Misfits*

Last night I watched Thunderbolts* on Disney+.  I was a big fan on the team when Marvel launched it way back in 1997.  That team was made up of a bunch of criminals disguising themselves as heroes in a time when the Avengers were nowhere to be found.

This new team is made up of B-List Heroes with a ton of baggage.  The new Black Widow, U.S. Agent, the Red Guardian, Ghost, the Winter Soldier, and Sentry are manipulated by Allegra de Fontaine into first fighting each other, and then coming together to save New York.  

I'm sorry but this film just didn't work for me.  Taskmaster ( a great Marvel character) was killed off in like the first 10 minutes of the film. What a waste!  The Red Guardian got on my last nerve in a hurry. Bucky, a U.S. Congressman, what???  I never cared for the Sentry character and after the film I like him even less.  The story was just too cheesy to be good.

On the upside, Florence Pugh's acting was fabulous.  Kudos to Julia Louis-Dreyfus as well.  Hannah John-Kamen did a great job as Ghost who was constantly saving the team's backsides throughout the film. (I love this character and would like to see more of her in the future.) 

SO, fan boys and girls, that's my 2 cents on the film for what it's worth.  Peace, Out, Sauerkraut! 

What's on TV?

WandaVision!  I took a little time and watched the Marvel Miniseries a few days ago and to be honest was not disappointed.  It did start out a little slow and was somewhat confusing.  As things moved along, you start to pick up on the quirks and begin to realize something is not quiet right.

The creepiness and eeriness of the last few episodes put me on edge.  The last episode was great and sad at the same time.  It did set up Wanda for The Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness.

I loved the tributes to TV Family Sitcoms from the past.  Kudos to Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany for their fantastic portrayals of Wanda and the Vision.  Also great was Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, loved the over the top acting!!  The addition of the White Vision was interesting.

The storyline was a tip of the hat to the Steve Englehart and Richard Howell’s Vision and the Scarlet Witch from back in the 1980s.  Agatha, who is much kinder in the comic books, was brought in to help Wanda with the twins in West Coast Avengers.  For those of us who have read the issues, things are a bit different in the TV series.

Overall - good stuff.  Very entertaining!  A win for Marvel.

It's Big

I found this Marvel HeroClix Galactus online for a good price.  It was missing the original HeroClix base, but I didn't care.  I've always wanted one and for the price I paid, I couldn't pass it up.  Welcome to the family, Destroyer of Worlds. 

Messages of Madness???

I have continued my exploration of Marvel’s multiverse movies this week.  I watched Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania.  I think all I still need to see is Spider-Man: No Way Home.  I was never a fan of Shang Chi so I'm going to skip that one.

Both films I recently watched were far better than Thor: Love and Thunder.  The tragic storyline of Wanda was sad but was largely true to the comic books and done well.  Seeing Wong come into his own was great too.

I also really enjoyed the introduction of Kang into the Marvel Movies.  He’s such a great character in all his forms. I’m expecting big things from him/them in the near future.

I did think both films got a little busy.  It was like they were trying to pack too much action into them.  Regardless, I did enjoy watching them.

One more to go.  I gotta check out our friendly neighborhood wall-crawler next.  Excelsior!!!

Marvel-Less???

This past week I was able to catch a couple of Marvel films on Netflix that I have been wanting to watch for some time. 

Thor: Love and Thunder is one of the worst Marvel films in recent memory.  Outside of  Christian Bale's performance, nothing about this film was that good.  Poor acting, poor attempts at humor, poor script, poor just about everything.  The problem is, I can't unsee it now.

Not much better was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.  The Atlanteans were cool.  The back story of Namor was an interesting reinterpretation of his conception.  The rest of the story was mediocre at best.  I actually fell asleep at one point. Yawn!

I think I got spoiled by the fabulous films that made up the first round of Marvel/Avenger movies.  The newer films have a lot to live up to.  I'm hoping the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie will uplift my spirits and reconnect me to the franchise.  Marvel is 0 for 2 with me right now in round two.  I hope they don't strike out with this newest release.

