1 Razor

Anchorman 2: The Legend Falters

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
  • IMDB: link

Anchorman 2: The Legend ContinuesThis sequel, like milk, was a bad choice. Nine years in the making, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues feels every bit like a hastily slapped together cash grab whose every bright spot comes directly from jokes referenced or reused from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Most forget that the first film wasn’t a box office hit and only found success on home video and cable. The far inferior sequel will send droves into the theaters only to learn they never need to see it a second time. Some sequels are bad enough to make you reconsider your feelings about the original. This is that kind of movie.

Picking up the story of anchorman Ron Burgandy (Will Ferrell) a few years after the first film, Ron splits from his wife (Christina Applegate) and young son to go on the first of two boring personal journeys before reuniting the news team for new jobs at a 24-hour news network. Despite bringing back Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, and David Koechner the sequel only offers Carell his own subplot with a secretary (Kristen Wiig) every bit as mentally challenged as Brick.

…

Anchorman 2: The Legend FaltersRead More »

Anchorman 2: The Legend Falters Read More »

Reverse-Flash #1

/ / Comics

Reverse-Flash #1I’ve been very selective in my choices for the villain .1 issues DC has put out as part of their Forever Evil tie-in. Some have been okay, while others have been mass printed travesties (kind of like the New 52 in general). I was hopeful for The Flash #23.2 as timing actually matched up well for co-writers Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato to offer up the origins of the New 52’s version of the Reverse-Flash. As my pal Aaron likes to say, some presents are best left unwrapped.

There’s really no kind way to state how awful this comic truly is. I can’t lay the blame at artist Scott Hepburn who does a fair, if somewhat uninspired, job standing in for Manapul. I can, however, blame the two writers who spend an entire issue focusing on what only can be described as a whiny bitch of a character.

This comic, and Danny West‘s constant complaining, are brutally uninteresting. He whines about his childhood. He whines about his father. He whines about the accident that gave him super-powers. He whines, in case you haven’t gotten the point, incessantly.

…

Reverse-Flash #1Read More »

Reverse-Flash #1 Read More »

A (Not So) Good Day to Die Hard

/ / Home Video
  • Title: A Good Day to Die Hard
  • IMDB: link

A (Not So) Good Day to Die HardThe latest installment resembles the original Die Hard only in that it stars Bruce Willis and things blow up from time to time. To call Skip Woods‘ screenplay idiotic and ill-conceived would be an understatement. I’ve actually enjoyed every other Die Hard film so far, but the latest one chooses to put John McClane (Willis) in the role of comic relief while centering the movie around John’s thoroughly uninteresting son (Jai Courtney).

The plot, such as it is, involves evil Russian scientists and billionaires (Sebastian Koch, Sergei Kolesnikov) who caused Chernobyl (on purpose). I swear I’m not making this up; somebody actually thought this was a good idea for a movie. Throw in McClane catching a plane to Russia to see his estranged son who has been arrested (but is really part of a super-secret CIA mission) and you’ve got a complicated mess of a story involving uninspired twists, shifting loyalties, and betrayal.

…

A (Not So) Good Day to Die HardRead More »

A (Not So) Good Day to Die Hard Read More »

Batman/Superman #1

/ / Comics

Batman/Superman #1Um, what? Writer Gre Pak’s Batman/Superman #1 is a confusing tale that doesn’t seem to fit anywhere in DC’s current New 52 storyline. It’s presented, at least initially as the first meeting between both Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne, and later between Batman and Superman. Okay, this part of the comic works fine (although Bruce Wayne’s undercover slumming isn’t well-explained).

Here’s the problem: We know that Justice League #1 is the first time the characters met, so is DC already retconning the New 52? Much more troubling is the turn the issue takes halfway through where it appears Batman and Superman have known each other for some time and Batman is confused while Superman is wearing jeans rather than his regular costume. Yeah, I’m confused too (with everything that’s happening)!

The story also involves some kind of entity that takes over its host and gets off on pain and power. The character is never properly introduced nor are his powers defined. This is a clusterfuck of a first issue that makes less sense the more you read it. Pass.

[DC, $3.99]

Batman/Superman #1 Read More »

Thanos Rising #1

/ / Comics

Thanos Rising #1I was justifiably concerned when Marvel Comics announced their plans for a mini-series looking in-depth at the life and childhood of Thanos. I can’t say Thanos Rising #1 is worse than I expected, but the misadventures of a teenage outcast on the moons of Saturn is exactly as insipid as I dreaded it would be from a company that learned nothing of George Lucas‘ (flawed, but still vastly superior) attempt at similar themes in the Star Wars prequels.

I can’t lay all the blame at the feet of writer Jason Aaron as the entire idea behind the comic is pretty damn bad. (Seriously, who at Marvel thought this was a good idea?) However, Aaron certainly does nothing to save the situation by offering up a Dawson’s Creek version of Thanos’ adolescence that is just as awful as it sounds.

After giving us the birth of the blue-skinned baby Thanos in a world filled with bland suburban Caucasians, the story follows the outcast finally making friends and to learn his first lessons about death. None of which is of any interest. Pass.

[Marvel, $3.99]

Thanos Rising #1 Read More »