Finished reading Uncanny Avengers: The Apocalypse Twins, continuing writer Rick Remender's run on the series as it deals with consequences of Wolverine's actions in Remender's Uncanny X-Force series. The book opens up to a young Thor in 1013 meeting Apocalypse for the first time as the naive Thor retreats to Asgard to enchant his axe Jarnbjorn to defeat Apocalypse who has traveled to London to kill Wolverine's ancestor under the advice of Rama-Tut who has now changed history to help himself as Kang in the present. With Thor's axe now enchanted the children of Archangel the Apocalypse Twins use the Jarnbjorn to kill a celestial gaining the attention of the Avengers and S.W.O.R.D as the twins destroy S.W.O.R.D's headquarters orbiting Earth with the Avengers splitting up with Thor and Sunspot dealing with the satellite's debris over Rio while the rest of the team search for Captain America's escape pod as Cap stumbles upon a message from Immortus warning him of the Apocalypse Twins as he failed to change their destiny as Kang. Once Wonder Man gets Captain America back to the Avengers Mansion the team split into two factions when they discover what Wolverine and his X-Force team where doing, which leaves the team vulnerable as the twins resurrect Banshee, Daken, Sentry and Grim Reaper as their Housemen of Death to deal with the Avengers on a more personal level as the twins try to convince the Scarlet Witch to join their cause in saving all of Earth's mutant inhabitants. Overall this was a great book the Apocalypse Twins motive and backstory is explained extremely well thanks to the use of the Age of Ultron tie in which showed how Kang was raising them. One thing that lets the book down is that it slightly relies on the reader knowing what happened during the events of Uncanny X-Force as it constantly references the series throughout. 8/10.
Finished watching Tomorrowland directed by Brad Bird and staring George Clooney, Raffey Cassidy and Britt Robertson. The film opens up with Frank (George Clooney) telling the story of how he found Tomorrowland when he was a kid in 1964 as he found a secret entrance through the Tomorrowland ride at Disneyland during the World Fair as he was invited by a girl his age called Athena (Raffey Cassidy). Casey (Britt Robertson) then interrupts Frank in order to tell her story of how she discovered Tomorrowland by dodging killer robots and finding Frank in order to prevent a global catastrophe. Overall this was a good film the character development for Frank and Casey was great and their interactions were more of a student/mentor role which works well. The inclusion of Athena gave the film a more heart felt tone when she interacts with Frank and Casey throughout the film. 7/10.
Finished reading Young Avengers: Style > Substance this begins a new storyline for the Young Avengers as they reform with a few new additions. The book opens up with Kid Loki meeting with the dimension hopping hero Miss America asking for her help to get rid of Wiccan only for Miss America to start fighting Loki. After fighting off a couple of armed robbers Hulkling heads back home where his boyfriend Billy catches him causing an argument as they both agreed to stop being heroes. Trying to make up for the argument Billy uses his powers to bring back Teddy's mum back from the dead while Miss America is fighting Kid Loki on the roof leaving Loki unable to stop the spell allowing an extra-dimensional parasite to appear in the form of Teddy's mother which begins to take over the control of Billy's parents and other adults in the area even going as far as bring back Loki's farther Laufey from the dead when Teddy, Billy and Loki head to Asgardia for help. Once Miss America races to Asgardia to defeat Laufey her parents appear leading Loki to teleport the team into a night club where all of their parents show up as Kate Bishop and Marvel Boy blast their way in after losing the trail of Skrulls perusing them as they save the others and leads the parasite to Central Park for one final concentration. Overall this was a good book as it catches up on where each character has been since they were last seen. While Loki is the brake out character as he brings some great comedic moments while still being the jerk he's known to be. 7/10.
