Archives for : Marvel

Magic in Me

Posted by :David Manly On : November 8, 2016
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Category: comics, Doctor Strange, Marvel, Movies

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One of my favourite superheroes has finally made his way to the big screen this past weekend, but what if you don’t know anything about Dr. Stephen Strange? Thankfully, dear reader, I have got you covered!

Who is Doctor Strange?

Doctor Stephen Strange was a celebrated and world-famous neurosurgeon – and had the ego to match. His arrogance made him think he was better than everyone, but it was only after a severe car crash mangled his hands that he thought he had lost the only thing that made him special. As a result, he spent his fortune trying every medical (and non-medical) treatment he could trying to fix his hands, but to no avail.

It was then that Strange heard of a healer known as the “Ancient One,” so he travelled to Tibet to meet him, but because of his arrogance, was promptly refused treatment. But, upon seeing the frail man resist an attack using mystical abilities, Strange was forced to admit that magic and evil existed and needed to be resisted. Strange then pledged to no longer pursue healing his hands for selfish reasons, but to protect and learn the mystic arts from the Ancient One, who was Earth’s magical protector known as the “Sorcerer Supreme.”

Strange studied under the Ancient One, and spent years training his body and mind to harness magic within himself, the Earth, and other dimensions. And he was a natural!

Upon the death of the Ancient One, Doctor Strange inherited the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme.

Are you saying there is magic in Marvel movies now?

Basically, yes.

After introducing space and aliens in the Avengers, Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy, the realm of the supernatural was the next logical place to go. The Marvel universe in the comics is filled with supernatural allies and enemies, and is key to introducing different dimensions and the multiverse!

And, don’t forget what Thor said in his very first movie:

Who is the bad guy in the Doctor Strange movie?

The bad guy is called Kaecilius (played by Mads Mikkelsen), a former student of the Ancient One, who desired darker abilities and powers beyond what was taught. So, he left the school with his followers and began finding ways to contact a more powerful master, which is where we meet him at the beginning of the movie.

So there’s a bad guy worse than Kaecilius? *WARNING – Minor spoilers below!*

Yes, called Dormammu. He is an ancient being and ruler of the Dark Dimension, and he seeks to bring all planets and realities into his domain. So, a pretty bad guy.

Who does Strange have to help him in the movie?

In addition to the Ancient One (played by Tilda Swinton), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has help from both the mystical and human realms.

A fellow student, Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) takes a shine to Strange when he enters the school, and quickly becomes both a teacher, a mentor, and a friend.

Wong, who was Doctor Strange’s assistant in the comics, mans the library in the movie and is a powerful mystic in his own right. He is played by Benedict Wong.

And lastly, Rachel McAdams plays Christine Palmer, an Emergency Room doctor and one-time romantic partner of Strange who comes to his aid after his accident.

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What did you think of the movie?

I really enjoyed it!

The images and effects were amazing, and very similar to the classic art from when Strange was first introduced in the comics in the 60s and 70s. While the villain, Kaecilius won’t win any awards, credit must be given to fleshing him out a little bit.

Cumberbatch was an amazing Doctor Strange, and I can’t wait to see him pop up in a future movie and become the Sorcerer Supreme. It was a great ride, and was a great primer of the magical side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I whole-heartily recommend you see it – I know I’ll be seeing it again!

Are there mid-credits and after-credits scenes?

Oh yes!

One serves as a tease for an upcoming Marvel movie, while the other hints at what is to come in (hopefully) future Doctor Strange movies.

Final thoughts?

The movie was fantastic! It adds a big piece to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe and was visually stunning.

**WARNING! BELOW ARE SPOILERS! Only read below to find out my thoughts on those two scenes**

**LAST SPOILER WARNING!***

In the mid-credits scene, you see Doctor Strange talking to Thor about why Thor brought his brother, the magical trickster Loki, to New York. Thor says that it is because they are looking for their father, Odin, who was replaced by Loki in the movie, Thor: The Dark World. Strange replies that he thinks he can help. This scene is a teaser for the upcoming Thor movie entitled Thor: Ragnarok, and it would make sense that Strange would become involved in his comings and goings, as it is rumoured to mainly take place in different dimensions and realms.

