We'll Be Right Back

Due to the demands of working a 43 hour week at my day job (note: more like 60 hours) COFB will be taking a short break. We will be back after the Easter break. Simply put, all hell breaks loose when the store shuts for a single day. People buy copious amounts of food that they will almost definitely be binning at home. It's apocalypse style, tipping shelves full of food into their shopping trollies. I'm working a lot more than normal and in a weeks time I find out if I've got a job still or not (note: I've got a mortgage and an upcoming wedding to pay for regardless). You can imagine that doing a management restructure at the second busiest time of the year would be stupid and needlessly stressful. That's because it is.

Anyone know of any comic or creative jobs going in Hull, UK or any work from home style stuff- give me a call!

So we will be straight back into the swing of things with Batman V Superman review, the last instalments of the Civil War countdown and Info about the Infinity Stones. Plus lots more opinion and review goodness. There's also a very good chance of some more guest writers appearing here soon. So watch this space.

See you in a fortnight.

-Matt

Guardians of the Galaxy: Big Marvel Movie Re-Watch

I'm attempting a great big Marvel movie re-watch ahead of the release of Captain America Civil War on 29th April. A summary and brief review of each of the 12 instalments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be posted each Thursday and Tuesday.

The 10th Marvel Movie.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Plot Summary

On Earth in the year 1988 Peter Quill loses his mother to illness in hospital and is subsequently abducted by aliens. Years later and he is working as a Ravager, a scavenger who finds objects for money. He steals an orb for a job but as soon as Ronan the Accuser chases after him the buyer no longer wants the object. Thanos' daughters Gamora and Nebula are also dispatched to take the orb back. Groot a tree that can only say "I am Groot" and a talking racoon named Rocket, take a bounty to capture Quill. All four of them are arrested on planet Xandar, capital of the Nova empire, by Corpsman Dey and his men after making one hell of a scene. 

Such likeable characters.

The four along with Drax the Destroyer, who also has a beef with Thanos and Ronan, for killing his family, escape from a maximum security prison just before Ronan shows up looking for the Orb. They team up and try to sell the Orb to a collector. Each wanting revenge on Thanos or Ronan for various reasons. They take the Orb to a buyer named the collector. Last seen at the end of Thor the Dark World. He tells them that the Orb holds an object of immeasurable power. One of six infinity stones. That is why Thanos and Ronan want the item so badly. The team self proclaim themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy and decide the best thing to do would be to turn the stone over to the authorities on Xandar. Trouble is Ronan has disobeyed Thanos and is now leading an attack on Xandar.

Strong female characters on both sides of the good and evil. Also Nebula escaped and
may be one of very few villains to feature in more than one film!

The team and the Nova Corps fight back in spectacular fashion, and wind up using the stone against Ronan. It turns out that Peter Quill is half alien himself as that was the only way he could withstand so much power. 

End Credits Scene

In typical fashion we've got two again. The first one is Twig Baby Groot dancing to Jackson 5 every time Drax looks away. After sacrificing himself in the films climax, it looks like Groot will be regrowing for the sequel.

I immediately bought the baby Groot Funko Pop upon returning from the cinema.

In the second the Collector sits in the reck of his collection drinking a cocktail with Howard the Duck. 

This is a weird film. 

Review

This film is nothing short of amazing. After doing so well in the same year with a deadly serious Winter Soldier with ramifications for years to come, this film flips the genre again almost to pure comedy, and yet comes up just as enjoyable. I have a saying about comics: comics should be fun. This is the most fun I've had watching a film for a long time. There's two things that movie can never be for me, too long or boring. Sure there's overlap between the two rules there, but this film ticks all my boxes in the most entertaining way.

Despite being solid comedy gold the film has just dazzling special effects, and action set pieces. Things that you wouldn't see in other marvel movies due to the cosmic setting. Despite the humour however there is a deep emotional core to each character and I dare you not to shed a single many tear when Groot says "WE are Groot" before sacrificing himself, or when Rocket is sat holding the splintered twigs in the aftermath, sobbing into his hands, or even when Peter sees his mother when he needs strength to pull through and use the power of the stone against Ronan. There's a connection to the characters that you just don't get in most dramas these days.

Nothing goes over my head, my reflexes are too fast. I would catch it.