Finished reading Batman: Earth One Volume Two this continues Geoff Johns and Gary Franks reimagining of Batman. The book opens up with the Riddler killing several people in an elevator crash, meanwhile on the other side of Gotham Batman is on the pursuit of a couple of thugs only to lose one when Batman crashes his car into a truck. The book then reintroduces detectives Harvey Bullock and Jim Gordon as Jim is dragging a dunk Harvey out of a bar after getting into a fight. Over at Wayne manor Alfred is looking over the broken car when mayor Jessica Dent asks for Bruce's help as she has reasons to believe that some city officials are continuing with former mayor Oswald Cobblepot's criminal organisation. After checking out the elevator crime scene as Batman, Bruce goes to Jessica's office to meet Harvey Dent as they discuss about the city officials only to be interrupted by the news of another Riddler attack. Once Bruce suits up and runs after Riddler who knocks out Batman with a shovel with him coming to in a lady's bed after patching Batman up just enough so he can get back to Alfred at the manor. After a change of costume Batman heads into the sewers to find the Riddler with help from Killer Croc giving directions as Batman try's to prevent a train bombing. The rest of the book has all the characters converging at the police station as its the location of the Riddlers final bomb. Overall this was a great book it keeps the same tone and direction of its predecessor while also expanding upon it as the book re-imagines characters like Killer Croc and the Riddler are very interesting. While returning characters like Alfred and Harvey Bullock as their character development is still interesting as it was in the previous book. 8.5/10.
Finished watching Mad Max Fury Road Directed by George Miller and staring Tom Hardy, Nicholas Hoult, Huge Keays-Byrne, Charlize Theron, and Riley Keough. The film opens up with Max (Tom Hardy) in a car chase as he gets caught and taken to the home of the War Boys where Max is tortured and becomes the "Blood Bag" for War Boy Nux (Nicholas Hoult). Meanwhile the War Boys leader Immortan Joe (Huge Keays-Byrne) gives orders to Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) to get some gasoline from the nearby town. When Furiosa goes of route Immortal Joe discovers that his prize wife's have stowed away on the truck with all the War Boys chasing after her with Nux having Max tided to the front of his car in order to still drain Max's blood. Being separated from the War Boys in a deadly sandstorm Max fails to unchain himself from Nux leading him to meet with Furiosa were they both decide to settle their differences in order to get to the "Green Place" where they will be safe from Immortan Joe and his War Boys. As the group travel to the "Green Place" they are constantly bombarded by Immortan Joe's forces including Nux who went back to Joe after being left for dead with him joining the group in their crusade after being confident by Capable (Riley Keough) after feeling embarrassed and disappointed after messing up in front of Immortan Joe. Overall this was a flawless film the character of Furiosa works well alongside Max as they both have similar characteristics which makes leads to them both having the greatest amount of respect for each other in the end. The soundtrack is used very creatively during the road battles as there is a blind guitarist on one vehicle with four drummers on the back who keep the tempo of the music as it changes depending on what is happening on the screen at any given time. Also the road battles are choreographed essentially well as the danger felt real and the stakes were so high that there are even parts where a miss step could spell the end for Max himself. 10/10
Finished reading Batman: Graveyard Shift, this showcase different stories featuring Batman with series writer Scott Snyder joined by various other writers and calibrators. The book opens up to Bruce Wayne infiltrating the Red Hood Gang during Zero Year as he meets with Jim Gordon as they talk about a "Vigilante" in the neighbourhood. The following story is set at the end of Zero Year with Commissioner Gordon turning on the Batsignal for the first time as the story shows future Robins Tim Drake, Jason Todd and Dick Grayson as they are inspired by the signal with Dick readying for his performance for Bruce Wayne. The next part of the book focuses on Batman trying to deal with the death of his son Damian the current Robin causing Batman to go of the rails a little as he's out fighting criminals 24/7 as Harper Row try's to help Batman deal with his lost even going to Wayne Tower with the idea of a message of remembrance. The following story has Clayface taking the identity of Bruce Wayne in order to damage his reputation and flush out Batman in order to discover his true identity as Clayface has "evolved" into something less than human and more of a creature of legend. After a team up with Superman involving a supernatural monster named "The Will O' The Wisp", Batman heads to Arkham agreeing to test out the new security system as Arkham's newest employee Eric Border helps Batman with the Anchoress the asylums oldest patient who has a grudge with Batman for turning Arkham from a safe haven with hope to a high level prison for the criminally insane. The final two stories are set during the events of Batman Eternal with the first having Batman dealing with a serial killer who is killing the patients of Dr Leslie Thompkins and burying the bodies in one of Gotham's graveyards. The final story has Harper Row becoming the newest member of the Bat Family, Bluebird as she and Batman infiltrate the base of Gotham's kingpin of crime for answers and a cure for Harpers brother's condition. Overall this was a great book as it dives into different times of Batman's life as he deals with different situations while still keeping to core of the character. 8/10.
