Batman: I Am Bane Review

Finished reading Batman: I Am Bane, continuing writer Tom King's run on the series as an angry Bane makes his way to Gotham to get revenge on Batman for taking Psycho Pirate from Santa Prisca. The book opens with Bronze Tiger helping Batman discovering one of Bane's henchmen within Arkham which confirms Batman's suspicions that Bane is on his way to Gotham to retrieve Psycho Pirate. This leads to Bruce warning his former and current protégées of Bane as Bruce plans to use Psycho Pirate to reverse what he did to Gotham Girl and protect her the best he can within the five days it will take. Only for Dick, Jason and Damian ignoring Bruce and go straight after Bane leading to them being severe injured. The next story sees Batman and Gotham Girl dealing with the aftermath of the fight against Bane as the two discuss about the future with the possibility of some normality being introduced into Batman's life. The penultimate story sees the origin of Batman's dog Ace as Alfred try's to train Ace as a Christmas present for Bruce. The final story sees Batman teaming up with Swamp Thing on a case to find the murderer of Swamp Thing's biological father. Overall this was a g-- book as it provides a nice payoff for the over arcing story of the series so far as with Batman has to confront and stop Bane before all his attempts in trying to help Gotham Girl go to waste. Writer Tom King does an interesting job in humanising Batman and even Bane in places as the two's childhoods and their relationships to they have with their mothers and how it motivated them to be the people they are to day, which also surprisingly parallels Swamp Thing's relationship with his father to a degree. While the addition of the epilogue story where Batman opens up to Gotham Girl helps to give Bruce the push he needs to make something more of his live than just being Batman by proposing to Catwoman. However one thing that lets the book down is the fact that the ending to the Bane story feels slightly abrupt as there seems to be a little bit of story missing. The art by David Finch helps to bring the edge of the seat and suspenseful action between Batman and Bane to life amazingly well thanks to the way the hits that are delivered which is help to be realised thanks to the rest of the story's art team. Additionally the art by Mitch Gerads and Clay Mann do a great job in contrasting between the different settings and story tones to that of the rest of the book. 7.5/10 

Kingsman: The Golden Circle Film Review

Finished watching Kingsman: The Golden Circle, directed by Matthew Vaughan and starring Taron Egerton, Edward Holcroft, Julianne Moore, Hanna Alström and Mark Strong. The film opens with Kingman, Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) leaving the taylor shop when he finds himself in a fight against former potential recruit Charlie Hesketh (Edward Holcroft) who has now been given cybernetic implants by successful yet unknown drug cartel leader Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore) in hope to get revenge on the Kingsmen as a strong motivator to help with Poppy's own plans. After the fight Eggsy meets with his girlfriend Tilde (Hanna Alström) for his friend birthday. The next day while Eggsy is meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time, the members for Kingsman are targeted and killed by Poppy with Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong) being the last of the organisation, leading to Poppy to go about her plans unchallenged with Eggsy and Merlin's only hope to stop Poppy being within a sister organisation based in America called Statesman. Overall this was a good film as it continues from the first film very well as the events of the previous help to inform and effect the characters while also dealing with the new threat of Poppy Adams. The action set pieces are very creative with how the characters fight one another which their skills and equipment that is on show. 7.5/10. 

Justice League of America: The Extremists Review

Finished reading Justice League of America: The Extremists, after having their own spotlight stories writer Steve Orlando puts the newest superhero team of the DC universe against a team of super villains from an alternative universe as their first mission. The book opens with Batman and Killer Frost setting up a base at Happy Harbour as the two begin to recruit Black Canary, Lobo, Atom, The Ray and Vixen as part of a new Justice League. The book then continues with its main story as the team are called together when the inter dimensional team of super villains called the Extremists appear and try and conquer the world by starting with the DC universe version of their leader, Lord Havok's home country Kravia. The final story sees the team opening up their new base for the public when news of Penn City being currently under control of a warmonger know as Nikos Aegeus who has placed the town under under a marshal law as Aegeus is selling weapons from a mansion in the city which is heavily fortified leading to this being an interesting mission for the team. Overall this was a good book as it builds a new Justice League team that focuses more on helping the people than just fighting against an enemy which helps to build on the teams working relationship. The villains of the book are great foils to the new team with the Extremists being able to go one on one with the league and Aegeus' influence on Penn City being more than a fight with him but the people's livelihoods. The artwork of the book is great as the book each is able to transition between each art team extremely well that's to the book's structure and similarities of the different styles within the same story. 7.5/10.

