Titans Hunt Review

Finished reading Titans Hunt, writer Dan Abnett brings the original original Teen Titans back together for the first time since the beginning of DC Comics' New 52 reboot. The book opens up with Roy Harper the former Green Arrow sidekick and current Arsenal in Cline, Oklahoma buying a bottle of whiskey from a nearby shop. Meanwhile in a warehouse district super spy Dick Grayson is on a mission to stop the selling of an Atlantean lungs. Before Dick can get the Lungs an Atlantean shows up an kills the seller and buyer of the lungs and even gets into a fight with Dick before escaping. After his fight with the Atlantean Dick is recovering in a local hotel room watching a film with a score by award winner Malcom Duncan while on the phone reporting to his boss only to be contacted by a telepath named Lilith telling him to find the Atlantean an then her. While back in Cline Roy wakes up after falling of the back of his truck and begins to drive to his counsellor who happens to be Lilith only to be stopped by the police on his way and eventually is helped out by the shop attendant earlier who turns out to be the former teen hero Caveboy. While Dick try's to gain the attention of Garth the Atlantean he fought earlier by using the lungs as bait with leads to a fight between the two that gains the attention of Amazon Donna Troy how joins the fight which only ends when the three see the inside of a building the crash into that makes them remember a memory that had which involves each other. The second story is set a few months after the formation of the Justice League as Batman brings Robin to meet the League as they have to deal with multiple threats appearing in Metropolis. The final story sets up the DC Rebirth Titans series as the team meet the one member that was missing from their fight with Mr Twister, Wally West the original Kid Flash. Overall this was a great book as it brings back the original Teen Titans back together in a way that does recon but it a way that makes enough sense and doesn't feel forced which allows for some character to have some great emotional moments especially in the case of Hawk remembering the original Dove. While the inclusion Malcolm and his wife Karen is great as this is the first time the two have shown since the beginning of DC reboot that came with their New 52 publishing line and their character acts is one of the most intriguing parts of the book as they are the only two who have been unaware of their powers with Malcolm rediscovering his. The villain of Mr Twister is great as he feels like a monster from a horror movie thanks to his horrifying design and the speech bubbles design helps to further strengthen the frightening presence that Mr Twister had in the book. Additionally the final story that helps to set up the next Titans series is a great addition to the book as it not only makes the team stronger with the addition of Wally allowing the reader to see some of the most cherished memories that the team have forgotten but wraps up the one loose end of the main story without needing to continue to the next series even though the story is a great set up for things to come. The art in the book is good as the whole art team does a good job in capturing the horrifying look of Mr Twister, the greatly paced action scenes and the emotions that comes form each character as they rediscover memories that was wiped from their mind. However the constant changing of the art does take a second to adjust to the different art style in some places. 8/10.

Passengers Film Review

Finished watching Passengers, directed by Morten Tyldum and staring Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen and Jennifer Lawrence. The film opens up with spaceship the Avalon thirty years into its hundred and twenty years journey to a distance planet in hope to colonise it with its five thousand passengers. After going through a bunch of asteroids when one brakes apart on the Avalon's shields and hitting into the shop which causes multiple system failures including a passenger's pods that awakes engineer Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) 90 years to early and no way of going back to sleep. After nearly a year alone in the ship with the only hint of interaction with another person is the android bartender Arthur (Michael Sheen) Jim gets dunk on night and almost commits suicide by jumping of the an airlock with no spacesuit but when he gets scared he falls over a bottle and notices writer Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence) who he quickly becomes fascinated by her an her work and ends up making the decision to wake her up so he won't be alone any more. Overall this was a decent film as it focuses more on the character interactions rather than a good story as it is quite basic but is help by the level of acting of the films cast. The aesthetic of the Avalon is great as the futuristic designs of the different technologies on show is a nice touch to the film. 6/10.

