Movie Review: Fant4stic - A 4getable Experiment

Almost immediately after it was announced that Disney bought Marvel in 2009, Fox announced their intentions to reboot the Fantastic Four franchise, to which they own the rights. Years went by without anything moving forward that some may have thought the rights would revert back to Marvel just like when Fox was unable to get a Daredevil film into production. But at what seemed to be the last minute, a release date was announced and things started moving forward with a director attached and castings made. As time went by and more and more about the movie was announced, it showed that they, specifically director Josh Trank, was trying to make a Fantastic Four movie that would bear little resemblance to the comic book it's based on. The director and cast kept using key words like "gritty", "grounded", and "realistic". Essentially they were trying to "Nolanize" the Fantastic Four, which was pretty much the opposite of everything the comic is. As expected, the fan backlash was massively negative with a boycott abound. I took part in said boycott, and I haven't missed a Marvel-based movie in theaters since X-Men. It also didn't help there were constant rumors, which are now believable, of director Josh Trank being intoxicated on the set, trashing equipment and being a pain to work with everyone. Still, a minority of fans still thought there was a chance it could be good. I kind of thought there would be a chance, but I wouldn't support it by seeing it in theaters. And lo and behold the film opened to massively negative reviews and bombed at the box office. It has gotten worse reviews than other despised comic book movies like Batman & Robin, Catwoman, and Dragon Ball Evolution. But out of morbid curiosity, I still planned to watch and review this movie when it was released on home media. And if I had to suffer through it, I'm taking some of you with me. So here we go; this is Fant4stic.

After the opening credits that go by so fast that you think they're trying to rush to get this over with, we open to a grade school classroom where students are describing what they want to be when they grow up. We meet young Reed Richards, who says he wants to be the first person to teleport between dimensions and that he's already built a teleporter. His teacher scoffs at him and tells him to pick something more realistic, because you know, teachers aren't supposed to nurture students dreams, he said sarcastically. But Reed's classmate, Ben Grimm takes and interest in Reed's teleporter and helps him finish it and test it on a toy car. This is a pretty nice scene, with some humor added in with Reed saying "Don't blow up. Don't blow up." The two kids even find out they have harsh family lives in common. Ben comes from an abusive home, where he gets beat up by his brother, who in turn is beat up by their mother. His brother even announces "it's clobberin' time". Keep that in mind because I'll come back to that later. Reed's a little better off with his parents just not caring or understanding Reed's interests or his intellect. I feel this is an example of the grittiness they wanted to bring to the franchise. But the thing is, you don't need to have characters come from harsh backgrounds to be more interesting. The characters never needed that for years, and even here, it's a small aspect of the movie that hardly gets mentioned later.

We cut to seven years later where we have teenage Reed and Ben, now played by Miles Teller and Jamie Bell. I need to talk about Jamie Bell's casting for a bit now. Ben Grimm is supposed to be in some ways, Reed's bodyguard. In the Ultimate comics, which was a big influence on this movie, Ben protects Reed from bullies. I look at Jamie Bell and I don't see Ben Grimm at all. He's not even intimidating. Hell, Miles Teller is even taller than him. I read that they wanted to cast someone small like Jamie Bell because they wanted to emphasize how much of a change it is when he becomes the Thing. I'm sorry, but this is a guy who is irreversibly turned into a rock monster. That's a massive change it its own right that he didn't need to be small to start off with. We already had Hulk for that, and even then there's a big difference in character when Bruce Banner transforms.
Anyway, teenage Reed and Ben present a perfected teleporter at the school science fair and successfully transport and bring back a model plane he borrows from a nearby kid, but the same douchey teacher from before disqualifies them thinking it was just a magic trick. But they are able to get the attention of Franklin Storm, played by Reg E. Cathey, who represents the Baxter Foundation and recruits Reed to help build an inter-dimensional teleporter. Cathey is actually one of the few good actors in this movie and acts as a great father figure to the group and even delivers a good inspirational speech later.

Reed also meets Storm's daughter, Sue, played by Kate Mara. Now, in the comics, Reed and Sue are pretty much the premiere couple of the Marvel universe. In this movie, there is absolutely NO chemistry between Mara and Teller, and honestly, I blame this mostly on Mara, who is probably the worst actor in this whole film. She is just so wooden and I hardly hear any emotion in her voice. She even makes the basic idea of music BORING. Though I guess I can't totally blame her. Apparently, Trank didn't want to cast Mara but was forced to by Fox, so he treated her very poorly on set, which I think showed in performance.

In addition to Reed, Franklin Storm also brings in Victor Von Doom, played by Toby Kebbel who was involved in the teleporter project before but got kicked out for reasons that I didn't quite understand. Now, initial descriptions of this interpretation of the character had him named Victor Domashev and that he was a hacker that blogged under the username Doom. Fans like myself were fucking pissed. Dr. Doom is one of the greatest supervillains of all time, who is able to stand up to multiples heroes at one time, and even in the current Secret Wars even, he is basically GOD, and they made him a damn blogger?!
But of course, when Fox did reshoots, they changed his name back to Von Doom and downplayed the hacker aspect. Now, before watching this, I thought "Okay, maybe that salvages the character a bit", but when he's introduced in the film, he's in a darkly lit room and sitting at multiple computer screens, pretty much what you'd expect from a hacker. Seriously, remember that nerdy guy from the World of Warcraft episode of South Park?

Victor pretty much looks like that, only thinner and with more hair.
But when he comes back to the facility, he does clean up a bit. Here's the thing though. Kebbell as Victor just isn't intimidating. When the trailer came out, I didn't even realize that was Victor. Honestly, I found Julian McMahon more threatening in the 2005 and 2007 films. Even when he wasn't in a suit, he was such an intimidating character. I don't get that with Kebbell. But much like the older films, they retread the old plots of Victor having an unrequited love for Sue (though not as prevalent here) and jealousy towards Reed because he's apparently smarter than him. I got more to say about Doom as we go on.

We finally round out the cast with the introduction of Johnny Storm, who crashes his car in a drag race. Now I'm just going to address the elephant in the room. Michale B. Jordan's casting as Johnny caused a lot of uproar because he was African American where Johnny is white in the comics. Even before the official announcement of the castings, Jordan had been rumored to play Johnny for months, so when they finally did announce it, I was okay with the idea. Hell, I was more surprised about Bell's casting as Thing. Even after watching Jordan in the film "Chronicle" (also directed by Trank), I saw he had what it take to play Johnny. Now, I don't mind race changes when it comes to comic book movies. Some good examples I can think of are Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Jamie Foxx as Electro, and the West family on the Flash. But the thing is, his casting is controversial because it felt like Fox was pushing for diversity for the sake of it, especially when they kept his sister Sue white. Hell, why didn't they go all out and cast Sue as black as well? And if they wanted diversity, why not do it for Ben Grimm? Terry Crews had some interest in playing the Thing before, and I could have seen it happen before they decided to cast young (oh well, maybe for the MCU). Food for thought.
Anyway, Johnny gets grounded by his father, which brings in some good father issues that don't really get more attention as they should, and is blackmailed into helping build the teleporter so he can get his car back in return. There is an emphasis on how much of a rebel Johnny is in comparison with his humor that stay true to the character, like saying he's "not wearing a lab coat" and saying stuff to annoy Victor.

It's at this point we get a montage of the teleporter being built and I discovered something. The music in this movie is boring, if not non-existent. You know how superhero movies have a main score to get you exicted? Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Avengers. They all had good music. Fant4stic doesn't. Even the scene of Johnny's drag race is kind of boring because of it. And honestly, there were times that I think they actually reused some of the music from the old Fantastic Four movies. Watch and listen for it. Tell me I'm not crazy.

So after the teleporter is built and tested, the teens are disappointed to find out that they wouldn't be the first humans to use it. So what happens then? Reed, Johnny, and Victor get drunk and decide to highjack the teleporter. Reed even calls Ben to come with them just for the story's sake. Maybe this is why you guys weren't qualified for interdimensional travel? Seriously, this is one of the dumbest parts of the film. I mean, do scientists and technicians who build rockets complain about not immediately going into space? No. It's left for TRAINED PROFESSIONALS (unless said scientists and technicians actually do get some training). What they do here makes them all look like IDIOTS. What's even worse is that Sue doesn't even come with them, only coming to the control panel when she finds out what they've done.
Reed, Johnny, Victor, and Ben successfully travel to Planet Zero, which looks like the planet from "Prometheus", and much like that movie, Franklin Storm even mentioned earlier how Planet Zero could potentially gives answers to the creation and meaning of life. And also like in "Prometheus", the intellect of the crew of that movie very much matches the four who teleported here, as when Victor touches the green goo that has no idea what it could be, that's when the ground around them starts to crumble. They rush back to the teleporter, but Victor gets slimed by the green goo and falls to his apparent death (the way I describe it may not seem like it, but I actually felt bad for Victor here). The other three have trouble trying to close their pods when they're brought back by Sue on Earth, which causes a huge explosion that destroys the teleporter and everything around it.

