bid to become New York City’s Commissioner of Finance, a position that would let him cripple the city’s economy if angered or threatened, and the race to find a way to stop him is on.

Meanwhile, Maya Lopez, Fisk’s foster daughter who believes that Spider-Man had murdered her father years earlier, sets out to claim her vengeance. Her combat abilities, combined with years of studying Spider-Man make her just as dangerous as the impostor. And soon Parker is desperately struggling to find a way to convince her of his innocence before its too late…

I give this book 9.5 out of 10. It has a very interesting story and I enjoyed the battle sequences and the investigation plotline. However, there are a few areas that I felt needed more detail. Also, I question the necessity of killing Anika Adhikari. Sure, it gave Spider-man more motivation to hunt down the impostor, but I think he already had plenty of reason to go after him, and until she was killed, Adhikari had potential for interesting plotlines in future material.

James Review -- Marvel: The Avengers: Everybody Wants to Rule the World

This week I decided to review Marvel: The Avengers: Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Dan Abnett. 

The story opens with the Avengers, scattered, facing several critical threats at once. In the U.S., Iron Man, eventually reinforced by Vision, faces off with Ultron who is on the verge of reaching a singularity event which will make the rogue AI all but unstoppable and, in desperation, Iron Man orders communications and power grids shut down to try and slow Ultron’s advance. When it seems that Ultron has been driven into hiding, Iron Man and Vision return to Shield’s helicarrier to find and trap their enemy once and for all and to move to assist their allies elsewhere. But they soon find themselves in a new battle as Ultron is, in fact, hiding in apparently dormant nanomachines that it uses to repair and seize control of the Iron Man suit used in the earlier battle.

In Berlin, Hydra attacks a company they had tricked into producing a aerosol dispersal device the company believed would be used for agricultural purposes. Captain America soon responds to the attack and discovers that Hydra actually intends to use the device to spread a fast-acting and highly lethal plague, planning to use the plague and its cure to force the world to surrender. Captain America is disturbed by how rushed, and unlike typical Hydra operations, the plot is but soon finds himself in a race to save Berlin from the plague.

Black Widow and Hawkeye set out to investigate strange readings in the Savage Lands. After their Quinjet is shot down, the pair manages to regroup and fight their way past a group of raptors to find an Advanced Idea Mechanics base where the renegade organization is working to unleash a nanomachine compound into the Earth’s water supply which will allow M.O.D.O.K. to control the minds of humanity.

Bruce Banner finds himself facing a plot by the High Evolutionary to use a modified version of the Gamma Ray Bomb Banner himself developed long ago--to his shame--as part of a plan that will kill most of the human race and leave the survivors as a docile race that will be easy to enslave. But when the High Evolutionary offers new insights into what caused Banner to become the Hulk, as well as a cure for the Hulk condition, Banner finds himself facing the greatest temptation of his life…

Also, a portion of Siberia has been sucked into another dimension along with Thor. Thor soon finds the Scarlet Witch, only to be attacked by his ally, then rescued by the real Scarlet Witch. The impostor is soon revealed to be Dormammu who has summoned the chunk of Earth to be the basis of a spell that will summon the entire world to his dimension, but the spell must be completed within a short time frame, so Scarlet Witch finds herself in a desperate magical contest to repel Dormammu’s attacks long enough to ruin his plot.

Eventually, it is discovered that this rash of plots to conquer the world has been unleashed because some unknown power has informed the villains and villainous organizations that if they don’t conquer the world by a certain time, the outside power will conquer the world instead. This leads to a desperate race to discover who or what is behind this threat as well as to prepare a defense against the coming assault.

I give this book 7.5 out of 10. I like most of the subplots but felt that some aren’t given as much attention as they deserved. The characters are interesting, but there are some Marvel characters that I feel either should have appeared in the book or at the very least had their absence explained, only to barely be mentioned if they are mentioned at all. Also, the climatic battle was far too short for my tastes. And, even worse, there wasn’t nearly enough tension in it in my opinion.

Movie Review -- Avengers: Infinity War

Good God, what a movie we have today. All roads have led to this. It's Avengers: Infinity War.

