John Wick: Chapter 2: Film Review

They say that Chuck Norris was trained by John Wick into being Chuck Norris.

The sequel to a surprise hit, did good on being a decent follow-up. The opening sequence is how it ended
And set the stage adequately for what follows.

Writer: Derek Kolstad, Director: Chad Stahelski Runtime: 2h2m, Full cast

“John Wick is the guy you call the kill the boogie man.”

Keanu’s ability to do action movies well into his half-century young, body is one to celebrate. He has developed a character, which personifies what being a badass means. All the while giving you a man who wants to be left alone. But minutes after the first chapter’s respective end we are back on the horse doing everything again. This time around, the writers opted to test John Wicks’ word. Then, we the audience, sit back and bear witness to the man known as Mr. Wick.

This isn’t Terminator 2 good. But its certainly a worthy successor, in the soon to be trilogy franchise. The visuals almost copy the placement of the previous film. I mean did we really need the first major fight to be in another club setting, be it out doors or not? I didn’t think so. Visually speaking. The film is a coloured noir film not unlike the film “Drive.” The colour palette was pleasantly mouth watering with how the pop the colours were, the added depth and colour in a shadowy underworld. By the films end, the camera dept. did every impressive thing to capture the tactics of Mr. Wick. It’s not Matrix creative, but the simplicity in how shots are framed, and the amount of action crammed in to every shot, matched with varying degrees of intensity, is considerably well done. It’s cool to see almost a 2nd/3rd person angle in action films. To often Hollywood likes the use of close shots vs. a wide (or a wide enough) angle.

As far as mirror trickery goes, it stole the top spot from Enter The Dragon for use of mirrors. I just don’t know how they did multiple shots in that place without once seeing one screw up (like where the camera was or even a wire). That and the lead in for the hopeful/eventual third film were my favourite parts of this second instalment.

Many films will bring in other talented celebrities (singers/models/porn stars… etc.) to fill in roles for any reasons, but it’s not always received well. Who would have thought Common would steal the show, if even for a moment, by almost matching Wick? It’s weird how well casted Common feels in that role. It was cool to see Reeves and Fishburne doing scenes together again. I just wish there was a bit more hidden in the dialogue when they eventually meet; like when Wick says I’m back in the last film. Ruby Rose,  I didn’t buy into much. Something about her felt unbelievable. Probably because wick just plows through everything and her frame didn’t help her much to be intimidating. But she adds to that “house of mirrors” in am elegant way. While watching that fight, both Reeves and Rose came off as two of the same coin. Yes I know I didn’t believer her role, but she felt like a contrast to the brutality that is Wicks style. She appeared to be more swift and elegant due to her natural look. It was cool to watch, hard to buy into.

I hope the cast and crew know the third film will be arguably the most anticipated of the respective year it’s Green lit for and I hope they can do a something with bringing something new to the tactics. As fun as it was to watch Keanu’s stunt work, I did notice mid way through that cave/tunnel sequence how familiar his moves felt. For me, it comes off making the entire lure of the Wick franchise unworthy of my attention. I get that it’s real, practical action. I get in that it was close quarters combat. I even understand using your own momentum to counter your enemy and all, but it’s highly unlikely for this whole scenario to be happening in the first place. Having some theatrics wouldn’t hurt I’m sure.

Bottom line: Not all sequels are great. John Wick: Chapter 2 may not be great. But it would for sure be on a top 10 list. Only thing it was missing was something slightly different.  I wished they’d filmed them back to back as I am way to eager to see the third.

• Overall rating of the movie: 8.1 out of 10,
• Cinematography: 10 out of 10,
• Editing: 8 out of 10,
• Audio: 8 out of 10,
• Acting: 8 out of 10,

Theatres or wait for the blu-ray? own, but no judgement if you wanna just watch it on Netflix every so often

Captain America: Civil War: Film Review

Shall we begin?

Writer: Christopher Markus,  Stephen McFeely Director: Anthony Russo,  Joe Russo Runtime: 2h27m

Full credits  

There’s really only two ways this film could go down. Good or bad. But right from the start, it was great. But this film had to happen in the manner in which it did. It eventually became an amazing ride regardless of where you stand on the core conflict. The solo cap stories are arguably the better solo films in the Marvel franchise films. This was another great entry and a good way to start phase 3.

