Deadpool: Secret Invasion

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So I’m calling it now, we’re probably getting the Secret Invasion for Avengers 5 in the MCU, at least Captain Marvel opened the door for it by introducing the Skrull. Secret Invasion essentially is a hunt through the Marvel Universe, searching for the Skrull camouflaged as our favorite heroes. So how does Deadpool handle such a plight?

We follow the great Wade Wilson on a typical day at the office, in this case that means disguised as a baseball mascot to get close to a hit in broad daylight. Well, it just so happens a alien invasion breaks out and Wade gets captured and taken aboard a Skrull ship. The Skrull, obsessed with mastering the powers of supers to add to there Super Skrulls, they want to replicate regeneration capability. Pissed that the Skrull want to take his powers and identity, he tries to break free but can he face these powerful foes?

The ending of this story is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read in a comic book. There is a pretty good story after the Skrull story but the story of Wade vs the Skrull sold me on Deadpool after the terrible portrayal in X Men Origins: Wolverine . The only complaint I have is the amount of foul language bleeped out; it does offer a bit of charm but it gets annoying that you can’t get an unedited copy. If you are new to the merc with a mouth or new to Marvel comics in general, this a good place to start. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie

classic power rangers movie

I’m 28 years old, almost 29, and I still love the old school Power Rangers, I’m not ashamed to admit it; I even enjoyed Power Rangers while Savior sure as hell didn’t ( Power Rangers 2017 (2nd opinion) ). I love the kick ass music, the cheesy acting, and strangely awesome fights. So let’s jump into there very own movie.

We join the Power Rangers as they live there normal lives and the lives of there superhero alter-egos keeping Angel Grove safe from the diabolical clutches of Lord Zed and Rita Repulsa . Tommy, Kimberly, Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Billy are about to face there greatest threat yet when Zed and Rita revive the ancient Ivan Ooze who Zordon imprisoned centuries before. Ivan destroys the ranger’s command center and leaves them powerless and Zordon dying. The Powers are sent off planet to search for a great power to Combat Ooze but he is mind controlling the adults of Angel Grove to uncover his Zords. Can the rangers stop this ancient monster in time?

Is this movie good in the traditional sense? Hell no. The effects are pretty cheap looking and there is a lot of fake looking wire work, the acting is cheesy and over the top, and there’s a of things to date it. But, all that being said, it’s awesome because for most of it, it’s what we love Power Rangers for. The ranger scenes in full costume are pretty awesome and I do like the costumes aren’t spandex this time and while all the fights are corny, they do hype you up. The second act slows the pacing down quite a bit and admittedly, I wish we had more rangers in costume. In the end, it’s a fun piece of nostalgia for the 90’s kids and I still have fun with it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

classic power rangers movie 2

A Bug’s Life

a bug's life

The older I get, the more I think about the ants and the grasshoppers and weirdly enough the movie wasn’t far enough from the truth if you are a normal worker at your job…oh well, enough of the philosophical crap and let’s talk about a Disney/ Pixar movie.

It’s a time of harvest for the ants, who are overseen by the large, menacing grasshopper gang. Flick is a plucky ant who likes to invent things, but the problem is Flick is kind of a screw up. One of his inventions goes awry and causes the whole summer’s harvest to get destroyed minutes before the grasshoppers show up. The leader of the grasshoppers, Hopper, tells the soon to be queen, Princess Ata that they want twice the food by time the last leaf falls or else. Flick, is allowed to go find heroes to fight the grasshoppers with the intention of getting rid of him; Flick does find a group of disgraced circus bugs he mistakes for heroes and who are willing to pretend to keep morale up for the ants. Can Flick’s plans work or are the ants doomed?

A Bug’s Life is one of those kid’s movies that is all around enjoyable. The animation holds up pretty well and Pixar tells a pretty heartwarming story as they usually do. Kevin Spacey has some menacing moments as Hopper. The movie has a solid story and good, likable characters with a pretty satisfying ending. It’s a movie I enjoyed as much as an adult as I did as a kid and it’s well worth a watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Venom: Lethal Protector

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Venom hurt as a nerd, especially reading the book much of the movie was based on. Venom is one of Marvel’s greatest and complex anti-heroes and one of Spider-man’s greatest adversaries, but thankfully I said my peace on the movie and here I want to shed light on the awesome story that went into it.

Eddie Brock has been a villain and spent years fighting Spider-man but at times had to join the hero to beat Carnage; life is complicated. He made a truce with Spidey and retreated from the Big Apple to San Francisco for a new beginning and to be the hero he always they could be, they meaning him and the alien symbiote attached to him. Brock found himself avenging the weak as Venom, leading to a homeless village being attacked by a Corporation that had been kidnapping them. While an outcast, he seeks to find justice for them as the news of his rampage reaches Spider-man who fears Venom has lost control. The pair are once again confronted by a deadly secret, that are more symbiotes, and it’s up to them to stop them…

Everything I love about classic Venom is in this book. It was nice to get a look at Eddie Brock and how hard he was just trying to find a new beginning and be a hero. Venom is a badass with a lot of awesome fights against a good variety of enemies. Spider-man worked pretty well as a supporting character and I liked the contrast between the old enemies. The new symbiotes were pretty awesome and they definitely stood out. The story flows well and it’s pretty easy to follow. If, like me, weren’t satisfied by the movie and want a good Venom story, this is a damn good one to check out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

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I’m usually not the the one to follow the hype train; in fact I usually try to avoid the son of a bitch whenever I can. If you happened to be near me during the The Force Awakens hype or the hype that followed Skyrim , I was pretty abrasive towards them; truthfully I loved them in both cases. Hellblade, is a pretty similar scenario.

