Category Archives: Reviews

Green Lantern The Last Super Hero Review

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The Green Lantern chapter books have been pretty solid. Maybe not as good as some of the Superman ones, but still above the Batman books. This one is in the middle for me. It’s definitely under the Blue Lanterns book.

Despite how the cover may appear, this book has a lot less action than the previous one. The book starts out with Hal Jordan heading off to finally go to Oa, but things keep sidetracking him. It seems that everyone needs help, but Hal is caught unaware when his power ring won’t defend him from yellow attacks. The GL members explain that yellow is the color of fear, which is why Jordan couldn’t stop it. Jordan quickly blows up a yellow construct and shows them that you must overcome fear. (Of course, he wasn’t scared the first time, so it should have worked back then….)

Hal Jordan is a pretty solid main character and he shows that you can never give up. He’s always been one of my favorite DC characters and it’s easy to see why. Sinestro is all right, but while he talks tough, he doesn’t help too much against the big threats. Besides Jordan and Sinestro. none of the other characters really get a role. The enemies were decently tough, but they were pretty one shotish.

This GL book was about average I’d say. It was pretty entertaining, but it felt shorter than usual and I missed the fight scenes. Hal barely had to use his constructs at all. I do recommend this book to all DC fans, or to people that like adventure, but you may want to check out his other books first. Just be warned, Kilowog doesn’t get to appear in an epic fashion…or in any way at all. Sometimes, the cover may attempt to trick you. I could see myself reading this book again someday.

Overall 7/10

Future Foundation Volume 2 Review

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The FF series started on a pretty high note with volume 1, but this volume takes it to a whole new level! The stakes have definitely risen and the villain’s are all making their moves. The ending is pretty ambitious and makes you wonder about the other ongoing Marvel series.

Suffice to say, the Fantastic Four/Future Foundation seem to be a little out of their league. They round up some tough villains and head off to stop the evil Reed Richards and also make sure that the Inhumans don’t do something that they’ll regret. Black Bolt is back and he’s a very changed man. He’s ready to stop his enemies with any means necessary and the Inhumans never were total “Heroes” now were they? The Kree is also readying their forces and they are prepared to destroy Earth.

Earth is a pretty big threat so I can see why many villains would want to destroy it. Without Earth, over 80% of the notable heroes are gone and the Marvel Universe would be defenseless. The comic is mostly a large battle between the Inhumans and the High Evolution’s men. Not to mention that the Reed Richards are also here to shake things up. The fight is definitely cool to watch and having a huge climax is always a must.

The heroes quickly realize that they may be out of their depth in this round. Reed Richards, Spiderman, and Reed’s father, head into the portal. It will take them where they need to be. Spiderman’s was a little disappointing, but he does (Help to) think of a good plan. Mr Fantastic decides that the FF may need help for once, so they call in _______. I can’t spoil the best part of the comic for you guys! Needless to say, this help is definitely going to pay off big time.

Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman were pretty solid. Sue is just waiting for her chance to take the villains down and Mr Fantastic has thought of the ultimate plan of action. The Thing wasn’t a great character in this batch. Not only did he leave his friends for a while, but he pretty much embarrasses himself in the meeting. Dr Doom was also pretty good and he did a lot of damage against overwhelming odds. Unfortunately, he went up against the smartest character in Marvel.

The Inhumans were pretty uninteresting. I’ve never cared for the team and they’re basically a watered down “Xmen” group. (How they fended off the Shiar, I’ll never know!) All of the villains that the FF hired (Aside from Dr Doom) weren’t that great either. When the chips are down, I wouldn’t count on them! The Supreme Intelligence gets smarter by the second and he may have finally created the perfect plan. With Ronan by his side, they make for a pretty solid team.

Nathaniel Richards is all right, but I definitely wouldn’t call him smarter than Reed. He’s decently tough and I’m hoping that we get to see him in action soon. We also can’t forget about Annihilus’ subplot. He’s also getting ready to make his final move.

No matter how you slice it, things look like they’re coming to the end. The only boring part of the comic would be the subplot about the kids. They’re trying to show us how smart the kids are, but I’m hoping for some action next time. Perhaps they will get to help in the future. Meanwhile, the rest of the non-stop action and explosions was pretty epic! The series seems to be one of Marvel’s best.

Overall 8/10

Pacific Rim Review

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Pacific Rim is a film that jumped into theaters with a very risky premise. Robots fighting Kaiju is pretty out there and the general audience might not be able to sympathize with our interest in the film. The film also got very little marketing in theaters and it was very unlikely that you would see a trailer for the film. I went to the theaters quite a few times this year, (Not to mention that I’ll be checking out Thor and Wolverine soon) and while you would see the trailer for At World’s End, and World War Z, Pacific Rim was nowhere to be found. I only saw it once, (if at all) which is pretty disappointing.