It was announced some years ago that this movie would be coming out around this time. Then BvS said it was gonna come out on the same day.. Then the date got moved for BvS to March. And it that was a good thing for BvS. Though the nerd in me wished it happened. two versus movies at the same time.. it would have been awesome to see the tallies. This is a great story because it blatantly shows the moral of the story but in such a woven, multilayered way. Those stories are great… well sometimes. Other times they can end up like Wrath of The Titans.

The moral of this film is that friends, true friends who share a genuine friendship, need to stick together. That’s why it’s important to actually talk and learn who you’re friends are. On one side, Steve’s childhood friend is brought into his crazy world of aliens and double crosses. On the other side you have a billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, who honestly just wants to protect the world… and the few people who made him remember he too can have a heart. The film keeps in mind that the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron had to be answered.

The story is a wee bit cliche at times but they do a good job of tying elements together. And a lot of what was shown in the trailers isn’t exactly what you see in the film (love that).

I really like the position they put Rogers in. His emotional values were called into question like never before(on screen). His best friend who in all honesty, is a crook by any means of the word. While he himself is basically a cop. That’s something that gets checked and is essentially the driving story . But Rogers is who he is, and he doesn’t quit. He believes in people. It doesn’t matter what the opinion of others are. He’s gonna do what he feels is right every time. It’s part of the freedom he stands and fights for. This wasn’t so much of an arc like in the comic of the same name for the character. But more a story about who he is. and not a rebirth to a new realization/ideal like in the comics. This was the story of how he saved his friend… plain and simple. Mr. Evans steals the show every time he’s on screen. His acting is only getting better in this role.

The Stark difference was that, Tony just wanted to save the world he really feels guilty about the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Which is great as this allows the events in the film to reflect the comic Civil War with regard to Stark. Mr. Downy Jr. Plays a much more compassionate Stark. There’s a lot more of a need to have the team of (new) Avengers become accountable. Stark sees the problem with the team and he hopes… he genuinely honestly hopes that the dream he sees in AoU is something he can prevent.  This new regulation seems like the gateway to such a ambitious goal. By far his standout scene is the forth wall breaking introduction to Spider-man as a character. as an actor however, I was rather moved by how he plays his first scene, and most of the third act. I felt his position in the same way as I didn’t while reading comic version to this story.

The new comer. Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-man. Marvel shocked fans when they announced he was gonna be in his teens. It paid off. There was a great dynamic in him being the younger one. It a works for a better and more complete perspective for both the audience and story. I don’t want to ruin anything but he is most definitely gonna be seen as the best spider-man/Peter parker to date. His voice alone gets you as a guy who would sound like spider-man at that age. my only issue, was how much cgi they seemingly used on the Spidey half of the character. say what you will about the Raimi, Webb directed films, but they used as much practical as they could in their films. and they were better for it.

My man, Black Panther.  My only issue with his portrayal was how his accent sounded. I didn’t entirely believe it. He sounded more like as middle eastern man than one from Africa. Black Panthers as a character beyond bad ass. Chadwick Boseman acted that very well in my personal opinion. He is an “under the radar” character but I’m 100% positive he just elevated him with his portrayal. It almost brought a tear to my eye.

The best thing about this film was how they handled each character. Everyone gets screen time. And everyone gets a moment to shine. As much as AoU did this…. it really didn’t.  That said, getting rid of some of the additional characters in the manner they did was a misstep. But it gels nicely with the over all story. The introduction to the teams was well handled and felt somewhat similar to the way bit happens in the comics.

Where I would like to praise this movie, is for constantly pushing the boundaries of what choreographed fight and action sequences should look like. The stuff in this film was jaw dropping.

My issues were the obvious. It’s a little long. At some point you forget it’s a movie that features heroes and then you’re wondering just why are they still fighting like this. They  sorta skimmed over the point of the Civil War (the registration act) within reason to the main story where the secondary tale took more precedence (the fight with Cap, Bucky, Stark). I hope it gets further addressed in subsequent films in phase 3. Also the manner in which they tied it all together felt like a “Martha” moment (December, 16th 1991 anyone?). Lastly the post credit scenes weren’t as fun as they have been. My core issue is this is a war. You can’t just NOT have people get killed or harmed severely during a war. I want to say the sole reason why this s the way this film plays out is because of the introduction of Spidey. But who knows why.

This story was going to be ambitious no matter what. The Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t have the years of history, or characters that the publication has the rights too, at its disposal. various story beats have to be altered but theres still a lot there from the comic… and it has to be recognized as an accomplishment that they create team wrote and directed this gem of a film. it just hurts itself that the risks weren’t as far as they could have been.

