Mighty Avengers: Original Sin- Not Your Father's Avengers

Finished reading Mighty Avengers: Original Sin- Not Your Father's Avengers, concluding writer Al Ewing's Mighty Avengers series as the book deals with Luke Cage discovering a new side to his father while the team deal with the threat of the Deathwalkers. The book opens with Luke Cage meeting with his father James Geary in Atlanta, after discovering that there was a previous incarnation of the Mighty Avengers in 1972 thanks to the explosion of the Watcher's eye during the events of Original Sin. This is where James tells Luke about an investigation the original Mighty Avengers embarked on in 1972 leading to their first encounter with the Deathwalkers where the team stopped a dangerous ritual taking place. Meanwhile Kaluu and Constance Molina of the original Mighty Avengers meet with the current incarnation of the team hoping they can help find out where Blade is and to ask for help against the return of the Deathwalkers who have got the Talisman of Kamar-Taj back in their possession hoping to recreate the same ritual they tried in 1972. Overall this was a great book as it dives into the history and the legacy of the Mighty Avengers and how it ties into the history of the Deathwalkers while also giving the villainous group more development the reader more understanding of their motive. The narration from James Geary for the story of the original Mighty Avengers gives it a more personal feel as James tells it from his point of view. The final confrontation between the Mighty Avengers and the Deathwalkers is good and gives the series a satisfying conclusion. 8/10. 

Avengers: Infinite Avengers Review

Finished reading Avengers: Infinite Avengers, continuing writer Jonathan Hickman's Avengers series, this book deals with Captain America rediscovering what Iron Man and his secret Illuminati have been doing to alternative worlds to keep theirs around during the Incursions. The book opens up with Captain America reliving the first incursions where him and the Illuminati pushed back another Earth with the Infinity gauntlet only for all of the gems to shatter, with the time gem disappearing instead. Once awake Cap and a handful of other Avengers barge into Tony Starks room for answers only for the time gem to appear in front of Captain America causing the team of Avengers to be transported to different times in the future with the team getting smaller with each jump into the future. Overall this was a great book as it connected Hickman's New Avengers series preparing for the big confrontation between the Avengers and the Illuminati. Captain America's journey to each future time period is intriguing with how Cap interacts with the future teams of the Avengers and how some effect his view on the situation with Iron Man. The look of the many different futures are stunning and breathtaking thanks to the design from Leinil Francis Yu and the rest of the art department. 8.5/10

Everest Film Review

Finished watching Everest, directed by Baltasar Kormákur and staring Jason Clarke, Keria Kinghtley, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Naoko Mori, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emily Watson and Robin Wright. The film opens up with Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) being seen off by his pregnant wife Jan (Keria Kinghtley) in New Zealand as he flys out to Nepal readying for an expedition up to the summit of Mount Everest. Once in Nepal Rob is introduced with the clients that he's taking to the summit which consists of Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), Doug Hansen (John Hawkes) and Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori). After being briefed on their expedition the group set of for Everest's base camp where Rob meets with his friend and rival Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is there to take another group of people up to the summit of Everest and the base camp manager Helen Wilton (Emily Watson) who tries to keep everyone safe and in constant communication with the expedition teams and the rest of the world. Overall this was an amazing film as it showcased the dangers of climbing mountains from frostbite to a lack of oxygen at a high altitude. There are some strong emotional parts between Rob and his wife Jen as well as the team at base camp and the emotional driven aspect of Beck's wife Peach (Robin Wright) story of the film which is thanks to an amazingly written script and stellar acting. 9/10. 

Original Sin: Hulk Vs Iron man Review

Finished reading Original Sin: Hulk Vs Iron man, this brings together writers Kieron Gillen and Mark Waid as they team to retool the origin of the Hulk by adding Tony Stark into it. The book opens up with Hulk and Iron man at blows with each other in Tony's own city, Troy. The story then goes back to the explosion of the Watcher's eye during the events of Original Sin where Tony and Hulk discover that Tony was involved with the gamma bomb that created the Hulk, as both begin to share each other's perspective of the day. After this Tony heads to a motel near the bomb site in hoping to remember what happened as he was constantly drinking at the time due to being an alcoholic, while Bruce uses his S.H.I.E.L.D clearance to look in to the Pentagon's archives to see if there is any truth to Tony's involvement. After finding evidence to Tony's involvement Bruce meets with Arno Stark to use the Extremis that helped fix his damaged brain to make the Hulk smarter and give him a better chance to defeating Iron man. Overall this was an amazing book as it adds a new element of Tony Stark's involvement to the Hulk's origin in an organic way that doesn't change too much of the original story. The confrontation between Iron man and Hulk is action pack and depicted greatly by the creative team with the fight scenes brought to life greatly by the art team and the final confrontation between Tony and Bruce its written extremely well which is more intriguing than a typical fight between the two. While the inclusion of a more intellectual Hulk is frightening and dangerous with the ramifications of it being very interesting for the future. 9/10.