Harley Quinn: The Joker's Last Laugh Review

Finished reading Harley Quinn: The Joker's Last Laugh, continuing writing duo Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti series as it continues Harley's own adventures in Coney Island but also having her come back to Gotham to face one of the demons of her past. The book opens up with Harley heading back home from Beverly Hills after doing a job over their. Meanwhile back on the east cost the grandson of former Russian agent Zena Bendemova has brought her back to seek revenge on Harley and Sy Borgman for her death. Once Harley gets back home she's picked up by one of Zena's men who takes Harley to a warehouse where she is welcomed by a group of soldiers gunning at her. When Harley finally returns to her apartment building her friend Tony updates her on what is happening with her current love interest Mason after he was sent back to prison earlier in the series. However before Harley can brake Mason out of prison she has to go save Sy Borgman from Zeba who has kidnapped him. The other story featured in the book has Harley coming across a bottle with a genie inside who grants her any wish she desires. Overall this was a great book as it continues to further develop Harley as a character of her own while also giving her supporting cast a great amount of development as well. The inclusion of the Joker within the book is geart as not only does he try to tell Mason all the bad things about Harley when he gets transferee to Arkham, but also causes Harley to lash out at him with the two getting into a fight that not only leads to Harley being victorious but helps to show how much she has grown as a character since the two broke up. The series comedic tone continues to be good and present while helping to bring moments of levity in the much more serious moments of the book that doesn't take away from the more serious tone of the story. The art of the main story by Chad Hardin is great as it captures the emotions of the characters extremely especially during the scenes Harley has with Mason while the fight between Harley and the Joker doesn't just show a fight but the emotion and expressions of the characters shines through really well. While the art of the genie story by Ananda Conner work perfectly in sync with the comedic and light hearted tone of the story. 8/10.

Justice League: The Darkseid War Part Two Review

Finished reading Justice League: The Darkseid War Part Two, concluding the final story arc of the New 52 series as writer Geoff John closes the Darseid War story in explosive fashion. The book opens up with everyone dealing with the revaluation of Darkseid's death at the hands of the Flash who is being possessed by the an embodiment of Death. Meanwhile on Apokolips a power corrupted Superman abandons Lex Luthor on the planet as he travels back to earth when a group of people mistake Lex as Superman which help happy plays along with which ends up with him being bestowed with the powers of Darksied. Elsewhere Batman has become so attached to the Mobius chair that he is trying ti find the truth about what it said to him about the Joker as Green Lantern continues to help Batman to get off it. After a fight with the remains of Darksied's forces Wonder Woman sends Cyborg and Power Ring along with Mister Miracle and is wife Big Barda break into Belle Reve Prison in hope that the remaining members of the Crime Syndicate might be able to help against the over shadowing threat of the Anti-Monitor who destroyed their Earth. Overall this was an amazing book as writer Geoff Johns brings an end to the Justice League series by warping up all of the plot lines of the series while laying out the ground work for some interesting and new developments for each team member to deal with in the future. The addition of the remaining members of the Crime Syndicate is great as not only does it raise the stakes of the story as Power Ring and Cyborg get possessed by Volthoom and Grid but also ties up the loose plot threads form the Forever Evil event as well. The use of Wonder Woman as the point of view character and the narrator of the story continues as a perfect fit to the story as each member of the Justice League gets corrupted by God levels of power and Diana is the only not effect by corruptible powers as she is already a demigod making her view on the situation more impactful. The art throughout is amazing as artist Francis Manapul does an amazing job in the first part of the book which has a lot more character moment and smaller action scenes which have a great amount of detail and character emotions show through very well. While the rest of the main story drawn by Jason Fabok brings the action to live incredibly well thanks to some breathtaking visuals with help from the rest of the art team. 9/10.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Film Review

Finished watching Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards and staring Ben Mendelsohn, Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed and Alan Tudyk. The film opens up several years prior to the completion of the Death Star as the Imperial director of weapons research Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn)has come to the farm of Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelson) to force him to return to the empire and complete the Death Star. Meanwhile Galen's daughter Jyn (Felicity Jones) flees the farm and is later found and raised by the rebel Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). Years later Jyn is in an imperial prison being prepared for transfer to a camp. In another part of the galaxy rebel intelligence officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) revives information of a defected pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) has information about the Death Star form its lead designer Galen Erso. The one set back to this is that the pilot is with Saw Gerrera which leads to Cassian and is partner droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) being sent by the Rebel Alliance to brake Jynout of jail during a transfer to the imperial camp in hope to use her as a way to get a meeting with Saw and find the pilot and the information he has. Overall this was an amazing film as it builds upon the story of the original Star Wars film by explaining one of the biggest plot holes of that film and also show how the events of the original was set into motion which should please any Star Wars fan. While the film should also please any casual audience member as he film does stand on its own as a great Si Fi action adventure film with elements of a war film as well. There is a great amount of character interaction and enough development for each character to have a very affective and impactful part in the ending sequence of the film. There is a surprising amount of comedy that gives the film some levity to a story that is quite dark and serious in tone. The CGI is great as the different planet locations and space battles are brought to life incredibly well and are truly spectacular. If anything feels out of place is the CGI faces of classic characters takes a second to get used to. 9.5/10.

