Only the Brave Film Review

Finished watching Only the Brave, directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges and Miles Teller. The film opens with firefighter Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) heading to the base of the Granite Mountain firefighters before heading out with his crew to a local forest fire. After tackling the blaze with the some homes being destroyed in the process a couple of Marsh’s crew leave for better job opportunities. Marsh later goes to his friend Duane Steinbrink (Jeff Bridges) with the hope to get help for the opportunity for his crew to get certified as Hotsorts in hope to have a more prominent role in helping with tackling forest fires around America. Overall this was a great film as it has an amazing amount of character development over the course of the film from the journey that Eric Marsh and Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller) takes as characters while the rest of the cast also get a nice amount of screen time to give some great development and insight to there characters. The film also does a great job in bring to life Americas many forests thanks to some beautiful shots from above to the besides the characters themselves while also show how destructive a forest fire can be. Additionally the film’s visuals along with the multiple character interactions help to enforce the sense of danger that comes from the multiple forest fires the crew of the Granite Mountain Hotshots tackle. 8/10.

New Avengers: A.I.M.: Civil War II Review

Finished reading New Avengers: A.I.M.: Civil War II, bringing an end to the series as writer Al Ewing ties the series into the events of Civil War II while A.I.M. also finds itself separated against multiple organisations. The book opens with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent John Garrett meeting with Maria Hill over what's been happening with him and A.I.M. Meanwhile Earth's superheroes are stopping the Celestial attack in New York when Wiccan gets a call from Roberto Da Costa to ask for help while Garrett begins to plan his next attack on A.I.M. and the Maker, leader of villainous group W.H.I.S.P.E.R. has formed the New Revengers who he plans to use to also attack A.I.M. which he does when Roberto sends a small team to a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier when Garrett takes Songbird prisoner still believing her to be working with Roberto. Overall this was a great book as it brings an end to the series in a organic way with the events of Civil War II being in the the background only gives the story some context of where characters are while setting up the future of the team. There is an amazing amount of comedy through the book than doesn't effect the more serious and more character driven moments of the book. The book's artwork is great as its able to blend the more character centric moments with the action and visual comedy extremely well. 8/10.

Uncanny Inhumans: Civil War II Review

Finished reading Uncanny Inhumans: Civil War II, tying into Marvel's Civil War II event as writer Charles Soule tells a story that takes place between the pages of the main event. The book opens with the Inhumans outside of Stark Tower after Iron Man kidnapping the Inhuman Ulysses from New Attilan within the pages of the main Civil War II book. As the Inhumans leave without a fight Medusa plans a series of personal attacks on Tony Stark and his property. Displeased with the actions of his Queen, Triton goes to Maximus who escalates the attacks by destroying Stark Tower and attack other Stark Industries facilities in the name of Medusa which leads to her begin an investigation to prove she didn't authorise the attacks orchestrated by Maximus. The second story in the book sees NuHuman Grid going back home to Mumbai where he finds himself against former actor turned gang leader Ajay Roy who wants to use Grid's own powers to take control of Mumbai's power grid. Overall this was a good book as it brings an interesting element to the Civil War II event by showing the the ramifications of some of Iron Man's actions within the main book. Writer Charles Soule does a good job in continuing the character development of the the books cast while also focusing on the events of Civil War II, while the story set in Mumbai not only give some great development and insight into Grid's but also develops Ajay Roy as a very intriguing character. The art throughout the book is great as the more dialogue driven moments bring some good emotive from the characters while the action scenes along with the power and designs of each Inhuman continue to be a great staple within the series. 7.5/10.

Murder on the Orient Express Film Review

Finished watching Murder on the Orient Express, starring director Kenneth Branagh and Tom Bateman. The film opens with detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) in Jerusalem helping the police with a theft before taking a boat to Istanbul where he receives news of a case in England asking for his expertise which leads to his friend Bouc (Tom Bateman) getting Poirot tickets on the Orient Express to get a connection to England in time. While on the train Poirot so finds himself having to try and solve a the murder of one of the passengers with the rest of them all being suspects to the murder. Overall this was a good film as it has an intriguing premise that contains some amazing character interactions Poirot has with the rest of the cast plays extremely well with how the character is and how the story moves forward. The film does a good job in spending time setting up and introducing each character coming onto the train before they are interrogated by Poirot. The revelation of who was the culprit of the murder is underwhelming as the execution of the murder feels very elaborate making the reveal the least interesting part of the film. 7.5/10.

