Tag: 2015

Marvelous Monday #4 – What If Spider-Man Had Returned to Marvel in 2010?

I'm Jeffrey Rex' Marvelous Monday #4 (What If)

For the uninitiated: This is a new weekly feature on the blog wherein I, I’m Jeffrey Rex, discuss all things Marvel.

On this, the fourth ‘installment’ of I’m Jeffrey Rex’ Marvelous Monday, I’ve decided to give you the very first ‘What if’-post. The entire setup of a ‘what if’-post is different, for while regular casting-speculation posts might talk about what could happen, the ‘what if’ posts are much more fact based – at least that’s my intention.

The very first ‘What if’-discussion centers around the epilogue of the Sam Raimi-era of Spider-Man. Let’s look at the bare facts here. Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man film premiered in 2002, its leads where Tobey Maguire, as the titular hero, James Franco, as Harry Osborn, Kirsten Dunst, as Mary Jane Watson, and Willem Dafoe, as the one-off villain Norman Osborn. Two years later, the beloved sequel premiered – with the same basic cast – and another one-off villain – this time Alfred Molina playing Dr. Otto Octavius. Three years thereafter, the third film in the franchise premiered. The movie wasn’t a success – critics criticized its many subplots, and many villains, who, all, were underdeveloped and underused.

This was to be just a slight bump in the road, Sony clearly wasn’t done with the franchise – and, seemingly, not done with the leads and Raimi. Years went by as Sony and the fans were left wanting more – waiting – waiting – losing patience. There was talk of Vulture or Carnage appearing – but time and time again rumors were shot down. Raimi was unable to find a suitable script for his story, and, eventually, Sony and Raimi went their seperate ways in 2010.

Now we all know that Sony would treat this as yet another bump in the road, march on and make more films – though with new actors. Andrew Garfield was cast as the titular hero in the rebooted franchise, and in 2012 Sony had released their first film in the Marc Webb-era. But what if the disappointing scripts, the departure of Raimi – and bad reviews had scared Sony into selling the film-rights back to Marvel Studios?

Continue reading “Marvelous Monday #4 – What If Spider-Man Had Returned to Marvel in 2010?” →

REVIEW: Life Is Strange – Episode 1

Logo owned by Square Enix for Life is Strange.

There will be no review grade/score for single episodes.

On the 30th of January Square Enix released the very first episode of Dontnod Entertainment‘s Life is Strange. Very much like the classic Telltale-style of game, this is an interactive, episodic, story-heavy game. The game is about Max Caulfield a female student at Blackwell Academy – whereat she studies photography. Max is a very shy girl, and as the game progresses you are thrown into very clear-cut choices – be heroic, friendly – or be a bully, be nosy. In that respect, the choices seem like those in the inFAMOUS games by Sucker Punch, and thus I don’t think it has that punch that Telltale has – at least not yet.

Again, unlike Telltale-games, the dialogue isn’t very strong – and at times it didn’t feel very natural. Also, I would’ve liked a more experienced Voice Actor as the main character – but then again, everyone starts somewhere. The first episode introduces you to the rewind-mechanic – meaning that you can reverse time. When handled well, this can be fun to do – and I thought it was in the opening episode.

The story is cute – with many inside references – and there are a lot of plotpoints to work out in the episodes to come. The game has a lot of stock characters – the shy girl, the mean girls, the spoiled brat, the jocks, the (to us) not-so-secret admirer, and hipster characters.

The story is really entertaining when you interact with Chloe, an old friend that’s changed a lot since you last saw her. Her family is troubled, and she’s gotten herself into a lot of trouble. An interesting subplot in this game is the disapperance of Rachel Amber – I have some ideas – but we’ll have to see about that. One thing’s for certain, Chloe is in need of help.

As I mentioned, the dialogue isn’t very good – and I’d add that there are some cringeworthy moments. It has a lot of potential though, and I am excited to see what comes next. The art-style has its ups and downs, and it is extremely annoying to constantly have problems with lips not synced with the voiceacting. It runs much smoother than Telltale games, but with that having been said – background characters aren’t that detailed. I do prefer the art-style of Telltale – but the level of quality is much higher here.

I am excited about the future of this game. As a pilot it works really well, the story is interesting – if you snoop around you’ll get some ideas – and it ends with everyone having an idea of what’s to come.

I’m Jeffrey Rex

 

Marvel’s Daredevil (2015-) Teaser Trailer Review

Today Marvel and Netflix released the second video from the new Netflix series ‘Marvel’s Daredevil‘. The first one was, of course, just a logo – and some Hell’s Kitchen sound. The second teaser trailer has been released, and it has given us much more to go on. The trailer should be available above. Continue reading “Marvel’s Daredevil (2015-) Teaser Trailer Review” →

Marvelous Monday #3 – Who Is Marvel’s James Bond?