The story picks up right where Thor: Ragnarok left off. Turns out that ship they encountered at the end belongs to Thanos (Josh Brolin) who wastes no time tearing into them. He kills off one or two long-time characters before making off with one of the Infinity Stones. His plan is to gather all six of them and use their omnipotence to wipe out half the universe.

Thus begins an epic quest as a Who's Who of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the movies, not the TV series') assemble to fight this unprecedented threat. Normally, I would list off who plays whom, but they're are just so many I don't feel like it! Seriously, just about everyone from every MCU movie from the past decade makes an appearance. In fact, it's easier just to tell you who's not in it (Hawkeye and Ant-Man). Together, this veritable army of Marvelness bands together to keep Thanos from getting his grubby purple mitts on the Infinity Stones. But even the largest collection of superheroes ever assembled will have a hard time against this bastard and his powerful minions. Can our many protagonists succeed? And more important--who will survive? The answer may rock your world.

This is the biggest, baddest comic book movie of all time. With a ridiculously huge cast and a run time of two and a half hours, few expenses were spared in the making of this. I used to think the Expendables movies had impressive star power, but they were nothing compared to this. This is the Wrestlemania of superhero flicks. I wasn't sure it could hold up to the hype, but holy crap does it ever. It's got tons of heart-stopping action, loads of comedy, a superb soundtrack by Alan Silvestri, and one of the best villains ever. Thanos isn't your cookie-cutter bad guy; he's complex and displays genuine emotion. He believes wholeheartedly in his cause and that makes him extremely dangerous. DC needs to study this film carefully to learn how to do extended universes. Justice League is a joke in comparison.

It was also great fun seeing the various factions of the MCU come together and meet each other for the first time. Iron Man thinks Doctor Strange is a clown, while Thor thinks the Guardians of the Galaxy are morons. It works out great.

And the ending. Wow. It completely changes the MCU and I sincerely did not see it coming. How on earth are they going to resolve this? I guess we'll have to wait for the next one to find out. 

Bottom line: Stop whatever you're doing and go see Avengers: Infinity War. It blows all other comic book movies out of the water.

My Comics/Manga/Graphic Novel Collection

Thor: Ragnarok Thoughts

I just saw Thor: Ragnarok today. Since it's not quite timely and you've probably seen it already, I won't waste your time with a full review. I will say I like the new direction the series has taken. Tonally it is different from previous Thor movies, opting for a more caper-esque action romp with a new electronic soundtrack by Mark Motherbaugh. Cate Blanchett still looks stunning despite being almost 50. Newcomer Tessa Thompson plays her part well and in a less obvious way (I was not expecting a drunken Valkyrie to fall off her ship's ramp upon entry). Loki delivers fewer surprises and acts pretty much how you would expect from him.

Other than that, it's pretty much your standard Marvel movie, which is either good or bad depending on your point of view. Not groundbreaking but pretty solid.

Movie Review -- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Today we have the 11,687,120th Marvel movie. It is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Is it any good? Let's find out.

The story begins with the Guardians protecting super important batteries for a golden-skinned alien race called the Sovereign. Things go well until Rocket (Bradley Cooper) steals a few batteries, incurring the wrath of the Sovereign. A battle ensues...

Then the Guardians meet a mysterious man named Ego (Kurt Russell) who informs Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) that he is his father and invites them to his planet to convey additional important information. Peter, Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista) accompany them, while the others stay behind to guard Nebula (Karen Gillan) whom they have taken prisoner. But things gets dicey for the latter group when Yondu (Michael Rooker) returns for a nice payday at their expense.

Meanwhile, the first group takes in Ego's beautiful planet while he explains just what's going on. However, Gamora senses something's not quite right in paradise. Just what is Ego up to, and how does it affect the rest of the galaxy? And what will happen when the Sovereign come for vengeance? You'll have to watch it to find out.

I feel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a great improvement over the first film which I viewed as Avengers Lite. This one's stylish and pretty funny. Baby Groot (Vin Diesel), in particular, provides plenty of heart and humor, especially when given simple yet (for him, at least) very difficult tasks such as retrieving an important item for Yondu.

