Toaster's Ramblings - The Convergance of the Secret Wars (or How Marvel and DC Had the Same Summer Event)

It seems that Marvel and DC both have pretty much run the same storyline event for the summer. Both Secret Wars and Convergence deal with time and reality getting smashed together into a jumbled mess of different characters from different worlds, where they all fight and eventually everything gets (sort of but not really) rebooted. I do find it amusing that DC has had the New 52 around less than five years and already needs to do a "soft" reboot. (A soft reboot, by the way, is when some parts of a universe get a fresh start while others continue on as normal.) Now maybe it was just a coincidence that both comic companies ran similar events, but I doubt it. Marvel has apparently been working on Secret Wars for five years, while reviews suggest that Convergence felt rushed in many ways. DC probably got wind of what Marvel was planning and set out to do their own version and release it a few months early (Convergence started this past Spring and is already over. Secret Wars is currently ongoing.)

Honestly, I haven't been following either event. Five dollars an issue for Secret Wars is too much, I would rather wait for a trade edition. As for DC, I'm pretty much done with them. Not only have I grown to hate the New 52, but DC decided to implement a new way of placing advertising into their comic books...

DC You? More like DC... You Suck!

Yeah, so as long as that ridiculous shit is going on, I'm out. If Marvel does it too, I'll be done with them as well. I don't mind a page add, or even a two-page add, but I will not share comic book art and storyline on the same page as an advertisement. That's bullshit. Not only does it take you out of the story, but it is disrespectful to the very medium of comic book art. Imagine if instead of specific commercial breaks on television, commercials randomly play in the middle of your show. Let's say you're watching CW's Arrow and Ollie is about to fight Deathstroke and just as the first punch is thrown, we cut to a Clearasil commercial, then go back to the punch in mid-swing. It would kind of piss you off, now wouldn't it? Well, split-page ads piss me off just the same way.

I don't really know what the post-Convergence DC universe looks like, but the Marvel one is interesting. First of all, much of the pre-Secret Wars developments remain intact. Falcon is still the new Captain America and Steve Rogers is still old. Thor is still a woman (Jane Foster). Wolverine is still dead. The Fantastic Four, as a team, is also dead with Human Torch hanging out with the Inhumans and Thing the new pilot for the Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm not really sure where Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman will end up, though the latter was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. before the event.

The list of the post-Secret Wars title launches has been released and while some really don't interest me at all, others are quite intriguing. Here are my thoughts on the upcoming books:

A-Force #1 - AKA the "female Avengers." Seems a little on the nose to me. "You want more gender diversity? Have an entire book of woman Avengers!" It almost borderlines on gimmicky to me. I will say that there seem to be far more women Avengers than their were in the 90's when most seemed to be female versions of popular male heroes (She-Hulk, Spider-woman), but that may just be due to the fact that in the last 10 years, EVERYONE seems to be an Avenger. I also wonder, who will a team of female Avengers fight? Will they face female villains? How many female villains does Marvel have that are an Avengers level threat? I might thumb through the first issue to see what this book is like, but I don't expect much.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 - I don't watch the show, why would I read the comic?

All-New All-Different Avengers #1 - I might actually get a subscription to this one. I like the younger line-up of Nova (Sam Alexander), Ms. Marvel and Spider-man (Miles Morales) contrasted with veterans like "Falcon America," Jane Foster Thor, Iron Man and Vision. It has a Young Justice vibe to it.

All-New Wolverine #1 - While it's interesting that X-23 is the new Wolverine, I doubt I will buy the book.

All-New X-Men #1-  So are they still the original X-men from the 60's (or whenever they're supposed to come from, something tells me the present Cyclops isn't in his mid-50's)? I don't know. I didn't read the book before and I'm pretty sure I won't read it now. It seems like the novelty of young versions running around with their older counterparts would have worn off by now.

Amazing Spider-Man #1 - I'm guessing this is the Peter Parker Spider-man since Miles Morales has the non-adjective Spider-man book. I don't know... I might look at it. Maybe it will be unique. I doubt I will buy it, though.

