Finished reading Spider-Man 2099: Back to the Future, Shock!, concluding the adventures of Miguel O'Hara in the present his final battle against the Fist looms on the horizon. The book opens with Miguel interrogating the 2099 version of Electro with the hopes to gain any information on the plan of the villainous group the Fist. Being unable to get any information from him Miguel leaves with Lyla staying in the room to watch over Electro as he plans to escape and seemingly succeeds only to discover that it was a ploy by Lyla who hacked into his mind and staged the escape form him to reveal the date that the Fist plan on executing their plan. With this information and the help of Sonny, Miguel reconfigures his time door way he jumps to the year 2019 to stop the Fist with some surprising help. The final story within the book is a classic as Miguel discovers that he has switch places with the original Spider-Man, and while trying to get back to the future Peter finds himself lost in the futuristic world of 2099. Overall this was a good book as writer Peter David wraps up the series including all of the plot threads that have been prominent throughout the series very nicely as each character's story comes to an end. The character interactions are great as the moments between Miguel and Tempest pay off very well as their final moments together while different for each of the characters, thanks to the use of time travel never loses any of the emotional weight within the book especially with the reveal of the Spider-Man in Miguel's classic costume. The art by Will Sliney continues to be great as the action set pieces a brought to life extremely thanks to the positioning of each character while also put a great amount of focus into each of the characters interactions which makes the more character driven moments more impactful. 7.5/10.
Finished watching Ant-Man and the Wasp, directed by Peyton Reed and starring Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Paul Rudd, Abby Ryder Fortson, Michael Peña, Evangeline Lilly, Hannah John-Kamen and Walton Goggins. The film opens with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) on hisfinal mission as Ant-Man with his wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) as she finds herself becoming trapped with the Quantum Realm while stoping a nuclear missile. Back in the present the current Ant-Man, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest due to his involvement within Civil War where he allied with Captain America, this however hasn't stopped him in trying to be a good father to his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), along with helping his Luis (Michael Peña) and his friends with their X-Con security company. One day Scott has a dream where he reliving a memory of Janet's and after calling Hank and Hope (Evangeline Lilly) about what happen, Hope who has now taking up the mantle of the Wasp, takes Scott to the lab where she along with her dad have been trying to build a machine that will allowing to travel to the Quantum Realm and with the information of Scott's dream now have the hope that Janet is still alive. Overall this was an amazing film as it revisits this corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by telling a very character focus story with the theme of family being very prominent throughout as the relationships between Scott and his daughter Cassie along with Hope's relationship with her parents Hank and Janet help to give each character their motivations for the film while also delivering on the some great emotional moments between the characters. The use of Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) as the main antagonist of the film is great as it not only allows for some great action set pieces with how her powers are used within the film but just like the last handful of villains within the Marvel Cinematic Universe she is giving enough of a back story and motive that help to make her extremely sympathetic with only the way that she excites her plan being the think that makes her a villain. The comedy throughout the film is amazingly on point as from some of the everyday situations that characters find themselves especially with Scott and his home life to the inclusion of Luis and the rest of Scott's friends who once again steal the show and bring some of the best comedic moments especially with their interactions with secondary villain Sunny Burch (Walton Goggins) and his henchmen. The film also does a great job within the creation of its action set pieces as the fight scenes are excited extremely well from the fight scenes that makes great use of each characters powers and abilities to the amazing chase sequence that uses the shrinking technology within some of the cars along with the San Francisco setting the film makes use of the city's very hilly landscape to great effect. 9/10.