This leads to one of the few good moments of the film, where the four protagonists are discovering what's happened to them (even though I'm still confused as to how and why they got their powers). Reed is stretched out and screaming out for someone to tell him what happened to his friends, which is a pretty emotional moment. Sue keeps going in and out of visibility and lies as wooden as her performance. Johnny is unable to control his fire and you can kind of feel the pain he is. And Ben is breaking out of some kind of rock cocoon to reveal his new form, which actually does look better in action than it does in pictures. Much like the Ultimate comics that was inspiration, the discovery of their powers is downright horrific, which is a lot different from other superhero movies, where the shock doesn't seem as extreme.
Reed breaks out of his room and finds Ben, who's begging Reed to help. So what does Reed do? He completely abandons his friends and escapes the facility they're being held at. Because, yeah, way to make the guy who is supposed to be the essentially main character of the movie and leader of the team they're supposed to be look bad. I mean, they try to excuse this action as him being scared and blames himself for what happened, but that's crap. Reed would never just up and leave.

We cut to a year later, and the government has been using Ben for military applications with plans to use Johnny and Sue as well, under the promise of a cure, while also rebuilding the teleporter to get back to Planet Zero so they can discover how to use its resources for their own uses, including making more superpowered soliders. I have two problems with this: 1. You have the whole "the government's trying to take control of something they don't understand" cliche; 2. One of the biggest issues of the film all together is that they're trying to militarize the Fantastic Four. They even get black "containment suits" that look nothing like the classic costumes. Hell, they don't even give Thing pants. Why did they not give Thing pants? I don't care if he's invulnerable or doesn't have junk, get him a pair of shorts, PLEASE! Now, I know there's an argument that they did the same thing with the X-Men with them wearing black leather suits, but they still looked like the X-Men.

Go on and try to tell me that you can't tell that's Wolverine, Storm, Angel, Cyclops, Beast, etc. Hell, they even still have "X"'s on their uniforms. I mean, you know how far Fant4stic wants to go to try and not be a comic book movie? Sue even describes their powers not as powers, but as "aggressively abnormal physical conditions". Noooo, THEY'RE FUCKING POWERS. You can call them gifts or abilities, but don't spew that long nerdy crap when you can call them something as simple as SUPERPOWERS.
Anyway, they're still having trouble getting the new teleporter to work and they need Reed to help them finish it, so they track him down and send Ben to bring him back. On the trip back, Ben blames Reed, which is understandable. Now I'm torn on this scene. On one hand, this is supposed to be an emotional moment where these best friends have had this tragedy happen to them and it seems it can't be fixed. But on the other hand, Ben is fully justified in being pissed at Reed. He abandoned all of them! He could have stayed with them, helped build a new teleporter and find a potential cure. But noooo, he had to leave, just for the sake of having more drama in the film.

So after Reed takes all of ten minutes to get the teleporter to work, a team of TRAINED PROFESSIONALS teleport to Planet Zero where they find Victor, still alive and his environment suit fused to his skin, and bring him back to Earth. Now, it's been talked about before about how much the Fantastic Four get a raw deal when trying to adapt them to film, but no character in this franchise seems to get it worse than Dr. Doom. I mean, you have this character who dedicates his life to mastering technology and sorcery and even rules his own country, and he just keeps getting screwed over and over in film. This go around, he doesn't even look like Dr. Doom, but more of a charred crash test dummy. Just look at this comparison.

Besides that, Doom is almost a total retread of how he was portrayed in the previous films. He gets his powers from the same accident as the Fantastic Four (which is just lazy writing), his skin becomes metal instead of it being a suit, and he has very vague motivations that make him a very uninteresting villain.
But whereas the '05-07 Doom had more electric based powers (which I hated), this new Doom is extremely overpowered having telekinetic powers, moving things, blowing up people's heads, and creating force fields. Seriously, why can't they just get Doom right?
Victor, now calling himself just "Doom", begins killing everyone in the facility and plans to use the teleporter to get back to Planet Zero and suck Earth up into a black hole. He even kills Franklin Storm. I guess this is supposed to give the main four an "avenge me!" motivation to work together like Coulson's death in the Avengers, but we hardly spend any time on that because they immediately follow Doom through the portal. It's at this moment that you can tell that they're really rushing to finish this movie (especially by how Miles Teller's acting seem to get worse, and he was actually doing well until this point) as we move on to the climactic final battle of the film with Doom vs. the Four on Planet Zero with Earth hanging in the balance.
So what are Doom's tactics to defeat these four heroes? Throw rocks at them. Yeah, I'm serious. He blew up people's heads before, but with the actual superpowered beings that can potentially stop them? Just smash them under some rocks. As the film continues to rush to end, the four quickly forget about finding a cure for themselves, accept their powers, and devise a new plan to defeat Doom: just hit him really hard. Yep, their ingenious plan to defeat the almost god-like being is something Goku from the Dragon Ball Z Abridged series would come up with.

But of course, the four succeed with Ben even saying "It's clobberin' time", which makes me think that him quoting the line his brother used when he beat him up means he has some serious issues to work out, Doom is disintegrated in the portal, destroying it, and the Earth is saved.
Like I said, this is one of the most rushed climaxes I've ever seen in a comic book movie. It's really hard to get invested because it's almost totally computer generated. Between the characters, their powers, and the background, nothing feels real. I think what would have made it better is to show the stakes that are involved. Show the portal sucking up the Earth and that innocent lives are in danger. You think back to other comic book movies and you see there's risk involved if the hero doesn't act quickly. In both Avengers movies, you have the Chitauri attacking civilians in New York, and Ultron threatening to drop Sokovia and its citizens like a meteor. In the Amazing Spider-Man movies, you saw people trying to evacuate as the Lizard planned to spread his mutating serum, and there were the two planes on a collision course because of Electro taking over the power grid. If this climax had anything like that, it might have been slightly better.

So the day is saved, the four get some more freedom from the government to work as they please, and they try to come up with a name for themselves just before they cut to the title screen.

And that was Fant4stic. If ever there was an example of a movie being made just because it had to be, this is the result and it is boring. I mean, I could see where they were trying to go with this movie, and there was definitely potential. If this wasn't the Fantastic Four, it definitely could have worked as an original sci-fi idea, or even a sequel to Chronicle (because I sense a lot of ideas Trank had for one were used in this movie). But when you have an existing property, you have characters people know and love and expect to see them adapted faithfully. Say what you will about the 2005-07 films, but despite their faults, they still retained the spirit and fun of the comics, which can't be said for the new film since they tried to make it so different and gritty from before that you couldn't even recognize who these characters are. Apparently the reshoots made it a much different movie than it was before, but I honestly believe that this film was doomed from the beginning because of how much it was changed from the source.
It goes without saying the film is a failure on every level, and everyone who said it would be is vindicated. But from that failure, there is hope. A sequel scheduled for 2017 has been cancelled, which increases the chances of the film rights returning to Marvel, unless Fox waits until the last moment to try and reboot again. But why would they? For one, the first two movies actually made a profit for them. Also, people are smart and have caught on to things. They know about how Marvel's film rights are spread between studios, which films are set in the MCU and which aren't. If Fox does try again with the Fantastic Four, it can be guaranteed to be another failure. And I've seen some people say "Well what makes you think Marvel can do a better job?" Hell, if Marvel can make a hit out of a talking tree and a trigger happy raccoon, they sure as hell can do justice for their first family. Besides, you want a good comparison of how much better they are at Fox? Compare the 2003 Daredevil movie to the Netflix series. 'Nuff said.
And what of the people who worked on this movie? Well, for Josh Trank, his career is all but over. He was originally on board to direct a Star Wars spin-off film for Disney but was fired due to his behavior while filming this movie (though he'll say he quit). After Chronicle, this guy just obviously wasn't ready for a big time blockbuster with a studio breathing down his neck. If there's ever a documentary about the making this movie, it will probably be more entertaining than the actual film.
As for the actors, Michael B. Jordan has bounced back with "Creed" and Toby Kebbell is signed on for "Kong: Skull Island", so he should be fine. Everyone else, like Teller and Mara, I'm sure will be fine too. Because these people are talented in other things. They were just involved in a bad project. It happens with every actor. They all have hits and misses. If we based our opinions on actors solely on their bad films, then nobody would be considered a good actor.