One More Ork

Or at least a Half-Ork.  This is a mod I did on a HeroClix Drax the Destroyer model which I just happened to have two of.  I removed the figure form the HeroClix base and gave it a repaint in the color scheme I used on my recent Ork army.  I glued the completed figure to a new base.  I like the way it turned out.  He looks bad a$$.  

Family Matters

I saw Avengers: End Game on Sunday.  While I didn't like it as much as Infinity War, I still thought that it was good.  I thought that the story got off to a slow start and then seemed rushed at the end.  I also feel that sometimes too much was done which may or may not lead to other movies down the road.  Well, that's my gripe.

What I enjoyed was that most of the entire film was about family.  In the end, what mattered most was loved ones.  They were what was most important to nearly all of the characters.

Tony Stark finally realizing that he had to sacrifice himself to save all the loved ones for the others ahead of his own family's needs has one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen on film.

To see Steve Rogers finally able to be with his one true love, Peggy Carter, warmed the heart.

And the list goes on:  Clint reunited with his.  Natasha referring to the Avengers as her family and then making the ultimate sacrifice for her friend and teammate.  Bruce trying to bring Natasha back, knowing that she had loved him.  Scott risking everything to see his daughter.  Thor's reunion with his mother and Tony's encounter with his father.   Peter's excitement at seeing his father figure, Stark, still alive.  The sadness Clint and Wanda felt knowing that loved ones would never return.  Other Avengers are also reunited with family.  It is tremendous and it drives the film.

Rocket acknowledges that the Guardians are family.  We even see the family dynamic between Nebula, Gamorra, and Thanos (as dysfunctional as it is!).

The theme of family and love permeates the film.  It also involves friendships: Bucky and Sam with Cap, Happy and Tony, Clint and Natasha.  But even those are based on the characters love and caring about one another.

With all of that love, family, and friendship, how could I not like this film.  In the end, that is what won the day.  Kudos to the directors, Anthony and Joe Russo for a film that can be enjoyed by all (especially, we long time fans of Marvel Comics and characters).  As Stan the Man would have put it, "Excelsior!"

March Magic and Such

I have decided to try something different this year as far as my miniature hobby goes. Starting in March, I am going to alternate monthly between whether I am painting fantasy or scifi figures. Thus far, I have completed a set of Reaper Bones Pirates and am now working on a set of their goblins.  (I love their stuff!!!)  Pics to follow later.

I ordered some figs from Megacon Games.  I purchased a set of their Mercs figures (KemVar) and a set of their Banner Saga figures.  Not crazy about the Mercs, the Banner Saga stuff is great.  My only gripe about the BS figs is that some of their weapons are horribly bent.  I'm hoping that the old boiling water/ice water trick will work to straighten them out.

Tried some Sam Adams '76 last weekend.  As much as I normally enjoy their products, I gotta say this one missed the mark with me.  It tastes too much like an IPA and seemed to have a grapefruitish aftertaste.  Not my cup of tea.  Speaking of beer, I'm headed down to the Hoffbrauhaus this week, I'm looking forward to it!

Also missing the mark was Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok.  The Thor and Avengers Movies have been great so far.  This one however, came up short.  The Thor character seemed a bit out of character.  Too many attempts at humor like in the Guardians of the Galaxy.  While it works there, it didn't in Ragnarok.  The Warriors Three were out of the film in a heartbeat.  No Lady Sif and no Natalie Portman....boooooo!!!!  The Executioner and Korg characters were weak at best.  The portrayals of Loki, Hela, Heimdall, and Valkyrie were amazing!!!! LOVED the Hulk in this!!!!  The talents of Jeff Goldblum and Anthony Hopkins were completely wasted.  (Is Odin the new Yoda?!) I'm hoping that the new Avengers movie will be better.  We will have to wait and see.