Looper

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

looper-posterWritten and directed by Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom), Looper gives us a time travel story that focuses on how far a man will go to protect his future, and how far the world will go to stop him. In the year 2072 time travel has been outlawed but is still used by gangsters and shady corporate big wigs who send their victims back in time to be killed in the days before the invention of time travel by hired assassins known as Loopers, thus creating the perfect crime.

The film centers around the actions of a single Looper named Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) whose largely empty life is filled by bad diner coffee, learning French, doing lots of drugs, shooting hooded strangers who suddenly appear in an empty field and disposing of their bodies, and carrying a torch for a stripper (an alluring, and scantily clad, Piper Perabo) who cares only for his money. In other words, his life is perfect (for what he wants out of life – money, women, and drugs), at least until the arrival of his Loop (Bruce Willis) derails his entire future.

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Atomic Robo: The Flying She Devils of the Pacific #3

/ / Comics

atomic-robo-she-devils-pacific-3-coverWhile stranded on the island of the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific, Atomic Robo and the rag-tag band of fearless jet-pack-strapped female pilots come under attack by Japanese bombers, submarines, and killer robots.

The latest issue of Atomic Robo: The Flying She Devils of the Pacific #3 is pretty much nonstop action as the She-Devils’ attempts to turn back the invaders fail and they’re eventually forced to flee the island. Our atomic-powered robotic pal, in a moment of stupid heroism, helps the women escape but finds himself captured by the force led by a Japanese pilot who shot Atomic Robo down twice during WWII.

With so much action there’s not a lot of time for character and story development, but writer Brian Clevinger does find places to insert the oddball humor of the comic we’ve all come to know and love. Hopefully next issue will reveal the identities and motives of the She-Devils’ enemies and continue to bring more zany action. Worth a look.

[Red 5, $3.50]

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LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
  • IMDB: link

star-wars-lego-empire-strikes-out

The new LEGO Star Wars special begins at the end of Star Wars, following the destruction of the first Death Star as the Rebel forces scatter and head to Hoth, Darth Vader rendezvous with the Imperial Fleet, and Luke, Han, and Leia make an unexpected side trip to Naboo to search for a hidden Stormtrooper base.

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Captain Atom #0

/ / Comics

captain-atom-new-52-0-coverCaptain Atom isn’t the first of the New 52 titles to get the ax, but it is the first one I’ve really enjoyed to go away. Captain Atom #0 provides a rebooted origin for the soldier turned super-powered hero, and while it works well enough, like most of the New 52, it’s not nearly as good as the origin the character already had.

Now I didn’t read the Captain Atom‘s original Charlton Comics run, but when DC bought the rights to the character (along with others like the Question and Blue Beetle) and gave the hero new life in his own title following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths I was there to grab it, and all the issue that followed. (Hell, I was in the prime of my junior high comic book buyin’ days.)

In the post-Crisis origin (which, by the way, was good enough to be used in a recent issue of Young Justice) Nathaniel Adam was an Air Force pilot framed for murder who volunteered for a risky experiment only to be shot 20 years into the future and turned into super-human with the ability to tap into the Quantum Field.

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