The film starts with the main character explaining to us that the Kaiju have started to come to earth through an rift between dimensions, that was located deep beneath the Pacific. (Old school Kaiju fans may be skeptical since they usually come from underground or space, but it can be good to have a new take on that) The first Kaiju to make it through, manages to cause a lot of destruction over multiple cities before he was taken down. (By bullets and planes, but don’t laugh! Remember King Kong?) The rift seems to get bigger with each Kaiju attack and the frequency of the attacks becomes more and more common. (For example, it could have started as 1 Kaiju a year. Then 1 a week, 1 an hour, etc) The Kaiju have levels that let you know how dangerous they are. Level 5 Kaiju are the most dangerous and Level 1 Kaiju should be stopped pretty easily. The humans built Jaegers to combat the threat. They were doing some damage for a while. Now, the Kaiju are stronger and the attacks are more frequent. The Government, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to cancel the mecha project and just put a wall to stop the Kaiju from hurting everyone…..it’s an intriguing idea and I’d love to know which country thought of it. Either way, one Kaiju attack is enough to shatter it. They call in Becket to pilot the new and improved Gypsy Danger to end the Kaiju wars!

The main character is Mr. Becket and he’s a hardened veteran from the good old days. He has experience inside of Gypsy Danger and he’s one of the only humans to have ever piloted a mecha on his own. (Albeit for a few seconds) Only one other human has ever accomplished such a feat, but the film doesn’t let you know the (Obvious) plot twist until we are near the end. Becket is a pretty good main character and while he’s not quick to throw a punch, he has his limits. Nobody will be able to mess with him for long.

Stacker is the commanding officer of the army. (Don’t watch the trailer!) After tragic happenings, he can never put on the armor and go into a mecha again! (Don’t watch the trailer!) You really sympathize with him, since not being in a mech automatically takes you out of the main cast. He gives a lot of orders, but I never cared for the character. The end is his “Man Up” moment, but I wasn’t impressed. He wasn’t a bad character, I just would have preferred if he had made the final decision a bit earlier in the film. It would have had more impact.

Mako is another strong pilot for the Jaeger program. She was never allowed to actually get into one, even though her virtual scores were pretty solid. Why would they do such a thing!? They don’t tell us the reason for a while, but at least she still gets a decently big role. She was an all right character, but the fact that she nearly jeopardized Earth when she stepped into a Jaeger was a bit disappointing.

Meanwhile, Newton gets the subplot where he joins minds with a Kaiju. It’s a bold move, but probably not the right kind and it leads to some trouble. The subplot was probably to keep the film light, but I wouldn’t have minded some extra Kaiju scenes instead. Still, he could have been worse and he’s almost as good as Hermann. Hermann has a lot of calculations and prefers to use math to save the day. He’s pretty smart, but he’s not as used to mind fusing as Newton. Both characters were essentially filler, but at least they weren’t bad filler characters. Chau is one of the human villains, but he was pretty unlikable. His final scene was fitting…unless there is a post credits scene! (hint hint)

Gypsy Danger was easily the best Jaeger in the film. He had a cool energy blaster and let’s not forget about his Unibeam. He definitely means business and has a really cool design. Just about all of the Jaegers looked pretty cool, but none can come close to this guy. Second place is pretty tricky, but that would go to Cherno Alpha. It’s good to see a Mark 1 mecha fighting alongside Mark 5’s and holding his own. He did pretty good against the Kaiju.

I guess that brings us into the realm of the Kaiju! There are plenty of cool Kaiju in the film, but I’ll just name some of the coolest ones. Let’s start with the Trespasser. The film plays him out to be pretty weak since the army defeats him. (What they don’t mention, is that it took a Nuclear Attack to beat him) He has a pretty good design and you will all remember him from the trailers. He was the first of many!

The next Kaiju I’ll talk about is Raiju. I didn’t really like Raiju and it’s because of the way he lost. Who dives into a sword? (I nearly took a step back when that happened, but I caught myself in time.) It reminded me of Anguirus’s infamous scene in Vs Gigan. Arguably this was even worse!

Time for Knifehead! His design is definitely impressive and he dealt a lot of damage. His head makes for a good dagger and he can shred through metal as if it weren’t even there. Knifehead is only a level III Kaiju, but that’s more than enough to deal some hurt. Most of the Jaegers can’t really keep up with him for long and he’s definitely up there as one of the coolest Kaiju.

Let’s not forget about Leatherback! He has a very powerful EMP which can disable the electricity in a very wide radius. Because of this, just about every Jaeger is useless against him. His raw power is immense and he seems to be one of the physically strongest Kaiju in the film. The EMP scene is still one of the best in the film, because it was pretty unexpected.

We also have Otachi, one of the stronger level IV Kaiju. She was definitely a pretty serious threat and it was a very cool moment where she spread out her wings. Gypsy Danger definitely took a lot of damage in that fight and it was nearly the end. One hit from her acid attack and the opposing Jaeger will start melting. Otachi has been compared to Rodan in the past and for good reason. They’re both pretty cool Kaiju who can fly. Not to mention that winged type Kaiju are pretty rare.

As Godzilla is King of the Monsters, Slattern seems to be King of the known Kaiju. He’s the first level 5 that we have seen, although I’m sure that there are plenty more down below. He’s pretty big, but he’s barely stronger than a level 4. Gypsy Danger took him on without much effort, but I guess that’s the risk of being a Kaiju. No matter how strong you are, your size can be a double edged sword. I thought Slattern was pretty under powered in the film, but maybe they had to rush the ending a little.

One thing that I didn’t like in this film, was the portrayal of the Kaiju’s intelligence. The aliens seem to be sending them out at their leisure and learning from their mistakes. Unfortunately, the Kaiju don’t seem to be very bright. (Like running into the sword!) Mostly, the Kaiju seem to try and strike randomly at the Jaegers, without a real plan. If they had fought carefully, they would have obliterated the Jaegers with ease.