Captain America: Sam Wilson: Civil War II Review

Finished reading Captain America: Sam Wilson: Civil War II, dealing with the revaluation of Steve Rogers regaining his youth and powers Sam finds himself at odds with the public as they believe Steve should be the only one with the mantle. The book opens with Sam dealing with the aftermath of the Standoff event as Steve Rogers has dawn the mantle of Captain America once again and hopes to share it with Sam before going public with Steve being Captain America again. The next story sees Sam and the rest of the superhero community coming to terms with the death of James Rhodes, War Machine within the events of Civil War II as Sam is tasked with giving a eulogy at the funeral. The rest of the book sees Sam having to decide who he's siding with in the events of Civil War II meanwhile on the streets of New York a private police force known as the Americops who are using extreme force and are also profiling the people they are arresting. Overall this was a great book as it continues Sam's time as Captain America greatly as Steve Rogers becoming Captain America again effects Sam in a similar way as before with most people not liking the way he has taken the mantle and made it his own, now want Sam to step down as Captain America due to the original coming back. Writer Nick Spencer also does a great job in continuing Sam's story while also mixing in the events of Civil War II within the book as the two stories mirror each other with them using similar themes. While also keeping the series feeling an important series showing where Steve Rogers is going as a character in his own series thanks to how it effects Sam's series. The books art is great as the more character driven stories at the beginning of the book by artist Angel Unzueta hit some of the more emotionally driven beats extremely well while artist Daniel Acuña brings the action to live greatly, while the choice of colours used to distinguish between settings helps to give each location its own feel. 8/10.

Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man Review

Finished reading Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man, tying into Marvel’s Civil War II event as writer Christos Gage brings Spider-Man's perspective to the event to life when he begins to work with Ulysses for a time. The book opens to Spider-Man fighting the villainous team known as the Vulturions before meeting up with Ulysses, the Inhuman with precognitive abilities and the course of the event itself, as they work together to stop a jealous man killing his ex girlfriend and her current boyfriend. Later on Spider-Man takes Ulysses to Parker Industries where Ulysses has a vision of Spider-Man fighting with Clayton Cole who is back in his Clash costume which leads to Peter to be more cautious around Clayton which maybe a bad idea. Overall this was a good book as Spider-Man almost a secondary main character as Clayton Cole the former villain known as Clash is made the main character thanks to writer Christos Gage who gives Clayton some great development and insight to his life before he dawns the Clash costume again. The book also does a nice job in giving Ulysses a lesson in with his powers thanks to Spider-Man telling him about his experiences in life with his fight with Clash being one of these many experiences he has to learn from. The art by Travel Foreman is good as it works extremely for the designs of Clash's powers and costume along the the look of Mendel Stromm and his robots look great especially within the fight scenes between him and Spider-Man. 7/10.

Thor: Ragnorok Film Review

Finished watching Thor: Ragnorok, starring director Taika Waititi, Chris Hemsworth, Clancy Brown, Karl Urban, Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, Jeff Goldblum and Tessa Thompson. The film opens with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) meeting with Surtur (Clancy Brown) who he ends up fighting along with the fire demon's own army before returning to Asgard, where Thor finds out that Skurge (Karl Urban) has replaced Heimdall (Idris Elba) as the person in charge of the bifrost bridge while Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has been impersonating Odin (Anthony Hopkins) for the last few years. This leads to Thor taking his brother to Earth where they find Odin who warns them of Hela (Cate Blanchett) who finds them and follows Thor and Loki back to Asgard only for the two brothers to find themselves on the planet Sakaar when they're thrown off course. Overall this was an amazing film as it continues Marvel's Cinematic Universe with a hilarious addition that is funny throughout thanks to the amazing amount of comedy being used to great effect. The film also does a great job in giving Thor and Loki some great development with their character and the relationship the two have as being forced to work together to stop Hela leads to the two to rekindle their relationship. While Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) gets some great development as well thanks to the fact that he's not turned back to Bruce Banner since the events of Age of Ultron helps to show how far he's been able to grow while living on Sakaar. The new additions to the MCU of the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) brings great amount of interactions to the main cast while also opening new avenues for the franchise to go, especially with Korg (Taika Waititi) who is one of the best breakout characters of the MCU yet. 9.5/10.