Captain America: The First Avenger

I have not said too much about this film, mainly because I kept forgetting about it.  It is crazy to think that Marvel put out two major films this summer (plus, there was the X-Men film, which is also a Marvel comic, but different production company...)  I keep getting surprised by how good the Marvel films actually turn out.  Maybe DC should just allow Marvel to make their movies as well (minus the Batman films).

The movie starts out with Steve Rogers being rejected yet again from being able to sign up for the Army.  Actually the movie starts with a modern day search team finding something in the Arctic.  Anyways, Steve finally gets into the military because a doctor wants him for a special project.  We learn that Steve has plenty of the intangibles, he is very David Eckstein-esque.  He then gets an injection and becomes taller and stronger.  He becomes a super-soldier, but the good doctor is killed, so they cannot make any other ones.  The Army uses Steve to promote buying war bonds.

Honestly, the beginning was entirely too slow.  I get that they wanted to show that Steve was a great kid, and how hard he would fight and never give up.  Why not cut that back a bit and just show the grenade scene and have someone list all his characteristics?  Or something, they could have cut it down a good fifteen minutes.

After that the action picks up and Captain America rescues some soldiers and leads his own team against Hydra.  He then saves the world by crashing a plane into the Arctic Ocean and defeating the Red Skull.  He gets rescued in the modern world and learns that he has been sleep for seventy years.

The Good
-The fight scenes were pretty cool.  He made using a shield look pretty cool and not hokey.  Also, they did not make him ridiculously strong.  Granted, he is strong, but I was afraid we would see him catching cars out of the air, or flipping over a tank.  Not that strong.

-Haley Atwell is pretty damn hot.  The character of Peggy Carter was also cool.  She is pretty tough, and I am sure they will introduce Sharon Carter at some point.  My guess is that the movie makes her the daughter of Peggy.

-Chris Evans did a great job.  He did not come off as the same character as Johnny Storm.  I have always liked him as an actor, although I realize some people do not. 

-I also loved how they set-up things for the Avengers movie, but not so much that it was irritating.  That was a minor problem in Iron Man 2, all the Thor references, which I guess put some people off.  Instead, the references were pretty plot integral.  Red Skull mentions the Cosmic Cube (he calls it the Tesseract) being one of the greatest treasures from Odin's Treasure Room.  Howard Stark was also more than just a cameo, which I thought at first when he was at the World's Expo.

-The ending was pretty much straight from The Ultimates.  Steve wakes up and they trick him into thinking it is still the 1940s and then he escapes.  I liked that touch.

The Bad
-Why did Cap jump to the conclusion that his only option was bringing the plane down?  Maybe someone can explain this to me.  If he is able to control it so that it will go into a dive, why not turn it around?  Or try to land it somewhere?  Were the bombs flown by Hydra agents?  If so, once he killed all of them, what harm would it be to turn around and try to land somewhere?  They should have went with the old fashioned nuclear rocket option instead.

-Bucky's death scene was good, but when they bring him back (and they will), it will seem pretty crazy that he somehow survived that fall.

-Hugo Weaving's accent

-Chris Evans need to bulk up more, his chest was not big enough...

Comic Book Movie Grade:  B+/A-

X-Men: First Class

Lindsey and I went to see X-Men:  First Class on Friday, and it was pretty good.  Before I get into the movie, allow me to say about the theater.  Remember when I went to see Thor?  That place in Indiana was a real dump, but the new place in State College was just the opposite.  They had huge leather seats, the screens were very large, and the sound system was fantastic.  You suck Indiana!

Anyways, back to the movie.  It is set in the 1960s, Erik Lensherr is trying to find the man who killed his mother (Sebastian Shaw, played by Kevin Bacon).  He is like James Bond or Eric Bana in Munich.  He travels to Argentina and kills some former Nazis (he mixes his magnetic control with some pretty tough fighting skills).

Meanwhile, Charles Xavier and his good friend Raven are celebrating Charles receiving his doctorate.  He is pretty much a jerk trying to get into the ladies pants.  Moira MacTaggert enlists his help in tracking down the Hellfire Club.  She works for the CIA and has seen mutants in action.  He then informs the CIA of his abilities.

He then meets Erik and they become friends.  They enlist the help of a bunch of young mutants and set out to stop Shaw and the Hellfire Club.  One of my favorite scenes was the way they trained together.  Especially Charles and Erik together.  How funny is it that Charles is the one who helped Erik unlock his full potential.

There were a few little inconsistencies from the first movie.  Professor X tells Wolverine that Magneto has his helmet because he and Erik built Cerebro together, but in this one, Beast is the one who built Cerebro, and the Russians designed the helmet for Shaw.  How come Magneto never had more of those helmets made so that his followers could defend themselves against Professor X?

Also, we see the development of Mystique.  She starts out as Charles friend, but he does not think she should reveal her real appearance to people (Beast feels the same about how they should look normal).  Magneto constantly tells her that she is beautiful.  It was also cool seeing her shift into Rebecca Romijn.

Speaking of cool cameos, when Erik and Charles go on their mutant finding quest, they walk into a bar and start their proposition to Logan (Hugh Jackman), who tells them to "go fuck yourselves."  I was pretty shocked they allowed that kind of language.