Harley's Little Black Book Review

Finished reading Harley's Little Black Book, spinning out of the pages of the main Harley Quinn series as writers Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti teams Harley up with an array of heroes from the DC universe. The book opens with Harley and her friends stopping the transport of some toxic chemicals that was on route to England in hope to use on Wonder Woman witch leads to Harley traveling to London in hope to meet her hero and help Wonder Woman. The next story sees Harley buying her own lantern ring of the internet that is a combination of a red and black lantern ring. Once it arrives and Harley try's the ring on Hal Jordan's own lantern ring instantly becomes aware of it, prompting Hal to travel to Coney Island. The third story has Harley teaming up with Zatanna when a group of ghosts try to make her building there new home as its the only place they can be save from a demon hunting them down. The following story see Harley traveling to DC's Bombshells universe as Harley is mistaken for the Bombshells counterpart as she along with the universe versions of Batwoman and Big Barda go on a mission to a German occupied castle in an alternative World War Two. The penultimate story sees Harley meeting Superman when an alien armada comes to Earth with Superman stopping them from attacking Earth by agreeing to fight their champion however with Harley wanting to fight as well, the two end up having to fight each other in a boxing match to decide. The last story of the book sees Harley teleporting to an intergalactic space ship with a large group of intergalactic criminals on board which Lobo plans to have the rewards for each alien. Only for Harley to open the ship's door killing nearly everyone on board and landing onto Lobos bike when he blows the ship up which leads to the two crash landing on a nearby planet. Overall this was a great book as it allows for the writers of the main Harley Quinn series to have Harley interact with heroes for the rest of the DC universe by make the book able to stand alone from the main series, which makes it very assessable to new readers. While also keeping to the same tone and style of the comedy and character within the main series making it a nice addition to readers of the Harley Quinn series. The art within the book is great as begins with the with the art styles of the main series that works extremely well with the story's being told which also keeping to the aesthetic the Harley's home. While the later half to the book brings in artists that accompany the characters that Harley is with as artists Neal Adams and Simon Bisley take the rains for the Superman and Lobo story's respectively which is a very nice touch to the book as the two have been attached to the characters before. 8/10.

American Assassin Film Review

Finished watching American Assassin, directed by Michael Cuesta and starring Dylan O'Brien, Charlotte Vega, Sanaa Lathan and Michael Keaton. The film opens with Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) proposing to is girlfriend, Katrina (Charlotte Vega) while on holiday when a group of gunmen to start shooting at all of the holiday goers as Mitch sees Katrina killed before his very eyes. Months later Mitch has been talking to a terrorist group over the internet while also training himself in hand to hand combat and the use of an array of weapons. When Mitch gets an invite to meet the leader of the terrorist group he agrees in hopes to kill the leader only for a group of American solders to kill everyone in the room and take Mitch to the CIA for questioning where the deputy director of the CIA, Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) offers him a opportunity to train with former navy officer Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) as part of a secret black ops program. Overall this was a decent film as it divides on some really well choreographed fight scenes and a couple of characters backstories. What lets the film down is the fact that some of the the character motivations and even some of the film's plot twists are feel very obvious. 6/10.

