Finished watching The Magnificent Seven, directed by Antoine Fuqua and staring Peter Sarsgaard, Haley Bennett, Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Vincent D'Onofrio and Martin Sensmeier. The film opens in the mining town of Rose Creek where businessman Bartholomew Borge (Peter Sarsgaard) takes the town for himself in order to make money from the mine located on the outside of the town. After the death of her husband by Bartholomew Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) travels to a nearby town where she finds help in the form of Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) who along with his new aquantince Joshua Faraday (Chris Pratt) form a team consisting of Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Jack Horne (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier), in hopes to help Emma and the townsfolk of Rose Creek to take back their town from Bartholomew Borge. Overall this was a good film as it revitalises the Western genre and makes it feel like it never left thanks to the classic traits and conventions the film uses. The character interactions are great which is a credit to the acting as everyone works of each other exceptionally well which makes some of their development and story progression more personal and impactful. The action is great as director Antoine Fuqua combines the great choreography of the western fight with great camera angles and timely paced editing. The music is very indicative of the 1960 version while also having its own take on the main theme. Additionally the rest of the score by James Horner and Simon Franglen helps to build the tension in curtain places of the film and help set the mood in others. 7.5/10.
Friday, 30 September 2016
The Magnificent Seven Film Review
Finished watching The Magnificent Seven, directed by Antoine Fuqua and staring Peter Sarsgaard, Haley Bennett, Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Vincent D'Onofrio and Martin Sensmeier. The film opens in the mining town of Rose Creek where businessman Bartholomew Borge (Peter Sarsgaard) takes the town for himself in order to make money from the mine located on the outside of the town. After the death of her husband by Bartholomew Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) travels to a nearby town where she finds help in the form of Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) who along with his new aquantince Joshua Faraday (Chris Pratt) form a team consisting of Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Jack Horne (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier), in hopes to help Emma and the townsfolk of Rose Creek to take back their town from Bartholomew Borge. Overall this was a good film as it revitalises the Western genre and makes it feel like it never left thanks to the classic traits and conventions the film uses. The character interactions are great which is a credit to the acting as everyone works of each other exceptionally well which makes some of their development and story progression more personal and impactful. The action is great as director Antoine Fuqua combines the great choreography of the western fight with great camera angles and timely paced editing. The music is very indicative of the 1960 version while also having its own take on the main theme. Additionally the rest of the score by James Horner and Simon Franglen helps to build the tension in curtain places of the film and help set the mood in others. 7.5/10.
Tuesday, 27 September 2016
Star Wars: Vader Down Review
Finished reading Star Wars: Vader Down, this brings together writers Jason Aaron and Kieron Gillen for Marvel's first Star Wars crossover with their Star Wars and Darth Vader series. The book opens up with Vader traveling to Vrogas Vas the planet where Luke Skywalker has come to in hopes to learn more about becoming a Jedi, and Vader plans to have Luke for himself before Commander Karbin, his rival in the Empire, finds Luke. After coming out of hyperspace Vader is surprisingly met by a large fleet of X-Wing's on a training exercise. After an intense battle Luke decides to ram his X-Wing into Vader's Tiefighter leading to the two to crash land on the planet below. When news of this hits elsewhere Doctor Alphra and her droids BeeTee and Triple-Zero head to Vrogas Vas to help capture Luke for Vader while Han, Chewie and C3PO also head to the planet to help Luke, with Leia coming along for the ride to confront Vader and get revenge for the destruction of Alderaan. Overall this was an amazing book as it tells a Star Wars story that is fit for the big screen thanks to its explosive action, great use of comedy and character development that helps to build upon the foundations set by the films. The character interactions are great as the book brings together the main Star Wars cast and the new characters that writer Kieron Gillen has been using in the Darth Vader series and they instantly work perfectly together with BeeTee and Triple-Zero who are dark and twisted versions of R2 and C3PO along with Alphra being a great matchup for Han. The art by Mike Deodato and Salvador Larroca is amazing as it feels movie quality with how the book is laid out and drawn while credit should also be given to colourist's Frank Martin and Edgar Delgado with how things are brought to life and how the tones of colour palettes work with the location. 9/10.
