The Snowman Film Review

Finished watching The Snowman, directed by Tomas Alfredson and starring Leonard Heinemann, Sofia Helin, Michael Fassbender, Genevieve O'Reilly and Rebecca Ferguson. The film opens with a young boy (Leonard Heinemann) and his mother (Sofia Helin) finding themselves driving on to a frozen lake where the car and the mother sink into the lake while going to meet with the boys father. Years later Detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) is waking up with a hangover in the middle of a park as he heads to work. Later that night teacher Birte Becker (Genevieve O'Reilly) is followed home where she is kidnapped from her home which thrusts Harry and his new work colleague Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Ferguson) into a strange investigation of a killer who's crimes date back years prior. Overall this was a descent film as it dives into the the life and career of Harry Hole by showing how is emotions and family effect and are effected by the film's antagonist. The murder victims are giving a nice about of character intrigue and insight that makes there deaths more impactful to the film and the characters within the film. However what lets the film down is the fact that the film's antagonist gets the least amount of development as their motives are barely explored and once the killer is dealt with the film instantly ending very anticlimactically once the killer has been dealt with. 6/10.

All Star Batman: Ends of the Earth Review

Finished reading All Star Batman: Ends of the Earth, continuing writer Scott Snyder's DC Rebirth Batman series as an array of Batman's villains are given their own spotlight as Batman finds himself on a new case. The book opens with Batman finding himself in the Alaska as Mr Freeze is using a facility he found contains multiple people in cryosleep high Freeze has woken up in hope to find safe way to wake up his beloved Nora. However during the fight between Batman and Freeze a deadly contagion is realised into the atmosphere which cases Batman to try and find a cure which leads him to Poison Ivy who is currently doing some research in the Death Vally, Nevada. However Batman soon finds out the he was followed by a group calling themselves the Blackhawks to Batchaloo swap, Mississippi and a final confrontation with the main villain pulling the strings in Washington D.C. The final story of the book sees Batman's most recent protégée Duke continuing his training as the two heroes find themselves dealing with multiple riddles set up by the Riddler and someone from Duke's past return to cause havoc in his life. Overall is was a great as it sends Batman on and interesting adventure that gives some of his villains a great amount of development while not taking time away from the main overarching storyline. The structure of the book's main story is intriguing with how the book takes a more novel like way in the way the dialog of the book is shown and helps to give the book it's own unique feel. The art of the book is amazing as the changing art teams not only gives each villain their own unique art style but also has similar visuals that makes each part feel connected to each other. 8/10.

Nightwing: Nightwing Must Die Review

Finished reading Nightwing: Nightwing Must Die, continuing writer Tim Seeley’s time with the character, Dick finds his superhero and personal lives clashing with one another. The book opens with Dick and his girlfriend Shawn having a moment when Dick gets notices a call on the police scanner of a robbery. Meanwhile in San Francisco current Robin, Damian Wayne is noticing an online trend that Nightwing is the better Robin and a better candidate to continues Batman's legacy which the Teen Titans agree with. This leads to Damian to head to Blüdhaven to meet with Dick and discuss about the Batman legacy, however things don't go according to plan when Dick gets a call from Shawn thinking that she maybe pregnant which makes Dick race straight to her apartment where he finds out that Shawn has been kidnapped with evidence of Shawn's location with coordinates to France where Dick and Damian find themselves against a familiar foe. The second story of the book sees Wally West, Flash coming to Blüdhaven as Dick and Wally spend some time catching up when they find themselves being robbed in the streets by a criminal using a device that allows him to stop time which leads to Dick and Wally to team up and get the stolen items back. Overall this was a great book as it sees Dick working with Damian Wayne again as the two find themselves fighting against villains from Dick's time as Batman which is paralleled by the reason of Damian being jealous of the fact that people see Dick as a better successor of Batman then himself. There's a great amount of character development within the book as Dick and Shawn's relationship is placed as the main driving force of the book while the addition of Damian help to show how Dick could easily step into the role of a father if he ever had a child, while also give Damian the ability to grow as a character and gives some great interactions with Dick thanks to the two's relationship and the situations they find themselves in. The addition of the team up story of Dick and Wally written by Michael McMillian continues to build Blüdhaven's as a city while also give Dick and Wally time to develop their friendship by dealing with a simple villain the helps to set up future story's as well. The art through of the book is great as Blüdhaven continues to have its own unique aesthetic that separates from other cities in the DC universe while the art team's style continues through the multiple locations that Dick goes to throughout the book. 8.5/10.

