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Cosmic Ghost Rider
8.0
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Book
a marvel comic set in the distant future ripped right from the pages of thanos rising comes a...
comics book
Witchblade (2000)
6.0
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Movie
Witchblade is a made-for-television live-action superhero film adapted from the cult comic book by...
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Blade (1998) in Movies
Jan 15, 2020
Blade is undeniably a product of it's time. It's the late 90s, everyone loves leather and shades, everyone loves Wesley Snipes, everyone loves dumb one liners, so the character of Blade is ripe for adaption.
But the importance of this gory action flick should absolutely not be understated. Not only was it the first proper big (ish) budget Marvel film, but it's pre dates Black Panther as the first superhero film with a black lead, and it pre dates The Punisher as the first R-rated Marvel blockbuster.
But in a pre X-Men world, comic book movies weren't a big deal at this point. I actually remember me and my friends sneakily renting and watching it (we were 10 at the time...) and none of them even knowing that Blade was even a comic book!
Here we are all these years later and the Blade trilogy is now remembered fondly (well, at least the first two are!)
Wesley Snipes is of course the star of this particular vehicle, and here, he is the most Wesley Snipes he's ever been. The cheesy one liners still come off well, and lend a nice comedic edge to the buckets of blood on display. The charm that he brings to the Blade character is the main reason why it's been hard to imagine anyone else in the role for so long (although I am here all day long for Mahershala Ali)
The other big character throughout the trilogy is Whistler, played by Kris Kristofferson, just generally being old, grumpy and badass, and is honestly the best character in the whole thing (here's hoping the MCU introduce a Whistler series on Disney+...)
Stephen Dorff plays Deacon Frost, the films villain, and he's really not much more than a generic superhero bad guy (the first of many).
The choreography and the fight scenes are pretty great, and the willingness to go hard R is what set Blade apart before comic book movies became a thing. It's sooooo bloody in parts, that it verges heavily into horror territory.
The CGI effects are utterly horrible by todays standards, but it's not used nearly enough to discredit the film too much.
Blade is a decent enough adaption of the cult Marvel series, and is a fun, gory blockbuster, but as mentioned, it's an important step in comic book cinema. Long live Blade!
But the importance of this gory action flick should absolutely not be understated. Not only was it the first proper big (ish) budget Marvel film, but it's pre dates Black Panther as the first superhero film with a black lead, and it pre dates The Punisher as the first R-rated Marvel blockbuster.
But in a pre X-Men world, comic book movies weren't a big deal at this point. I actually remember me and my friends sneakily renting and watching it (we were 10 at the time...) and none of them even knowing that Blade was even a comic book!
Here we are all these years later and the Blade trilogy is now remembered fondly (well, at least the first two are!)
Wesley Snipes is of course the star of this particular vehicle, and here, he is the most Wesley Snipes he's ever been. The cheesy one liners still come off well, and lend a nice comedic edge to the buckets of blood on display. The charm that he brings to the Blade character is the main reason why it's been hard to imagine anyone else in the role for so long (although I am here all day long for Mahershala Ali)
The other big character throughout the trilogy is Whistler, played by Kris Kristofferson, just generally being old, grumpy and badass, and is honestly the best character in the whole thing (here's hoping the MCU introduce a Whistler series on Disney+...)
Stephen Dorff plays Deacon Frost, the films villain, and he's really not much more than a generic superhero bad guy (the first of many).
The choreography and the fight scenes are pretty great, and the willingness to go hard R is what set Blade apart before comic book movies became a thing. It's sooooo bloody in parts, that it verges heavily into horror territory.
The CGI effects are utterly horrible by todays standards, but it's not used nearly enough to discredit the film too much.
Blade is a decent enough adaption of the cult Marvel series, and is a fun, gory blockbuster, but as mentioned, it's an important step in comic book cinema. Long live Blade!
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Bloodshot (2020) in Movies
Jan 9, 2021
Contains spoilers, click to show
Ok, I'll start by saying that this is one of those films that needs two viewings, not that the second viewing adds anything to it but you do get to appreciate what the film is trying to do. Let me explain.
