Jurassic Park Review

Posted on May 16, 2015 by dreager1

Jurassic World is almost upon us and I shall certainly be checking it out. That being said, I’ve never been a huge fan of Jurassic Park. Come at me! Now, I do like the concept behind it and who doesn’t like to see a good T Rex? The main problem is that a film like this one tends to have quite a few animal violence scenes and this film was no exception. I have a bad feeling that Jurassic World will be using this as well so it may go the route of most animal films. That being said, let’s see just how it fared.

John is rich and decides that he wants to open a theme park where people can meet dinosaurs. That would be pretty epic for the whole world, but an accident happens and a member of the staff dies. The only way that he can open the park now is if he can get a pair of signatures from top line professionals to agree that the park is a good idea. That’s where Alan, along with his partner Allie, and Ian step in. These guys are skeptical about the operation and then the power goes out. The dinosaurs are free and they are ready to eat everyone all around the world. Still, they shall have to start with Jurassic Park!

Have you ever been face to face with a T Rex? I haven’t, but I’ve been face to face with my pet dog, Sonic, and I’m sure that it is a similar experience of terror and wonder. Ignoring that this is a film for a second, I don’t think that this park would ever be able to exist. People simply wouldn’t allow it too with all of the various protest groups that are around. Even if Jurassic Park was created, it would “leak” all over the world way before it actually opened. It would be hard to hide them even with an elaborate helicopter ride.

I’m not an outdoors guy so I wouldn’t check out the park, but I’m sure that it would certainly earn quite a bit of money. That was a bit of a detour so let’s go back to talking about the film. Many comparisons can be made to Attack on Titan. Jurassic Park really feels professional. The soundtrack is solid and makes the film feel theatrical. The characters quickly gain a lot of personality and it is a fairly exciting experience. Pretending that the animal violence was not present, I’d say that the film was a blast and a half all the way until the car scene where Alan goes to help the kids. That’s where the film quickly started to go downhill.

It may not come as a surprise to you if you’ve read a lot of my reviews, but I don’t tend to care for “kid” characters. If a character is around 13 or younger, then they’re probably going to be very unlikable. That doesn’t change here as I don’t like either of the two kids who join the adventure. They just slow the main character down and result in a subplot that is fairly boring the whole time. The guy risks all of their lives by clinging to an electrified net and the girl breaks down during their stressful adventure. The sneezing scene with the dinosaur was also very gross and one of the kids threw up at one point.

The film is very messy to the point where I would call it crude humor. You could also just say that the film is being way too realistic. The heroes get muddied and we are very far away from civilization. That doesn’t make for a good mix and it’s the primary reason why I want all films to take place in New York. Now, that’s the kind of backdrop that can make a film more exciting. In the jungle, it’s just not the same. It’s why the film lost a lot of its excitement and replayability once the heroes were all stranded among the trees.

Given the nature of the film, I’m not even going to talk about the plot hax. Just know that there is a lot of it, but you were likely expecting that when you walked into the film. Back to the positives for the film. The dinosaurs certainly look life like and I like the Raptor’s design. They remind me of Yoshi and I’ve always liked the Raptors. Those guys knew when it was time to win and when it was time to hunt. The T Rex is also a classic and it’s hard to picture him losing to a Spinosaurus. This guy was just invincible in this film.

Alan made for a likable main character even if he was a little overly rude to the kids at some points. I’m not a kid guy myself, but you have to at least put on a bluff face or whip out a Nintendo 3DS to save face. Alan knew his stuff though and didn’t change his mind about the park being safe towards the middle like I was expecting. Ellie is his partner and she isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty as she gets to the bottom of the dinosaurs being ill situation. She is also prepared to go into the battlefield when necessary as she proves to be critical in turning the power back on. She’s a strong heroine and made for a good supporting character.

Ian is a solid rival for Alan aside from the flirting at the beginning of the film. He sees the big picture that the other characters do not and he is the first guy to realize that Jurassic Park is not going to work. He’s certainly the cleverest character of the bunch and someone that you can root for. Things don’t end too well for him during his big fight with the T Rex, but it’s hard to picture anyone lasting long against that monster. He’s certainly an improvement over the average “rival” in this kind of film.

John is the rich guy in charge of Jurassic Park and he seems like a likable fellow. He uses his old age to his advantage to try to get the others to not want to vote against him, but the main characters are professionals so they make the tough calls. He got some good ice cream and he really did a good job on the park. While he made the wrong decision in continuing on with his adventure, he did mean well and was a nice person. The only guy that he didn’t get along with was the tech man who ended up betraying the team. It’s too bad that the guy was a villain since he had been one of the more humorous characters. He’s the kind of guy in real life who has nerves of steel. You can imagine him snapping at the President or insulting a would be kidnapper. This guy was always ready to make his case and nothing could make him back off. His end isn’t pleasant and will remind you of how tough the dinosaurs can be.

That being said, the film isn’t overly violent although still more than you would expect from a 90’s blockbuster. The main thing that cripples the film is the large amounts of animal violence. It gets so bad that I couldn’t even come close to saying that this is a good film. We see an animal part get thrown onto the car and several animals are eaten alive. It’s barbaric and reminds me why John is more cruel than he appears to be on the surface. Condoning such behavior is simply not right. Other dinosaurs are also eaten and the film really broke down when it counted. If it was just one or two scenes it may have been okay, but by the end, I knew that the film had been defeated.

You can have the best soundtrack, the most likable characters, and the best graphics that money can buy, but if you step into a big enough hole, the film is going to lose regardless of all the precautions that you could have taken. That’s what happened here and I fear that it will happen in the other three films as well. Hopefully it will be safe, but you shouldn’t count on it. I do fully expect at least one of the other three films to beat this one though, maybe all of them. We’ll see I suppose.

Overall, I’ve seen this film at least twice by now and other clips of it I’ve seen on numerous occasions. The kids really throw you out of the film along with the animal violence. It’s a classic that really has not aged well and the movie just isn’t my type. It certainly wouldn’t pique my interest aside from the fact that I do technically like creature films a lot. It’s like me and alien films, I like aliens even though their films tend to get really low scores. The holes are regrettable and stop me from giving it a good score, but the films are still fairly fun while in the moment. You are just thrown a curve ball every 10-15 minutes. If you are okay with the animal violence and kids getting in the main character’s way, you should enjoy this film. Otherwise, I recommend watching a classic film like the Bee movie if you want a film that is more about animals than humans. Now, I’m ready for the T Rex to continue to conquer all of the foes who stand in his way!

Overall 3/10

Valiant 25th Anniversary Special Review

Posted on May 16, 2015 by dreager1

I’m nearly at the end of my issues from Free Comic Book Day. This is the second to last one and I had left it for the end because it looked like a long one. Little did I know that most of the pages are just celebrating the 25th Anniversary and there is only one real issue here. There’s a two page preview for two others as well, but that’s even shorter than the usual FCBD stories. It’s not a bad issue , but it is certainly less impressive than what I have come to expect from Valiant.

The main story shows us the new Bloodshot. He has finally been cured from his abilities and is experiencing what it is like to live as a human for the first time. This may be tough though as he is now defenseless and still has a lot of enemies. He decides that this is a path that he must walk alone and convinces his friends to leave him for the time being. Will he really be able to stay safe? The premise has certainly been done before with Wolverine and other heroes, but it’ll be intriguing for some to see how Bloodshot handles this.

The problem is that the comic isn’t very interesting and it isn’t a premise that would make me want to read the series. The art is good and the writing appears to be solid enough. Still, the story could not win me over. One two page story had a pair of guys talking about how the main character of X/O Man of War has to die because of the armors that are taking over the universe. It’s a quick discussion and one that could have happened in a panel, but was dragged out by the guy talking about how he forgot why he is fighting in the first place. I’m sure that the arc would be good, but there’s not enough here to really get us interested.

Finally, one preview was for Ninjak and it was spent hyping up a new villain. She destroys people with her hair and is good at getting others to do what she wants them to do. The government warns Ninjak that he may be doomed this time, but he burns them with the “Should I be impressed?” line before he gets ready to fight her. It may have only been 2 pages, but it was clearly the most interesting of the three stories. This segment had higher stakes than the other two and I was ready for things to happen.