Angela: Asgard’s Assassin #1 - I liked when Angela was time-displaced and hung out with the Guardians of the Galaxy, having a friendly rivalry with Gamora. Then for some reason it was revealed she was Asgardian... which is weird. I guess Marvel wanted to start over with her back-story, but I would have preferred that she is the same character from Spawn that now is stuck in the 616 universe... and occasionally alludes to her former life. I'm just not sure I care about her as Asgard's assassin... the Asgardians already have Sif and the Jane Foster Thor... I might flip through the book, but I doubt I will be impressed.

Ant-Man #1 - Never been much of an Ant-man fan. The whole shrinking thing never seemed that useful unless you are evil (like Atomica in Forever Evil). Then you can scramble people's brains or enter their body and grow to normal size so your victim pops like a balloon. But commanding an army of ants? Um... I guess you could get them to bring you all the loose change on the ground for miles around. I guess there are actual uses in espionage, but I never really cared. I doubt I will pick up this book.

Captain Marvel #1 - I'm glad that Carol Danvers is getting her due as Marvel's elite super heroine. However, I haven't read any of her books so far. Not sure if I will start here, either.

Carnage #1 - I don't get the point of this one. Is Carnage still a serial killing monster or are they trying to make him a hero now? Either way, I'm not sure it will work as an ongoing series.

Contest of Champions #1 - Place your bets now about how long this book will last! If the writer's are smart, there will be an end point, like with Avengers Arena. This is not a premise that will last long.

Daredevil #1 - I might flip through this book. I loved the Netflix series (who didn't?) and am curious if Marvel will try to make the comic more like the show. I think Daredevil is in serious need of new villains, good new villains. Most of his villains are lame. They can't just keep going back to Kingpin and Bullseye. Like I said, I will give it a once over, but I'm not expecting much.

Deadpool #1 - I like Deadpool and as such will probably get this book. The writers, however, have big shoes to fill. The previous volume's writing team, including comedian Brian Posehn, made a really good run full of hilarity, some genius moments (the various "lost" throwback issues of Daredevil from decades past), and a great supporting crew including ghost Ben Franklin.

Doctor Strange #1 - Maybe the film will give me new appreciation for the Sorceror Supreme, but it won't be in time for me to start reading this book.

Drax #1 - I will check this book out for one reason... former WWE star CM Punk is co-writing. It doesn't guarantee that the book will be any good, but like with any celebrity writer, it's worth a look.

Extraordinary X-Men #1 - Good news... in addition to being Uncanny, All-New, All-Different, Extreme and Astonishing, the X-men are also Extraordinary. It has an interesting line-up with Colossus, Iceman, Jean Grey (from the past), Nightcrawler (whom I thought was dead), Magik, Storm and Old Man Logan... because Marvel is really serious about Wolverine staying dead. Will Jean Grey discuss with the Iceman of the present about how his past version is gay? Only time will tell. I might glance at this book, but I'm not expecting anything "extraordinary." (see what I did there? I'm clever.)

Guardians of the Galaxy #1 - I was reading the previous run and loved the Abnett/Lanning run that has inspired a new age for Marvel's space universe and renewed love for many forgotten characters. (Ten years ago, did you think you would see a movie starring Star-Lord? Did you even know who the hell Star-Lord was? My point exactly.) Brian Michael Bendis is still writing this new volume, but I guess now Rocket Raccoon is the leader and Thing is the new pilot. And Star-Lord is a woman. I'm game, why not?

Hawkeye #1 - The only time I ever read a Hawkeye book was when he led The Thunderbolts way back when. I'm okay with leaving it that way. If I need my bow and arrow fix, CW's got me covered.

Howard the Duck #1 - Um... no.

Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 - This one will be among the first wave of cancellations, mark my words. Unless they go back in time to fight Nazis with the real Howling Commandos... that I would check out.

Illuminati #1 - What is the purpose of a book about the elitist secret club of Marvel? Do they fight as a team? Are they a team? Do I care? I can answer one of those questions.

Invincible Iron Man #1 - I might glance at this book. Here's the thing, I love the movie version of Tony Stark, because Robert Downey Jr. gives the character a great deal of wit and fast comedic timing, because if not for those, let's be honest, we would all think Tony Stark was a self-righteous prick. Well, the Tony Stark of the comics, even after the debut of the first Iron Man movie, is a self-righteous prick. However, I did enjoy Tony Stark during his brief tenure with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Why? Because Brian Michael Bendis writes Tony as witty and fun. So, since he's writing this book, I will give it a look.

