Worth A RE-Read? Avengers Disassembled

Twas the night before Avengers: Age of Ultron and all through my house, not a Marvel blu-ray was spinning.....but hey, it's still early.  In less than 24 hours director Joss Whedon's sequel to the 2012 blockbuster will hit cinemas around the country.  Whenever a comic book film is about to be released I hop on Amazon because that means comics related to that subject are on sale.  With several Avengers books to choose from I decided to purchase the digital copy of Avengers Disassembled.

The storyline started in issue #500 of The Avengers and was promoted as "the worst day in Avengers history."  And it definitely lived up to it's name.  The Avenger's mansion gets blown up, She-Hulk goes berserk, Tony Stark acts like a jackass in front of the UN, Ultron attacks, the Kree Empire decides to invade, and several key Avengers don't make it out alive.  If you haven't read this one in the decade it's been out then SPOILER ALERT the Avengers were being duped by one of their own; the Scarlet Witch.  Played by Elizabeth Olsen in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Magneto's daughter goes a little crazy and uses her reality-bending Hex powers to make all these villains attack her friends.    

This was probably the first Avengers plot I really got into.  This book sets into motion things that effect the Marvel universe for quite some time.  Disassembled kick-started other great story lines like New Avengers: Breakout, House of M, Civil War, and Avengers vs. X-Men.  It would take the Scarlet Witch years to redeem herself in the eyes of her teammates, and to this day some still don't trust her.

Writer Brian Michael Bendis was a fairly new name to comics at the time, but this book leaped Avengers over X-Men to become the #1 team title at Marvel.  That is until Bendis started writing X-Men in 2012.  In this book, Wanda uses her Hex powers to make herself pregnant because it's the only way for her to have children, given that her husband is an android.  It's so messed up I have no idea how Bendis thought of it.  Also adding his terrific art was David Finch, who gets to draw almost anyone in the Marvel U who's ever been an Avenger by the end of the book; plus some Fantastic Four.  It must have been a comic artist's wet dream. And I say all this as a guy who was rooting for the X-Men in Avengers vs. X-Men. 

If you have watched all the Marvel movies that have come out since X-Men hit it big in 2000 then you should know most of the characters, and would have no problem just picking up this book.  Though I guess it would be best to wait till after you see Avengers: Age of Ultron to get a better sense of who the Scarlet Witch is.  And just to get your facts straight, she's a mutant, not an Inhuman.  You'll get that reference in a few years; trust me.

WORTH A RE-READ?  Oh Yes!

Age is Wasted on Adaline

There is an old phrase that says, "youth is wasted on the young."  The older I get, the more I think that phrase is true.  I would probably give anything too go back and stay twenty-five forever.  But in The Age of Adaline, director Lee Toland Krieger tries too teach us that unlimited life is wasted unless you have someone to grow old with.

Blake Lively plays Adaline Bowman.  One fateful night, Adaline gets into a car accident and is struck by lightening, which makes her stop aging.  After many decades, and many identity changes, Adaline meets a young man who is worth telling the truth too.  But Adaline finds out the man's father is the last person she ever truly gave her heart too, and she reconsiders telling her new beau the facts about herself.

I was intrigued by this film for several reasons.  I've always enjoyed the idea of immortality, only with this film we get it without the vampire twist.   Adaline didn't have to suck anyone's blood to stay youthful; she just was.  Second, I always thought Blake Lively is a better actress than the roles she is given.  Perhaps this was a role that could help take her to the next level.  And third, there had been a bit of buzz about Anthony Ingruber, the actor picked to play a young Harrison Ford.

First, the film had some good ideas behind it.  You saw Adaline interact with her daughter, played by Ellen Burstyn, who had become elderly and was thinking about moving into a retirement community while Adaline was still as young as they day she gave birth to her.  Also, Adaline owned a handful of dogs throughout her life.  They were all the same kind of dog, and she was always sad when she lost them.  But beyond those connections I didn't think Krieger did a good enough job connecting Adaline's past life to her present one.  We are given a brief review into her life up until 2015.  There were flashbacks throughout the film which were good, but not used enough and properly.  I would have liked to have seen more moments of drama in her life besides the ones she is currently experiencing.

