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Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
  • IMDb: link

Percy Jackson: Sea of MonstersBased on Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians young adult novel series, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters picks up a few months after the events of the underwhelming Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in which Percy (Logan Lerman) and his fellow demigod best buds Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) and Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) successfully returned Zeus’ (Sean Bean) stolen thunderbolt and Percy came to an understanding with his absent father Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) and took his place among the other half-human sons and daughters of the Olympian Gods.

Things have quieted down a bit as the introspective Percy has begun questioning his own abilities as a hero as he is constantly outshone by the bitchy Clarisse (Leven Rambin). When the safety of Camp Half-Blood (the truly awful name for the secret village where the demigods dwell) is put in jeopardy Clarisse is assigned to retrieve the Golden Fleece in order to bolster the protective barrier around the camp which has begun to fail.

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Red 2

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Red 2
  • IMDB: link

Red 2Not every movie deserves a sequel. Based on the early 2000’s comic from Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, Red was good dumb fun about retired spies forced to get back into the game when their past caught up with them. Not straining any brain muscles, the sequel is roughly the same premise as Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), Marvin (John Malkovich), and Frank’s girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) find themselves marked for death based on Frank and Marvin’s part in a secret operation more than three decades ago.

The movie begins in much the same way as another of Willis’ regrettable sequels as the former spy attempts to lay low in the suburbs with a girlfriend who wants more crazy adventures. Forced on the run, the threesome are pursued by the world’s best hitman (Byung-hun Lee) with a personal score to settle, as well as Victoria (Helen Mirren) who is ordered by MI6 to put Frank and Marvin in the ground. Brian Cox reprises his role as Ivan, and the movie also offers up Catherine Zeta-Jones as the Russian spy who has Frank wrapped around her little finger and Anthony Hopkins as a mad scientist locked away for 30 years.

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Detective Comics #22

/ / Comics

Detective Comics #22The beginning of a new arc brings new enemies to Gotham for both Batman and Bruce Wayne. As Wayne staves off the aggression of billionaire weapons designer E.D. Caldwell who desperately wants to acquiring Wayne Enterprises technology to further his fortunes, Batman is presented with a new stable of deadly vigilantes operating in Gotham City under the command of Wrath (who, of course, is also Caldwell).

I’m not sure a late 2000’s Lex Luthor-style ripoff who also enjoys dressing up in tights and armor is a good foil for Batman. Batman dispatches Wrath’s first lieutenant without much effort (although he does have to deal with one cop who mistakes Batman for the vigilante and another intent on killing Scorn).

Although it opens up new possibilities and challenges for Batman, I’m not sold on this storyline (or either Caldwell or Wrath). The comic also offers another less than great Man-Bat back-up story that takes up way too many pages and reveals that Francine Langstrom (to no one’s surprise) is actually the Man-Bat attacking the streets at night. Anytime DC wants to dump this story would be fine with me. Hit-and-Miss.

[DC, $3.99]

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Justice League #21

/ / Comics

Justice League #21DC Comics regrettable reboot of Captain Marvel‘s origin concludes her with the new dickish and rather dim (seriously, where’s the wisdom of Solomon when you need it?) Captain Marvel, I’m still not calling him Shazam, fighting it out with Black Adam and evil of the Seven Deadly Sins possessing a guy who was once mean to Billy (who, let’s face it, this a-hole version of the beloved character who defined purity, grace, honesty, and wonder for more than 70 years probably deserved it).

The issue is only really memorable for the introduction of the Marvel Family. Wait, are we supposed to call the the Shazam Family now? Can anyone really say Mary Shazam or Shazam Jr. with a straight face? Anyway, Black Adam (being the dullard that he is) teaches Billy to share his powers and give them to his adopted foster family and Tawky Tawny (sadly transforming him into the Battle Cat Flashpoint version (the alternate reality so gritty it had to be destroyed… insert your own ironic joke here), not the classic awesomeness of a talking tiger in a well-tailored suit). Also, no Hoppy. Sigh.

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Red Hood and the Outlaws #21

/ / Comics

Red Hood and the Outlaws #21While Starfire and Roy Harper fight among each other, with Professor Hugo Strange (who in the New 52 is Roy’s psychologist), and with The Untitled who make a dramatic entrance to break-up Roy’s latest session, the Red Hood flees from members of the League of Assassins who are chasing him down (but not for the reason he thinks).

Most of the Kory/Roy/Strange storyline can be ignored. The Hood story is far more interesting as we get the return of Cheshire as well as Lady Shiva and the introduction of the New 52 version of Bronze Tiger (which, like everything else in the New 52 is a pale imitation of the original).

After acquiring Jason Todd, the assassins take him back to ‘Eht Alth’Eban, the home of the League of Assassins, where the inform the Hood they don’t want him dead. What they actually want is the guy with no memory of how to assassinate anyone (or the hatred which drove him into that life) to become their new leader. Um… okay. I guess intelligence isn’t a prerequsite to join the League of Assassins. Hit-and-Miss.

[DC, $2.99]

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