Karnak #1 - The only reason I'm going to check out this book is because Warren Ellis is the writer. I expect I'm not the only one who shares that sentiment.

The Mighty Thor #1 - Is this still Jane Foster Thor? That's cool. I didn't read her book before Secret Wars, why mess with success?

Ms. Marvel #1 - I missed the boat on this book. I've heard great things and will probably check out trades of the previous volume. As such, I might thumb through this new volume.

New Avengers #1 - Not sure why they didn't just call this A.I.M.: Avengers Idea Mechanics. This line-up is crazy. The team is led by Sunspot and features Wiccan, Hulkling, Squirrel-girl, Hawkeye, Power Man, White Tiger and Songbird. I may have to check this book out based on the line-up alone. However, I am not confident on this book's success.

Nova #1 - I love Nova. I was a fan of Richard Ryder. I came to love Sam Alexander was well. The cover of this new book shows Sam in his Black Nova get-up with an adult dressed in classic Nova Corp attire. My question is... is that adult Sam's dad or Ryder back from the dead? (Really hoping for the latter.) This is one book I will be picking up.

Old Man Logan #1 - So what, is Old Man Logan now in the 616 Marvel universe? Do I care? Not really.

Sam Wilson, Captain America #1 - I'll be honest, the only time I ever gave a shit about Falcon was in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I don't really get why he is Captain America. Does he have the Super Soldier Serum? Otherwise he's Falcon with a shield. I'm still not really giving a shit.

Silk #1 - I know nothing about this character except she is somehow connected to the "Spider-verse" which I guess is a thing now. Is their also a Hawkeye-verse and a Paste-Pot Pete-verse?

Scarlet Witch #1 - I've never been a big Scarlet Witch fan, so... yeah.

Spider-Gwen #1 - She's got a following, but I've never read anything about the alternate reality Gwen that got powers. It's still part of the Spider-verse. I want to read a book about the Groot-verse!

Spider-Man #1 - I think it's cool that Miles Morales will be the main Spider-man after Secret Wars. He's a great character that allows Marvel to explore Spider-man in high school again without resorting to deals with Mephisto or de-aging Peter Parker. Best of all, Miles' creator, Brain Michael Bendis, is writing the book. I might check this book out... partly to know how Miles came to be in the 616 universe when Parker is still alive (unless he's the same from the Ultimate universe and just "displaced"). I'm not always on board with Bendis, but he does to Spider-man really well.

Spider-Man 2099 #1 - Way back in the day I actually had a subscription of Spider-man 2099 mailed to my house (the town I was raised in was without a comic shop of it's own). The book was only okay, primarily for a lack of great, memorable villains. I mean, Spider-man has the best rogues gallery of any hero in the Marvel universe, yet his counter-part from a hundred years in the future really didn't have many to speak of. I'm actually having a tough time remembering any beyond 2099 versions of Vulture and Venom. There was a cyborg bounty hunter whose name escapes me and some guy named Thanatos that looked like a Roman gladiator (no, his skin wasn't purple, I don't think he had anything to do with that Thanos). I think the new book takes place in the 616 universe, so I guess he can borrow current Spider-man villains. I doubt I'll read the book... I might flip through it out of curiosity. I like his costume at least.

Spider-Woman #1 - Never cared for Spider-woman. I'll pass.

Squadron Supreme #1 - I might check this one out. It could be interesting... or it could be a waste of time. It's a real toss-up.

Star-Lord #1 - Why is Star-Lord a woman? I thought I saw cover art that showed the character with a feminine body. But then I saw another where he was wearing his trademark mask while wearing an astronaut outfit and a "Quill" name badge... so I have no idea what is going on. I might flip through the book to see if they answer it, but I doubt I'll care enough to buy the comic.

The Totally Awesome Hulk #1 - Is the Hulk "totally awesome" now? He has been Incredible and Invincible and... red. Why is he awesome? I guess he may be someone other than Bruce Banner. After Red Hulk, Skaar, A-Bomb, She-Hulk and Red She-Hulk, that's just what we needed. As long as he's "totally awesome."

Web Warriors #1 - So it's another book based on the Spider-verse, but this time loosely affiliated with a cartoon? I don't get it.