This film isn’t flawless. But it’s again a great way to start phase 3. With the Russo Bro’s taking over, The sky is the limit with how far they can go.

Bottom Line: It’s a great film, has a few missteps but for anyone who is a fan of the characters, the story or the brand named Marvel, you won’t talk away disappointed like anyone did who sadly saw BvS. but what it was really missing, what made The comic so great was this: “We’re not fighting for the people anymore…we’re just fighting.” For Cap to say that.. as both a soldier and a guy from a relatively simpler time, was huge. it speaks to the way society is these days with our memes, rallies and slogans that can often seem like they aren’t going anywhere but to a new fight.

Rating:

• Overall rating of the movie: 7.9 out of 10,
• Cinematography: 8 out of 10,
• Editing: 10 out of 10,
• Audio: 7.5 out of 10,
• Acting: 8 out of 10,

Theatres or wait for the blu-ray? Definitely worth it to see in theatres, IMAX if possible. I already can’t wait to own the movie.

Smallville Season 11 #42

Argo:

In Antarctica, five researchers are frantically running away from what appears to be some kind of monster.  Out of thin air, arrives Skeets in a fully developed sphere form (season 10 had it as just a voice… budgets are a hell of a thing) informing the researchers that Booster Gold is coming to save them. The researchers insist on having Ted Kord’s “Kid with the bug on his back” a.k.a Blue Beetle, to save them. Suddenly the monster’s presence is upon the group and Booster is off to the rescue. As Booster begins his assault on the monster, his Legion Ring begins to alert him about “Legion Protocol six” before shutting down by noticing he isn’t a Legion member. As he falls, he’s quickly swept into a more hands-on fight with the creature, luckily for him; Blue Beetle arrives and saves the day. As the researchers thank BB, BG talks with Skeets who suggests he sees someone more understanding of this protocol. In the apartment of Clark and Lois, the two are showering and discussing her trip to Africa for her article on the “Angel of the Plateau”. As his protective side begins to take over, Lois reminds him of how Franklin Stern won’t allow him to leave for extended periods of time. She asks if he will be okay though given the most recent loss, he says he’ll hold up. Clark gets an alert about a fire, gives a kiss to Lois and darts off. Sometime later, at the Daily Planet, Cat Grant beckons at the arrival of Clark and shows him to the guest in her office, none other than, BG. The two go to the rooftop where BG hands him the ring and transports them to the 31^st century, where a statue of Superman is destroyed and air/space ships own the skies. Clark definitely isn’t in (his) Kansas anymore… To be continued.

I enjoy that they, or just Bryan, are keeping up with the series’ side stories. Even to the minor detail. Having the researchers from Ted Kord, WayneTech and Michael Holt’s companies was a nice nod to ongoing readers. This issue definitely felt like a “next chapter” or phase was really starting. To what end obviously remains to be seen, but Miller seems to really be good at writing the first chapter of arcs. All of them to date have a great balance of character introductions and cliff hanging endings. The manner in which Lois and Clark make up for lost time and push the PG boundary is greatly appreciated to acknowledge the children who might read this and the adults.

NEW ARTIST ALERT Daniel HDR sounds like a media file name but either way it’s not bad as far as art work goes. It’s still early but it seems pretty dope. I was intrigued by the HDR part, mostly because I love the technique and try to use it when I can. The HDR style is evident as best as one could hope for I’d think for a comic book. It’s not crazy strong but it is there. Given that we’re headed to the 31^st century, it’s a nice touch to have a bit of a up to the times style. Its no Steve McNiven or Jim Lee, but given everything it’s a nice step forward in quality, let’s see how long this lasts.

Rating 4.7/5

• Overall rating of the comic: 4.7 out of 5,
• Art: 3.3 out of 5,
• layout: 4 out of 5,
• True to character dialogue: 4 out of 5,
• Story: 3.8 out of 5.