The best thing anyone can do, between the actors of this film and the fans of the comics, is try to put this terrible thing behind them, and hope for better things to come in the future.

RATING: 1/10

Top 11 Episodes of Spongebob

Whether you love him or hate him, it can't be denied that Spongebob Squarepants is a cultural icon. You may even find yourself talking about the show and quoting from episodes. This is actually how the idea for this post came about. A conversation with a friend at work led to discussing the top 3 episodes of Spongebob. And then I thought, "Why just 3? There's surely more great episodes that deserve recognition". And so I bring you, THE TOP 11 EPISODES OF SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!
Now before I start the countdown, I do want to make things clear.
* This is all personal opinion based.
* I may do a little over-analyzing in some areas and delve into some harsh language (it's my blog I do what I want).
* Most importantly, this list only contains episodes from the first three seasons. It's just how it came about. I'm not saying that later seasons don't have their moments, but much like the Simpsons, the early seasons are definitely considered the best. I would consider doing best and worst lists for modern Spongebob episodes (season 4 and up), but it's not a top priority.
All that said, let us begin.

11. NATURE PANTS

PLOT: Deciding to make his dream a reality, Spongebob decides to leave behind civilized society to live wild among the jellyfish.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: To be totally honest, I never really cared for this episode as a kid. In fact, the aspect I always found weird about this episode was how they tried to cover up Spongebob while he was naked. I mean, he doesn't really have anything. So why does this make my list, albeit at the bottom? Because of the scene where Patrick, distraught from losing his best friend, decides to get Spongebob back by hunting him like the jellyfish he wants to be. "If I can't have you as a friend, I'm gonna make you a trophy! I even picked out this nice jar for you." And even my mom, who hates Spongebob, loved this moment. She'll deny it, but this is her favorite episode of Spongebob.

10. FRANKENDOODLE

PLOT: When an artist at sea drops his pencil into the water, Spongebob and Patrick happen upon it and discover anything they draw with it comes to life. But when a drawing of Spongebob becomes too violent, it's up to the two best friends to erase him.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: Did you ever wonder what it would be like if Spongebob was a complete psychopath...before later episodes make him act like a complete psychopath? Add in the violent tendencies, and you would pretty much get Doodle-Bob. To the episode's credit, it does go an interesting path from Spongebob and Patrick using the pencil for hijinks before becoming something of a heroic quest. Plus, it's an creative variation of an evil twin story. Besides that, it delivers some hilarious Patrick moments, from his "Finland!" quote and when he forgets what's going on thinking that they're going to surprise Doodle-Bob for his birthday (which it kind of is) and ends up getting a rock to the head. And I just love the quote from Spongebob when he thinks he's defeated Doodle-Bob. "I AM SPONGEBOB! DESTROYER OF EVIL!" It's such a good episode, you can just ignore why a pencil from the human world has magical properties under water.

9. ROCK BOTTOM

PLOT: After getting on the wrong bus, Spongebob finds himself stranded in the strange town of Rock Bottom trying to catch another bus back home to Bikini Bottom, only have obstacles constantly get in his way.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: For the longest time, this was the only other town besides Bikini Bottom that we had seen under the sea, and I think the animators of this episode used this opportunity to get really creative and draw as many freaky fish as they could. I didn't realize it originally, but learning later in school about how some of the uglier fish lived in a deeper and darker level of the ocean, I got why the fish of Rock Bottom were so scary. Having their own *pfft* accent was a *pfft* nice touch *pfft* too. What also makes this episode stand out is that it's one of those rare moments where Spongebob legitimately get angry and pushed to his limits. Who can blame him? I don't remember how many buses stopped and drove off without, but they only waited for half a second. What a punch of douches.

8. GRAVEYARD SHIFT

PLOT: Realizing the potential for more money by staying open, Mr. Krabs decides to leave the Krusty Krab open 24 hours, with Spongebob and Squidward left to work in the dead of night. This excites Spongebob, but Squidward tries to ruin it for him by making up the story of the Hash-Slinging Slasher, only for aspects of his story to mysteriously begin to come to fruition.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: Have you ever been so scared that you start to eat your own arms repeatedly and even scream out of your eyes? Keeping with the freaky tone from my last pick, this is probably the scariest episode of the early Spongebob seasons. We know at first that Squidward is making up the story, but when his story starts coming true, you can't help but start to get scared. And when the Slasher finally appears outside the Krusty Krab, THAT'S WHEN YOU START FREAKING OUT! You have no idea what's going to happen to Spongebob and Squidward! And then...the twist ending (which I will not spoil here, even though I'm sure everyone's seen it)! But if there's one lesson to learn from this episode, it's that if the lights start to flicker on and off, it's just Nosferatu.

7. BUBBLE BUDDY

PLOT: With all his friends busy, Spongebob decides to create a new friend in the form of Bubble Buddy.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: On the surface, this is a pretty cute episode and a nice variation of an imaginary friend story. But when you really stop to think about it, this is actually a really dark episode. This is one of those episodes where Spongebob drives everyone in town crazy, but in this episode, it gets to the point of violence and paranoia. One of the fish upset about Bubble Buddy throws out ideas of what he'll do to ruin their lives further. It's like what Fox News does to (insert oppressed minority here). The upset fish even almost harm an innocent lifeguard before Squidward stops them and leads them on a mission to pop Bubble Buddy. Then we get the twist ending that Bubble Buddy is indeed alive and everyone is cool with it. If he was alive the whole time and not Spongebob's imagination, then that just makes it worse. For one thing, he spent two hours in a port-o-potty. What prick does that? But let's not forget the big thing. After burying Scooter in the sand, Spongebob leaves to get snacks and tells Bubble Buddy to dig him up before the tide comes in. What ends up happening? Oh, nothing...except that Scooter DIES!

The sentient bubble just stood there and watched Scooter as he drowned (let's not bring logic into a cartoon about a fish drowning). Bubble Buddy is one cold motherfucker, and he had to get out of town because people were catching on to his act. Who knows what kind of sick crap he did when he left town?
Am I reading too much into this? Probably. But sometimes it's fun to over analyze things. It's still an entertaining episode. Plus, it's because of this episode that we know about Leif Erikson Day. Hinga dinga durgen!

6. THE CAMPING EPISODE

PLOT: Squidward joins Spongebob and Patrick in their backyard campout after a perceived taunt.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: There's two things that make this episode stand out. The most obvious thing is the Campfire Song Song. Let's be honest, we've all tried singing along and either succeeded or failed. The other thing is what I believe to be the only appearance on the show by the believed-to-be mythical Sea Bear (and to extension the Sea Rhinoceros). It's just hilarious to see Squidward get beat up by it no matter what he does. (SQUIDWARD: "What'd I do that time?" SPONGEBOB: "I don't know, I guess he just doesn't like you.") Not much to say about this one, but it's definitely one of the best.

5. CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?

PLOT: After being accused of stealing Mr. Krabs' first dime, a fed-up Squidward quits the Krusty Krab. Winding up having a tough time finding work, Squidward eventually ends up staying with Spongebob and takes advantage of his hospitality.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: Squidward always brags about how better he is than everyone. So what happens when he tries to make it out there on his own? He fails miserably. Winding up homeless, this is the lowest we've ever seen Squidward, and you can't help but feel sorry for him. But when he starts acting like his snooty self again and treating Spongebob like a slave, that sympathy is gone. In a way, the roles are reversed in this episode with Spongebob being the one annoyed by Squidward instead of the other way around. This is another instance where Spongebob gets really angry and is pushed to his limits, even more so than in "Rock Bottom" as when Squidward doesn't get Spongebob's hints about getting a job, he screams throws himself and Squidward out the side of his house and drags him to the Krusty Krab. Spongebob even starts choking out Krabs when he won't hire Squidward back initially.

I think in some way, Squidward's situation is relatable in this episode, especially for twenty-somethings coming out of college. Tell me if this sounds like anyone you know: they believe they're meant for something more, but they're afraid nothing will come along and that they''ll be stuck in a minimum wage job. They're also still living with a caretaker who will reach their limit and want them out of their house. Blow your mind yet?