I'm Jeffrey Rex' Marvelous Monday #3

For the uninitiated: This is a new weekly feature on the blog wherein I, I’m Jeffrey Rex, discuss all things Marvel.

On this, the third ‘installment’ of I’m Jeffrey Rex’ Marvelous Monday, I’ve decided to take a look at the characters in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe – and see if any of the characters can go the James Bond-route, and if any character could switch both actor AND character without losing comic book logic.

This discussion is based on the fact that Kevin Feige was asked, by Badass Digest, about the possibility of making Tony Stark into a superhero James Bond. Here’s Feige’s response:

“I think Bond is a good example. Let’s put it this way: I hope Downey makes a lot of movies for us as Stark. If and when he doesn’t, and I’m still here making these movies, we don’t take him to Afghanistan and have him wounded again. I think we James Bond it.” – Kevin Feige.

Now, Robert Downey Jr. won’t be making Iron Man-movies until the end of time – sadly – but, thankfully, he’s still here. I fear what a Downey-less MCU means to the survival of the Superhero genre. It’s not that Marvel hasn’t survived a switch in actor (Norton -> Ruffalo), but this would be a much bigger change. Not only was The Incredible Hulk not much of a success, but the Downey-led films are the most successful for Marvel.


The Hemsworth films aren’t making enough money for Marvel to let Downey go – sooner rather than later the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be much different. Which, obviously, is why they’re adding all these new characters in Phase 3.

I don’t consider the Tony Stark as James Bond-idea to be viable for Marvel, seeing as you’d have to get an actor at the same level of talent – or his stock would plummet. I’m not saying that you kill the character when Downey leaves, but maybe it’s time for Stark to leave his suit at home, and lead a new generation of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Give Downey a Samuel L. Jackson-like workload.

Similarly, you could just have Stark be the leader of the Avengers – the brains of the operation – and have him appear in a handful of scenes in every Avengers film, and every other solo-film.

 

There are, however, two characters that can easily survive a new actor or actress. A simple answer would be Thor. Recently Marvel Comics made Thor Odinson unworthy, and gave Mjolnir to a female Asgardian. I would love to see this happen one day, when Hemsworth needs a break. But there’s a much easier answer to the conundrum.

The real answer is, of course, Captain America. To my knowledge 9 different characters have been Captain America – the symbol – the leader. Our current Cap, Steve Rogers, is of course the most recognizable – but the MCU can already give Chris Evans a break. They already have two future Captain America-characters in the MCU SPOILERS Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson.

Some people even recognize Agent 007 as a symbol, a codename, more than a single person – so yeah, to me there is only one James Bond in the Marvel Universe, and his rank is ‘Captain’.

Stay Marvelous!

– I’m Jeffrey Rex.

REVIEW: Batman (Vol. 2) #38

Batman (Vol. 2) #38 – Cover by Greg Capullo, FCO Plascencia & Danny Miki

The following is a full written review of Batman (Vol. 2) #38 – Written by Scott Snyder, with art by Greg Capullo – Release: January 28th 2015.

The New 52 version of Batman is currently doing Scott Snyder’s Endgame storyline. This issue is part 4 of the storyline revolving around a toxin being released by Batman’s greatest foe. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s run on Batman singlehandedly made me read DC again, and it’s my very favorite DC comic book-series of all-time.

Warning – the following brief plot-summary might contain spoilers.

Endgame Part 4 opens with the Caped Crusader going across town, in search for Jim Gordon – who we last saw staring down, and even gunning down, The Joker one-on-one. As the toxin takes hold of Gordon the Dark Knight is almost blindsided, but, thankfully, Julia Pennyworth shoots a couple of tranquilizers into Gordon’s neck. The World’s Greatest Detective consults with Dick ‘Birdwatcher’ Grayson – trying to figure out what exactly is in the toxin. They eventually decide on a specific Doctor. The Doctor reveals that he believes in the stories we’ve heard – that the Joker is superhuman, or rather, (greek-) God-like. I’ll leave here, so that the very final pages aren’t spoiled – but I’ll say this – Snyder masterfully ties the story into his very beginning with Batman… The greater history of Gotham.

It’s very difficult to critique the story in a Snyder comic book, and the only little note I have is that the dialogue seemed way too fabricated when Dr. Dekker calmly chats about greek Gods ‘outside’. Which isn’t to say that I disliked the dialogue, I loved it – but I don’t think it worked right in that moment. The thing is – Snyder’s one of my favorite comic book writers, and even in what may be interpreted as a filler-issue his story is captivating.

Capullo is equally great, I’ve grown accustomed to his style – and his last page is so strong, so good. Kudos, as well, to FCO Plascencia – in my opinion one of his better issues. I loved the colouring.

