Alan Rapp

Secret Six #27

/ / Comics

The cover has Bane riding a miniature Tyrannosaurus Rex, do I really need to give you a reason to pick this issue up? Okay, how ’bout Catman as the new Warlord riding a giant freakin’ cat through the armies led by his former teammates? In three words: Oh Hell Yeah!

The story itself is a little messy. Bane’s recovery and Scandal Savage‘s guilt take up quite a few pages, as does the dance between Amanda Waller and Spy Smasher (which ends satisfactorily with Waller turning the tables). It’s also unclear what changes the minds of Catman’s squad from seemingly abandoning their mission to going right to the palace and joining the army.

By the end of issue #27 we’re still left with two separate squads and only one issue left to conclude this fun, but bizarre, story arc. It’s not the best issue of Secret Six, but it’s a hellova lot of fun. And, did I mention it has Catman riding a giant freakin’ cat and mauling an entire army. Yeah, that’s pretty cool.

[DC $2.99]

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Megamind

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Megamind
  • IMDB: link

“Our battles quickly got more elaborate. He would win some, I would almost win others! He took the name Metro Man, defender of Metro City. I decided to pick something a little more humble – Megamind, incredibly handsome criminal genius and master of all villainy!”

What makes a hero? DreamWorks latest animated feature Megamind, scripted by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, and borrowing heavily from the Golden and Silver Age of comic books (most notably a certain Man of Steel), asks that question. The answer they deliver is highly entertaining.

Metro Man (Brad Pitt) is the beloved hero of Metro City. Shot into space as a baby to escape a dying world he arrived on Earth with good looks, great hair, and abilities far outreaching those of the average man. He’s a hero with the powers of Superman and the ego of Booster Gold. But he’s not who this film is about.

There was another shuttle, another dying world, and another orphaned alien child who took his first steps on the planet we call home. He wasn’t as good looking (being blue and all), and lacked the cool powers that made others swoon for Metro Man. Always painted as the bad boy, the trouble maker, this child would grow up to accept and cherish the role by becoming Metro City’s greatest menace: the super-villain Megamind (Will Ferrell).

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Due Date

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Due Date
  • IMDB: link

“Oh God! I’m so stupid.”

The one constant thought that kept running through my head while watching Due Date was how much it reminded me of a film I would much rather be watching – Planes, Trains & Automobiles. It’s almost as if director Todd Phillips and the four screenwriters attributed to the film (really, it took four of you to write this?) set out to make a more intense, edgier, dumber version of the film more closely resembling the adolescent tone of Phillips earlier work – Road Trip.

Now you may think to yourself, as I did, “Gee, that sounds like the dumbest idea ever.” And, no surprise here, you’d be right.

As the film opens Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is on his way home to his loving wife (Michelle Monaghan) but his course is derailed before he even steps inside the airport by the incredibly obnoxious Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis). What follows is a predictable Odd Couple mismatched pairing as the two are forced to travel cross country together in order to get Peter home in time for the birth of his first child.

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Coming Soon

/ / Film News & Trailers
  • Title: Sucker Punch
  • IMDB: link

The man who gave us his interpretation of 300 and Watchmen, and has been chosen to helm the next Superman movie, is all set with his first original tale. The first full-length trailer of Zack Snyder‘s Sucker Punch gives us a look into the mind of mental patient Emily Browning who creates an alternate world full of guns, explosions, samurai swords, dragons, robots, and young girls in skimpy outfits. Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Scott Glenn, and John Hamm also star. The craziness is set to begin next March.

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Chuck Versus the First Fight

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Chuck – Chuck Versus the First Fight
  • tv.com: link

This week’s episode of Chuck really does have it all: Sarah Connor, James Bond, explosions, betrayals, more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan flick, and a surprise or two. “Chuck Vs. the First Fight” centers around Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah’s (Yvonne Strahovski) first fight over her turning his mother (Linda Hamilton) over to the CIA. While I’m not sure this actually qualifies as their first fight (didn’t they go a few rounds about Sarah not hanging up her clothes a few episodes back?), this does give plenty of opportunities for Chuck to discuss the situation with everyone from Morgan (Joshua Gomez) to an MI6 operative he just met (Timothy Dalton – great casting!). This episodes also gives quite a few twists (including a couple you should see coming), Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) finally getting to talk with her mother, the appearance of this season’s big bad – Frost’s boss Alexei Volkoff, and an ending that gives us as many questions as answers. This is the strongest episode of Season Four so far.

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