Ultimates #1 - So it's a book with nothing to do with the Ultimate universe. It's just an Avengers book under a different name. It has Black Panther, the current Captain Marvel, the past Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) as Spectrum, and Blue Marvel... a character that a month ago I had never heard of. Might glance at it, but I am doubtful I'll buy it. 

Uncanny Avengers #1 - So this book is kind of odd for me. Initially, I loved the book. It fulfilled that craving I had for super teams fighting massive threats, first with the Red Skull, then against the Apocalypse Twins. Then, the book got weird. Havok, one of my favorite X-men, got disfigured... like on a Two-Face level. Wolverine lost his healing factor and would soon be dead, Steve Rogers was old, Rogue had absorbed Wonder Man... then after the Red Onslaught storyline, the entire line-up changed (save for Scarlet Witch and Rogue). I wanted to like the new line-up. It had Quicksilver, whom I haven't read in a book since X-Factor and there was Sabretooth, seeking redemption. However, the team focused all of it's time fighting the High Evolutionary... a character I've never really cared for. Plus, we were treated to the old Avengers soap opera from back in the day that led to my hating the book and team... the bizarre love triangle (obligatory New Order reference) of Scarlet Witch, Vision and Wonder Man. Ugh... so stupid. This new book once again has a new line-up adding Spider-man, Human Torch, some new chick named Synapse and Deadpool. I will give the book another shot.

Uncanny Inhumans #1 - I've never been huge on the Inhumans. I like them as part of the overall Marvel universe, but not for their own stories and drama. I doubt I will get this book.

Uncanny X-Men #1- This is a book that intrigues me. It has Magneto leading a team with Psylocke, Mystique, Fantomex and Sabretooth... with some other as yet to be revealed mutants. It's like a Brotherhood of Mutants team under the X-men banner. I will definitely check this one out.

Venom: Spaceknight #1 - I doubt this book will last. Despite the popularity of the character, a Venom-centric book has never been a big hit. I do like the reinvention of the character with host Flash Thompson. Instead of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, this is apparently continuing his space adventures since joining the Guardians of the Galaxy. But what's this "spacknight" thing? Is that like Rom the Spaceknight? It might be interesting, but I have my doubts about the book's future. I will give it a once-over however.

The Vision #1 - Remember how I said I was never a Scarlet Witch fan? The same applies to Vision. The two of them made an awful soap opera storyline for so long... I hated the Avengers for years because of them. 

So yeah. I will have some new Marvel comics to check out and will avoid DC like the plague.  Time will tell whether this will improve the Marvel Universe, or make it more convoluted, or have no effect at all. I'm just glad they haven't gone the New 52 route and rebooted everything. I think at that point I just would have been done with comics... except indies. Come to think of it, I should check out indie books more often. Valiant's been looking pretty good lately. 

Until next time, Stay Strange!

Toaster's Ramblings

Warning: I have many things to ramble about, so this may be a little scatterbrained.

A while back I was given a Nintendo E-shop card from my brother for Christmas or birthday, I forget which since my B-day is only eleven days after Christmas. Anyways, I decided to put this toward the downloadable characters that Nintendo was designing for Super Smash Bros. Wii U. So a little less than two weeks ago I decided to buy the characters for both Wii U and my 3DS. My first discovery was that because of tax, my $20 card wouldn't be able to buy all four characters of Mewtwo, Roy, Lucas and Ryu. So I bought Mewtwo, Roy, both of whom I had sorely missed since Melee, as well as Ryu (including the exclusive Ryu battlestage). I wasn't not going to buy Ryu! I decided to wait on Lucas as he was really just a more unpredictable clone of Ness.

On Tuesday I picked up another $20 Nintendo E-shop card. My main objective was to put the classic Yoshi puzzle game onto my 3DS, a game that previously had only been available for the original Gameboy. I had figured that the remaining balance would be accessible on my Wii U, I mean it should be all under one account, right? Well, apparently not. Somehow, and for some dumbass reason, both work as separate accounts. So to get Lucas and anything else for Smash Brothers, I have to buy yet another E-shop card. Kind of ridiculous. The only silver lining is that there are lots to games to download for the 3DS to use the rest of that card. I added Dr. Mario and Mega Man 6 to the 3DS, so that's cool... I guess. It just seems stupid that the E-shop is not exactly user friendly and work separate from both systems.