While I usually like the stories by James Tynion IV, I wasn’t fascinated by the back-up story this month. I think my biggest problem here is that the art was too different from the rest of the issue. Sam Keith definitely has his art-style, but I’ve grown accustomed to Capullo’s style, and Keith’s doesn’t come close to his. Not saying it’s worse, I’m just not a fan of the art-style by Sam Keith. You win some, you lose some.

Final Grade: B+ – Another great story by Scott Snyder featuring Capullo’s amazing art-style, and equally fantastic colouring by FCO Plascencia. Some might call this a filler-issue, but it’s perfect in keeping with the lore of Snyder’s Batman-story. The back-up story is fine, but the art-style will be polarizing. For full list of Comic Book Review grades go here.

– I’m Jeffrey Rex.

The Fantastic Four (2015) Trailer Review

Here we go, the trailer for Josh Trank and Fox’ Fantastic Four is finally out. Today I’m trying something new, trying to give my thoughts about the trailer – saying what it shows, but also giving my opinion. Remember how I liked the Ant-Man trailer? I’m going to give similar pros/cons for this one. So without further ado….

Now this is a teaser trailer, so keep that in mind. But the first thing that comes to mind when watching it, is how similar the feel of the trailer – the sound – the look – is to Interstellar. Now, trailers tend to copy off of something – and they’ve definitely gone for a Nolan-feel. But a property like the Fantastic Four should be able to stand on its own with a trailer – without going full-Nolan.

Continue reading “The Fantastic Four (2015) Trailer Review” →

Marvelous Monday #2 – Thematic Pattern of MCU’s Phase 2

I'm Jeffrey Rex' Marvelous Monday #2
For the uninitiated: This is a new weekly feature on the blog wherein I, I’m Jeffrey Rex, discuss all things Marvel.

On this, the second ‘installment’ of I’m Jeffrey Rex’ Marvelous Monday, I’ve decided to go over the second phase of Marvel‘s Cinematic Universe – fully aware of the fact that it’s still going strong – but trying to uncover the general theme or motif of Marvel‘s potentially most succesful phase yet.

Continue reading “Marvelous Monday #2 – Thematic Pattern of MCU’s Phase 2” →

REVIEW: Marvel’s Star Wars #1 (2015)

Star Wars #1 – Cover Art by John Cassaday

The following is a full written review of Marvel’s Star Wars #1 – Written by Jason Aaron, with art by John Cassaday – Month of Release: January 2015.

At 2014’s San Diego Comic Con, Marvel Comics revealed that they were releasing three new series in early 2015. Star Wars, Star Wars: Darth Vader (Both Monthly), & Star Wars: Princess Leia (Limited Run). All three of the aforementioned early 2015 Star Wars series take place right after Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. I might review the other opening issues as well, and I will continue to review this series if the story is respectful.

Warning – the following brief plot-summary might contain spoilers.

Star Wars #1: Skywalker Strikes follows the original cast of Star Wars, as they try to bring down an imperial weapons facility. The gang pose as negotiators for Jabba the Hut, and everything goes fine – until, suddenly, Darth Vader arrives. Leia orders Chewbacca to take a shot at Vader, but they’re out of luck, obviously. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker saves slaves – and Leia & Han get into an argument. While Han & Leia try to find a way out of the facility, followed by the liberated slaves, Luke hears the voice of Obi Wan – and runs into Darth Vader.

The story is very entertaining – as fun as you’d expect it to be. The dialogue is very good for the main characters, but I took issue with the sudden information dump by C-3PO in the beginning of the issue – I would expect the exposition to interweave better in a high stakes comic book. Still, this feels like Star Wars.

I’ve got to say that I am impressed by the cover art, and the overall look of the universe in the comic book. It looks absolutely great. There is, however, one thing that disappointed me. At times the likeness was off – especially for Luke Skywalker. At times he looked like more like a Ellen DeGeneres lookalike, than a young Mark Hamill.

I often say that it was my first nerd-love, and it was – yet I’ve never actually read Star Wars comic books until now. I didn’t know they existed until a few years ago. Had I known, I would’ve been a lot happier – methinks. Now, how do I feel this comic book overall feels to me compared to the films, shows etc. that I’ve watched? It fits perfectly within the narrative of the original trilogy. Same feel, same look – same mood. Spot on.

At the end of the issue, you see some preview pages for Star Wars: Darth Vader & Star Wars: Princess Leia. While it would be impossible to make a statement on the story based on preview pages, I loved the look of Star Wars: Darth Vader, but I’m iffy about the look of Star Wars: Princess Leia.

Final Grade: A- – The feel and look of Star Wars is captured in this entertaining mission. For full list of Comic Book Review grades go here.

– I’m Jeffrey Rex.