Batson's Blog

I realized that I wrote this back in March, but never published it.  So, two reviews in two days: Well, Wolverine finally got a great stand-alone movie! I was worried, after seeing the first trailer for Logan , that the movie would be a slower pace than some of the other X-Men movies.  With the 'R' rating, it seemed to possibly bring a darker theme and slower pace than the last couple of X-Men movies, which featured comedic, slow motion Quicksilver montages. While Logan was darker and did have a slower pace, I think it was, by far, the best story to come out of the X-Men franchise. I t had the storytelling that you'd find from one of the first Marvel movies -- where everyone had a role and every scene had a purpose. There were some new characters (a couple of them being mutants) in this movie.  None of them were ones I'd recognized from the animated X-Men series from the '90s or from comics I'd read.  One of them was Caliban, played by the ent...

Two characters in the 1980's Filmation Masters of the Universe series who were somewhat underused were King Randor and Queen Marlena --- the parents of Prince Adam/He-Man. Of course, due to them being the King and Queen of Eternia, they were fairly prominent in terms of their status.  They certainly had more appearances than someone like Ram Man or Buzz-Off, but what they contributed to those episodes was usually fairly minimal. The 2002 Mike Young Productions writing team seemed to focus a little more on Randor and Marlena --- treating them more as a king and queen, showcasing how they made decisions on Eternia and had parts in peace treaties. It was definitely a little more realistic than the more kid-friendly Filmation version. As far as costuming goes, I think Randor's depiction in MYP is the way to go over the very jester-looking depiction in Filmation. Marlena is a different story. She looks extremely bland, to me, in the MYP version. She stands out a bit ...

I was really excited about a new adaptation of Peter Pan when I first heard about it, especially after hearing that it’s a friendship story between Captain Hook and Peter Pan. Peter Pan is one of the most repeated stories there is, so having this fresh take on it was a fun idea. Then I saw the trailer. That’s where the excitement ended. Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara) looked like she went shopping in Cher’s closet rather than being tribal member. Then again, she’s not Native American, so I’m not sure why she was cast in the role in the first place. Then there was Blackbeard. Hugh Jackman seems like a great choice to portray Blackbeard, but good Lord! The costumes and the awful hair piece ruined any excitement I had in seeing Jackman in the role. He looks like a freaky pirate version of Michael Jackson --- and that’s not a compliment. So, yeah. Questionable casting so far and bad wardrobes in the trailer. Not a great way to get people excited for a movie, huh? Oh yeah...

I’d been meaning to post this review a while ago. I saw The Wolverine two and half weeks ago already, but didn’t get around to writing this review. I guess that may be an indication as to whether the movie was good or not, huh? It wasn’t bad actually. It didn’t live up to my expectations though. Considering it was filmed and set in Japan, there wasn’t an epic sword-fight at any point in the movie. There were some impressive battles between characters with martial arts training, but nothing that really stood out as ‘Holy crap! Did you just see that?!’

Tomorrow is the big day. I'm not going to be seeing it until next week, but The Wolverine opens in theatres, nation-wide Friday. Hugh Jackman has said, while promoting the movie, that it's not so much 'Wolverine 2' but a fresh movie, taking place after the original X-Men trilogy. That's probably a good idea since X-Men Origins: Wolverine didn't make a lot of impact at the box office. Jackman's previous work in the X-Men franchise had me sold already, so I'd go see it even if it wasn't stellar, but I have hopes that it will be. Thanks to Jackman, we know this won't be a Wolverine - Part 2, so what exactly can we expect? Here are 6 things I'm pretty confident we can count on: 6. an awesome Silver Samurai If the still photos and the previews are any indication, Silver Samurai will be an epic villain, more intimidating than in the comics and formidable than in the animated series . He almost looks like a larger, robotic version...

After blogging about the best super villains come to life , I figured it only appropriate to come up with a list of the best super heroes come to life. Just like with the villains, some of my choices were made for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s the weaponry that makes a character. Other times it’s the costume. Sometimes it’s the physical Whatever the reason, the end result was successful. 10. Rachel Nichols as Scarlett ( G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra , 2010) I had to Google Rachel Nichols to write this blog post. I haven't seen her in anything before or since G.I. Joe. Turns out she's been in quite a few movies -- just nothing I've seen. She's proof that sometimes it's best to pick an actress that isn't as well known to play a role rather than going to the A-listers. She didn't set the world on fire with her portrayal, but she looked the part and captured the essence of the talented and confident (yet not arrogant) Scarlett. The only thing...