Of course, since Valiant is an indie company, you can expect that their full stories would likely be a little on the violent side. This issue is okay and that’s good since a lot of people will be reading it, but it’s still very unlikely that I will be checking out the stories in the future. The end of the comic has a poster for an upcoming event where the Valiant universe will be (rebooted) destroyed. Bloodshot is back in his super form so I guess that spoils whether or not he decides to be a fighter again eh? That should be fun as crossovers are always pretty integral to the universe.

If you’re a big Valiant fan, you’ll like the fact that this comic really does celebrate the anniversary. There are several pages for the best fights of the Valiant Universe, best team ups, best deaths, etc. If you’ve been reading all of the comics, it’ll be a nice trip down memory lane for long time fans. I would have liked a picture for each fight so I could have seen what they are talking about, but I suppose that comic covers will have to do.

Overall, The Valiant issue has an interesting start with Ninjak, but the other two stories weren’t quite as engaging. At this point, it is safe to say that Valiant is the only big super hero company besides Marvel and DC so it is good to see them grow more popular I suppose. That being said, I’d say that IDW and Archie still have a nice lead over them so Valiant needs to get busy. All of their comics are really similar at this point so maybe they should consider adding some more variety. It certainly couldn’t hurt. I recommend checking this out if you want some action, but maybe you should just check out a trade paperback and see if it is your style.

Overall 6/10

Slayers Excellent Review

Posted on May 8, 2015 by dreager1

Slayers has had some ups and downs as a franchise. Due to its unique mix of comedy and action in the main shows, it can be hit or miss. The shows are able to utilize this quite well and the movies have had success as well. For some reason, the OVAs are the ones that have a lot of problems. Just like the first OVA, this one was not very good. It focused way too much on the fanservice and comedy angle while neglecting the action that brought this series a lot of fame and fortune.

There are three episodes in this OVA. The first one involves the initial encounter between Naga and Lina, which is how their adventures ultimately began. Naga will stop at nothing to defeat Lina, which proves to be a thorn in the side of the main character. Naga may be decently powerful, but she’s also reckless and leaves a lot of damage and devastation in her wake. She claims to be Lina’s rival, but she’s really more of a tag along at this point.

It’s intriguing to see how these two met, but I can’t say that a whole lot came out of it. After the first few minutes, we are essentially back to the status quo except for the fact that Naga is trying really hard to surpass Lina when in the current days, she is already accepted as a rival. The episode had potential, but then the OVA decided to play up the fanservice angle. I’ll mostly talk about that towards the end of the review. Needless to say, of the three episodes, this was likely fell in the middle. I’m glad that Lina essentially proved that these two fighters aren’t even close, but more of a serious fight would have been nice.

The second episode involves a rich girl who has hired Lina to be her bodyguard. Lina accepts because of the huge sum of money that will be given to her as a reward, but this appears to be a rather large error in judgment. Lina has to pay for travel expenses and for the food so she quickly spends her reward. To teach the rich person a lesson, Lina arranges for some bandits to kidnap her, but this may backfire when real ones show up to take her!

The rich person seemed to be par for the course as far as these individuals tend to be in anime. Her laugh was very similar to Naga’s, which was eerie for Lina the whole time. Still, it wasn’t a bad segment at first, but the ending quickly drove it down to last place from the 3 episodes. It was simply terrible and an example of why mixing comedy with action is rarely done. Typically, the result is that both areas will fail and that’s what happens here. It’s one of those stories that was simply better off not happening.

Finally, we go to a village where two fashion designers argue about whether clothing should be classic or modern and risky. Lina and Naga naturally choose two different sides so then they argue about which one is better as they burn down each other’s bases. By the end, they start to learn the values of friendship, but I can’t say that it was a very entertaining episode. It’s actually tough to decide if this one actually beats the first episode or not, but I believe that I gave it a slight lead. At least Lina hesitates a little when asked to blow up the opponent’s base. Something that Naga certainly didn’t do!

All right, let’s look at the main reason why Slayers Excellent was doomed from the start. It all goes back to the fanservice angle. There isn’t a ton of it visually, but when you consider the chest insults directed at Lina, it gets to be a bit much. There was also a random hot springs scene thrown around and a lot of attention is given to Naga’s outfit. It’s seriously sad and I haven’t seen this much fanservice associated with Slayers since the first outfit. There’s nothing over the top, but it still happens enough to make me give it a thumbs down right away. This really just exposes the fact that the writers were not confident with their story so they felt like they had to add something to throw the viewers in at the expense of a few stars. A good Slayers story should always be a 7-8, but this one was not good.

At least the animation is decently good as can be expected. It’s rather old so J.C. Staff doesn’t look quite as good as they do nowadays. Right now, they are one of the best animation companies of all time. I would need to compare Slayers to other shows of this era to properly rank it, but it looks good enough. There aren’t many energy blasts after all so it’s a little harder to gauge. It has that 90’s feel, which is always a good nostalgia boost to any series. I consider DBZ to look great even though I have seen many say that it wasn’t very good even for its time.

Excellent’s soundtrack is decent although very generic at this point. The series needs to try and add in some new tunes at this point. Relying on the same classics is all well and good, but more variety is always a good thing. The new tunes may not be instant classics, but you’ll never know how good they can be if you didn’t give them a chance. These tunes are decent, but they certainly aren’t very thrilling or memorable at this point.

Lina is a good character as always. She may not be a hero, but you can still root for her as she typically only beats up opponents who get in her way. Getting rich is a noble goal and she typically doesn’t take any short cuts. Unfortunate things just tend to happen to her so that she never ends up with any money in the long run. She seriously has no luck when it comes to anything financial so it is a good thing that Lina is one of the strongest sorceresses on the planet.

Naga is really the only other recurring character and she still isn’t a good supporting character. She has some good traits like being overconfident and constantly trying to one up Lina, but that’s just not good enough to overshadow her negative qualities like the fanservice and chest comments. She also gets the duo into a lot of trouble by not thinking things through and just being very reckless. I like when characters are reckless, but when it is intentional, not accidental.

Overall, Slayers Excellent is a trilogy that you should just skip. It doesn’t add anything worthwhile to the Slayers mythos and you can essentially say that it is just poorly written filler. The actual filler in the series is better than these episodes, which really says something. The animation and soundtrack are decent, but that’s not enough to save this one. I’d advise you to skip this and just watch Slayers Next if you’re looking for a nice fantasy adventure. Slayers has a lot of different shows and movies so you just want to memorize the full titles. Next>>Try>>Gorgeous>>Whatever else the others were>>>Excellent. I do like the fact that all of the movie/OVA titles are basically synonyms. It’s a fun trend, even if the OVAs can’t live up to their titles.

Overall 4/10

Sonic Universe Volume 4 Journey To The East Review

Posted on May 8, 2015 by dreager1

It is time to finally review another Sonic Universe collection! The title already shows that this was not going to be your average Sonic adventure as we typically don’t have many journeys in the series. Sonic is always where he needs to be or he can zoom on over to the next fight so why would he need to travel. The key thing to consider is that he is not going alone this time! While not quite as good as the average Sonic comic, it’s still a decent adventure.

The Iron Dominion has taken over just about every part of the world, including the heroes’ home. Sonic and Tails have decided to tag along with Sally and Monkey Kahn as they try to convince various clans to break away from the evil empire. Will they be able to do this and weaken the main villains enough to finally overtake them or will this journey be too much for our heroes. Moreover, another faction decides to enter the fray and stir up some trouble for Sonic. He’s going to have to move quickly if the world is to be saved.

As I mentioned earlier, this comic wasn’t as good as the typical one and I believe that the plot is to blame. Why are Sonic and friends liberating all of the clans instead of going straight after the main villain? Saving their home should be top priority if you ask me and no villain can stop Sonic from saving the day. The Iron Dominion also doesn’t get to even appear so it is hard to say if they are good villains or not. They won’t be appearing in the other Sonic Universe collections so I will have to wait until I see them in the main title, which really could be a while. The journey is simply not very interesting and you can’t help, but feel that the stakes are very low.

Where’s Eggman? Where’s Knuckles or Shadow? Most of the main cast is gone and Monkey Kahn is not a great replacement. I’ve read comics with him in the past and while he is a decent fighter, Kahn simply isn’t very likable. He is fairly arrogant and believes himself to be a match for Sonic, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Kahn was easily taken down by the villains in the opening pages and Sonic had to save him. Kahn’s thunder abilities certainly do make him more powerful than most of Sonic’s allies, but the prince will never be a top level threat when it counts. His romance with Sally is also very short lived and never actually goes anywhere.

