Tag: movie

Animated Reviews, DC Animated Movies

Justice League: War Review

Based on the Justice League Origin comic, this film introduces us to The Justice League in quite a spectacular way. This is 79 mins of non stop action as we see some of our favourite DC heroes meet each other for the very first time, take on a huge villain and eventually come together as a team.

As the film starts we discover that this is set in a period of time where heroes are just surfacing and the general public are not keen on them at all. After a few sightings in public they think Batman is an evil vampire and as Wonder Woman takes a more public stance, she’s labelled a whore and bimbo. What I enjoyed most about this was the interactions between all of these great characters. Most of them do not like each other to start with and they don’t realise that they shouldn’t be fighting each other as they actually have a common goal. Each character’s skill set is really shown off which serves as a great introduction to viewers who aren’t so familiar with them.

I really felt like I was watching a comic brought to life as the animation style is visually pleasing. Add this to some really great talent from actors like Sean Astin, Jason O’Mara, Michelle Monoghan and Shemar Moore, it s a winning combination. Shemar does a great job in portraying Cyborg’s origin story and the complexity of Victor’s relationship with his Dad gives the film some heart. Darkseid acts as the big bad in this and whilst he looks completely grimacing and indestructible, Steve Blum’s vocals make him appear even more threatening.

You instantly feel the connection between Superman and Batman and tracks are laid for a more interesting relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman (much to the upset of Steve Trevor). Whilst Cyborg is quite intense, The Flash, Shazam and Green Lantern provide some humour and light relief. Justin Kirk gives us a Green Lantern comparable with what we saw from Ryan Reynolds. It was also interesting to have some pop culture thrown in for laughs with references to things like True Blood and World of Warcraft.

Overall, Justice League: War is a really enjoyable animated movie which made me want to watch the next one straight away. It uses a fantastic villain to bring together a group of superheroes who figure out a way to use their awesome powers together and save the world. I loved it.

Movie Reviews

Wonder Woman 84 Review

So its finally here, one of the most anticipated DC movies ever, release date pushed and pushed to the point that I thought it might never be released! But its out, here in the UK we’ve had it for a couple of weeks in the cinema although most of those are closed currently! But for everyone in the US the cinema and HBO Max dual release has happened and people are having thoughts! So here at Earth9 we like to throw our hat in the ring with thoughts, here are mine!

Wonder Woman 84 is unapologetically a comic book movie, everything that happens is over the top and the story could be ripped straight from the pages of a Wonder Woman graphic novel, this is its strongest but also its weakest point.

Lets talk the good first Gal Gadot is once again amazing as Diana Prince, we know this it’s not news, Chris Pine is back and is still fantastic as Steve Trevor but we have new kids on the block with Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva/Cheetah and Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord and they are awesome! For someone who’s more known for comedic roles Kristen Wiig really turns it up and is totally believable in her role as mild timid Barbara turning super villain and the introduction of Maxwell Lord to this universe is great and Pedro plays him with such intensity and at times desperation that he just works!

Now lets talk the bad, the story can feel rushed and disjointed in places, there are worldwide events going on that seem to happen almost off screen, then while the character development for Barbara and Max are good but there is not enough Cheetah in this film, as one of Diana’s biggest enemies in the comics I expected more, however it does feel like an origin story to build to a further sequel. Also I felt that Wonder Woman’s character development seemed a little counter-productive she’s a saviour, a god, the best of us, but seems to be pining after Steve Trevor to the point that him coming back makes him her saviour and kind of pushes her to be Wonder Woman, that doesn’t really sit quite right with me. I get that he’s kind of her weakness but it takes away a little from her badassary.

Overall though I did really enjoy this film, it looks amazing, the opening scene is awesome and we do get an absolute ton of fan service so for someone like me I’m picking up all the little things its just great and builds a larger universe. the music is great her new redone theme is excellent and with this being set in the 80s the visual aesthetic is tremendous, there’s a part that gave me the opening of Superman 3 vibes which I think is a good thing lol.

Is it as good as the first film? I don’t think so, but it is a enjoyable sequel that is a fun watch and one that I would happily watch again once its out on blu-ray or if we ever get HBO Max in the UK!

Movie Reviews

Man Of Steel Review

So here is my next review in my Superman movie series, Man Of Steel, the first in what was supposed to be the new Zack Snyder DC Universe otherwise known as the Snyderverse, funny looking back after all this time as to how exactly that all went! But that’s a conversation for another review, this time we are just going to look at this movie on its own, what it did well, what I wasn’t a fan of and my overall feeling now after rewatching it again.

So lets start with this, visually this film is stunning, one thing Zack Snyder knows how to do well is make a fantastic looking film. The first thing we are introduced to is this incredible vision of Krypton, very different from the other movies but much close in my opinion to the comics, the landscapes, the scope of it, the suits, this planet is fully realised and adds so much more gravitas to it when the inevitable happens! I’m gonna come right out and say it Russell Crowe is my favourite interpretation of Jor-El, he cares about this planet and you can tell, he’s spent so long trying to save it and even at the end he does everything he can to save what he can of his homeworld, I love it all…… well all except those prison pods that look like they were bought from Love Honey, that’s definitely an artistic choice lol

Michael Shannon as Zod is excellent, different enough from Terrance Stamp that you don’t really compare them but still with enough passion that you can kinda see where he’s coming from at points, you know until he tries to terraform Earth, not cool Zod, no cool!! And all the additional Kryptonian zealots really add to the overall threat to Earth and Antje Traue as Faora is an absolute badass!