Pacific Rim was definitely a solid film. It avoided the unnecessary romance scenes that most films end with. Becket and Mako stay as friends/co-pilots, and the music score was pretty good. (Godzilla fans should notice a certain music!) Pacific Rim is one film that you need to see in theaters to get the full experience. These Kaiju battles need to be watched in their full glory. Now that America has created a solid Kaiju film, this is only the beginning! Next year, their true test arises in the form of Godzilla. I highly recommend checking this film out and all audiences can appreciate it. Mecha fans, Kaiju fans, and Summer Blockbuster fans will all love it.

Overall 7/10

Batman Earth One Review

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Batman has had his origin story told many different times over the years. His Year One comic is one of the most famous retellings, but who can forget the original one that came out decades ago? Earth One gives the origin another shot, but it fails to capture the heart that we saw in the original or in the DCAU.

The comic starts with Thomas Wayne preparing to become mayor. It isn’t official yet, but the stats indicate that he will definitely win. Naturally, he decides to party, but he knows that there could be some danger. He’d been receiving threats and he’s not sure who they’re from. He quickly hires Alfred to come and save the day once more. Unfortunately, Wayne decides not to put him on duty until he goes to watch a film….

Years later, Bruce Wayne is now grown up and he wants to strike fear into the hearts of many. He wants to change the world and avenge his parents. Along the way he’ll also make the city a better place and end (Lower) the vast amounts of crime once and for all. The side plot involves Harvey Bullock who has just joined the police force. Commissioner Gordon has lost the will to fight, so it’s all up to Bullock now. Bullock quickly learns that Gotham can be a tricky place, but he can hold his own and decides that he will stop all of the corrupt villains.

Batman was a solid protagonist, even if he did make some rookie mistakes. He can definitely take a shot and he won’t go down easily. I didn’t like him before the time skip, but as an adult, he’s a good character. Alfred is a pretty good character as well. He reminded me of his incarnation in Beware The Batman. He can actually fight, which is always a good thing.

Harvey Bullock is a pretty brave cop and this is one of the few comics that explores that. Usually he isn’t portrayed in a very positive light, but that changed here. He’s one of the only people in Gotham who is willing to fight the corrupt villains of Gotham. He’s also a pretty good street brawler and he had a pretty successful show. Commissioner Gordon isn’t the greatest character as he falls for the hostage situation. He should have just called in Superman..but I’ll go into that a bit more in a second.

The Penguin is a pretty laughable villain for the most part. He’s a villain who masquerades as a noble business owner so it’s hard to take him seriously. He actually gets some shots in against Batman, but that wasn’t his skill, but Batman’s error. Penguin hired “The Birthday Boy” to wreck havok on the people of Gotham and kidnap/destroy as many as he could. The Birthday Boy isn’t very tough, but he does give Batman a decent fight. He’s essentially a weaker Bane. The Birthday Boy is one of those characters that is virtually impossible to like and you just wait for him to be defeated so that you can move on.

One thing that I always have against stories in Gotham is that Gotham doesn’t make sense. Gotham is feared because crime runs rampant and the place is so corrupt. Why doesn’t Superman come to save the day? It’s only about a 5 second commute from Metropolis to Gotham and Superman should want to help. There are also many other heroes who should go to Gotham and help out as well. Now, ignoring that (Or being in an alternate world where Batman is the only hero) then it’s more acceptable.

Batman Earth One was a modern take of Batman’s origin, but it was only all right. Batman had to share a lot of his screen time with Bullock and there were no notable villains. The art was pretty off the whole time and reminded me of the Adam West show. The art usually wouldn’t be bad, but it’s a little nerve wrecking to see Adam West in the old suit again. There is a lot of set up for future comics, but since this is essentially a one-shot graphic novel, you’ll just need to look for the next closest thing in the main universe. If you’re a huge Batman fan then I’d recommend this title. Otherwise, while it is an acceptable DC comic, you’d be better off checking out the Batman/Superman series.

Overall 6/10

Cable and X Force Volume 1 Wanted Review

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Cable is a pretty popular character and after his bold move in X Sanction, I was wondering when he would appear again. In this series, Cable gets the spotlight once again. He is getting visions of the future for some reason and he decides to assemble a team to stop the threats before they happen. They won’t be working with the law, so he can’t choose someone who’s well known like Wolverine or Captain America. I doubt they would be his first choice anyway. He picks Forge, Domino, Dr Nemesis, and Colossus. (Who I was surprised about. He’s pretty big on following the law after all)

The plot isn’t very deep in this group of comics as it’s more of a case by case plot. When Cable gets a premonition, then the team goes out to stop the threat. He prefers to keep them in the dark about everything, which can annoy some of the members. Hope wants to help them out, but Cable makes sure that she stays out of it, since he doesn’t want her to become a fugitive. The Uncanny Avengers come in to stop them, but they didn’t have enough prep time. Cable finds out that an anti mutant person is going to put something in the food that the company sends out so that everyone will become blob monsters. It may not seem like a big threat, but apparently there would be a lot of collateral damage. The team goes in to stop this before it happens, but things may not go according to plan.

