2 Razors

Shadowland #3

/ / Comics
  • Title: Shadowland #3 (of 5)
  • Comic Vine: link

shadowland-3-coverFinally, somebody notices that the creature masquerading as Daredevil isn’t Matt Murdock. We finally learn the truth about what’s going on under Daredevil’s mask and, sigh, let’s just say it could have been handled better.

As I had feared, it turns out the entire struggle of Matt Murdock’s control of the Hand is moot since he’s no longer in control of his actions. Oh, and Bullseye’s on his way back far faster than most readers not a carrot chompin’ super-hero reviewer thought.

Sure, this Hand demon gives our heroes a big bad villain to fight, but it also undercuts the only real dramatic thread the mini-series had going for it. Nice to see Elektra finally show up, though. Hit-and-Miss.

[Marvel $3.99]

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The Other Guys

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Other Guys
  • IMDB: link

In case you weren’t aware, Step Brothers is the greatest achievement ever in cinema ever.

Okay, it’s not. But at the rate that I, a film dork, think back to the Comedy Extroardinaire from Will Ferrell and frequent collaborator writer / director Adam McKay, it certainly would seem to own a spot on AFI’s top hundred. Following up solid laughers Anchorman and Talladega Nights, the McKay / Ferrell team has proved maybe the most bankable in Hollywood when it comes to laughs. If you’ve gone the past six years without someone quoting a Ron Burgundy line to you, it’s because you haven’t talked to anyone the past six years.

And, as a fan of the divisive Step Brothers, I, more than most, was totally excited for McKay and Ferrell’s newest film, The Other Guys. Maybe it’s because of these high expectations, but this fourth film from the duo appears to be the first hiccup, and unfortunately not a small one.

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Salt

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

Originally intended as a vehicle for Tom Cruise Salt was shelved and then given an impromptu sex change operation to ready the way for Angelina Jolie to headline the shoot ’em up. When your leading man becomes a leading lady the original script by Kurt Wimmer (Ultraviolet , Street Kings) had to be rewritten by Brian Helgeland (Conspiracy Theory, Assassins, Man on Fire), and director Philip Noyce (The Bone Collector, Clear and Present Danger) was tasked to make it all work. That’s an awful lot of time and effort to put into a project well before shooting was scheduled to begin. Too bad it wasn’t worth it.

Angelina Jolie stars as CIA Agent Evelyn Salt, a fugitive on the run after being accused, by the questionalbe word of a dying former Russian spy (Daniel Olbrychski ), of being part of a top secret Russian sleeper cell doomsday scenario more than three decades in the making.

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Green Arrow #1

/ / Comics

green-arrow-1-coverI don’t know whether to giggle or groan. Green Arrow has always been a thinly-veiled modern day Robin Hood, but I guess the veil is gone completely now.

Oliver Queen is living in the forest (but still wearing his costume and mask), forever exiled from Star City, taking down any baddies who come his way, robbing the rich to feed the poor (I’m not making this up). Then you have this panel promising some Merry Men to help him out.

Had the entire issue been more lighthearted and campy this new path for our hero may have been easier to swallow. Instead the series seems to be stubbornly stuck on the path laid down for the character in the best-forgotten (and never, ever, mentioned again) Cry for Justice mini-series. I can’t help wonder if writer J.T. Krul is having a good laugh at all of our expense.

[DC $3.99]

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Hulk #23

/ / Comics

hulk-23-coverAfter skipping the last three issues of this title (seriously, I just couldn’t take any more) I decided to pick-up this one given the promise of answers considering the origins of the Red Hulk. Does this issue provide those answers? Yes. Do they make sense? Well…

The entire comic is from the perspective of Gen. Thunderbolt Ross, and one thing I did enjoy was the stylistic choice of recreating different panels in the comic style of the age in which they originally took place. In order to achieve this the comic called on the talent of several artists including Sal Buscema, Ian Churchill, Mike Deodato, Ed McGuinness, Tim Sale, and John Romita Jr.

I just wish the story was as well thought out as the art. After the explanations are over there’s still plenty of head-scratching to be done over the questionable logic involved in Ross becoming the Red Hulk, Betty becoming the Red She Hulk, and all the rest of the nonsense we’ve had to put up with for months. Even with its “revelations” it’s certainly nowhere near good enough to justify the $5 price-tag. Hit-and-Miss.

[Marvel $4.99]

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