2.5 Razors

Snake Eyes: Deadgame #1

/ / Comics

Snake Eyes: Deadgame #1 comic reviewWritten and drawn by Rob Liefeld, Snake Eyes: Deadgame #1 is an odd comic that brings an unexpected mysticism into the G.I. JOE world. The story begins with Snake Eyes, Roadblock, and Tripwire sent to investigate the unexplained use of an old Joe code where they find a captured Joe Colton and a reborn legendary warrior known as Kirigun, an Arashikage boogeyman who lives up to the legend fighting Snake Eyes to a draw before departing.

Liefeld is an obvious fan of the character and takes quite a bit of pleasure in drawing him in various poses as the Joe’s silent ninja is able to cut through minimal resistance before running into Kirigun. From what little we get, Kirigun and “Deadgame” has ties to Arashikage and Snake Eyes’ murky past, but with most of the comic spent focusing on how to draw Snake Eyes in various cool poses there’s not a lot of story here.

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Sonic the Hedgehog

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Sonic the Hedgehog
  • IMDb: link

Sonic the Hedgehog 4K reviewSonic the Hedgehog is a borderline kid’s film likely too juvenile for those who grew up with the SEGA games and relying a bit too much on nostalgia to connect with younger viewers who may not know who Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) is. James Marsden stars in a role not dissimilar to the human he played in 2011’s Hop who befriends, and has his life turned upside down by, an animated character. After fleeing his home dimension, Sonic has been hiding in the woods outside of the small town where Tom (Marsden) works as sheriff while dreaming of being a big city lawman.

We’re told Sonic has managed to stay hidden for years (incredibly unlikely from what we see here). A power burst by the hedgehog brings in Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to hunt down Sonic who the mad scientist believes can power his various machines. Carey is completely over-the-top here and the script offers him plenty of opportunities to gorge himself on as much scenery as his appetite allows.

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Guilty Pleasure – American Outlaws

/ / Home Video
  • Title: American Outlaws
  • IMDb: link

American Outlaws Blu-ray reviewBy any objective standard, you can’t call 2001’s American Outlaws a good movie. The western is historically inaccurate in countess ways, features over-the-top performances from a number of actors, feels far too modern in tone and style, is punctuated with juvenile humor, and ignores almost any context for its characters’ actions and place in history. What you can say about American Outlaws is it’s dumb fun in the style of Young Guns (which obviously inspired it). Heavy on dumb, yes, but still fun.

Opening at the end of the Civil War, which involves some heroic foolishness by our leading man almost single-handedly winning the group’s final battle, the film stars Colin Farrell as Jesse James, Gabriel Macht as his brother Frank, and Scott Caan and Will McCormack as Cole and Bob Younger. The weary soldiers return home from war only to find railroad baron Thaddeus Rains (Harris Yulin) pushing families off their farms in the name of progress through bribes, theft, arson, threats, and murder.

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That Harley Quinn Birds of Prey Movie

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn
  • IMDb: link

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn Blu-ray reviewI had much the same reaction to Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn as to Suicide Squad. There’s low-rent fun to be had here in this crass tale of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) striking out on her own after leaving the Joker. Robbie reprises her role from Suicide Squad, but is forced to carry much more of the story this time around. The script makes Harley the film’s narrator, often telling events out of order or forgetting key points. The idea is fun for a few minutes, but this isn’t Rashomon or Memento. It’s a B-movie with delusions of grandeur.

On the bad side of mob boss Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), and no longer under the Joker’s protection, Harley finds herself working off a debt by tracking down a young street thief (Ella Jay Basco) in possession of a diamond far more valuable than anyone realizes. She’s also got to stay one-step ahead of Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), the film’s cliched one good cop in the city.

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Jumanji: The Next Level

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Jumanji: The Next Level
  • IMDb: link

Jumanji: The Next Level Blu-ray reviewJumanji: The Next Level brings back the cast of 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle for another trip into the video game version of Jumanji as Spencer’s (Alex Wolff) friends follow when the isolated college Freshman goes looking for something familiar. This time around, however, the players are all in different avatars and two of the players have been replaced by Spencer’s grandfather (Danny DeVito) and his former business partner (Danny Glover).

I wasn’t all that impressed with the 2017 film which was fun at times but also lazy and largely forgettable, and The Next Level offers more of the same: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson smoldering, characters hashing out their issues while running for their lives, and Karen Gillan running around the jungle in short-shorts. The addition of the older players does offer some new dynamics (along with quite a few easy old people don’t understand technology jokes), and having none of the players in the avatars they expected is one of the sequel’s best choices.

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