So lets talk Superman, Henry Cavill is an amazing Superman he has that quiet strength but immense passion for life that is a fundamental part of Superman as a character and I really like that, he looks great in that suit and overall just awesome, however here is where things don’t really gel for me, obviously this is a different take on the character and I dig that I don’t want to see the same things over and over again and I really don’t mind sad Clark trying to find his place in the world, what I do struggle with is this version of Ma and Pa Kent, they have always been Kal-Els humanity, they ground him and show him how to be a good person, in this film they are definitely not that! Its odd to say but Jor-El has more humanity than Jonathan Kent, my favourite line of this film will always be this from Jor-El –‘You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.’ all of this is what Superman is, but then you have Pa Kent telling Clark to hide who he is, I dunno It just doesn’t sit right with me.

Lois can be a difficult character to crack, you need strength and tenacity without making her a unlikeable and Amy Adams nails it, I have no issue with her knowing Clark’s secret straight away, she’s a world class reporter it just makes sense and the scenes between them are exactly how you’d imagine their relationship to be, they work best as a team not Superman just saving her all the time and I really like that about this film.

Now to tackle the controversial ending of ‘Superman doesn’t kill’ well he does, he has, probably will again, does he like it, of course not but if there are no other options he does what is needed to save the world, he has to make the hard decisions for the betterment of mankind and always puts them first, that’s what Superman is, that’s why he’s an inspiration, so ultimately that didnt really bother me too much.

Overall I really like this film, it’s aged really well and sure while there are things that I’m not a huge fan of there’s more than enough that I love to make this an enjoyable film and one that I’ll happily watch over and over again. Oh also Hanz Zimmers soundtrack is incredible and for me Superman’s main theme from it is nearly as iconic as John Williams, not quite, but very nearly!!

If you haven’t seen this in a while definitely have a rewatch and enjoy it as a stand alone Superman movie, we will get into the DCU issues next review when I tackle Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice!

Fandom

Lego 1989 Batwing #76161 Review

So I’m a huge Lego fan, I have probably too many sets mostly Star Wars however I do collect some of the sets inspired by movies too, I have the Ghostbusters Fire House, the Jurassic Park T-rex/gate and of course the 1989 Batmobile from Tim Burtons Batman. So when I heard Lego were releasing the Batwing from the same movie I knew I had to pick it up and I’m super glad I did!

This set is amazing, the recreation of this iconic design is practically flawless, to make all the curves in this plane with Lego is incredible and the build techniques are ingenious. The build took me probably around 6 hours and it was so much fun the base is super solid and it’s a build where most of the early stages are straight onto the base which is essentially the Bat logo and then later you build the elements separately and add them to it, it takes shape pretty quickly but the details are where this build come alive, so many small intricate parts that add to the overall aesthetic.

The mini figure selection is pretty good, the first set the Batmobile we got a new Keaton based Batman, Nicholson Joker and Kim Basinger’s Vicky Vale. In this set we get the same Batman, Tuxedo Joker and Joker Goon Lawrence, I like the Joker variation, I’m not sure what else the could’ve done with Batman but the goon I think is slightly disappointing, I think Commissioner Gordon or Alfred would’ve been a better choice or if you really want a goon in there it should’ve been Bob!

This set is huge so bear that in mind if you are thinking of picking it up however they have made this set wall mountable which is definitely the best place for it in my opinion. Overall this set is awesome, it looks great and is the perfect accompaniment to the 1989 Batmobile, if you can pick it up you should!!  

Check out the gallery below (click the picks to enlarge!)

Animated Reviews, DC Animated Movies

Batman: Death In The Family Review

Batman: Death in the Family is the first interactive animated movie from Warner Bros/DC and its really well done!! Batman Under The Red Hood is one of my favourite DC animated movies so I wasn’t really sure how this movie would work as technically we have already seen this story play out but that’s where the interactive part comes in and it’s really very clever!

So the movie starts of as Under The Red Hood does up until the point that Joker has Jason Todd captive, it is here where everything changes, if you want it to! You are given one of three choices as to whether to save Jason and indeed how to save him. This takes its inspiration directly from the original comic where the readers were asked whether or not they wanted Jason Todd to live or Die, in reality the reader chose die and comics where changed forever and we were ultimately gifted with Red Hood.

This is where this story differs, depending on what first choice you pick takes you down different branching paths where you have more choices to make, these lead in some very different directions some good, some bad, some very very bad most are quite brutal in one way or another! Once you’ve finished one branch it does give you the option to jump back to your orignal branch to make different choices, its done so well and all the animation and voice acting fits perfectly to the original.

I really enjoyed this cool way to tell a story we already knew, its interesting given you the choice of where the story goes and what that means for all the characters involved and it would be great to see them do it with other stories in this series. Picking and choosing what Justice League member takes on Doomsday in Death of Superman or how Barry changes the timeline in Flashpoint would be amazing!! Overall great concept and fantastic execution, I’m a fan!

Batman: Death in the Family is available on Digital Download now, and Blu-Ray™ & DVD on October 26th Order it here at the WB Store

Also we are giving away 2 copies of it on Blu-Ray™ for your chance to WIN check out our post here