4 Razors

Megamind

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

“Our battles quickly got more elaborate. He would win some, I would almost win others! He took the name Metro Man, defender of Metro City. I decided to pick something a little more humble – Megamind, incredibly handsome criminal genius and master of all villainy!”

What makes a hero? DreamWorks latest animated feature Megamind, scripted by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, and borrowing heavily from the Golden and Silver Age of comic books (most notably a certain Man of Steel), asks that question. The answer they deliver is highly entertaining.

Metro Man (Brad Pitt) is the beloved hero of Metro City. Shot into space as a baby to escape a dying world he arrived on Earth with good looks, great hair, and abilities far outreaching those of the average man. He’s a hero with the powers of Superman and the ego of Booster Gold. But he’s not who this film is about.

There was another shuttle, another dying world, and another orphaned alien child who took his first steps on the planet we call home. He wasn’t as good looking (being blue and all), and lacked the cool powers that made others swoon for Metro Man. Always painted as the bad boy, the trouble maker, this child would grow up to accept and cherish the role by becoming Metro City’s greatest menace: the super-villain Megamind (Will Ferrell).

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Chuck Versus the First Fight

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Chuck – Chuck Versus the First Fight
  • tv.com: link

This week’s episode of Chuck really does have it all: Sarah Connor, James Bond, explosions, betrayals, more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan flick, and a surprise or two. “Chuck Vs. the First Fight” centers around Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah’s (Yvonne Strahovski) first fight over her turning his mother (Linda Hamilton) over to the CIA. While I’m not sure this actually qualifies as their first fight (didn’t they go a few rounds about Sarah not hanging up her clothes a few episodes back?), this does give plenty of opportunities for Chuck to discuss the situation with everyone from Morgan (Joshua Gomez) to an MI6 operative he just met (Timothy Dalton – great casting!). This episodes also gives quite a few twists (including a couple you should see coming), Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) finally getting to talk with her mother, the appearance of this season’s big bad – Frost’s boss Alexei Volkoff, and an ending that gives us as many questions as answers. This is the strongest episode of Season Four so far.

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Hereafter

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

“How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life, wouldn’t you say?”
-James T. Kirk

When I first heard the concept behind Clint Eastwood‘s latest film, Hereafter, I was confused. I wondered why Eastwood was taking on a project that seemed more suited to M. Night Shyamalan. Although ghosts play a role, the film is far from a ghost story. Instead, what Eastwood and screenwriter Peter Morgan deliver is a drama focused on how death touches, and changes, the lives of three disparate individuals.

The film is structured as three separate tales which will inevitably weave together in the final act. A French newswoman (Cécile De France) deals with the consequences after a near-death experience. A young child attempts to move on after death of his twin brother (both parts are played by Frankie McLaren and George McLaren) and the separation from his mother (Lyndsey Marshal). A psychic (Matt Damon) who has renounced his gift with communicating with the dead is pressured by others to use his abilities.

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Superman/Batman #77

/ / Comics
  • Title: Superman/Batman #77
  • Comic Vine: link
  • Writer: Joshua Williamson
  • Artist: Ale Garza

I don’t know what the odds for me not only liking an issue of Superman/Batman but REALLY liking it are, but it helps if the team-up involves Supergirl and Damian.

After discovering a mass grave in Metropolis Supergirl heads to Gotham only to find both Batman and Red Robin out involved with other cases – leaving Robin as her only choice for help. As you might guess, she’s less than enthusiastic.

There’s a lot to like here including Damian taunting Killer Croc while chained in a Gotham sewer, the ridiculous disguise her procures for Kara when the two go undercover at a Halloween party, and Dick’s incessant teasing when Supergirl drops him back off at home. I also liked the slowing growing grudging respect between the two characters. No, they don’t like each other, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work well together.

Much like in her recent appearance in Batgirl, I think Kara plays much better against another character than flying solo (of course part of that could just be the yawn-inspiring tales she has to put up with in her own book). With either Batgirl or here with Damian, she really shines.

[DC $2.99]

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Menace of the Madniks!

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Menace of the Madniks!
  • tv.com: link

One of my complaints with Batman: The Brave and the Bold was its choice in the current Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes over the Silver Age version Ted Kord. Most of the show’s choses have gone towards the classic characters rather than the contemporary version. So when this episode delivers not only Kord but his bosom buddy Booster Gold you know that my inner JLI fan giggled with glee.

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