Green Arrow: Emerald Outlaw Review

Finished reading Green Arrow: Emerald Outlaw, continuing the series that began as part of DC Rebirth writer Benjamin Percy brings Oliver face to face with an imposter who wishes to tarnish his name. The book opens with news anchor Victoria Much doing a piece on how the citizens of Seattle view Green Arrow as Oliver is building a base of operations after recently returning to the city. Oliver soon finds out that he may have his work cut out as he stops a police officer that began to violently attack a citizen of Seattle as the officer is found out to be only one of many officers deciding to take the law into their own hands. While all of this is happening Oliver has to deal with the return of the villainous Malcolm Merlyn to the DC Universe as Merlyn is masquerading as Green Arrow by targeting the people of Seattle. Overall this was a great book as it puts Oliver against two separate threats of a rouge group of cops that are putting the law into their own hands and the appearance of Malcolm Merlyn who is trying to tarnish the name of Green Arrow. Writer Benjamin Percy also does a great job in continuing story of the villainous group, the Ninth Circle as the series wide villain as they indoctrinate newly elected mayor of Seattle, Nathan Domini in a very interesting way. The art work continues to be amazing throughout the series as the action is brings to life with not only great visuals but the tension and drama within and around the scenes. 8/10.

The Flash: Rogues Reloaded Review

Finished reading The Flash: Rogues Reloaded, continuing the current Flash series writer Joshua Williamson brings back the Rogues after leaving Central City at the beginning of the series. The book with Flash taking out a group of wannabe criminals who have been running wild since the Rouges left Central City with causes Barry to investigate where the team went to as he follow multiple leads of Mirror Master's ex girlfriend and Golden Gliders former mentor which takes Barry to an old warehouse where Cold and Gliders grandfather use to work where Barry discovers plans to rob a museum in Corto Maltese. When Barry gets to Corto Maltese he's unable to stop the theft of a large statue of the god, Mercury by Mirror Master and when Barry returns to Central City he discovers that the other members of the Rouges were able to pull of multiple heists while Barry was in Corto Maltese. The second story sees Flash and Kid Flash heading to Belle Reve prison in hopes to find Wally's father, Daniel West the Reverse Flash who was a part of the Suicide Squad and with no help from Amanda Waller the two heroes head to Australia to meet with Captain Boomerang who is on a mission for Waller which Barry and Wally find themselves in the middle of. The final story puts Iris Wast centre stage as she is investigating a missing body's report as the victims of Godspeed are bring dug up at taking way by members of Black Hole. Overall this a great book as it brings the Rouges back into the Flash's life which leads to some amazing insight into the teams history and life's. While the return of Captain Boomerang into a Flash book feels like a long time coming since he's been a part of the Suicide Squad for ages and the was Boomerang helps and teams up with Barry and Wally brings some great emotional and comedic moments. The art throughout the book is great as each story's accompanying art styles works extremely well with how the book isn't just set in Central City as Flash and Kid Flash going to Australia in one story. While the sudden changes feel a bit out of place for a time but thanks to the art's tone the changes feels almost organic. 8/10.

It Film Review

Finished watching It, directed by Andy Muschietti and starring Jaeden Lieberher, Jackson Robert Scott, Bill Skarsgård, Finn Wolfhard, Jake Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Nicholas Hamilton and Sophia Lillis. The film opens up with brothers Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) and Georgie Denbrough (Jackson Robert Scott) building a paper boat as the youngest brother Georgie takes it out side in the heavy rain where the boat gets lost down a drain. When looking for the boat Georgie meets Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) who ends up dragging Georgie down the drain. A year later Bill is finishing school for the summer as he and his friends Richie (Finn Wolfhard), Eddie (Jake Dylan Grazer) and Stanley (Wyatt Oleff) are planning their summer break as Bill hopes to go to look for his missing brother who he believes to still be alive. Meanwhile Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor) who recently moved to the town plans to do more research on the town when Pennywise begins to haunt him. After leaving the library Ben finds himself crossing paths with the school bully Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton). While trying to get away Ben meets with Bill and his friends who take him to a local pharmacy to get first aid supplies to help the cuts that Bill has thanks to Henry. While at the pharmacy the boys meet with school girl Bev Marsh (Sophia Lillis)who ends up join the group. After coming to the conclusion that each of them are being haunted by Pennywise and the group decide to go after Pennywise and stop the torment that he is causing to the children of the town. Overall this was a great film as it's able to deliver some great horror moments as the film is able to create a false sense of security which makes Pennywise's appearances feel very scary even when the film uses the typical jump scares. There's also a great amount of character development as the film gives a nice amount of time to show their personal life's and how Pennywise is trying to use their individual fears against them. 8.5/10.

