Category Archives: Reviews
Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
We all know that Peter Parker never has much luck with the ladies, but on the big screen, his love is smoldering! Who would have guessed that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a romantic comedy? The second entry in Sony Pictures’ second Spider-Man series is all about the love shared between an arachnid boy and his high school sweetheart. Sure there are a couple of super-villains thrown in for good measure, but that’s just what you have to deal with when you’re dating the Amazing Spider-Man!
Movie Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
I don’t mind at all that Sony Pictures wants to make a mega-franchise out of their Amazing Spider-Verse. As far as I’m concerned, director Mark Webb and actor Andrew Garfield absolutely get Spider-Man. They get the humanity. They get the drama. They get the pure thrill of being Spider-Man. They seem awkwardly obsessed with Peter Parker’s dad, but that can be forgiven when the rest of their movies are so good!
I loved the first Amazing Spider-Man movie, and praised it for the nuanced, personable portrayal of Peter Parker. The same focus on Peter returns for the sequel, and once again I have to point out that the young Andrew Garfield is light years beyond Tobey Maguire in not just his skill as an actor, and his range, but just in how he embodies the character. Garfield easily carries the film, injecting Peter and Spidey with the right amount of humor and love for his family and fellow man. He’s joined by a returning Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, who just lights up the whole film whenever she’s on screen. The chemistry between the two actors is some of the best I have ever seen in film or television, and they really do make this movie into more of a love story than a superhero flick.
But it’s also, definitely, a superhero movie. And while those elements aren’t the strongest part of the film, they are still highly enjoyable. Like I said, Garfield is fantastic as Spider-Man, especially in costume. Not only is he legitimately funny, but he has such a great rapport with pretty much everyone he meets. The special effects are also top notch. The web-slinging is wildly fun and the fight scenes are pretty epic, but I would have to say that the movie’s trio of new villains – Electro, Green Goblin and Rhino – don’t live up to expectations. All three are solidly portrayed and fulfill their roles in the film, but they never amount to much themselves beyond giving Spidey something to do in costume.
But even if the villains are kind of clunky, and even if this film uses one of my most hated fiction tropes of all time, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 succeeds on the strengths of Spidey and his love story alone. Who would have thunk it?
Join me after the jump for the full review! I will try to keep SPOILERS to a minimum!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/3/14
What a week to be a Spider-Man fan! Not only is Amazing Spider-Man 2 in theaters right now, but Amazing Spider-Man #1 hit the stands this very week! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say someone planned it that way. That was pretty clever of them.
I’ll get my movie review posted on Sunday, and for now, lets take a trip to our local comic book shop. Amazing Spider-Man #1 wins Comic Book of the Week. It’s a fun issue, and it’s great to have the real Peter Parker back, but Marvel overloaded the thing with back-up material. That would have weighed the comic down too much for my liking, but one of the back-ups is an epilogue to Scarlet Spider, so that pleased me greatly. Other comics this week include a new Silver Surfer, my return to All-New X-Men and the long-awaited conclusion to J.H. Williams III’s Batwoman story. I also picked up The Flash Annual for the heck of it, but I was not pleased.
At least Spider-Man is still a ton of fun.
Panda-Mania: the best new character find of 2014!
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #26, Amazing Spider-Man #1, Batman Eternal #4, Batwoman Annual #1, Flash Annual #3 and Silver Surfer #2.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/26/14
This is the week of zero issues, apparently! All of the cool kids are starting off their new comic books with an issue #0 instead of the traditional #1. Because who needs tradition, amiright? Besides, ‘zero’ starts with a ‘Z’, so that makes it cooler already.
We’ve got both Justice League United #0, the start off the next Justice League spin-off , and Original Sin #0, a prologue to this Summer’s Big Event from Marvel. Original Sin actually makes for a nice little prologue, while this #0 issue of Justice League United actually reads like a #1 issue. I wouldn’t be surprised if Justice League United #1 just picks right up from where #0 left off.
So what was the point?