Finished reading Superman: Earth One Volume Three, this continues J Michael Staraczynski's reimagining of Superman with the introduction of alternative versions of Zod and Lex Luthor. The book opens up with Clark Kent dreaming of his last moments on Krypton as his Landlord is checking up on his tenets. Meanwhile at the U.N each member is debating what to do with Superman if he was to turn on the world, this is where Lex Luthor and his wife Alexandra pitch their contingency plan against Superman by using red sun radiation. Back in in Metropolis Lois Lane builds a "Super" signal to contact Superman to warn him about the United Nations plans. As this is happening Zod crash lands on earth where he finds Superman and wins his trust after helping him with a collapsing bridge only to instantly double cross him when Zod walks in to the U.N as he wants to "save" them from Superman with the U.N agreeing to let Zod handle Superman alone with the armies of the world agreeing to not intervene. The book continues with a big fight between Superman and Zod with Lex Luthor intervening leading to a massive development for Alexa Luthor which hypes up the next volume extremely well. Overall this was a great book Zod's origin is changed as he is now the brother of Jor-El, Superman's father, which brings a more personal aspect to the character. While the reimagining of Lex Luthor is amazing as its his wife who has the problem with Superman not Lex as he sees Superman as someone trying to do the right thing and not as an alien menace. 8/10.
Finished watching Big Game, directed by Jalmari helander and staring Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Samuel L Jackson and Ray Stevenson. The film opens to a cabin in Finland where Oskari (Onni Tommila) is with his Farther (Jorma Tommila) as Oskari prepares to take part in the family tradition of hunting a wild animal in the nearest forest in order to become a man in the eyes of his culture. Meanwhile the American President William Moore (Samuel L Jackson) is aboard Air Force One heading to an international conference when the plane is blown out of the sky over Finland with the President being parachuted down into the forest within a decontaminationtion space shuttle. Once William gets out of the shuttle thanks to the help of Oskari they embark on their journey to complete Oskari's hunt and keep William safe from his pursuers which includes his bodyguard Morris (Ray Stevenson) who has double crossed him as they try to reach the campsite where Oskari's father is. Overall this was a good film, Samuel L Jackson's character is very different to the characters he's commonly known to play as William is not a physical fighter and more like a typical politician. Oskari takes most of the films spotlight as its more his story with William playing more of a mentor role to him. 7/10.
Finished reading Teen Titans: Earth One, this continues DC Comics' Earth One storyline from their Superman and Batman Earth One titles. The book opens up with Raven dreaming of an alien crash from years prior to the book then goes to Monument, Oregon where the rest of the Titans are introduced as they begin to develop their powers with Victor Stone having an unique metal compound coming out of the pores of his skin. After Victor shows the metal to his girlfriend Terra she then develops her earth manipulation powers as she argues with her mum. Finally Garfield Logan discovers his powers after becoming a large green humanoid cat as Starfire calls out to each of them pleading for help. As the group meet at the nearest beach to figure out what's happening to them Victor's mom Dr Stone meets with the parents as she shows her true colours and forces Slade Wilson to come out of retirement as he gets back into his Deathstroke gear to go after the group and his son Joey only for them to be rescued by Raven. The rest of the book has the group breaking into the S.T.A.R labs to rescue Starfire while learning of their origin along the way. Overall this was a good book as it gave each character a nice backstory right at the beginning with each of the characters transformations being than bit more impactful. The version of Deathstroke the book conveys is one of the most interesting parts as he seemed more of a loving father trying to make a better future with his son other than being the brutal mercenary he's been know, also the change of Terra being Cyborgs girlfriend instead of Beast-boy's gives Victor a different dynamic to previous incarnations as well. 7.5/10.
