Science Fiction

Star Wars #8

/ / Comics

Star Wars #8As Luke and Wedge put themselves in danger by allowing themselves to be taken prisoner aboard the Star Destroyer Devastator (before escaping to go in search of the Empire’s spy inside the Rebel Alliance), Han and Chewie try to get themselves out of danger on Coruscant by separating and dealing with the pair of bounty hunters on their trail.

Aboard the Falcon, Chewie must deal with Bossk, while Han and the friendly local smuggler try to get the most out of their junk freighter and stay one step ahead of the deadliest bounty hunter in the galaxy – Boba Fett. Meanwhile Leia has snuck away from the fleet to fulfill her other objective and find a new home base for the Rebellion which takes her closest enough to stop at the ruins of Alderaan and make a surprising discovery of an old Clone War battleship hiding inside the asteroid field.

Star Wars #8 gives us separate stories involving all three of the big name characters as well offering readers appearances by Bossk, Boba Fett, and Darth Vader. Fans should feel right at home. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $2.99]

Star Wars #8 Read More »

Elysium

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

ElysiumWith District 9 writer/director Neill Blomkamp crafted an original character study of a man (Sharlto Copley) trapped on the wrong side of the Earth’s treatment of alien refugees as a thinly-veiled metaphor for the social segregation in Blomkamp’s home country of South Africa. The result was one of 2009’s best films. Sadly Elysium, Blomkamp’s latest, is no District 9.

While dealing with similar themes of class warfare, inequalities, and a greedy one-percent, Elysium trades in metaphor for far less subtle preaching about the evils of social inequality between the haves and have nots.

The haves include the wealthiest members of the human race who have abandoned their world to live in luxury on the space station Elysium, leaving the polluted planet to the less fortunate. The inequality doesn’t end there, however. Whereas as the rich partake of miraculous medical advancements that can literally cure any affliction in the matter of seconds, the rest of the world is left with nothing more advanced than current medical devices and training.

…

ElysiumRead More »

Elysium Read More »

Shockingly, R.I.P.D. isn’t D.O.A.

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: R.I.P.D.
  • IMDB: link

R.I.P.D.Based on the comic series by Peter M. Lenkov, R.I.P.D. stars Ryan Reynolds as a recently slain dirty cop who is drafted by the Rest In Peace Department for his unique skill set and sent back into the land of the living to catch escaped souls hiding out on Earth. To teach him the ropes, Nick (Reynolds) is paired with Roy Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges), an persnickety lawman straight out of the Old West who has hunted souls for centuries.

The comparisons to Men in Black are too obvious to ignore, but R.I.P.D. does have one thing going for it that the MIB franchise has been missing since the late 1990’s: a fresh take. As goofy and unoriginal as the concepts behind R.I.P.D. are, the movie puts its own spin on things while delivering an impressive production design as well as sense of fun missing from far too many of this summer’s movies. The weapons of the film are a mix between MIB and Hellboy while the design of R.I.P.D. headquarters, once again borrowing heavily on other films (most notably MIB), creates a nice mix of out-of-control underworld bureaucracy and an incredibly clean police station.

…

Shockingly, R.I.P.D. isn’t D.O.A.Read More »

Shockingly, R.I.P.D. isn’t D.O.A. Read More »

Star Wars #7

/ / Comics

Star Wars #7With Leia fully recuperated, she and Luke take a trip back to Tatooine where Luke gives his aunt and uncle the proper burial he was unable to offer when fleeing the planet months earlier. It’s here where Leia also confides in Luke the true mission of their squadron to not only find the Rebellion a new home base but ferret out the traitor in their midst.

Hearing how dire the situation has become, Luke suggests a highly risky plan involving getting Wedge and Luke captured by the Star Destroyer Devastator and planting surveillance to help find the source of the leak. Although concerned Luke hasn’t exactly thought out the entire plan, with limited time Leia okays the mission with Prithi as support (a character I’m glad to see has stuck around despite what her exit in the last issue suggested).

Star Wars #7 also gives us Han and Chewie trying to make it out of Coruscant alive while been tracked by Boba Fett and more of Darth Vader‘s quasi-disciple Birra Seah who the Emperor is not pleased to see in command of the second Death Star during a surprise visit. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $2.99]

Star Wars #7 Read More »

Giant Robots vs. Monsters

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific Rim
  • IMDB: link

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific RimThe idea behind director Guillermo del Toro‘s latest movie is hardly original. The world, not just Hollywood, has made a living on giant monster movies for decades. We’ve also seen a number of giant robot movies, particularly big-budget CGI-extravaganzas in recent years. Even animated movies such as Monsters vs. Aliens have pitted two groups of giant creatures against each other.

More than Blade II (the only watchable film from that franchise) or either of the Hellboy movies, del Toro’s latest is easily his most mainstream attempt at a summer blockbuster. We certainly get the director’s spin on things, and designs of creatures who seem right at home in Hellboy or Pan’s Labyrinth, but the story from the director and co-writer Travis Beacham itself is by the book (and doesn’t even attempt to color outside the lines). The result is a film that feels a lot like a mashup of Robot Jox, Independence Day (complete with last-minute inspirational speech and wacky scientists), Top Gun, Transformers, and various monster movies all spruced up with sexy CGI and de Toro’s eye for creature design.

…

Giant Robots vs. MonstersRead More »

Giant Robots vs. Monsters Read More »