4. BIG PINK LOSER

PLOT: Depressed about never accomplishing anything, Patrick gets a job at the Krusty Krab thanks to Spongebob. But success doesn't come as easy as the starfish thinks.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: When I was younger, I always thought it would make for Patrick to work with both Spongebob and Squidward. Looking back now, this episode explains it wouldn't work. While it would be considered mean anywhere else, it's just hilarious to watch Patrick screw up at each job he does, from eating a customer's order three times to answering the phone incorrectly. (CALLER: "Is this the Krusty Krab?" PATRICK: "No! This is Patrick!") It even takes Patrick over a minute to learn how open a jar from Spongebob. It's even more hilarious to watch Patrick copy Spongebob as much as he can.

Hilarious from start to finish, this is an episode me and friend would reenact all the time back in grade school.

3. BAND GEEKS

PLOT: Wanting to show up his old high school rival Squilliam, Squidward only has days to put together a marching band to perform at the Bubble Bowl.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: Oh we all know why this episode makes the list. Who didn't rock out to the episode's ending performance of "Sweet Victory"? It's so awesome, you just forget that they're playing for a human football game for some reason.

Besides that, this is one of the few episodes where Squidward succeeds at something and put Squilliam in his place, despite having really nothing to do with putting together the band's performance. But I guess many people takes credit for others' work, so good for Squidward. It's just too bad he ends up going back to the Krusty Krab afterwards.

2. CHOCOLATE WITH NUTS

PLOT: Inspired by Squidwards' fancy living magazine, Spongebob and Patrick set out to become entrepreneurs by selling chocolate bars, but don't have the results they expect.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: This is another episode that is hilarious from start to finish. Patrick has his funny moments from telling a potential customer "I love you" and focusing deeply on another. Then you have the really old fish in a wheelchair who remembers "when they first invented chocolate" and that she "ALWAYS HATED IT!". But of course, we all know the best part of this episode. I wouldn't do any justice describing it, so here's the video.

If you don't think of this guy when ever someone says chocolate, you are missing a grand piece of humor in your life.

And finally, the number one episode of Spongebob is...

PIZZA DELIVERY

PLOT: When someone calls the Krusty Krab for pizza, Mr. Krabs sends Spongebob and Squidward to deliver it, but of course it's doesn't go as smoothly as it should.

WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: I wouldn't go so far as to say this would be everyone's favorite episode of Spongebob, but it should definitely crack their top five. This is an episode I can recite almost verbatim. How can anyone forget the Krusty Krab Pizza song or Spongebob's excitement finding a rock to drive?

But then you have this guy. Probably the biggest jerk in the whole history of Spongebob. The customer who ordered the pizza but wouldn't pay for it because they didn't bring him a drink he never ordered. Something must be seriously wrong with this guy. First off, he called a fast food restaurant for pizza. And does he seriously not have anything to drink in his fridge? This guy is so bad, that even Squidward stands up for Spongebob against this guy. SQUIDWARD STOOD UP FOR SPONGEBOB. I think if there's one thing that makes this episode memorable than anything else, it's that one moment.

And there you have it. My Top 11 Episodes of Spongebob. Agree? Disagree? Let me know.

TV Review: Jessica Jones - A Down and Dirty Redemption Story

I'm going to start by saying that before this series, I knew next to nothing about Jessica Jones. When I started reading comics, I knew Jessica as Luke Cage's wife, the mother of his child, a member of the New Avengers, and that she had a crush on Peter Parker when they were in high school. I didn't really have much interest in her backstory either. It's part of the reason that out of the announced Marvel Netflix series, Jessica Jones was my least anticipated. The trailers got me really pumped though. It really showed that Marvel was really amping things up after Daredevil by throwing in characters with actual superpowers in a grounded setting like New York. After six days of watching all thirteen episodes, I believe Marvel has done with Jessica Jones what a lot of people didn't think was possible: it topped Daredevil.

I should start be mentioning that while this is a show about someone with superpowers, this is NOT a superhero show. Jessica may have powers and intentions to help people, but she is a severely damaged person and a heavy drinker. But if you had your life controlled by a sociopath obsessed with you, you probably wouldn't fair much better. Krysten Ritter delivers an amazing performance as such a character that while sometimes coming off like a bitch, has true compassion for others despite her past.
Jones isn't the only superpowered non-superhero in the show however, as Luke Cage is also a part of the series as Jones' potential love interest. A lot of people wanted someone like Terry Crews to play Cage, but in my opinion, Mike Colter totally embodied the character, another example at how well Marvel does with their casting.
Another prominent character is Trish "Patsy" Walker, Jessica's foster sister, who in the comics (and possibly in the future of this series) is the superhero Hellcat. A former child star with a showbiz mother who controlled every aspect of her daughter's life, Trish was able to break free and hosts a radio show. Out of everyone, Trish is the person Jessica trusts most. And I think that when it comes to an abusive controlling relationship, Trish can understand Jessica more than anyone. Much like her relationship with Luke, Jess's friendship with Trish is a driving force of the series and is just as prominent as Matt and Foggy's in Daredevil.

Malcolm Ducasse, an original character created for the show, is probably one of the best aspects of the series. For one reason, he is acted amazingly by Eka Darville, who some may remember as Scott Truman, the Red Ranger from Power Rangers RPM (brief sidenote: this is the second former Power Ranger actor to be in a Marvel series, the first being Nikolai Nikolaeff from Power Rangers Jungle Fury in Daredevil; makes me wonder who will be the next former ranger Marvel will cast). Back on topic, what also makes Malcolm a great character is the best embodiment of the show's theme of redemption. While Malcolm has his life greatly disrupted like Jessica's, he wants to use the experience to try and better himself and others that have been affected. Even while others begin to give up hope, Malcolm still tries to help the best he can. Without spoiling much, it makes me look forward to his position in the next season as Jessica's assistant.

To round out my thoughts of the "good" characters of the show (there are others but don't have much to say about them), I feel I need to talk about Robyn and Ruben, twins who live together in the same apartment building as Jessica and Malcolm. Ruben is kind of an awkward guy who has trouble standing up to his sister and has a crush on Jessica, especially when he stands up to Robyn for him. While not an important character, he's still likable. Robyn on the other hand is just a crazy psycho controlling bitch. Trust me, that description is sugarcoating it. I'm guessing the intent was to make her so unlikable, but I was hoping for some kind of glimmer of humanity in her by the end of the series. There are moments where we're supposed to feel sympathy for her (that I won't spoil why because it's kind of major), but even when they try, she does something that's reminds us that she's a bitch.

While not technically a villain on the show, we are also introduced to Will Simpson, who in the comics is the supervillain Nuke, a product in an attempt to recreate the Super Soldier serum. A seemingly nice character at first, as well as Trish's love interest, but when he gets the red, white, and blue pills, he starts to get bat-shit crazy. It's entertaining as hell, and we are left wondering where he'll show up next in the MCU.

Now the coup de grace of the character analysis, Kilgrave, the mind-controlling supervillain, played by the always brilliant David Tennant. This year, I began watching Doctor Who and became a big fan of the Tenth Doctor and Tennant altogether. As Kilgrave, Tennant once again brings enough charm to bring such an entertaining villain. As the Doctor, I'm used to seeing Tennant in a heroic role. As a villain, to put it lightly, Tennant is fucking scary! With his ability to control minds, you never know when he's using somebody or even what they might do (particularly when it's self-mutilation and trust me there's a lot of that). Compared to other villains of the MCU, Kilgrave is definitely the scariest one to date, not because of his powers but because of his motives. He doesn't have a quest for power (like Loki and Red Skull) or some perverted sense of making the world better (like Ultron and Kingpin). He's a complete sociopath who is obsessed with Jessica, taking control of anyone he likes to do whatever he wants with tasks ranging from mundane to lethal. He's the kind of villain that makes you think that they'll never be able to defeat. He doesn't even see himself doing anything wrong because he's not the one doing the deed or claims that he's makes people do things because he doesn't know what the want (an excuse he uses for his rapes of Jessica and Hope). He wants sympathy because of what his parents did to him and didn't do for him, but it's really hard to feel any for him, though it's most likely an excuse for him to do what he wants. But overall, Tennant's Kilgrave is a gem of the show and he'll stand alongside Loki, Ultron, and Kingpin as the best villains of the MCU.