Forge is basically insane in the comic. Something happened to his brain and he decided to fix it. (With help from Cable) After that, he’s all right, but he’s a pretty bland character. Dr Nemesis is there, but he doesn’t get much of a role either. He’s supposed to be the “funny” character I suppose. He’s all right and at least he doesn’t take everything so seriously.

Colossus isn’t a very good character. He’s constantly getting suckered or beaten up and he makes a bold move at the end. Some may call it heroic, but it’s not a very recommended move. He has a very forced one night stand with Domino and it didn’t exactly help his character. (Or Domino’s) Domino was good for the most part, but the ending wrecked her character as well.

I guess that leaves Cable and Hope. Both of them are pretty strong characters and are definitely a lot cooler than the other heroes. Hope wants to help out and with her powers, that would be pretty easy. Unfortunately, Cable leaves her out of the loop for the most part, but I’m sure that she’ll get to appear more in future comics. Cable is still as intense as ever and he’s a pretty good leader. It reminds me of the old days when he was with the X Force. He may not be a complete hero, but he believes that he’s doing everything for the right reasons, which is better than nothing.

On the negative side, the comic was pretty slow paced. It took the whole collection to avert one disaster and it wasn’t a very big one. The cast is pretty uninteresting as well. The art is pretty good, but it did take a pretty big dip during one of the middle comics.

This comic was a decent start to the series. There wasn’t a lot of action, but they are setting things up for future arcs. I’m hoping that they add in some new members and shake some of them out of the lineup. The comic will need better characters if it is to succeed. All in all, I’d recommend this collection. The action can get a bit intense, (In a zombie way) but this is Cable, so what would you expect? Although, I do hope that things get more exciting in the next volume.

Overall 6/10

Transformers Prime Review

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Transformers is a huge franchise and has spawned many films, shows, and games. Most of the animated shows for Transformers have been hand drawn in the past, but Prime still isn’t the first CGI show (Beast Wars) in the franchise. I’m always more of a traditional animation fan myself, but I’m always open to new methods. After TF Animated, I was ready for just about anything!

Transformers Prime is a lot grimmer than the other shows in the franchise and has a War For Cybertron feel to it. Prime modernized the designs for a lot of the characters and completely switched Soundwave’s. This show actually managed to make it past the dreaded “2 Season curse” and ended with three seasons. A movie is coming out soon to finish up the franchise, so let’s take a look at the series as a whole.

Season 1’s plot is what you would expect from the franchise. The Autobots are badly outnumbered and outgunned. The Decepticons, (Lead by Megatron of course) have amassed a large army and they are ready to conquer Earth. The heroes never seem to have a chance for the 1st season and while they can hold their own, they couldn’t defeat all of the Decepticons in a straight out battle. Luckily, the Autbots aren’t alone since Agent Fowler, Jack, Miko, and Ralph are here to provide backup support. They may be mere mortals, but they have seen their share of action. (Basically, they are here so that we can have the generic human characters on the team) The climax involves the Mighty Unicron, (Who is a lot smaller than his G1 counterpart) who is pretty unimpressive. Prime and Megatron can both take on his avatars when they need too.

The best part of Season 1 was the final battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron. The music was pretty epic and it was a long battle. It was basically the whole episode, which is rare for many (non anime) shows. Even by the end of season 3, this ranks as my favorite battle. Another solid episode was when Ratchet injected himself with Synthetic Energon and decided to storm the Decepticon’s base. It was good to see Ratchet actually fight and it shows that he does have some latent fighting ability.

Season 2 is the start of the Sword battles and both teams struggle to to collect the ancient relics. They manage to obtain a lot of useful items, like the Battle Armor and a device that lets you phase through walls. They also obtained the forge that only a Prime can wield. With it, the Autobots build the Star Saber, while Megatron (Who isn’t a Prime, but obtains a Prime hand) builds the Dark Star Saber. The Autobots get some new firepower when Smokescreen joins the ranks, but the Decepticons match the new addition with Dreadwing. (Who could defeat Smokescreen, meaning that the gap actually got wider) Season 2 was definitely more exciting than the first season, (Barring the final episodes of Season 1) but watching them try to get the relics can get old. Starscream isn’t with the Decepticons for the most part and is a loner for a while. Things don’t really work out for him. M.E.C.H. is also around and they build their own robot so that they can finally defeat the dreaded Autobots/Decepticons. The final episode of the season was pretty epic and ends the season on a good note. The Decepticons make things even tougher for the heroes and manage to deal a lot of damage. Not to mention that the Decepticons get two new warriors to add to their ranks.

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Season 3 feels like the final season of the show from the beginning. The Autobots are in hiding and one of their own appears to be reaching the end of his road. The Decepticons have all, but conquered the planet and Earth may be doomed. The Autobots really have no shot, but things get brighter once Ultra Magnus appears. He may be the Autobots’ last hope, but can he fit in? The Decepticons unleash the mighty Predaking and he quickly proves to be a formidable opponent. Optimus Prime undergoes an upgrade and he’s ready for battle. About halfway through the season, things go back to the status quo, as both teams are back to square one. Megatron decides to revive Cybertron so that he can rule the planet, which leads into the climax of the season. There’s a lot of action in the final battle, although a certain Decepticon misses out on actually fighting.

Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots in the show and he’s about what you would expect. He’s always been a solid leader and that doesn’t change in this show. He’s stronger than the other Autobots and he’s the only one who can go up against Megatron in a fair fight. His upgrade in Season 3 is good, although I miss his original look. (I’ll never like Machine Guns) At one point, Prime reverts back to his Orion Pax form, but I’m glad that he didn’t stay that way.

Bumblebee is pretty similar to his movie counterpart and he can’t talk in the show. His voice box was…damaged a long time ago and now he can only make robotic noises. Ralph can understand him for some reason, but it’s one of those things that you just need to take in stride. I can’t say that I’m a fan of Bumblebee, but he’s not a bad character. I just never found him that interesting.

Arcee is vastly different from her G1 counterpart (Well, a little similar to her G1 comic counterpart) and she’s more of a fighter. This is definitely her best incarnation and she’s a quick fighter. She’s managed to take on high ranking Decepticons like Shockwave and Starscream and is a pretty good shot. She’s easily one of the better Autobots on the team and even has a rival in Airachnid. In a fight, I would still go with Arcee, thanks to her speed, but Airachnid is definitely tough.

Ratchet is the team medic and gets a pretty small role for the entire show. He mildly fights in Season 1 when he is injected with the energon and when he helped Prime fight the zombies in one of the earlier episodes. Ratchet is a decent fighter, but he’s not that quick and his attacks are lethal, but very short range. He wasn’t the best character, but he was all right.

Bulkhead is also on the team, but half of the time you can forget that he’s there. He doesn’t really bring much to the table. He’s pretty tough, but Prime is tougher. Bulkhead is not really that useful in combat and while he can fight, I’d probably take Ratchet over him. Wheeljack is a part time member, and he’s pretty tough. While his G1 counterpart may have been more of a thinker, Wheeljack is a close combat fighter. He has twin blades that can deal a lot of damage and he’s always got an explosive up his sleeve. He doesn’t always follow orders which is definitely a plus.

Jack is arguably the lead human and he gets a lot of screentime. I can’t say that I ever became a fan, and his scenes are usually a little wince worthy. His best feat was when he caused a Decepticon to back up in fear. (Or shock) Miko is the head strong one of the group, but she can’t fight as well as most head strong characters. (Ichigo, Yusuke, Ash Ketchum) Mostly, she ends up getting in the way. She does manage to deal some damage when she’s in a ship or in armor, but it’s a little hard to take seriously. Ralph’s pretty smart and he’s able to understand Cybertronian, but I never cared for the character.

Smokescreen joined up with the Autobots later on. He’s less experienced than the other bots, but he tries to make up for it by being an optimist. Unfortunately, he’s not that powerful and usually gets knocked around. Ultra Magnus joins up with the team as well, but he didn’t really impress me. Supposedly he’s pretty tough, but he was getting knocked around by Predaking just like the others.

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I would mention Agent Fowler and Jack’s rival, but they’re mostly irrelevant so let’s talk about the Decepticons. Megatron is their fearless leader and he is pretty untouchable for the series. Only Prime can give him a decent fight for the most part, but Megatron is always a step ahead of him. Predaking is a good match against Megatron, but only until he possesses the Dark Star Saber. Megatron is easily the strongest fighter in the series and isn’t the type to lose in a head to head battle. I’d say that he was the coolest character in the series. This was definitely a solid incarnation of the character.

Starsceam is pretty similar to his G1 counterpart in terms of personality, but his design is pretty bland. He’s basically a generic robot with no defining colors to make him unique. I’d say that he was pretty underpowered for most of the series, but he did temporarily get a speed boost which made him a high tier threat. When he possessed the speed, he was basically unstoppable. Nobody could take him down in a fair fight, but unfortunately, Starscream failed to capitalize on this lucky break.

Soundwave is one of Megatron’s most trusted Decepticons and he tends to get the job done. Soundwave seems to be pretty powerful and never really gets to engage in a serious battle. he has brief skirmishes against Airachnid and Wheeljack, but I would have liked to see the scope of his abilities. After his battle against Wheeljack, he tends to just use his Space Bridges to avoid battles. His character design is pretty intense and I’m hoping that we will get to see him fight at some point in the future.

Shockwave is possibly the smartest Decepticon and he’s pretty strong physically. He’s definitely built for power and one energy blast can deal some massive damage. His eye is a glaring weak spot since he only has one and he makes for a big target. He was a good addition to the Decepticon ranks, but he can be easy to deceive. Knockout and Breakdown were pretty awful Decepticons. Not much more to say about that, but they were the weak links of the team. Knockout was decently tough with a weapon he stole from Soundwave, but he’s definitely someone who should be taken lightly.

Airachnid was a decently cool villain who mainly appeared in the first season. Her webs are deadly since they can paralyze whoever is hit by one of them. She’s also pretty quick and is at home in the forest. She doesn’t get that much screen time, but she proves her skills by taking on Arcee in a good battle. She commands the Insecticons who can be pretty skilled. At their strongest, one of them gave Megatron a pretty good fight. At their weakest, they go down in a single hit, so their durability definitely varies.