Saturday, 24 September 2016
Avengers: Rage of Ultron Review
Finished reading Avengers: Rage of Ultron, writer Rick Remender brings together another one of Marvel's Original Graphic Novels which brings Ultron back into the limelight that coincided with the release of Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron film. The book opens up years in the past with the Avengers of the time dealing with Ultron in the middle of Manhattan which leads to the Avengers being victorious when Yellowjacket lures Ultron into a trap with Hawkeye using an arrow to stick him onto an upgraded version of a Quinjet that blasts Ultron into space. In present day Ultron crash lands the Quinjet onto Titan and quickly takes over Titan's technology and assimilates the moon along with its population with former Avenger Starfox being lucky enough to escape Titan and find the Avengers on Earth only for Vision to realise that Ultron followed by bringing Titan to Earth. Overall this was a great book as it not only delivers on the action but the drama as well as writer Rick Remender plays with the weird family dynamic of Ultron, Hank Pym and Vision along with the relationship Hank has with is ex-wife Janet. The action is stunning and is very edge of the seat thanks to the inclusion of the amount of drama that has weaved into the book. The artwork is great as it transitions between artists Jerome Opeña and Pepe Larraz in a very intriguing way as its not only surprising but also works incredibly well within the context of the story which is also the same for their art styles. 8/10.
Friday, 23 September 2016
The Infiltrator Film Review
Finished watching The Infiltrator, directed by Brad Furman and staring Bryan Cranston, Daniel Mays, John Leguizamo and Diane Kruger. The film opens up with U.S customs agent Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston) catching a drug dealer (Daniel Mays) but finds himself burned by the microphone which makes his bosses offer him an incredible well payed early retirement due to being hurt in the field. Robert declines the offer of early retirement as he goes undercover as a businessman named Bob Musella along with is colleague Emir Adreu (John Leguizamo) who helps to get Robert at the bottom of the drug smuggling ladder in hopes to climb up it the top to win the trust of the higher ups in order to stop their operation. Overall this was a good film as it dives into the world of the drug cartel with Robert being the point of view character that helps to keep all of the criminals and the further up the ladder criminals even though they seem incredibly nice and relatable people especially with Robert and his family dynamic. The acting is top notch and helps to bring some great tension and emotion takes to the surprises of some character's reveals and the journey Robert and his undercover fiancé Kathy (Diane Kruger) got through during the film. 7.5/10.
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Man Called D.E.A.T.H. Review
Finished reading S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Man Called D.E.A.T.H, this brings an end to writer Mark Waid's series as he brings over more elements from the TV show as well as diving into a large part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fifty year history. The book opens up with a story about Quake and her father Mr Hyde that retcons the main Marvel version of Quake's origin and her relationship with her father to be more inline with the TV show. The second story sees Mockingbird working with Coulson and agent May in tracking down an underground surgeon who has been turning his pacents into animalistic creatures. The next story expands upon the original S.H.I.E.L.D. story by Jack Kirby which captures Coulson's attention which leads to him tracking tracking down D.E.A.T.H. after being given an invite to meet him. The following story sees agent Fitz teaming up with Howard the Duck as reality is causing things from different time periods are appearing in New York due to a disruption in the multiverse. The penultimate story has one of Nick Fury's old war friends Dominic Fortune coming to S.H.I.E.L.D. in hopes to reclaim his casino boat after actually gambling it away. The last story has the team traveling back in time thanks to the help of Heimdall to stop an assassination on Odin's life which leads to a war between Asgard and Earth. Overall this was a good book as it continues to use the main characters form the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show in great ways with how they interact with different characters and the history of the main Marvel universe. The story centring around Quake is great for new readers to comics who have started reading because of different TV shows and films but for long time readers it may raise a few eyebrows. There is a nice amount of comedic moments woven into the book especially within the Howard the Duck and Dominic Fortune stories. The artwork in the series continues to be a great choice with the different artist styles working in sync with each story writer Mark Waid has wrote while the transition between some works extremely well especially with the man called D.E.A.T.H story where it uses the older Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko artwork as flashbacks gels incredibly well. 7/10.