Also greatly adding to the movie's appeal is the quality soundtrack which features a number of good songs from a variety of artists, in addition to Tyler Bates' score.

The only criticism I have is with the main villain who ends up being pretty generic, albeit no more so than Ronan last time. This particular character has no real motivation other than galactic conquest.

And, finally, I want to mention the epic final battle. It's very kickass and really puts the exclamation point on the whole shebang. 

Bottom line: Go see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. As Schwarzenegger would say, "DO IT!!"

Movie Review -- Doctor Strange

Today we have the latest Marvel movie. It is Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Is it any good? Let's find out.

The film opens with brilliant but cocky surgeon Dr. Stephen Strange. He's got it all--wealth, fame, and the friendship of fellow doctor Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams). However, everything changes when he is involved in an horrific car crash which nearly destroys his hands. With his future now in question, he looks to modern medicine to save him. But nothing works, prompting Strange to seek alternative and unorthodox treatments. His desperate journey takes him to Nepal where he meets the mysterious Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who takes him to his enclave to meet the even more mysterious Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). Said Ancient One turns out to be the most powerful sorcerer on Earth, and she reluctantly agrees to train him in the mystic arts. After a baptism by fire (or ice) on Mt. Everest, he very quickly establishes himself as a fast learner thanks to his photographic memory.

Unfortunately for all involved, Strange isn't the first gifted pupil she's taken on. The evil Kaecilius has recently betrayed the organization of sorcerers and stolen a page from an ancient book which details how to summon the dreaded Dormammu to our world. With the planet now being threatened, Strange must rise to the occasion and master his magical powers. But the Ancient One is hiding a secret that will have serious consequences for the good guys. Can Doctor Strange defeat Kaecilius and his lackeys and keep Dormammu from devouring our world?

I've seen plenty of Marvel movies. Some are better than others. I'm happy to report Doctor Strange is refreshingly different from those that came before it. It's visually stunning and has a terrific cast,  a stellar soundtrack by Michael Giacchino, and a smart plot. Also, it doesn't suffer from annoying stereotypes like Ant Man did.

The only wrinkle here is a less than believable turn of events at the end where one major character does an abrupt 180. I don't really buy it and neither did James.

Still, I enjoyed Doctor Strange and I hope you will as well.

Movie Review -- X-Men: Apocalypse

Today we have yet another Marvel movie, this one hailing from the X-Men universe. It's X-Men: Apocalypse. Is it worth your time? Let's find out.

The story takes place in 1983. Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is currently running his school for mutants when a new student arrives: Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan). Scott has gained the ability to shoot devastating optic blasts from his eyes, and the school quickly sets about helping him to control it.

Meanwhile, the all-powerful first mutant Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) awakens from his long slumber and begins recruiting followers to help him conquer the world. He starts with Ororo Munroe (Alexandra Shipp) before gaining Psylocke (Olivia Munn) and Angel (Ben Hardy). But he's still one horseman short, so he approaches Magneto (Michael Fassbender) who has recently suffered a terrible tragedy and has lost all hope. A grief-stricken Magneto agrees to join Apocalypse in his quest for world domination.

Elsewhere, Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) has gone to Xavier for help in finding Magneto. But their attempts backfire when Apocalypse learns of Xavier and his ability to control minds. Apocalypse then figures out what he needs to dominate mankind, and he wastes no time putting his sinister plan into action. The X-Men unite to save the world, but do they stand a chance against the seemingly unstoppable power of Apocalypse?

This might be the best X-Men movie ever. I've been waiting a long time to see Apocalypse on the big screen, and I was not disappointed. They didn't gimp his powers like they did with some characters *coughroguecough* and he's portrayed as genuinely intimidating. The film also has another great sequence with Quicksilver (Evan Peters) doing his super-speed thing while everything blows up around him. His character is used far better than the Avengers: Age of Ultron version.

The only thing that I don't like is the fact that Psylocke has no depth here. I was really looking forward to seeing her in action, and I feel Olivia Munn was a great choice to play her, but her character is pretty flat and her motivations remain ambiguous. Hopefully this will be resolved in future installments.

