Iron Man 3 Movie Review

Spoiler Free.

So what did I think of Iron Man 3 . . . it was a damned good time.

I  decided long ago that comic book movies are not to be judged on the comic books they are based on and I just look for the nods to source material and let the movies be their own universe. Iron Man 3 was funny, it had a lot of action, it had a major unexpected twist to the plot of the story and it had tons of armor (lots based on the armor appearing in the comic books over the years).

I've seen a few people giving it early bad reviews but I'm here to say it was a really good movie that will give you laughs, superhero fun and even a few moments of Pepper Potts bad assedness. Movies will never be the exact same as the source material, this is something you just have to live with.

During the film there was a lot of talk about events in other Marvel movies (Avengers & Thor) that kept the universe connected which is something that I always enjoy. Robert Downy Jr. gives another great performance as Tony Stark and has some great scenes with young actor Ty Simpkins that were really funny. It wasn't all Iron Man saving the day on his own, he had help, kinda like the comics, I got what I expected from this movie and I mostly got what I wanted out of an Iron Man movie. Lots of crazy tech, armor flying all over crashing bashing and crashing through baddies, plenty of explosions and some "Hot" new villains.

This may be the last Iron Man movie in the series but I could go for one more.

I give this movie a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks for reading,
Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2013 Kevin P. Johnson

Image ia copyright © 2013 Marvel Studios and are used as Fair Use Review images only. Image will be removed upon the request of Marvel Studios.

G.I. Joe - Retaliation

Snake Eyes

Cobra Commander

G.I. Joe: Retaliation . . . Now first off I must say I can barely remember anything about the first film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra besides the fact that I did not hate it like most people that I know even though I only saw  it one time. Not remembering it much was not going to stop me from seeing this new movie though especially since you can see my old neighborhood in Slidell, Louisiana in the background of certain scenes. I had it on my movies to see list as soon as I heard about the sequel coming out.

Roadblock

Duke

So the movie is not the greatest movie ever made lets just get that out of the way as to not confuse. What the movie is in my opinion is 100% cartoon with live actors . . . and that makes it great fun. I felt like I was watching a G.I. Joe cartoon with tons of action, ninjas, crazy battles, over the top bad guys and a bunch of good guys that are a bit bigger than life. The movie has a few laughs, Bruce Willis gets most of them and it just works as a summer action shoot 'em up kind of movie that is well worth seeing at least once.

I really enjoy the fact that they do try to keep the costumes close to the cartoon as well. Storm Shadow, Firefly, Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes, Jinx and Roadblock all fit the cartoon character look really well and the others were pretty well done too.

Lady Jaye

This movie is fast paced, lots of action, and not a lot to think about later. It's G.I. Joe like it should be. I haven't heard anything bad about it yet from people I know that have seen it most have told me that it is great. And for the boys out there Adrianne Palickias as Lady Jaye in her red dress scene just may make your heart race a bit . . . but don't worry ladies Channing Tatum is all over this movie and your hearts can pitter patter away as well.

My only complaint about the movie is that Cobra Commander was not really the main bad guy and Zartan was. Not that they did a bad job with it or anything it's just G.I. Joe for me needs a healthy dose of Cobra Commander.

I give this movie a 4 out of 5 stars based on being exactly what I wanted it to be . . . with just a little less Cobra Commander than I wanted. I fully expect a G.I. Joe 3 in the future. Take the kids out to see this one it's got violence of course but it's cartoon violence with little to no blood to be seen and I'd think it'd be okay for probably 8 years old and up with a parent.

Thanks For Reading,
Kevin P. Johnson

Storm Shadow

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2013 Kevin P. Johnson

Images are copyright © 2013 Hasbro/Paramount Pictures/MGM/di Bonaventura Pictures/Skydance Productions and are used as Fair Use Review images only. Images will be removed upon the request of  Hasbro/Paramount Pictures/MGM/di Bonaventura Pictures/Skydance Productions.

Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 (Marvel Comics 2013)

Guardians Of The Galaxy Issue #0.1

Published by Marvel Comics

Cover Price $3.99

36 pages, full color

April, 2013

Brian Michael Bendis - Writer
Steve McNiven - Penciler
John Dell - Inker
Justin Ponser - Colors

1990's Guardians Of The Galaxy

Well it's just as I predicted as soon as Marvel announced its movie for Guardians Of The Galaxy . . . they would release a new series about a year before the movie hit theatres and try to build an audience. I think everyone else predicted that as well. Now I don't have much knowledge of the team but I do remember the series from 1990 I think I read the first 12 issues of that before I fell out of reading comics for a while. The first thing that I thought when I heard about this movie was "who in the world is going to go see it? Nobody knows those characters who really isn't really into comic books. They are going to have to appear in Iron Man 3 or Thor 2 right?" Well I don't know what the plans are for that movie business but I do know that the characters in the current series are not the same characters that I remember from back in the early 1990's which is a bit of a disappointment and also seems that it will make it less likely that anyone will know them.

Enough of the movie and 90's let's talk about this issue. I picked it up because I was looking for a new title that I could review from start to finish and thought that this could be it . . . I don't know if that thought will be a lasting one. Marvel loves to do it's point one (0.1) issues which are usually used as a jumping on point for new readers that kind of give you some background of what is going on in the title and introduces you to a good bit of the cast. This issue did not deliver on that and what you end up getting is the basic origins of two characters and the death of another character. The issue isn't actually bad but it just felt like a money grab to me by Marvel and this issue could have been told in a few pages of issue #1.

The main point of this issue is actually to introduce you to Peter Quill who will become Star-Lord leader of the Guardians Of The Galaxy. (This next part will be as spoiler free as possible)You see his mother and fathers first meeting, you see Peter as a child and then an alien attack that Peter is able to stop when he finds a special weapon left behind by his father. The entire issue is really about one character in the group and that kind of turned me off on this book right away since this is a team book. You do not get introduced to anyone else on the team and only see them on the last two pages of the story where Iron Man also appears and apparently is on the team . . . oh yeah movie tie-in . . . uggghhhhh.

I like the art and the story isn't bad it just rubbed me the wrong way and I would have much rather had something else be the start of this title.

Stay tuned I have a review of Issue #1 of Guardians Of The Galaxy coming up and hopefully that will be a little more hopeful for the future of this title.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2013 Kevin P. Johnson
Images are copyright © 1990-2013 Marvel Comics are used as Fair Use Review images only. Images will be removed upon the request of Marvel Comics.

Thor - The Movie

I just saw the Thor movie and I must say that I think it was really good and I fully enjoyed it. I think that most of comic book fans would agree that this movie was made as an into to the Thor character so that people would know him in the upcoming Avengers movie. This movie was so that Thor already have an established history on the big screen along with Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America (coming this summer). With Marvel leading the way on most of their movies these days Thor worked really well on the big screen.

Without spoiling the movie too badly Thor is to become king of Asgard when there is an attack by the Frost Giants. He takes it upon himself to enact revenge against his father Odin's wishes. Odin finds out about this and banishes a powerless Thor and his hammer Mjolnir to earth and he must find his way back to Asgard if only he can regain his power and lift the hammer.

The movie did a good job of including a fair amount of scenes on Asgard and Jotunheim (home of the Frost Giants) as well as earth to allow us to understand that there are more things out there besides us. The costumes looked great Thor looking like the modern comic book version (with a beard) and a lot of the characters kept a close look to the way that they appear in the comic books. Loki's helmet had the classic bent horns and that was enough comic book reality for me.

I think that they did a real good job of telling the story and it seems to me that it's pretty close to the way things happened in the comics (I haven't read the old stories in a long time). All the characters seemed to be playing the roles they were supposed to and it felt just like a comic book on the screen to me . . . and it had humor sprinkled throughout that kept the movie from being stale.