Finished reading Superman Unchained by creative team Scott Snyder and Jim Lee. The book opens up with Superman in space stopping satellites and a space station from crashing into populated areas of Earth and saving the Astronauts onboard in the process. After posting his article about the crashing satellites Lois Lane calls Clark to say that his facts are wrong as there was another satellite that crashed in to the ocean where Superman finds evidence of another superbeing while investigating the crash site. After help from Batman, Superman heads to Utah after tracking the beings energy signature where he is met by General Sam Lane with a whole army platoon and their own "Superman" named Wraith who has been the army's secret weapon for decades as he was the "bomb" that hit Nagasaki in 1945. Thanks to the the help of Lane's team Wraith and Superman head to Tokyo to stop Ascension who have taken control of several unmanned war machines. Meanwhile Lois Lane is captured by Ascension who launches all of Earths nuclear missiles with Superman stoping the missiles by using Ascension Earthstone which is similar to the crystals in the Fortress of Solitude. Back at the Fortress Superman and Lois examine the Earthstone only to be attacked by Sam Lanes platoon where they are defeated leading to Superman to discovering that Wraith is in the Batcave fighting Batman and Wonder Woman. After Superman deals with Wraith by beating him between the Mantle's of the Earth. The book ends with Lex Luthor warning Superman of an oncoming alien threat as he goes to meet them head on with Wraith saving Superman and the throwing him back to Earth. Overall this was a good book as it explored the friendship and respect Clark has with Lois while being in is civil identity and while being Superman. The dynamic between Superman and Wraith is intriguing however it does fall short in places as Wraith try's to kill Superman with any chance he gets because he's following the orders of General Sam Lane. 7.5/10.
Finished watching Unfriended directed by Levan Gabriadza and staring Shelley Hennig, Matthew Bohrer and Heather Sossaman. The film opens up to girlfriend and boyfriend Blaire (Shelley Hennig) and Matt (Matthew Bohrer) who are video calling each other on Skype when their friends join the call along with an unexpected person. Turns out the unknown person is using the account of Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman) a friend of the group who died a year prior as she took her own life because she was being bullied on the Internet by her friends. The film continues with Laura's account forcing the group to play their twisted games. Overall this was a not a good film as the first forty to fifty minutes of the movie tend to drag on. Also being that it is a horror film there are of course some death scenes with the majority consisting of jump scares which don't really deliver and fall short in places as it can be explained by buffering video. 4/10.
Finished reading Harley Quinn: Hot In The City by writing duo Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti bringing Harley Quinn to the forefront in her own series under DC comics New 52 line. The book opens up to a Fourth Wall breaking story as Harley decides to create here own comic book but can't decide who should draw her book as the writers begin to talk to Harley different artists "audition" for the job from comic veterans like Jim Lee and Walt Simonson to even her co creator Bruce Timm playing homage to the Batman Animated Series from the 90's. The end of the story has a lawyer telling Harley that one of her old patients at Arkham left her some real estate in Brooklyn. Once at Brooklyn Harley gets a job as therapist at the nearest care home and joins a local roller derby so she can pay her share of the bills, she finds out that there is a bounty on her head leading to Poison Ivy coming in to help with the assassin problem as well as helping Harley adopting a whole adoption centre of animals who take residence on a single floor of the building. After a hilarious valentines story Harley's begins here job as a therapist where she meets an old lady who tells Harley that her family only visits a couple times a year, without reading the lady's files which states she has Alzheimer's Harley literally beats some sense into the family. Back at the care home Harley meets with another patient named Syborg an ex government agent from the Cold War who enlists Harley's help to finish the job he started fifty years ago as they go and assassinate old KGB agents. After Poison Ivy comes back from discovering that Harley was the one who put the bounty on her head thanks to her sleepwalking at night, they crash an Assassin club house announcing that the bounty is a fake with some not believing her at first. The book ends with Harley unveiling a large catapult on the top of her building which is being use to get rid of the animals "poop" by catapulting it to the nearest landfill site but missing every time even hitting the offices of DC comics as the publishers and editors are in a meeting discussing about another reboot. Overall this is an amazing book as Harley Quinn's adventures are so hilarious some parts need a second read with a strait face to get back into the story. The book even reenacts famous scenes from Star Wars and Batman the Animated Series that are funny from the beginning because of knowing what's about to happen. 9.5/10.