Blade Runner 2049 Film Review

Finished watching Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Ryan Gosling, Dave Bautista, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas and Harrison Ford. The film opens with Blade Runner K (Ryan Gosling) travels to a protein farm where a replicant named Sapper (Dave Bautista) is working and K has been tasked by his superior Lieutenant Joshi (Robin Wright) to bring Sapper in only for a fight to break out. After dealing with Sapper and going over the area K finds the remains of a female replicant that leads K on a mysterious case that starts with K going to the Wallace Corporation, the current manufacturer of replicants. Overall this was an amazing film as it feels like a very organic sequel by having a similar aesthetic and continues to build from its predecessor with a great amount of connective tissue. The film does an amazing job in creating a sense of suspense for each scene and a great amount of emotion helps to make the films almost three hour length unnoticeable. There’s a great amount of character development and intrigue as K’s home life with his hologram girlfriend Joi (Ana de Armas) and personal history comes into question when he begins to investigate a strange case. While the return of Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a great addition to film as it keeps the connectivity of the original film and feels very organic to the direction the film itself takes with K’s own story. 9/10.

Harley Quinn: Red Meat Review

Finished reading Harley Quinn: Red Meat, continuing writers Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti second Harley Quinn ongoing series as Harley finds herself against a subterranean conquer, a group of cannibals and a girl from the future who has been inspired by Batman. The book opens with Harley and Harlem Harley taking a motorbike they've earned back home after a job when as group or humanoid insects smash through a window with a giant cocoon that has the subterranean villain named Zorcrom who plans on taking over the surface world.,The second story sees the return police chief Spoonsdale as he has come to meet with Harley in hopes that she can help him solve a case as multiple homeless people around the state of New York have been going missing as a group of cannibals that have been hired by the mayors office have been kidnapping them to feast upon. The final story of the book sees the end to Batman fan from the future, Devani Kage's story as she finds herself transported to the present in hopes to kill Harley and prevent her future from happening. Only for Harley to be save by someone close to her in a intriguing way. Overall this was a great book as it continues Harley’s adventures in Coney Island as the book puts focus on developing Harley as she meets with Power Girl and and gets a new job from the police chief Spoonsdale. While Red Tool also gets a nice amount of development that explore more of his origin, while also continuing to be one of the most hilarious ant interesting of Harley’s supporting cast. The structure of the book is interesting and works surprisingly well as writers Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti craft several overarching stories that criminate together extremely well. Additionally the great art of the book does a excellent job in differentiating between the multiple art styles and not feeling out of place during the transitions. 8/10.

Earth 2: Society: Life After Death Review

Finished reading Earth 2: Society: Life After Death, writer Dan Abnett bring an end to not only the series but the time with these characters which started at the beginning of DC's New 52 publishing line. The book opens with the heroes of Earth 2 finding themselves in a patch work world that looks like their original world as they find themselves under attack a by a group of shadowy fighters that look like the classic Sandman begin to attack the while the patch work world is slowly becoming the a new version of Earth 2. The final story sees the team having to finial adjusted to their new home as they continue to be heroes for a new world. Overall this was a great book as it brings a conclusion to the series amazing as each character get their own time to shine and their personal story arcs to a satisfying end with the book ending with enough room for DC to return to if they ever wish to. The reintroduction of the Ultra-Humanite is a great addition to the book as it helps to bring a more connective through line from earlier in the series to its conclusion along with a couple of surprising twist and returning characters. The art by Bruno Redondo and Vicente Cifuentes is great as it’s continues with the aesthetic of the series while also making the transition between the new more classic looking Earth 2 feel seamless thanks to the rest of the art team. Additionally the designs of the Sandmen looks amazing thanks to the way they look like creatures for a horror film while their in battle helps to give them a more supernatural. 8.5/10.

Goodbye Christopher Robin Flim Review

Finished watching Goodbye Christopher Robin, directed by Simon Curtis and starring Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, Will Tilston, Alex Lawther and Kelly Macdonald. The film opens in Second World War England as writer A. A. Mine (Domhnall Gleeson) receives a letter that gives him horrifying flashbacks to the First World War and how coming back home to his wife Daphne (Margot Robbie) was difficult. After the birth of their son Christopher Robin (Will Tilston and Alex Lawther) Daphne becomes distant as she doesn't what Christopher to good and fight another war just like his father. Years later Mine is still adjusting to life at home he decides to move to the countryside where he later finds himself spending time with his son when Daphne leaves him due to not writing anything and the nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald) having to go spend time with her mother who has fallen ill. This is where Mine finds himself getting the inspiration to write Winnie-the-Pooh. Overall this was a great film as it dives into the life of writer A. A. Mine showing how he tried to deal with coming home after the First World War and where his inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh came from and how that effected his family's life. The character interactions between the whole cast is great as the relationships between the characters feel very realistic which helps to make the more emotionally driven parts of the film have more of an impact thanks to how well the cast work together. 8/10.