‘Batman’ #13 Ends a Big Bang Of A Story With A Whimper

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December 21, 2016

Batman successfully breaks into the prison Santa Prisca, in order to extract the Psycho Pirate and take out Bane. But Bane has seized control of the prison and oversees all who enter and exit. In the middle of all of it, Punch, Judy, and Bronze Tiger all have their own agenda. And the deadly and addictive enhancement drug “Venom” is part of it all. Batman, Bane, Catwoman, The Ventriloquist, and Psycho-Pirate finally all converge. So concludes “I Am Suicide” the second arc of DC’s new Batman, part of the Rebirth relaunch of all of its books.

Batman #13
“I Am Suicide part V”

Publisher: DC Comics
Written by Tom King
Penciled by Mikel Janin
Inked by Mikel Janin and Hugo Petrus
Colored by June Chung

Writing

Last month’s issue of Batman was one of the best modern takes on the character I had ever read. And not so much the plot/chapter of the story, but the brutal reveal and characterization brought to Bruce Wayne. This issue, unfortunately, is a slight step down. Not that it’s terrible, as Tom King continues to be one of the best writers working in mainstream comics today. It’s just that after issue #12, this just seems a bit anti-climactic. The use of The Ventriloquist is great though and the small detail that not even the Psycho-Pirate can control him definitely elevates the character. Seeing Bane get taken down by Catwoman was also a nice touch. I also felt the scene with Amanda Waller in the Batcave broke up the narrative drive a bit, and could have been done as an epilogue instead. I also would have enjoyed seeing more use out of Psycho-Pirate, as it stands he felt a bit much like a loaded gun that never goes off.

Art

Mikel Janin, Hugo Petrus,and June Chung seriously can do no wrong at this point. The art continues to be a big highlight on this title, and it’s probably the best looking of all the Rebirth titles. There is a maturity, design, and structure to the layouts and formats that give it an elegance that is unique. And although there are less flashy moments in this concluding chapter, it’s still gorgeous. This team brings out at a great atmosphere to the writing.

Conclusion

This is still a solid book and a must read for Batman fans. The creative team is obviously laying groundwork for a long, slow burn story yet still dropping in enough attention to details and characters to make it rich and filled with substance. It’s not boring by any means, but there is a meatiness and seriousness to this title that I haven’t found in any of the other Rebirth titles. I will continue to read Batman as long as King, Janin, Petrus and Chung are all involved. Let’s see where the next arc takes us.

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Review: ‘Kong Of Skull Island’ #6: Not The End

By

Anthony Wendel

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December 21, 2016

The two queens will fight to ensure domain over their new civilizations, while the Kongs must tear down the monstrous king of the island.

Writing

The Kong of Skull Island miniseries has reached its final issue. Wait! Turns out this series was so good it is now becoming an ongoing series. This is a welcomed sight given how much fun this book has been as a whole. It’s a shame it hasn’t been on more of the lists for best comics of the year.

Writer James Asmus delivers a good wrap up to the first arc of this new continuing series. A little too good actually as it really feels like the entire book can just end here and wrap up everything which has been introduced. This is no doubt due a bit of carryover from the original intention of it being a six issue storyline. Still there is a lot of elements and plots which can be explored upon within the setting of the world. Also, if possible, this book can serve to explore stories about Monarch, the organization introduced in the Godzilla movie, as Kong is scheduled to eventually face off against the King of the Monsters by 2020. This talk of more issues is already starting to sound like a very positive idea.

Artwork

The art team of Carlos Magno doing illustrations and color work by Brad Simpson is yielding some very positive results. The facial expressions and body language of the characters are some of the best they have through the entire series. The rain effect which is present through most of the issue is a bit distracting, but not to the point it takes down the overall quality.

Conclusion

The shift from being a miniseries to an ongoing impacts this issue, but still results in a very good story being told. The new concept and setting which has been introduced is helping to flush out the mythology behind King Kong. It’s a welcomed sight for fans of giant monsters and individuals who enjoy exploring the world behind an iconic character. .

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Review: ‘Jackie’ An Intense Close-Up Look At An Iconic First Lady

By

Dewey Singleton - Film Critic

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December 21, 2016

Pablo Larraín’s Jackie is an intense close-up at one of the most iconic First Ladies, Jackie Kennedy. The film is anchored by tremendous performances from the entire cast and a stand-out performance from Natalie Portman in the title role. One of the more surprising moves is that Larraín abandons the typical approach to biographical films and keeps her focus on the events shortly before, during, and after the assassination of President Kennedy.