Thank you for reading feedback is always helpful. Enjoy your Week! THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace”. Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: The “LEW System” – Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW

Smallville Season 11 #40

Haunted: High above the skies of Metropolis Clark calls Lois and tells her his plans to honour the memory of the Late Impulse. As he heads to the destination, Clark asks if she uncovered anything about Lex, she responds by saying when you fly by I’ll fill you in on what I’ve discovered. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that anymore” Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock “Honey… I’m home.” Clark surprises Lois and then briefly describes how he’s been fixed. But there’s always a job for Superman. At Lexcorp, Lex enters his office to be met by Superman & Green Arrow who confront him. Lex tries to figure out how Supes got so close and as he checks his app, he realizes that he, Superman, has been washed clean of the radiation. As Lex tires of their presence, he asks why the heroes have made his acquaintance, the pair address the fact that Lex has taken something… rather someone in the form of one Tess Mercer. Trying to avoid them, Superman walks away, only to be stopped by Lois. As Green Arrow begins to pull up a taser dart, Lois hits Lex with a knockout blow. As he comes to, the next morning, Otis finds him. As he fully comes too, Lex asks where the hell his sister is. As he begins to look around, he sees an envelope that Supes left for him “Thanks for the memories”. At Watchtower, Dr. Hamilton programs some kind of hard light hologram. As that excitement dies down Clark and Chloe finally catch up. Chloe, understandably, is unnerved by the memories from her doppelgänger and the pending crisis. As she explains, she lets slip that she’s pregnant. Clarks reaction is very much a Super(man) reaction. As she continues to explain why she and Ollie need to leave Metropolis Clark interrupts her saying he fully understands a parents need and want to go to great lengths to protect their kin to ensure a safe upbringing. Referencing Jor-El and Johnathan Kent in that way, she has his blessing to do what needed to be done. The End of Haunted.

Jorge Jimenez does a lot of good again. Even though, his faces are a tad inconsistent, he does great work with capturing emotions, both from the characters and from the tone of the scene. If there were ever to be a go to artist I’d seriously choose this guy. From the opening page to the final moment it’s framed and flows very nicely. Noteworthy scene is in Lexcorp. The style is very dark due to lack of lights and it added more to that scene. The added grain at the start of the scene was dope. Loved the facial expression on Lex’s face as Lois boxed him in it. It would seem the only character in this comic book so far, that is drawn closer to the character’s actor is Chloe (Allison Mack) and it’s not a bad thing just sometimes I’d like to see Tom Welling more often. Not since Guardian have I seen a total likeness. But for the most part, we do still see the actors and I’m OK with that.

Miller does a nice job of finishing this episode. Helps to tie it back into the series finale where Chloe retells a story to her son (spoiler alert?). Having the contrast of Chloe taking on the sacrifices similar to the two sets of parents Clark has was a nice send off. Not that she’s gone but it’s nice to see how much her character has matured from that nosey little reporter to the keeper of secrets and standing up for what’s right and now a mother. I’m curious to see where he takes her next. Bringing back Tess is even more interesting because she’s a computer program. Kind of taking up where she left off in the show. She’s back working at Watchtower and helping the team. I’m interested in seeing if she has any new powers as a result of her current form. Rating : 4.5 Rating:

• Overall rating of the comic: 4.5 out of 5,
• Art: 4 out of 5,
• layout: 5 out of 5,
• True to character dialogue: 4 out of 5,
• Story: 5 out of 5.

Thank you for reading feedback is always helpful. Enjoy your Week! THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace”. Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: The “LEW System” – Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW

Smallville Season 11 #39

Haunted:

As the Speed Demon looks at the recently arrived Impulse, the two exchange words. Impulse quickly grabs Clark and tells him that he needs all of Clark’s speed in order to defeat him. As Impulse gets him to a “safe” distance, Clark begins to try and reason with him to not do this by himself.  Impulse confirms that the figures he saw before arriving to Las Vegas (last ish) have told him how to beat this Black Flash. Just as quickly as he arrived he leaves Clark in the desert to take on the Speed Demon, but Clark doesn’t like to be put in the corner so he fly’s back to try and join him, remembering the first time he let Bart get away (back in season four, episode 5: “Run”). As Clark begins to reach him he calls out to him asking him to slow down, he whispers “Not this time, amigo.” Reaching the Speed Demon he suddenly stops and this bright yellow light engulfs the area and then all of a sudden lightening strike causes a thunderous boom that seems to level Las Vegas. When Clark Finally gets to the site, he’s met with a crater the shape of the Flash logo.