Second, Blake Lively played her role nicely.  For a woman who has lived for over a century she had to possess a sense of patience and class.  Mrs. Ryan Reynolds gave an accent that made you believe this woman was older than she looked, but she didn't give us a performance that would change people's perspective of her as an actress.  I still think her best performance in a movie is The Town.  The rest of the cast kind of took a back seat to Lively.  The only one who was in the film long enough to leave any kind of impression was her love interest, played by Game of Thrones star, Michiel Huisman.  While not bad, his performance didn't impress me either.

Third, I wanted to see more of the love story between Adaline and William, played by Anthony Ingruber.  Aside from 42, I haven't seen a good Harrison Ford performance in years, and this film is no exception.  But I was hoping for more about the last man Adaline ever loved.  Their past was explained in almost all brief montages that didn't give us any kind of attachment to their relationship.  However, the brief moments I saw Ingruber do his Harrison Ford impersonation I was impressed.  But like the rest of the film, the filmmakers were too focused in Adaline's present than telling us where she had been too help us understand her current predicament.

I was expecting more from this film and walked away thinking this was a missed opportunity for a good movie.  I think the actors were capable, so I'm left to blame the director and production crew.  A few more edits(such as the constant narrating) and plot choices(like more time in the past) could have turned this movie into more than just a film people will forget a month after it's been on blu-ray.

RATING:  D+

Worth A Read? Batman Beyond 2.0: Rewired

When I was a kid I used to love Robin. He was the boy who go to fight crime beside Batman.  The character's entire development was to make kids feel like they were the young ward working with the Dark Knight.  But in 1999 something better happened; a kid not only became Batman, but a futuristic Batman!  40 years into the future Terry McGinnis takes over the mantle of the Batman as an elderly Bruce Wayne is in his ear guiding him through the streets of Gotham.  If was a great spin on the Batman lore, so much that stories have continued to be made well past the shows cancellation in 2001.  

Kyle Higgins takes over writing the adventures of McGinnis as Batman in the future.  In this restart, Terry and Bruce have had a falling out and it is Dick Grayson who is mentoring the now college-age Terry.  In the first of three stories, a new villain has killed the mayor of Gotham and it's up to Batman to stop him.  Afterwards, Terry uncovers a society of Man-Bats that Dr. Langstrom has created and is looking to unleash upon the city.  Finally, in a short tale, we dip our toes back into the Dick/Barbara love story, or at least find out what happened all those years ago between them.  

I've always enjoyed Batman Beyond.  It's a new spin that gives us old readers a breath of fresh air. The rejuvenation of Terry McGinnis began in 2010 with a mini-series that spawned an on-going series.  The mini-series was great; the on-going series not so much. But with 2.0 I think the character has finally found his footing in comic form.  

The comics that have been written the last few years weren't as deep as this.  In this version they've added Dick Grayson as a main character, and given his history with Bruce and Barbara, it's a lot more to play off of.  The other characters are featured more in the plot so it makes things a little more complex and interesting.  The world also follows the continuity of the 90's animated TV series just like the Batman Beyond TV series (which we all loved) so it almost seems liked we're getting a bit of that animated series back as well.

I know Higgins had been writing the New 52 Nightwing, which I'm not a big fan of.  But I like what he is doing with Terry McGinnis, and if he keeps this up I'll continue to actually read the graphic novels and not just skim through them like I have previous BB books.  Thony Silas's art is also a good middle point between the animated drawing we're used to from Batman Beyond, and a harder style I would almost say is Leinil Francis Yu.  Which is a combination that works well for this book.