What was compelling to me was the lack of a linear approach in the film. There wasn’t an actual beginning, middle, and end, the film jumped around from pivotal moment to pivotal moment. Each moment more engaging than the next, which drew me in further and further into the movie. Larraín’s Jackie is a complex narrative where the former first lady is concerned about image, legacy, her place in history, and lastly how to deal with the grief of losing the man she loves. No one is going to feel comfortable watching this film and no one really should. They make many subtle choices in the movie to make you feel gradually uncomfortable as the film progresses. For example, there’s the scene with Portman washing off all the blood when she returns to the Whitehouse from Dallas. Of course, there’s the scene where the new first lady, Lady Bird Johnson is talking about the changes that she wants to make to the white house now that her husband is Commander and Chief (right within earshot of the former first lady). Mica Levi’s musical score strikes a sad chord as it embodies the melancholy a nation was feeling during this time of tragedy

Credit needs to be given to screenwriter Noah Oppenheim’s tightly constructed narrative. Oppenheim doesn’t seem to be influenced by any sources. He portrays the former first lady as a woman who lived a life of duality. There was “Jackie Kennedy” the former first lady who was soft spoken and the epitome of what ladies strived to be. Then you had Mrs. Kennedy who seems driven to be in control of everything a driven by maintaining a public persona. It’s a pretty sad tale of a person who truly didn’t have anything that was her own, not even who own personality.

Larraín takes risks with who the former first lady was as he portrays her hitting rock bottom shortly after returning to the White House following her husband’s assassination. In the film, we see Mrs. Kennedy go through her husband’s belongings and even going into the oval office while she’s drinking vodka (by what seems to be the bottle) and popping pills. It was a stirring moment in the film for multiple reasons. For starters, this is the first time the audience sees the former First Lady giving up. Secondly, this is the most human moment that we see from her in the film. She’s not worried about the public, perception, or whether the American people know if she smokes, she’s just a woman who’s world was just shattered into a million pieces.

Certainly, the talk of this film will be the performance of Natalie Portman. Portman tackles the title role with such ferocity and grace. She embodies the first lady in every way possible. Portman exudes the type of vulnerability that Mrs. Kennedy had to have felt during her time in the White House. Remember, everyone was glued to any details that came out of what known as “Camelot” (according to Richard Burton). On top of all of this, she also dealt with the reality that her true love was secretive and had ladies on the side. The last time Portman gave such a visceral performance, it was for Black Swan and we all know how well that turned out for her.

Jackie isn’t the sort of film that many will actively seek out but everyone that does will be rewarded with a stirring portrait of a woman whose world crumbled right in front of our very eyes. We get a chance to see the bravery of a woman who put everyone’s needs above her own. Most importantly, we get a glimpse into who the former first lady was, flawed at times and riddle with guilt (Just like the rest of us).

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Review ‘Passengers’ A Forgetful and Lackluster Trip Into Space

By

Dewey Singleton - Film Critic

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December 21, 2016

Over the last couple of years, Jennifer Lawrence always seems to have had some film releasing around the holidays. In 2015 her film Joy released around the holidays as did American Hustle in 2013. Well, the tradition continues in 2016 with her latest film, Passengers. This time she teams up with Chris Pratt as they play passengers on Starship Avalon traveling to the brand new planet, Homestead II. However, no amount of chemistry or quirky one-liners from Pratt can save this highly contrived and trope ridden narrative.

The film centers around the story of Jim Preston (Pratt). He is among the 5,000 passengers on the Starship Avalon who are in a hibernation pod chilling out for 120 years as their ship makes the journey to Homestead II (a new planet). 30 years into their journey, this ship is smashed by a giant meteor causing one of the pods to malfunction and Preston wakes right up. At first, he thinks that they must be close to arriving at their destination then quickly realizes that he’s up about 90 years too early.

Jim immediately loses it and proceeds to try anything to not only get help but try and get back into his state of hibernation. Quickly he realizes that this is a hopeless cause and decides to live it up. He drinks to excess, chooses not to wear pants, and grows a beard that rivals Tom Hanks in Cast Away. During his most free-spirited moment, he stumbles upon another passenger named Aurora (Lawrence). He, of course, falls in love with her at first sight. Preston scurries the passenger manifest and finds out as much as he can about her. His thoughts begin to betray him, and the idea of having a companion on this journey sounds appealing (I guess loneliness will do that to you). The debate then becomes should he or shouldn’t he wake her up (I’m sure you can guess what he decided to do based on the trailers).