Sally looks all right, but leading on Kahn like that wasn’t a nice move at all. She needs to choose someone and then stick with the decision instead of constantly wondering. Beyond that, she will likely make for a good leader of the kingdom. Tails is still a little sensitive about how young he is and certainly doesn’t like it when villains comment on that. That being said, Tails really proves them right here as Fiona messes with him and he doesn’t look too good against the villains. He’s looked better in other Universe issues and the main series though so I’m sure that he’ll be ready next time.

Sonic is naturally the best character of the series and he always looks good. It’s just easy for writers to depict him accurately because Sonic’s formula is simple yet effective. His confidence knows no bounds and Sonic can always back up his tough talk. It’s why the hedgehog is such an incredible character. He gets taken by surprise when confronted with Fiona and her gang, but he quickly gains the upper hand and gets serious once they start to taunt Tails. Sonic’s a natural born leader and he always looks out for his comrades. Without him, the comic likely would not have been anywhere near as good.

As for the villains, most of them are one shots as the heroes go to a different clan each issue. That being said, Fiona does arrive with her posse. They help the heroes because they want to get one of their members back from another clan, but then they leave to scheme some more. I’m sure that we haven’t seen the last of them, but I don’t see how they will be much of a threat to the heroes. Sonic could easily take those guys out thanks to his speed. The villains have a speedster of their own, but he’s nowhere near as fast as Sonic.

Espio actually appears and it is interesting since we find out that he has been spying on the heroes the whole time. He knows all of their dark secrets, but still wants to be their friends. The heroes give him a bit of a hard time about this, but I’m sure that they will come around. It wasn’t personal after all and at least Espio didn’t flat out betray them, although this was close. I used to be a huge Espio fan back when I was a kid. I still think that he is a decent character, but he certainly fell down the ranks. He’s nowhere near the all stars like Sonic and Shadow nowadays.

This collection would have been a lot better if we had gotten some more action. Uniting the clans just seems like a waste if you ask me and it was practically filler. The plot will end in the main series, but that means that this one didn’t get to have much of a climax. It ends with the heroes about to head home, which is a good cliffhanger. It is just not as exciting as it could have been and this took away our chances of having a good fight.

The collection’s writing and art are good as expected. Sonic’s witty dialogue is one of the reasons why the series has done well for so many years. Naturally, the art is good as well and all of the scenes are clear and easy to follow. This is a winning formula and it’s why the graphic novel is still fun despite the rather dull plot. After all, the plot isn’t quite as important when all of the other areas are good. It is still something to take note of and a terrible plot can outweigh the other positives, but this one never went that far. I wasn’t in the mood for an adventure with Sonic, but it was unique and we got to see Kahn again. That should count for something I suppose.

Overall, Journey to the East was not my favorite Sonic comic, but the title helped to tip me off to that. Even the cover wasn’t very exciting. Sonic steals the show as expected and I’m glad that he never backs down to Kahn. Kahn’s thunder powers are good though and hopefully he will get some good fights someday. I don’t care for the various clans and their plots so I’m hoping that they don’t last for too long in the future. You really can’t have a Sonic comic without more members of the main cast and higher stakes would be good as well. I still recommend this if you’re a Sonic fan. Reading the collection will only take a small amount of time and it still makes for an enjoyable read. It won’t be a thrill a minute, but it gets the job done.

Overall 6/10

Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan Review

Posted on May 7, 2015 by dreager1

It’s time to look at an action manga that I hadn’t heard of before I started it, but it’s evidently more popular than I realized. It’s always good to meet an action title that is pretty high tier while also being fun. In many ways, this series reminds me of Bleach. It has its weaknesses, but manages to be a fun ride.

The world is filled with humans and yokai. The humans are unaware of these beings aside from a group of yokai hunters. The Yokai essentially own the world as each group has a territory. Some yokai are evil and some are good. The series revolves around the Nura clan, of which Rikuo is the rising leader. His grand father runs the organization for a little while, but Nura (Rikuo) quickly embraces his role as the leader. Rikuo’s job is to stabilize the region and keep his demon group at the head of the pack. They like to scare humans and have fun, but in peaceful ways. There are many yokai who want to hurt the humans so Rikuo’s group has to keep them in check. Rikuo is only 1/4 yokai though, which can cause him issues. He becomes a yokai during the night and stays human by day.

The first main arc deals with Haggoromo as she bands together a group of villains to take over the world. Their master plan actually involves giving birth to an incredibly powerful demon, but they are destroying dozens of earthlings along the way. Nura naturally can’t let this stand so his group gets ready to work. Unfortunately, his minions have their doubts since Nura is part human and his abilities are far below that of Hagoromo’s, but a little training can go a long way!

Seimei is lose on the world and that is the plot for the last arc. Interestingly, the author decided to throw in a bunch of new villains as well. So, aside from the Seimei plot, we have some villains who want to revive Sanmoto and decide to cause havok in the streets. They challenge the heroes to a game. The villains will try to destroy as many people as they can and the heroes have to destroy them to prevent the casualties. The game of cat and mouse will certainly have high stakes! Still, the heroes can’t be distracted from their true objective…stopping Seimei!

Since this series is of a decent length, we have a very colorful character cast. I’ll quickly discuss most of them and then write about the series as a whole. Let’s start off with the main character as that makes sense. Rikuo is the main character and he’s certainly one of the better leads that I’ve seen in a while. By day, he starts out as a timid protagonist who is in a little over his head when it comes to leading the large demon group. Luckily, he slowly starts to believe in himself and by the end he has come to accept his demon blood. This way, he can fight during the day or night, but in the daytime he will still be a lot weaker. He was a fun character, but his night time version is naturally the real deal. The difference between them is a lot like Yugi and Yami Yugi. The night time version is simply more intense and he’s the true fighter of the two.

Night Rikuo’s abilities are second to none and he continues to prove himself as he goes up against many incredibly powerful fighters. Towards the end of the series, Rikuo unlocks his attack mode, which was a great transformation. He was already very self confident and sure of his abilities, but now he was even more open about this. His transformation into an Ichigo/Kirito character was complete and he went on the offensive more instead of strategizing and waiting for an opening. With his speed, it makes sense to press on the attack as often as possible. Rikuo is one of those main characters who doesn’t come along very often so you always want to really remember his appearances while you can. He’s simply hard to top!

Tsurara is one of Rikuo’s main allies and she is always by his side to protect him from Rikuo’s many enemies. She has mastery over ice and this has helped her against many fighters. Unfortunately, her abilities do not increase very often so she is outmatched against the later enemies, but Tsurara still does her best to help out when Rikuo is in a pinch. Unfortunately, she has a subplot where she likes Rikuo, which does make her distracted at times, but luckily the series has Rikuo keep her in the friend zone. It’s always good to have allies, but Rikuo can’t afford to be distracted anymore than that.

Yura is one of the main supporting characters who is not part of Rikuo’s group. She is with the Onmyoji group, who are humans that fight off the yokai. As such, she is wary of the yokai even though she gets along with the heroes. She develops from a relatively weak heroine to one of the strongest heroes in the series. Yura was a likable character to be sure and from the three heroines she is in second. She can be a little too distrustful of the yokai at times, but they are Yokai after all.

Kano is another one of the heroines and I got her mixed up with the other two quite a bit during the beginning of the series. They just look very similar, but the artist did a good job of differentiating them as the series went on. Kano is not quite as interesting as the other two characters because she never gets to contribute to the story. I don’t believe that she had any important moments in the series and the author didn’t know what to do with her. She was simply another friend to add to the yokai watch group. Giving her some spells or power would have been cool.

Rikuo had some other friends as well, but they didn’t really contribute to the plot. Technically, they helped out as one of the friends tried to prove Rikuo’s innocence to the world. Still, the author seemed to have just added them for the pre arc so that we could learn about Rikuo and then they were ditched. It doesn’t help that the one shot stories involving them were never that great and none of the friends were very likable. At most, they were passable, not bad characters, but not good ones either. Thanks to their small role, it shouldn’t matter to the reader too much unless one really dislikes them.