Dreadwing joined up with the Decepticons to avenge his brother, but he may not know the full story. He’s pretty powerful and nearly took down Optimus Prime himself. He didn’t appear for very long, but he was a strong fighter. I didn’t care for his voice that much, but the voice is definitely not the most important thing for a character. Predaking was also a pretty cool character whose voice I didn’t care for. Predaking was another character who could match up against Prime and Megatron. As a dragon, he’s pretty tough, but as a Predacon, he’s even stronger. His strength easily exceeds that of Ultra Magnus and Bulkhead and his firepower is pretty high.

Silas is the leader of M.E.C.H and he talks a good game. Unfortunately for him, Autobots/Decepticons are far too powerful for mere mortals. He builds his own robot, but in the end he just isn’t a match. Things get pretty tragic for his character and things don’t go the way that he had planned. Unicron acts very high and mighty, but he wasn’t as epic as his G1 counterpart. Maybe it was the voice or the design, but either way, I wasn’t a huge fan. Maybe I will like him more in the upcoming film.

Transformers Prime was definitely a solid show. The CGI held up quite nicely for the fight scenes and there were a good amount of battles. The show cracked 60 episodes which is pretty impressive. While the show may not be as good as the classics, (G1, Victory) it does defeat some of the others. (Beast Wars, Animated) Transformers Prime is definitely a show that I would recommend watching. It has a nice blend of action and set up. It’s a good way to become a Transformers fan and the soundtrack can be pretty good for the action scenes. If I had to name a negative, it would be that some episodes didn’t really have much in the way of stakes. (Scraplets and random Decepticons) Their was some very mild romance, but it was brief enough that it didn’t hurt the series. The show ended on an epic note and didn’t crash and burn like Cliff Jumper. You really need to watch the series if you like robot battles, or just enjoy a good story.

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Overall 7/10

Red 2 Review

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All right, as you guys may remember from my review of the first film, the film was pretty good and had a nice chunk of action, without getting too dark and generic. The first film had a pretty satisfying ending, so what would the sequel do?

Well, the plot is decent as Frank and his partner Marvin are framed because someone leaked an article claiming that they know about “Nightshade”. Frank wants to stay retired, but things get personal when someone makes an attempt on Marvin’s life. With Sarah goading him on the whole time, Frank finally accepts that it is time to return to the field. Unfortunately for them, “Nightshade” is pretty important, so every big organization on the planet is after them. M16, CIA, etc. There are a lot more villains that are out to destroy Frank and his allies this time around.

The soundtrack is pretty solid and you’ll remember the music for a while. The brief Death Metal music was interesting and the main theme that plays whenever they switch countries is pretty cool. The overall atmosphere of the film is still pretty light as it was in the first film.

Red 2 contains a lot of explosions and action throughout the first film, but Frank himself, doesn’t get to take up most of the screentime. This time he has to share a lot of it with other fighters such as Han. Marvin’s still pretty smart and seems to be the most capable agent in the field.

Frank himself is about the same as he was in the first film, but not quite as good. He’s still pretty tough in a fight, but he’s constantly worrying about Sarah and actually pulls a rookie (Or should I say, James Bond) mistake as he falls for someone’s charms and that person drugs him. He looked pretty bad for a while, but during the climax he’s back to the usual. Unfortunately, there are some things that you can’t come back from, and that error is one of them.

Marvin still has a lot of plans up his sleeve and he’s always ready for just about anything. He hasn’t changed much, which is good, but arguably the pressure gets to him towards the end as he makes a crucial phone call. I’d say that he was easily the best character once again, but Han gives him some pretty good competition for that title. Han was a solid addition to the cast and he’s pretty skilled. I dare say that he could possibly defeat Frank, but it would be close. He’ll definitely remind you of Storm Shadow while he’s fighting and his scenes are definitely cool. (Him popping out of nowhere with the machine gun is definitely one of the best scenes in the film)

Sarah is much braver than in the first film and she’s much more enthusiastic than Frank is about the situation. She enjoys being an agent now, but she suffers from her competition against Katya. She ends up using pretty unheroic methods to get the mission done and I don’t believe that “The End justifies the means” logic. She is still a better character than Katya, but I preferred her depiction in the first film.

Katya is the agent from Russia. She’s pretty high ranked and can get bailed out of jails within an hour. Her fighting skills don’t seem to be as good as the main cast’s, but she doesn’t get to fight that often. She was a pretty bad character and I can’t take her seriously as a “villain”

Victoria gets a small role in this film. M16 needs her to prove her loyalty by destroying/capturing Frank and his cohorts. The film really tries to show us how great a shot she is, but…she never hits the opponents. In one scene, a really loud death metal song plays as she dramatically takes out her gun. She takes out the opponents….after about a dozen+ shots. She was all right in this film, but not one of the better agents. She’s still better than Ivan, who gets a really small cameo/guest star role. It’s a pretty bad role and won’t help me gain respect for the character.

The final villain of the film is pretty intense and he manages to take on a battalion of soldiers while behind bars and not containing any guns or bullets. It’s pretty intense, but makes you feel bad for the army guys. Sleeping on the job doesn’t pay. The explosion at the end looks pretty cool and was a nice way to end the action scenes.

So, Red 2 is a pretty solid addition to the franchise. I wouldn’t say that it was as good as the first, but it was a good film. It suffered from more romance than the original and less hand to hand fight scenes, but the soundtrack kept it afloat. The car chases were also pretty intense and I think that a sequel would be fun. The ending in this one makes a sequel more likely than the previous film’s.