Amazing Spider-Man: The Parker Luck Review

Finished reading Amazing Spider-Man: The Parker Luck, this has Peter Parker back as the main Spider-Man after having his life taken over by Doctor Octopus during the Superior Spider-Man series. The book opens up with Spider-Man stopping a robbery after dealing with the press at Parker Industries, where Peter announces that he will stop supplying Spider-Man through the company as he tries to change the direction of the company after Doctor Octopus started it up a while ago. While in the middle of the fight Spider-Man's costume gets torn apart thanks to the powers of Skein causing him to web up some pants as everyone records the incident with his friends and the Avengers seeing what happens. Leading to Doc Ock's girlfriend Anna Maria to find out the truth when Peter tells her after watching the footage of the fight and the Avengers and Johnny Storm calling to meet Spider-Man to make sure he is who he claims to be. The second half of the book has Spider-Man getting caught up in the blast of the Watcher's eye during the events of Original Sin causing Spider-Man to learn that another person named Cindy Moon was bitten by the same spider that gave him his powers who was found out by Ezekiel when her power manifested, prompting Ezekiel to lock her up in containment cell to prevent the villain Morlun from ever detecting her. Until Spider-Man sets her free after telling Cindy that he defeated Morlun twice with him being killed on both occasions. As all of this is happening Black Cat is teaming up with Electro who is not in complete control of his powers as Black Cat ventures into life as a New York crime boss after being publicly humiliated by Spider-Man while Doc Ock was still in control. Overall this was a great book as it brings Peter Parker Spider-Man back into the frame once again. The comedic one liners and witty batter from Spider-Man is back along with a light tone of story and colour pallet from the art team that is associated with Spider-Man. The addition of Cindy and the new direction of Black Cat are both very intriguing while Black Cat's story is incredibly interesting with how she turned to a more villainous path. 8.5/10. 

Legend Film Review

Finished watching Legend, directed by Brian Helgeland and staring Tom Hardy, Christopher Eccleston, Colin Morgan and Emily Browning. The film opens up with Reginald Kray (Tom Hardy) meeting with detective Nipper Read (Christopher Eccleston) outside his home as Reggie heads to the house of his driver Frankie Shea (Colin Morgan) where he meets his future wife, Frankie's sister Frances (Emily Browning) for the first time where Reggie asks her out. Once in the car Reggie ditches Read in a nearby alleyway as he heads to the local Asylum to meat his twin brother Ronald (Also played by Tom Hardy) as their gang gets Ronald released by threatening his doctor so the twins can continue to build their organisation throughout London. Overall this was a great film as it delved into the setting of 1960's London well, thanks to the use of props, costumes and music of the time period. The story itself is captivating while the narration from Frankie's point of view gives an almost look back feel to the film. The use of camera shots and editing helps make the Kray twins fit on screen organically, even the fight between the two flows well with in the scope of the film with the use of point of view shots. 8.5/10. 

Original Sins Review

Finished reading Original Sins, this is the anthology book that accompanies Marvel's Original Sin event telling smaller stories for characters affected by what transpired in the main book. The main story of the book, by writer Ryan North features Young Avengers Hulkling, Prodigy and Marvel Boy as they head to an evacuated part of New York after the explosion of the Watcher's Eye as the team are noticed by a woman who disappears inside an apartment building. While looking for the woman in the building the team run into the Hood who has been hiding the residents of the building as each of them gained all the secrets of the Watcher as the Hood hopes to use the information in the people's minds to help his sick mother. The rest of the book features small stories, one of which has old Nick Fury telling the heartbreaking truth about how his close friend Dum Dum Dugan is still alive and hasn't aged when the Infinity Formula has been used up for Fury making him age exponentially. There are also some smaller lighthearted two page stories ranging from a silent Lockjaw story where he remembers where he buried a large bone to a story of J Jonah Jameson's first Spider-Man article. Overall this was a descent book as it tells the story of different characters reactions to finding out about curtain secrets very well. The Black Knight and Deathlok stories are great character pieces while the Doctor Doom story has some intriguing twists. The two page short stories are funny with the Howard the Duck and life model decoy Nick Fury being hilarious with how some of the characters react to the situation they're in. 6/10.