Batman: Bloom Review

Finished reading Batman: Bloom, this brings an end to creative team Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo final story arc of DC's Batman series that began as part of DC's New 52 publishing line. The book opens up with Mr Bloom inside the Powers Building while being confronted by Jim Gordon. When Bloom escapes Jim goes to his boss Gerri to go after Bloom himself with is job on the line in order to stop him before the situation gets worse with the police coming in with their own Batman mechsuit's. Meanwhile on the other side of Gotham Duke Thomas is his Robin gear brakes into the Iceberg Lounge to find any information about Mr Bloom as the Penguin recently had a meeting with him which went down hill quite quickly. When Duke gets into trouble while trying to leave he gets some surprising help form Bruce Wayne, which leads to Duke deducing that Bruce Wayne is or rather was Batman. Which leads to Bruce going on on a journey of deciding whether he should become Batman again. Overall this was an amazing book as it brings an end to the Mr Bloom story in a great way as the story continues to have Jim Gordon's story as the main part of the book as Bloom is very much his villain which also making time to dive into Bruce's story of becoming Batman again without it taking to much time away for the conflict between Gordon and Bloom. The journey that Bruce takes to become Batman is great and extremely interesting as not only does Bruce become Batman again but writer Scott Snyder is able to give the story a great amount emotion that comes across thanks to the amount time that's been given to Bruce's live since his last fight with the Joker. The art by Greg Capullo continues to be amazing with the horror feel of the villainous Mr Bloom and his henchmen is creepy as anything and the action scenes are epic in scale and the amount of tension that is built within them. While the addition of Yanick Paquette art helps to convey some of the extremely emotional scene incredibly well, along with the time Bruce is in the machine that gives him back is memories of his time as Batman is visually structured in a very unique and creative way. 9/10.

Constantine: The Hellblazer: The Art of the Deal Review

Finished reading Constantine: The Hellblazer: The Art of the Deal, this concludes the series as writers Ming Doyle and James Tynion take John literally to hell and back as hell begins to knock on his front door. The book opens up with Swamp Thing coming to Constantine for help as he can see what's happening through the Green as the plants in Central Park is coming to life and killing young couples without Swamp Thing being able to stop it on his own. The book then continue with Constantine having to help club owner Papa Midnight using Constantine's boyfriend Oliver as a hostage to make John help him in getting his club back from the hands of high profile, demon businessman Neron plans to take over New York City in order to harvest the population's souls that would make Neron the most powerful being in hell and on Earth. After being sent on a trip through Hell by Neron, Constantine returns to Earth to warn Oliver of the impending doom heading to the city in hope for him and his daughters to get to safety while he heads to Los Angeles in hope to get help for the angels that are living in the city only to be forced back to New York by Deadman in order to help with the supernatural threat that is plaguing New York. The final part of the book is the first story form DC Rebirth's Hellblazer series as it as the series' writer Simon Oliver helps to set up Constantine's new direction going forth in John's newest series. Overall this was a good book as it continues Constantine's adventures within the magical side of the DC universe which also giving the supporting cast some great development especially in terms with Oliver who gets most of the development within the book. The inclusion of Constantine's Justice League Dark teammates is a nice addition to the book as Swamp Thing has a story the is quite centric to his character but still has Constantine in a prominent role. While the inclusion of Deadman brings a great amount of comedy to the book especially when he try's to possess Constantine which leads to and even more hilarious fight where Constantine is constantly hitting himself. The art in the book is good as each artist brings their own style to the book with the great creature designs and supernatural elements being brought to life extremely well. 7.5/10.