Finished reading Batman: Zero Year- Dark City this concludes the Zero Year story arc by creative team Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. The book opens up with the Gotham police chasing Batman as they believe he's is behind the death of former Wayne Enterprises employees who have had their bones grow exponentially long and twisted out of their bodies until they die by a formula created by doctor Karl Helfern aka Doctor Death who has been a destruction to Batman so the Riddler can continue with his plans of keeping Gotham in the dark without power as an oncoming hurricane heads to Gotham. With the plan to jam the Riddler's signal Batman uses a "Bat Blimp" to get onto the Riddler's weather balloon where Batman has his final battle with Doctor Death as his formula takes full effect when he gets a pice of shrapnel wedged in his body killing him as Batman fails to prevent the Riddler's plans as he destroys the flood defences as the balloon crashes into the city with Batman inside. The second part of the book begins with Bruce Wayne waking up in an apartment a month later after being taking care of by a small family as Riddler has turned Gotham into his own post apocalyptic playground with Gordon bring in a tactical squad team as they find Batman and Lucius Fox in order to end the Riddler's reign over Gotham. This leads to an end battle of wits with the Riddler and Batman in Gotham's museum as Batman is able to save the city by turning the power back on. Overall this was an amazing book as it showcased some of Batman's survival skills with the colosseum fight against lions. It also delves into more of Bruce Wayne's history as a child before the death of his parents and in is teenage years. The book also puts a spotlight on Jim Gordon as well telling of his first weeks as a cop in Gotham. 9.5/10.
Finished watching Avengers: Age of Ultron directed by Joss Whedon and staring Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L Jackson, Paul Bettany, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, James Spader and Thomas Kretsckmann. The film opens up to the Avengers battling Baron Von Strucker (Thomas Kretsckmann) and his Hydra forces along with the twins Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) getting involved with Scarlet Witch playing with the mind of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) as the Avengers battle Hydra in order to get Loki's sceptre. Back at Avengers Tower Tony and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) find an way to perfect Tony's artificial intelligence program with the use of the Infinity Stone in the sceptre accidentally creating Ultron (James Spader). During a party for Thor (Chris Hemsworth) as he prepares to head back to Asgard with the stone Ultron comes in introducing himself to the Avengers before sending his consciousness to a new model he makes in Strucker's old laboratory. This leads to Ultron recruiting the twins to his cause as they meet with Ulysses Klaw about some vibrainum to make Ultron's next body even stronger. When the Avengers crash the party Scarlet Witch messes with all of the Avengers minds apart from Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) who helps the Avengers as Iron Man deals with a rampaging Hulk by using his Hulkbuster armour. With everyone back on the Quinjet Hawkeye takes them to a safe house the countryside were they get a pep talk from Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) before Captain America (Chris Evans) takes a small team to Seoul in South Korea where they steal a robot body from Ultron at the cost of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) taking it back to the tower where Tony puts J.A.R.V.I.S (Paul Bettany) into the body creating the newest Avenger the Vision. Once assembled the Avengers along with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver who reform when they find out Ultron's true plans take the battle to Ultron and his army in the twins home country of Sokovia. Overall this was an amazing film as Marvel brings out another successful movie with a compelling villain in Ultron which at times he seems less like a villainous robot and more of a flawed human as James Spader kills it in the role while the action scenes feel like they have been ripped out of a comic book as the use of slow motion in the fight scenes gives a giant overview of the sequence. If there is any criticism the film at times feel like it's set up for Civil War but it has to in a way as it is the next film to feature the most of these characters. 9/10.