Moving on, the title of the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy was revealed. It will be called: Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2!!!!!!!!!!! (note: exclamation marks used for sarcastic effect) What an underwhelming title. Look at the names of some of the other sequels from Marvel... The Dark World, The Winter Soldier, The Age of Ultron, Civil War. Their are numerous titles from comics that the Guardians of the Galaxy could have borrowed (in the same was Age of Ultron didn't really follow the storyline of the same name from the books). I'm avoiding Annihilation as I doubt Marvel can use Annihilus and one shouldn't be used without the other, but Guardians of the Galaxy 2 could have had subtitles like Conquest, War of Kings, Realm of Kings, or there could have been an original title. I get that Volume 2 references Star Lord's mix tapes, but generally the term "volume" suggests a new start, like in comics when a series ends and is picked up later with an issue one. The end of the first Guardians movie really had just established them as a team, which would lead to the next storyline, not a rebirth. For example, the recent run of Deadpool ended with the beginning of the Secret Wars event. Once that event is over, a new series of Deadpool will begin, hence a new volume.

So when it was revealed that the part of Ma Kent in Man of Steel would be played by Diane Lane, it weirded me out a little. I think that, for a woman her age, Diane Lane is very attractive. But I have never ever considered that I would think Ma Kent was attractive. It was odd. So fast forward to a few days ago when it was announced that the Marvel/Sony Spider-man reboot had found it's Aunt May... Marisa Tomei! What the hell? First of all, Marisa Tomei is not that old. She's only 50! Also, not that long ago, Tomei was in The Wrestler where she was topless and still quite sexy. So... now Aunt May is sexy? That disturbs me. Aunt May is supposed to be a sweet old woman, sort of like Ma Kent. You know, come to think of it I've seen Diane Lane topless... many years ago, but still, by proxy I have seen both Ma Kent and Aunt May topless! Aaargh! What the hell is going on?!? The Raimi Spider-man trilogy had Rosemary Harris as Aunt May and she seemed right for the part. Sally Field was younger, but she's at least in her 60's. But again, Marisa Tomei is only in 50! She is not elderly yet! Essentially, Peter went off to live with his hot aunt.

A while back I touched upon the topic of Marvel and Disney cancelling their Fantastic Four books to try to stick it to Fox for still retaining the film rights to the property, I guess so there would be no inadvertent advertising on Marvel's part. Well, the plot has thickened some on that count. XM Studios, a company out of Singapore that sculpts high end collectable statues, was asked by Marvel to put a "hard stop" to all X-men and Fantastic Four related statues they were working on. So my question is, how far will this go? Does it extend to action figures. What about Heroclix... it's been many years since we received Fantastic Four Heroclix pieces. It doesn't appear that Marvel is releasing any new Fantastic Four series after their Secret Wars event; in fact, they appear to be splitting up the team. The Thing is the pilot for the Guardians of the Galaxy, Human Torch is with the Inhumans... I assume Invisible Woman is still with S.H.I.E.L.D. and I have no idea what their doing with Mr. Fantastic. Not sure if the X-men are getting the embargo treatment. I haven't seen action figures of them much lately, but we do get some Heroclix of them. They will also have a few new comic book series after Secret Wars as well.

While I want Marvel to get the film rights back to the Fantastic Four, I have mixed feelings about their embargo strategy. Will it make any impact at all (considering the majority of movie-goers do not read comic books) or is it really just "cutting off their nose to spite their face?" Doing that with the Fantastic Four is obviously much easier than banning all X-men related books. Fantastic Four's popularity is minimal these days while the mutants still make up a big chuck of Marvel's profits. At the same time, it's messed up that outside of the books themselves, all X-men merchandising seems to be at risk of being cut off. A long-time X-men fan (Uncanny X-men was the book that got me into comics in the first place), I would be pissed to not receive any more new X-men related Heroclix as long as Fox holds the rights. Let's face it... it's doubtful that Fox will ever lose the rights to the X-men. It makes them too damn much money! X-men First Class proved they don't even need Wolverine to sell a film! Until the public gets sick of comic book movies, which may be coming sooner rather than later, and Fox no longer brings a profit from X-men movies, the mutants aren't going anywhere. That's okay with me... Marvel doesn't need the X-men as much as they need the Fantastic Four and more importantly the universe (Skrulls, Kang, Annihilus, Galactus, Dr. Doom, Silver Surfer) they bring with them.