Nurarihyon is Rikuo’s grandfather and he gets a lot of hype for being the clan’s ultimate leader back in the day. His skills were incredible and it’s heavily implied that Rikuo has still not surpassed him. This is essentially confirmed during the very ending as Nurarihyon is quickly able to revert back to his prime for a few minutes. In that time, he effortlessly defeats one of the big enemies and almost gets to fight the main villain before his transformation expired. We don’t get to see him in his prime a lot, but at least the leader backed up his hype this way. Finally, we had an old man who was actually pretty decent in a manga. Typically the author tries to make that kind of character unlikable.

Rihan is Rikuo’s father and he couldn’t get outshined by his two relatives right? Rihan is extremely powerful as well although I think it’s safe to say that he has been surpassed. He had a rather tragic and sudden ending because he simply didn’t see the blow coming. Nonetheless, he was still a very powerful figure back in his day and he helped the Nura Clan to reach levels of honor and greatness that lasted a very long time. He was a likable character even if he slacked off a lot. Rihan could have held his own series quite well since his adventures were fun, but his flirting tendencies made him a lot less enjoyable than Rikuo.

Aotabo is the power hitter of the group. Unlike most Shonen series, some of the characters are tough from start to finish without any real power ups. That’s certainly very impressive even though it also means that a lot of plot hax will present itself when necessary. Aotabo just forgot about his true powers until he needed them. He’s a nice guy and certainly means well. While Aotabo may not have the “cool” factor that most of my favorite characters have, he makes up for it with his heroics. Aotabo is a very loyal comrade who you would want to have by your side.

Typically, Aotabo’s partner was Kurotabo. Kurotabo has a plot twist involving his origin, but it wasn’t too iffy and it certainly didn’t change the fact that Kurotabo is a good hero. I was never too impressed with him, but his technique of summoning unlimited blades is very handy. He believes in being very stoic and honorable, which are always good qualities in a fighter. As one of Rikuo’s main subordinates, Kurotbao is naturally one of the stronger warriors. He’s another class act.

Finally, we have Kubinashi of the main squad. He uses strings to fight and his head floats above his body instead of being on it. He dances around the line between villain and hero for a while, but he ultimately decides to stay on the light side. I’m glad that he made the right decision, but he still isn’t my favorite hero. His abilities are certainly very lethal. I am glad that he doesn’t back down against the other group of Yokai that arrive with Rikuo once the hero’s training was complete. Those guys were certainly very full of themselves even though they proved to be a little weaker (debatable I suppose) than the main guys.

Zen helps Rikuo get the others to trust him early on. Zen sees himself as one of Rikuo’s closest allies and really tries to help him out during dangerous times. Unfortunately, he is quite weak so there’s not always a lot that he can do. Still, he’s a nice guy. Rikuo also has a group of friends who like to go outside to look for Yokai. They are essentially filler as they never help to make a true difference, but every hero needs some friends right? They certainly could have been worse although it’s safe to say that I never really liked any of the friends.

Gyuki mentors Nura for a little while. He doesn’t have much in the way of super abilities, but his fear is very powerful, which allows him to stand his ground against any opponent. He gives Rikuo a hard time, but he never gets too exaggerated in his training methods and stands by as a loyal ally in all of Rikuo’s fights. I respect his abilities and he was a good mentor. Finally, we got a mentor who didn’t act like Jiraiya or Master Roshi for a change. I definitely give Gyuki kudos for that. The guy never got to fight all that much, but he still left an impression.

Itaku is one of the yokai that Rikuo brought back after his training. There are other members of the team, but most of them don’t get any real development anyway so I didn’t feel the need to include them. One of the members had her own fight where she faced her fears in a maze and managed to win. Beyond that, it was Itaku’s show. His personality is that he’s a very strong warrior who bows to no one. He considers himself to be stronger than Rikuo for a while and even at the end of the series he tries to take on some of the strongest villains. He is powerful and his fear is certainly real, (Offensively of course. He’s not afraid of the villains) but sometimes his boasts could be a bit much. He is good, but Rikuo is undoubtedly better. Itaku was certainly Rikuo’s rival and while he is no Sasuke, he’s still a good ally to have.

Hidemoto is an onmyoji from the olden days. He is revered as the strongest one of all time and he certainly lives up to this as he manages to keep his spirit alive for decades. Hidemoto is crucial in the final battles of the series and he gives the heroes a lot of advice. He’s a very quirky character, but not in an annoying way and you certainly can’t say that he doesn’t have personality. Moreover, he treats the whole situation like a game, which is a nice change of pace from the other characters at times. It is too bad that he couldn’t physically show up, but that may have made him a little too overpowered. As it is, he served as a nice mentor figure.

Tamazuki was one of the first villains of the series. I barely even mentioned him, but he ended up having a large role in the climax. That was surprising, but maybe he was fairly popular back in the day. He isn’t very skilled as he lost to a pre arc Rikuo, but as the Shonen system works, he grew much stronger. His illusion abilities are his bets bet to winning a match, but when he loses control, he can also dish out a lot of damage physically. He’s the kind of character who could have definitely become a fan favorite had he appeared more. As it stands, I did like him more once he returned to the series.

Hagoromo had one of the more tragic stories as she is really not allowed to have a happy ending. In her first life, she is betrayed. In the next one, she is mind controlled into betraying her father. Then she finally gains her freedom back and sees the light, only to be confronted by a villain who is more powerful than her. She is certainly a likable character and one of the better villains, but if would have been cool if she could have beaten the final boss on her own. It would have been quite the twist! Hagoromo was a fun character to have in the series and she seemed to be a very nice person before her world turned upside down. It would be hard to surpass her as the best villain and there is only one antagonist who I like more than her in this series. Without Hagoromo as the end boss, the big arc would have been less exciting.

Tsuchigumo was my favorite villain in the series and it is easy to see why once you start reading the manga. He is like Zaraki and many of my other favorite characters. He loves to fight and always believes in a fair fight. Tsuchigumo doesn’t care about what is really going on, he just wants a piece of the action so he fights both villains and heroes. While he is immensely powerful, Tsuchigumo is surpassed as the series goes on, but he never backs away. He ends his role heroically and he was my favorite villain by a long shot. I always like this “Hungry for honorable battle” kind of villain and I am glad that Shonen Jump continues to use the trope for a character.

Seimei is the ultimate villain and his powers are leagues ahead of the other opponents. He has the classic scene of snapping Rikuo’s sword in half with ease and he can fly. This guy looked incredibly powerful when he first appeared. He may not have been quite as impressive when he returned, but his power level was still high. His mistake was hiding out for a while, which let Rikuo power up a lot. By the time Seimei had returned, the heroes were ready. I don’t actually like him and Seimei proves himself to be a very untrustworthy fellow. He is a villain so it comes with the territory, but he certainly could have been more likable. Ah well, at least he had a really good design, which stood out. You could easily mistake him for a DBZ villain and Seimei has the feats to back it up.

Encho is one of the random villains who entered the fray towards the end of the series. He can use his voice to make tales come true, but he is not much of a fighter. Encho is one of those villains who doesn’t have much of an overall plan as he just wants to watch the world burn. Certainly a generic figure in the grand scheme of things. Sanmoto was the leader of the group and he was treated as a big shot. I can safely say that he did not live up to the hype though. Sanmoto’s true form is huge and not very maneuverable. It didn’t take a whole lot to ultimately stop him. Seimei really outshined this guy.

Raiden is the only member of the villain group who was actually likable. Unlike Sanmoto’s other men, Raiden didn’t rely on cheap tricks in order to win. He attacked Rikuo head on and gave the hero quite a fight. If Rikuo hadn’t unlocked his new form, it likely would have been game over for him. Raiden was a very impressive fighter and he was one of the best villains in the series. The Raiden name is still being held up quite well.

Kidomaru was one of the higher ups in Seimei’s organization. While he appeared to be a normal human, his abilities were very impressive. It was surprising that he never got more development as it seemed like he was going to be an important figure before he was written out of the action. He was a decent villain although, very two dimensional. Who knows, maybe it was for the best that he stayed a background character. It is a role, which works for some characters.

Mamiru is one of the onmyoji and his role was always that of a very minor supporting character. He can certainly fight as he has thunder abilities, but he never got to do anything that was too important. He is another character that the author just seemed to forget as time went by. He seems like he would have ended up as a fairly heroic character had he gotten more development. Mamiru was usually likable when he was on screen. Unlike Mamiru, Ryuji was a major supporting character in this series and he was a fun hero to watch. He strongly dislikes Yokai, but he grudgingly works with Rikuo and the others once the stakes continue to rise. He has good reasons for disliking them, but I was glad to see that he was reasonable about that. Ryuji is actually not very powerful so all of his fights revolve around strategies and simply outsmarting his opponents. It can be a bit much when he is fighting a very strong opponent, but his water attacks are no joke. This was definitely my kind of character and he almost could have been thought of as Rikuo’s rival if that angle had been played up a little more.

