Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

It has been a long time since I was truly excited for the release of a new Star Wars film, but as I sit here writing, my mind still flashes back to the mere hours ago that I sat down and was exposed to what the brilliant mind of J.J. Abrams did with George Lucas's sci-fi superbaby.

The last Star Wars film to be released was back in 2005, so it has been a long while since any adventures happened in a galaxy far, far away. But this movie was worth the wait, it was the most compelling two hours I've sat through in a long while.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens cast was utterly fantastic. Aside from bringing back Harrison Ford as Han Solo (a role which he slipped back into like a glove) and Carrie Fisher (proving that even a thirty-two year gap does not diminish one's ability as an actress), Peter Mayhew stepped back into the role of Chewbacca (and did an amazing job as usual with it), and C-3PO (played once again by the talented Anthony Daniels), there were also new faces to the cast of Star Wars and what a job they did.

Daisy Ridley, a new face to the acting world plays the role of Rey, a fierce and independent young woman who finds herself drawn into the ongoing conflict between the Resistance (the new face of the Rebellion) and the First Order (the "next generation" Empire). She does an outstanding job, she is powerful, has a strong camera presence and her stunt-work is absolutely epic. It's clear her character is going to play a major role in the future Star Wars and I for one cannot wait to see what happens to her character.

John Boyega is Finn, a First Order Stormtrooper who reforms and joins the Resistance and is drawn into the overarching conflict that makes up The Force Awakens plot. He proves to be a capable fighter and soldier who is trying to rediscover his purpose in the universe after being on the wrong side of a war for a long time.

Oscar Isaac is Poe Dameron, self-described as "the greatest pilot in the Resistance" who certainly tries to live up to his legend. Isaac plays the character as determined, hard-headed, willing to go the extra distance for his friends and not willing to back down from any challenge. A fine and welcome edition to many legions of brave men and women who have fought for the Rebellion/Resistance in the name of freedom.

Adam Driver steps up as Kylo Ren, a new and sinister Sith in the galaxy. He is a clear disciple of the Sith and a fierce follower of the legacy of Darth Vader, determined to finish Vader's mission to wipe out any traces of the Jedi from the galaxy. Driver plays the character as moody but also emotional, prone to fits of anger that include taking his lightsaber and destroying whatever the heck is in his way in the process. Whatever Ren's overall role in the new Star Wars mytho's J.J. Abrams is crafting, I for one can't wait to see where he ends up along the way.

Overall, the film itself was wonderful. It's taken thirty-two years for the story of Luke, Leia, Han and the Rebellion to be continued on the big screen but it was utterly worth the wait. When Star Wars Episode 8 makes it to the movie theatres in 2017, it will be awesome, unbelievably awesome.

This film gets high marks for script, casting, special effects and once again proving that adventure is out there in the galaxy, all we have to do is reach out and grasp it. 

Jack Kirby: A Reflection on the King of Comics

When many people are asked today who was the man who helped make Marvel Comics great, the answer that will be given the majority of the time is Stan Lee. And while its true that Stan did his part to make Marvel Comics great, a lot of the real credit should be going to Jack Kirby, the artistic and creative genius behind many of the fine characters that are part of the Marvel Comics line.

I write these words today, because today is Jack Kirby's 98th birthday. He passed from this world back in 1994, but he left behind a heck of a legacy. A legacy not only of characters and stories, but of artistic accomplishment, taking his self-taught methods and applying them to create panels and pages and covers of some of the most beautiful, splashy and brilliant artwork in the comics industry.

Jack drew from the world around him when creating Marvel's many fine heroes and villains. He drew from life experiences of growing up in Manhattan's Lower East Side. A prime example of this influence is the character of Ben Grimm, rocky super-strong Thing of the Fantastic Four. In fact many fans of Kirby's work often cite Ben as Jack in superhero form. Both grew up in rougher parts of New York (Ben grew up on the fictional Yancy Street, located on the Lower East Side). Both are of the Jewish faith, both are tough as nails and quick to defend friends, but both men have their soft sides as well.

