Suicide Squad: Earthlings on Fire Review

Finished reading Suicide Squad: Earthlings on Fire, continuing the DC Rebirth series as writer Rob Williams brings a new addition to Task Force X in the form of the Superman villain, General Zod. The book opens with Amanda Waller meeting with Alex Luthor as she keeps him occupied while the squad infiltrate Luthor's underground vault with the plan to steal some Kryptonite to use on Zod as Waller makes him the newest member of the team. While on their first mission together the squad are sent to Zimbabwe in hopes to find the Annihilation Brigade which leads to a fight with the Russian super villains. Soon after the mission when the team is back at Belle Reve Zod decides to use his heat vision to take the Kryptonite bomb out of his head allowing him to attack the prison. The final story deals with the aftermath of the team's battle with Zod as Waller allows to them to have some time to relax while she try's and decide the future of the team. Overall this was a great book as it continues with the Zod story that started at the beginning of the series as Zod's time with be team comes to an end as the appearance of the Eradicator and Cyborg Superman tales the character on to his next arc within the DC Universe. The book has some great character development with the relationships between each character taking most of the development as Killer Croc and Enchantress' relationship continues to be one of the most human part of the book thanks to how it brings some humanity to the characters an not making them one note villains. While the development of the romantic relationship between Harley and Rick Flag is an interesting paring with how different the two characters are while also make for some interesting potential for future stories with the position the two find themselves at the end of the book. There's also a great amount of comedy within the book thanks to some of the situations the characters find themselves in from Captain Boomerangs are being lost after being teleported by Enchantress to how Zod views people with how out of touch he is with Earth, followed by the last story seeing how Enchantress reacts to being rejected after multiple job interviews. The art throughout the book is amazing as the action set pieces and and character emotions are brought to life exceptionally well thanks to the amount of detail that went into the book. 8.5/10. 

The Leisure Seeker Film Review

Finished watching The Leisure Seeker, directed by Paolo Virzì and starring Christian McKay, Helen Mirren, Donald Sutherland and Janel Moloney. The film opens with Will Spencer (Christian McKay) going to his parents home when he notices that they are not home and soon discovers that the family's caravan is gone as Ella Spencer (Helen Mirren) has planed to go on one last holiday with her husband, John (Donald Sutherland) before its to late to do so. Overall this was a decent film as it tells an intriguing story that shows how life can be with an elderly family member that is in need of constant care can be and that effects the people around them. The character interactions within the film are great as the relationship Ella, John and their children Will and Jane (Janel Moloney) feel very authentic with how each character react to one another. While the relationship between Ella and John at times is very much of Ella being a career for John while the moments where their marriage comes through helps to show how the feel for each other. The film also has a nice amount of levity within the film thanks to how some events transpire while some comedic moments coming from the cast's interactions sometimes lands but do fall flat a few times. 6.5/10.

Green Arrow: The Rise of Star City Review

Finished reading Green Arrow: The Rise of Star City, continuing writer Benjamin Percy's run with the character as Oliver Queen finds himself meeting up again with his former sidekick while also dealing with Ninth Circle. The book opens with Roy Harper returning hone to meet back up with is family who have been protesting against a pipeline going through an Indian Reservation as Roy soon finds himself crossing paths with Oliver once again when Green Arrow and Black Canary show up when the protesters are attacked by a Wild Dog militia. The next story opens with Oliver going to his grave of his parents when he discovers a secret entrance to a secret underground facility where he finds a Ninth Circle mask and cloak that makes Oliver question how his family is involved. Meanwhile in Seattle a group of villains have been hired by the leader of the Ninth Circle, Cyrus Broderick to cause havoc in the city which leads to the city going a blaze with the mayor of Seattle who is also working with Broderick using this as an opportunity to rebuild the city in there own image. The final sort of the book deals with the aftermath of recent events as Oliver finds himself in need of a lawyer after being arrested when he revealed to the city that he is still alive. Overall this was a great book as it continues with Green Arrow and his team's fight with the Ninth Circle as the stakes increase thanks to the Ninth Circle's plans coming into fruition. There's a great amount of focus on Arsenal within the book as Roy and Oliver's relationship takes centre stage in the first story of the book by showing the relationship they had years prior when they worked together and how that lead to where their life are now. While the escalation of the Ninth Circle's plans for Seattle brings a great amount of suspense within the book as the different ways the city is attacked makes the villains feel unstoppable with how destructive their actions are and how Green Arrow and his team are being unsuccessful in stoping the villains. The art through the book is amazing as the art team for the Arsenal centric story does a great job in differentiating the present and past of both Roy and Oliver's life's. While the art of the book's main story is able to capture some amazing action set pieces thanks to the way the layout of the book while also doing an amazing job in bring the characters emotions with continue through the rest of the book as the character are able to emote extremely well thanks to the amount of detail that's been put into the art. 8/10. 