That was a lot of characters eh? The series made it to a little over 20 volumes so the cast was of a fairly good number by the end. By and large, I’d say that the series did a good job with them. There was a good amount of likable heroes and villains in the series, which is always important. Rise of The Yokai Clan did have some issues with where it wanted to go in terms of the story and plot, but I’ll mention that a little more in a second. First, I want to compare it to a certain all star title.

The series has a lot of similarities to Bleach. Rikuo is like Ichigo and the actual vibe of the manga carries that serious, yet intense vibe that Bleach had. The art is very different though. While Bleach’s art is serene and calm, Nura’s can get rather heavy with the ink. It gets to the point where you will sometimes be unsure of exactly what just happened. You will just know that it must have been something epic! This is particularly the case when the battle involves Rikuo in one of his super forms. The author really wants to show how intense the battle is. You’ll likely remember that Ichigo also gets a lot of those moments over in Bleach if you have read that title. Tsuchigumo is really similar to Zaraki and there are more similarities as you read the series. That’s a good thing as you should always model yourself after the best if you are planning to draw on some inspiration. Of course, there’s another reason for why Rikuo gets so many great shots in the series.

The heroes all fight using their fear to entrap the opponent. Fear is naturally associated with darkness and shadow so it makes sense that it would look that way when the fighting gets started. The fear battling is a pretty nice twist. It’s also another way to say “Aura” as it works just like the ki in DBZ, but it’s still a nice way to put it. There certainly aren’t many series that can say that they’ve tried this approach. It works quite well alongside the yokai theme. Since fear is essentially your power level, it’s a way to power scale the various enemies. Don’t worry about a lack of feats though because we definitely get a lot of those. One villain is able to destroy Kyoto with a single swing and he was not yet at full power.

As the series is about yokai/demons, it can be a little dark at times. Not too dark as it’s still Shonen, but the series tries to incorporate horror elements whenever possible. I’m certainly more inclined to enjoy the action segments, but I suppose that this makes sure the audience gets to stay on its toes. There’s also a decent amount of comedy involved as well to keep you from crumbling when the long action parts draw near. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many people who would want to read a series about nonstop action even though that sounds epic.

That being said, this is what I was talking about when I said that the manga lost its sense of direction at times. It will go from a really epic sequence of fights to a lot of one shot horror/comedy stories that just feel like filler. It’s the kind of series where you will actually feel like you are just reading side stories even though they are part of the main adventure. It’s like if the Pre Arc of Naruto occurred after volume 10 or so. That can throw you off your rhythm a little and I’m convinced that the author was stalling for time or simply forgot what happen.

After the first big arc with Hagoromo, Seimei escaped with his henchmen. The heroes head off to recruit more fighters and get stronger, but then a new villain group comes in to waste some time. Aside from one member, I didn’t like any of these new villains and they felt like a distraction. Seimei finally showed up with his group of villains, but they almost literally come out of nowhere. It gives us another chance for some epic fight scenes, but the arc between them was simply odd. The game of “tag” was definitely unique though and it’s where we got Rikuo’s new form so I’ll give it props for that.

The middle arc also deserves major kudos for most of the fights taking place within a city. Also, not just any city, but a modern/urban one so there were many tall buildings. That’s still my favorite environment for a fight and they are extremely rare in any manga. So, it was certainly a lot of fun to see and that was the highlight of the arc in the middle. Seriously, try to count on one hand how many times you’ve seen a big fight take place in a city area that had large buildings. It’s tougher than you may think! (Also, it doesn’t count if the fight is down to Earth like a simple hand to hand fight or a gun battle. I’m talking Superman level threats here!)

The series can definitely remind you of Gamaran a little in the sense that it can get very violent at times. I’d say that it is certainly more intense than Bleach, but still not as over the top as Gamaran. Luckily, it is mostly relegated to the combatants aside from a few scenes where spectators get involved. One of the most unfortunate stories involved a demon who trapped a lot of people in a dream world where they were stuck for many years. That’s certainly a skippable one as it was filler and doesn’t add anything to the story. One of the main villains also needed to eat a lot of livers to get her strength up, which could certainly be gruesome. It’s a dark action to be sure, but the series typically doesn’t dwell on these moments.

Luckily, we still get a lot of great action scenes that don’t rely on such tactics. The yokai can survive many lethal blows, which is why it can get a little violent, but typically not in any unfortunate ways. Nura’s battles are the ones that you will want to focus on as they are always close range encounters. A lot of the other main characters use ranged attacks, but there are other close combat fighters to be found. Hand to hand or sword to sword is my favorite kind of fight, but the versatility can be really fun as well. The sheer speed at which the characters are fighting is amazing and using fear to dictate how the battle goes is certainly a smart way to go about it.

You’ll be glad to know that there isn’t much fanservice here either. We get one of those generic hot spring scenes, which are always a little dicey, but at least it isn’t a regular occurence. The main villain also spends a decent amount of time with nothing on as she goes into a purification place to prepare for her offspring of destruction. The series is careful not to actually cross the line and show anything, but this would certainly count in the fanservice department. It may seem like a little more than “not much” but remember that this is from the full 21 volumes. There was certainly some around, but it was really rare and the series never gets bogged down by it.

As you can tell from my paragraph on the main character, the series has some similarities to Yugioh. Unlike Yugioh, they aren’t completely different people, but it was hinted at early on. Rikuo’s night form is able to talk with the day one and you would think that they are different based on how they act. It seems like they simply are the same person, but the demon blood represents the night form while the day acts as Rikuo. By the end of the series, they have essentially come to terms with each other and both forms are capable of engaging in combat. It’s the same guy, but with a split personality. I wouldn’t have minded if they had ended up splitting by the end, but that would have been a little sad for the day version since he wouldn’t have been very important to the series anymore.

Overall, Nura ended up being one of the best manga series that I have finished in a while. It did stumble into some issues which kept it from being a 9, but an 8 is still more than respectable. This guy could certainly hold his own against other Shonen Jump All Stars. He’s not quite ready to defeat Ichigo quite yet, but with his various super forms, most of the other heroes would be fair game for him. The art was solid and we had a good group of characters. Naturally, the fight scenes were incredible as well. You really couldn’t ask for a more complete manga and I would certainly be open to a sequel at some point. If you’re looking for a solid action series and don’t mind some violence (Around Bleach level or slightly higher, but nothing too graphic) then this is definitely the title for you. Get ready for a solid adventure and one where you can finally root for the Yokai instead of the humans. (Although there are heroic humans as well.)

Overall 8/10

Street Fighter Review

Posted on May 3, 2015 by dreager1

All right, it’s time for a big name! Street Fighter is a video game series that is still immensely popular and there are even individuals who would say that it is better than Super Smash Bros. I would never go that far, but it certainly has earned the right to be called the most popular fighting video game of all time. A comic based on the franchise was sure to be a blast and I wasn’t disappointed!

There is no real plot as the game essentially shows you how the game should be played. Every time you win, a stronger opponent is there to take you out. So, we get some brief fight scenes as every character gets a win and then gets to lose. This means that we literally have nonstop action here and it works perfectly. There’s no better way to show off the Street Fighter universe than by having their best fighters duke it out.

The art looks very good and this helps the action scenes to be even more fun. Without good art, a series that is focusing on the fights would be very risky as the action just wouldn’t be enjoyable. This is one comic where the art is more important than the writing although it is very relative. You still need good writing in order to succeed and Street Fighter has that at the ready.

This doesn’t seem to really be a preview for an upcoming ongoing, but I’d certainly be interested in reading more Street Fighter comics. The franchise has always had a lot of potential and it is very interesting. There’s currently a rumor going around that Ryu will actually make it into Super Smash. If he does make it, I’ll definitely believe that he earned his trip there. Ryu is a video game icon and while he may not be as important to the industry as Mega Man, Mario, or Pac Man, he’s still a living legend and his moveset practically writes itself.