Back in another flash back memory, Chloe relives the first meeting she had with her E2-Chloe doppelgänger when they had almost touched and repulsed each other like a powerful magnet. When E2-Chloe landed she met a Monitor who told her that even though she survived the destruction of her Earth, that Earth1 (E1… “our” Earth) will meet the same end. The monitor then explains why this is happening which is simple. The monitors maintain order. Existence is chaos. As Chloe wakes she hears Clark say that Impulse is gone. Sometime later at the home of the JSA (Justice Society of America) Jay Garrick talks with Superman, who assures Garrick, it’s not his fault (although yes it is lol). Moments later, Dr. Hamilton tells him that whatever borrowed speed force he was exposed to cleansed him of any radiation Lex was using to track Superman… To Be Continued.

This was all kind gut wrenching. The apparent death of Impulse was shocking as ever. Given the hidden messages like “you haven’t met them yet” when telling Clark about the “little birdies” or the fact of the logo and even remembering that this is, still a comic. It’s a nerd/geek soap opera, I’m sure he will be back. But Kudos to Miller who crafted a thrilling end to this story arc/chapter… episode.

 

This one (chapter and issue) has the most emotions but not overly done/over the top as was a couple issues ago. Nice touch adding the scenes from season four to contrast the death of Bart in this issue.

Jimenez AGAIN, knocked the ball out of the park with this one. He really captured the needed flair to pull off the throwback scenes from that “Run” episode. With this arc, I’m even more curious to see the script for this issue. Capturing the boyish charm Kyle Gallner had in his portrayal. The art was well placed for the entire Las Vegas related content. The ending with Chloe to bring it all home was nicely done with both the art, and timing. Then Clark’s expression at the very end was a nice touch.

This was a nice end to a character, if even for now. Maybe it’s just me, but I love when a hero goes out the hero doing and using his powers the right way. Mad happy with this arc. And that CLARK CAN FINALLY BE CLARK… well the disguise of Clark.

 

Rating:

• Overall rating of the comic: 4.4 out of 5,
• Art: 4.4 out of 5,
• layout: 5 out of 5,
• True to character dialogue: 4 out of 5,
• Story: 5 out of 5.

Thank you for reading feedback is always helpful. Enjoy your Week!

THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace”. Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: The “LEW System”

– Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW

Smallville Season 11 #37

Batman and Martian Manhunter are ambushed by the White Martian, Batman leaves to find something he can use against it leaving MM to create a distraction. The two Martians communicate telepathically and continue to fight to a standstill where she confesses to committing her crimes out of hate and fear. Batman returns to help by questioning her, using the memory of Dr. King Faraday (discovered about him through telepathy), to his advantage to subdue her rampage and have her see a more peaceful coexistence . She explains she used Faraday to protect her as Faraday used her to remind her or his fallen daughter thanks to her shape shifting abilities and says her name is M’Gann M’Orzz. Later, in Gotham, Bruce explains to Barbra that he let Jon Jones decide what to do with her. The two then begin to train. Meanwhile in Metropolis, the two aliens go to Jones’ home where he find out from his neighbours that Superman had repaired the damage. He claims that he and his “niece” need to go away for a bit in space so the two morph into their natural looks and head off to Mars.

The end… For now.

Well, Effigy is done. I still don’t entirely get why it was called as such. Maybe I should read it again. Anyway, when you take away the title, it’s all really just an origin to a character that for the most part is still very new in the regular DC universe. It’s cool that we got a new hero in Smallville lore, but we already have so many who are way underused as is. I don’t know how popular this character is, it’s rare that I see anyone who is a fan of Jon Jones outside of the Justice League cartoon show. So adding his “niece” kinda just seems ill timed but yet still logical. Random thought, I don’t think he even has a multi verse counterpart, like how Superman Has Ultraman in normal comics continuity.

This isn’t the best story that Bryan has told nor the worst. It was nice to see how much Bruce cares for Barbara, and how he would react to all the optimism from one of Metropolis’ boys in blue (Jon Jones is a cop detective there) I’d be interested in seeing the script work for this issue as well just to see the freedom he gave the artist.

Axel Gimenez seems to have given up in these last two issues. It’s still good, but it’s nothing to rave about. Though, it may not be entirely his fault. The colours felt very dull this issue. It’s not the worst I’ve seen, it’s just boring.

Best set of panels and art…

I’m hoping that the use of Megan Morse is very good and has an important role in future issues. Then if not, this was a major waste of time.

Rating:

• Overall rating of the comic: 1.5 out of 5,
• Art: 2 out of 5,
• layout: 2.5 out of 5,
• True to character dialogue: 3 out of 5,
• Story: 2 out of 5.