Also, how does Moira go from a CIA agent, to someone who runs a hospital or something.  Remember in the post-credit scene after the third one?  Professor X takes that guys body over that Moira is taking care of, that hardly seems like CIA work to me.

I also loved how Shaw was someone who could challenge Magneto's power.  Although, how would a coin through his head kill him?  Or did Xavier have his powers shut off while he was in his head?  Seemed a bit weird to me.

I thought January Jones was extremely hot as Emma Frost, but umm, does this movie fit with the Wolverine movie?  Emma Frost was a young girl in that film and still being held by Stryker, at the end of this film, Magneto frees her from Stryker's grasp...

I want to say that Michael Fassbender was amazing as Magneto.  I can see why so many mutants would want to follow his cause.  He came off as determined and unwavering in his belief.  Charles (I thought James McAvoy was really good too) came off as arrogant and a little bit afraid of the mutants who look different.  He does not embrace mutantism (I am making that word up) 100% yet.  I am sure with him being paralyzed he will lose some of that ego.

The movie was really good and I am excited about the idea of a sequel.

Comic Book Movie Grade:  B+/A-

Thor

Lindsey and I met at the Carmike Cinemas 4 in Indiana for the midnight showing of Thor.  Why Indiana?  Well it was closest place for both of us since she was at work.  Unfortunately, it was in 3-D, which I had not seen a movie in yet, and was not all that excited about the idea. 

Before I get into the movie, I want to say that the theater sucked.  It was a tiny screen, the sound quality was terrible, and the bathrooms were disgusting.  I am pretty sure the sound system was a set of 50-watt car speakers from Wal-Mart, seriously that bad.  I do not even want to explain the restroom, it will make you vomit.  Anyways, on to the movie.

I definitely enjoyed the movie, more so than I thought I would.  I never really thought Thor was the type of character that could sustain a solo film.  I figured he would be someone that was in the Avengers movie and it would just be assumed that everyone knows he is the God of Thunder.  I was skeptical of this movie from the moment it was announced.

They did a great job of making this a story about sibling rivalry and their relationship with their father.  I loved how they did not make Loki into this evil shithead who all along was working with the Frost Giants. 

I thought for sure the "god without powers" trying to adjust to Earth would just come off as stupid, but it was actually pretty funny.  The only complaint I have about the movie is that the story should have started with Thor on Earth and giving us the idea that he has been stuck in this realm for years.  Unfortunately, if you do that, you lose those funny scenes of him throwing coffee cups on the ground or demanding a horse at a pet store.

A little something for the ladies...

I think if you do it my way though, it would seem more believable that his sacrifice would mean he was finally worthy to wield Mjolnir.  Whatever, such a small thing to complain about.  Speaking of the hammer, when he kicks the crap out of the SHIELD agents and puts his hands on the hammer and nothing happens, that was such a cool scene, especially since Jeremy Renner was there as Hawkeye.

I think Marvel learned their lesson from Iron Man 2 about not overly promoting their next movie by taking away from the current movie's plot.  The fanboys know who he is and get excited and the casual movie-goer probably said something like "hey, was that the guy from The Town (or The Hurt Locker)?"  Then when they see the Avengers movie, they will be like "hey, I remember that guy being in Thor!"

One last thing I really liked about the movie:  Natalie Portman.  Aside from the fact that she is hot (I refuse to believe there is even one astrophysicist who looks 1/5th as good as her), she is also a good actress (or female actor as they are known today).  I loved that when she was around Thor she would sometimes have that giddy/cutesy girly-ness that she had in Garden State. 

Did everyone else stick around to see the after-credits scene?  It involves Nick Fury and Stellan Skarsgard and what appears to be the Cosmic Cube.  I guess it will play a role in the Captain America movie and most likely in the Avengers movie as well.

Comic Book Movie Grade:  A

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Allow me to start this off by saying that I do not read the comic.  I think I picked up an issue at Free Comic Book Day awhile back and I really did not think it was all that amazing.  Unfortunately, I must be in the minority, since every comic fan out there says it is the greatest thing ever.

Also, when I first started seeing the previews for this movie, I thought it looked a little weird.  Fortunately, it was directed by Edgar Wright, who also directed Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, two movies I loved.  I figured it would be at least somewhat funny.

Let me just say that the movie was pretty damn good.  It makes fun of the cool/trendy/hipster kids, while also being part of that same group.  It has a simple plot, yet it Wright does it so well that you are entertained the other time.  In fact, I recommend you read Vince's review over at Filmdrunk.  As usual, he says it much better than I ever can.

The fact that Superman was in the movie (Brandon Routh) made it that much better.  I liked him as Superman, I do not care what anyone says.  And he gets to help make fun of vegans, which is always a plus in my book.  Oh, and then Thomas Jane shows up as a member of the Vegan Police.  It was actually amusing.

Anyways, the movie is pretty good.  You should definitely check it out.  Also if you like really cute girls, then check it out, this movie has a few of them...