Other than that, X-Men: Apocalypse will satisfy comic book fans everywhere.

Movie Review -- Captain America: Civil War

Today we have the latest Marvel movie, Captain America: Civil War. Adapted from the popular Civil War story line of 2006, how does it fare as a movie? Let's find out.

The story begins as Captain America (Chris Evans), Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson) are pursuing heavily armed bad guys in Nigeria. The baddies' leader self-destructs during the struggle, and Wanda redirects the blast into a nearby building, killing innocent people. This is only the latest in a string of catastrophes the Avengers have been involved in, prompting the world community to propose a bill which would put the team under U.N. command. Cap objects to this idea, but Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) agrees with it after being confronted with their past mistakes.

So Stark and Romanoff head to Vienna to sign the new charter, and they meet Wakandan prince T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman). Things seem to be going well until a car bomb explodes, trashing the building and killing T'Challa's father. The only evidence points to Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), AKA the Winter Soldier and former Hydra pawn. Orders are given to find Barnes and kill him on the spot, but Cap, being his friend, finds him first and decides to protect him. They are then joined by Sam, Wanda, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). All of them are declared to be criminals, and Stark puts together his own team to bring them to justice.

All the while, a mysterious man is setting his own nefarious plan into motion, and the Avengers must uncover the plot before it's too late. But how can they do this when they're too busy fighting each other?

Captain America: Civil War is another outstanding entry in Marvel's ever-growing library of films. It's got great action and an impressive cast of characters. It's too bad they couldn't get every single Marvel character to participate like in the original comic story, but licensing and budget issues make that unfeasible. Still, I'm satisfied with everyone they managed to include. It's also great to finally see Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in this universe, even if his costume looks kinda cheesy.

The movie also has a strong story, focusing on issues of loyalty and heroic responsibility. It all culminates in some epic and emotional battles, along with an ending that leaves serious questions to be answered. Don't expect everything to be wrapped up before the credits roll.

Bottom line: If you love comic book movies, you  have to see Captain America: Civil War.

Movie Review -- Deadpool

Today we have the NSFW comic book movie Deadpool. Does it live up to the hype? Let's find out.

 

The story centers around ex-soldier Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who now makes a living protecting people from stalkers and other lowlifes. One day, he meets a beautiful hooker named Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and they fall madly in love. Things are going well until Wade is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

 

Things seem to take a turn for the better when he meets a  man who offers to cure him. Not wanting Vanessa to see him die, he agrees to join a mysterious program. He is soon put in the custody of villainous scientist Ajax (Ed Skrein) who reveals Wade is actually undergoing a procedure to awaken his dormant mutant powers before being sold as a slave to the highest bidder. Soon, Wade's powers emerge, but at the cost of badly disfiguring him. He now has an incredibly healing ability but is seemingly doomed to be an outcast.

 

Wade escapes from Ajax's lab, sews himself a costume and christens himself "Deadpool." He then sets out to find Ajax and force him to heal his hideous disfigurement (all while making wisecracks). But standing in his way are a couple of X-Men: Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). Colossus wants Deadpool to join the X-Men, but Deadpool refuses, intent on finding Ajax. And when Ajax--along with his henchwoman Angel (Gina Carano) targets Vanessa, the stakes are raised even further. Who will triumph in the ensuing super-powered showdown?

 

Deadpool is a raunchy, action-packed good time. It successfully captures the feel of the comics while establishing its own identity. Fans worried 20th Century Fox would screw this up can rest easy; they're going to love this movie. I especially like the strong female characters in this story; Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Angel dominate their male counterparts and raise girl power to an impressive level. And Vanessa, while not possessing any powers, still holds her own in this testosterone-rich world.

 

The humor, for its part, is hit or miss. Some parts are genuinely funny, but others are not. I feel the jokes are appropriate for the titular character and I honestly wouldn't change it. It was a bit strange seeing typically PG-13 X-Men in an R-rated movie, but it works well here.

 

And finally, I must commend the action scenes in this film. They are balls-to-the-wall awesome and kick all sorts of ass. I was thoroughly entertained throughout and look forward to what they come up with in the inevitable sequel.

 

Bottom line: Deadpool rules.