First off Bloodshot is action/comic book movie of two half's. In the first half we half (well maybe first third) we have Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel) completing his mission, celebrating, getting captured and loosing his wife before being resurrected as Bloodshot and going out on a mission of revenge. All of this has an increasingly comic book feel to it, and so it should, the film is based on one after all. However some scenes feel too comic and the "villain", Martin Axe, feels too over the top, especially when he seems to have had a personality swap the next time we see him. There is a reason for of this reviled by the films mid way plot twist but, on the first watch through the "Psycho Killer" scene distracted me from some of the film. Then we get a plot twist that studio Trigger* would be proud of. I'm sure anyone who has read the original source material knew what was going to happen, but that has always been one of the problems, keeping the mystery for new fans but giving the comic book fans what they want.
As we get to the second half of the film it losses some of t e over the top-ness, or at least substitutes it for a different kind of over the top and does bring you back into the plot of 'Augmented man fights other augmented men' which does give us a good over the top action film.
If you do give Bloodshot a second watch then you do notice some clever little bits, like the entire plot being told to us near the beginning of the film. Although I'm still not sure why the London police car has a machine gun in the back of it.
Over all Bloodshot is a o.k. - Good action film but for no brained augmented human action films I think ' Hobbs and Shaw' did it better, Bloodshot even shares Eiza Gonzales with them.
*Responsible for the anime's Kill la Kill and Gurren Lagann both of which have mid season twists that send the series in different directions.
First off Bloodshot is action/comic book movie of two half's. In the first half we half (well maybe first third) we have Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel) completing his mission, celebrating, getting captured and loosing his wife before being resurrected as Bloodshot and going out on a mission of revenge. All of this has an increasingly comic book feel to it, and so it should, the film is based on one after all. However some scenes feel too comic and the "villain", Martin Axe, feels too over the top, especially when he seems to have had a personality swap the next time we see him. There is a reason for of this reviled by the films mid way plot twist but, on the first watch through the "Psycho Killer" scene distracted me from some of the film. Then we get a plot twist that studio Trigger* would be proud of. I'm sure anyone who has read the original source material knew what was going to happen, but that has always been one of the problems, keeping the mystery for new fans but giving the comic book fans what they want.
As we get to the second half of the film it losses some of t e over the top-ness, or at least substitutes it for a different kind of over the top and does bring you back into the plot of 'Augmented man fights other augmented men' which does give us a good over the top action film.
If you do give Bloodshot a second watch then you do notice some clever little bits, like the entire plot being told to us near the beginning of the film. Although I'm still not sure why the London police car has a machine gun in the back of it.
Over all Bloodshot is a o.k. - Good action film but for no brained augmented human action films I think ' Hobbs and Shaw' did it better, Bloodshot even shares Eiza Gonzales with them.
*Responsible for the anime's Kill la Kill and Gurren Lagann both of which have mid season twists that send the series in different directions.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love in Books
Jun 4, 2019
The title of this book had me wary from the start, but I'd heard good things about it, and the author is a woman, so I hoped it wouldn't be what it sounded like. Because seriously. We don't need more books about angsty white guys complaining about the girl they love not liking them back.
Unfortunately that's exactly what I got in this book.
First, the good points. The author has a very immersive writing style, and she captured the feeling of a Comic Con VERY impressively. I haven't been to NYCC, but I've been to other nerdy cons, and the hectic pace of panels, and getting tickets, and standing in lines, but nerding out over ALL THE GEEKY STUFF - yeah, that was perfectly written. I really enjoyed that. The other characters - Casey and Felicia, specifically, and Samira, and the rest of Roxy and Graham's families - those were also well done. The brief scene with Roxy's Iranian family was especially nice, which is to be expected from an Iranian-American author!
But Graham irritated me. Roxy wasn't well explored because we only saw things from Graham's point of view, and her love interest Devin's appeal wasn't shown very well at ALL.
I spent most of the book wanting to yell at Graham to just TALK TO HER ALREADY. He's all miffed that his plans aren't going right and the obnoxious Brit is stealing his girl but he won't. Just. TALK. To her.
I think the only reason I actually finished the book was because it was short. And for the description of Comic Con, that was actually really good. But the main character was just frustrating. I should have spent this time on another book.You can find all my reviews and more at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Unfortunately that's exactly what I got in this book.