Overall 6/10

Sym Bionic Titan Review

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Sym Bionic Titan is a pretty intriguing show. It mixes robots and aliens/giant monsters (Remember, this came out Before Pacific Rim!) The animation could be a turn off for some people, but the animation can be good when it wants too. The animation is actually bad on purpose for the designs so that everyone looks really ugly. It helps create the atmosphere and the facial expressions can be pretty funny. The fight scenes can be pretty good as well.

The plot of the series is that 3 beings crashland on earth. Lance, llana, and Octis are the three main characters. Octis is an android, while Lance and llana are both Galalunians who resemble earthlings in just about every way. Their planet was taken over by the Muttradi and they are now in hiding at Earth. llana wants to go back and free her civilization, but Lance and Octis decide that keeping her safe is the top priority. One day they will go back and save the world, but not for a while. The leader of the villains is General Modula. His hat can shoot energy blasts and he’s not an opponent to be taken lightly.

Lance and friends decide to go to school and keep a low profile. This way they can save the world when they need to do so, but they can also hide from the Muttradi. When the three of them fuse, they form Sym Bionic Titan, which is a large energy robot that is pretty powerful. This attracts the attention of the Government and G3. Both groups want Sym Bionic Titan to be defeated since he’s probably evil.

The series definitely changes as it goes on and while it starts out as a happy school parody with action, it turns into more of a drama with the stakes getting higher and higher. The music is pretty solid for the first half, but during the second half the music definitely starts to vanish.

Lance is a pretty solid protagonist and he’s the best character of the series. Not only is he an expert combatant, but he’s also a quick thinker. When they are captured by G3, it all rides on Lance to save the day. He was part of the army so he’s definitely the most experience. He’s good with many weapons and his robot form is pretty tough.

llana is the princess of Galaluna and she never grew up as a fighter. She quickly adapts on earth and can emit barriers as well as shoot lasers in her robot form. She’s more of an optimist than Lance and always tries to become friends with the locals. Being trusting can definitely be deadly with all of the aliens running around, but she’s still a good character. She’s definitely the nicest member of the three.

Octis is an android, but he acts pretty human. Like most androids, he develops human emotions thanks to his travels on earth. He has some pretty impressive super speed and his strength is also pretty formidable. It’s thanks to him that the main characters can form Sym Bionic Titan and if anything were to happen to him, their fighting capabilities would be drastically reduced.

The leader of G3 is known as Solomon and he’s a pretty good character. He’s not afraid to take on the main characters in a fight and he’s pretty athletic. His abilities are at peak human to slightly superhuman. Since his division is in charge of aliens, they have some pretty sophisticated equipment on their side. General Steel is the leader of the Army and he’s a big rival of Solomon’s. They are always getting in each other’s way and General Steel doesn’t trust Solomon. General Steel doesn’t get much of a role until he builds the Hammer! With the Hammer, he can take on powerful opponents and even overpower Lance and llana. His best battle is against the Orga looking monster and it’s a solid fight.

Kimmy and Jason are humans who introduce romance plots for llana and Octis. They definitely weren’t needed for the story and the romance didn’t add anything to the plot. They were basically filler, but no show can totally get rid of it I guess. I was glad that the show didn’t go the obvious route, so Lance and llana ended up staying as friends. Nothing more and nothing less! That’s how the main characters should always end up.

Edwin is a pretty solid character, but he’s not the smartest character on the block. His nickname is meat and it makes you feel bad for him sometimes. llana’s dad is the King, but he doesn’t appear much. He never really gets to fight, but perhaps in a sequel show he would. The main villain also doesn’t get a chance to appear that often, since the show ended before he could really get going.

Sym Bionic Titan is a pretty fun show. There are plenty of giant monsters and creatures that fight the main characters, (The best one being the monster from the final episode) and we even get a humanoid fight during the flashback part of the series. The monster violence can get a bit intense and the first episode with Kimmy was cringeworthy, but for the most part, the show was solid. The best episode involved underground racing and Lance always shows that he’s the best. It’s too bad that the series was cancelled, since things were definitely still solid. Hopefully, the series gets a sequel at some point. I’d definitely recommend the series if you want to see robots and explosions, or kaiju battles, or even if you just wanted to see the government infiltrate the high school to gather intel. This could be the series for you!

Overall 7/10

Oz The Great and Powerful Review

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I’m sure that just about everyone has watched The Wizard of Oz. It’s a living legend that everyone always hails as one of the all time classics. I can’t say that the original was that great (No real action and I’d only give it a 2-2.5/5) but it is definitely a film that I won’t forget. Making a prequel to that movie is pretty ambitious, but was the risk worth it?

Well, the film starts out as Oz is conning people with his magic tricks. He loves his work and people give him a couple of coins. He’s not a great magician and he is quickly discovered to be a fake. He’s a pretty awful protagonist and proceeds to flirt with as many people as he can. Someone tries to beat him up, so Oz makes a break for the balloon and gets in. You’re actually left wishing that they had knocked him out and taken him to jail, but maybe he’ll still get defeated once he’s in the land of Oz.

