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The Tomorrow War (2021)
The Tomorrow War (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
10
7.3 (20 Ratings)
Movie Rating
All the feels (0 more)
Mix of everything
Has every emotion felt throughout. Tells the story really well and for once a movie that actually tells the origin of the war and not just cut it out at the end. A realistic fantasy war thriller that I couldn't look away from and had the right amount of action to drama. It even had it funny parts which had me rolling.
  
Cruella (2021)
Cruella (2021)
2021 | Comedy, Crime
10
8.0 (24 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Amazing origin story!
I loved this film. Emma Stone plays an amazing evil genius and I love that Cruella has always been into fashion. Explains her obsession with it in the original animation. I also like the subtle nods to the original like Anita and Pongo and Perdita! Adding the extra twist of Lost family and death makes it so much better! Really amazing and would definitely watch again!
  
Teen Titans: Raven
Teen Titans: Raven
Kami Garcia | 2019 | Comics & Graphic Novels
7
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
graphic novel introducing Raven's origin story
‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Teen Titans: Raven (Teen Titans #1) by Kami Garcia is a graphic novel with a story written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo. Fans of YA may recognize Kami Garcia as a coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures series. Teen Titans: Raven is Garcia's first graphic novel.

Growing up I was a DC Comic fan but, after the introduction of the Marvel Avengers movies, especially Iron Man, I switched teams. However, you do not need to be a fan of Teen Titans, Raven, or DC Comics to appreciate the way in which Garcia and Picolo present Raven's origin story.

I thought the story was interesting and enjoyed the illustrations. Many reviews mention Raven's snarky attitude is missing from the story. I had not watched or read the Teen Titans and my niece was too young to understand attitude so I do not have a reference in which to compare Raven's story. Although enough reviews mention the lack of snarkiness I felt the need to mention it.

The 2nd book in the series, Teen Titans: Beast Boy (Teen Titans #2) will also be written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo. It is scheduled to be released in 2020.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 10/10/19.
  
The Boys Volume 6: Self Preservation Society
The Boys Volume 6: Self Preservation Society
Garth Ennis | 2010 | Comics & Graphic Novels
9
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Some action and some character backstory at long last
Again, this volume is split in two - we have the story of when Payback (one of the corporate machine's top money-makers) are sent to give The Boys a message, and end up getting their bottoms handed to them. This story is good fun, with some thrilling action, more ridiculous superheroes being walloped.
The second half gives us some well-deserved backstory for some of The Boys - MM, Frenchie and The Female all get their origin story. These are at time sobering (MM), and at other times just flat out hilarious (Frenchie), but all serve to put some meat on the bones of these unusual characters.
  
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man (2008)
2008 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Robert Downey jr. (0 more)
Not a lot (0 more)
Where it all began
Where the MCU began and it all just exploded from here. Great origin story and Downey jr. set the tone for the next 10 years with his performance. Good action and the design and set up of the suit is brilliant. Oh and dont forget the little extra scenes that became the norm for all MCU movies during and after the end credits
  
Before Watchmen:  The Comedian
Before Watchmen: The Comedian
Brian Azzarello | 2013 | Comics & Graphic Novels
7
5.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Some interesting historical links
The Comedian's part of the pre-Watchmen series continues the link to actual historical events and people. Edward Blake, the Comedian, is a good friend of the Kennedy brothers and regularly helps them out in various ways. Blake is then sent to Vietnam, initially as a boost to morale for the US troops, but he soon embarks on a trademark campaign of terror across the jungle.
The overall story wasn't to my tastes, but some excellent artwork and nice historical links. Plus something of an origin story for his trademark smiley face logo.
  
Captain Marvel (2019)
Captain Marvel (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure
Pretty good origin story
I am fairly new to the Marvel world knowing more via the movies than the comics compared to diehard fans. While I only know the basics about Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel, this movie was a good origin story for me to learn more. Or at least the more the MCU wants us to know.

Carol has no memories of her past, only flashes when she goes to the supreme intelligence. The woman she sees was apparently important to her but she can't remember why. When she gets kidnapped by Skrulls and her memories cut into she sets out to find out where she came from.

Finding herself on Earth she meets up with Nick Fury and together they try to find out about her past. Fighting off Skrull invaders has Carol and Nick on the run along with Goose the cat. Carol comes to realize all she has been told about her past has been a lie manipulated by the Kree. She then takes on the role her mentor Mar-vell had of protecting the Skrulls.

She leave Nick Fury and Earth with a way to contact her in the future if needed. And Nick comes up with the Avengers initiative based on her call name of "Avenger".

It was a typical origin story, though knowing or thinking she was going to be an important part of the Avenger storyline had me looking for more action I guess. Will have to wait to see how she figures into the MCU future phases and Endgame.
  
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Russ Troutt (291 KP) rated The Many Saints of Newark (2021) in Movies

Oct 4, 2021 (Updated Oct 4, 2021)  
The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
2021 | Crime, Drama
2
6.0 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The Many Saints of Newark is the many scenes of pointlessness. Easily the biggest movie letdown of the year for me so far. Let's start with letting you know this is not an origin story of Tony Soprano, although it was marketed as such. I love that they casted James Gandolfini's son in the role of young Tony, but his role was small and you could remove him from the movie altogether and it wouldn't have changed anything about the movie. Actually, you could remove just about any character in this movie and it wouldn't matter because there was no real story happening!

It felt like someone stumbled upon a shitty script that partly involved a mafia family and they were like, let's slap Soprano's characters names on these characters and call it a origin story for The Soprano's. The movie is all over the place with a bunch of pointless scenes edited together with characters that aren't developed that ultimately lead nowhere of importance because, as mentioned above, there's no real story here. So sad to see such a great cast wasted on this movie. And sadly, it's so bad it probably ruins the chance of a follow-up movie that could be what this movie should've been. Big pinky finger down for me for The Many Saints of Newark.
  
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure
Marvel does Mystical Martial Arts
Marvel (the film branch) is mainly known for its superhero movies.

We've had Origin stories (upon origin story upon origins story ...)

We've had 'fish out of water' comedies (see: Thor)

We've had outright sci-fi/sci-fantasy (see: Guardians of the Galaxy)

We've had political thrillers (see: Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

We've had team-up (see: The Avengers)

We've had crime capers (See: Ant-man)

Up until now, we've had no Martial Arts movies (sorry, Netflix's 'Iron Fist': you don't count as a movie).

We've also had no movies with a mainly Asian cast. Until now.

This also brings back the 10 Rings organisation (first name-dropped all the way back in 2008's 'Iron Man'), with the plot outline of the movie actually quite different than what I expected - lots of Martial Arts sequences (the fight on the bamboo scaffolding is a high-light), the usual Marvel musings on family, and one or two character inclusions that I wasn't expecting (but really should have been) ...
  
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
2018 | Action, Sci-Fi
Pretty much everything! (0 more)
(Spoiler) Didn’t explain why Chewie didn’t go with his tribe after the spice mines (0 more)
Another side story winner!
Contains spoilers, click to show
Wow. Just wow. I was so worried for this being bad after so many reviews saying it was a let down but how wrong they were.

A lot of nods to other characters and story arcs as well as a string link to Star Wars Rebels (the animated series) of which I also loved.

It was good to see how the Millennium Falcon got its iconic shape and how it was won.

Oh and of course the origin of the 12 parsecs run!

Go watch it now!!