As for the action of the show, it does feel very similar to Daredevil in that it's very down and dirty, but there are moments where I feel it shouldn't be. Considering Jessica, and Luke for that matter, are super strong, I can't help but think that they should be able to knock somebody out with one punch, which would really help when it comes to mind-controlled slaves. It's not something that really hurts the show, but just something that was in the back of my mind.
As I mentioned before, Jessica Jones really amps things up from Daredevil. Specifically, I mentioned before in my Daredevil review at how there were moments in each episode that made me go "OH! I can't believe they just did that!" that earned the show its TV-MA rating. Jessica Jones definitely has those moments and at a greater volume. Because of a villain like Kilgrave with mind-control powers, you never know just how far he'll make someone go. There's also Simpson's moments of psychosis that had me scared of what he'll do next if someone pisses him off.
I don't necessarily mind Marvel going this dark because with Netflix, they can use this as an outlet to tell stories that wouldn't work for the movies as well as expand the MCU further. I just hope that they're not going so far for shock value. Though maybe I'm just surprised at how far this particular show went. I mean, with Daredevil, you'd expect a lot of grittiness. But since I never had much investment in Jessica Jones in the comics or thought of Kilgrave being such a major villain, I might just not have been expecting what we got. I guess I'll have to see what Daredevil Season Two does next year to see if I actually had an argument.

To wrap things up, this show gives me some new respect for the character in the comics and how much she went through to get to where she is. I can only hope that her MCU version can find real happiness in her future. I have no doubt she'll show up in Luke Cage's Netflix series next year and it'll be nice for their romance to grow some more.
Overall, with great characters, a terrifying villain, and many shocking twists and turns, Jessica Jones offers something new for both the MCU and fans of superhero shows, especially for those wanting something a little less super-heroic (if that makes sense). Just be prepared to see David Tennant like you never have before.

RATING: 10/10

TV Review: "Guardians of the Galaxy" Animated Series Premiere - A Movie Cash-In Done Right

I don't think I would face much disagreement when I say Marvel hasn't had a great animated series since "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" and that since "Ultimate Spider-Man", their animation department has gone down in quality. While "Ultimate Spider-Man" has gotten better over time, that series and "Avengers Assemble" are mediocre with a few high points compared to their predecessors. I didn't even bother with "Hulk and the Agents of SMASH" because 1. it's boring to have a team of heroes who have the same power set, and 2. the "Real World" aspect of the Hulks living together and filming confessionals just shouldn't be an aspect of a superhero show.
With Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" film being the surprise hit of 2014, an animated spin-off was fast tracked. Compared to the other recent Marvel animated shows though, I was actually excited for a Guardians cartoon because it would be the first of its kind and not have anything to compare to. Now that the series has begun, I can safely say that Marvel has knocked it out of the park this time around.

I don't really want to say much about the plot of the premiere, other than that it's good set-up for the basis of the season and that it involves characters from multiple sides (Guardians, Ravagers, and Thanos at this point) in pursuit of a powerful artifact (and no, it's not another Infinity Stone).
In my opinion, the best thing the show has going for it is the characters. Between the action and the dialogue, I wouldn't find it hard to see Chris Pratt and company actually acting this show out in real life, as it definitely feels like a continuation of the movie, which is saying something compared to what Marvel's tried to do with "Avengers Assemble". On that show, the characters are really two-dimensional and really immature (especially Hawkeye) and fight over things like cookies and video game controllers, which makes it hard to see the movie versions of the characters being the same on the show. The only ones who seem to stay faithful to their characters are Captain America and Black Widow, but that's not saying much. My point is, the heroes we see on "Avengers Assemble" aren't as ideal or well-rounded as they are in the movies. "Guardians of the Galaxy" doesn't have that problem though. They can get away with not acting like ideal heroes because they're not. As Quill said in the movie, they're "something good, something bad, a bit of both". There's more depth to them as well, acting like strong characters while still dealing with issues from their past. Quill has a carefree personality but still feels pain from losing his mother and anger at Yondu for abducting him. Gamora is trying to redeem herself from her past actions working under Thanos. Drax is still the strong silent type but we see his softer side a few times when he pulls out a holographic image of his late wife and daughter. Rocket's still a wiseass and trigger happy but his soft side shows as well when he has to replant a damaged Groot in a pot of soil for him to grow (again). And of course Groot is...Groot. Their personalities which made them so memorable in the film are retained for this series.

Another aspect that carries over from the film to the series is the use of classic music. I thought that since animated series don't really include actual songs like live action movies do, that an "Awesome Mix" wouldn't be part of the show, but apparently the producers worked hard to get rights to some songs to use. It's also exciting that they're compiling the songs they're using on a "Cosmic Mix" soundtrack, which will be released in a few weeks. I'll be getting it, and I'm sure other Guardians fans will as well.

If there's one blemish on the kick-off of the series though, it's actually Thanos. We all know that in the MCU, he's being built up for the "Infinity War" 2-parter that will most likely bring both the Avengers and the Guardians together. It should be worth mentioning that while the Guardians animated series acts as a continuation of the film, it is NOT part of the MCU canon. Despite that, I think it was a bad idea for Thanos to actually battle the team in the final act (more specifically Drax, who apparently didn't learn his lesson about jumping into battle without a plan from his fight with Ronan). Thanos has also been used recently this past season on "Avengers Assemble" and I'm sorry to say that I don't like how he's being portrayed in these animated series. In my opinion, he just seems like this overpowered brute, and his voice actor doesn't help. I know it's been stated that Thanos is the main villain of the series, but I'm really hoping they save him for the first season finale. Thanos is a villain that can't be just used willy-nilly. He needs to have build-up, working from behind the scenes until he's ready to put his endgame into action.

As much as I enjoyed the Guardians' series premiere, I can't help but wonder if this is a sign of better things to come in other areas. Part of me thinks it's clear that Marvel does listen to its fans. By Ultimate Spider-Man's third season, the cutaway gags and fourth wall breaking that plagued the first two seasons had been drastically cut down to where they don't make the show unbearable to watch. At this point I can only hope that with Ultimate Spider-Man's fourth season and Avengers Assemble's third, the quality is going to be kicked up a notch compared to Guardians. It may also be a plus that it seems like Ultimate Spider-Man Season 4 may be more Spidey-focused with rumored appearances by Kaine and Gwen Stacy. I'm getting off point though.

Taking the two-part premiere as an indication, if you're a fan of the film, I have little doubt you can experience that same enjoyment with the "Guardians of the Galaxy" animated series from the start and what they have in store as it continues. You could say you'll be...hooked on a feeling (come on, you know I had to throw that line in somewhere).

SCORE: 9/10

Movie Review: "Justice League: Gods and Monsters" - A Unique Take on Classic Characters

For a time, DC Comics published a line of graphic novels under the brand "Elseworlds". The goal of this line was for writers to take existing DC characters and present a new take on them, sometimes placing them in a different time period, having some heroes take on a different identity than we're used to, and many more types of scenarios. Prominent examples include "Superman: Red Son", where Kal-El's ship lands in Soviet Russia, and "Batman: In Darkest Night", in which Bruce Wayne is chosen to be a Green Lantern rather than Hal Jordan. Outside the comics though, an Elseworlds type of story had never been the focus of a TV series or film, as those focus on adapting the mainstream version of DC heroes. This is what makes the latest DC Universe animated film, "Justice League: Gods and Monsters" a pivotal project in the superhero genre. Honestly, after watching the sneak peek of film included on the "Batman vs. Robin" DVD, I wasn't sure this would be something I'd be interested in since it was vastly different from the Justice League I'm used to. But then DC released three six minute animated shorts that told solo stories of the new versions of the trinity, and I was sold. The Batman vs. Harley Quinn short was disturbing, the Superman vs. Brainiac short was heartbreaking, and the Wonder Woman vs. Giganta short got me liking this version better than Diana. It probably goes without saying that my interest for the actual movie had finally been piqued.

When I say that these are different versions of these characters, that should be taken literally. Similar to how characters like Green Lantern and Flash were revamped and given new identities in the Silver Age, this is what's happened to the Trinity. This isn't Clark, Bruce, or Diana. This Superman is the son of Zod who was raised by Mexican immigrants. This Batman is Kirk Langstrom, who after trying to use a bat serum to cure his lymphoma, is turned into a vampire and decides that his blood lust will only be satisfied by feeding on criminals. This Wonder Woman is Bekka, a warrior from the planet of New Genesis. Obviously these heroes are much darker takes than what we're used to, which becomes rather obvious from their lethal tactics. While the first two heroes' origins are slightly altered versions of Superman and Man-Bat, the most interesting origin of the three comes from Bekka/Wonder Woman. Engaged to Orion of Apokolips in an attempt at peace between the two worlds, her story brings a pretty big twist to what one would be used to when the New Gods are involved. If I had to give it one drawback though is that Lex Luthor doesn't have some presence in her story compared to Superman's or Batman's.