Original Sin Review

Finished reading Original Sin, this book brings back Nick Fury Sr, as lead writer Jason Aaron brings the murder case of Uatu the Watcher to life as it leads to untold secrets being revealed. The book opens up to a prologue story that reveals the origin of Uatu the Watcher as Nova meets with him after asking the Avengers why the Watcher watches over the Earth. After Nova gives Uatu a souvenir from the battle between the Avengers and X-Men leading to Uatu breaking his vow of not intervening, to tell Sam that his father is still alive somewhere. The main story begins with the Watcher entering his home on the Moon as part of the building blows up. Meanwhile on Earth Captain America, Black Widow, Wolverine and Nick Fury are in a diner when Steve gets a call from Thor who has found the dead body of the Watcher with his eyes gouged out prompting the Avengers and Fury to start a murder investigation. Elsewhere a mysterious informant gets three teams of heroes to pursue their own investigations of similar murders as Black Panther, Ant-Man and Emma Frost head to an underground cavern, Doctor Strange and the Punisher teleport to another dimension, and the final team of Moon Knight, Gamora and Winter Solder travel towards a dead planet. Overall this was an amazing book as it brings the Watcher's death to the forefront of the story which brings back the original Nick Fury into the fold as the lead character of the book. The mystery behind the identity of the killer and the importance of the Watcher's eyes are very intriguing and captivating. The tone of the first half of the story works especially well giving the feel of a detective story, while the change to the confrontation at the end of the story is interesting with the battle being less of a fist fight and more of a tactical battle. Also the use of the lesser known villains is great as the book fleshes the characters out with the Orb getting the most development. While the prequel story is a great character piece for Uatu which tugs at the heart strings a little as well. 9/10.

American Ultra Film Review

Finished watching American Ultra, directed by Nima Nourizadeh and staring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Connie Britton and Topher Grace. The film opens up with Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) in an interview room being questioned about the events that have transpired in his home town of Liman, as the film flashes back to a few days earlier where Mike and his girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart) are at an airport about to travel to Hawaii until Mike has a panic attack causing the two to go back home. While working at a local convenience store CIA operative Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) reactivates Mike causing him to remember parts of his training in Victoria's Ultra program, allowing him to be able to fend of the agents from Victoria's coworker Adrian Yates' (Topher Grace) Tough Guy program. As the agents have been tasked to dispose of Mike, the last person from the Ultra Program. Overall this was a great film as Mike and Phoebe are very relatable characters particularly Mike with how he reacts to the fight scenes and how he interacts with different characters within the film. Some parts of the film feel a little cliché in some of the action scenes and revelations of some characters which works well for the films tone. 8/10.

Mighty Avengers: Family Bonding Review

Finished reading Mighty Avengers: Family Bonding, continuing writer Al Ewing's series as the team deal with villains that are personal to a few of the members themselves. The book opens up with Luke Cage and his wife Jessica Jones moving to a new apartment to keep their daughter safe from any threat to the Mighty Avengers at the Gem Theatre with the help of some of their teammates. Meanwhile Falcon is on the pursuit of Kenny Driscoll who is working for Gideon Mace, the man who killed White Tiger's family. This leads to Ava allowing the Tiger God in her amulet to take control and hunt down Mace causing the rest of the team to try and stop White Tiger. After capturing White Tiger and taking her to Blue Marvel's fortress Blue Marvel gets an emergency call of a dimensional breach caused by his youngest son Max in hoping to bring his brother Kevin back from the Neutral Zone. The second story begins with Blade fighting a group of Were-rooster's who end up overwhelming him when Blade gets a little smug at the situation. Meanwhile Blue Marvel receives the news of the Watcher's death as he meets with Uatu's wife Ulana as he morns the loss of his friend, while the rest of the team are fighting a Mindless One in the middle of New York. Overall this was a great book as it explores the backgrounds of White Tiger and Blue Marvel and how it affects the Mighty Avengers in the present giving the characters more development. The character interactions are great especially when Blue Marvel is at the forefront with characters like Luke Cage, Ulana and his son Max as each of them bring a different aspect of his history. While the introduction of the characters brings some great comedic brakes the work well in parts of the book with the introduction of Blade in the second story using it the best. 8/10.

