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Ant-Man and the Wasp

antman 2

Ant-Man was a huge surprise hit, rounding out Phase 2 of the MCU. With a imaginative array of settings and action, the first Ant-man had a cool flavor to it that lead into much of the psychedelic feel of Phase 3. After Ant-Man and the Wasp, trailer 2 it was looking lightning might have stricken twice, but did it?

Taking place right after Captain America: Civil War (Cap side) , Scott Lange has been under house arrest, just about on the cusp of freedom. Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne are M.I.A and wanted by the feds; there feelings towards Scott ain’t very warm. They reconnect because Scott has a strange vision of Hank’s wife, Janet, who had gone missing in the Quantum-verse. They need Scott’s help to finish a prototype to reach her but along the way they are hunted by black market dealers and a mysterious young woman named Ghost who laid victim to one of Pym’s earlier experiments with Quantum tech. Can they save Janet and Scott’s freedom?

I’m going to be honest and pretty blunt here: this is my pick for weakest movie in Phase 3. The movie ain’t terrible by any means but lacks much of the excitement and imagination the first movie had. Without that, a lot of the jokes and the heaviness of them makes a lot of the comedy feel stale. Wasp stole the show for me; I always loved her in the comics and she was pretty awesome here. The acting is solid all around. Ghost is a Ok villain but there’s been better in Phase 3 but not the worst. In the end, it ain’t a bad movie and worth a Netflix watch but I wouldn’t bust my ass to own it and the most important scenes can be seen on Youtube. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Brightburn trailer 1

James Gunn looks to be combining his past and present with Brightburn and so far I dig it. The concept of Superman as being a villain is by no means original, but Superman as a horror/ slasher villain, that’s pretty awesome. It looks pretty good and I can’t wait to see it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mass Effect

mass effect

There’s a rare time when almost all of our passions collide into a single artwork. For me it was a great story, interesting characters, cool sci-fi lore, and some fun gameplay. For me, that equals the Mass Effect trilogy.

Mass Effect takes place in the distant future where mankind has joined the rest of the galaxy because of Mass Effect tech, allowing humanity to travel to the far corners of the cosmos. We play as Shepherd, a soldier in the Alliance military climbing through the ranks. On a mission that should have been pretty cut and dry, he discovers betrayal and an unfolding threat to the universe from an ancient Enemy: the Reapers. Being a Specter and given almost endless authority, he’s tasked with hunting down the rogue Specter Saren, and the Reaper’s probe, Sovereign. Along the way Shepherd joins forces with some strange and fascinating characters from other worlds to stop a seemingly unstoppable threat…

This may have been one of the hardest reviews I’ve had to do. There is A LOT to the Mass Effect’s overall story: grudges between species that make you think, political intrigue and corruption, a subtext of humanity having to prove itself amongst several more developed races and how we can only defeat the unstoppable together. Shepherd, depending on which way you swing on the Paragon or Renegade scale, can be either a great good guy or awesome dick- either way there is a lot of replay-ability. Shepherd can be customized a surprising amount of ways, combined with your teammates attributes, I haven’t been able to have such varied gameplay since Borderlands 2 . I fell in love with the characters, heroes and villains alike and found myself in love with the world of Mass Effect; the mission on Vermire tore my heart out at first. The only issue I have is that you do feel a bit OP with the crazy amount of shit you can do and gun-play feels off at times. In the end, I regard Mass Effect as a near flawless classic with probably my favorite video game story of all time, with only the 2nd game tying there and I can’t recommend it enough. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Live Action Sonic revealed

sonic live

A few days ago we got a look at what Sonic the Hedgehog is going to look like in his live action film debut? I can’t say I’m a big Sonic fan by any real stretch but I can say I never thought of him in live action; I’m a firm believer in certain characters in certain mediums should stay animated ( ex, the Cat in the Hat, Charlie Brown, Spryo the Dragon to name a few). What do I think? He isn’t nightmare fuel thankfully but looks strange to me. I guess he looks Ok but at the same time my brain keeps telling me this shouldn’t exist. I’m oddly curious how it will look in the trailer. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

X Men: Dark Phoenix trailer 3

I find it really weird how the marketing for this movie is going: there’s been delays, reshoots, we got one trailer months and months ago and weirdly we get two more full length trailers of original content within a week of each other.

As for the trailer itself, It looks Ok. I still can’t help but feel it’s X Men: The Last Stand reworked. Though I didn’t hate that movie as some did, after reading what I have in the original story, I feel they could’ve done better with setting it up. The Phoenix effects look better nice. Overall my feelings haven’t really changed since X Men: Dark Phoenix trailer 2 . May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles( DC Rebirth)

batman jokes and riddles

As a kid, Riddler was one of my favorite Batman villains, likely because of Jim Carey in Batman Forever . As I got older, I realized there was certainly more dangerous villains, but I always thought he deserved a darker incarnation on screen. I’m glad to say I got my wish with this book…

Batman has been haunted by a memory for years, a time he almost crossed the line, so he recounts the tale for his beloved Selina ( Catwoman) of the War of Jokes and Riddles. Edward Nigma, known to Gotham as the Riddler, is one of it’s greatest criminal masterminds and has been aiding the police in solving crimes they didn’t want the Bat involved. One night, in a bloody display, he escapes Arkham Asylum in search of Batman’s greatest foe, the Joker. Joker, who has lost the will to laugh, is in the midst of a rampage to find laughter again. Riddler makes a truce with Joker, for them to team up to kill Batman, to solve the ultimate riddle and tell the ultimate joke. As you would imagine, this partnership doesn’t last long and suddenly the criminal underworld of Gotham is divided, a gang war killing hundreds on the streets. the police can’t handle the madness and Batman finds himself unable to take both forces on himself. In the end, he’ll have to choose a side, but who do you side with?