Jack Kirby was always a consummate professional, and his thoughts on professionalism are well known. This quote sums up that professionalism very nicely: "I've never done anything half-heartedly; its a disservice to me and the audience if I do it half-heartedly."

In the end, much of what Marvel Comics is today is owed to Jack Kirby and his work. Half the superhero movies that are being produced by Hollywood are because of Jack working tirelessly to create these many fine characters and infuse them with life. So to whoever reads this, the next time you pick up a Marvel comic or watch a Marvel movie and you see Jack Kirby's name attached to the "created by" text, remember the man, the myth, the legend, that is Jack Kirby, the King of Comics.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

There comes a time in many superheroes careers when they face a threat that isn't from another dimension or planet, isn't out to conquer the Earth or make it a part of some vast interstellar empire. Sometimes, the threat comes directly from home, and its born of the misguided dreams of those close to the heroes, and culminates in something terrible that could end all human life in a stroke.

That is what happens when the Avengers return to the big screen with Joss Whedon at the helm and face the sentient machine intelligence known as Ultron, who will stop at nothing to pacify humankind in pursuit of his warped goals.

The main cast of the film has the Avengers returning in full force, but each changed in subtle ways. For Captain America (Chris Evans) the change comes from having faced down his best friend Bucky in The Winter Soldier and having helped topple S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to save the world from a secret HYDRA threat. For Iron Man (Tony Stark), there's the whole rediscovered purpose in his mission as a hero and billionaire/inventor from Iron Man 3. As for the rest of the team, well they are shown as dealing with their own various problems. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) is dealing with finding his place on the team, as Hulk and also dealing with the romantic advances of Natasha Romanov. Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) is her usual epic self, and also as stated before, is in something of a flirtatious relationship with Bruce Banner, while Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is up to his usual tricks, cracking wise, being a master of the bow and proving that you don't need superpowers to be an effective crime fighter.

New-comers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe are legion, so I'm going to focus on the one's that play a central role in the film. The first are Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and her brother Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), known to all comics fans as the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. They start out on the wrong side of the conflict in the movie, angry at the Avengers for bringing more destruction to their tiny (and fictional) European homeland of Sokovia, when dealing with a minor threat at the start of the film. Along the way they realize that they are in fact in the wrong in choosing sides in the conflict and defect to the Avengers, proving themselves in battle and worthy of the trust of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

James Spader steps up the camera in a big way, providing both the voice and motion capture for Ultron, the sentient machine that has a major God-complex and seeks to pacify Earth by destroying humankind. Ultron (Spader) makes use of Biblical scripture in his villainous monologues, citing Scripture in order to justify his mission to help humanity by destroying it. Spader does an amazing job bringing the character to life, in ways that previous media (all cartoons by the way) could never have done. Even though the villain appears for just this one movie, he leaves a major mark that will affect not only the Avengers, but the entire MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) itself.

The final major new-comer to the MCU is Paul Bettany, known as the voice of Tony Stark's AI "butler" J.A.R.V.I.S., now stepping into the role as the Avenger Vision, also sentient machine created by Ultron in the comics to be the next step in AI life. Bettany doesn't appear until the film is nearly done but he is so utterly amazing in the role that it doesn't matter that his screen time comprises the very last bit of the story, it is worth it. Vision's powers are shown throughout the final parts of the film, including the ever classic ability to phase through objects and it looks so cool and real. Just goes to show what Hollywood movie magic is capable of.

Joss Whedon does an amazing job once again of taking Marvel Comics premier super-team and putting them up against impossible odds. The cast was superb, with all the newcomers doing a spectacular job. Special effects once again blew me away as always and the different locales used to advance the story, from Europe to Africa to America, just utterly astounding.

Avengers: Age of Ultron gets high marks for bringing Earth's Mightiest Heroes up to bat again and driving it all the way to home with a script that left me begging for me, an awesome cast, special effects galore (but that didn't take away from the story) and a soundtrack that was in one word: super. Highly recommend this movie to anyone and everyone who loves superheroes and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.