Saturday, 17 September 2016
Silver Surfer: Last Days Review
Finished reading Silver Surfer: Last Days, this brings an end to the first Silver Surfer series from the creative team of Dan Slott and Michael Allred as the book ties into the events of Secret Wars by giving a perspective from outside of reality. The book opens up with the Silver Surfer stuck in a time loop as he is helping the survivors of worlds he helped destroy when he was the herald of Galactus find a new planet to live on after Galactus recently destroyed their adopted world. The rest of the book continues with Norrin and Dawn heading back to Earth after spending months trapped on the planet they found for the survivors due to the planet being sentient. The two then find themselves caught within the incursion of the main Marvel universe and the ultimate universe only to escape through a tear in reality where they discover that Dr Doom has taken over reality and Norrin and Dawn are given the offer of rebuilding the main Marvel universe by a being named Glorian. Overall this was a great book as it ties into the larger events of Secret Wars on an outside perspective while still giving Dawn and Norrin some great character development. The layout and execution of the repetitive day story is amazing as it is a different take on a comic that pays off incredibly well. The art by Michael Allred is as amazing as always itch the rest of the series due to the great designs of the aliens and planets and the colour palette used by colourist Laura Allred. 8.5/10.
Friday, 16 September 2016
Don't Breathe Film Review
Finished watching Don't Breathe, directed by Fede Alvarez and staring Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto and Stephen Lang. The film opens up with buglers Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette) and Money (Daniel Zovatto) from Detroit being given information for another job on a desolate street where a blind man (Stephen Lang) is one of the last residents and has enough money to send the group to California in hopes to start a new lease on life. After the group stake out the house they decide to burgle it during the night while the man is asleep however things quickly take a turn for the worse when the man wakes up after hearing the group. Overall this was a great film as the constant build of tension throughout the time the film spends time inside the blind man's house thanks to the amount of horror conventions and treats that director Fede Alvarez uses. The film is written extremely well due to the characters having their backstories being unraveled during the time the cast are in the blind man's house and this is even more impactful by the great acting. 8.5/10.
Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Secret Wars Review
Finished reading Secret Wars, spinning out of Marvel's Time Runs Out story arc writer Jonathan Hickman tells the story of what happens to the Marvel universe after the whole multiverse has come to an end. The book opens up with the heroes of the main Marvel universe and the Ultimate universe fighting for their very existence as the final incursion of the multiverse is about to end all things. When the end is almost upon the heroes Reed Richards and Black Panther along with the Fantastic Four and Future Foundation teleport as many of the Earths heroes onto a trans-dimentional life-raft which ends up breaking apart causing Reed to loose his family in the blast from the incursion. The book then jumps eight years into the future where Dr Doom is now the God and ruler of Battleworld, a patchwork planet built by the will of Doom from the remains of old universe's with Doctor Strange as his right hand man and sherif of the world. When a life-raft is found a group of Thor's investigate only for them to be killed by The Cabal. This leads Strange to open the raft that he found three years prior after meeting Miles Marales Spider-Man in the open one. Once news of the survivors reaches Doom Strange sacrifices himself hoping that the heroes led by Reed Richards of the main Marvel universe can discover what Battleworld is and whether the multiverse can be restored. Overall this was an amazing book as the risks feel incredibly high and the greatly paced action is weaved into one perfect story that deserves being a Marvel event and gives the Fantastic Four the perfect sendoff for the time being. There are some amazing character moments within the book which are great as writer Jonathan Hickman is able to give characters like the Punisher and members of the Guardians of the Galaxy some amazing short moments. This is also the same within the giant battle towards the end of the book with Black Panther and Namor attacking Doom with an army of zombies while some of the Barons of Battleworld and even Thanos go out in a spectacular fashion that does not feel out of place or take attention away from the primary story. The artwork by Esad Ribic and his designs for Battleworld and its inhabitants is absolutely stunning while colourist Ive Svorcina's work helps bring all this to life as each character looks incredibly realistic which makes creatures like the zombies even more horrifying. The font used by letterer Chris Eliopoulos also needs mentioning as instead of the normal everyday lettering being in upper case the characters from the Ultimate universe use lower case which is quite a nice touch that helps to distinguish between the sets of characters. 9.5/10.