Beyond those zero books, we’ve got new issues of Aquaman, Fantastic Four and Batman Eternal, which continues its efforts to drive me insane. I also decided to jump back into Red Lanterns, which was a good choice, because Red Lanterns #30 wins Comic Book of the Week! Though, admittedly, there wasn’t much released this week.
Comic Reviews: Aquaman #30, Batman Eternal #3, Fantastic Four #3, Justice League United #0, Original Sin #0 and Red Lanterns #30.
You can also check out my review for Elektra #1 at Word of the Nerd!
Review: Teen Titans #30
Strap in, friends. We’ve got a bumpy ride ahead of us. Teen Titans #30 is the worst issue of the entire series. Scott Lobdell has been cancelled, and it’s clear from this issue that he isn’t going down without a war. He’s going to bury his volume of Teen Titans! In horrible dialogue, in ridiculous callbacks, in desperate attempts to wrap-up dangling plot threads; whatever he can cram into this ending, he’s gonna do it.
Teen Titans #30
Lobdell’s Teen Titans has got nothing left to lose and nothing more to gain. It’s going to flame out in craptacular fashion!
Comic Rating: 1/10 – Terrible!
I will never know what Lobdell originally planned for the Titans’ return from the future, but there’s no way it was Teen Titans #30. I’m going to assume that he assumed he’d be writing the series for a long while to come, and that this cancellation was never part of the plan. You’ll see what I mean when we get to the synopsis, but Lobdell just shovels characters, plots and dialogue into this final issue in such a way that it’s clear he’s trying to squeeze in as much as possible before the end. I suppose it was nice of DC to let Lobdell finish the series on his own terms. I would also call it a mistake, except that who cares? Teen Titans is going to restart with a brand new #1 issue, and there’s a good chance that, in a few months, Lobdell’s entire run will just be a footnote in history. We’ll never have to think about it ever again.
I just don’t know if I can properly convey how bad this issue is. I wish I was more poetic or clever, and maybe I could turn this review into its own work of art. But I am not that gifted. I am just a man. A man of many words, yes, some of them rambling, but a man I remain. Though perhaps inspired by some of my favorite superhumans, maybe I can rise to the challenge and use these many words for the good of all Internetkind. Maybe I have what it takes to talk about the painfully unfunny dialogue, the mind-bogglingly pointless cameos or the unfettered love of editorial notes pointing you to previous issues. I think…I think I can do this.
Gulp, here we go! Join me after the jump for the full synopsis and more review of the worst Teen Titans issue you will ever read!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/19/14
This week was another wallet-busting week of comics. I may have to hold back on my caviar sandwiches if I hope to afford all of them! Fortunately, that means there were a lot of good comics in my pile this week, and I love me some good comics.
Plus, there were a whole bunch of DC titles that I read this week! We’ve got reviews for Batman, Wonder Woman and Batwoman, as if they all combined somehow. There’s also the latest issues of Batman Eternal and Harley Quinn, as well as the first issue of the new Sinestro solo series! Now there is a character I’m excited about!
On the Marvel side of things, the final issue of Superior Spider-Man hit the stands and it is…a nice conclusion. It’s not as amazing as I was hoping it would be. Instead, it seems more like Dan Slott and Marvel are in a rush to get to the new status quo of the new Amazing Spider-Man. Can’t say I blame them. We’ve also got new issues of Uncanny X-Men and the utterly fantastic Ms. Marvel, which wins Comic Book of the Week for sheer greatness and adorability.
She also uses ‘Embiggen’, making her the coolest teenager ever
I wonder what a younger, superhero-loving Sean would think about the fact that one of my favorite comics right now is about the awkward youth of a teenage girl. Of course, Young Sean was a big fan of The Secret World of Alex Mack, so there is a precedence.
Comic Reviews: Batman #30, Batman Eternal #2, Batwoman #30, Harley Quinn #5, Ms. Marvel #3, Sinestro #1, Superior Spider-Man #31, Uncanny X-Men #20 and Wonder Woman #30.