Finished reading Star Wars: Doctor Aphra: Remastered, writers Kieron Gillen and Si Spurrier continue the series as Doctor Aphra finds herself having to work for the droid Triple-Zero. The book opens with Doctor Aphra on a job for Triple-Zero where she is the getaway driver for an attack on an Imperial outpost where the crosses paths with Imperial office Magna Tolvan once again who has been demoted since she last saw Aphra. After completing the mission for Triple-Zero Aphra is sent on a new mission to retrieve some of Triple-Zero's old and original memories along with a group that's been brought together by Triple-Zero for the mission that Aphra has been put in charge of. Meanwhile Tolvan finds herself facing a firing squad before news of the death of her mentor Inspector Thanoth which leads to her being promoted to being one of the Empire's newest Inspector with her first plan being that of trying to find Aphra as the two soon come face to face once again. Overall this was a great book as it buts the book's main character in a new direction as the dynamic between her and the droids Triple-Zero and Beetee has been turned on its head along with her potential relationship with Tolvan allows for some amazing character development for Aphra while how her relationships are effecting her within the mission and on a personal level which leads to some great interactions. The book also has a great amount of comedic moments throughout the book thanks to some of the interactions between characters to a few situations the characters find themselves especially with the inclusion of the Tookas that Aphra cloned. The art by Emilio Laiso is great as it puts a lot of focus into the the way the characters emote which fits extremely well with the tone and aesthetic of the book along with the action scenes that are designed extremely well as well. 8/10.
Finished reading Star Wars: Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith - Legacy's End, continuing the story of Darth Vader's earlier adventures as a Sith as writer Charles Soule continues to develop Vader's position with the Empire in its early days. The book opens in the aftermath of a fight with the Inquisitors as Vader has sliced off the arm of Sith Brother when the Grand Inquisitor walks in as Vder joins him in looking over their operation that contains a list of Jedi that survived Order 66. This includes the Jedi librarian, Jocasta Nu who is currently planning to sneak into the former Jedi Temple that contains sensitive information that she plans to retrieving before it falls into the hands of the Empire, only for her presence to be known when she confronts the Grand Inquisitor within the Temple Archives. The second story opens with Vader and Ninth Sister going to a bar on Cabarria after hearing reports of a Jedi being sited only for it to be a trap for Vader as a family of bounty hunters try to claim the reward. However they soon find themselves at the mercy of Vader who wants to know where the bounty came from, only to find out that it came from some one with access to the highest levels of the Empire which sends Vader on a manhunt for the person responsible. Overall this was a great book as it continues to dive into the Darth Vader's early years as a Sith Lord with writer Charles Soule putting focus on how Vader got his reputation one of the most renowned villains within the Star Wars universe while also making time to flesh out characters like Jocasta Nu who survived Order 66 with the opening story making her feel like a second protagonist to the opening part of the book thanks to the amount of development she gets within the book. The art throughout the is amazing as artist Giuseppe Camuncoli brings the action set pieces to life exceptionally well along with the characters the multiple character interactions that shows the characters facial expressions in the situations they find themselves in. Along with inker Daniele Orlandini and colourist David Curiel the art is elevated to make it feel like an important part of the Star Wars universe thanks to the book's aesthetic. 8.5/10.
Finished watching Mission: Impossible - Fallout, directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin, Kristoffer Joner, Angela Bassett, Henry Cavill and Michelle Monaghan. The film opens with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) waking up from a nightmare before getting his new mission from the IMF, which takes him to Berlin where along with Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) as the team try to get a suitcase containing three plutonium cores only to lose them to a group of marked men take Luther hostage. After reporting back to his boss Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) Ethan prepares to go to Paris after finding out where the cores are thanks to interrogating weapons expert Nils Debruuk (Kristoffer Joner), only for the head of the CIA Erica Sloan (Angela Bassett) to stop the plain Ethan is about to board and only allow him to continue his mission if he agrees to work with August Walker (Henry Cavill) to retrieve the plutonium. Overall this was a great film as it crafts as very intriguing story that sends the team on a mission that constantly escalates into becoming more and more personal that leads to some great characters moments and surprising twists along the way. The action set pieces within the film are amazing as the film is able to put a lot of work and details into the choreography of the fight scenes between characters which helps to make every hit count. While the chase scenes are shot and edited together amazingly well as the film is able to convey a level of suspense throughout thanks to a constant wonder of how Ethan can get of the of the different situations he finds himself in. The film also does a great job in bring to life the emotional driven moments within the film as bring back Ethan's ex wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan) back helps to up the stakes and makes the mission more personal for Ethan especially with where the team find Julia within the film. 8.5/10.