If nothing else this graphic novel took me back to my childhood.  It's not only an adventure of Terry McGinnis, but of the original Gotham Knights that were so great to watch on Saturday mornings right before Spider-Man and X-Men came on.  The characters and story are solid in this book.  I'm sold on Batman Beyond 2.0.

WORTH A READ:  If you like the animated Batman series of the 1990's (and who doesn't?)

Ex Machina Gives Us A Deeper Sci-Fi Film

A.I. Artificial Intelligence.  I think we can all agree after seeing all the movies about machines turning against humanity that we will eventually build our own destruction.  But yet, scientist and inventors are still looking at ways to make machines that think for themselves.  However, if a robot can be more human, it may not be such a good thing.

In Ex Machina Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb, a computer coder who works for the world's biggest search engine; Blue Book.  Caleb is randomly selected to take part in a project that the Blue Book founder, and billionaire inventor, has been working on; artificial intelligence.  Caleb meets every day with a robot named Ava, played by Alicia Vikander, to determine if her creator as truly created A.I. that thinks for itself.  But as the days go on Caleb grows fonder of Ava, and begins to suspect that it/she may not be the one who is being tested.

This movie on the surface seems sci-fi.   It's about a robot that seems human, but not so deep underneath it all is a really smart psychological thriller.  There are only five actors in the whole film, and one of them is the helicopter pilot you see for only a minute.  The rest of the time is spent in an isolated house with the other characters interacting with each.  With a film about creating consciousness you have to assume going it that it will go into theories about what is actual free will, and how the human brain really functions and makes decisions.  So again, while this film is about a robot, I didn't walk out thinking I just saw a science fiction movie.

This is actually Alex Garland's first directing job, but he's been working for years as a writer and producer on some films I've enjoyed like Dredd, Sunshine, and The Beach.  Yes, I enjoyed the Leonardo Dicaprio film that everyone else craps on.  Garland is also rumored to be writing and directing the Halo film, but given how many names have been attached to Halo over the years I won't hold my breath on that one.

With such a small cast their interactions with each other are probably the most crucial part in the movie.  Gleeson and Vikander have a nice rapport, but it's Gleeson and Oscar Isaac who really sell it.  As the film goes on the tension between the two builds and follows them all the way to the climax.  I'm interested to see if the two actors will be in more scenes together in the upcoming Star Wars film, and also interested to see if Vinkander lands bigger roles now since she was so good in this film.

 A part of me feels like I want to see a sequel to this film, but I throughly enjoyed the ending of the it, so I'm not sure if I would want to take the chance of ruining this small, personal, sci-fi thriller. It's not a big, epic, action movie with man fighting machines, but a real look at human psychosis.  I'm not sure if some of the technology that goes into making Ava has a sense of reality (but this is fantasy movie), and I would really not recommend this film for everyone, but I enjoyed it enough to wonder what everyone involved in this film will do next in their career.

RATING: B

The Force Awakens Teaser #2: My New Theories

When the cast was first announced for the new upcoming Star Wars film I wrote entry about who I thought each character was.  Several months ago, when the first teaser trailer dropped, I did another entry about what I now believed about these characters, and the plot, of Episode VII is.  Thursday, at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, J J Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy introduced a second teaser trailer that lit the internet on fire (which became an inferno later after the BatmanVSuperman trailer leaked).  So after a few days of stewing, and many more viewings of the second teaser, I'm back with some new theories.

The teaser opens with a desert landscape view of a planet we now know is not Tatooine, but in fact another desert planet called Jakku.  It seems like a typical establishing shot until the camera pans to see a crashed star destroyer in the background.  Then you know this $hit just got real!

Then a voiceover occurs with something I have burned into my brain; dialogue from the original trilogy.  Luke's voice talks about his family and their relationhip to the Force, and people are debating whether it's new dialogue or just re-used from Return of the Jedi.  I say it's re-used, but over the words we see a destroyed Darth Vader helmet, a man with a robotic hand touching R2-D2, and the hand-off of a lightsaber we are all sure it Luke's lightsaber he lost on Cloud City, along with his right hand.  The way the images are in order want us to believe they sync up.  The Vader helmet when Anakin is mentioned, a robotic hand when Luke is brought up, and a lightsaber hand-off when talking about Leia.  I think this is not true.