She, of course, freaks out and immediately develops a closeness to Preston (because what other option does she have). Then as sudden as Aurora is woken from her hibernation, they suddenly start wanting to hook up. This leads to the predictable untimely revelation that Preston woke her up which in essence dooms her to a life lived aboard a space ship and not as she had intended. Aurora melts down and immediately shuns Preston giving the initial impression they will never speak to each other again. If only a catastrophic moment could occur that would draw these two closer together once again (sigh).

Morten Tyldum directs this highly contrived film. It was shocking that he was at the helm of this mess as he did a fairly good job at the helm of the 2014 film, The Imitation Game. Perhaps he’s best suited for character driven pieces rather than ones that are “action based. Part of the issue as well was screenwriter Jon Spaihts. Not only was his narrative incredibly contrived and extremely predictable but the dialogue in the film was stilted and tiresome. They say an actor is only as good as the source material. Instead of attempting to build a connection between Preston and Aurora, we were treated to conversation starters such as Lawrence’s character being asked by Pratt “if Slogans are true?” which seemed out of place and odd at the time.

Now many will disregard reviews for this film and see the movie just based on the presents of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. This is of course what the studio is banking on, and it should still bring in a decent amount of ticket sales over the holiday season. I for one would hope that most people would rather spend their dollars on a film that’s worth your time rather than blindly pay to see something based on name recognition alone. Passengers is no better than any film currently stocked at your nearest Redbox location and should be available to rent shortly.

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Review: ‘Sing’ A Whole Lot of Singing With No Substance

By

Dewey Singleton - Film Critic

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December 21, 2016

Recently a friend of mine, Danielle, came up to me and asked about the film Sing. She was interested because she wants to take her two children, Owen and Olivia, to the movie when it comes out on Wednesday. My response to her was, “If you’ve seen the trailer, then you saw the best parts of the film.” As sad as Danielle may have been, one can not escape the fact that whoever cut the trailer for Sing truly deserves some award for best editing. Anyone who judges the film simply on the trailer would assume that this release is a fun and upbeat romp that the whole family would enjoy. In reality, it’s like watching paint dry for about 50 minutes with a slight payoff at the end (hardly worth your time or your money).

It’s not hard to understand why most would assume that this film appears to be a good movie. The idea of an animated singing competition with cute and cuddly animals is a great premise. However, music can only take you so far, and you need to have some substance to the narrative. How could they have not seen the issues with the movie? Did they think that glossing over this matter by just casting a bunch of A-list celebrities would fix the problem? No amount of vocal charm from Academy Award winners Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon could fill this void. What was director/writer Garth Jennings thinking? While I understand the premise of the film is meant to take us back to Hollywood’s Golden age of entertainment, but even those shows had some purpose.

I imagine if I had a chance to ask Mr. Jennings what exactly was the purpose of this film, he’d probably tell me to inspire people to follow their dreams. My only response would be, shouldn’t I care about the people in your narrative? Shouldn’t the audience be rooting for these animals in your “singing competition?” Each one of these characters is incredibly bland and were crafted more to fill some character quota he needed to reach.

“Okay … we need a rebel girl singer .. let’s make her the Porcupine!”

“What about the housewife who once was a singer ….. let’s make her a pig!”

The writing in Sing is tired and quite frankly uninspired. I’m not even going to waste your time in laying out a summary of the film because frankly, it’s as predictable as they come. However, if I were to pick one positive in the colossal mistake that was Sing, it would be the final group of songs. For starters, it made me happy because it meant that this film was coming to an end and sweet relief was imminent. Secondly, it was impressive to see the range of songs they selected (From the Beatles to Bieber). Don’t confuse this as enough of a reason to go pay to see this film. If you want music variety, just flip on Spotify or Pandora. If you want to pay to see an animated film that’s worth your time, See Moana!

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Patrick Wilson Begins Training For ‘Aquaman’

By

Aric Sweeny

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December 21, 2016

In recent casting news, Patrick Wilson joined Aquaman as Orm, the title character’s evil half-brother. The actor revealed that he’s begun training for the movie on Twitter.

Yes indeed. Orm has to prepare for a battle or two. https://t.co/bb6NVkzzKQ

— patrick wilson (@patrickwilson73) December 20, 2016

Like he says in the tweet, Orm will likely be involved in a couple battle sequences.

Aquaman, directed by James Wan, stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Defoe, and Wilson as mentioned above.

The film hits theaters on October 5, 2018.

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Cat Grant Returning To ‘Supergirl’ For Short-Term Comeback?