Moana Film Review

Finished watching Moana, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker and staring Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House and Temuera Morrison. The film opens up with a young Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) is listening to the story of Maui (Dwayne Johnson) the demigod who stole the heart of the goddess Te Fiti being told by her grandmother Tala (Rachel House). After the story Moana heads to the ocean which begins to play with her before her father the chief of the island (Temuera Morrison). As Moana grows older the ocean is constantly calling to her even though her father continues to play take up the family's tradition of becoming the next chef until the island's crops begin to decay and fish shop coming to the island cause Moana with the advice of her grandmother to find the demigod Maui in hope to fix the island that is being affected by his actions centuries prior. Overall this was a good film as it tells an adventure story of Moana trying to save her island from from rotten and decaying food along with fish not coming near the island, while also having a lot of great character growth for Moana and a great amount of character development for Maui. The music within the film form the score to the musical all work extremely well and don't feel awkward even the slightest. The animation works really well throughout the film even during the parts where different animation styles are shown at the same time works and doesn't feel out of place. 7.5/10.

Grayson: A Ghost in the Tomb Review

Finished reading Grayson: A Ghost in the Tomb, continues Dick Grayson story as an agent of Spyral as his time with the organisation seems to be heading to an end as he discovers one of the organisation's darkest secrets, but only after Dick is called back to Gotham to deal with the events of Robin War. The book opens up in Gotham at the beginning of the Robin War crossover as a member of the We Are Robin crew is trying to stop a robbery with goes horrifically bad for the kid as he accidentally causes the death of the thief and a cop. The news of the quickly report on this which leads to a local councilwoman to bring in a law that allows the police to arrest any person the believe to be a Robin which quickly gains the attention of Batman's very own Robins who return to Gotham to help the kids of the We Are Robin crew. The rest of the book continues with the series main story that has Dick and his partner Tiger continue to work for Spyral while in the background Dick is working with Red Robin and Midnighter to find out the organisation secrets which leads to Dick to come to the realisation that he and Tiger have to go rouge and brong down Spyral. Overall this was a decent book as it continues the main story of Dick as a Spyral agent while also having a story set in Gotham as Dick comes together with the other former sidekicks of Batman and the We Are Robin cast which makes this book feel like two completely different books. The Robin War story is just okay as it has a great premise that is base on the news headlines at the time but the final execution is very much a lacklustre while some characters including Dick act slightly out of character and just leaves you scratching your head. The second half of the book continues the great story of Dick Grayson agent of Spyral as the series starts the beginning of the end of Dick's spy story as he and his partner start to bring down the organisation. The artwork is pretty decent as the series' main art continues to be great while the Robin War art is good but it's inconsistent and doesn't help with the storytelling even though the art is good. 6/10.

Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death Review

Finished reading Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death, bringing famous Batman foe into the forefront of her own story as writer Amy Chu takes Pamela Isley back to her roots as a scientist before she became Poison Ivy. The book opens up with Doctor Pamela Isley in Africa retrieving a thousand year old plant from the desert for the Gotham Botanical Gardens where Pamela is currently working at. While giving a tour of the place to a group of students from Gotham Academy Harley comes in to meet with Pamela as the two go to a local bar to catch up. The next morning when Pamela returns to work she finds her coworker and the person who hired her Dr Luisa Cruz is found dead with the pairs research into human and plant DNA splicing. Overall this was a good book as it brings Poison Ivy to the forefront of her own book that allows the reader to dive into the mindset of Poison Ivy by show her views on the world and the different relationships she has with other characters within the DC universe and Pamela's human plant children. The mystery surrounding the deaths at the Botanical Gardens with Luisa being the first is intriguing especially with how it effects Poison Ivy's power source of the Green that then leads to a great appearance by Swap Thing at the end of the book. The artwork is great as it does a great job in depicting each characters emotional nicely and making the scenery look amazing with how the different variations of plants are showed in the book and how the colour palette works wonders for the book. What does let the book down is the there is quite a few inconsistencies between the character and costume designs due to the different art styles within the book. 7.5/10.

