Category Comic Books

Dec 3 2016

Here It Is, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2 The Second Official Trailer

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For a while we were all in a dry spell of trailers. Usually by this time of the year, we would’ve been exposed to cool trailers for upcoming films. But sadly the only thing we’ve had of late was a trailer for the reboot of The Mummy. “Yawn”

Thankfully, that all changed when this scrumptious trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 dropped a few minutes ago and not a moment too soon! It may be labeled as a teaser trailer, but don’t let that fool you, we had one already back in October. That one was an actual teaser that didn’t reveal anything about the plot, just a few quick glimpses of our favorite space heroes (sorry Luke and Kirk).

Actually this trailer follows the same format. Only this time instead of Star-Lord/Peter Quill and Drax, the featured characters are the scene stealers Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Rather, that is Baby Groot and the adorable little seedling upstages the caustic Rocket with his squeaky voice. Of course, he only utters “I am Groot” but it’s all in the delivery! Not only is Baby Groot so cuddly but he’s a little badass! Look at the way he chases after the bad guy, it’s the stuff of a Looney Tunes cartoon!

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This time, more action and thrills are shown, including giant space monsters and spaceship battles. Plus, we get our first look at Mantis and she looks awesomely seductive and alien! Guessing from this trailer, we’ll probably get a couple more character-centric trailers. Gamora is next, along with Yondu and Nebula. Maybe they’ll mix it up and feature Star-Lord again as he meets his father, who happens to be Ego the Living Planet as played by the great Kurt Russell. Anyhow, this trailer just whets our collective appetites for next summer and it’s clear that Marvel Studios has another winner in its hands with Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. So, hey Marvel, how about giving us a look at Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok? Don’t worry, those are sure to drop soon as are trailers for hotly anticipated movies for 2017.

But for now, kick back and enjoy the Rocket and Baby Groot antics in the latest trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. It’s very funny and we could all use a good laugh in light of recent events in the real world.

Waldermann Rivera

Dec 1 2016

When Legends Meet

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Editor’s Note: We asked two of our staff writers/geeks, C.S. Link and T. Rod Jones,  to opine on the “epic” four-part crossover event at The CW that covered Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. Here are their quick thoughts.

CSL: Basically, the entire event was a Four(three)-Part crossover. The CW’s crossover event linking its four superhero shows is now over. Overall, I enjoyed the story and interaction between the different characters. But it should be known that the 1st part that started with Supergirl only encompassed the last minute of the show when Barry Allen and Cisco Ramone show up at Kara Danver’s apartment through an interdimensional portal.

TRJ: Yeah, that was kind of a lame way to start off the event. Seriously, the entire story on Supergirl didn’t have anything to do with the main story on Arrow’s Earth. If you’re not a fan of Supergirl (and I’m not), if you skipped the first part, then you didn’t miss anything. Hell, that last minute of Supergirl with Barry and Cisco jumping into her apartment was actually reshown on The Flash the next night! And the worst part is that  during most of the event Supergirl didn’t do much.

CSL: I think the best parts were The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow segments. They both featured good action scenes and showcased creepy looking aliens called The Dominators who seek to eradicate all meta humans from Earth. The Arrow episode was not bad at all, but it mostly took place in a shared hallucination that the aliens subjected Oliver Queen and his friends to. That episode didn’t feel central to the invasion except for the last act.

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TRJ: I agree that the Arrow episode felt separate from the event (not as badly as Supergirl though) , but remember this was the 100th episode of Arrow, so in a way that whole group hallucination featuring characters who are or were in Arrow made sense. It was a way to look back at many important events in Arrow’s five-year history. They do this in comics all the time and it worked for me.

CSL: One thing I would have liked to have seen was the aliens invading different parts of the planet and causing havoc. This would have made the threat even more dangerous. As it was, the action mostly took place in locations in each hero’s respective cities. In the end, this was a good start to having the whole CW DC universe come together and seem like a truly shared universe. Hopefully the next crossover event that comes will truly have it span all 4 shows and have an epic feel and consequences to each hero’s show.