First and foremost, Riddler steals the show for me here. He’s creepy and damn memorable with his riddle filled dialogue and his ruthless nature. This is the Riddler I’d love to see on screen. The story has a great character list that doesn’t get used much except for show, though Riddler does have a nice stroll with Poison Ivy and there is a epic sniper war between Deadshot and Deathstroke. The story isn’t bad but I felt disappointed, although it does pick up by the end. The art is fine but the character designs are more classic based and none really standing out. I was not a fan of Joker in the story, who just comes off as blah to me here. In the end, it’s not a bad story I suggest checking out if you like the Riddler and want a very villain based story, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Guardians of the Galaxy/ All New X Men: The Trial of Jean Grey

trial of Jean Grey

So, before we begin, let me pose a question that has been asked in fiction and is what got me to read this book: how far should you go to prosecute someone for something they haven’t committed yet? I love the All New X Men series, where the original 5 X Men go forward in time to stop a radical mutant movement while having to come to terms with there futures, whether it’s Iceman coming to terms with his sexuality, Beast discovering he’ll lose much of his physical humanity and it will eventually be his end, or in this case, Jean Grey finding out she will be the death of millions as the Dark Phoenix.

A console of planetary figureheads led by J-son of Spartax ( Star-lord’s real father; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) changed that hard). Earth has been put under a sort of quarantine because of the damage done to the universe as well as the amount of super-powered people there. The Guardians of the Galaxy have fought back and forth against this. The problem is, word gets out Grey is alive and well on Earth. This news sparks outrage amongst the others, especially Earth’s former ally Gladiator of the Shi’ar Empire who takes it upon himself, against everyone else’s wishes to have her captured and brought to trial and punished. A crew of mercs attack the X men and manage to capture her; the Guardians investigate thinking it was part of a plot from J-son Quill, showing up soon after Grey was captured. The X men and Guardians decide to free her, but it’s the Guardian’s allies, the Star-Jammers that wrecks Cyclops’s world- meeting his long lost father in space. Can the Guardians of the Galaxy and X men free Jean Grey and bring down a alien empire?

I had a lot of fun with this story and it’s a quick read. My favorite aspect was the interactions between the two teams, like Angel and Iceman being terrified of Groot or a quiet exchange between X-23 and Drax. The character roster and art work is pretty good and may I say the variant covers, which feature a member from each team paired together which are pretty epic. Good news for those who aren’t familiar with either series or it’s characters, there is a character sheet and two detailed synopses that bring you up to speed. The only drawback I have is there isn’t as much action as I would have liked to have seen and while it doesn’t make much sense, I would have loved a quick fight between the two. In the the end as I stated in my post 5 Marvel stories that hooked me and I’d say it’s worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Hellboy 2019 trailer 2

So we got a legitimate Red Band R rated trailer for Hellboy 2019 and I’m actually pretty glad we have confirmation it’ll be R rated. I can’t tell you how much it pissed me off when Venom was made Pg-13; I feel the R rating does Hellboy it’s own identity. I like this trailer better but I still feel uneasy about the movie overall. Maybe it’s my attachment to the original Hellboy movies but I’m honestly worried we’re getting a R rated MCU movie. Time will tell but until then may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Final Destination 2

final destination 2

Final Destination failed to me as a horror movie in damn near every way, but damn did I laugh my ass off. I had had heard the series got more crazier and more convoluted as it continues, so with that notion I happily tuned into the sequel. So was my appetite for mayhem and WTF moments quenched?

A year after the fabled plane crash of Flight 180, a group of friends is going on a road trip. Kim, a sweet, pretty good girl has a vision on the road and sees a nasty, bloody pile up. She stalls the road, saving a group from there gory fate while being the sole survivor of her friends. As before, the survivors drop off in strange ways and Kim discovers the similar fates of Flight 180, searching for Clear, the now sole survivor and the only person that can help her. Can these survivors learn from the last groups mistakes and beat death together?

I have to say this was a fun watch. The effects are better, the deaths more convoluted, and there are more of them. I didn’t mind the characters so much this time around and overall I felt was better acted. I felt this movie didn’t try to take itself as seriously which helped. I don’t regard it as a horror in any sense, except for yet a always awesome cameo by Tony Todd. In the end, its a pretty fun movie with some cool kills but it’s kinda disposable. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

X Men: Dark Phoenix trailer 2

So to begin, I’m confused and must ask a question: wasn’t this movie supposed to be out already? If I’m not mistaken, X Men: Dark Phoenix trailer 1 said it was going to be released on Valentine’s Day of 2019. That can’t be a good sign…

As for the trailer itself, it is an improvement but I can’t help but still be wary of it. Phoenix does look pretty cool and Sophie Turner seems to have stepped up her game a bit as Jean/ Phoenix. I can’t help but feel we’re going to get a body count here as it’s Fox’s final X men movie while I’m pretty sure Mystique is done for in this movie. In the end I’m a little more invested in it but still weary. May the gaming gods bring you glory.