By

Aric Sweeny

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December 20, 2016

Although Cat Grant left the Supergirl story in the beginning of season two, there’s still a chance for the character to return. In TV Line‘s most recent Ask Ausiello Live, it was revealed that Grant could return in the second half of the season.

“As I mentioned in the latest #AskAusielloLive, Flockhart is not currently confirmed to appear in any additional Season 2 episodes, but there’s talk of a short-term comeback in the spring.”

Have you enjoyed season two of The CW’s Supergirl so far? Why or why not? Let us know your thoughts on the topic in the comments below!

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Review: ‘Assassins Creed’ Is an Insult to Gaming Fans Everywhere

By

Dewey Singleton - Film Critic

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December 20, 2016

The film Assassins Creed made me wish for the sweet relief of death. Death would have at least allowed me to escape the assault on the senses that was this truly horrific film. Why? Why would anyone want to subject themselves to this mess? Even if you are a fan of the video game, this film doesn’t do it justice, it makes me want to find the creators of the game and throat punch them rapidly. Even with a solid cast Micheal Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, and Jeremy Irons, this film is the equivalent of a sinking ship (one that cost 130 million dollars to make).

Didn’t Hollywood learn their lesson when Warcraft was poorly received? Can anyone reading this tell me of one instance where a video game was successfully (emphasis on the word successful) adapted for the big screen? Alas, no-one can and here we are once again on the precipice on yet another disastrous idea.

The film centers around a convicted killer named Cal Lynch (Fassbender). He’s on death row for murdering a pimp and is about to be executed via lethal injection. The scene then poorly transitions to a massive overseas lab where we see Lynch waking up and two scientists played by Jeremy Irons and Marion Cotillard are thrilled.

Lynch gets taken to this seedy looking lab and attached to a device that looks as if it’s been repurposed from the film Avatar and he believes that he’s in 1492. Lynch comes to realize that his ancestors were part of an elite group of assassins who were sworn to protect the world from the forces of the Templar. The Templar are seeking out the Apple of Eden because of its insight into human behavior and the ability to control people too. What lynch doesn’t realize is that these scientists actually are part of the Templar group as well (dramatic sound effect). While I’m sure this revelation certainly floored all of you, just know that Fassbender’s character isn’t going to give up so easy (eye roll).

What made Ubisoft studios think that hiring the director who did Macbeth last year was such a great idea? Justin Kurzel benefited last year benefitted from a nicely staged version of one of Shakespeare’s classic plays. Not to mention both Fassbender and Cotillard are pretty outstanding in that film as well. What made them think that this was the guy or even the cast to pull this off?

The writing in the film is heavy (uses a ton of big words when they aren’t needed), boring and will elicit more laughter than any gasp of excitement. Why would you write a film about a very popular video game and have the film take place a majority of the time, OUTSIDE THE VIDEO GAME? Correct me if I’m wrong here, but aren’t those the fans you want to draw into this film? Why would you spend a majority of the time outside of it? This is yet another example of Hollywood developing a great idea and showing little forethought after that.

Going forward, studios are going to have to seek out directors who are also avid gamers to correctly tackle this source material. Until that occurs, we are going to continue to get one bad adaptation after another. Bringing in a fan of the source material to direct can work and the perfect example of that was Tim Miller (avid comic book collector and director of Deadpool). I think that turned okay .. don’t you?

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Teddy Sears Teases Black Flash’s Possible Return To ‘The Flash’

By

Aric Sweeny

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December 20, 2016

In a recent interview with TV Guide, actor Teddy Sears teased a potential return of Black Flash in the series’ future.

“Zoom has been transformed into Black Flash, who has quite a place in the mythology of The Flash. He’s like the grim reaper for speedsters. Andrew Kreisberg, the head writer and EP, has talked about their interest in having a Black Flash return at some point in the series.”

What are your thoughts on potentially seeing Sears return as the Black Flash? Did you like his character’s arc in season two? Let us know in the comments section!

Season three of The Flash returns to The CW on Tuesday, January 24.

Source: TV Guide.

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Check Out This Colorful New Poster For FX’s ‘Legion’

By

Aric Sweeny

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December 20, 2016

A new Legion poster has been released by the show’s official Twitter account. Check it out below.

The show takes place within the X-Men film universe and debuts on FX in less than two months, on February 8, 2017.

“Legion follows David Haller, a troubled young man who may be more than human. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. But after a strange encounter with a fellow patient, he’s confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and visions might be real.”

Are you looking forward to Legion?

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