Finally I want to point out another reason why Dave Grohl is awesome. The Foo Fighters frontman recently broke his leg in a stage accident, so to complete the tour, he had a throne made for himself to rock out in... the rock n' roll equivalent of The Iron Throne from Game of Thrones! Replacing swords are guitars and those black things lining the top? Laser projectors. Further proof Dave Grohl is the man! 

Until next time, Stay Strange

Some More (and very late) Movie Reviews

Summer is a really busy time for me and unfortunately my schedule has had me fall behind on things such as blog posts, especially movie reviews. So here are the last four films I saw in theaters... some have already left theaters.

Warning: Some Spoilers

The Rover (aka Don't Ever Steal Guy Pearce's Car!)

This past week I saw The Rover, without virtually no knowledge of what the film was about save for seeing a commercial and reading a few of those review snippets from Rotten Tomatoes. Just going by the general feel of the movie, I figured it was something I might like, not to mention some positive buzz for the performances of Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson.

The Rover is the kind of movie you watch at 2 in the morning. It's like a cross between Mad Max and The Road (another film Pearce was in). It is set in the Australian Outback in a vague post-apocalyptic setting (text at the start of the movie read "10 Years After the Collapse") adding to the Mad Max feel. The resemblance to The Road is that the film chronicles an uncertain journey between Pearce and Pattinson, with the former leading and sometimes protecting the latter.

One of the biggest triumphs of The Rover is it's atmosphere, this unsettling sense of danger and desperation. This feeling is further amplified by the jarring and disturbing musical score, though at times I'm not sure it's music so much as the instrumental equivalent of nails screeching against a chalkboard. 

I think both Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson gave good performances. Pearce channeled his inner Clint Eastwood, often letting his menacing glare deliver his lines for him. We never get a lot of back story for his character, but he pulls off a world-weary man, not necessarily a good one, with little to lose in a world with even less to offer. Pattinson gave what may be the performance of his young career (though I did not see his Cronenberg film). If ever there was a point where he shed away the heart-throb Twilight image, this role does it. Pattinson plays a simpleton with a blurred sense of morality, a by-product of the violent world he lives in. It makes me think he has a great acting future in front of him.

To me, The Rover was an artistic take on the post-apocalyptic b-movie. The plot is simple, the character motivations even simpler. However, what sets this film apart from the various Mad Max rip-offs is the attention to detail; the underlying angsth-filled themes, the atmosphere, the all around feel of a world teetering on the brink.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (aka Monkey Vengeance 2: Hail to the Chimp)

Before I say anything else, I think the title for this movie should have been used for the James Franco predecessor, as "dawn" indicates the beginning and what we saw in this movie is clearly the "rise" of the Planet of the Apes.

This film joins the ranks of 'sequels better than the original.' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (or DPA as I don't want to keep typing that long title out) had much more action and in some ways a more cohesive plot. Strangely, though, while the apes were given more time to develop characters, the humans were given a lot less. Most of the humans had basic plot devices in place of proper origins to save time. As a result, we have a father (Jason Clarke) trying to move on from the death of his wife with a nice new woman (Keri Russel) but his son doesn't like her, but warms up to her amidst the drama of the film.

The one human that seems lost in the shuffle is arguable the best actor in the movie, Gary Oldman. He's not a bad guy, but he has no qualms about doing pretty evil things. He apparently lost his family from the Simian Flu (as we saw from the trailer) but what does that mean? Does he blame the apes and want revenge? Is he trying to hold together the human race because it's all he can do to keep his family's memory alive? Does he lead to give his life purpose as otherwise he would have nothing to lose? It's never revealed, but in the end (SPOILER) the guy who sought survival at all costs was more than willing to sacrifice himself to take out the apes. Oldman's character deserved more development.

What I liked most about DPA is that it examines the ideas of what it means to be human. Some humans try to rise above while others can't help but succumb to their violent nature. Meanwhile, the apes that had thought themselves superior to humans and incapable of their errors discover they too are very human. The special effects were pretty great as well. The CGI combined with the brilliant Andy Serkis made Caesar come to life, right down the slightest expression.