Saturday, 10 September 2016
Civil War: Warzones! Review
Finished reading Civil War: Warzones! This dives into the Warzone domain which is split into the Blue and the Iron as writer Charles Soule tells the story of what could have happened to the Marvel heroes if the superhuman Civil War continued. The book opens up with Miriam Sharpe recapping what has happened over the past few years since the beginning of this Civil War and hopes to have a meeting with Steve Rogers and Tony Stark in hoping to bring an end to the civil unrest that the domain has been in since it split into two factions. During the meeting Miriam is assassinated by a mystery sniper which worsens the confrontation between the two sides while She Hulk goes undercover to find out who killed Miriam and why. Overall this was a great book as it takes some captivating twists and moments within the book. The character changes are great as Captain America and Iron Man have now become the leaders of the two sides of the domain while this version of Spider-Man is more like Falcon thanks to his role within Cap's army while this version of the Hulk is actually Wolverine which brings about a couple of brilliant moments within the story. While the addition of the Skrulls within the book makes for not only a surprising twist but one that also makes an enormous amount of sense when it's compared to how the main Marvel universe carried on after the original Civil War. The artwork is great as artist Leinil Francis Yu does an amazing job in designing the different landscapes while also giving classic Marvel characters a nice redesign that help them to fit into this world. While the colour palette used by colourist's Sunny Gho and Matt Milla is great as each location gets a distinctive colour tone form the dark greys and grim tone of Steeltown to the bring primary colours use for Iron helps to give make location their own character. 8.5/10.
Friday, 9 September 2016
Sausage Party Film Review
Finished watching Sausage Party, directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan and staring Paul Rudd, Danny McBride, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig and Michael Cera. The film opens up inside a large supermarket as the manager Darren (Paul Rudd) is opening up for business. When someone buys and eventually returns a jar of Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) the jar begins to speak of what it's really like outside the shop. When he gets picked again by another shopper he tries to jump out of the trolley with a sausage Frank (Seth Rogen) and his girlfriend a hot dog bun Brenda (Kristen Wiig) getting lost in the shop when they leave their packs to try and save Honey Mustard after the trolley collided with another one. This leads Frank and Brenda to try and find their way back to their part of the shop. Overall this was a good film as it brings to life a very strong comedic story while also having a lot social commentary weaved in that helps to make the film relatable to everyday life for the most part. The side story of Barry's (Michael Cera) journey back to the shop is great as it quickly became almost a horror movie with the tone of the story and it doesn't feel out of place especially with how Barry's and Frank's stories intertwine. There are some great pop culture references in the film that create some great moments that feel very organic to the story. One thing that lets the film down is the penultimate scene were every thing in the shop is making love to each other feels immensely out of place as it was only the relationship between Frank and Brenda that was the only thing to foreshadow a scene close to what was shown. 7.5/10.
