Last night I got a chance to see the new Green Lantern movie. I have always been huge on DC comics, and GL was one of my favorites comics. I like the Kyle Rayner's take on the GL in the comics. Anyways I was very skeptical on seeing this movie. After seeing the first trailer I was completely underwhelmed, it was the CGI for me. I love the look of the costume because I knew spandex was going to be way out of the answer for the movie. Anyways, I saw the movie and here to give a brief review on what I like and disliked about the movie. I am not going to give anything away, but if you know your GL some of the this stuff should be a no brainer.
Spot on.
First off I really like the execution of the comics to film. Plenty comic movies do it good and bad. This one did it pretty damn well. They really did pay a lot of attention to characters. Especially to GL Corps members. Kilowog (voiced by Micheal Clarke Duncan), almost reminiscent to his comic counterpart and it was like he jumped off the pages (also a treat when he said poozer ^.^). Same with Sinestro (played by Mark Strong), he was the best part of casting in this film. Just dead on accurate. But without giving too much away I felt like the way his home world situation was never really talked about (guess they will save it for the sequel). Tomar Re was the one I was most concerned with after seeing screen shots of him. But I have to admit he was fantastic on the big screen. The Guardians looked awesome and they made them better looking than I thought. Carol Ferris is not going to become Star Sapphire but it was nice to see that nodded at the name in the jet fighter sequence. I felt her acting was flat and not all that well portrayed in the film. Hector Hammond felt a little bland for my taste, I mean there not many serious villians on earth for GL. I thought it was a great choice either way. Parallax kind of had me grinding my teeth, not because he was not accurate.It was the way he reminded me of the way Galactus looked in the second Fantastic Four movie. But he still was terrifying (Parallax). The movie was well executed.
Maybe...
Now for a one last nick pick. The casting for Hal Jordan, which was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds (hawt!!!). He was some-what good on some characteristics and others I thought he was not taking the characters serious enough. But that is just the fan boy in me. I rather have him play someone like Guy Gardner or Kyle Rayner. But other than that I was happy to see one of DC's biggest hero make it to the big screen. Now we need a Firestorm movie.....but probably will never happen.
Now to something that I been wanting to talk about this for awhile. Perfect chance now after dealing with this in GL. I know plenty of people out there run into this at the theaters too. It is people who will not shut the hell up, you spend a lot of money to see a movie and of course someone will try and ruin the experience for you. The reason why I wait for things to come to DVD or Blu-ray. What drives people to start talking loud as crap and thinks the movie is going to talk back. I understand when you are at a house with friends watching a movie and discuss the scenes and laughable mishaps, but when in a theater watching movies with people who paid as much and more for drinks and food (suckers, what a purse was invented for or the fancy term satchel ^.^) you should at least shut up. Its cool if you are like the only person with a friend in the theater but that is a rarity I only experienced once. I had my moment where I snapped a person, especially some women smacking gum like a cow eating grass. Worst of all the people who strike up random conversation with you, they talk about seeing the movie already and spoiling funny lines or critical moments. Another, is people who try to imitate funny lines or one liners. It is just why do some people who enjoy the movie experience get it ruined by people who have nothing else to do. In this day and age money on movie tickets are becoming more and more pricier. Telling a security officer does not crap around our theaters. They come in and the people that were being loud finally shut up, but as soon as they leave "Guess what?". THEY GO RIGHT BACK TO TALKING!!! I could ramble on about this but I am sure you have experienced the same. So I am going to leave you with this video (still trying to figure out how to place video in proper places). That should keep you laughing and thinking about this about people in theaters that won't shut up.
Since the announcement of the HD Collection coming to PS3 and Xbox 360. I was definitely excited to hear Peace Walker getting a console port. I have always been a fan of Metal Gear Solid since it came out in 1998. Yes I will say that Hideo Kojima (creator of the MG and MGS franchise) is a genius. I never played the original Metal Gear series beside the NES port, which was okay for the most part. With MG: Rising dawning to a release date I could not be more excited for MG franchise.
When I played MGS way back on the Playstation, it was one of the first game I got emotionally attached to. The soundtrack was phenomenal. Especially this song when the game ended. It is a beautiful masterpiece of a game and worth any gamers attention. I felt that the characters as ridiculous as some were, were actually believable. When I started to get older the more I appreciated this game. Solid Snake is one of the best characters ever concieved. The game takes place in Alaska on a base called Shadow Moses. I really like that it was one of the first games I played where you had to actually be sneaking instead of gun blazing. The boss battles were epic. One of my favorite boss battles in this game was against Frank Jaeger aka Gray Fox which was turn into a Cyborg Ninja. This boss battle was truly unique in a way of not using weapons. The more the battle went on, the more crazy Ninja got. When you finally find out who he is, it is quite shocking. Well it took me a lot of time to understand who he was when learning more about the series. It was the boss battle that stuck out to me in the game. Another boss battle was Psycho Mantis because it was the first game to mess with me. Especially when he reads your memory card and had to make you switch player controller ports due to him knowing your every move. It was definitely a unique play through. Just goes to show you Hideo knows how to make a damn good game. Metal Gear Rex was a battle that had me literally stunned. It was one of my first battle against a colossus. I also like the fact it was one of the first game to do two endings (well the first one I ever played).I want spoil anything but when you get to the torture chamber sequence the choice could alter the ending. It is truly one of the best game ever made and still holds up pretty well to today's games. The remake "MGS: The Twin Snakes" for the Gamecube was really a flawed remake to the modern audience. I played through it and did not feel what I felt with the original due to the dramatic change to music and voice actors. I did not go for the "Matrix" slow motion cliche cutscenes either. It was a nice way to get new fans but I just did not like it.