Harley Quinn: Joker Loves Harley Review

Finished reading Harley Quinn: Joker Loves Harley, continuing the DC Rebirth series as writers Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti makes Harley's love life the centre of the book as she has to deal with her current and former relationships. The book opens with Harley taking Poison Ivy to the Bahamas, where they meet up with Sy Borgman after being recommended to have a holiday from a local fast food restaurant owner who is acting as a therapist to Harley. The next story sees Harley dealing with the revaluation of Ivy's view on moving in with her leads to Harley to try and cheer herself up by going to the roller derby where she finds herself against Bertha, the skater Harley was against in one of her earlier adventures. The main story of the book sees the Joker reappearing in Harley's life once again in hope to win Harley back which causes multiple problems as Harley had already told the Joker that she was done with his, Red Tool becomes jealous and fears for Harley's safety while the Joker might not be how he saids he is. The final story is set at Christmas as Harley and Red Tool head to the nearest department store to see Santa only for him not to turn up and causing hysteria with the children and Harley who finds herself getting knocked out and having a dream like adventure to find and save Santa. Overall this was a great book as it brings a lot of focus on continuing to develop Harley as a character as her relationships take centre stage from her heart being broken by what Poison Ivy said and the sudden appearance of the Joker back into her life also make for great stories. The book also does a great job in how it references previous stories for this series and the one that preceded it as it catches up readers who haven't read the previous series while also rewarding for long time readers. Additionally the comedy that is woven into the book is great with the interactions between characters and also helps to bring some levity into some more serious moments. The art throughout the book works hand in hand with each other with the art changing as the stories change. 8/10.

American Made Film Review

Finished watching American Made, directed by Doug Liman and starring Tom Cruise and Domhnall Gleeson. The film opens in the late 1970's where commercial airline pilot Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) is delivering contraband which gains the attention of CIA agent Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson) who what's to give Barry a job to fly under the radar to take photos for the government and later becomes a currier for the CIA as well. One day when Barry try's to refuel after a job he is taking to meet with the heads of the Medellin Cartel who what Barry to deliver their drugs to America which Barry agrees to when he finds out how much money he will make. However when Barry gets caught along with the Cartel in a standoff, Monty keeps Barry out of prison by changing Barry's job to begin to deliver weapons to the South American continent to assist against a communist threat and also beings to start up the drug traveling again with the Cartel. Overall this was a good film as it delves into the life of Barry Seal with how he works with the Cartel and the CIA to transport drugs, weapons and important documents around the world. The film does a great job in creating the aesthetic of the time period thanks to the costume and prop departments to get the look of the time period while the music used helps to enforce the film's aesthetic. There's a nice amount of character development thanks to how the film show Barry's family and friends change as their lifestyle changes with the amount of money Barry is making which leads to the many twists and turns of the story. 7/10.

Justice League of America: Road to Rebirth Review

Finished reading Justice League of America: Road to Rebirth, being a precursor to the DC comics series writer Steve Orlando gives members of the Justice League of America their own spotlight story before they come together to form the new team under the leadership of Batman. The book opens up with a story centring around Ivy University student and protégée of Dr Ray Palmer, Ryan Choi as the two work together to make scientific breakthroughs while Ryan also helps Ray in his work as the Atom. However one day Ray goes missing which leads to Ryan having to pick up the mantle of the Atom in hope to find his mentor. The next story co-written by Jody Houser sees public figure Mari McCabe finding herself reluctantly dawns the mantle of Vixen that has been passed down by her ancestors, when a young girl from an enrichment program of Mari's blamed her for not doing enough to help causes Mari to personally help the girl by finding her missing mum. The following story tells the origin of young superhero the Ray who after years being lock in his own home due to his powers being light based, runs away from home in order to explore the world and when he arrives back in his home town he decides to become a hero. The penultimate story which is also co-written by Jody Houser has Killer Frost dealing with the aftermath of the events in Justice League vs Suicide Squad as Caitlin finds herself having to cope with being stuck in Belle Reve a while longer as she constantly tries to prove that she can keep her powers under control. The final story of the book sees Batman and Killer Frost setting up a base in Happy Harbour as the two begin to recruit heroes to be a part of the Justice League of America. Overall this was a good book as dives into the origin and backstories of the team members and where they are before forming the Justice League of America. The structure of how the series begins works greatly as it allows for the characters who haven't had much development or attention within DC for a while and helps to set up stories to return to in the future. The art work throughout the book works extremely well for each individual stories thanks to the way each art team fits the tone and character at the centre of the stories. 7/10.