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Anna Kendrick

Aubrey Plaza

Brie Larson

Ellen Wong

Comic Book Movie Grade:  B+/A-

Iron Man 2

I went to the midnight showing of Iron Man 2.  Let me preface this by saying that aside from the first full trailer of the movie, I did not check out any of the other previews or online fun.  Hell the closest I came was the Burger King commercials.  No real reason, just wanted to go into the movie without feeling like I already saw most of it.  Let me say, the movie was awesome and the only bits I did see from the previews, were not really in the movie anyways.

As before, Robert Downey Jr. was great as Tony Stark.  He pulled the smug, party-going, super genius off as well, if not better than in the first movie.  I have heard some complaints about the party scene, but to me it was well done.  We are not ready to see Tony with an actual drinking problem.  Right now, it has to seem funny and not a problem.  In the next movie (or maybe the Avengers movie) we should start to see him drinking more and more while he is alone, having no fun...you know, that whole downward spiral thing.

The rest of the cast was pretty good, Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke were great villains.  I actually thought Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer was very cool.  He comes off as the Tony Stark wannabe.  Maybe it's because I always think Rockwell is pretty funny in just about any role.  Scarlett Johannson was also fine as the Black Widow.

The plot was actually the weakest part of the movie.  Not saying that it was a bad story or anything, it was just fairly simple.  Revenge against Stark, Stark being poisoned by his reactor, Rhodey becoming War Machine, Stark solving problems...fairly simple.  I was not expecting any big twists or anything, but it would have been nice to be a little surprised.  Fortunately, the movie does it so well that I did not mind.

The only problem I had with the movie was the whole discovery of the new element that helps cure Tony.  Why would someone hide a new element in a diorama?  That is weird.  It would have been better if Nick Fury would have called someone and said "Dr. Richards, how close are you to that cure we talked about?"  Meaning Reed Richards, the person smarter than Tony Stark.  That would have been awesome.

Speaking of Nick Fury, I have read complaints out there about how this movie spent too much time setting up the other Marvel movies as well as the Avengers movie.  Yeah, it took like two minutes to set them up.  So distracting...

Again I predicted the after credits scene:  it was Agent Coulson calling Fury and saying that they found it in the New Mexico desert.  As they pan across a crater, we see Thor's hammer.  Yes, I am pretty excited for the Thor movie now.

Comic Book Movie Grade:  A

Kick-Ass: Review

As most of you know, I have been pretty excited about this movie.  I have never read the comic, but have heard very good things.

What can I say?  It lived up to my expectations.  Actually, it exceeded them.  I went in kind of nervous, thinking that it could either go two ways:  very good or very bad. 

I figured if it was good, it would be up there with Spider-Man or Iron Man.  If it was bad though, it would be ridiculously bad, like The Spirit.

The Spirit was such a campy, bad movie, but it took itself very serious.  Fortunately, Kick-Ass does not have that problem.  It does not come across as silly or anything campy.  Actually, the best review I have read for the movie comes from Filmdrunk.  I agree with everything in the review.

One of the things I have thought about is the suspense of disbelief in the movie.  Actually in any comic book movie.  The funny thing is, people will allow the idea that Gamma radiation will turn a man into a green monster (and not kill him with cancer), or that a spider can bite someone and give them super strength.  Yet, people will complain that an eleven year old girl could not beat the crap out of a bunch of grown men.

Let me say that Hit-Girl is the highlight of this movie.  Aside from some weird fantasies I have about young girls in wigs who can kill people, I really feel like the girl who played Hit-Girl was absolutely amazing.  She could definitely be a star.  She delivered lines perfectly and hilariously. 

My favorite fight scene of the movie was definitely the rescue scene where the film it with night vision.  It looks like a video game, and the first thing I thought of was how for a little kid, this would be such an easy way to go out and kill people.  I mean, it would probably be just like playing Call of Duty or something.  Especially to a little girl whose dad has trained her to take the impact of a bullet into her bullet proof vest.  Anyways, that fight scene, switching to night vision, to strobe light, to darkness, to a little bit of flame lighting was awesome.

I really had no complaints with the movie, I really wish we could have seen Lyndsy Fonseca's boobs whenever Dave was applying that fake tan lotion.  So hot....

For those of you that saw it, let me know what you thought about it.  And enjoy this last picture of Hit-Girl, which if this is a poster, I want one for my apartment.  Is that a little creepy?

Comic Book Movie Grade:  A

Comic Book Movie Grades Part 2

I figured it is about time to update the list. Movies that I forgot or have come out since last time will be in bold. If I changed my mind about a movie, it will be in italics.