When the PS2 dawned and countless people waiting for a sequel to MGS, including me. When it was announced and a demo came with Zone Of Enders (which is another awesome game) a lot of people bought the game just for it. I never did get it because I wanted the full game. When it finally came out I was ready to dive into the next chapter. The game was awesome and at the same time it really confused the hell out of me. New additions were added to game play, which added a first person aiming mode. Which was a awesome touch and help to see where enemies were. As all the people who first played the game, I was surprised to see that you would be playing a new character named Raiden. I do agree with people that he was completely underwhelming to play as and he was a wuss. The bosses in this game were definitely a pack that I liked. I like Vamp up until to point he got annoying because he kept coming back.... Solidus final battle was really fun to play through and showed that fighting without guns was still fun as playing with them. But all in all the second chapter to the series was still awesome. After I finished the second I was wonder where the series would go next.
Found this while looking for a pic of Volgin
The next entry really made me surprised because it was a prequel instead of a sequel to MGS 2. MGS 3: Snake Eater was set in the Cold War era and you played Big Boss. Solid and Liquid's father which was discovered in MGS. This game tried a different style of sleath and that is survival. Killing and eating animals to keep your stamina up. I found the game very challenging than the other entries. I did like discovering the past of Ocelot and finding who Solid's father was. The boss battles were crazier than ever. Note to people playing through try not to kill too many enemies. When you get to The Sorrow you will have a long walk through that river.....I should know. I did like the main adversary, Volgin. He was a actual bad ass and kick the living shit out of Big Boss. He kept saying Kuwabara sometimes. When he said, that I think of my favorite character from Yu Yu Hakusho (popular anime). The game had it all, action, suspense, romance, and a lot of other stuff that made this a great time to pick up on the series.
We all knew the MGS was not over and it was still left with what is the future of Solid Snake. The answer would be the PS3. I was pissed to know that I would probably have to wait to dive into the next game due to the insane price of a new PS3 back in 2006. When the first big trailer was shown of MGS 4: Guns of the Patriots you knew people would be blown away. A big surprise to learn was that Solid Snake has aged quite a lot and I was wondering what the hell was going on. After playing through the game, I have to say it definitely was on par as one of the best damn games I have ever played. I know people grip about long cutscene's but it is what makes the experience much more playable. Like a big action movie sort of speak. I still not giving much away on Snake's final chapter. But I will say you will be visiting Shadow Moses again. It was one of the moments I was left just mesmerized and almost about to cry. Because I remember when I first played MGS and it played that song I posted (which made it a sadder journey). Hideo Kojima was a pure genius to make people feel emotions when the go through Shadow Moses for one last time. The boss in this game were just on the borderline of pure insanity. Another thing I want to show off is one of my favortie parts of the game. This takes place on Shadow Moses after obtaining Metal Gear Rex (the MG in the first game) and facing off againist MG Ray (from MGS 2). The battle is pretty epic. Some other thing that I was glad that they improved on was Raiden character. He was no longer the wimpy sidekick type character, he was full blown war machine. Altering his body into a cyborg (sort of like Ninja in MGS). The last thing I wanted to say is that it definitely answers a lot of burning questions and also raises some other ones. But it was a awesome and sad closing for the mullet bond hero. After finally finishing up the MGS saga. I have to say I am proud to be a gamer. These games pushed a limit of interaction and action (for me) to whole new level. With great characters and memorable lines, cliche plot points, and boss battles that are always a great time to play through. If anyone asked me what would be my most cherish memory in gaming. It would be the entire MGS saga. These game will stand the test of time, and hopefully bring more people into playing. I want to do a more detailed input on MGS 4, but I would just say play through the entire series then come back to me.
With the future of MG games looking bright I can help to see what is next. MG: Rising is looking really great and I want to see how Raiden has become more of bad ass instead of the character he was in MGS 2. I really am looking forward to HD collection and hopefully it will bring more fans into the series. I give my thanks for Hideo Kojima for making such a great series like other countless fans we thank you for making games that stick with us for a long time. Thanks for reading. I know I did not cross a lot of ground with the post but I wanted to give a taste of what made this series special to me. I did not talk about the spin off games of the main saga because I wanted to talk about the main series. I hope many play the series after reading this. Again thanks for reading.