Thank you for reading feedback is always helpful. Enjoy your Week!

X-men Days of Future Past cast update. Bottom right is Omar Sy. a French actor in the role of Bishop. (Prof. X, Magneto, Colossus respectively from top left onward)

THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace”. Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: The “LEW System”

– Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW

Smallville Season 11 #36

Effigy: Continuing from where the issue___ left us, it continues with very brief summary of how his civilization by what earthlings would call a race war. He takes us from that point in time to when he first met Jor-el, explaining the duties he carried out in the name of justice to being Clark’s guardian, to then being a hero in his own right. At the Batcave, Alfred tells Batman that Barbra is now up and about. Inside of Watchtower, Batman and Martian Manhunter figure out that the “white martian” is in Colorado, in the Rockies, where a once top secret government agency known as Checkmate once resided. Once there, the two begin their hunt for the violent Mars alien. When inside, they find a rocket, a dead body clutching a cell phone and a doll. They determined the decay on the body is roughly a year old. Batman pulls the video from the phones memory. The John Doe is revealed to be one “Dr. King Faraday” who urges someone to “Take care of his daughter” and as he says that, the “White Martian” looks down upon their heads… To be continued.

This particular arc is really boring and forced, that’s just my honest opinion… But I will explain a bit of the book outside of my feelings. Honestly, this story just feels rushed and a far reach to expand the characters of Smallville. But Miller finds a way to make it slightly intriguing. Keeping the pace up with nice banter between MM (Martian Manhunter) and Batman helps. I got a very nice feeling that this is a Kevin convoy like Batman. Let’s face it, he’s the best Batman to ever be Batman. From what I’ve read online this does seem to be very close to the original story of the “white martian” but set within the realm that is Smallville

Artistically, this isn’t the best we’ve seen from Axel and crew but they do get some points in. I don’t think I have one favourite scene or panel layout. It all seems very straightforward (I think that’s happening a lot now with this book), but everything does have it’s moments.

Looks just like the actor Phil Morris in this scene

Rating:

• Overall rating of the comic: 1.5 out of 5,
• Art: 2 out of 5,
• layout: 2.5 out of 5,
• True to character dialogue: 3 out of 5,
• Story: 2 out of 5.

Thank you for reading feedback is always helpful. Enjoy your Week!

THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace”. Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: “LEW System”

– Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW

Smallville Season 11 #35

Haunted: at a Metropolis bar, Otis is  greeted with the presence of Lois Lane, who just finished talking Psimon in his cell. The reporter, begins to ask Otis questions about his now former boss, Lex and what he knows about Tess being in his head. Met with a unhelpful answer, she leaves to find someone who is more comfortable to him to speak with. Barbara Gordon in Gotham, is now up and about since her alien attack, (click link for more details) and is willing to help Lois with her investigation but not as Nightwing, but as herself, who just so happens to be Bruce Wayne’s assistant. Barbara rushes off to Metropolis by bat-plane to meet Otis, in Las Vegas, Clark is gradually getting faster and faster, which he needs to, in order to get the attention of the “Black Flash”. In doing so, he’s preventing the “Speed storms” from claiming any more lives.
In a “hail Mary” move, the Black Racer, tries to weaken the fake Eifle Tower to fall from its foundations and on top of the innocent bystanders, but that was a job for Superman to take care of. The two begin battle as the story moves back to Jay Garrick & Bart Allen who have a mini, if you will, a Flash to Flash moment.
Then Bart races off to finish the fight he never asked for… to be continued

Wow. That was a terrible scene between the two Flashes. Bart feels like he’s always alone and then Jay starts saying the speed force, “isn’t just what fuels us, it’s what binds us”? Really?! That’s so out of the blue. Why does Bart feel like that is my first question. He has no need to. Granted, I don’t know the man’s story but come on. I think that’s where this arc gets me annoyed. That one scene. For the most part, this one has been the series best (so far), but that scene ruined a lot of the hope for that. Otherwise a just below average written issue by Bryan Q. Miller. And I mean below average of the size equal to the space between the stem, and the dot of a lower case i. I mean that in terms of the words on paper mind you, because the look of each scene is pretty incredible.

My favourite moment that Jorge designed is when Superman saves this dude and gives him a list of instructions. Just a well designed look to the character. This wasn’t his own best showing, but it’s far from his worst. I also very much enjoyed the look of the Barbra Gordon scene. The style was very appropriate.