Spider-Man: A+
Spider-Man 2: A+
Spider-Man 3: A-/B+
X-Men: A
X2: A+
X3: B+
X-Men Orgins: Wolverine: C
Blade: B-
Blade II: B
Blade: Trinity: B+
Daredevil: B-
Elektra: C
Fantastic Four: C+
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer: D-
Hulk: C-
Punisher: C+
Catwoman: F
Constantine: C
Batman: B
Batman Returns: B-
Batman Forever: C
Batman and Robin: D-
Batman Begins: A
The Dark Knight: A+
Superman: B+
Superman II: B
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut: B+
Superman III: D
Superman IV: F
Superman Returns: A-
Hellboy: B
Hellboy II: The Golden Army: B
Sin City: A+
Road to Perdition: A
Judge Dredd: F
V For Vendetta: A-
A History of Violence: B-
The Crow: B
From Hell: B
Howard the Duck: D+
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: D
Man-Thing: F
Spawn: C
Ghost Rider: C-
300: A+
Iron Man: A+
The Incredible Hulk: B+/A-
Watchmen: A
30 Days of Night: B
The Spirit: F

30 Days of Night

Yes, I am doing a review of the movie 30 Days of Night. No, I am not stuck in some time-warp, and no this is not the first time I have seen the movie. I just realized I never posted anything about it and well, it is almost Halloween and I just watched it again on Encore. Good enough reason in my book.

For those of you that have not seen the movie, let me give you a quick recap. It is set in Barrow, Alaska, one of those places that get thirty days of darkness in winter. A pack of vampires decide to come to the town and kill everyone. The movie revolves around those thirty days and how the sheriff (played by Josh Hartnett) keeps a few people alive.

This movie is based on the comic of the same name. That comic is one of the only ones to ever creep me out. Maybe it's Niles' storytelling, or maybe Templesmith's art (most likely a combination of both), but it was a very good comic.

The movie follows the book pretty well, and it also has parts that scare the bejeezus out of me. Some of things the movie does well: bring the vampires to life, if you read the book, you know that those vampires do not look like your typical bloodsuckers. They resemble the old Nosferatu (huge pointy teeth...well just look at the picture).

I enjoy vampire movies, well as long as my vampires are not sparkly when they go out in the sun, but I really like them when they are just evil. There is no reasoning with these vampires, no discussions of morality. They come to the town and the feast on the people like they are at an all you can eat buffet.

So if you feel like watching a good vampire movie, check this one out. Here is my favorite scene of the movie:


Comic Book Movie Grade: B

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Let me first say that I had very low expectations going into this movie. That is probably a good thing because I could not be let down. The movie was not terrible, but it was not particularly good. Sadly it made enough money that they want to do a sequel and that movie execs will decide to make more of these kinds of comic films instead of movies like Watchmen.

I will now try to explain this film's very silly plot. Logan and Victor are brothers. They fight in a bunch of wars together. Victor becomes a bit unstable and enjoys killing a bit too much. Logan does not. They join up with William Stryker and his team of mutants. Logan quits the group because they are about to murder a whole village.

He is living in the mountains with a hot woman (Kayla Silverfox) and he works as a lumberjack. Victor pays a visit and kills Kayla. Logan goes to Stryker and receives his adamantium and learns that Stryker wants to erase his memories. He escapes and begins trying to find Victor. He learns that Stryker is kidnapping mutants and taking them to the island, which Gambit escaped from. He enlists Gambit's help and he takes him to Three Mile Island.

He finds out that Kayla is still alive and that she is a mutant. Their relationship was just a ruse. Her sister (Emma Frost) is being help captive by Stryker and he used her to get to Logan. Stryker activates Weapon XI, which is Deadpool. Apparently Wade Wilson with a bunch of other mutants powers stuffed into him.

Deadpool fights with Logan on top of the cooling tower, Deadpool almost kills him, but Victor comes to lend a hand. He says that only he has the right to kill Logan. They battle with Deadpool, and Logan cuts his head off. The damage destroys some of the tower (I bet that is what really happened at Three Mile Island...)

Kayla dies. Logan is sad because she says that she really did love him. The kids escape with the help of Charles Xavier and his cool helicopter. Stryker shoots Logan in the head with an adamantium bullet, which causes Logan to lose his memories. I guess there is a scene in the ending credits of Logan in a Japanese bar, the girl asks if he is drinking to forget, and he says no, he is drinking to remember...

The Good
Hmm, what was good about the movie? Some of the fight scenes I guess. What else? The chicks in the movie were pretty hot. Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson at the beginning was pretty cool, and Liev Schreiber does a good job as Sabretooth.

The Bad
-So let me get this straight, Victor does not remember that Logan is his brother? When they square off in the first X-Men movie, how come he does not mention they are brothers?

-They had flat screen computer monitors back then? Did the one on Stryker's wall, that he was using to watch the battle through Deadpool's eyes, look a bit more modern?

-If Wolverine is the best at what he does and what he does isn't very nice, then I am guessing what he does is get beat down by everyone because that is all I really saw him doing.

-I felt like Stryker's plan should have been part of this season of 24, it was that stupid.

Comic Book Movie Grade: B-/C+

Watchmen Review

I have started writing this review three different times since seeing the film on Monday. I do not want to sound like every other comic book geek out there and start railing away about the differences in the comic and the movie. I expected this to happen. I will probably have a spoiler or two in here somewhere.

People kept trying to say that Snyder would be able to do with Watchmen what he did with 300. I am sorry, but that could not happen. 300 is like 50 pages long. Watchmen is like 2000000 pages long.

As I usually say before reviewing a comic book movie, I am not the type of person who goes in expecting it to be exactly like the comic. I hope that they can get the essence of the character and story right, and whatever needs to be changed, should benefit the story.