Senua is a woman who lost it all and is on a quest that maybe hopeless. Plagued by a horde of omnipresent voices that won’t let her be and a rot that threatens to overtake her if the demonic forces or her agonizing visions don’t kill her first.  Surrounded by death, loss, madness, and the clashing of voices as she fights to save her love and slay the darkness inside herself and the forces that stand in her way…

I sincerely have to say this is one of my favorite games of the PS4 generation and possibly all time. While the combat and puzzle solving are both simple and solid, they take a backseat to a phenomenal story and a frightening tension filled experience that pretty damn accurately portrays mental illness. Senua isn’t a super stoic heroine with a tragic background (she’s not female Kratos from GOW as I initially thought she’d be); Senua is a very tragic, tortured soul that feels the fear and pain of what the game throws at her but struggles on. The atmosphere and enemy designs are amazing and I can’t give enough credit to the voice work in this game; this game mind-fucks and fills you with tension even just exploring. The game isn’t perfect, there are times the puzzles can be picky and essentially they are all the same kind and the nature of the game itself is repetitive in hindsight but I can overlook that for the experience and storytelling most games ignore. I highly recommend it, especially for a good single player story. May the game bring you glory.

Murder Party

murder party

There are very few times I’m genuinely surprised when looking through movies for this blog. Most of the time, I can tell what will be be decent and what’s going to be crap, especially when horror movies are concerned. This time I find myself pleasantly surprised…

Chris is a boring dork who lives a boring life and is so dull his cat won’t even listen to him. While walking home Halloween night, Chris comes across a mysterious invitation floating through the breeze for something called a Murder Party. Thinking nothing of it, Chris goes home, bakes some pumpkin bread and whips up a knight costume out of cardboard and duct tape. What he finds is a get together of psychotic art-house nerds that plan on killing Chris in the name of artistic expression. Bound, gagged, and outnumbered, what are the chances he’ll survive the night?

I have to admit I had a surprising amount of fun with this movie. After the first five or ten minutes, there is a good amount of slapstick and goofball humor that spans the rest of the run-time as well as some funny and WTF kills. The movie is really short at 80 minutes and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. By the end, I was satisfied by this low budget horror comedy and thought there were some good twists to carry me through. The only issue I have is the opening minutes crawl but once the party starts, the pacing evens out. I’d recommend this for anyone who wants something a bit different. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Gretel and Hansel trailer 2

I have to admit, despite the PG-13 rating and January release date, I’m actually pretty excited for this dark, horror retelling of the iconic fairy tale. I love the imagery I’ve seen so far and I like what of I’ve seen of the witch so far. I’m hoping it’ll be something different and memorable. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Doom: Annihilation

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With a tagline like this, you would swear they tried making a movie based on a video game. Truth of the matter is, I don’t think the writers or brains behind this movie played a Doom game in there lives. There’s Mars, a random chainsaw for 30 seconds, a demon ( I guess anyway), the BFG and some keycards, and that’s pretty much it. Doom: Annihilation follows a group of space marines as they travel to a installation on Mars that was doing research on old ruins. What they find is base overrun with zombies and energy shooting demons.

Normally I would go more in depth into the plot but honestly this movie is simply generic from it’s characters to it’s setting and even it’s story. The effects are pretty cheesy, like Sci-fi channel cheesy. There are some unintentionally funny moments but nothing utterly hilarious. The end falls apart and the movie ends on a random cliffhanger. Honestly, nothing in this feels like Doom, but rather a cheap ass cash grab.  The movie is disposable to be blunt and it’s OK to skip. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

A Quiet Place, part 2 trailer 1

A Quiet Place was one of my favorite horror movies of recent memory if not the whole last decade; the trailer for 2 doesn’t look like it’ll disappoint. I like seeing how the invasion began and I love that now we get this lovable family vs a world of broken people as well as the monsters themselves. I have high hopes. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D

silent hill rev

I just have to wonder what the hell has been my luck with crappy 3D movies lately. I forgot the Silent Hill sequel was part of the late 2000’s 3D wave. I admit here, I have no experience with the franchise but I appreciate it’s dark, twisted imagery. That being said, I feel bad for the fans after watching this movie…

Heather’s life has been filled with trauma; her mother died at a early age and she’s plagued with violent hallucinations that relate to the dreaded town of Silent Hill. After her birthday, her father is kidnapped by the insane cult who inhabit the town, and they want her back as a sacrifice to stop Alyssa, a malevolent demon girl they blame the evil on. Heather and a classmate, Vincent Cooper, head to the haunted town to face it’s demons and there own before the Order can bring about the end of the world.

Well, I give the movie this, the score is pretty good even if it is pretty misplaced at times. Other than that, this movie sucks pretty hard. The acting, despite some decent names, is pretty bad; the effects are shotty CGI for the most part; the story is either really nonsensical or really dependent on you seeing the first, but it’s a bit hard to hollow at times. The atmosphere at times is good but the overuse of jumpscares- in which they use a pop tart in the beginning- kills the mood. I laughed at too many scenes I knew I was supposed to be afraid at, and that was before the crappy 3D inches its way into it. In the end, if you need a cheap laugh I might recommend it but otherwise feel free to skip this pooper. May the gaming gods bring you glory.