Disclaimer:… I know I’m late… I’m sorry, but I will be caught up by Aug 22nd

Rating:

• Overall rating of the comic: 2 out of 5,
• Art: 4.2 out of 5,
• layout: 4.2 out of 5,
• True to character dialogue: 4 out of 5,
• Story: 3.9 out of 5.

Thank you for reading feedback is always helpful. Enjoy your Week!

THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace”. Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: “LEW System”

– Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW

Smallville Season 11 #33

Back with the “Hunted” story arc where Superman and Impulse are teaming up to help deal with some form of speed demon. The story starts off in Mumbai where another speed storm, takes a child’s life, then a cop’s, in France. Chloe and Oliver, at Watchtower, inform the two heroes of the increasing rates of death due to speed storms in locations recently visited by Impulse. Meanwhile, the two have come to their destination, the home of Jay Garrick. Back at Watchtower, Chloe faints and seems to slip into a trance that sends her into the memories of E2 Chloe. In these memories, she sees Earth 2 Clark hunting the “Meteor Freaks” at their high school graduation and then how close she came to death by the hands of Clark. She comes out of the trance shaken up. Back in the home of Jay Garrick, who asks (one of the biggest questions to never get answered on the show) why he stole his identity. Bart explains that he didn’t intend to, the names were just in his head after getting his powers (I’m sure this is something that will be built upon later). Then the real reason why the two showed up at Jay’s house comes up, and he then explains why he stopped being the “Flash” since the JSA arrests. Impulse asks how he can survive it like Jay has, which isn’t an option for Bart, so Jay tells him… Then you have to die son the “speed demon” can collect. To be continued…

This was one of those issues/episodes… (Segments?) that was missing in the weekly live action. There is quite a bit of back story given about Impulse and he was easily the shows best Co-starring hero, until Green Arrow made his debut. But Impulse was the only one who didn’t entirely make sense or get a real origin story. Don’t get me wrong, he still doesn’t have much of one, but it was a step in the right direction. The Jay Garrick scene feels much like a Smallville cameo. Meaning, it’s there, but then budget is too low to use this properly, which is unfortunate. I felt they could have done more for Garrick’s back story as well, but its good for what his purpose is. One thing, that I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, is how I love that there’s ton of flash backs in these comics and this arc, so far, is no different. I can only guess Bryan Q. Miller has bigger plans than he’s led us to believe for the cast. I’m actually kind of more curious to see the Chloe side of a story… I guess there’s a first time for everything.

Fave piece of artwork in this issue

As much as I’ve been praising Jorge Jimenez, this probably wasn’t his best issue. Towards the end of the book it looked very cheap, but I still have faith in his work. There isn’t much here that I can say that hasn’t already been said by me, so with that said,

Here’s your comic codes & ratings:

Marvel Comics App Code
TMM36MLB3U1

• Overall rating of the comic: 3.2 out of 5,
• Art: 2.5 out of 5,
• layout: 3 out of 5,
• True to character dialogue: 3 out of 5,
• Story: 2.6 out of 5.

Thank you for reading feedback is always helpful. Enjoy your Week!

THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace” . Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: “LEW System”

– Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW

Superman II: Throwback Movie Review

You made us believe a man can fly, now show us what he can do.

Writers: Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, Tom Mankiewicz Director: Richard Donner Run Time: 127 Mins

• Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent / Superman
  
• Margot Kidder as Lois Lane
• Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor
  
• Ned Beatty as Otis
• Jackie Cooper as Perry White
• Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen
• Terence Stamp as General Zod
• Sarah Douglas as Ursa
• Jack O’Halloran as Non

The second chapter and it’s pretty enjoyable. The first film dealt with the origin story but gave a side story intended to be told in Superman Two. One issue with this picture was that Richard Donner was fired and the new director had basically reshot everything Donner had intended to tell for his movie. But thanks to Ms. Kidder informing people via an interview that Donner had shot enough footage to basically edit a feature-length movie, fans encouraged WB to release his vision for Superman two.That’s all for another review.

Superman One is probably most loved for having an epic shooting style and being able to have audiences young and old alike, believe that a man could fly largely in part to the performance of Christopher Reeves. So the challenge here was how do we keep the movie fresh? With bringing on a new director, one of the first things he did, as I said, was reshoot the movie and even edited out Marlon Brando. Another key thing was he gave someone who Superman could punch (well the story did).