Inhuman: Genesis Review

Finished reading Inhuman: Genesis, this book deals with the aftermath of the events of Infinity when Black Bolt released the Terrigen mist causing new Inhuman's being discovered around the world. The book opens up in Norway where the Terrigen mist cloud hits the area causing one person to be consumed by the cloud which forms a cocoon around him, gaining the attention of an Inhuman named Lash who ends up disintegrating the newly emerged Inhuman after judging him on first impressions. Meanwhile in New York Medusa, the queen of the Inhuman's hears news that Eldrac, the door has been found. With Eldrac opening a doorway to the home of new Inhuman Dante and his family as they come under attack by Lash. After the conflict with Lash Medusa takes Dante and his sister Gabriela back to Attilan with her as Gorgon helps Dante control his powers, while Vinato the Inhuman medical chief exams the family as Medusa meets with Captain America giving her the idea to address the world by inviting all of the worlds Inhuman's to Attilan with open arms so they can discover their heritage. The second story has Medusa meeting with Thor as a few gunmen attempt to assassinate Medusa as they blame her for their transformation injuring Elejea in the process, when the former king of the Inhuman's the Unspoken reappears hoping to gain access to Attilan's supply of Terrigen by marring Medusa. Overall this was a great book as it continues the Inhuman's story that was set up during the Infinity story arc extremely well by introducing new characters that have been effected by the Terrigen mist. New characters like Dante and Jason are great as their backstories get fleshed out immensely in such a small space of time allowing their story to be very influential throughout the rest of the book, while classic Inhuman characters like Gorgan and Medusa still get their time to shine. The artwork works exceptionally well as the Inhuman's powers and features are brought to the forefront of the book even with the changing of the art team in the second half of the book it still captures the obscurity of the Inhuman's world. 8.5/10.

Hitman: Agent 47 Film Review

Finished watching Hitman: Agent 47, directed by Aleksander Bach and staring Ciarán Hinds, Hannah Ware, Thomas Kretschmann, Zachary Quinto and Rupert Friend. The film opens up with with the origin of the Agent program created by head scientist Dr Peter Litvenko (Ciarán Hinds) who went missing years prior after the termination of the program. After many failed attempts in reviving the Agent Program the company named Syndicate International find Dr Litvenko's daughter Katia (Hannah Ware) in Berlin as she's looking for information about her father. The Syndicate chairman Antoine LeClerq (Thomas Kretschmann) assigns John Smith (Zachary Quinto) to bring in Katia to see if he can find her father for the Syndicate so they can create their own functional Agents. Causing 47 (Rupert Friend) to find the pair and take Katia into his custody from John as the two go on the run from the Syndicate to find Dr Litvenko to answer questions to their past. Overall this was a decent film as there are some great action scenes with the progression of the fight scenes with 47 taking centre stage in the majority of them. The character development/backstory of 47 and Katia even though its brief is very intriguing in how the two characters are connected. Some of the special effects feel very video game like causing some disarray in some parts and they don't seem to connect well within the chase scene, while in the fight scenes the effects work for some of the elaborate deaths of the Syndicate International's henchmen. 6/10. 

Silver Surfer: New Dawn Review

Finished reading Silver Surfer: New Dawn, this book starts the All New Marvel Now series from writer Dan Slott as the Surfer encounters new character Dawn Greenwood as the two embark on an adventure through the cosmos. The book opens up with Dawn Greenwood, her sister Eve and father looking up at the night sky seeing Silver Surfer coming to earth for the first time as the herald of Galactus. Back in the present Silver Surfer is helping a small nebula when he is contacted by the Impericon, a popular tourist destination asking the Surfer to be their newest champion to go up against the Never Queen who is heading to the Impericon for its energy source which happens to be the heart of the Never Queen. The creator of the Impericon uses Dawn Greenwood from Earth as leverage to make sure that Norrin completes his task. The second story has Norrin taking Dawn back to earth were she convinces him to stay a night at her family inn. Unbeknown Nightmare has gone into a deep sleep on Earth causing the worlds population to be trapped inside their own nightmares, which gains the attention of Doctor Strange and the Hulk while they're fighting classic horror monsters. The final story has Norrin and Dawn going to the planet Nautikos where its having its festival of light when a group of pirates crash the festival. Overall this was an amazing book as it gives Norrin a new supporting cast member in Dawn who is a great addition to the story as she's not the typical fish out of water as she seems to take everything in her stride. The book itself feels like a typical science fiction story which is strengthened by some great character interactions and stellar artwork that accompanies the character designs and locations incredibly well. 9/10