Avengers: Infinity War Film Review

Finished watching Avengers: Infinity War, directed Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, and starring Josh Brolin, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch. The film opens shortly after the events of Thor: Ragnorok as Thanos (Josh Brolin) has attacked the Asgardian ship in hopes to get the Space Stone which to the surprise of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) took as they were leaving Asgard. Meanwhile on Earth the Avengers are still dealing with the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his team of heroes still in hiding, while Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is still very active as Iron Man. When he is summoned by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to help with a problem that needs Tony's attention, Thanos' forces arrive on Earth in hopes to retrieve the Mind and Time stones that are currently on Earth as the two sets of heroes find themselves fighting the same fight on different fronts. Overall this was an amazing film as its able to build a coherent story as there's one part of the film where it splits into four sub stories happening at the same time as Thanos, the Avengers and the Guardians are on multiple different missions which the film is able to juggle between each group of characters extremely well while also catching people up on what has happened between films. The character interactions throughout the film are amazing as they are used to help make more of an impact on some of the more emotionally driven moments thanks to the relationships that have been developed between characters. While also bring about some of the best comedic moments that come from the way that characters who have not interacted on screen before with how their personalities and characteristics come into to play. There's also an amazing amount of character development throughout the film thanks to how the characters are affected by certain parts of the film and how they find themselves in conflict with one another at time. While Thanos gets a surprisingly amount of character development over the corse of the film thanks to the way he comes across as a very sympathetic character as his motivations and level of emotion he has makes him more of a protagonist to the film rather than the antagonist he is which is only because of what his plan consists of and the effects it has on the universe. 9/10.

Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles Review

Finished reading Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles, continuing writing Tom King’s run on the series as he dived into an event early in Batman’s career that has haunt him since. The book opens in the early years of Batman’s career as a superhero as the Joker has been leaving a trail of dead bodies all over the city. With the GCPD unable to find any patter in Joker’s crimes to be able to apprehended him they turn to the Riddler for help which they have been doing for sometime however this time Riddler decides to escape capture and plans to meet with the Joker face to face. When the two villains met the Joker decides to shot Riddler pint blank before being chased out by Batman who fails to capture the two as the escaped. Later on when Joker hears the news of Riddler’s recovery he decides to call up Carmine Falcone to kill Riddler only for his men to fail leading to the Joker to take over Falcones operations and beings to build a team of super villains and as Riddler also does this Gotham becomes a war zone over the two factions. Overall this was a good book as it goes into a previously unknown part of Batman’s history as the villains take centre stage in the story as Batman is seemingly one step behind Riddler and Joker with him being unable to stop the war in conventional ways. The addition of the Kite Man centric story within the book is a great way a view on the villains prospective of the war while also giving the characters an interesting backstory that makes him one of the most human characters within the book which is very surprising. The art throughout the book is amazing as there’s a great amount of detail on characters emotions with how everyone interacts with other another to how the Joker looks with a frown instead of a big smile. However what let’s the book down is that the story doesn’t stick the landing as it’s very hard to feel and relate to Batman when it’s revealed what happened which is disappointing when the book also contains some amazing moments. 7/10.

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.