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TRJ: The event only came alive in the last part of Legends of Tomorrow when they all fought the aliens. But we have to wonder why the gang didn’t bring everyone they knew into the fight. Where was the rest of Team Arrow? Why didn’t the Legends go back in time and bring in the Justice Society of America? On that note, why not use future knowledge to defeat the Dominators?

Still, it was great seeing all those heroes fighting those CGI aliens on the rooftop. Some of the Easter eggs were memorable, like how Ray Palmer commented on how Kara looked like his cousin, an obvious tongue-in-cheek Superman Returns reference. The whole event was corny but fun for us geeks.

C.S. Link and T. Rod Jones

Nov 7 2016

The Mind-Bending World Of Doctor Strange

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Marvel Studios’ latest foray into the mega-successful Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is Doctor Strange. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the title character, a former brilliant neurosurgeon who becomes a sorcerer after a reluctant personal journey.

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Basically, Doctor Strange is an origin story that introduces audiences to the sorcerer and his world. After a car accident shatters the nerves in his hands, Dr. Stephen Strange is desperate to repair the nerve damage so he can resume his shallow, entitled lifestyle. Think of a less charming version of Tony Stark before he became the heroic Iron Man. His desperation takes him to Nepal where he comes across a secret sect of sorcerers led by the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and her lieutenants Mordo (Chiwetol Ejiofor) and Wong (Benedict Wong). The sorcerers introduce Strange to the mind-bending reality of the multiverse with its indescribable dimensions and its evils. Their mission is one of seeking enlightenment and of guarding the Earth and our dimension from evil. In this case, the extradimensional being Dormammu and its disciple, Kaecillus (Mads Mikkelson) a former student of the Ancient One who embraced the dark side of sorcery and wants to learn the secret of immortality.

Doctor Strange would have been a standard coming-of-age origin story if not for the wildly trippy visuals and the performance by Cumberbatch. Once again Marvel Studios strikes gold with its casting in the pivotal role of the sorcerer, and remarkably enough with Swinton. With the latter, the casting choice is controversial because of the racial and gender-swapping nature being that the Ancient One in the Marvel Comics is an elderly Asian male. But Swinton does nicely in her critical role.

Twisting reality of Dr. Strange

The drawbacks to Doctor Strange have to do with a common complaint about most MCU films, namely the villains. There isn’t any depth to Kaecillus, he’s very one-dimensional and is upstaged late in the film by the gigantic visage of Dormammu, who should’ve had more screen time. Even there, the supposedly powerful foe was handled fairly easily by Strange. Other characters were hit or miss. Mordo had an interesting arc where his fundamental belief system is shaken to the core, while Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) was forgettable and didn’t have any screen presence or chemistry with her former lover Strange.

The story itself was serviceable but on the whole comes off as formulaic for an MCU film. It goes like this; unlikeable or self-centered main character gains super powers and undergoes an emotional journey as a reluctant hero before fully embracing his destiny as a full-fledged hero.

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Still, Doctor Strange is an entertaining MCU film that should be placed in the upper mid tier of the other MCU films thanks to director Scott Derrickson’s vibrant eye for colorful optics. There are many imaginative visuals and effects shots that have never been seen on the large screen. Stephen Strange’s forays into the multidimensional void are alone worth the price of admission, especially in 3D. Many shots perfectly mirror Dr. Strange co-creator Steve Ditko’s unique look, which is astonishing to behold in live action, while unnerving at the same time.

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With this film, Marvel Studios has successfully introduced another novel and spectacular corner of the expanding MCU. Even though the script could have used some more work to match its eye-popping scenery, Doctor Strange is a welcome addition to the MCU and hopefully the good doctor/sorcerer will take an even greater role in it.