For those wondering the characters that make an appearance are : Thor, Odin, Loki, Heimdall, Laufey (King of the Frost Giants), Volstagg, Sif, Fandral, Frigga, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson (from the Iron Man filems) & The Destroyer. Nick Fury also appears after the credits.

My only complaints about the Thor film and they are minor. First Volstagg wasn't fat enough . . . I like the guy that played him I just think he needed a little more belly fat which they could have done with costume effects. Secondly the battle with The Destroyer was pretty cool but wasn't epic enough. I could have used 5 more minutes of the fight to make it more awesome.

Thor worked well, it looked like a comic book, it felt like a comic book it had adventure and fun and built a character for the future of Marvel Comics movies and I'm happy with it.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Image is copyright © 2011 Marvel Studios and used as a Fair Use Review image only. Image will be removed upon the request of Marvel Studios.

DESPICABLE ME IN 3D - MOVIE SNEAK PREVIEW

DESPICABLE ME the new animated film from Universal Pictures is soon to be a hit . . . that's right I'm calling it early. Earlier in the week I received a phone call from Universal Pictures asking me if I wanted two tickets to the sneak preview showing of the film . . . I quickly said yes. Well somehow they got my information through my webcomic Strange City Heroes and they sent me 20 tickets to get two people in to the preview. Sadly I did not get the tickets until 6:30 P.M. yesterday and the movie was at 10:00 A.M. this morning. I was able to give away a few at the theatre and one family gave up going to see Marmaduke in favor of free tickets to Despicable Me.

I had wanted to see this movie since I first saw the trailer for it because it just looked really funny and I'm a fan of animated movies. I didn't really know what to expect this movie to be but I am more than happy in what I found out.

This movie is based around the world's Super Villains and how extreme a heist they can pull off (I won't tell you what the big heist is though). There are wonderful inventions, lots of ray guns there are shrink rays, ice rays and uhhhhhh squid guns and land and flying machines that take imagination and turn it up to 11.

The main characters are Gru (Steve Carell), Vector (Jason Segal), Dr. Nefario (Russel Brand), Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig) and three wonderful orphan girls Margo, Edith, and Agnes (Miranda Cosgrove, Elise Fisher, & Dana Gaier).

The plot takes Gru who is the world's greatest villain to a point where he has been bested by a newer younger villain who has stolen the Great Pyramids of Egypt and forces him to think of the biggest heist he can imagine and for this he will need a shrink ray and funding from the bank (banks loan to evil super villains you know.) Insert three little girls (If I ever have kids I want little girls) who steal the show and just might make evil a little less evil. 

You will leave this movie knowing you saw a funny movie, a movie with a heart, I superhero errr super villain adventure that ranks up there with some of the best, and something both kids and adults will enjoy . . . I know because there were as many laughs by children as adults in the theatre and the children seemed genuinely interested in the movie from start to finish.

Despicable Me was my first modern full length 3D movie and I was impressed how much 3D seems to have changed. There were times when things looked a little blurry but things were moving and I can live with that because it wasn't much. The 3D effects were there but not overly in your face and at the end as the credits start to roll there is some fun had with the 3D that you will get a few more good laughs out of.

Oh you are wondering well what about those yellow guys . . . well those guys are awesome and very funny. The yellow guys work in a secret lab beneath the home of Gru as his minions and they do all the dirty work in making super villain-ing a science. You will love these guys and probably wish you had a few around the house to aid you in your own super villain escapades.

Don't miss this one, take your kids to see it, take your wife or husband, take a friend, take grandma you will have fun, you will see a sweet story unfold and most of all you will laugh. 5 Stars!

http://www.despicable.me/

- Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Image is copyright © 2010 Universal Pictures and is used as Fair Use Review image only. Image will be removed upon the request of Universal Pictures.