The Flash: Running Scared Review

Finished reading The Flash: Running Scared, as writer Joshua Williamson brings Reverse-Flash back to torment Barry once again by going after Iris West. The book opens with Barry looking over the disintegrated body of Eobard Thawne after moving it to S.T.A.R. Labs after the events of the Button. After leaving the lab Barry goes to a surprise birthday party that is crashed by Multiplex which leads to Barry teaming up with Green Lantern as Hal was also at the party. After dealing with Multiplex Barry ask Hal for relationship advice and whether he should tell Iris that he’s the Flash. However unknown to Barry, Thawne has returned from the dead and has kidnapped Iris and taken her to the 25th century after severely hurting Kid Flash who was trying to protect his aunt while also leaving a message for Barry to follow him to the future. Overall this was an amazing book as it does and amazing job in the character development for the whole cast with the relationship between Barry and Iris being at the forefront as the book takes a few surprising twists to how the relationship changes over the course of the book. While Thawne also gets a surprising amount of development with the book going back to the first time Thawne met Barry and showing how that send him down the path of becoming the Reverse-Flash, making for some amazing storytelling with how the two characters life’s been forged and effect by each other. The art throughout the book is amazing as the use of Barry’s and Thawne’s powers are brought to life extremely well thanks to how then book interconnects with how both characters use their powers differently. Additionally the changing art styles work to the advantage of the story as a different art team is used on a different time period within Barry’s and Thawne’s life while also sill delivering on the great action and emotion of the characters. 9/10.

Rampage Film Review

Finished watching Rampage, directed by Brad Peyton and starring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Liles, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy and Joe Manganiello. The film opens on a space station own by the Energyne company which is destroyed by a lab experiment on a rat going incredibly wrong when it's mutated and attacks the crew. Meanwhile at a wildlife preserve in San Diego primatologist Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson)is leading a small group to see a group of gorillas where he meets with his gorilla friend George (Jason Liles) before heading home for the day. Later that night as the debris of the space station burns up in the atmosphere three containers containing a dangerous pathogen lands in America one of which is found by George who is infected by it as he begins to grow at an alarming rate along with become very aggressive. This gains the attention of Doctor Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) who try's to help Davis and George who ends up escaping the facility he's in as a government agency lead by Harvey Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) stops George and plans to find out what is wrong with him and who is responsible. While this is happening two of Energyne's top employees Clare (Malin Akerman) and her brother Brett (Jake Lacy) try to capture one of the containers by hiring Burke (Joe Manganiello) to try and retrieve one only for him and his military team to be attacked by a giant mutated wolf which leads to the two siblings to come up with a way to bring the mutated animals to them. Overall this was a good film as it delivers on the explosive action which also brings a surprising level of suspense thanks to the stakes of the film along with how well the film has developed its characters before the action set pieces. There is a nice amount of character interaction and intrigue that helps to give each character enough of a backstory to show what motivates them and shows how close of a friendship Davis and George have with one another. 7/10.

Titans: The Lazarus Contract Review

Finished reading Titans: The Lazarus Contract, crossing over with the Titans, Teen Titans and Deathstroke series as Slade Wilson becomes emotionally driven to the Speed Force with the hope to prevent the death of his son Grant. The book opens with Slade waking up in a hospital bed after having nightmares of the day his son Grant died in his arms which gives him the idea of kidnapping both Wally West’s with the hope he can siphon enough of their speed with the hope to go back in time to prevent the death of Grant. Meanwhile the Titans and Teen Titans find themselves having to work together when the two teams discover their teams respective Wally West have gone missing with the rescue mission soon become a mission to stop Deathstroke from breaking the timeline. The second story of the book is an epilogue to the main story which sets up the future of Deathstroke’s new direction in life as he try’s to be a better person by building a team that is primarily make up of member of his family. Overall this was an amazing book as it brings a lot of focus on the character development of Deathstroke thanks to the way that the story is emotionally driven by Slade’s determination to rescue his son which eventually leads to him taking a new direction in life. While the main conflict of the book comes more from the two hero teams having clashing over how to deal with Deathstroke and rescue the two Wally’s which leads to some shocking twists and resolution to the book. The art throughout the book is great as it puts a great amount of focus in the way each character’s emote and react to the events of the boom while also giving the way that characters going at super speed a nice look to how fast they’re moving. 9/10.