With that being said, the next question should be: what did I think of the movie? I really enjoyed it. I cannot wait to watch it a few more times. However, did it blow my mind? No. Did I leave the theater and think to myself: "wow, that was the greatest movie of all time." No.

Major complaints I had about the movie really falls into the acting category. I think Billy Crudup is an awesome actor, but he did not pull Dr. Manhattan off. This being is all powerful, his voice needs to command a little more power behind it.

Matthew Goode, who was decent in other movies I have seen, was absolutely terrible as Ozymandias. He seemed too detached, whereas you would expect a guy who is about to kill millions of people to be a bit more passionate about his project. Also, the movie itself did a bad job of selling to us that Ozy was a really good guy. In the comic, when you learn he is the bad guy, it is a pretty big reveal. In the movie, it seemed pretty obvious.

On a positive note, Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) was amazing. He carried every scene, I only wish they could have done more interviews with the shrink. That was always one of my favorite things in the book, how the shrink starts to see the way Rorschach sees. Oh well.

Another thing that bothered me was the fact that the fight scenes were identical to 300. The slow motion thing is really cool, but Snyder is becoming a one trick pony.

The opening scene though, with the Comedian getting beat, then tossed out a window, may have been the best opening scene ever. This was one of those things about the comic that I never understood how they would make into the movie. Flashbacks, done in red, pretty much every other panel. Snyder reinvented that perfectly.

There were plenty of little things that were directly from the comic, which was definitely cool. I can understand why people who did not read the book, were a little lost though. Maybe this will cause people to rush out and buy the book...

Here is a little test though, if you want to watch a comic book person struggle. Ask them to tell you what Watchmen is about. I bet they give you a whole bunch of buzzwords, like "deconstruction, realistic approach, political commentary..." And yes, all those words (and plenty of others) describe the book. But, ask them to just outline the story for you. Go ahead, those of you who have read it, try it. Now, ask yourself, does that sound like a very good story? The reason that Watchmen is considered one of the greatest comics of all time, is the amazing job that Moore and Gibbons did...obviously.

Anyways, let me know what you thought about it.
Comic Book Movie Grade: A-

Hulk Vs.

I finally got a chance to watch the Direct to DVD Hulk Vs. today. Let me just say it was absolutely kick-ass! What else could you want from something like? 80 minutes of just bone shattering battles. Here are my thoughts on each one, and there will probably be spoilers.

Hulk vs. Wolverine
This starts out with Department H flying Wolverine into Canada where the Hulk has just rampaged a city. Wolverine catches up with him and they get right to work fighting away. This must take place right after Banner has changed because Wolverine knows nothing about him, plus the Canadian government suspects the U.S. Military of covering something up about the Hulk.

After a quick fight, a few of Logan's friends show up, Weapon X (Sabertooth, Deadpool, Omega Red, and Lady Deathstrike). They capture both, and the plan is to wipe both the Hulk's and Wolverine's memories and reprogram them into weapons. Needless to say, Wolverine escapes and finally frees Hulk, which causes a hilarious rampage, especially any scene involving Deadpool.

Also, if you are watching it, fast-forward through the credits, there is a nice little Deadpool clip at the end.

Hulk vs. Thor
There is a bit more story involved in this one. Without getting too much into the story, let me just say this: Thor gets his ass handed to him. Hulk at one point has him pinned against a mountain, punching him over and over. Hulk punches him through the mountain, but not in the usual cartoony way of just one punch. It takes awhile to work their way through it. Creating a nice tunnel.

Plenty of the Asgard mythology shows up, and like I said, the story is pretty cool. With a nice touching moment at the end. I almost shed a tear.

So, if you are looking to pick something up that will entertain you, I recommend checking this out.

Comic Book Movie Grade: A (does this really count? I never did any of the other Marvel cartoons...)

The Dark Knight

Where do I even begin? Let me first start by saying that the movie was absolutely incredible. Better than the first one, and probably up there as one of the best comic book movies ever. Remember awhile back when I had the poll up for movie you were most excited for? I chose Iron Man, and I guess I should really explain the reasoning behind that choice.

I knew that Christopher Nolan would make a good movie. I knew Dark Knight would be as good or close to the Batman Begins. Iron Man had me excited because it could either suck or be fantastic. I loved Iron Man, but then last night I saw what a comic book movie could really be. You can make changes the characters, but if you understand their core, it does not matter. Dark Knight outdid my expectations, which were already pretty high.

That being said, with all the marketing for the movie, I started to get nervous that it might be really bad. Or that my expectations were getting too high, like they did for Spider-Man 3. Again, Nolan and his team did not let me or anyone else down.

Anyways, let us get to the nitty-gritty of the film. Let me just say that I have nothing negative to say about the film. If you have not seen the film, you might want to stop reading then because I will probably have a few spoilers throughout.

As most people have already said, Heath Ledger was incredible as the Joker. He turned the character into something dark and scary. Everyone loved Jack Nicholson's version, but if you read the comics, you can see that the Joker is much more than someone who laughs a lot.

