3 Razors

Secret Six #4

/ / Comics

Secret Six #4Secret Six #4 is a tease of the comic we should be, but aren’t, getting. Thanks New 52. After the new team makes its way to the suburbs they are almost immediately attacked by three of Mockingbird‘s assassins who will be familiar to longtime fans of the team well-before they are unmasked: Scandal Savage, Ragdoll, and Jeannette (who seems oddly toned-down here). Despite still missing Deadshot, and insisting on dressing Catman in that awful fetish costume (#BringBackTheCowl), Secret Six #4 has a bit of the old magic (even if it is unnecessarily stomped on by quite a few superfluous characters).

Ragdoll’s unique voice has certainly been missing in the comic. His addition works well here while Scandal, as enemy rather than one of the major driving forces behind the group, is a bit off-key. The latest issue opens with a buddy-buddy moment between Catman and the nondescript detective-ish guy (a character so forgettable neither I nor the Internet seem to remember who the hell he is) which only makes me miss Catman’s best bud even more. Oh well, at least there’s some fun to be had. For fans.

[DC, $2.99]

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The Legend of the Lone Ranger

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Legend of the Lone Ranger
  • IMDb: link

The Legend of the Lone RangerGore Verbinski‘s meandering take on The Lone Ranger wasn’t the first modern take of the masked man on film. Released in 1981 amidst negative backlash for the movie’s producer suing actor Clayton Moore to prevent him from appearing in public as the character he played on television, and the bad press of having a difficult unknown actor whose voice had to be dubbed for The Lone Ranger‘s words to be understood, the film never really stood a chance.

Here’s the thing about the much despised The Legend of the Lone Ranger – it’s actually not a bad movie. And it’s certainly a tighter and more complete origin story than Verbinski’s version. Yes it’s cheap (especially compared to the money thrown around in the new version), but it’s far more faithful to the source material (including John Reid meeting Tonto as boys and the real reason John was shipped off East) than this new version. It also has the feel of a western rather than just another big budget Hollywood action film accidentally stuck in the Old West.

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Ant-Man

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Ant-Man
  • IMDb: link

Ant-Man

Ant-Man marks a departure for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the exception of Guardians of the Galaxy, which takes place deep in outer space and far from the films that feed into The Avengers movies, every Marvel project to this point has centered around a classic Marvel character that fits a rather well-used pre-designed Silver Age mold. Rather than center another film around a genius scientist turned hero, Ant-Man casts Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) as the weathered former hero choosing instead to focus the plot of the movie on his less straight-laced successor Scott Lang (Paul Rudd).

The recently paroled thief struggling to put his life in order and spend time with his young daughter (Abby Ryder Fortson), Lang is offered a chance by Pym to become the new Ant-Man. With the help of the scientist and his daughter (Evangeline Lilly), and a few of his formerly incarcerated friends (Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, T.I.), Lang stumbles through his training to learn what it means to manipulate both his size and mass along with the insects which he can now command thanks to to the proprietary Pym Particles and the suit’s helmet.

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Killjoys – Vessel

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Killjoys – Vessel
  • wiki: link

Killjoys - Vessel

Now an official team of three, Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), John (Aaron Ashmore), and D’Avin (Luke Macfarlane) are hired to transport the surrogate mother of an unborn heir of one of the nine families that rule the galaxy (or something like that) in time for the baby to be born on his home soil and claim his birthright. Although there have been small stumbling blocks in the previous episodes, “Vessel” marks the first time the series gets into trouble for not spending more time world building and explaining the basics of this version of the future, the nine families, and the politics involved. The Nine have never been properly explained which leads to some confusion about surrogate cults, wealth, corporations, division of power, and rule of law that the episode skirts mostly around despite the fact that these issues have never been properly dealt with.

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Minions

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Minions
  • IMDb: link

MinionsWhen I learned of a Despicable Me sequel starring only the Minions I was skeptical. Although hugely popular, how do you give a full-feature film to the oddball supporting characters who speak only a mishmash gibberish language and who had been used mostly for comedy relief (with heart) in both Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2?

Minions is a throwback of sorts to a type of comedy Hollywood has largely gotten away from in favor of character and plot-driven plots. The result is something that has at least as much in common with Airplane!, Austin Powers, or The Cannonball Run as it does either of the previous two films. Although the script has a basic plot involving the Minions search for a new super-villain to serve, its purpose is largely secondary to allow the characters room to thrive while setting up various sequences, gags, and stunts involving everything from the Minions putting on a full Broadway-style performance for yetis to a slew of 60’s pop-culture references.

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