Tuesday, 6 September 2016
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows Review
Finished reading Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, taking the place of the main Amazing Spider-Man book during the events of Secret Wars writer Dan Slott tells a story centring around a Spider-Man with a wife and a daughter. The book opens up to the Parker family around the dinner table as Peter tells Mary Jane that he's been pulling longer shifts as heroes like Moon Knight and The Punisher have been missing only to find out during a trip to the Avengers Mansion that Augustus Roman the C.E.O of a new company is involved some how. While the Avengers come face to face with Roman's alias Regent news comes through that there's been a prison break at Ryker's where one of the inmates was Venom who has come to Peter's home threatening his wife and child. After defeating Venom in a fight that killed him Peter stops being Spider-Man and decides be a better father to his daughter Annie while the Avengers all meet their end at the hands of Regent on the other side of the city. Years later Regent has become the self appointed leader of the domain as the last of the heroes have been rounded up for Regent to use their powers for himself while Peter and Mary Jane have been raising Annie and keeping her powers undetected up until Reagent's henchmen find the Power Packs at Annie's school which forces Peter out of retirement and to become Spider-Man once again. Overall this was an amazing book as it puts Spider-Man back with Mary Jane as his wife which hasn't happened since the recon that was One More Day and the addition of their daughter Annie May Parker is the icing and cherry on top of the great cake that is the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane. The family dynamic between all three Parkers is incredibly relatable on multiple levels while being the base of some amazing dramatic and comedic moments. The use of supporting cast of the underground S.H.I.E.L.D movement against Regent and the villains from Spider-Man's rogues gallery is a great touch and the book shows how Regent's control and how Spider-Man not being at the Avengers last stand has made Hawkeye bitter towards him. The artwork by Adam Kubert is great as the books aesthetic is filled with some great visuals from the family photos at the beginning and ending of the book is an amazing touch and the style change during the nightmare scene of Venom's death is brilliant. 9/10.
Saturday, 3 September 2016
Guardians of Knowhere Review
Finished reading Guardians of Knowhere, this brings together the Guardians of the Galaxy that have not appeared in the pages of the main Secret Wars book as they deal with life on Knowhere which also acts as the moon for Battleworld. The book opens up with Angela, the designated Thor of Knowhere, getting into a fight with Drax as she's trying to find Gamora who has traveled to Battleworld which breaks one of the laws of Knowhere as she doesn't believe in Doom and thinks it's a pile of lies. When Gamora and Rocket break up the fight Drax joins them as the Guardians get to the other side of Knowhere to meet with Mantis. The Guardians then find themselves face to face with new villain Yotat who plans to become the new destroyer by defeating Drax and the rest of the Guardians. There is an additional story featuring the Illuminati of the main Marvel universe dealing with the reappearance of the Beyonder since the original Secret Wars which worries the team and leads them to meet with the Beyonder again. Overall this was a decent book as its more style over substance with the book being very action heavy which makes this feel like a shorter book than what it is. The backstory of Yotat is great as it helps to show what motivates the character. Artist Mike Deodato draws some eyepopingly great fight scenes that help to show the sheer power behind each character's hits. Additionally the amount of detail that goes into the location works perfectly and gives a fitting alien feel. While the Illuminati story feels like it was added onto the end of the book just for the fact that it ties into the original Secret Wars and is also written by Brian Michael Bendis. 6/10.
Friday, 2 September 2016
War Dogs Film Review
Finished watching War Dogs directed by Todd Phillips and staring Miles Teller, Ana de Armas and Jonah Hill. The film opens up with masseuse David Packouz (Miles Teller) living with his girlfriend Iz (Ana de Armas) who has just found out that she is expecting a baby which makes David worried about his financial income. While at a funeral David meets with his old school friend Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) who has moved back to Miami and offers David a job with him as a small time arms dealer at his new company AEY. David ends up taking the job which leads to the company becoming very successful but creating a strain on the relationship with his family. Overall this was a decent film as it dives into the life of an arms dealer with the narration by Miles Teller being one of the best parts of the film as it helps to see the mind set of David and what sort of emotions go through his head. The journeys that some of the characters take over the course of the film are very interesting however the end of some characters arcs feel like the characters don't seem to have learned from their mistakes that they've made over the course of the film. There is some great comedic moments thanks to some of the situations David and Efraim find themselves in however not all of the comedy hits it's mark and leaves a stale taste. The music use in the film is a nice touch as it fits very well to the tone and genre of the film with some being very reminiscent to familiar war films. 6/10.
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