Justice League of America: Curse of the Kingbutcher Review

Finished reading Justice League of America: Curse of the Kingbutcher, continuing DC Rebirth’s the second Justice League series as writer Steve Orlando sends the team against villains who are more of a threat to civilians just as much as they are to the team itself. The book opens with Atom and Killer Frost heading to the Museum of Unnatural History with the hope that they might be able to find a cure to Carlin’s heat sickness when the villain Terrorsmith attacks the museum by turning the guards into monsters in hope to steal an item within the museum. The next story sees the team fighting off a group of tech brokers know as S.K.U.L.L. in a place that is quickly named Monster Valley where the team meet a man named Makson who has been living in the valley for years and decides to travel back to civilisation with the team as he readjust to society while also having his own plan in to have revenge on the people backing S.K.U.L.L. The last story sees the team heading to Ray’s home of Vanity as a mysterious entity is granting wishes for the residents which has gain the attention of the Kingbutcher who is on a mission to undo the wishes which leads to him clashing with the team over his methods. Overall this was a good book as it continues to each character a nice amount of develop within in the them and there interactions between each other help to build the relationship and tension between each team member with their different opinions to their situations they face. The book art is good as each art team is able to to bring each story to life extremely well by bring the great action set pieces to life along with giving some great designs to the newly introduced characters and giving a nice amount of focus to each character emotion within the more character driven moments. 7.5/10.

A Quiet Place Film Review

Finished watching A Quiet Place, starring director John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Cade Woodward, Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds. The film opens with the Abbott family living in a post apocalyptic world where they are gathering supplies from an abandoned shop where the youngest child of Lee (John Krasinski) and Evelyn (Emily Blunt), Beau (Cade Woodward) finds a noisy toy which Lee takes away from him. However on the way back home Beau begins to plays with the toy and before Lee can get to his son a monster jumps out of the forest and captures Beau. The film then jumps forward in time as Evelyn is now pregnant with another child and along with their son Marcus (Noah Jupe) and daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), as the family have been living on their farm while Lee has been trying to contact anyone left around the world for help while the monsters are still a prominent threat. Overall this was an amazing film as does a great job in bringing the emotion of the characters through the mostly silent moments of the film thanks to the way the cast are able to interact with one another through sign language and the way they emote as well. The uses of the silence of the film amazingly well to help bring a level of suspense that causes any noise to be frightening with how the monsters within the film react to any type of noise especially what is made by the characters such from speech to screaming. 9/10.

The Hellblazer: The Smokeless Fire Review

Finished reading The Hellblazer: The Smokeless Fire, continuing the DC Rebirth series as writer Simon Oliver’s run on the book comes to an end as John Constantine heads to Paris in hope to find information on the Djinn. The book opens with Constantine and Mercury in Paris looking for an old acquaintance of John’s named Jacque might be able to help them with their current predicament how this leads to the two getting caught up in a robbery where the Jacque's journal is given to one of the robbers who try's to help the old man before escaping. After dealing with being arrested by the police and getting bailed out by Mercury, Constantine reluctantly agrees to work with Misabel Lifebvre who is also looking for the journal but for someone with much more sinister intentions. Overall this was a good book as writer Simon Oliver takes Constantine to Paris which allows for some great character interactions from the miscommunication French and English speaking characters along with the interactions helping to expand upon the relationships between them. The book art is great as it opens with an amazingly designed and colour full Paris which is interconnected with a very warm colour and designs of a desert expedition before transition a different art team that focuses more on the supernatural elements of the book by given a good amount of detail to the more violent parts of the book and designs of creatures like a whole night club full of werewolf's. However the book does end on an incredibly abrupt ending as Constantine's part to the plot comes to an end with him leaving the supporting cast to continue the story on their own without any inkling to the outcome. 7/10.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra: Doctor Aphra and the Enormous Profit Review