Sully Film Review

Finished watching Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood and staring Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart and Laura Linney. The film opens with pilots Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) a few days after he landed the US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River as he and his copilot Jeffrey Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) are under investigation for what had happened to cause the plane to land on the river. While the media continue to parse Sully as a hero for landing the plane without any casualties. Overall this was a good film as it dives into the life of pilot Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger during the inquest of Flight 1549 when it landed on the Hudson River in 2009. The actors put in some great performances as the relationships between the characters feel very real as the interactions between Sully and his wife Lorraine (Laura Linney) help to build upon Sully's character. The is a great amount of tension builded throughout the film form the whole inquest even with the scenes inside the plane itself as even though the film is based on true events it doesn't take away the amount of tension and the captivating scenes within the film. 7.5/10.

Earth 2 Society: Indivisible Review

Finished reading Earth 2: Society: Indivisible, writer Dan Abnett takes the reins of DC's Earth 2 by give the series a new lease of life and direction for the characters and the world. The book opens with Hawkgirl continuing to explore and map the new Earth when she notices a man made cavern within a canyon where she finds the home of large group of Amazons lead by Wonder Woman's daughter Fury. Meanwhile in Neotropolis Green Lantern, Commander Sato, Superman, Captain Steel and Sandman have formed a cabinet to discuss the public opinion of them which is only one of the man problems the new Earth is facing as two colonies are threatening war between each other on the low supplies of energy. While in New Gotham Batman has brought Red Arrow and Ted Grant in to help him with a black market batch of power cells that are being sold at extortionate price which contents are dangerous to humans. Overall this was a great book as it gives the series a welcome change of pace from the constant world ending story that have been the centre piece of DC's Earth 2 series' for the longest time during DC's New 52 publishing line. The multiple storylines are handed very well as even though they are partly link together they also work extremely well on their own but doesn't dip in quality at all. The art throughout the book is great as the action scenes are depicted extremely well while there's is a lot of factual expressions and body language that is show well and helps to strengthen the storytelling as the book is more heavy on dialogue than action due to it taking a more political tone. 8/10.

Batman and Robin Eternal: Volume Two Review

Finished reading Batman and Robin Eternal: Volume Two, concluding the adventure of the former Robins in their attempt to stop the villainous Mother and her 'Childern' from taken over the worlds children and turning them into her own personal army. The book opens up Cassandra heading to her old home of the Nursery where she is confronted by Orphan and is help by Harper and Dick who followed Cassandra and take her and Orphan to Spyral HQ in England. At Spyral the heroes meet back up with Red Hood and Red Robin who have just come back from a battle with Azrael and the Order of St Dumas in their home of Genosis where the two found a virus called Ichthys which is Mother's weapon to turn all of the children of the world into her own private army with the first major test run of the virus being use on the children of St. Hadrian's school were the headquarters of Spyral is located. Overall this was a great book as it continues the main story of the former Robins fighting against Mother in the present while the flashback story of Batman years prior continue to be as captivating as the main story with Mother's origin being told through a person that Bruce meet and the mystery of Batman shooting a child's parents as the beginning of the series being received as well. The inclusion of Midnighter towards the end of the book as all the heroes prepare for the final confrontation with Mother's forces is great as it allows for Bat family of characters to use Midnighter's technology which gives more of a creative fighting style for the art team to bring to life and also helps to bring some lightheartedness to the book as Dick and Midnighter continue to have their clash on their different views of fighting an enemy. While the earlier fight with Orphan and the mind controlled children at Spyral HQ brings a lot of great action an suspense along with the confrontation that Red Robin and Red Hood have with the Order of St Dumas and Azrael. Who in turn gets a nice amount of character development for the short amount of time he had in the book. 8/10.

A United Kingdom Film Review

Finished watching A United Kingdom, directed by Amma Asante and staring David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Vusi Kunene. The film opens up in post World War Two London where the prince of Bechuanaland, Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) is studying law locally before he is set back home to rule over his people. One night at a jazz club Seretse meets office worker Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike) and its love at first sight. As the two become closer they eventully get married, against the wishes of Ruth's father (Nicholas Lyndhurst), Seretse's uncle the current King of Bechuanaland (Vusi Kunene) and the views of other countries. Overall this was a great film as it dives into the relationship between Seretse and Ruth showing how they are affected by the worlds view of them. The emotional impacts of the characters are conveyed by the actors extremely well thanks to a just as good script and the material the actors have been given. 8/10.