Overall, I enjoyed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I am curious to see where the franchise goes from here as with the success of both films, there will surely be a third. I wonder if the story will still follow Caesar or if the franchise will jump ahead to an Earth truly run by apes. Also, some may have forgotten, there was a quiet little subplot in the first movie about a mission to Mars that gets lost. That is surely setting up a similar plot to the classic original Planet of the Apes.

Lucy

I was initially going to skip this movie until I found out it was written and directed by Luc Besson, the filmmaker that did Taken and Leon, The Professional (a personal favorite). Lucy had the earmarks of your classic Besson thriller with lots of gunfights and a gritty underworld, but it also had a massive science fiction theme going on, something I like to call "exploring the unexplorable."

What I mean by "exploring the unexplorable" is when a science fiction film delves into hardcore weird shit, the kind of thing that we may never be able to understand let alone accomplish. Movies I lump into this theme are 2001: A Space Odyssey, Altered States and to a certain extent Inception and Donnie Darko. Lucy has a really interesting concept and when combined with Besson's penchant for violent stories it makes for a very unique experience.

However, I wonder if that same experience of weird sci-fi and gun violence meshes very well. Inception gave a reasoning for gunfights in the subconscious that for the most part worked, even adding a level of intrigue. (Corporations can place mental defenses into one's mind in case of dream theft? Neat.) In Lucy, the gunplay seems to serve two purposes. The first is to display how amazing Lucy's powers become with each increase in her brain capacity. The second is to give a point of urgency to the plot. (Imagine if in 2001 that Dave is followed into the trippy monolith by a vengeful mafia boss.) It feels off somehow but sort of works at the same time.

The problem is that at some point the gun-fighting is meaningless. It is clear that nothing can stop Lucy once she reaches a certain level (though I must admit that it's pretty satisfying to see ruthless mobsters get taken down by one woman). Near the end there is a huge shoot-out by the Triads and the Parisian police... but it really only serves as a stalling device so that Lucy can try to achieve 100% brain capacity.

Scarlett Johansen gives a good performance, starting the film as a regular, if naive, young woman and practically becoming a robot. Morgan Freeman... I'm not going to say he gives a great performance as it is the same performance that he (almost) always gives... and we always love. (Like a Twinkie... like a Twinkie) Actually, he kind of seems like he was playing a version of himself from hosting Into the Wormhole!

 As Jonny Prophet points out, humans actually do use more than 10% of our brain capacity... something I actually knew. Honestly, I am willing to let the absurd science fiction go (again, exploring the unexplorable) in exchange for an entertaining movie. And while I am pretty sure that human brains do not have the untapped potential to control electronic devices or grant super-hearing, I was entertained thoroughly throughout the movie.

My bigger complaint is actually some unanswered plot points. For instance, the drug given to Lucy is meant to be distributed world-wide as a narcotic... but why would a cartel want to give people a drug that increases brain capacity? It didn't seem to give any significant satisfying high to Lucy. Then there is the plot point of Lucy's motivations. Once having her brain awakened, her goal seemed like revenge, but then shifts to stopping the drug distribution, but then she starts taking all of the drugs herself to further unlock her potential! I guess maybe she was willing to sacrifice herself to make sure everyone else isn't given the curse of more brain function? I don't know.

I do know I really like Lucy. It's not perfect, but it is original, innovative and entertaining.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Being a fan of the comic, this is the movie I was most looking forward to this summer. While it wasn't without it's flaws, it didn't disappoint either. But perhaps my being a fan going in, I gave this movie more leeway. Then again, most of my complaints are fanboy nit-picking that average theater-goers wouldn't have a problem with. That said, I guess I will begin with my problems with Guardians of the Galaxy.

First, the Nova Corps were just weird. They were like... cops, literally space cops with uniforms and space ships. They didn't fly or fire gravimetric energy blasts or anything like it. I do, however, hold out some hope of getting the proper comic interpretation of Nova. I noticed that all of the cops, including John C. Reilly's Rhomann Dey (AKA the guy who passed his power onto Richard Ryder) all had the rank of Denarian or less. I don't recall seeing any Centurions, like the rank Richard Ryder had in the comics. Maybe the Centurions are the only ones who have super powers in the movies. I hope so at least. With Marvel having to do without Spider-man in it's cinematic universe, Nova (whether it's Ryder or Sam Alexander) would make a great replacement. After all, upon Nova's debut in the 70's, he was touted as the next "Spider-man."