Currently, the best free comic is still Divergence. After that, I think Street Fighter can make a solid case for 2nd. It’s just that good and I think that Ryu may actually be in the Worlds Unite crossover that is coming out. I hope so as that would be fairly neat. Now, I only have a handful of free comics to read and I saved them for last as they didn’t look as interesting as the ones that I have already read. This means that there is a good chance that none of the issues coming up will be able to surpass Street Fighter so I shall have to savor this moment.

Overall, I veered a little off topic, but the comic is really top notch. There’s not a whole lot to say about it as there’s just a lot of fights to be witnessed and no real plot, but that’s what I like to see in a Street Fighter adventure. Ryu is still a likable main character and the other fighters meant business. I was surprised that Chun Li was nowhere to be found, but I suppose that she can’t come to steal the show every time right? Reading the comic will get you in the mood to play the games and that’s why this issue ultimately succeeded.

Overall 9/10

Dark Circle Comics Review

Posted on May 3, 2015 by dreager1

All right, let’s continue on with the Free Comic Book Day reviews. This comic theoretically brings three different stories, but something must have happened behind the scenes as the third one is not included. It’s a little odd as the table of contents acts like it is there and even the intro page towards the end of the collection. Unfortunately, the comic that is gone is the one that looked like it would have been the most interesting. Ah well, perhaps next time.

The first comic is about a cop who gets shot as he takes down some thugs who were over by a local school. It’s certainly the most violent comic of the bunch although it’s not too over the top. The cop’s face is now disfigured and he must learn to adapt to his new situation. Given the situation over in Baltimore, I don’t see things ending well for this series. It’s just a matter of being in the right place at the wrong time. Anything mainly dealing with cops and especially with schools as well will likely be controversial.

The art is decent although it has that gravelly look to it. It’s hard to describe, but gritty comics typically have it. So, even in a happy scene, there’s always the nagging feeling that something could happen at any time. This wasn’t my kind of story and I wouldn’t be getting the trade, but that’s why they make double packs right? The second story was better so we’re in a similar situation to the Teen Titans Go combo.

The second story deals with a guy who retired from being a superhero. It just wasn’t for him and he can now move on. Unfortunately, mysterious things start to happen and he is forced to don the costume once more. We don’t get a real feeling for what the plot’s going to be, but I’d expect it to be your average old aged hero comeback story. He’ll have some doubts, but he’ll ultimately save the day.

Again, there’s that feeling that things may not end well here, but it’s a decently interesting story. It’s definitely the highlight of the group and the costume is fairly neat. The hero looks like a mix of Batman and the Wildcat. Hopefully we will get some references to those guys at some point and it will be good to see who the villain is here. The hero has already been kidnapped so he’s off to a rocky start. The art is a little more mainstream than the first comic and it certainly makes the story easier to read. We’re not at Marvel or DC level yet, but we’re getting there.

Overall, This comic couldn’t quite hold up to the others, but the collection was missing an issue so maybe that would have been able to help it. The cop story wasn’t very good, but the hero one has potential. The main character seems to be likable so far and his son is a reasonable supporting character. As long as the comic plays its cards right, we could have a winner here. That being said, the main character needs to get free quickly or the son will likely figure out the dad’s secret identity. That would certainly throw a wrench in his plans.

Overall 5/10

Captain Canuck #0 Review

Posted on May 2, 2015 by dreager1

Now, it is time to check out an independent superhero. He is not from Marvel or DC, which should make things interesting. It means that there will naturally be some similarities to established heroes, but it is almost literally impossible for that not to happen nowadays. I applaud the fact that we still get new superheroes and he isn’t even new as the character had an unpopular comic series decades ago. It simply wasn’t remembered, but this new series should change that as it is off to a good start.

The first story is only a handful of pages and nothing gets to happen, but we see Captain Canuck jump out of a plane just like Captain America did in The Avengers. The Captain seems to be an excellent character as he is no nonsense and he gets the job done. You really can’t ask for a better superhero and this is someone that we can all look up too. Of course, we haven’t had a chance to see how he deals with tricky situations, but I’m confident that he will be able to hold his own. His uniform is similar to the Alpha Flight’s standard gear and then you can throw a little Robocop into that design. It works quite well and does a good job of making Captain Canuck look intimidating.

I wasn’t crazy about the second half of the comic, but that’s because it is all about Canuck’s backstory. We get a recap of the adventures that he’s had up til now and they sound a little repetitive. This was probably unintentional, but he became a hero and then seemingly died in an explosion with the villains. It turns out that he actually escaped to the past and helped primitive humans live back during the early days of humanity. After that, he made it back to the present in time to save his planet from aliens…only to seemingly die in an explosion again. No worries, he was just flung….to the past….again. This time, he helped people while becoming a legendary hero and that’s where the backstory ends. Is it just me or did they just use the same plot twice in a row? It’s an original twist I suppose.

The art for both halves of the comic is good. I loved the art in the first half and it was the highlight of the issue for me. It reminded me of X Sanction, which I still consider to be one of the best drawn comics of all time. The second half goes for a retro feel, which works for me as well. Who doesn’t like to revisit the good ole days of comics right? The art styles certainly contrast one another, but that makes them all the more enjoyable.

The main villain seems to be a little shallow, but he doesn’t get to appear so I can only judge him from his character bio. Since the actual story was only 2-3 pages aside from the recap, we didn’t get to truly see what the characters are like. So, while the comic seems like it should be very good and a lot of fun, I would approach the trade with caution. You should always be wary when the free comic tries to hide the actual comic from you. Still, from what I saw, Captain Canuck looks like a keeper.

Overall, Marvel and DC may have found a new competitor to fight again! Captain Canuck may not be very powerful, but he can still have some fun issues as he gains battle experience and learns to fight alongside his comrades. Canada certainly needs more heroes as the United States (Particularly New York) has all of the best ones at the moment. If this guy gets really popular, that would certainly be a good thing for them. Time to read some more of the free comics that I got and then I’ll get back to reviewing. 4 down and 15 to go!

Overall 7/10

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

Posted on May 1, 2015 by dreager1

The first Avengers film was one of the greatest movies of all time. I knew that it would be extremely difficult for this film to match up to it. Still, I had high hopes when I walked into the theater and I was ready for anything that the film could throw at me. Would it be able to live up to the hype or would it ultimately crumble and make me go re watch Man of Steel? Also, what happened to Thanos? In the first film, it ended with him getting ready to attack Earth or at least think about it..yet he isn’t in the trailers so what happened. Behind the scenes drama? These questions at the ready…I saw the film!

The Avengers may have split up after they saved the world from the invasion, but they are back together to reclaim Loki’s scepter. After embarking on many missions to find it, they finally find it at a Hydra base. It seems like peace has finally returned and the Avengers can disband once more, but that is when Ultron strikes. Ultron wishes to destroy the human race and the Avengers must now deal with their toughest threat yet!

There is certainly a lot to say about this film so let’s launch right into it! The tone is identical to that of the first film, which is a great thing. There is a nice balance of humor and action in this film, which makes for a very enjoyable watch. Replay value is not a problem either as I could easily watch this film again tomorrow. There is so much action that you will likely notice extra details each time you watch the film.

Following up on that, the writing for the film is excellent. Avengers: Age of Ultron has numerous jokes throughout the film and with bad or even average writing, it would have gotten old very quickly. As it stands, the jokes come at good times in the film and you’ll be sure to laugh a few/lot of times throughout the film. It can be a little iffy to see the heroes joking during life threatening situations, but I suppose that it takes their mind off of what is happening. I would be upset if the heroes were joking around after someone had been killed or if a friend was in mortal peril, but they typically control themselves in those situations. The film even puts some twists on old jokes from the first title by switching things around a little.

As for the soundtrack, it is essentially the same as the first film. I only noticed one new theme, which played during a somber scene. It was a good theme and the soundtrack holds up just as well as in the 1st film. Admittedly, I would have liked some more new tunes, but for those of us who haven’t seen the first film since 2012, it was likely very nostalgic. I’ve seen the original film around a half dozen times at this point so I am very familiar with the music at this point.

Since there is a lot of action, the visuals need to look very good. I can safely say that they are convincing and I have no real issue with them. This film has more energy blasts than usual, which is great since those really make this feel like more of a comic book film. A certain triple attack towards the end looks really sweet as a result. The only time that the CGI may look a little iffy is the Cap vs Ultron scene during the daytime, but it may just be because he looks so lifelike that it ends up being a little out of place. If anything, you can think of that as a positive since it was so realistic.