Of course the DC trinity aren't the only established characters that are altered from their mainstream versions. Several prominent DC characters, both hero and villain, make appearances but are mostly only civilians. While I and other fans well versed in the DC universe may be able to pick up on who these characters are, I worry that some viewers may not do as well, but not to the point where they can't enjoy the film on its own or be confused. I would give examples of how some of these characters are different, but part of me wants me to keep it a surprise to those reading this review. Since there is a big mystery aspect in the film's story, I don't want to say too much or I might give away who the main villain is. I'll just say that I had two guesses that didn't pan out and I didn't get it until the big reveal, and it's after that reveal that makes it plainly obvious afterwards, and I applaud the film makers for bringing a dark revamp to what are otherwise, in my opinion, silly characters...and that's all you're getting before I give away too much else.

One of the biggest aspects that may draw DC fans into this film is the return of Bruce Timm, the character designer from the "Batman: The Animated Series", "Justice League", and the rest of the DC Animated Universe from the 90's and 00's. It should certainly bring a nostalgia feel to some viewers. But I will bring up the fact that these animated movies are more graphic compared to the old shows, and seeing things like people getting brutally stabbed or burned alive done in Timm's style can be some real blows to the childhood. At the same time though, it is kind of cool to see Timm not hold back as much when it comes to the violence, and it's nice to see him back working on DC characters, even if they're not the versions we're used to.

I think a good comparison to this story would be "Watchmen". You have these heroes, but they're obviously damaged and shouldn't be considered role models. The people and government even question whether or not that heroes with such power can be trusted, and it doesn't help when said heroes do ponder the idea of taking full control of the world. There's a moral gray area for not just the heroes, but for the main villain as well. They both want to change the world for the greater good, but their actions are very questionable and while you can even see things from their point of view, you're still left wondering if they're in the right.

I can't really say much about the voice cast this time around, but the one that really stood out to me was Michael C. Hall as Kirk Langstrom/Batman. His voice is just so dark and broody. It's fitting and what you'd expect from Batman. I could even see Hall doing Bruce Wayne's voice as well.

While I wouldn't recommend this film to those just starting to get into the DC universe, I believe fans who are more knowledgeable will appreciate this darker version. I applaud the film makers for taking a risk and giving fans something different than the usual versions of the characters seen hundreds of times before, and I believe they've succeeded in that attempt. I believe there's still more to explore in this world, like heroes not seen that could be given the same treatment. If a sequel were to be made (most likely to be out in 2017 at the earliest), I would gladly take another look into this world of gods and monsters.

RATING: 9/10 

Movie Review: Ant-Man - small hero, BIG IMPACT

When Marvel Studios launched in 2006, one of the films first announced to come from the studio along with "Iron Man" and "Incredible Hulk" was "Ant-Man". Due to years of development hell though led to the film being closing out Phase Two of Marvel's now highly successful cinematic universe. Some may say that Marvel only made the film because they said they would and believed it would be Marvel's first major failure. If you still doubt Marvel at this point, then you really haven't learned anything in the past seven years. While lacking a huge scale compared to past Marvel films, "Ant-Man" brings a variety of fresh and new ideas not seen before that makes it, in my opinion, one of their best yet.

To start off, I won't lie when I say that while I was watching it, I couldn't help but notice a lot of parallels between past Marvel films and this one. I mean, the whole "protagonist trying to stop a former trusted ally from selling/using their technology/science eventually leading to a battle between two similarly powered beings" thing? Sounds a lot like "Iron Man" and "Incredible Hulk" right? Even if you notice the similarities though, I would hope that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the film on its own. It didn't affect me that much. If there are two things this film succeeds in most, it's character interaction and comedy. To start with the former, this film brings something that has never been the focus of a superhero film before: a father-daughter dynamic. It's this dynamic that brings parallels between the two main protagonists of the film, Scott Lang, played by Paul Rudd, and Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas. Both actors do a great job in their roles as a whole, but it's as father figures that creates common between these two vastly different characters. With Hank, while he feels his daughter Hope, played by Evangeline Lily, is more than capable of taking care of herself, he doesn't want to put her in harm's way since she's all he has left, although that over-protection causes tension between the two. In Scott's case, he's an ex-con trying to go down the straight and narrow so he can be a role model to his seven year old daughter, Cassie, who already thinks the world of her father. Between the two father-daughter pairs, I enjoyed Scott and Cassie's interaction more. Not to take away from Hank and Hope, but the relationship between Scott and Cassie felt really natural. I think what really stands out to me in their interaction is that the kid who plays Cassie is actually really good. Usually kid actors aren't that good or believable, but I can tell this girl has a future ahead of her. Between her and Ty Simpkins as Harley in "Iron Man 3", Marvel's apparently doing a good job at finding kid actors. Given Cassie's status as a superhero when she's older in the comics, I wouldn't be surprised if these kid actors are being prepped for a Young Avengers/Avengers Academy team in the future, but that's a topic for another time.

Comedy is also a big part of this film. Given the premise of a hero that can shrink, many people may see that as kind of ridiculous, so why not have some fun with that? It worked for Marvel before with "Guardians of the Galaxy", and that included a talking tree and raccoon. There's a lot of laugh worthy moments in this film, but it doesn't take away from the seriousness of some situations. The comedy really shines during Scott's training sequence of learning how to shrink on cue, to control ants to help do his bidding, and hand-to-hand combat with Hope. While a training montage is nothing new, it's still done in a fresh way compared to something like Tony first building his Mark II suit and going on a test flight. A lot of the comedy though comes from Scott's heist crew, who are the last group of people you'd think would be competent, but actually are. That aspect is similar to "Guardians", though the superheroics are only left to one person. There are two other outstandinly hilarious moments that happen in the film that I won't spoil here, but I guarantee you they are the two most random moments you will ever see yet in a Marvel movie, the second one even more random than the first.

Of course the biggest aspect that "Ant-Man" brings different to not just the MCU but the superhero film genre as a whole is the hero's ability to shrink. This opens up a wide variety and use of special effects. While there's the obvious idea or exploring a normal area on a larger scale, like standing in a bathtub and ending up getting washed down the drain, there are a couple of scenes with the hero very small that are actually very creative. Without spoiling part of the film's climax, it does get kind of trippy. It's the shrinking aspect of the film that makes it highly recommendable to see in 3D.

After "Age of Ultron", I think Marvel's made a good call at coming out with "Ant-Man", a film more personal and small in scale (I know people are probably getting tired of that pun) as a follow-up. It gives audiences a breath of fresh air before the next film takes on a grander scale, especially considering that next MCU film is "Civil War" and will feature around a dozen heroes (including the return of Ant-Man). Will "Ant-Man" be Marvel's most successful film? Obviously not, but it's also obvious that it will not be a failure in any way. I can't say for sure that a sequel will be lined up for Phase Four, but it still gives audiences a new kind of superhero film, and when you have a whole universe of heroes to pick from, variety is definitely needed and is what will keep bringing Marvel success.

RATING: 8.5/10

My Marvel Cinematic Universe Film Rankings:
1. Avengers: Age of Ultron
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. The Avengers
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Ant-Man
6. Iron Man 3
7. Thor
8. Captain America: The First Avenger
9. Iron Man
10. The Incredible Hulk
11. Iron Man 2
12. Thor: The Dark World

TV Review: Daredevil - The Realest Superhero Show You'll Ever See

It was a moment of triumph for fans when the rights to Daredevil had reverted back to Marvel after Fox had failed to move forward with plans for a film reboot. However, in lieu of a movie, Marvel would bring Daredevil to their cinematic universe through the first wave of live action series streamed on Netflix. The only live action adaptation of the character was the ill-received Ben Affleck starring film in 2003. Personally, I didn't think the film was THAT bad, but when the first trailer was released for the Netflix series, I was blown away. Not only was it darker than the film, but was the darkest thing Marvel Studios has ever developed. Now that I've finally gotten around to watching the whole first season (I know I'm late on this; I'm a busy guy), it is safe to say that the show puts the movie to more shame than it already had before.