KICK-ASS The Movie / KICK-ASS The Comic

So on Friday I went to see KICK-ASS the movie. I had no idea what the story was about outside what the commercials let on and I knew that this was roumered to be a comic that was made in order to get a movie deal (I should find out if that's true or not.) Now despite the 8 or 10 jerks who sat behind me talking the entire movie (one even proclaimed he was "trippin' on extacy") this move was indeed KICK-ASS. I went in knowing nothing and came out with the opinion that this was the best comic book movie ever.

This is what I imagine a real world superhero would  go through nothing really working out but still as long as he or she was breathing justice would be served. This movie had the heart of Spider-Man with the grit and violence of Sin City and all of the characters seemed real enough that you might just know them. The name dropping in this movie is a Fanboys wildest dream and everything that fits in with comic book fandom was in this movie.

I don't want to spoil the movie but I promise you that the price of admission is well worth it . . . the child vigilante hero Hit Girl is worth the price of admission this this kid is the best on screen killing machine I think I've ever seen kinda like a baby Puinsher. This movie is not for kids but if you are old enough to see a Rated R movie GO SEE KICK-ASS.

After the movie I thought I have to go get the trade paperback of this book (that turned out to be a hardcover trade) and just looking at the cover I knew that this was going to be just as wild a ride as the movie.

 

The movie version of the story is very close to the comic book story and even includes many incodents of exact dialogue that appeared in the comics. (My Only Spoiler is that both the movie and comic ends with the exact same words.) Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. tell the tale of the modern day, real life superhero who has no clue as to the how he's going to save the world three days during the week and Sundays but he knows that if not him then who? KICK-ASS is simply the story of a teenage boy who for all intents and purposes just plainly exists in a world full of nobodies called high school, he has friends but he's just there and it is time that he stood up and did something that changed the world. Read this story, see the movie and if you get the chance go out and become a superhero . . . of course if you get hurt or hurt someone else that is your own doing and I am not to blame for giving you that idea.

 

- Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Images are copyright © 2010 Universal Pictures/Lionsgate and Icon Comics are used as Fair Use Review images only. Images will be removed upon the request of Universal Pictures/Lionsgate or Icon Comics .

It's not supposed to be the way you want it to be

Did you ever hear someone say "the X-Men suck they aren't the way they are supposed to be anymore" or "George Lucas screwed up Star Wars by making those prequils"? Well I say thats a load of crap and I'll tell you why.

When you are introduced to something weather it be comic books or movies or even music what you get in the beginning from whatever point you start enjoying it is what you at that time decide to either love or hate. If you love it you will claim it as your own and don't believe that your new love should ever change and if it does it should only change in the course that you see fit. I think that we all have a tendency of doing this and we will even go as far as saying I like "old Metallica" but that "new Metallica" sucks.

Is it our right to want to control what is not ours? I say no. We love these little worlds because someone else created them and we didn't know what there vision was when they started creating it but we loved it and we just had to know where it was going. Sometimes things would end the way we wanted and sometimes they did not.

 Surely it is ok that we can agree or not agree to take the ride but we should never ever say it should have been a certain way that we have in our own minds. What would be the point of having writer's, artist, or musicians? What if Joe Quesada came to you and said ok (your name here) you are writing Spider-Man for the next year. What would you do? And when you do it, do you think that everyone will agree that that is the way its supposed to be?

I'm not saying that any of us should agree with everything that happens and should surely say hey I don't like that if you don't like it but you should never say that's not how it is supposed to be because its not supposed to be the way you want it to be it is supposed to be the way whomever is creating it see's fit . . . unless someone gives you the keys to the castle and lets you write the story for a while.

- Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Star Wars: the Clone Wars

This image is copyright © 2008 Lucas Film and is used as Fair Use Review images only.
Image will be removed upon request of Lucas Film, ILM or any other official Star Wars copyright owner.