Finished reading Star Wars: Doctor Aphra: Doctor Aphra and the Enormous Profit, continuing the series as writer Kieron Gillen makes Aphra the centre of attention when she try's to sell the Rur crystal to the highest bidder which gains the attention of an uninvited guest. The book opens with a pair of journalists investigating Black Krrsantan's past after he left Kashyyk years prior to be forced to train and given enhancements to fight for his capturers. The book then continues with Aphra setting up an auction with the hope to sell the crystal artefact contains the consciousness of the ancient Jedi, Rur which begins promising when she is able to contain Rur's technopathic abilities. However things that a turn for the worse when the droids Beetee and Triple-Zero contact Darth Vader to inform him of the auction which leads to the Imperial forces braking down the doors while a rouge Rur has also been unleashed in a possessed droid body when it goes for repairs after a demonstration of Rur's abilities. Overall this was great book as it continues to develop the main cast of characters from diving into some characters backstories with them facing people from their past again to some characters having an new direction for the future. There a nice through line for Black Krrsantan's own personal storyline over the course of the book from his origin being delved into at the beginning of the book to the people who tortured Black Krrsantan and forced him to fight appear later in the main story where they end up get their comeuppance. The art throughout the book is great from the Black Krrsantan centric story that focuses on the character moments and had to hand combat scenes with Black Krrsantan, to the main story's art that does an great job in give each of the people meeting with Aphra their own aesthetic that doesn't clash with others while also bring the action scenes to life extremely well. 8.5/10.

Ready Player One Film Review

Finished watching Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tye Sheridan, Lena Waithe, Mark Rylance, Olivia Cooke and Ben Mendelsohn. The film opens in 2045 as Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) logs into the virtual reality of the OASIS as his avatar Parzival where he mets with his best friend Aech (Lena Waithe), as the two ready to partake in a race that takes place in a virtual New York with the hope to unlock one of the keys that James Holliday (Mark Rylance), the co-creator of the OASIS hid when he passed away which will lead the victor to becoming the new owner of the OASIS. While in the race Wade meets the famous Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) who he quickly becomes friends with after saving her from a misjudged jump in the race. Later on after taking another look at the race course Wade decides to take a different route which gets him to the finish line but not with out being noticed by Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) the CEO of a company that wants to absorb the OASIS as one of their assets for its profitable possibilities and has a large team of researchers and players know dubbed Sixers to help achieve his goal by any means. Overall this was an amazing film as it’s able to transition between the scene within the OASIS to that of the real world work extremely well thanks to how the different shots of both worlds are edited together. The film's soundtrack is amazing as not only does it fit within the film's pop culture undertone but the tone of the whole film and helps to make key plot moments feel more impactful thanks to the choice of music. There is also a great amount of character development and interactions throughout the film thanks to how each character is able to grow over the course of the film along with their relationships with one enough help to make some situations feel more impactful with how each character reacts differently to some situations. 9/10.

Star Wars: Out Among the Stars Review

Finished reading Star Wars: Out Among the Stars, concluding writer Jason Aaron's run on the series as all the plot lines from earlier in the series get warped up. The book opens with Luke and Leia crash landing on a small island on a water based plant where they find themselves stranded for weeks until Luke is able to fix their ship when a group of Stormtroopers find them. The next story sees Sana coming to Lando for help in making some credits by selling imperial guns and the whereabouts of them to pirates and the Empire themselves. The following story sees Han and Chewie on a mission from Mon Mothma to transport Grakkus the Hutt to a holding facility with the hope that someone will be able to make him talk and hopefully that information can help the rebellion. The book then picks up with R2 D2's own mission to save C3PO from the Empire by finding his way onto a Star Destroyer where R2 sends the crew into disarray as they are unable to capture the droid. The next story catches back up with Scar Squadron as the try the find the Rebel's current base which soon comes under siege by the squadron. The penultimate story co-written by Jason and Dash Aaron goes back to Tatooine as it follows a young Tusken Raider who is being watched over by a now older Obi Wan. The final story which is written by Jason Latour has Han and Leia going to the planet Odona when someone from Han's past has followed them with the intention to kill Han for leaving him after a job didn't go in his favour. Overall this was a great book as it brings the end to writer Jason Aaron's time with the series by bring some more personal stories to the characters along with wrapping up any plot threads very nicely in preparation for what's to come. The character interactions are great as it helps to build towards the relationship these characters later have within the film's while also bringing some of the more comedic moments within the book. The art throughout the book is amazing as Salvador Larroca continues to bring the almost photorealistic look to the characters and locations within the book that helps to make the series feel like watching the original film. With the additional art by Andrea Sorrentino and Michael Walsh helps to the aesthetics of the planets and works extremely well for the two stories. 8.5/10.