The after-credits scene has Mordo, after leaving the final battle, approaching Benjamin Bratt’s character (who was healed by magic earlier). Mordo goes into a bit of a speech about magic and the people who use it, before forcibly extracting the magic, leaving Bratt paralyzed on the floor. Mordo explains that there are “too many sorcerers,” and it looks like he will be taking the magic others have harnessed for his own uses. My theory is based on his comments at the end of the movie, where he states that breaking the natural laws of magic and reality should be punished, and these people are therefore unfit to wield magic. And, in so doing, will become the evil villain version of Mordo that he became in the comics.

*Spoilers end*

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – A Plot Analysis

Posted by :David Manly On : March 25, 2016
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Category: Batman, Batman v Superman, DC, Man of Steel, Marvel, Movie review, Movies, superheroes, Superman

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Last night, I was able to see one of the biggest movies of 2016 – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and decided to write this review to voice my opinion on the film.

Keep in mind that I will be discussing key moments from the film, plot points, cameos and more, so SPOILER WARNING!

Last chance to stop reading to avoid spoilers … Ok, so let’s get right into it.

The movie begins with a retelling of Batman’s origin, which anyone who has seen any Batman movie, TV show, animated feature, video game, etc. is very familiar with. After a night out seeing a movie or the theatre (it differs), young Bruce Wayne leaves the performance with his parents, Martha and Thomas Wayne. They are robbed a gunpoint, Martha Wayne’s pearls drop (which are CGI for some reason in this movie), and Bruce Wayne is left as an orphan. Then, after the funeral, Bruce falls into a cave nearby his house and encounters bats. Thus, he becomes Batman.

Most people know Batman’s origin, and in a movie that was – and not to mention felt – long, it could have been cut out and started from Bruce Wayne’s perspective during the events on 2013’s Man of Steel. Long-time readers of my blog know how I felt about that movie (you can read my review here), as I had many issues about the world that had been created, especially how Zod got his powers so quickly, and Superman not protecting people during the final battle.

There was a lot of outcry about this after Man of Steel was released, so it gets addressed. A lot. Numerous characters make point-blank statements that wherever a superhero battle is happening, the locations are abandoned, empty, or in one hilariously bizarre case, after-business-hours, so the office towers were “mostly empty.” There is even a whole subplot in the movie about Superman being held accountable for his actions, and he even attends a Senate sub-committee meeting to defend his actions. But, that’s getting ahead of myself.

After Bruce’s origin story, we see Bruce Wayne fly to Metropolis in a helicopter and try to save people from Zod and the ensuing battle. Bruce was rightfully angry when Superman and Zod destroy countless buildings (including the Wayne Financial building), injure others and kill a lot of people. This sets the stage for the primary conflict for Batman.

And then we cut to 18 months later.

We learn quickly that Bruce Wayne sees Superman’s power as too much for one being not of this Earth (read: alien), and that he could destroy everyone without a thought. So, he decided to find enough Kryptonite to kill Superman if necessary.

This started him on a collision course with Lex Luthor (played by a manic Nicholas Cage-level insanity by Jesse Eisenberg, who just got annoying in the role), who happened to be trying to import a massive batch of Kryptonite into the States, but was blocked by the very Senator leading the Senate committee mentioned above – how convenient!

To locate the shipment, Wayne went to a party held by Lex to steal the information, where he met Clark Kent and a mysterious woman who stole the stolen data from Bruce. At another event, he met the woman again, got the drive back and decrypted the information.

Meanwhile, Clark was worried about not being able to help everyone, but goes on being a God among men and saving Lois (who, as always, has a knack for getting into danger and needing saving). While Superman attended the Senate hearing, a bomb went off (thanks to Lex) killing everyone and Superman goes into hiding because he was ashamed. In this film, Lois was relegated to her own subplot about mysterious bullets that were made by LexCorp and worrying about Clark when he disappeared.

Bruce found the Kryptonite thanks to the drive (as well as other information I’ll get to later), and tried to steal it from Lex. He failed due to intervention from Superman and they had a staring contest.

