Finished watching Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler and staring Atandwa Kani, Chadwick Boseman, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Michael B. Jordan, Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman. The film opens with the previous Black Panther, T’Chaka (Atandwa Kani) travailing to California to meet with two Wakandan people who are in the country. The film the jumps to shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War as the current Black Panther, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is with the leader of the Dora Milaje, Okoye (Danai Gurira) as they rescue T’Challa’s ex, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) from a armed convoy before returning to Wakanda where T’Challa meets with his mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) as he prepares for his coronation. Meanwhile in London Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) is a a museum where he along with Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) as they seal some vibranium from the museum which gains the attention of T’Challa and C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) when Klaue plans to sell the vibranium. Overall this was an amazing film as brings some amazing character development and intrigue to the main characters which allows them to grow over the course of the film. The film also does an amazing job in making it feel very suspenseful thanks to the cleverly shot action set pieces and the almost unpredictability of the film. There is a great amount of comedy throughout the film that as some great time and never feels out of place due to how good it is. The music from the soundtrack to score itself is amazing as it helps to set the tone of the film and works perfectly for the different locations within the film as well. 9/10.
Finished reading Spider-Gwen: Long-Distance, continuing the adventures of Earth-65's own Spider-Woman as Gwen finds herself celebrating the holidays on her own while the book also continues to expand upon the universe. The book opens with Gwen meeting with her father shortly after he was arrested during Gwen's fight with this universe's version of the Punisher as she plans to spend to thanksgiving alone while Matt Murdock is trying to decide what to do with her since he is being the lawyer for George Stacy after she couldn't turn to anyone else. The next part of the book is an anthology of story's set within Earth-65 from a story from Gwen's early days with her powers to see a typical week in Gwen's life, along with stories featuring this universe's Captain America and is own Watcher. The final story written by Tom Taylor sees Gwen finding herself in the body of Marvel's current Wolverine, Laura Kinney, while Laura is contacted by the Reed Richards of Earth-65 after he noticed an interdimensional rift. Once Laura gets home she works with Gwen in hope to get back into their right bodies. Overall this was a good book as writer Jason Latour continues to expand upon Gwen's own story with how her life is taking a turn since she is working with this universe's Matt Murdock who is more of a villain compared to his counterpart in the main Marvel universe. Along with expanding the universe thanks to the spotlight that is giving to Gwen's supporting cast of this universe's Captain America and Peter Parker's Aunt and Uncle who's story continues to be very intriguing that's to how events differ to that of what is typically known. While the body swap story written by Tom Taylor is a great addition to the book that's to the great amount of comedy that is woven in to the story along with the great character interactions between Gwen, Laura and the two's own supporting cast. The books art work is good as each story has it own art style that fits each story tone very well, however the constant change in art teams doses feel a little jarring in places due to the timing and position of some of the changers. 7.5/10.
Finished reading Star-Lord: Grounded, dealing with the fall out of Marvel's Civil War II Peter Quill finds himself stranded on his home planet of Earth as writer Chip Zdarsky tells the story of Star-Lord being a fish out of water on his own homeworld. The book opens with Peter living in an apartment that Alpha Flight as arrange for him when Abigail Brand shows up giving Peter a phone and telling him to do something with his time on Earth. When Peter leaves the apartment to go to an art gallery he bumps into his ex Kitty Pryde who is leading a school trip to the gallery where the two have a dispute before Old Man Logan steps in. Later that day Logan meets with Peter as they go to a local bar where they soon find themselves in a bar fight with soon gets the attention of the police who arrest Peter. Peter soon finds himself in court where the judge makes him go and do community service where he meets with Edmund Allen, a resident of a retirement home who even helps Peter get a job as a bartender while he's on Earth which sends Peter into the middle of New York's criminal underworld which is only the least of his problems. The second story within the book sees Peter waking up in a old west town after crashing his ship where he decides to help the sheriff of the town with a problem the town is having with a local outlaw. Overall this was an amazing book as brings more of a focus on Peter Quill as a person rather than a hero that allows writer Chip Zdarsky to give Peter and his supporting cast an amazing amount of character development that is helped by an incredibly strong story and character interactions that help to make to story feel very realistic and down to Earth as Peter is dealing more with Earth related problems rather that he faces with the Guardians while in space. The book also does a great job in not only making characters like Daredevil and Logan important to the story but writer Chip Zdarsky also gives the characters their own story arc that doesn't take any time away from Peter but helps with his own character development. The art throughout the book is amazing as artist Kris Anka is able to bring Peters time on Earth to life incredibly well thanks to brilliant emphasis on each characters emotions through their facial expressions that help to make the more character driven moments even more impactful. While Djibril Morissette's art helps to bring the western setting of the books final story to life amazingly in part to the way it even feels like a western film thanks different themes at play within the story and the similarities it has with the genre. 9.5/10.