J J Abrams is all about deception and keeping the audience spoiler free.  I think that is someone else's robotic hand.  However, if it is Luke's I love his new upgrade!  The lightsaber is tricky because I had heard rumors that the original lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker was going to play a part in this film.  In the third book of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy the evil Jedi Jorus C'Boath uses Luke's lost hand to clone him, and then trained the clone to fight Luke.  While it was awesome, I don't think that is the case in this instance.  

I think Luke has kept Vader's helmet as a memento, or warning, about what can go wrong if he is not the Jedi the galaxy needs him to be.  Rumors speculate Luke has not gone on to rebuild the Jedi order like in the Legends stories, but has been in hiding.   

So what brings Luke out of hiding?  Finn and Rey.  Finn is the man who sets the events of this movie in motion.  The bad guys are after him, and while on the run he finds Rey on Jakku.  Rey seems like a better version of young Anakin or Luke.  She lives on a desert planet and she likes to build stuff. 

Bring in the bad guy. Kylo Ren was the one sporting the new lightsaber in the first teaser trailer and I'm guessing is the one hunting down Finn.  But who is he working for?  Always two there are.

In the Legends universe the Rebels take control of the galaxy and form the New Republic while the Empire slowly dies.  But in this trailer we get the sense that the Empire is still in control, or at least the two sides are still battling for control.  Which leads to our last picture.

The entire teaser trailer I was thinking, "where is the original cast?'  And then Harrison Ford says, "Chewie, we're home."  Han and Chewie are obviously on the Millenium Falcon, and acting as if they hadn't seen it in a while.  This leads me to believe  the gang from Episodes IV-VI didn't stay thick as thieves like in Legends.  

I think they went their separate ways or something happened that split them up.  Han could have lost the Falcon being his usual self and gets it back years later. Leia probably stayed on to help fight the good fight as always, which could mean a split for her and Han.  Meanwhile, with all the Sith and Jedi dead, Luke becomes a hermit like Obi-Wan and believes more Force sensitive people will only hurt the galaxy; that is until "the force awakens" once again.  Now, the original guardians of the galaxy have to come back together to fight the Empire and restore peace to the galaxy....again.

Of course, I believe I am probably wrong on my new theory and feel like an official trailer will give us some idea as to the plot of The Force Awakens.  When it hits, I'll be drooling, and then I'll have to take a 10 minute break from whatever I am doing so I can watch it at least 4 times in a row like I did this teaser.  Until then, may the Force be with us all!

Worth A Read? Iron Fist: The Living Weapon

In a few days Marvel Studios will unveil the next step in their expanded cinematic universe; a digitally streamed TV series.  The entire first season of Daredevil will be available on Netflix on Friday and will be the first of several series that will exclusively be on the company that once rented you dvd's via mail.  Jessica Jones and Luke Cage have been cast and are in production, but the final piece of The Defenders is the one I'm looking forward too the most; Iron Fist.  Ed Brubaker and Duane Swierczynski's The Immortal Iron Fist was a phenomenal read for me and I was excited to learn that Daniel Rand was not only going to be getting his own live-action series on Netflix, but also getting a shot at another comic book series.

In this interpretation Danny is a very down and mopey hero who is attacked by zombie robots and has no idea who sent them.  The Iron Fist returns to the land he spent a decade training at only to find the mystical land of K'un L'un in ruins.  Danny must face off against his own demons if he is to make it back to New York before his oldest rival, Davos, reigns terror in the big apple.