While this is happening, Lex made a deal to get access to the Kryptonian ship from Man of Steel and Zod’s body. I’m still not entirely sure what he did, but he somehow used Zod’s fingerprints to become the new commander of the ship, and used a glowing yellow pool (called a Genesis pool?) to combine his DNA and Zod’s to create an “abomination”.

Bruce then successfully stole the Kryptonite rock from Lex and made some weapons, including a spear and gas grenades, for his eventual fight with Superman. As for the armoured suit in the trailer (inspired by the Frank Miller comic The Dark Knight Returns)? I was hoping we’d be able to see Bruce build it to try and compensate for the massive strength differential between the two, but no such luck.

Lex then kidnapped Lois, threw her off a building to lure Superman, and told Superman that he wanted Batman dead. Superman said he wouldn’t kill him, and Lex said that he kidnapped Clark’s mother (Martha Kent), and would kill her in an hour if Superman didn’t bring Lex the head of Batman. So, Superman flew off to gets Batman’s help.

Batman, on the other hand, was all decked out for war against Superman and didn’t let him explain the situation. So, they fought. Batman used Kryptonite gas to weaken Superman so he could get a few licks in, but Superman recovered and pummeled Batman. So, Batman used more gas and got him stunned enough to, after some bizarre CGI grapple gun antics, got him underfoot and about to be gutted with the Kryptonite spear.

Superman said to “find Martha” and “save Martha,” and Batman lost his mind (as that was his mother’s name – and where I think the flashback to the night Bruce’s parents were murdered would have been PERFECT), and then Lois rushed in to tell the truth to Batman about Martha Kent.

Batman threw the spear away and promised to rescue Superman’s mom (which he did), and Superman promised to find Lex Luthor (which he did). But not before the cocoon Lex created in the Kryptonian ship hatched and, in some terrible green screen CGI work, emerged Doomsday.

In the comics and cartoons, Doomsday was a creature bred and evolved to be the perfect killer. And every time he “died,” he would be resurrected and could not be killed that way again.

Anyway, Doomsday was quickly attacked by the US military and survived. So, Clark fought Doomsday and lost quickly. Batman went to help and also had trouble. Then, the mysterious woman Bruce Wayne met earlier appeared as Wonder Woman (and in my opinion, the best part of the movie), and she helped. Superman tackled Doomsday and flew into space, and the US nuked the both. Doomsday fell to Earth and regenerated into something deadlier, and Superman spent some time soaking up the sun’s rays before he rejoined Wonder Woman in the fight.

Lois grabbed the spear from before, but almost drowned in retrieving it. So Superman abandoned the fight, saved her, and flew with the Kryptonite spear and stabbed Doomsday. In his death throes, Doomsday stabbed Superman in the chest and they both died.

Superman was given a very public military funeral and Clark Kent was buried in Smallville (where he grew up) with Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince (Wonder Woman’s alter-ego) in attendance and they quickly teased the formation of the Justice League. And, Lex Luthor was in jail and visited by a very angry Batman. Lex, seemingly out of his mind, ominously said that something worse is coming – also teasing the eventual “big bad” of the upcoming Justice League movies.

A few things:

– Batman had a “vision” of an apocalyptic future, teasing the bad guy in the future Justice League movie (which looks to be the villain, Darkseid), as well as a visit from “Future Flash” warning him of what is coming in that future movie and to “get them together.”

– Inside Lex’s drive stolen by Batman and Wonder Woman, there were files on other metahumans, including videos showcasing the future Justice League members – the Flash stopping a mugging, Wonder Woman all over the world (and a photo from the early 1900s), Aquaman fighting off a submersible, and Cyborg being turned from a man into a machine.

Ok DC and Warner Brothers – we get it. You have a Justice League movie coming out and are trying to build a DC Cinematic Universe, but the film was overstuffed already with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. These extraneous cameos for characters we won’t see for a while, and won’t have their own movies for years, were obvious and wastes of time.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe had movies introducing single characters in their own movies before building up to the big team-up in Avengers, followed by more individual movies culminating in Avengers: Age of Ultron. They had years and years to build up the world and the characters before putting them all together. That is why it worked.