Justice League vs Suicide Squad Review

Finished reading Justice League vs Suicide Squad, writer Joshua Williamson brings the first event of DC Rebirth together as two of DC's prominent teams finding themselves meeting for the first time as the Suicide Squad is no longer a secret to the superhero community. The book opens with the arrival of Killer Frost to Bell Reve prison as she is enlisted into the Suicide Squad as its newest member. The book than continues with the main story as the Suicide Squad are on a mission in Badhnisia to stop the villainous Apex who plans to sink to island with the use of an earthquake generator. However the squads mission is not going unnoticed as the Justice League shows up just in time to help civilians and bring an end to the Suicide Squad with Amanda Waller back in Belle Reve ordering the squad to not let the league taking them otherwise she will detonate the bombs in their heads as the squad find themselves victorious when Killer Frost uses her powers to freeze both teams. While this is happening Maxwell Lord has discovered a secret prison in Death Valley where breaks out a group of super villains who are later revealed to be the original Suicide Squad, in order to take the Eclipso Diamond for Belle Reve. Overall this was a great book as writer Joshua Williamson crafts an amazing story that starts with the advertised fight between the two teams only for the story to take a very intriguing turn with the introduction of Maxwell Lord and his own personal team of criminals leads to some great scenes between Maxwell and his team with the Justice League and the Suicide Squad each character's interactions and fights, which also helps to set up for future stories. The back up stories within the book that focuses on Maxwell Lord and Steve Trevor by writer Tim Seeley are great additions to the book as the Maxwell Lord story helps to show what lead to the main story and who he is as a character. While the Steve Trevor story helps to give a view on what is happening in the streets of Washington during the attack of Eclipso and the mind controlled Justice League as Steve is trying to get to his family to make sure they're safe. The additional backup stories cowritten by Rob Williams and Si Spurrier are great as they help to show how the original Suicide Squad operated and what lead them to the positions they're in at the beginning of the book, while also give some great insight into Amanda Waller's character as she dealt with the original team and how she try's to terms with the fall out of the main story. The art throughout the book is great as it barely feel inconsistent with the constant changing of art teams as the structure of the book is able to adapt to the change very easily. 8.5/10.

The Hitman's Bodyguard Film Review

Finished watching The Hitman's Bodyguard, directed by Patrick Hughes and starring Ryan Reynolds, Tsuwayuki Saotome, Gary Oldman, Samuel L Jackson, Salma Hayek and Élodie Yung. The film opens with bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) on an assignment that goes horribly wrong for him when the person who hired him, Takashi Kurosawa (Tsuwayuki Saotome) is killed by a sniper which leads to Michael getting a significant demotion. A couple of years later dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman) has been brought to the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity and is on the verge of being released due to the prosecution not having enough witnesses as all have been kill before getting to the court. This leads to Interpol to get hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L Jackson) to testify in the court with the promise that his wife Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek) will be set free in return. While on the way to the court the Interpol transport is attacked with Darius and agent Amelia Roussel (Élodie Yung) being the only survivors causes Amelia to call her ex Michael in hope he can get Darius to court without getting killed. Overall this was a great film as the great comedy and action of the film are mixed together incredibly well. The action set pieces are brought to life greatly thanks to the way they are shot and edited together essentially when there are two separate fights happening with Michael and Darius in different places don't take the spotlight away for one or the other as each have their own feel. The interactions between Michael and Darius are amazing as the two actors have great comedic timing, while the relationship between the characters builds throughout the film thanks to the great development and insight into the characters background. 8/10.