Well Star Wars: The Clone Wars came out today and (drumroll please) IT WAS A OK (cymbal crash). So I went in not really knowing what to expect from this movie and it gave me plenty of the unexpected. I don't know how well this is going to do in theatres because it is kind of a filler movie and it really doesn't advance the story much but with that being said it was a fun, action packed adventure movie and it looked really good.
I'm a huge Star Wars fan and I like all of the movies Episode I - VI as well as the two Clone Wars TV series. The Clone Wars isn't going to be considered the best Star Wars movie but it does give us a great look at some characters that have not had much screen time and a new character Zero The Hutt who is some sort of gay, southern, English speaking, tattooed, Hutt that I nearly peed my pants when I heard him talk.

My only problems with the movie are this:1 - the voices and the movement of lips really didn't match up well and I kept noticing it...I hope they fix that on the DVD.

2 - I kinda wish I had known what the Sub-Story was (SMALL SPOILER ALERT) was because it was a bit weird. Jabba's baby was kinda hokey but I understand where they are going with it because if there is an Episode VII and beyond this character will be important (I think). I guess if I had paid more attention to the trailers and website I'd have know about it but I didn't want to know much so it would be fun and it really was.

I could watch more Star Wars movies like this but I still want more live action if they are going to make more movies.
Here's to George Lucas!!! I don't care what anyone may say I like what you do my friend!

- Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson

HULK SMASH! The Incredible Hulk Movie

This image is copyright © 2008 Marvel Comics and is used as Fair Use Review images only. Image will be removed upon request of Marvel Comics.



So I went in to this movie with no expectations. I had been more interested in seeing the Iron Man connection and how for the first time the Marvel Universe was actually related on the movie screen. I saw it opening weekend at my new favorite even the Saturday Matenee.


This movie was awesome from the start, I decided to go in and forget that I felt the Hulk and Abomination looked like big rubber monsters. (I didn't see the first Hulk movie because of this)

Ed Norton to me looks like Bruce Banner and I'm glad he got the part and I hope he sticks around for another movie even though he's been upset that his preferred cut of the movie was not released.


This movie was action packed and great fun for all the fanboys out there with plenty of Easter Egg moments to enjoy. The best moments, THUNDERCLAP, "Hulk Smash!", Stan Lee, and the fighting.


This is one of the better comic book movies yet it wasn't the best but its a good quality movie that sits well alongside of Spider-Man 1 & 2, Batman Returns, Iron Man, X-Men 2, & Sin City.


4.75 Stars out of 5


- Kevin Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson

Iron Man The Movie

So I just saw the movie a day early (not sure how the theatre got away with it but for me and the ten or so others that were there it was awesome)

I'm not gonna spoil it so here is a brief review:

Tony Stark: Kick Ass
Iron Man Armor Mark 1: Kick Ass
Iron Man Armor Mark II and beyond: Kick Ass
Pepper Potts: I wanna make babies with her - Kick Ass
Iron Monger Armor: Kick Ass
Random Afgani Soldiers: Got their Asses Kicked
Was That The Mandarin? - Dunno didn't pay attention in the credits
Music: AC/DC, Suicidal Tendencies, Black Sabbath - KICK ASS
James Rhodes: Gonna Kick Ass in part two
Jarvis: Very Interesting
Technology: KICK FUCKIN' ASS
Staying After The Credits: Priceless see also Kicking Ass


Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson

Frank Miller's 300...I Got It Free WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!

I've been wanting to buy Frank Miller's 300 for like 2 years now and I always put it back because it's $30 and I just seem to always have two other $15.99 books I want to get at the same time. So I'm at work today and I work for a book publisher and we sometimes get returns that are not from our company and they go into a little box that employees can just take...well to my surprise the guy who handles the returns has a stack of books he's bringing in and 2 copies of Frank Miller's 300 and 5 copies of 300 The Art Of The Film were in his hands. I said "what are you doing with those?" and he said "putting them in the free book box!" I said "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

I finally can read the book, hooray!!! And I have a copy of the Movie Art too. I gave away the other 300 book and 1 of the art books to a girl that works here and is slightly into comics. I'll probably give away the other three Art books too.

Ahhhhh FREE FRANK MILLER GOODNESS!!!!

- Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2008 Kevin P. Johnson