Teases and looks at what will be coming are good, but not at the expense of the film you are trying to make.

But what did I think of the movie overall?

Well, the movie was ok. I wasn’t a big fan of Man of Steel, so I wasn’t anticipating this movie to be fantastic. Unlike other superhero movies, I’m not in a rush to see it again, as it wasn’t exciting, it was overly long, and the effects were less than optimal. The dream sequences were awkwardly placed, Batman’s origin was redone … again, and the reasons for fighting (Batman thought Superman was too powerful and Superman thought Batman crossed the line) changed because Lex kidnaps Superman’s mom. Therefore, Batman and Superman fight because of a misunderstanding. It’s not the be-all, end-all brawl that everyone and the trailers and marketing were suggesting.

Honestly, it seems like after Man of Steel, DC and Warner Brothers decided to make Superman and Batman fight, and reverse-engineered a reason why.

But, there were some enjoyable parts in the movie. The action sequences were mostly good, as long as they didn’t get too CGI-heavy, and Wonder Woman fighting looked great. But that was about it.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will make a lot of money, but I don’t think it will make nearly as much as DC and Warner Brothers would like. And maybe they will learn their lesson. But, with Wonder Woman already  filmed and The Justice League Part 1 shooting now, who knows what will happen. I had hoped they would learn their lesson three years ago from Man of Steel …

Perfection Isn’t Perfect

Posted by :David Manly On : May 19, 2011
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Category: Captain America, Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel, Perfection

We may make jokes that we are the perfect versions of ourselves, but realistically, who can say that? I’m a good person and friend, and yet mistakes are inevitable. Mistakes are how we learn and grow into better people.

You may know not to touch the red-hot coils on an electric stove, and have been told not to repeatedly by your parents, siblings and friends. But, you may not remember the lessons until you accidentally do just that. The pain is what you will remember, not the warnings. And even then, you will still use that stove, and the moment you forget that painful lesson, you get burned.

After all, everyone needs a reminder now and then, even those we place on a pedestal, even superheroes that are considered the best of the best. Of course, I am talking about Steve Rogers, who is also known as Captain America.

For those unfamiliar with the comic book lore, Steve Rogers was a young man who wanted nothing more than to be in the army during World War II. But, he was too small for his age, weak and sickly looking. The army disregarded him, despite his pleas.

That was, until he got the opportunity to enroll in a program entitled Operation: Rebirth, designed to help soldiers reach peak physical perfection. He was the first candidate to receive the treatment under the supervision of Professor Abraham Erksine, and the last, as Nazis killed Erksine and destroyed all his research shortly after Rogers received the treatment.

But, the “Super Soldier Serum” had already worked its magic on young Rogers. He became taller, possessed enhanced musculature and reflexes, and became the symbol for the war effort. He became Captain America.

Captain America, or “Cap,” rapidly became known throughout the world as an amazing hero and patriot. His iconic costume was based on his own design, modeled after the American flag, and his trademark shield was made of an indestructible alloy that he can toss like a Frisbee. He fought his nemesis the Red Skull numerous times, as well as other villains, including an infamous cover of him punching Hitler in the jaw.

But, throughout all of that, one thing stayed the same in the Marvel comic universe. Even when surrounded by other superheroes with fantastic skills and abilities, the writers kept Rogers a man. He was an extraordinary man with skills superior to that of any Olympic athlete, of course, but still a mortal man with limits.

But what is perfection?

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines it as the quality or state of being perfect or an exemplification of supreme excellence. But what is excellence?

To me, the key thing to note is that, like beauty, perfection is in the eye of the beholder. The attributes you ascribe to your “perfect” self are different than mine, which are different than those of the Emperor of Japan.

Just remember that nobody is perfect, and if someone says they are, they are lying. In fact, if anyone calls you “less than perfect,” take it as a compliment. If everyone was perfect, there would be nothing to strive for!

The upcoming Marvel film appears to address that head-on, by painting Rogers (played by Chris Evans) as a man with something to prove, not just to himself, but everyone around him. The trailer, embedded below, has a very poignant quote said by Dr. Erksine on why Rogers was chosen for the program: “Because a weak man knows the value of strength.”