The Joker needs to be scary, sick, and twisted. The only person who gets the joke, is himself. Ledger pulled that off remarkably. The little things he did made the character seem very real, such licking his lips or telling the stories of how he got his scars. Also, no silly origin setup about the Joker was great. He just comes out of nowhere. We never learn who he is, nor does Batman, goes with the way he is in the comics. I know someone will say that in The Killing Joke, Alan Moore created an origin, but at the end even the Joker admits that he could be lying about it.

Aaron Eckhart's performance was also very good as Harvey Dent. They changed the back story a good bit about Two-Face, but for once, this fit the movie much better than the comic's version.

Eckhart's ability shows through during the dinner scene where Harvey defends the Batman to Bruce Wayne, Rachel, and the Russian Ballet dancer. The tone of his voice goes from uplifting and very light hearted, to quickly dark and edgy when he says about living long enough to see himself as the villain.

Question for everyone, did Two-Face die at the end? I thought he did, but then after discussing it with Adam, I agree with him that they probably hauled him off to a secret padded room in Arkham Asylum.

The sad thing about the film is that Christian Bale will receive almost no recognition for being such a great Batman. In the first one, most critics said he was the best actor to play Batman. He was just as fantastic in this movie, if not better, but Ledger and Eckhart stole the show.

Another thing I love about the movie franchise is the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox. In the comics or even the Animated Series, Fox was always the guy who led Wayne Enterprises, but had no clue who Batman actually was. Having Fox in there as someone who also knows and actually helps out, completely strengthens the plot. It does not hurt that Morgan Freeman is a great actor.

Did anyone purchase Gotham Knights? It is set in between the two films, broken into six separate stories and basically explains how Batman becomes even more badass. Anyways, I watched it the other night and one of the best parts of that little film, was of Bruce going to India to learn how to focus his pain.

They used that during the film, such as when Two-Face shoots him and he still manages to get up and escape. Or when guys just mercilessly beat him with clubs or bottles and he moves through it without notice.

Without going on forever, I just want to say that everyone should see the film, and most likely go see it again. Tell me what you thought.

Comic Book Movie Grade: A+

The Incredible Hulk

Last week I went and saw The Incredible Hulk. I definitely enjoyed this one more than the Ang Lee film from a few years back. Although this film was nowhere near as good as Iron Man, it definitely entertained me and had plenty of geek moments.

I wish the movie would have retained a few things from the original. For example, in the first one the Hulk was a split off personality that witnessed his father abuse him and his mother. Now the Lee movie took that too far and ended up making the father into Absorbing Man, but whatever. In this version, the Hulk is not really a separate personality, but instead a manifestation of Banner's id. For me that ruins the great part of Hulk, he is aware of Banner, and hates him more than anyone else out there.

I guess if that is my major complaint about the movie, then I really have nothing to complain about. The action and fight scenes were very cool. Edward Norton was awesome as always. The cameo's and homages to the original show were cool, especially the theme music, which immediately made me think of Stewie in Family Guy...

Anyways, at the end of the movie, Tony Stark makes an appearance, which sets up the Avengers movie very well. From what I have read online, they may go the Ultimates route and make the formation of the Avengers, a response against a rampaging Hulk...

Comic Book Movie Grade: B+/A-

Iron Man

Have you seen Iron Man yet? If not, I highly recommend you got out right now and watch it. Definitely one of the best comic book movies out there.

The story focuses on the origin of Iron Man, which sticks pretty closely to the original comic with a few modern changes here and there. The movie starts out fairly quickly and then slows it down to give you an idea of who is Tony Stark.

In my opinion, the best part of the movie was Robert Downey Jr. He played a perfect Tony Stark. Most of my friends know that I was a Downey supporter as soon as I heard he was picked for the part. I think he is a fantastic actor, and he pretty much has lived the life of Tony Stark (well the rich, troubled part, obviously not the Iron Man part). A much better choice than Tom Cruise, who wanted the part for years.

I read some of the complaints online and some people are saying how they hate in all the Marvel films the bad guy is always much more powerful than the good guy...Yeah, that is what makes it interesting. It would be boring to watch Spider-Man trounce Green Goblin easily, or Iron Man pummel Iron Monger for twenty minutes without getting a scratch. Stan Lee created his characters to have fantastic abilities, but also immense flaws. Iron Man has a kick-ass suit, and he is rich, but Tony Stark eventually becomes a raging alcoholic (I hope that is the direction they go in the sequel).

The only thing I found funny about the movie, not much of a complaint really, and this is a spoiler if you have not watched it, is how Obadiah Stane easily controls the Iron Monger suit after putting it on, yet it took Stark many attempts to perfect it. I was glad Rhodey did not just hop in the other suit and fly around easily.

Oh, and for those of you who saw the final clip after the credits, I predicted that scene almost verbatim to my brother before we went in: "I bet there will be a scene at the end with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and he will tell Stark that he is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and that he is starting a program called The Avengers." I did not have inside information, just read online somewhere that apparently Jackson was seen on the set of Iron Man and The Hulk. The Ultimate Universe Fury is based on Jackson, it is pretty easy to see it coming, if you are a nerd like me.