Time to look at the main characters. Captain America was my favorite Avenger here so let’s look at him first. He is the noble hero that we would expect him to be and I thought that his portrayal was fairly spot on. From his point of view, I can see why he would disagree with Tony Stark on the A.I. issue. While the captain may have overreacted a little after Ultron struck, it was understandable that he would be upset since his history with secrets hasn’t been a good one. A running joke in the film arises from a scene where Captain America reprimands Tony for using a swear word. That was cool because while it was played for laughs, it was nice to see. Superman and Captain America are two characters who I have always imagined to not use such language. The way that the joke ends could have been better though. Either way, fans of the first Avenger will be pleased with how he looks here. Captain America shows off his fighting skills throughout the film and he makes for a very good leader.

Tony Stark is naturally as charismatic as ever and he is my second favorite Avenger. His heart was in the right place for project Ultron, but messing with A.I. programs never seems to end well for our heroes. I was wondering how Iron Man’s role would be since he blew up his armors in Iron Man 3, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem. He just continued to build since then and it makes sense since Tony would never give up on robotics forever. It’s his life after all. He gets a lot of great scenes and Iron Man has shown that he still has what it takes to be the leader if Steve Rogers ever decided to give up the position. With Captain America: Civil War coming up, that could happen sooner than expected.

Thor rounds out the main three and he is still the power hitter here. It is nice to see his strength displayed as he takes on dozens of opponents throughout the film. His combo attacks with Captain America prove to be very effective and having someone who’s Hulk level in strength with the ability to fly is extremely handy. His reaction times are also given their due credit as he manages to counter-throw an opponent who had rushed him. Thor has also grown more competitive as he is consistently trying to outdo Tony Stark and the others. Some friendly competition is always fun and it shows that Thor is really getting close to the team.

As for Bruce Banner, I was thrilled with his role in the first film. I thought that it was perfect and that Bruce Banner’s portrayal was the definitive version of the character. I don’t think that he looked quite as good here and he would actually be my least favorite member of the team. What happened to him being able to control the Hulk? It seems like a rather big plot hole here as the Hulk needs to be calmed down by the Black Widow every time and then he is left as an emotional wreck for a little while. It seems to really contradict the first film. He doesn’t get to act rebellious or get nice banter like in the first film, which hurt his portrayal here because that is why I liked him a lot. I really think that Whedon messed up here, but Banner still had his moments. He just wasn’t the hero that I remembered from the first film.

Black Widow has upgraded her tech for this film so that she is ready for the Ultron onslaught. She looks good in the film as she helps out a lot in many key scenes. Widow gets shaken up at one point, but due to the visions it was understandable. How she copes with it is really my issue. The plot between Bruce and Widow really came out of the blue and I don’t think that it was necessary here at all. Widow just acted out of character when he was around, but the ending of the film seems to have rectified that. She is more likable than Bruce here, but I think she could have been better.

Hawkeye ends up being the best Avenger after the big three and his role here was fun. Hawkeye fans will likely be worried at the beginning since he is taken out of action rather easily, but things go up from there. We get to see how professional he is and why he is the lead archer. Hawkeye means business here and he deals a lot of damage to Ultron’s army, but he still knows how to make a nice wisecrack. He certainly gets a lot of character development here and that is sure to help Hawkeye’s character throughout his future appearances as well.

Age of Ultron had a nice amount of guest stars, which was cool. Some of them you may be aware of and others not so much. I won’t mention any names, but each of the big three get a supporting character who gets a decent role in this film. Nick Fury and Maria Hill are also here of course and they contribute. It makes you wonder how this film will affect the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. show. It’ll be fun to see how that handles this event. The ending is fun and leaves a lot of potential for future installments. Also, you’ll want to stick around for the end credits scene. It’s rather short, but still really good and gets you set up for Avengers 3.

Still, I’m getting ahead of myself. Now, let’s look at some of the other characters to appear in the film. First up, we’ve got Quicksilver. After his solid role in X-Men Days of Future Past, it was going to be tough for this version to match up. Luckily, I can say that the character was still fun and his speed was handled well for the most part. He’s rather unlikable for the first half of the film, but he does have some solid moments. It’s easy to root for him as the film goes on and even the accent grew on me. His speed is something that the Avengers didn’t really have an answer for and film writers have to be very careful with it since plot hax can ensue. Some did occur of course, but not too much.

Scarlet Witch has interesting hex powers involving probability, which can be tough to show so the film decided to take a solid approach to this issue. They mainly focused on her telekinesis and telepathy. By using these abilities effectively, she can emit energy and create barriers. I much prefer this to her hex abilities so I’m fine with the change. She’s a better character than I expected and I look forward to seeing her become one of the heavy hitters on the team. I would already say that she could take on Captain America and possibly Iron Man. Her abilities should definitely not be underestimated. I don’t care for her in the comics, but the film version was good so I can safely say that this is one of those rare times where the comics were surpassed. I also did like how the film borrowed from the horror playbook during the scene where Scarlet Witch takes on Captain America. We get a Paranormal Activity stutter step as Scarlet Witch demonically backs up and closes the door. It’s hard to describe, but if you have watched a lot of horror films, you will know what I am talking about here.

Ultron is the main villain here so there should naturally be a lot to say about him. His portrayal will likely be controversial and some will like it while others won’t. As an Ultron adaption, I think you will be disappointed. He is nothing like the cold, calculating machine that we are used too. So, if you are to like him, you will just need to think of him as an original villain. With the…intriguing design, that should make things easier. The film decides to give him Tony Stark’s personality so he is a fun villain, he just isn’t Ultron. As this “new” villain, I liked the portrayal. He has some witty banter to be sure and who doesn’t like a good “eradicate the humans” plan right? His strategy was sound and once again it shows how easy planet busting can be. Just wait until Thanos arrives on Earth someday, the stakes will really get high! Ultron was a little weaker than I expected and I’ll get into this a little more in a second, but he was strong enough to still be a fun villain. Loki was probably still more fun, but Ultron was more of a threat, which is a fair trade off.

All right, we’ve looked at the characters and a lot of the positives to the film. So, let’s look at some questionable moments. One scene that I disagree with is Thor’s hammer being lifted. The actual scene is a fairly important one so I won’t mention who does it. You’ll know what I’m talking about once you see the movie, but I completely disagree with the film. There’s no way that this character should be able to pick up the hammer unless Captain America can. After all, being worthy is something that I can certainly agree with. I don’t agree with technicalities that can sidestep the enchantment…simply isn’t possible if you ask me.

Age of Ultron has a lot of action and it is one of the reasons why it is so much fun. The film starts off with a bang in the epic intro scene and the film rarely lets up as more and more action scenes appear. While this is an overwhelming positive as you will never get bored, most of the action scenes are simply action scenes. Like the first film, the Avengers are dealing with armies and no real 1 on 1 fights occur. When some appear, they are fairly short since the villains can’t handle the heroes. There is a point where Ultron is actually defeating Thor handily, but Ultron had been getting served by Iron Man earlier so I still wouldn’t say that he was immensely powerful. I’m assuming that Thor was simply caught off guard. Ultron didn’t get his iconic power up here so he was only a little more durable than the average machine. I’m assuming that Avengers 3 will finally have the big fights that I’ve been looking forward too so that will be fun. I can see some people listing this as a negative since the climax is very similar to the first film’s, but who doesn’t like a nice invasion battle? It gives the heroes a lot to do.

The 1 on 1 fight that we did get was the Iron Man vs Hulk battle. It was a fun fight and while I still prefer Iron Man’s standard gear for combat, the Hulkbuster looks powerful. I’d say that Hulk is still portrayed as the strongest Avenger by a longshot, but with this new armor, Iron Man can now fight alongside Thor for the second spot. The other Avengers are going to need to keep on improving or they will be left in the dust before long.

I won’t say his name for the fans who don’t know about this character, but a certain other android appears besides Ultron. His abilities are certainly potent and I’m glad that the film kept most of them in. The only one that they didn’t show will likely be shown in a future film. I’m not a huge fan of the character here as his personality isn’t really my style, but he’ll be a good ally to have on the team. His abilities will definitely make him a powerful ally and maybe he’ll grow on me. There’s certainly a lot of time for that since he just joined.