Another post today, I feel like sharing more about comics. I always been a avid comic book reader. One series in particular I wanted to talk about is the DC miniseries event "Zero Hour". It is sort of a forgotten comic miniseries. Based off the "Crisis" stories (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, and the lackluster Final Crisis), thus hints at the name "Zero Hour: Crisis in Time". The reason why this series sticks to me is the way that mess around with the time line in the crossover issues. Especially one of the Superman issues where he runs into Batman shifting into countless other incarnations (shifting to Frank Miller's Dark Knight to Adam West's portrayal). The main plot to the series is time is being destroyed from the end to the beginning. The heroes of the DC Universe are trying to figure it out while having the DCU go out of whack.
It is a clever series and I still have not finished collecting the crossover issues. Most notably from the series is how the main issues countdown from four to zero. Having each issue cover fading more and more until the final issue is a blank cover. Then after the crossover was done issues of comics would be marked #0 retelling the origins of new heroes and old ones. It was definitely a nice way of reintroducing characters. One of the famous series to be spawned out of this was the "Starman" comic introducing Jack Knight bearing the Cosmic Rod. I have a bunch of the #0 issues. One particular issue was Lobo's. I found him very interesting and funny and I have become a fan of him ever since. I think I will do a spotlight on him soon.
Back to the main series itself. I found it dull in some points but overall caught my attention. If you are reading or planning on reading Zero Hour I do warn you to stop reading for the spoiler. When I say spoilers now I hear River Song's voice from Doctor Who. You find out the main villain was not Extant (aka Hank Hall/Hawk/Monarch) but Hal Jordan. Which was the most famous earth Green Lantern know to comic fans. Now know as Parallax now after the Emerald Twilight incident when Hal destroy the GL Corps and central power battery on Oa. It was later explained that Hal was taken over by the fear entity "Parallax" in GL: Rebirth. Anyways I would of been shocked if had not spoiling the plot for myself. Hal is trying to erase and recreate a universe in his own image. I thought it was a nice surprise for people reading back in 1994. I did like the reference in Booster Gold by making a issue #0 and the cover recreating the first issue cover of Zero Hour.
All though there was a lot of people that necessarily disliked this event (mostly due to making the new Hawkman confusing as hell). I was loving what DC was doing by making time go crazy and have alternate realities clash. Just simple premise of mixing it up and making things fresh and exciting made it a crossover worth collecting. I am still not done but I can not wait to finally finish it. I hope more people become a fan of this crossover. Overall the miniseries is worth a read through for any DC Comics fan.
I heard about the news awhile back and I said some of my opinions on the pictures. This would be my first major blog post about comics. I never really knew where to start on a topic about comics until now. In September, DC Comics is making a fresh start with there comics. I think it is a double edge sword. It could work and bring in new fans and alienate old fans or it can win over the old fans and also bring in newer ones. My take on this is mixed but I am excited to see what comes out of this. It is a risky move that DC is taking but I am all for it. I do see the point of long term fans that grew up with DC long before I was born. Don't you think when "Crisis on Infinite Earths" happened a lot of fans were pissed off. Killing heroes and villains and starting somewhere new. I know "Infinite Crisis" did the same thing again and a lot of people afterwards was happy. DC is know for changing things and gambling with there fan base. So that is why I am not on the offence to this change.
The new JLI, loving Booster Gold.
I do see the point of many of the hardcore fan base and I know if I every got into a heated debate I could not try to disagree. I have got immensely confused with a lot of continuity problem that arose because I came into DC in my later years. After learning more of the DC the other heroes beside the big three (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman). Now that this reboot is coming along I am really excited. The JLI (Justice League International) is coming back, Hawk and Dove!!!, Animal Man, Red Lanterns, Fire Storm, and a lot more I can not name right now. Just a couple of things that have made me get a little mad is that Hawk and Dove are finally coming back but why the (pardon for the language) fuck is Rob Liefield doing the art. Liefield is infamous for his character doing impossible anatomical moves and just really dislike his style and I believe it one of things that going to ruin it for me. The story can be top notch but the art also has to make me want to read too. Another thing is I do not like the new Firestorm look, sort of like Hawk and Dove issues but I really can not wait to see what new adventure lie ahead for one of my favorite DC heroes. The JLI teams is awesome but could deal with having the Blue Beetle and Mister Miracle (another favorite) on the team.
I am looking forward to this gamble DC is doing but at the same time I dreading it. It could cause a lot of backlash but I think fans should try and read a couple of issue of these new rebooted issues. I do think that DC knows if this fails that they create a story saying this could a alternate universe. But all will tell in September. I am looking forward to it.