Anyways, I cannot say anything bad about the movie. I could talk about how great the FX were, or how the dialog rocked, or whatever, but instead, I just want you to go see it, and tell me what you think.

Comic Book Movie Grade: A+

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

After seeing the preview of the movie where Johnny Storm chases after the Surfer and then gets choked, I was pretty excited about the movie. Silver Surfer looked amazing. Unfortunately, that was all I really needed to watch.

The movie turns out to be 92 minutes of cheesy one-liners, team bickering, and way too much information about the wedding of the century. Also, the best way to stop a galactic threat that devours planets: Jessica Alba's hotness. Apparently, that was all it took. Not the powers of the Fantastic Four, not Reed's intellect, just one sexy chick.

Dr. Doom returns, and gives the FF a nice little fight, but it really was not all that special. The FF did nothing, and pretty much relied on the hope that Silver Surfer would change his mind and stop Galactus.

Let me move on to a few of the positives. Silver Surfer did look amazing, and I am very excited about the idea of his own movie, especially if it gets a PG13 or R rating. Chris Evans (Johnny Storm/Human Torch) does another great job playing the cocky superhero. I really think they should pair him with Spider-Man in a movie (those two often teamed up in comics, and they are pretty good friends).

Anyways, umm, yeah there really is not much to say about the movie.

Comic Book Movie Grade: D-

Spider-Man 3

I know that some of you have been waiting, patiently, for my review of S3, well no longer fear, the wait is over.

I definitely enjoyed the movie, but thought it could have been much better. It was still a better film than say Man-Thing or Catwoman. Just kidding, it was still better than most comic book movies, especially any that have made it to a third installment.

The Good
Topher Grace and Thomas Hayden Church were excellent as Eddie Brock and Sandman. Also, the Sandman special FX kicked ass. Also, Bryce Dallas Howard was very hot as Gwen Stacy.

The fight scenes were fast paced and definitely looked cool. The movie started off with fights and kept them going throughout the film. Also, the writers did a great job of explaining Venom without getting way too into it, all we needed to know is that the suit was a symbiote, we did not need any Secret Wars or long story about where it came from. The comics history of the symbiote would be way too convoluted.

The overall story was very good, the idea of revenge being poison and all that stuff fits very nicely with the last two films, and later the idea of redemption. I enjoyed that part of the movie.

The Bad
This might seem like I am pointing out more bad than good, and that may be the case, but these are just little things in my book, but anyways here we go.

Way too much going on all at once. I would have been fine with an introduction to Eddie Brock, Sandman and Harry being the villains, and Gwen Stacy being introduced as a love interest. I wish the story would have went something like this: Harry enlists the Sandman to kill Peter (much of the beginning goes the same way), Harry continues the whole MJ pushing Peter away thing, and he starts to talk to Gwen. When MJ asks Peter to come to the bridge, the Goblin has her suspended in the air, and drops her, as Peter goes to save her, he accidently snaps her neck. That would deinitely be a twist on the way Gwen died in the comics. Also, it would go back to the whole, Peter's life sucks, when things go great, something bad inevitably happens.

He then turns to the black suit and uses it to defeat Harry, most likely killing him. He learns about the revenge thing from Aunt May, and then goes out and redeems himself by getting rid of the suit and forgiving Sandman (for helping Harry). Keep the Eddie story the same, and just save him getting the suit for the end, that way if you want to do a 4th film, you now have a villain to focus. Plus, you are rid of Kirsten Dunst and get to go with Howard.

Okay, I guess that was a little bit longer than I intended. Anyways, I thought Kirsten and Tobey pretty much phoned it in. They sucked. The dance scene was absolutely retarded. Why would you introduce Gwen for that scene? She played too important role in Peter's life to just gloss over her.

Peter walking around NYC being all creepy was just idiotic. I was uncomfortable watching it. Well needless to say, stupid stuff like that annoyed me.

There were other things that bothered me, like Peter just letting Sandman go, even though he was a criminal (wasn't letting a criminal just walk free what got Uncle Ben killed to begin with?)

Anyways, I would say: A-/B+

300 Review

I saw 300 on Thursday at midnight, and I must say I absolutely loved it. This is what a comic book movie should be, using the comic not as reference material, but actually as the storyboards. This was also done with Frank Miller's other great work, Sin City, and proves that comic movies and green screen can be combined for an outstanding product.

I enjoyed 300 more than Sin City, mostly because of the subject material. A little bit about me that some of you do not know. I received my degree in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, which means ancient Greece and Persia were areas I studied in-depth. In fact, I had an upper level class devoted to nothing, but the relationship between Persia and Greece from the 5th Century B.C.E to after the death of Alexander the Great. I also love comic books, and I did my Speech Comm 100 presentation on Frank Miller's comic.

I have read many of the reviews online and in the paper about the movie and want to comment on what some of them are saying. The first thing I notice is that many of the reviewers criticize the movie for being a "guy's" movie, or a film with little substance and way too much violence. I know plenty of girls who want to, or have seen the movie, and they loved it. My girlfriend loved it visually, and for the half naked ripped men throughout.