I also notice that there were a lot of alien races absent in GotG, such as the Skrulls and the Shi'Ar. Maybe they need to be formally introduced or maybe Fox owns the rights to both from their licenses to X-Men and Fantastic Four. Either way, if neither show up in the Marvel Films universe, you are missing some major characters like Super-Skrull and Gladiator.

This was pointed out by another reviewer, but I realize that it's true. The Infinity Gems are becoming the Infinity MacGuffins. GotG are now the fourth Marvel movie to center on bad guys wanting or possessing a powerful magic trinket that ends up being confiscated by the good guys and placed in a vault somewhere. You had the Tesseract in the first Captain America and the Avengers plus the Aether in Thor 2. The problem is, if this pattern persists, we still have 3 more gems, that is potentially 3 more movies with the same predictable plot elements. Now I hope Ultron has no use for a magic stone, but I am pretty certain the planned Dr. Strange movie will feature one of them, possibly as the Eye of Agamotto.

Lastly, and I warn this spoils the ending for those who have still not seen the movie, Ronan the Accuser is killed. This is kind of a big character in the Marvel universe. While Ronan has sometimes been a villain and others a hero, he represents a major aspect of the Marvel space universe and the Kree in general. I would have preferred him to have lived to show up later on, in perhaps movie versions of major storylines such as Annihilation, Conquest, War of Kings or even The Annihilators (though Marvel would need Silver Surfer and Gladiator to do that right). However, with how he betrayed Thanos, it would have been difficult for Ronan NOT to have been killed at some point. His final battle did feel a little underwhelming to me too. I think they built Ronan up too much so that the only way to defeat him is through some existential method. I mean, he beat Drax's ass like nothing. Drax is not a featherweight.

As for the good... the movie was very fun to watch. I was highly entertained. The humor of the film, far more comedic than any other Marvel film including the Iron Man trilogy, really matched the tone of the Guardians of the Galaxy comic, especially the Abnett and Lanning run. The special effects were great. I am glad the action scenes weren't just a bunch of blurry jump cuts and for the most part the characters were shown accurately to the comics in terms of personality and skills.

Chris Pratt was great as Star Lord, as I knew he would be given his performance in Zero Dark Thirty and as Andy Dwyer on Parks & Recreation. Zoe Saldana made an awesome Gamora, like I once again knew she would. Dave Bautista made for an interesting Drax the Destroyer, the movie version diverting pretty far from the original character. The film Drax seemed aloof and a little naive, really just driven by his quest for revenge and his violent nature. I'm wondering if his origin will align more with the comics in future films (and we may get another Guardians member in his daughter Moondragon).

Of course, Rocket Racoon and Groot really stole the show. I initially had my reservations about Bradley Cooper providing the voice of Rocket, but he really hit it out of the park. He gave Rocket the tough New Yorker accent he needed and brought a bunch of the humor to the movie. Some of the most hilarious and memorable segments involved Rocket. With Groot, I knew Vin Diesel was perfect. He was the Iron Giant after all. The movie excellently captured Rocket and Groot's weird and funny friendship.

Lee Pace and Karen Gillan made for memorable villains. Pace's Ronin did come across as a scary bad ass and Gillen's Nebula was creepy and just plain cool looking. Karen Gillen is well on her way to being the new Geek Queen, joining the likes of Sigourney Weaver and Milla Jovovich. It was nice to see more of Thanos. Josh Brolin was a brilliant choice to provide his voice. Hopefully we will see more of the Mad Titan sooner rather than later.

I have to add that I was overjoyed to see Cosmo make a cameo. I hope in the sequel we see him interact with the Guardians with his telepathy and make Rocket's life miserable. The inclusion of Blue Merl... I mean Yondu... was interesting. They obviously altered Yondu quite a bit for the film, but it worked... even if Michael Rooker basically just played him like Smurf colored Merl Dixon from The Walking Dead.

In all, Guardians of the Galaxy wasn't perfect. It doesn't dethrone Avengers or the first Iron Man in terms of quality, but it was a lot of fun. Clearly the writers felt some freedom by using more obscure characters and it showed. I definitely look forward to Guardians of the Galaxy 2.