José Soto

 

Oct 25 2016

The Walking Dead Goes Too Far In Its Season 7 Premiere

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The following will contain spoilers from the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead...

The question that we all wanted to know and not know has been answered this past Sunday with the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead. That question being who Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) killed among Rick Grimes’ (Andrew Lincoln) group. It turned out that the madman didn’t just kill one, but two beloved characters; Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun). Let’s be clear, this episode was brutal, raw and frankly, it went overboard in its portrayal of violence and depravity.

That isn’t to say that the episode “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be” isn’t without its merits. abe-ford-killedTechnically it was well done, well acted, well shot; it emoted tension like you wouldn’t believe. But the  bottom line is while it was too gruesome, it had the air of a bad car wreck. You want to look away but can’t help but look. However, you often wind up regretting watching what was on the screen because it was so gratuitous to the point that it bordered on torture porn. Did we really have to see Negan repeatedly bash in Abraham and Glenn’s skull until mush was left? Sure, creator Robert Kirkman and the showrunners probably wanted to convey some message about helplessness and the ugliness of violence. The problem isn’t just the violent display of Negan’s sadistic violence, but what went on before and the presentation.

For months, we had to wait to find out who was Negan’s victim. The season 6 finale was overhyped (as was the season 7 premiere with all the images of Negan and his barb-wired bat Lucille) and we were all expecting to see Negan kill someone. But we didn’t. Instead we had to wait for months to find out that the reveal  largely followed what happened in the comic books. In The Walking Dead #100, Negan bashed in Glenn’s skull, but Abraham had been killed beforehand issues past. So “the Day Will Come When You Won’t Be” threw off viewers with Abraham’s death.

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The only problem with that death was that it was very telegraphed in season 6 of The Walking Dead. Abraham has had a death wish for much of the season. He seemed aimless with little to live for. In the season finale though, he began to muse about a life where he can settle down…a dead (forgive the pun) giveaway in The Walking Dead that he is doomed. This happens to all characters who find a measure of peace (look out Morgan, you’re next), except Rick. Another clue was when he told his friend Eugene Porter (Josh McDirmett) that he’s come a long way and  become capable of taking care of himself. It was a way for the two men to say goodbye to each other and it was obvious by that small scene that Abraham wasn’t long for the world.

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Oct 19 2016

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 Sneak Peak!

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Boy, that was unexpected! Director James Gunn surprised those of us who were led to thinking that a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 would be out for Christmas. Instead, he released a teaser trailer and poster today.

Seriously, with all the craziness going on right now with this stupid election, seeing the teaser is a tonic for the soul. It had me right at the beginning when “Hooked On a Feeling” started playing as we were re-introduced to our favorite space pirates (sorry Han and Mal).

Compared to the teaser for the first Guardians of the Galaxy, this one doesn’t show as much, but it doesn’t have to since we don’t need to be introduced to the characters. All we had to see was Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax and Yondu! Now he’s part of the gang and supposedly Nebula, but how that comes about should be an interesting story. Let’s not forget Rocket Raccoon and Groot. The duo were the breakout stars from the last film and it looks like the same will happen with the sequel. Come on, no one with a heart can’t help but squeal at the end of the teaser when baby Groot pops up on Rocket’s shoulder! It’s a complete reversal from the last time around when Rocket was often perched on Groot’s wooden shoulders.

The highlight for me was the big scene shown where Drax consoles Peter Quill over his love woes. Apparently, Peter’s lovestruck over Gamora and can’t connect. Drax just tells it like it is when he advises his friend that there are two kinds of beings in the universe. “Those who dance, and those who do not.” he adds that Peter needs to find a woman as pathetic as him before giving him an unwanted hug. It still brings a smile to my face as I think about the scene.

Looks like Marvel Studios has another winner with Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. I’m already eagerly anticipating the release of the full trailer for this sequel. Anyway, here’s the teaser for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. It’s already on my must-see list for 2017.

Waldermann Rivera