First, the good points. The author has a very immersive writing style, and she captured the feeling of a Comic Con VERY impressively. I haven't been to NYCC, but I've been to other nerdy cons, and the hectic pace of panels, and getting tickets, and standing in lines, but nerding out over ALL THE GEEKY STUFF - yeah, that was perfectly written. I really enjoyed that. The other characters - Casey and Felicia, specifically, and Samira, and the rest of Roxy and Graham's families - those were also well done. The brief scene with Roxy's Iranian family was especially nice, which is to be expected from an Iranian-American author!
But Graham irritated me. Roxy wasn't well explored because we only saw things from Graham's point of view, and her love interest Devin's appeal wasn't shown very well at ALL.
I spent most of the book wanting to yell at Graham to just TALK TO HER ALREADY. He's all miffed that his plans aren't going right and the obnoxious Brit is stealing his girl but he won't. Just. TALK. To her.
I think the only reason I actually finished the book was because it was short. And for the description of Comic Con, that was actually really good. But the main character was just frustrating. I should have spent this time on another book.You can find all my reviews and more at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Shakes and Fidget
Games and Entertainment
App
Shakes and Fidget is a fun fantasy RPG satire and an award-winning role-playing game at the same...
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated X-Men (2000) in Movies
Jun 7, 2019 (Updated Jun 8, 2019)
The first X-Men has not aged particularly well, but it's important to recognise it's impact on the movie landscape, especially for comic book films.
Although there has been comic book movies before, X-Men paved the way for everything that has come since, the good and the awful!
At the time it was almost magical, seeing characters I had grown up with flying about the screen (I was 12 when it was released), and the casting was inspired for the most part - Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman and Anna Paquin in particular.
It also started the trend of lacing the theatrics and seriousness with subtle humour thought, and the balance here is pretty good.
Even now, the CGI isn't terrible (certainly better than the later released Origins)
By the same merit, the costumes look goofy these days, some of the scripting is very 2000s, and why on Earth did they cast Tyler Mane as a weirdly mute Sabretooth will always be beyond me.
All in all, there are much better X-Men films out there, and there are a lot worse, and I'll always have a soft spot for it!
Although there has been comic book movies before, X-Men paved the way for everything that has come since, the good and the awful!
At the time it was almost magical, seeing characters I had grown up with flying about the screen (I was 12 when it was released), and the casting was inspired for the most part - Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman and Anna Paquin in particular.
It also started the trend of lacing the theatrics and seriousness with subtle humour thought, and the balance here is pretty good.
Even now, the CGI isn't terrible (certainly better than the later released Origins)
By the same merit, the costumes look goofy these days, some of the scripting is very 2000s, and why on Earth did they cast Tyler Mane as a weirdly mute Sabretooth will always be beyond me.
All in all, there are much better X-Men films out there, and there are a lot worse, and I'll always have a soft spot for it!
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated Big Hero 6, Vol. 1 in Books
Jun 18, 2018
<a href="https://awindowintobooks.wordpress.com">Full Review</a>
I received Disney's Big Hero 6, vol. 1 from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review of the book. I am a person who loved all things Disney. When I entered to review this book I was not expecting it to be a comic book. Comic books are not something I enjoy typically. This book is about a boy named Hiro who is a genius and dreams of being an inventor like his older brother. The book takes an unexpected turn when Hiro's old brother vanishes while saving his life. Hiro was devastated. Hiro had every right to sulk in his grief and be lonely and blame himself for his brothers disappearance, but instead he develops a friendship with his brother's last invention; a health-care companion robot named Baymax. The robot was exactly what Hiro needed to get back up on his feet. Baymax and Hiro go on many adventures which helps Hiro to not be as lonely. The book follows the plot of the movie closely but the author has his own twist to it.
I received Disney's Big Hero 6, vol. 1 from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review of the book. I am a person who loved all things Disney. When I entered to review this book I was not expecting it to be a comic book. Comic books are not something I enjoy typically. This book is about a boy named Hiro who is a genius and dreams of being an inventor like his older brother. The book takes an unexpected turn when Hiro's old brother vanishes while saving his life. Hiro was devastated. Hiro had every right to sulk in his grief and be lonely and blame himself for his brothers disappearance, but instead he develops a friendship with his brother's last invention; a health-care companion robot named Baymax. The robot was exactly what Hiro needed to get back up on his feet. Baymax and Hiro go on many adventures which helps Hiro to not be as lonely. The book follows the plot of the movie closely but the author has his own twist to it.
David McK (3372 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.
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.