The Immortal Iron Fist I feel is a classic because it blew open the mythology of the hero.  In it we met other Iron Fists of past and other weapons from the other seven mystical realms that helped Danny come to grip with his destiny.  This book does no such thing.  Most of the it seems like a psychedelic trip that belongs in an anime horror movie. Writer and artist, Kaar Kyle Andrews, has left us with a book that is no fun to read.  He writes Daniel Rand as Batman-style character who is a sulking billionaire.  Mr. Rand may not be Tony Stark but he definitely is no Bruce Wayne either.  He's a about helping the little guy with a sense of optimism.
This book also leaves out another part that made the previous Iron Fist series so great; his supporting cast.  There is no Luke Cage and Heroes for Hire crew to trade dialogue with and quips off of. Plus, maybe I'm just out of the loop, but wasn't Danny about to become a father last we left him?

The saving grace of this graphic novel is that you get retold Danny's origin story as to how he came to train in K'un L'un.  The parts with Davos giving him a hard time because he is an outsider, while Davos's sister befriends him, is pretty good stuff.  But I'm still not sure where Mr. Andrews is going with his interpretation. Perhaps he is burning down the old house before he builds it anew?  I think him pulling double duty is a mistake. Someone to bounce ideas off of is a good part of the creative process.  I'll continue to read the series because of my love for the character, but I just pray to Shou-Lao it gets better.

Worth A Read:  NO 

Mission: Furious-ly Impossible

Last April Captain America: The Winter Soldier opened, thus ushering in a new era where the start of the summer blockbuster season has moved from May to April.  This weekend, the seven film in the Fast & Furious franchise, Furious 7, raced into theaters.  I had not seen an F&F film in the theater since the first film because I hadn't been impressed with most of the other six films.  I thought the second and third were horrible but, like Harry Potter, the fourth film sucked me back in.  Of course I walked into Furious 7 knowing it was going to be filled with even more unbelievable action and stunts we'd come to expect from Fast & Furious.  But those stunts have never been more un-believable than this.

In this installment of the franchise Vin Diesel and his crew are back and are being hunted by an old enemy's brother, played by Jason Statham, who is looking for revenge.  Enter Kurt Russell, playing a CIA operative, who agrees to help the F&F team take out Statham's character if they help him retrieve a valuable hacker and her software from foreign terrorists.  There are several other subplots in the film like Michelle Rodriguez's character trying to regain her memories, and Paul Walker's character adjusting to domestic life.  But neither of those subplot's were important I think. 

This film had a good Missions: Impossible/heist vibe to it, which was better than the last couple M:I films in my opinion.  Maybe Vin Diesel should take over for Tom Cruise.  In any event, Furious 7 takes another leap forward in giving us realistic action that actually isn't realistic.  That scene in the previews where Diesel jumps a car between too buildings? That is actually more believable than some other things that happen in the film like tumbling down a mountain in a wrecked car, and then just dusting yourself off.  Or Diesel and Statham's fight where they throw lots of punches and get hit by wrenches, but neither of them are bleeding.  Oh, and they get trapped under a parking garage and both end up ok.  I think the franchise finally stuck their toe over that line of believability.  And whoever picked that epic fight music when Diesel and Statham run at each other in slow motion needs to look at the other F&F films and realize it doesn't fit at all in this movie.  

However, the actions sequences, as always, were the best part of this F&F film.  When the adrenaline was pumping the film was at it's best and most enjoyable level.  The emotional scenes, that the actors were not able to pull off, were the hardest part to watch.  I like Michelle Rodriguez in the first F&F film, but her and Diesel don't have the range, nor chemistry, to pull off a complex love story where he is trying to make her remember their love story due to her amnesia.  That kind of soap opera belongs nowhere in this franchise.  The better subplot I thought was brought to us by Walker.  But as a father myself, maybe I just related more to letting go of the wild life and settling down for the sake of your family.

The rest of the cast was just background noise that delivered cheesy one-liners.  Like in Guardians of the Galaxy, actor Djimon Hounsou is way too good of an actor to be used so little.  Dwayne Johnson, who will always be The Rock to me, was also barely in the film.  Which was sad because I think he's actually the best actor in the F&F bunch.  He does have a nice moment at the end when he destroys a drone with an ambulance and then, what do you know, walks away ok.  Also, him handling a machine gun did give me G.I. Joe flashbacks.  