I just finished seeing this film about an hour or two ago so I’m trying to make sure that I get down all of the major points that I wanted to discuss before wrapping up the review. With a film like this, you can’t really get all of your thoughts down on a review so I at least want the big ones to be there. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend watching a big movie like this one on opening day or the night before opening day at least once for the sheer experience. It is a lot of fun to watch such an exciting film with other fans who are hyped for it as well.

A minor thing, but Quicksilver is probably a little too fast in this film. At the speed that he is going, I don’t think that Hawkeye’s attack should have surprised him or that Captain America could have even hit him. Even when Quicksilver tried to grab the hammer, he should have been able to have escaped since it would have pulled him very slowly even considering the speed of the throw. That being said, he is a speedster so I would always find some plot hax there. The film handled it better than most and the plot hax in general wasn’t that bad. Your usual action hero moments at times where humans dodge lots of point blank energy attacks, but no scenes that stuck out in particular, which was great.

The film seems to be rather unchanged from the trailers, which is good. Unfortunately, one of the changes was the scene where Iron Man is trying to pick up Thor’s hammer. I preferred his old line about ruling firmly, yet in a fair way. I also seem to recall Bruce Banner being in a straight jacket or at least something that resembled that kind of gear more than what was in the film, but I’m less sure about that so it really could have just been a trick of the eyes. A lot of things are set up here for future films so you’ll definitely want to continue watching the solo films to get a feel for what will happen next.

All right, I think that’s a good amount of reviewing for now. I made sure to keep this review spoiler free so if you have a question relating to a topic that has spoilers, feel free to drop a comment since I made sure to avoid those topics in the review. Although, I hinted at some because I wanted to mention my take on them so I merely left out the names when necessary. I highly doubt that any film will be able to come anywhere close to this one from this year’s roster, but it will be nice to see them give their best shot. It is too bad that Whedon won’t be around for the next Avengers film, but I trust that it will be excellent as well.

Overall, Avengers:Age of Ultron was a great follow up to the first film. The first Avengers will always be my favorite Marvel film, but this one is the second best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It possesses just about all of the same qualities as the first title while having even more action. The only real negative would probably be the plot between Bruce Banner and Black Widow. The hammer scene along with many of the other things that I noted aren’t really negatives so much as things that I noticed. I still find it a little ironic that the Ultron minions had a more accurate design compared to the comic Ultron than the main body, but it helps that point I made earlier about looking at Ultron as a different villain. It was tough deciding between an 8 and a 9 to be honest, but this is the kind of film that really doesn’t come by all that often. I believe that it earned the 9. Granted, I typically score films a little more generously when I just finished watching one in theaters so you may want to take that into account. (I got the full IMAX 3D experience, which was incredible!) Still, I think that I’ll be able to stand by this rating and I will certainly be watching this film more times before Avengers 3. I probably won’t see it quite as much as the first one, but still more than most. If you haven’t seen this film yet, I highly recommend checking it out as the earliest opportunity!

Overall 9/10

Supergirl Volume 2 Girl in The World Review

Posted on April 30, 2015 by dreager1

It has been a while since I read the first comic, but I remember that it was a fun adventure. The collection had a lot of action and it really paved the way for future comics to start off right. Unfortunately, I don’t think that many of them will decide to do this, but it was still nice to see a comic getting the intro right. This volume isn’t quite as exciting as it certainly slows down, but it still makes for a nice adventure.

Supergirl is still trying to live on Earth without attracting attention, but it is tough because she doesn’t know how to fully control her abilities. Moreover, she doesn’t understand English, which makes discussion rather difficult. Luckily, she meets up a girl who is able to learn new languages after hearing them for a few minutes. The only drawback is that the girl is the Silver Banshee’s daughter and her dad is trying to absorb her. Supergirl must now help her new friend, but can she defeat such a menace?

The premise is a little difficult for me. Why can’t Supergirl just beat the Banshee with a single blow? She may not be Superman, but her abilities are still on his level so this match should be child’s play. The Banshee’s reason for surviving her attacks so easily is that he is using magic, which helps him deal a lot of damage to Supergirl. I don’t mind magic as an excuse, but it doesn’t change the fact that Supergirl is faster than him. She can easily dodge his attacks with her super speed.

As a villain, The Banshee is a lot cooler than he used to be. I like his design and his abilities are certainly formidable. He is portrayed as being more powerful than he really is, but at least that makes him a threat. I wonder if we will ever see him again. Somehow, I have a feeling that he will definitely return.

As for the daughter, she seems like a nice supporting character. She certainly helps Supergirl out of a jam even though she begins to lose her will power rather quickly. It is too bad that she temporarily lost her abilities since they would have been very useful here. I hope that she stays on the side of the heroes as Supergirl can use an ally against the many villains that she wil be facing soon. The girl also happens to be the only supporting character that I like so I hope that she sticks around.

There’s a who tries to be a nice supporting character as well, but I don’t see the point in his character. He just has a filler role where he starts to like Supergirl. The comic would be exactly the same without him. As for Supergirl, she makes for a very good main character. At times, she can be a little unreasonable like when she told Superman that she would examine the ship on her own, but she is typically a good character. She isn’t afraid to fight at full power and she takes on her opponents with great efficiency. She did take a chance when she blasted one of the opponents in a way that could have destroyed him, but at least things worked out all right. Supergirl has always been one of my favorite comic book heroines and it is safe to say that the comic book did her justice. I do think that it is very early for romance though so I’m glad that the subplot ended before it could truly begin. Supergirl is still overwhelmed by being in a new culture, but this is fairly realistic and she isn’t as dramatic about it as Starfire. I don’t typically like the trope of adjusting to Earth culture, but it’s handled well.

The art style looks good for this comic. It is hard to describe, but it is like a paled version of the Superman comics. The colors are darker and that’s the easiest way that I can put it. This works for just about everything in the comic except for Superman’s design. The artist clearly hasn’t looked at Superman in a while because the character on the page looked nothing like the legendary hero. He seemed meek, timid, and unassuming. Those qualities don’t belong in the same sentence as Superman and even the hair was oddly flat. That was my one gripe with the art, but it is not a major one.

One of the comics had a quick fight with a random villain. That plot will likely come back soon, but it is the being who is on the cover of this collection. He made for a fun villain even if I couldn’t take him all that seriously. If the comic took super speed a little more seriously, Supergirl could have handled this battle with ease. The collection ends with Supergirl’s origin story and it is fairly straightforward. She got out of that planet alive, which is good. Her dad’s plan was sound although he really cut it close. The mom tried to stop him at the end though, but I think it was really because she didn’t really get what he was doing or she just thought that the planet was safe. Because of that, I was on the dad’s side since he did keep some secrets, but he ultimately got the job done. It is just too bad that he also had to do some illegal experiments on the way. This made him seem rather shady and untrustworthy. I’m guessing that Superman’s dad was going to stop him, but with the planet in turmoil, he had bigger fish to fry. Krypton always looks so…unprepared for such a futuristic civilization.

In the end, this volume couldn’t beat the original. Both of them had some really good writing and action scenes, but volume 1 had the better villains. The Worldbreakers were a serious threat and they may just be the strongest villain group to debut in years. As a group, most heroes wouldn’t even stand a chance against them. I do think that it was a little iffy that Superman couldn’t break through the shield last time, but that’s a minor thing. I really can’t wait until they show up again and they were referenced several times so this definitely hints that they will be returning soon.

Supergirl demonstrated some new abilities in this comic, which is neat. I know that Superman recently learned how to weaponize his solar energy and Supergirl is already showing that she can do this as well. When the strongest comic heroes start to get even stronger, you know that some massive villains must be getting ready to pop up. I still do consider Supergirl to be stronger than Wonder Woman is almost all incarnations and this comic certainly helps that as well. It is no stretch of the imagination to say that Supergirl is the strongest comic book heroine so it is good to see her get credit for being so powerful here.

Overall, This volume was a fun way to continue the Supergirl adventure. The series still provides us with a lot of action and some quality dialogue. It is a complete title that I would certainly recommend to comic readers since it is a lot of fun. The art works for the collection, but I expect Superman to look a little better in future issues. Even the way that he acted seemed a little off although I think that Supergirl overreacted in that scene. I look forward to seeing where Supergirl goes from here, but I’m looking forward to the return of the Worldbreakers even more. Now those were incredible villains!

Overall 7/10

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