By the first episode of the series, it gives you the sense of what to expect the rest of the season. In fact, and I hope I'm not alone in this, I was finding it hard to believe that this show was even part of the same universe as Captain America, Iron Man, and the rest of the Avengers. While those heroes, and by extension SHIELD, work on a much grander scale, Daredevil puts the MCU under a microscope by featuring the gritty neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen in New York City and the corruption of its public officials. While in the Marvel films, you know things will be fine by the end, but while watching Daredevil, there's a constant sense of dread and the hope for a happy ending seems very far away. Not only that, but being on Netflix gives the show more freedom than the movies in how far they can go with the violence, and believe me, that violence earns the show its TV-MA rating. In every episode, there are at least a couple moments that made me go "OH! I can't believe they just did that!" and even partially covered my eyes.

The action of the show is also the most grounded I've seen from anything superhero related, but I'll focus on comparing it to other Marvel properties. Daredevil isn't as super strong as Captain America or had extensive training like Black Widow, so he can't just take them out with one move. He has to keep pounding on them until they can't get back up. And the damage he receives is just as bad. Considering he doesn't wear body armor for most of the series, there were some moments where I couldn't believe he survived through.

But the action and violence are only part of what makes the show so unique. Unlike the 2003 film, the characters of the series actually have that: character. Everyone involved delivers an astounding performance that make you care for them, especially when something bad happens, even for the minor characters. And while Charlie Cox succeeds in making us all forget about Ben Affleck, I'm afraid he's outshined by Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson and Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk.
To start with Foggy, I'll admit I was a little taken back by how young he looked. Given he, Matt, and Karen are all pretty young, Foggy definitely has more of babyface. That aside, it's him who brings out the heart of not only his group of friends, but of the whole series. Between his blossoming romance with Karen and flashback scenes with Matt in one episode, you can't help but love the guy. Not only that, but this Foggy is definitely shown to be a more competent lawyer than the Jon Favreau version in 2003.
As for Fisk, it goes without saying that he is definitely the most human villain of the MCU. While he's usually depicted as a majorly evil crime boss like in the 90's Spider-Man animated series or the 2003 film, this is actually the first time the character has invoked some emotion from me. I was even moved to tears during a flashback scene in one episode. With this version of Fisk, we can actually understand what motivates him to do what he does, which makes him a great foil for Daredevil. They're both on a mission to help their city, but their methods differ. D'Onofrio's portrayal of Fisk really shines through with his relationship with Vanessa, played by Ayelet Zurer. You see how much she's made him a better person compared to when he's first introduced and you actually find yourself hoping for the best for them, despite also wanting him to pay for the bad things he does.

I'm a little disappointed that the traditional suit only appeared in the season finale, I do understand that it made a great reveal for the final battle with Fisk. And while some think it looks silly, when it's in motion, he looks totally badass. I did like the vigilante suit that was worn for the whole series, but I'm glad he does now look like a superhero, and it helps get him his name (similar to how it was done in the first Iron Man movie).

The series has been renewed for a second season, and rightly deserved I might add, but like other Marvel characters, they aren't bound to their own series. While there hasn't been anything official, the possibility of Daredevil appearing in next year's "Captain America: Civil War" is strong. But the real question is, should he? In my opinion, it depends. I feel that if Marvel's able to, Daredevil needs to get a second season under his belt before interacting with the big boys. It'll help establish him more as the hero of Hell's Kitchen. Not only that, but while the first season did a great job of establishing its own identity, I believe the second season needs to make it feel more that the show is indeed part of the bigger cinematic universe. To help with that, there are a few characters I think should really appear in season two.

• The Owl (SPOILERS AHEAD): While the older Leland Owlsley was killed by Fisk in the season finale, there mentions that he had a son a number of times in the series. This leads me to believe that Owlsley's son will be making his way to New York in season two, possibly as the main villain filling the hole left by Fisk, officially taking the name "The Owl".
• Bullseye: It would only make sense for the Owl to bring some muscle with him to New York, and a proper interpreation of Bullseye would be a real treat.
• Elektra: She was already referenced in the series, which means she exists. Let's see her Marvel, and make her a real badass assassin.
• The Punisher: A lot of fans were hoping that the gun-toting vigilante would appear in the show's first season. An appearance in the second season would be nice contrast between him and Daredevil, and considering we now know how far these Netflix series can go, and there's the potential of him getting his own series in the future.
• Spider-Man: Okay, I'll admit, this is an extremely long shot, but hear me out. Now this is really dependent on if season two can be made before "Civil War", but if it does, it could really help the introduction of the new Spider-Man. And while the show's budget constraints probably won't give us a high flying Spidey, they could have it to where Peter hasn't developed his web shooters yet. But honestly, ever since the team-up episodes in the 90's animated series, I've loved watching Spidey and Daredevil work together. And while Punisher and Daredevil are opposites in their own way, there's quite a contrast with Spider-Man as well. We have the hardened now established adult vigilante in Matt Murdock who has a dark outlook on life, while we meet this kid who can't fight but still has a unique set of skill and is able to look on the bright side of things. But what they have in common is that they both feel responsible for the loss of their father figure and only want to do their best to help people.

My future hopes aside, with the first season of Daredevil, Marvel Studios not only proves once again that they can do no wrong with their characters, but shows that they're willing to get down and dirty when they have the right material and outlet. If you're a fan of Marvel, gritty vigilantes, and high stakes crime dramas with deep characters in a deep storyline, Daredevil is the total package. Honestly, EVERYONE needs to watch this series. What are you still reading this review for? Go! Now! Watch it! WATCH IT!

RATING: 10/10

Batman Post-"Endgame": I Feel Like We've Been Here Before (MAJOR SPOILERS)

This week saw the finale to "Endgame", the latest storyline of Scott Snyder's acclaimed run on "Batman". Following his defeat in "Death of the Family", the Joker returned to Gotham and unleashed the deadliest and seemingly incurable version of his Joker Toxin yet called the Endgame Virus, hell bent on destroying everything Batman loves and protects. In the climax of the story, Batman is able to find the source of a cure in a pool of liquid similar to a Lazarus Pit down in previously unknown deeper cavern of the Batcave. This leads to a very bloody and brutal battle between Batman and Joker as an explosion rigged by Joker causes the cave to collapse. While Batman makes sure the liquid gets topside to Julia Pennyworth for a cure to by synthesized, he makes sure that Joker can't retrieve it, and the two are left deep down in the collapsing cave, seemingly dying from their injuries or being crushed by the rubble coming down on them. So in the aftermath of the Endgame Virus outbreak, Gotham is healing as well as mourning over the apparent loss of their Dark Knight.

Let me go through the gist of this: Bruce Wayne apparently dies, Gotham is left without a Batman, and someone new has to take on the role...Am I the only who feels like we've jumped back to 2009?

2009 saw the apparent death of Bruce Wayne at Darkseid's hand in "Final Crisis" and after a few months of build-up, Dick Grayson took up the mantle, with Damian Wayne serving as his Robin.

Cut to seven years later, Bruce apparently dies stopping the Joker and as revealed in the Divergence Free Comic Book Day issue released by DC, Jim Gordon (who got a shave and a haircut (two bits!(sorry, couldn't resist))) is hired by Powers Industries to patrol Gotham in an armored apparently police sanctioned Batman suit.

Okay, there's a lot of difference in the details, but when you get down to it, we're getting a rehash of an outline that was last used under a decade ago (yes, Dick was Batman before in the mid-90's, but there was still a good gap between the two times).
A lot of you know me as more of an optimist when it comes to comics related stuff, hoping that it turns out for the best and entertaining. I have to say though that when I read the finale to "Endgame", it left me with a bitter sweet feeling. On one hand, if this was indeed the last hurrah between Batman and Joker, with both dying beside each other, this would be a fantastic ending their decades old rivalry. However, 1. These are comics, 2. These are continuing stories, 3. No one ever stays dead, and 4. I'm not an idiot. Bruce's "death" in 2009 was a big moment for batfans because this was the first time his character had been apparently killed off like Clark, Barry, Hal and so many other heroes before him. Now we're getting it again so soon, and it just doesn't seem to be getting people as talking as before.

The big difference this time around is that it's Jim Gordon wearing the suit. That's a big "Say what?!" moment. I mean, it's different, but it could be interesting. Scott Snyder hasn't really let me down yet. I even applaud him for bringing in Powers Industries from the Batman Beyond canon. It kind of fits to use given the Beyond prototype suit shown in a previous story along with the concept being official canon to the New 52 future timeline.
I do have to wonder though, story wise, why Gordon? If everyone thinks Bruce is dead (again), why not have Dick take over again? True, it's been done before, but Dick's time as Batman and his partnership with Damian as Robin was really popular. Plus in last year's "Robin Rises" story, Bruce was going on a life and death mission to retrieve Damian's stolen body on Apokolips, and told Dick that should he not come back, that he would need to take on the cape and cowl again, apparently abandoning his undercover mission as an agent of Spyral. If Bruce had such a plan in place before, why not now? Then again, I'm assuming a lot, given we haven't gotten much exploration of Gotham post-Endgame or any other character's reaction to Batman's apparent death.