I’d like to believe until Superman 2, all other live-action iterations, were just Superman taking on regular Joes who he couldn’t really unleash on.  Having such a dictator like foe from his home planet, really gave Supes an opportunity to show Metropolis and the world, that he was on the side of Earth, and its freedoms. Zod is a character so much like Clark had he had terrible parents and there’s a good contrast in the movie but due to its very light nature it’s easily missed.

That’s one of the best things about the Chris Reeves Superman movies, they’re all very heart warming and easy. Many regard this as the best Superman movie due to that aspect as well as the Metropolis showdown. There’s a scene with Lois and Clark (that would later be used as the back bone of “Superman Returns”) where the two have coitus but because of the nature of the story, characters and the acting it’s only implied that it happens. Childish in a way, yes, but at the age of 6 would you really want to see Superman have sex? Probably not.

A questionable move by the director to avoid using the epic style of Superman One instead moving more towards the look and feel of a comic book – The best way to describe it is the scenes where the story takes place in Niagara Falls. In comic books a lot of the panels involve “tight shots” that have a lot of people and objects neatly woven for the story aspect or just artist choice, this comes off very well here. Ignoring the time period of this movie, the Metropolis battle scene is another type of comic book style cinematography. It’s edited a little quicker, has a bit more of a flat angle and the random dialogue during the fight is spot on for a comic book.

Bottom Line: Its fun to relive this Superman film. It’s regarded as the last best film (sadly… But in a good way) in the Superman franchise. It isn’t the best one, but for what it is, it does serve its purpose and is still fun to watch now and worthy to see. If looking for back story on Zod however, you’re better off watching season five and nine of Smallville

Ratings for all movies will now be out of ten

• Overall rating of the movie: 8.5 out of 10,
• Cinematography: 5 out of 10,
• Editing: 5 out of 10,
• Audio: 8 out of 10,
• Acting: 8 out of 10,

PS. there’s some weird powers used here, this may help you understand why. Got to love the silver age of comics.

THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace”. Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: “LEW System”

– Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW

Evil Dead 2013 Movie Review

 So, I really only seen the half of the first one with Bruce Campbell… don’t judge me.

Director: Fede Alvarez Writers: Fede Alvarez (screenplay), Rodo Sayagues(screenplay), Sam Raimi (based on the motion picture “The Evil Dead”, written by)
91 min runtime

• Jane Levy as Mia
• Shiloh Fernandez as David
• Lou Taylor Pucci as Eric
• Jessica Lucas as Olivia
• Elizabeth Blackmore as Natalie

As I said, I’ve never seen the other movie’s of the same name, but I’ve seen bits and pieces, here and there. A major part of why I saw this movie was because, the original director said that it lives up to the original he created with Bruce Campbell. I remember my first ever experience with this character was in an episode of “Reboot” , then the odd time when it was on TBS, back when Rogers had it and before it turned into PeachTree TV. But as I was saying, this is a horror movie, (and I think the first time I have even reviewed one). Anyway, going in I had a general idea: folks in a cabin who are clearly stupid, read a demonic book and then it’s all down hill from there. Which, if anyone paid attention, seems very much like the story of “Cabin in the woods” (oh would you look at that, I have reviewed 2 horror movies, Woman in Black). Honestly, this movie felt like it was a giant rip off of Cabin in the Woods. Well, in the beginning anyway. But, keeping that movie in mind, the remainder of the movie was slightly predictable.

Falling flat on its face, for acting, across the board (mind you, I kind of feel like that was intended).

When you get to the bit of a surprise ending, the acting in general is much better, but not by much.

I really enjoyed the cinematography out of everything, the most. It has a lot of the style originally realized by Sam Rami, which honestly, I don’t think it couldn’t be in a movie like this. The creepiest thing might of been the leach, snake branch scene by the creek. That one scene impressed me a whole lot. Another thing to add, it’s one hell of a gory motion picture, with great detail on that department.

Rating:

• Overall rating of the movie: 3 out of 5,
• Cinematography: 3.5 out of 5 (camera stunt work is decent),
• Editing: 3 out of 5,
• Special effects: 5 out of 5,
• Audio: 3 out of 5
• Acting: 2 out of 5,
• Theatres or wait for the blu-ray? Great way to scare your girl friend, so either owning it or rental is a good choice, depending if you like horror movies. (I’d rent it though)

THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace” . Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: “LEW System”

– Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW