Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts

Movie Review: Spider-Man: Brand New Day

 It's a Brand New Day for Spider-Man, thus the name. And for Peter Parker, a new day always means new problems. Seriously, I'd just give it up and go to work as a dishwasher ... but then he'd get attacked by some kind of soap-sud monster.

Thanks to an ill-advised spell in the last movie, Peter is literally forgotten, by pretty much everybody. Now he's living alone, trying to be a superhero full time (which never works), and his only friend is a police detective who tells him it won't work.

The film opens with a slam-bang chase scene that really doesn't fit with the new Big Bad's methods, but it's oh, so much fun--especially when Spider-Man runs into (literally) Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher. They have a fundamental difference in how hijacked armored cars should be dealt with, as anyone who's seen The Punisher TV show will know.


 Meanwhile, Peter keeps running into his old life: specifically his girlfriend and best friend, who awkwardly have no memory of him. But his old life and new collide when they become targets of a mysterious enemy with the power to take over the minds of other people, then jump from one to another to stay one step ahead.

 All that emotional stress causes the spider part of Peter's body to get more, um, spiderish. After injuring a cop, he seeks help to control the transformation from a famous scientist: Bruce Banner, who's using tech he invented to keep from turning into the Hulk. 

Then, in keeping with any good Spider-Man story, things get worse.

And who does newcomer Sadie Sink play? 

Darn good question. Anyone who cares probably knows, but I'll keep this spoiler-free as a tribute to how much fun she had hiding it from the press. Although I haven't watched her in Stranger Things (somebody send me a Netflix gift subscription!), Sink was remarkable here, and hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the MCU.

The movie's filled with remarkable performances, from the regulars and newcomers. Tom Holland is, as always, a treat as the hapless Peter Parker. Stories with this many moving pieces are hard to put together, but they managed it here. They also keep the humor while pouring on the drama, a difficult balance.

So. This is a great movie. Not just a great superhero movie: a great movie, period, with flaws few are far between. We even feel a bit of sympathy for the main villain, once motives are revealed. If the same movie could somehow be made without the costumes and superpowers, we'd be looking at an Oscar nominee. Any buzz you hear is justified.
 

 My ratings:

Entertainment value: 5 out of 4 M&Ms, the good brown ones. My scoring system, my rules.

 Oscar potential: 3 1/2 out of 4 M&Ms. Mind you, it probably won't get a lot of nominations (because, hey, superhero movie) ... but it should.


 

 

When you’re done with the movie, you can find ours books online:

 

·        Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

·        Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/search?attributes.contributorId=13727646

·        Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

·        Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

·        Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

·        Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

·        Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

·        Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

·        Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

·        Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

·        Substack:  https://substack.com/@markrhunter

·        Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

·        Audible:  https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

 

Remember: Reading is its own kind of superpower.

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book review: Schlock Mercenary

So, here's why I haven't read many books so far this year: Because I've read fifteen volumes of Schlock Mercenary, a web comic turned graphic novel. Did I like it? Well, I'm on my fifteenth volume, so there you go.

In the very first strip Schlock joins, as you might expect, a group of space mercenaries called Tagon's Toughs. To paraphrase the old A-Team opening, if you've got the money--and if you can find them--you can hire Captain Kaff Tagon's army-for profit. But you won't have any trouble finding them, because they leave disaster in their wake.


 Schlock, one of the few known carbosilicate amorphs in the galaxy, looks like nothing so much as a big pile of poo, and is very close to indestructible. He approaches his job with glee and loves nothing so much as dismantling anything and anyone he gets aimed at. When bad guys stand in his way, they usually end up blasted or eaten.

Meanwhile, the rest of Tagon's Toughs range from humans, to aliens of every type, to Earth animals who gained sentience. The company's biggest antagonists are also its biggest allies: Artificial Intelligences running ships and worlds, which communicate through avatars that mostly look like humans (although one resembles a super-cute koala).

Writer and artist Howard Taylor covers modern problems ranging from politicians to nanobots, using parody, satire, and just plain laugh-out-loud humor to deal with a violent universe that's always on the edge of blowing up--sometimes literally.

 

Taylor himself admits to being weak on the artistic side when he first started out. But the art gets better, and the writing is on the money right from the get-go. He happily tackles just about every science fiction concept ever invented, hard and soft, and as the series goes on the challenges and players get bigger and bigger. Taylor's not afraid to kill off characters, and those that eventually come back do so in a convincing way--or at least, a way that may be possible in the future. It's clear the author has a good grasp on technology, even if he happily strays from known science for a story or a laugh.

Meanwhile--and this might be the most surprising part of Schlock Mercenary--Taylor gives us relatable, engaging characters along with the well-plotted stories. As the scale gets bigger and bigger, the characters change and grow and, as mentioned earlier, the art gets better.

Check out the strip or order the books here:

https://www.schlockmercenary.com/

You can click on "Schlock Mercenary Begins", which will take you to a redone version of the first strip, and below that is a link to the original strip. Did I mention the art gets better? It does.


 

And my stuff is here:

 

 Remember: Reading keeps you from turning into a big pile of poo.

 

 

 

 

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Movie Review: Deadpool and Wolverine

 One danger of watching "Deadpool and Wolverine" in the theaters is that you never know what was spilled on that floor you're rolling around on.

And I don't mean you'll be making out with someone because the movie's boring, either. No, "Deadpool and Wolverine" is exactly what it's advertised to be: Profane, fast-paced, irreverent, hilarious, and ... oh, yeah. Emotional.

That's the trick Ryan Reynolds and company manage to pull off. Deadpool speaks directly to the audience, talks about being in a movie, makes fun of Marvel and Disney, and just generally breaks all the rules. Then he grabs you by the feels and pulls you in until you actually care about this guy, despite the fact that you both know he's only a character.

Wade Wilson has left his super anti-hero days behind him and sells cars, badly, after a failed attempt to join the Avengers. But he's pulled back into his old life when he discovers his entire universe is going to end because of the loss of its anchor hero, Wolverine, who died during the events of "Logan". (Hey, it been out way too long for that to be a spoiler.)

That sends Wade on a multiverse-spanning search for another Logan to bring back, an attempt that treats us to several different Wolverines until Wade finds one that may work. Unfortunately, it's the worst Wolverine in all the universes. Together they set out on a blood splattered journey across timelines, encountering familiar help and villains along the way.

Yes, it has a plot. But just putting Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in a room together would generate plenty of fun for two hours, all by itself. They're clearly having a blast here, and yet, as mentioned earlier, they also generate plenty of pathos and suspense. After all, there are millions of universes, and Deadpool's isn't even the main Marvel one. There's nothing to say it will survive the fight.

I'm not sure there's any way to communicate just how much fun "Deadpool and Wolverine" is. It helps to know something of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (especially the TV series Loki). It also helps to be a fan of the comics, although its not necessary. Most of the main points we hit along the way are familiar to even those with only a passing knowledge of the MCU, for the same reason someone who's never seen Star Wars can spout off a dozen catchphrases and the basic plot.

 

Just the same, the sheer number of cameos, references, and background clues will bring squeals of glee from comic fans, even as non-comic fans enjoy the fast pace and no holds barred banter. Oh, and the stabbing. Lots and lots of stabbing. Did I mentioned the movie's rated R? Do NOT take your kids to see it.

But take yourself to see it. If you have half as much fun as Reynolds and Jackman clearly did, it'll be a good day.



Where to find our books or just have some fun:

 

Remember: Books can be just as much fun as Deadpool, without having to clean up the blood.

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