Director James Wan and his team had a difficult job after the loss of Paul Walker.  They didn't know whether to edit him out of the film, continue the film as is, or scrap the whole movie altogether.  The Fast & Furious franchise has always been about Walker and Diesel's characters.  I could tell this film tried to shift everything more on Diesel and less on Walker.  But no matter how I feel about the somewhat laughable style of the film, the final send off for Paul Walker had me choked up and almost teary eyed.   You knew this was Diesel and crew truly saying goodbye to their friend and brother.  I'm curious how the Fast & Furious will continue without Paul Walker.  His character was my favorite in the franchise, so I'm not sure if I'll enjoy it as much without him in it.  But with Furious 7 already breaking box office records you can be sure this ride will continue.

RATING: C-

How TNT's Teen Titans Could Be Earth One

In February a possible line-up was announced for a Teen Titans television series on TNT. The original Titans were a bunch of DC sidekicks like Robin, Kid Flash, and even Aqualad, that got together as a sort of kiddie Justice League. Since then the team has had many members, and had some great story lines, especially when written by DC's current Chief Creative Officer, Geoff Johns.  TNT's Teen Titans is rumored to star fan favorites like Robin(now Nightwing), Starfire, Raven, and also Cyborg, who is currently set to be played by Ray Fisher in Warner Bros Justice League cinematic team. 

It's still unclear whether the series will be a part of TheCW's TV shared universe along with Arrow and The Flash, but if it doesn't then DC will have gone the complete opposite direction of Marvel, who has their television and movies as one big shared universe.  Personally I'm a little surprised that DC and WB are allowing TNT to use Nightwing since he is so closely affiliated with Batman, and also Cyborg, who looks like will be featured in the WB films.  If DC really wants to not crossover their TV and movie universes then I think they should just go all in and keep everything separate. Gotham has nothing to do with Arrow, which has nothing to do with Constantine.  All these shows are on different networks, and therefore have no relation.  I believe they should do the same for the Teen Titans, which would be easy if they followed the latest.  Titans interpretation; Earth One.

Earth One has become much like Marvel's Ultimate line. It's a way of bringing in fresh stories to old characters without being weighed down by decades and decades of continuity. The Superman and Batman Earth One stories have been a hit with more on the way.  I just finished Teen Titans: Earth One, and I must say, it is a good outline for a Teen Titans TV series outside what WB is doing in their cinematic projects.

The graphic novel features TT stars like Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire, but in a different light.  Superheroes like Batman or Superman are not ever mentioned, meaning that they might not even exsist in this world.  These characters are a group of teenagers who, because they were once orphans, were experimented on using alien technology.  Each teen begins to exhibit different abilites as the truth about their past and origin unfolds.

As I read the book I kind of got a Roswell vibe too it, which, if mixed the current superhero craze, would be great for today's audience to latch on too.  The fact that it has no mention of other DC heroes is a strength.  It has potential to make it's own mythology that won't interfere with anything else WB is doing with their DC properties.  I also personally like that Robin and Kid Flash are nowhere in this book, although Deathstroke, a character who is featured on Arrow, does make an appearance.
I think if TNT is going to be coming out with a Teen Titans series then the Earth One graphic novel is a great road map to make sure it doesn't interfere with whatever else WB is planning.  As a fan though, I'm a little hesitant about having three different Deathstroke's or more than two Cyborg's, existing in a live-action setting at the same time.  While I think it could work to keep DC movie and television characters separate I don't believe we need several versions of each character. There are plenty of people who populate the DC Universe for everyone to have their own toys to play with.  However, if Nightwing is going to be in a Teen Titans series, I've always wanted Milo Ventimiglia to play him.  Peter Petrelli was the sh!t.