Once he makes it to Oz, he meets one of the Witches, Theodora. He tricks her into thinking that he’s the magician of legend and eagerly awaits his gold. They travel for a while and he keeps on saving the day by accident. Oz also suckers Finley into becoming his slave for life. Once Oz makes it to the castle, they tell him that he will need to slay Glinda, The Wicked Witch of the South. Oz doesn’t want to do it since the danger is high, but he’ll do anything for gold. He heads on his way and is ready to slay the witch!

Well, Oz is definitely one of the worst main characters in a while. He’s like a junior Captain Kirk or James Bond. He never really gets what’s coming to him and the film tries to portray him a hero by the end. I really hope that nobody fell for this trap. He hasn’t changed at all and will keep on acting the same way, only now he is rich as well. He’s a character that makes you wince whenever he’s on screen.

Glinda, Theodora, and Evanora are the three witches of the film. All of them are played for fools by Oz and it’s a bit embarrassing. They have actual powers, but once Oz summons up a little light and magic, one of them makes a hasty retreat, while the other one flies off into the distance. I guess Oz is a very fearsome individual eh?

The film doesn’t really have much of a soundtrack, but most live action films are lacking one as well. The fight scene at the end was decently good, (Even if the movement was a little fake) but having one fight scene can’t save an entire film. It was a decent film and I’d recommend it if you have always wanted to see a movie about Oz, but it wrecks his character from the original. If you want to see a classic reborn into the modern world, check out Yugioh Bonds Beyond Time!

Overall 4/10

Wolverine and The Xmen Volume 5 Review

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20 years ago, I’m sure that nobody would have wanted Wolverine to be the leader of an Xmen school. He’s better as a loner right? Well, he may be the Principal at the school, but he’s still a bit of a loner as well. For the most part, he’s not with the school until the end, but on his own hunting for the Hellfire Club.

After Broo was defeated in the last issue, Wolverine has decided to track down his assailant, no matter what the cost. Unfortunately, the kids have psychically shielded themselves and can erase their scents thanks to nano machines. In another plot, Beast is talking to several geniuses about how they can help Broo. Reed Richards and Tony Stark offer solutions, but Beast is always one step ahead of them. I think the author may be overestimating his intellect, or underestimating Stark and Richard’s. It was an interesting subplot, but I always wince when they have to resort to asking someone else. Between Stark and Richard’s, they should know just about everything.

In another plot, Angel decides to go and find some mutants. The first one on the list is Shark Girl. Mystique and Silver Samurai 2 randomly show up and decide to fight. Angel has some new abilities so he does pretty well and Shark Girl has the upper hand against Mystique. For once, things are looking good for the heroes. Finally, in another subplot, Shadow Cat is trying to hire a new teacher, but it becomes difficult when Deadpool and Spiderman appear to shake things up.

Later on, the Xmen get mind controlled by a witch and she forces them to perform circus stunts. I have to say that I don’t agree with this at all. Wolverine has plenty of mental blocks in his head and Rachel Summers is an incredibly powerful telepath. There’s no way that the Witch could overpower that. It was definitely sad for the Xmen and they had to wait for the Xkids to come to their rescue.

Meanwhile Frankenstein’s monster is also on the loose. He’s after the last of the Frankenstein lineage, but can he defeat the kid? The kid has his pet robots, but they aren’t very powerful. The kid must team up with one of the Xmen (Oya) to take him down. Will it prove to be too much for them?

Well, a lot happened in this collection and we learned that you should never trust the Circus. Some characters weren’t handled so well like Mystique and Silver Samurai 2. I usually like the new Silver Samurai, but I couldn’t stand him in this one. His character personality seemed pretty weird and he was very weak. Mystique also seemed to lose most of her intellect and started a battle that she shouldn’t have. She usually has a plan to fall back on, but not this time.

Wolverine is decently good for the beginning, but seeing him get brainwashed was pretty sad. I still don’t buy it. Wolverine tries to stay strong and even resists the beer, (With help) but the ending was pretty rushed. The romance with Storm at the end wasn’t really needed and wrecked both characters. What happened to professionalism? Storm also wasn’t that good in this comic.

So who was a good character? Deadpool and Spiderman were pretty epic, but they were guest stars so I guess they wouldn’t really count. Blade also had a (Very out of character) cameo, which was pretty intense. I have to say that Angel may have been the best character. In this comic, he finally set a goal for himself and he’s using his new powers to their full potential. Now, he doesn’t need to just keep dodging until the opponent gets tired, but counter attack and win with raw power.

I still can’t say that I like the Hellfire Club. None of the kids are very interesting and while they all talk really tough, (Get ready for two kids threatening each other, over and over and over..) I can’t take them seriously. Frankenstein’s Monster isn’t a really interesting villain either.

The art in the comic was decently good. This artist is a “splasher” so when someone gets punched, he’ll immediately have little webs of blood on him. I never fully understood the concept, but the art is still pretty solid for the most part. Not the greatest art, but still a bit higher than average.

Overall, this is a pretty good Xmen comic. It may not be extremely high on action, but you’ll at least get references to AVX and past comics. Angel gets a fight and I’m sure that more fights are around the corner. Contrary to what the cover may suggest, Frankenstein’s monster doesn’t do so well against Wolverine. The character cast may not have been my favorite, but you don’t need to enjoy the characters to like the comic right? Thanks to the art and the fast pacing of the story, you’ll find yourself reading through until the end.

Overall 7/10