Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (5000)

Content

David McK (3496 KP) rated Iron Man: Extremis in Books

Jan 30, 2019

I'll be honest - I was one of those who, before I saw the first Iron Man movie (2008?) had no idea who the character was.

That, of course, is not the case now, after 3 solo outings (to date) and 2 'team' entries (Avengers Assemble and Age of Ultron).

As my only real exposure to the character had also only come form those movies, I was also unaware that Tony Stark's identity (as Iron Man) was NOT common knowledge - I had always thought that was one thing that had set him apart from the likes of Batman, Superman, et al.

I also later discovered that this comic was one of those that had influenced those movies - while pretty obvious in Iron Man 3 (which also deals with Extremis), it had also had an impact on the first movie - reading this comic in 2016, it's interesting to see how: from the 'reboot' of his origins from the original Vietnam War to more modern Afghanistan, to even the look of the character (this came first, remember), and to the whole 'Genius Playboy Billionaire Philantropist' persona after he is injured by his own weaponry.

Kudos

LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated X2: X-Men United (2003) in Movies

Jun 20, 2019 (Updated Jun 20, 2019)

X2: X-Men United (2003)

2003 | Action, Sci-Fi

7.7

(38 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

A strong follow up

X-Men 2 builds upon the first in pretty much every way possible - were introduced to new characters (Brian Cox as William Stryker being a stand out here) and some really thrilling set pieces.

Notable amongst them - the opening scene of Nightcrawler attacking The White House (set to Mozart's Requiem in D Minor) is honestly one of my top scenes in a comic book film ever.
The scene where the mansion is attacked at night - we see Wolverine a lot more feral here than in the first film, and we're introduced to Colossus.
And the almost everything on Alkali Lake - the glimpses into the Weapon X project, the hints at Dark Phoenix - are all comic book ticks (until they were a bit shat on in future sequels)

There are still faults - the biggest one here for me is Lady Deathstroke - second X-Men movie in a row that backbenches a classic Wolverine villain in favour of a fairly useless mute version.

I remember and appreciate X-Men 2 for what it was at the time - a movie for a young franchise brimming with future possibilities. It still stands strong as far as Marvel adaptions go.

Kudos

Vegas (725 KP) rated Stan & Ollie (2018) in Movies

Mar 21, 2020

Stan & Ollie (2018)

2018 | Biography, Comedy, Drama

8.0

(30 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

The portrayal of Stan and Ollie (0 more)

Not a real feel good film considering the subject. (0 more)

Great portrayal of two greats

Coogan and Reilly star as the legendary double act, both actors must has spent hours perfecting Laurel and Hardys mannerisms, speech and comic timing as their portrayal of their respective characters are spot on...

This is the story of the latter part of their career, on a tour of the UK with the possibility of a new film as a dangling carrot to perform...

The comic routines during the stage parts of the film are almost as well performed as the real thing, yet coupled with the humour, is an underlying sadness of two stars trying to regain what they once had, and it's this that stops it being a feel good film as it is quite moving and sad if you are a fan of the duo...

It is interesting to see how their relationship is strained at times yet in spite of that how much they obviously cared for each other...

I don't know if the stars won any awards for their playing of Stan & Ollie, but if they didn't, they should have...