COMIC BOOK REVIEW: TWELVE (MARVEL)

Twelve is a comic where twelve World War 2 heroes get frozen to sleep and wake up in the modern day. Here, they have to adjust to modern life while the government hopes they act as heroes and show the world what heroes are meant to be. This is following events such as Civil War where heroes fight each other. 

So it pretty much ends up being about a bunch of Captain America's but the issue is are they all as "good" as Captain America just because they come from the same era? Spoilers follow.

Tonally, I am not sure what this book is trying to say. The heroes come out, some come out and try to be heroes quite successfully. But then they just end up arguing amongst themselves. This isn't helped by the bad guy being one of them (in fact the best of them, the Superman stand-in). And in order to drag out this mystery, a pretty weak deus-ex machine plot device is used.

Even the scenes of them trying to fit into the modern world, despite filling a big slot of the book, are not well handled. It is effective, however, in showing that there were things not always black-and-white even with the heroes of old. The rest is just the usual of change in police procedures, life on the wrong side of the road vs idealism, etc.

This book would have been better if there was a villain, perhaps a similar frozen villain. After criticising (in-story) all the hero vs hero stuff at the beginning, it is just another story that devolves into a hero vs hero finale at the end.

1.5 out of 5 Frozen Waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: CAPTAIN AMERICA CIVIL WAR (2016)

Two movies in a row focus on heroes versus heroes. One of these was the most insulting, boring movie I have seen in a long time where the definition of hero is stretched to capture Batman and Superman whose reception encouraged reshoots for Suicide Squad. I think this other one proves why Marvel is currently on top of the game.

Set in the Marvel Universe where we have had 10+ movies to build the world and the each character, Civil War aims to tell an epic tale. However, what makes it so good can't be talked about without spoilers. So from here on out there are some very non-specific spoilers.

Civil War starts with a brawl with a super villain on international soil. A mistake from the Avengers leads to some civilian casualties, which leads to the superhero registration act. This is a much more defined but also defendable document than the comic book equivalent. Circumstances force Captain America and Iron Man to go on opposite sides with their teams of allies to help fight it out.

This movie starts and ends on a very personal note for all the characters. Although it seems to be building up slowly to another global threat, it pulls the rug out from under all the characters feet to make the final conflict very personal. Although it never really solves the superhero registration act problem or provides a conclusion to it, that is really not the point of the finale.

Civil War is 2.5 hours and covers allot of ground. Some things miss but allot of things hit. Spiderman is awesome. The fight scenes are awesome with the best stuff outside of the trailers (although that stuff is pretty good as well). Spiderman is awesome and all the characters feel great. Even the sides there on don't take huge leaps in logic.

That is even leaving out the great fight scenes. This is a great movie with a really good story and action. After the disappointment of Batman V Superman, this was the correct way to do a superhero vs superhero movie. Make the stakes personal with believable reasons to make them fight.

5 out of 5 Revolutionary Waffles

CAPTAIN AMERICA- THE WINTER SOLDIER

Look- You have probably already seen Captain America. You have probably already read all the reviews about it from a bunch of other sources. So, to add to all the other stuff that you know about The Winter Soldier, here is something awesome that you should watch.

“Captain America- F&*k Yeah.”

So The Winter Soldier completes the Avengers trinity of sequels, following on from Iron Man and Thor movies. In it, Liberty himself is in a moral quandary based on SHIELD’s new method of enforcing their laws based of pre-emptive strikes. There is the obligatory bad business-guy and also the return of fellow Avengers Nick Fury and Black Widow. And there is also the Falcon and the Winter Soldier, when the movie remembers he exists.

The Winter Soldier has plenty of action scenes. And it is a good thing that these are among some of the best action scenes I have seen this year. Taking a break from repulsor beams and lightning bolts, the action in Winter Soldier feels allot grittier and visceral as the good and bad guys engage in hand-to-hand fighting or shoot-outs. But amongst all this fighting, there is also a pretty good spy-style thriller filled with espionage and double crosses as Captain America and co. Try to figure out what is going on.

Captain America does feel like it tries to fit allot of things in. There is the corruption of SHIELD, an expositing 60’s style super-computer, Captain America returning to the world, Black Widow having more of a personality and some epic shield throwing scenes. However, it never feels too bloated as it does a good job balancing most things. 

Unfortunately, a couple of things do fall flat. Falcon feels very emotionless. It sometimes felt like watching a brick holding emoticon faces in front of it and switching them between scenes. The Winter Soldier also doesn’t feel like he has too much to do in his own movie. He has his big reveal of who he is, a scene showing him being brainwashed and that is it, instead being used more as a sequel hook.

Captain America- The Winter Soldier was an entertaining movie from start to finish. It has some awesome action scenes and is a very entertaining spy-thriller. It also refuses to end the movie on a giant reset button for the Marvel cinematic universe. So if you haven’t watched the video linked above, you should do that now. And if you can find a shield to throw, you should go throw a shield.

4.5 out of 5 Star-Spangled Waffles.