Was the movie full of violence? Yes. It is a movie about a battle between a small group and a large army. Of course there is violence. Is war violent and bloody? No one really complains about Saving Private Ryan or some of the other war movies. Maybe people thought since it was a comic book movie, it should appeal to all ages. Wrong. That is one of the great things about comic books, some books are all ages, some are definitely not. 300 and Sin City deal with adult themes and situations.

These reviews also keep saying the movie is historically inaccurate. Unfortunately most of these morons failed to realize that the movie does not say "Based on a True Story" or something like that. They criticize how they make the Persians seem like barbarians, or that Xerxes comes off as effeminate. Frank Miller used Herodotus' Histories as a sort of guide, taking liberties whenever he felt like it, since it is his retelling. Herodotus takes the Greek stance that the Persians were barbarians, and also that Xerxes was feminine, as opposed to the manly, superior, sophisticated Greeks. Many of the lines in the movie were taken directly from Herodotus, such as "Our arrows will blot out the sun. Then we will fight in the shade."

I read somewhere that Frank Miller has some homoerotic tendency (they cite some of his other works), because all the men are ripped and very good looking, and the only Spartan to not show these traits was Ephialtes, who betrayed King Leonidas. Again this is something that Greek writers emphasized. In the Iliad Homer describes Thersites as bow-legged, weak, and lame. He is the person who opposes Odysseus in Book II. He makes negative comments and says they should leave Troy. Odysseus then beats him for speaking so, which rouses the men to continue on in battle. Herodotus set out to make an epic story, similar to the Iliad, therefore it is not surprising he borrowed elements from Homer.

This next complaint deals with those movie reviewers who think they are some kind of literary reviewers, and try to find symbolism in everything. The big one they are saying is that the movie is Pro-War for the U.S. against Iran. First of all, just because Persia and Iran are the same place does not automatically mean the movie is about the modern day problems between these two countries. It more or less tells us that history does repeat itself.

The comic's first issue came out in 1998 and the collected graphic novel was released in 1999. This was well before 9/11, the War on Terror, Bush II, and the current Iran issue. The movie follows the comic almost entirely, things that were added or cut still do not give me the impression of some pro-war secret agenda.

I have not seen this yet, but I am sure someone has complained about it: certain scenes, like the giant, or the guy with sawed arms, were ridiculous and could not happen. Remember, this is being told to later Greeks by Dilios, so I am sure he exaggerated somewhat, in order to help stir the rest of the Greek army before they battled the Persians at Plataea.

Anyways, the casting of the movie was superb. Gerard Butler was awesome as King Leonidas. I would love to know how they got his beard to look pointy like it does in the comic. Xerxes was played by Rodrigo Santoro, the guy who plays my least favorite Lost character, Paulo. David Wenham (Faramir) plays Dilios, the lone Spartan survivor and narrator of the events.

Zach Synder said in an interview with IGN.com that they purposely changed the fighting style of the phalanx, for visual reasons, and to mostly look cool. I am okay with this, the phalanx was not meant to be pretty, but it definitely was effective. The battle scenes in the movie looked incredible, and I am sure most would agree, it was a shame that Troy did not put forth the same kind of effort to make their battles look this amazing. One of my favorite things was the use of the red capes of the Spartans, how they flowed around them and moved during different fight scenes.

GRADE: A+
Photos from IMDB and CBR.

Comic Book Movie Grades

If you noticed in the Ghost Rider post, I did an overall grade of the movie. I figured I should grade some of the others, just so you know my stance.

Spider-Man: A+
Spider-Man 2: A+
X-Men: A
X2: A+
X3: A-
Blade: B-
Blade II: B
Blade: Trinity: B+
Daredevil: B-
Elektra: C
Fantastic Four: C+
Incredible Hulk: D
Punisher: C+
Catwoman: F
Constantine: C
Batman: B
Batman Returns: B-
Batman Forever: C
Batman and Robin: D-
Batman Begins: A
Superman: B+
Superman II: B
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut: B+
Superman III: D
Superman IV: F
Superman Returns: A-
Hellboy: B-
Sin City: A+
Road to Perdition: A
Judge Dredd: F
V For Vendetta: A-
A History of Violence: B-
The Crow: B
From Hell: B
Howard the Duck: D+
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: D
Man-Thing: F
Spawn: C

I may have forgotten a few movies, obviously this is not every comic movie ever made, but this is all I can think of right now. Let me know of others, or how you feel about some of the grades.

Ghost Rider

Tonight I saw Ghost Rider. It was okay, nothing too special. It is what one would expect from Mark Steven Johnson. He directed Daredevil. This was not as bad as Catwoman or Constantine, but not nearly as good as say Spider-Man, or hell even Fantastic Four (just kidding).

Nick Cage was pretty good as Johnny Blaze, although some of GR's powers were actually the Danny Keitch GR (the Penance Stare). I will say this, early in the movie, the CGI is absolutely terrible. GR looks like a bad early 90s video game.

Peter Fonda was pretty cool as Mephistopheles. He made a joke about Johnny's bike being nice, which from what I understand was basically the same bike he rode in Easy Rider.

Overall Grade: B-