Finished watching Maze Runner: The Death Cure, directed by Wes Ball and starring Dylan O'Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosa Salazar and Barry Pepper. The film opens with Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) leading his friends in trying to rescue their friend Minho (Ki Hong Lee) from a train carriage after he was taken by WCKD at the end of the previous film. After retrieving one of the carriages Thomas and the team realised that even though they save a large group of people Minho was not among them. This leads to Thomas to go to a city built by WCKD to keep out infected people as they attempt to find a cure, along with his close friends Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Frypan (Dexter Darden) along with Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) and Brenda (Rosa Salazar) not far behind the group plans of rescuing their friend before the leader of the resistance against WCKD Vince (Barry Pepper) leaves with a large group of people that have been rescued from WCKD travel to a much saver place. Overall this was a great film as it brings a conclusion to the franchise that not only can work standalone to the other two thanks to film having enough exposition for new viewers while not ruining the pace of the film. The film as some great character driven moments throughout the film as each member of the primary cast get a nice amount of time to develop which helps to make some scenes feel even more emotional. The action set pieces of the film are great as there is a great amount of tension in places thanks to how the scenes are shot and what's at stake within the film. 8/10.
Finished reading Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows: Brawl in the Family, picking up after the story set within Marvel's Secret Wars event as classic Spider-Man writer Gerry Conway send Spider-Man and his family on their first official adventure as a family of superheroes. The book opens with Spider-Man returning home after a fight with the Scorpion where Peter and Mary Jane discover that their daughter Annie has been tinkering with a web-shooter. The next day when Peter is at work at the Bugle when news of a sinkhole appearing in the former site where Spider-Man and his family defeated Regent. Once at the site Spider-Man finds himself in a fight against a T-Rex and a group of Moloids when Mary Jane shows up to help only to discover that Annie has left school and is now being dragged away by the Moloids who are being led by Mole Man. The next story opens with Annie being excited that it's the one night of the week that Peter and Mary Jane promise to spend as a family where they end up at a place of Annie's choices. Meanwhile in the bank next door Sandman has organised a bank heist that Spider-Man becomes aware of when Annie has another one of her precognition visions. Overall this was an amazing book as writer Gerry Conway builds upon the universe that was set up in the Secret Wars tie in by bring a some amazing character moments for the whole family thanks to the way the not only feel like a real famine but how they work together as a family and a superhero team. The structure of the book works incredibly well as it helps to give the spotlight to each family member by showing the day to day of their personal life's outside of being a family and their own reactions to the situations they find themselves in. The art throughout the book is amazing as artists Ryan Stegman brings the family drama, the action set pieces between the heroes, Mole Man and his Moloids along with the location and panel designs are blended together perfectly. Additionally Nate Stockman's art for the final story within the book is also great as it has a similar aesthetic to the rest of the book while also bringing an amazing amount of emphasis on each characters emotions. 9.5/10.
Finished reading Guardians of the Galaxy: New Guard: Grounded, concluding writer Brian Michael Bendis time with the galactic heroes as the team find themselves disbanded on Earth after their ship was destroyed during the events of Civil War II. The book opens with Ben Grimm back in New York getting a change of clothes and some pizza when Maria Hill offers him a job at S.H.I.E.L.D. to help deal with the problem they have with Victor Von Doom how has decided to try and become more of a hero. The next story sees Groot making friends with a local boy named London after stoping the villain Armadrillo in a police chase that leads to the cops misunderstanding him. The following story catches up with Gamora trying to find Thanos on Earth only for her to be captured by Captain Marvel and some of her superhero coworkers when she becomes a potential problem for Earth's security. The the book's penultimate story centres around Angela as she leaves the Guardians to return home to Sera only to find out that her apartment has bow been occupied by a different person which become the least of her worries when someone warns her of an incoming invasion on Earth. The final story within the book sees the Guardians reforming when a large alien fleet aided by Thanos in hopes to make Earth less of a problem by conquering it or even destroying the planet. Overall this was a good book as it brings and end to the series by wrapping up any lose plot lines from throughout the series while also give most members of the team their own spooling that sets up each characters future within the Marvel Universe. The art throughout the book is amazing as artist Valerio Schiti is able to bring each story to life extremely well thanks to how the character interactions and action scenes are drawn. While the additional art during the fight between the Guardians and Thanos helps to showcase each team members fighting style and making the events of the feel more impactful. 7.5/10.
Finished watching Downsizing directed by Alexander Payne and starring Rolf Lassgård, Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Udo Kier and Hong Chau. The film opens with scientist Jørgen Asbjørnsen (Rolf Lassgård) discovering the ability to shrink people with the hope that it will help to make more easier for the Earth to deal with the rising population and the effects it has on the world. Years later with Jørgen's experiment being successful on human volunteers the ability to shrink people that has now been coined the term "Downsizing", people have been taking the procedure to live in better conditions due to cost of living being much lower. This leads to Paul (Matt Damon) and Audrey Safranek (Kristen Wiig) decide in taking the procedure after being unable to find a new home, however after having the procedure Paul gets a call from Audrey saying that she is leaving him as she couldn't go through it which leads to Paul trying to make a new life for himself on his own. Overall this good film as it blends together a quite lighthearted plot with some political and social commentary to great effect with the way that different communities are being set up with the people that have been shrunken down has an affect on the everyday people who haven't decided to downsize. The film also has some great character development and interactions as the relationships that Paul builds with Dušan Mirković (Christoph Waltz) Joris Konrad (Udo Kier) and Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau) over the course of the film gives each character their own time to develop within the film while also having some great comedic and emotional moments throughout the film. 7.5/10.