At this point, I'm going in with cautious optimism for Scott Snyder and his Jim Gordon Batman. But of course, I and lot of other fans will just be waiting for Bruce to come back.

Movie Review: "Avengers: Age of Ultron" - Assemble the Awesomeness! (SPOILERS)

In 2012, Marvel solidified its cinematic universe after four years of build up with the record breaking and world dominating superhero crossover film "The Avengers". It's three years later and after a few years of building up to it, the heroes assemble again, leaving many to wonder if lightning can strike twice. For some, it may not, but to me and a good majority, it certainly has.

There's going to be a lot of comparison between the first film and its sequel, so I'll get that out of the way, starting with the action. I found it just as exciting as the first one, especially when you have all the characters on one screen together. If there's one thing I would have liked more of though, it would have been more combo moves between the team members. Cap and Thor do this quite a bit in the film, along with one between Cap and Widow and another with Iron Man and Scarlet Witch, but other than that, not much. I wouldn't have even minded if they reused the Cap/Iron Man combo used from the first one; you know, the one they copied from the Ultimate Alliance 2 game?

While action's the main draw, let's not forget that the heart lies with its characters. Like the first film, all of the characters make their presence felt and have purpose to be there (though I do wish Falcon was part of the final battle with Rhodey). And as for the interaction, I found it a lot deeper this time around. The most prominent of the film is between Bruce Banner/Hulk and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, or as I've given them the couple ship name, "Brutasha". We learn a lot more about Widow's backstory, and it's actually quite heartbreaking, and it really shows how similar her and Bruce are. They could both be considered monsters seeking redemption.
I do however wish that we could have seen what Scarlet Witch did to cause Bruce to Hulk out and go on a rampage. Everyone else had a nightmare vision shown, why not Hulk? Personally, I think it might be due to the recent revelation that Hulk's solo film rights are still with Universal Studios, possibly preventing the use of Hulk related characters like Betty Ross. It does seem that compared to the other Marvel films, "Incredible Hulk" is the least referenced to in later films. I do remain hopeful though that like Sony with Spider-Man, Marvel can make a deal with Universal to make a new Hulk solo film for Phase Four.
With a lot of characters, once you've seen them so much, you pretty much know you're guaranteed great performances from them. Evans, RDJ, Hemsworth, etc. They've all proven how much they embody the characters they play. However, there's one Avenger who many feel that despite some badass moments, kind of got the short straw in the first film: Clint Barton/Hawkeye. He definitely gets a bigger spotlight in the new film with a backstory that I feel that not only more than makes up for his smaller screentime in the first film, but also makes this interpretation of Hawkeye to be my favorite. He also gets points for being married to Linda Cardelinni. Lastly, there's one line he gives during the climax about how ridiculous it is that he's fighting an army of robots on a floating city and all he has is a bow and arrow. He pretty much channels those who feel he's a useless part of the Avengers, but he still does what he can to help people, even if he's outmatched by the threat.

This brings us to the new characters of the film, starting with Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, better known as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (though not stated as such in the film). They start out as adversaries to the Avengers, working for HYDRA and later Ultron, but the truth is that they're not really evil. Through a backstory that has to do with Tony's life pre-Iron Man, we see that they only seek justice for what they've lost. When they realize what Ultron really plans, they seek to set things right (Hmm, I just realized that a big part of being an Avenger seems to be seeking redemption). They're both great characters in the film, but I think I liked Quicksilver a little more.
Another comparison that's going to arise from this film is going to be between this film's interpretation of Quicksilver, and the one shown last year in "X-Men: Days of Future Past". For those that don't know, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are in a gray area that allows their rights to be used by both Marvel and Fox's X-Men franchise, due to being Magneto's children and long-stay members of the Avengers in the comics. In the MCU though, Magneto can't be their father and the twins can't even be called mutants (though it's not explicitly stated if their powers are due to experiments by HYDRA or if they're really Inhumans whose powers were unlocked; I guess that's something we'll find out later). Anyway, while X-Men's Quicksilver was entertaining to watch and had arguably the best scene of the film, I found Marvel's Quicksilver to be the better of the two. There's a lot more to his character and I really enjoyed the aura that comes off him as he runs. And while I enjoyed X-Men's Quicksilver's use of his powers, it leaves many feeling that he's overpowered and wonder why they didn't bring him along for the rest of the film when he's was super helpful. When it comes to Marvel's Quicksilver though, while he has great power, you don't get the sense that he can take down Ultron by himself; it's a team movie, which means everyone should feel useful, even if one character dwarfs one or the others in power.
There's a lot of speculation that Fox added Quicksilver to the last X-Men movie in a way to mess with Marvel, especially considering his scenes were the last to be shot and Juggernaut was originally considered to be used for the Magneto prison break. One has to wonder though if Marvel's retaliated by killing off their own Quicksilver in the new film. Then again, this is a Joss Whedon movie, which means someone important has to die, like Coulson did in the first one, so Quicksilver's death was probably planned beforehand. I will say that like Coulson before him, Quicksilver certainly goes out in a heroic fashion. Whether this will be a death that actually lasts is another question, which if it does would certainly be a first for a major character in the MCU.

This brings me to the film's title character: Ultron. As soon as he steps on screen, his presence is definitely felt. Every time he's on screen, I couldn't take my eyes off him. He's just so entertaining to watch, which is why I consider him to be the new best villain of the MCU (Sorry Loki). I will say though that I was initially surprised at how more human and informal Ultron seemed to speak compared to what I expected. Then I considered this: this version of Ultron was created by Tony Stark, not Hank Pym like most other versions. Between the two, Stark is a lot more social than Pym, and I think that shows through in his Ultron.
Then there's the other side of the Artificial Intelligence coin in this movie: Vision. Just like Ultron, once he makes his appearance, I was immediately drawn to him. There's also the fact that it's JARVIS downloaded into the body, and even though he's totally mobile now, he's still the same old JARVIS, even giving some lip to Tony in a hilarious moment. Going back to my coin analogy, there's good interaction between Ultron and Vision that shows how opposite they are, but also similar. Despite Ultron creating Vision's body, both are visions of Tony Stark. One represents death and only sees the flaws in humans; the other for life and potential in them.
Seriously, big props to Paul Bettany and James Spader for bringing these seemingly emotionless automatons to life.

I'm going to admit that I was disappointed a little bit only for the fact that it didn't set things up for the future like it would, like Rhodey dying, Superhuman Registration/Civil War and Ragnarok set up, and Hulk getting shot into space for Guardians 2. But as it sets in though, I've realized that it actually does help set up for next year's Civil War, but very subtly. Think about it. Two cities were heavily damaged from battle and one was lifted off the Earth itself and destroyed in midair. It's a summer blockbuster, so ending on a triumphant note makes sense. However, there will definitely be consequences that will be explored in Civil War, and it appears that the tipping point for the Registration Act, which in the comics was the explosion in Stamford caused by the villain Nitro that killed over 600 people including 60 children, will be in that film itself.

As for the mid-credits scene, I'm going to say that it didn't leave the same impact as the first film with Thanos' debut. This time around, sure it does move things forward a little, but I was expecting more. I guess fans should be happy though that Thanos finally got out of his chair.
But as we move toward Infinity War, I really hope that with all the heroes we're going to get, that they're not just going up against Thanos. In "Avengers", they fought a bunch of faceless aliens. In "Age of Ultron", they fought a bunch of faceless robots. I don't want "Infinity War" to be just another alien invasion, this time led by Thanos. What would help differentiate this from the other Avengers films? By Thanos bringing with him his henchmen from the recent "Infinity" storyline: THE BLACK ORDER.

That would definitely be cool to see.

Overall, despite my predictions of the film setting up future events unfullfilled, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" brings everything we loved in the first film and so much more, which in turn makes it my new favorite MCU film (though I'm betting Civil War may take the crown next year; definitely helps to have Spidey in the mix now, even if it won't be Andrew Garfield).

RATING: 10/10

MY MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE FILM RANKINGS:
1. Avengers: Age of Ultron
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. The Avengers
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Iron Man 3
6. Thor
7. Captain America: The First Avenger
8. Iron Man
9. The Incredible Hulk
10. Iron Man 2
11. Thor: The Dark World