Finished reading Star Wars: The Ashes of Jedha, writer Kieron Gillen beings his run on Marvel's main Star Wars series as the Rebels find themselves dealing with the aftermath of Rouge One when they travel to partly destroyed planet of Jedha. The book opens with Luke, Leia, Han and the droids coming to the aid of a couple fighting against the Imperials on Jedha since it was partly destroyed during the events of Rouge One. After rescuing them Leia asks for help to get a meeting with Benthic who is the new leader of the Patrisans since the death of Saw Gerrera as Leia hopes to build an alliance with them. Meanwhile on an Imperial ship Commander Kanchar takes over the operation of retrieving more Kyber Crystals of the Empire along with the help of Queen Trios their able to increase they productivity of getting more Kyber Crystals from what's left of the planet thanks to the technology from the planet Shu-Torun, which leads to the Rebels having to try and stop the Empire from achieving their goal. Overall this as a great book as it continues the main cast's story in their fight against the empire along with building up the ranks of the Rebel alliance with Jedha being their next stop as they try and help the people living in the wreckage of the broken planet. While giving a look at what happened to Jedha after what the Death Star did to the planet during the events of Rouge One writer Kieron Gillen also draws upon a couple of plot threads from his Darth Vader book by bringing in Queen Trios who had a really interesting storyline and with it being brought back up allows for some interesting possibilities for future storylines. The art throughout the book is great as artist Salvador Larroca is able to bring the extremely well designed locations, characters and vehicles to life amazingly. While the colouring by Guru-eFX helps to bring the devastation and bleak aesthetic of what's left of Jedha to life extremely well thanks to some of the monotone colours that is used for the planet. 8/10.
Finished watching Skyscraper, directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber and starring Dwayne Johnson, Chin Han, Pablo Schreiber, Roland Møller, Neve Campbell, McKenna Roberts and Noah Cottrell. The film opens with a hostage situation where Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) and his team are trying to defuse the situation when a bomb goes of leading to Will being severely injured and having his leg amputated. Ten years later Will is now working as a security consultant for the largest building in the world The Pearl. When he meets with the buildings owner Zhao Long Ji (Chin Han) to present his assessment of the building before heading to a site on the other side of Hong Knog, that oversees the security of the building with his friend and former coworker Ben (Pablo Schreiber) where Will gets his bag stolen believing that it contains a tablet that Zhao gave him that controls the building. After being patched up, a group of armed gunmen start coming after Will to get the tablet that he moved to his jacket pocket. After taking the tablet a group lead by Kores Botha (Roland Møller) begin to set the Pearl on fire beginning with a single floor and with the use of the tablet are able to disable the buildings safety procedures. When Will sees the building ablaze he heads straight for it in hopes to find his wife Sarah (Neve Campbell) and their two kids Georgia (McKenna Roberts) and Henry (Noah Cottrell), only to discover that they are stuck in the building and are unable to escape leading to Will to try and find a way into the building in the hopes to rescue them. Overall this was a great film as it does an amazing job in building an edge of the seat level of suspense that stays throughout the film the second the action begins when the Pearl is set ablaze with Will's family trapped in the building. The action set pieces throughout the film are great thanks to the ways they have been planned out along with the addition of some very well choreographed fist fights especially the one between Will and Ben early one in the film. There are some really good moments within the focusing on Will's family especially his wife Sarah, who becomes a second protagonist in parts of the film as she has her own story within the film the ends up becoming just as a main factor in the film's conclusion. 8/10.