I was serious worried about this film before seeing it, I'd heard everything from it being a throwaway movie that doesn't matter with the rest of them and also that it was the next Star Wars. While I can see how you might think both of these, those are two very extreme statements. This film clarifies the existence of the Infinity stones and gives a brief history of each. It's safe to say that the Guardians will be taking part in the epic Avengers Infinity War two-parter film. So while Captain America or Iron Man won't be walking by in the background, it really does matter in the scheme of the overarching plot of the whole franchise. I can see where the star wars comparisons come from too. Peter Quill is basically a scoundrel in the mould of Han Solo and Groot is a towering creature with no language skills. The worlds are vast and fleshed out, it's very absorbing and there are very easy comparisons to make. 

I praised the Deadpool marketing team but I think the team behind this film also need a hell of an applause. Trailers and posters were designed to introduce characters that are complete unknowns, even to avid comic readers like myself. I'd read very little of this team before seeing the film. They made it look so fun and enjoyable that its opening weekend smashed all records for the studios short history, and with no RDJ in sight! This was clearly the start of Marvel's, wait, if we could make a successful film about a tree and a raccoon then we could basically do anything and make people love it.. way of thinking, which probably led to Ant-Man getting made. 

The trailers started out this epic 70's music megamix that followed through the entire movie too. As a plot device Peter's mother made him a mix tape of music for him, and shortly before dying she gives him a gift that is wrapped up. Throughout the film he routinely wears his walkman and blasts music that really doesn't belong in a scene or even dances about to it, with his mix tape volume 1. At the end of the film he finally opens the gift to fin a volume 2 waiting for him. The music is so important to this film and it's success that the sequel is literally called Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. I can't put into words how excited I am for it either.

The humour throughout adds so much charm and likability to each character that I dare you to go see this film and not to want a little potted Groot upon finishing it. 

So many Infinity Stones accounted for you can almost taste the Infinity War movie now. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Rating: 9/10

Despite being the polar opposite of the Winter Soldier's tone, this has all the charm, heart and likability that you would ever need in a film. So enjoyable. The sky is the limit for this ones sequel.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Big Marvel Movie Re-Watch

I'm attempting a great big Marvel movie re-watch ahead of the release of Captain America Civil War on 29th April. A summary and brief review of each of the 12 instalments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be posted each Thursday and Tuesday.

The 9th part of the saga so far.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Plot Summary 

Captain America is finally getting acclimated to the modern world, he meets Sam Wilson a war veteran while out jogging laps near the smithsonian. Widow picks him up to go on a SHIELD mission. They are taking out a terrorist named Batroc who is holding a SHIELD ship hostage. It becomes apparent later that the mission was compromised because Fury gave Widow a side mission while on the boat.

Cap confronts Fury, and makes it very clear that he was unimpressed with being kept out of the loop. Fury shows Cap the new style Hellicarriers and gives him a little more insight as to whats at stake with the new defence initiative. Cap disagrees as he believes the punishment comes after the crime. 

Cap goes to visit a now elderly Peggy Carter in hospital and gets some words of wisdom as well as closure. She lived a happy life. Cap then goes and visits Sam's ex military support group, and finds out that Sam was in the air force. Meanwhile Fury has discovered he is locked out of the files that Widow recovered from the boat apparently  on his own authority. He goes to Director Pierce, head of the war council you saw at the end of The Avengers movie. He talks them out of the new Helicarriers at least momentarily while he investigates the security issue with his files. Fury gets in contact with Maria Hill and organises her meeting him, only to be attacked by people dressed in police uniform. A car chase ensues and he winds up escaping after a run in with the Winter Soldier.

Fury shows that he trusts Cap by waiting for him at his apartment, he entrusts the pen drive to him, telling him to trust no one, and is then taken out by the Winter Soldier. It turns out that Cap's neighbour is also a SHIELD agent, keeping an eye on him for Fury. Cap follows the assassin and has a run in with the Winter Soldier himself. Fury later appears to die in hospital in front of Hill, Widow and Cap. Cap is brought back in to SHIELD HQ. The Triskelion by the head of his own unit Brock Rumlow. After lying to Pierce about what happened with Fury, SHIELD turns on Cap and he narrowly escapes. Project Insight, the Hellicarriers is put back on schedule.

Widow and Cap team up and go to investigate the pen drive, tracing it's origin to an old army barracks that Cap is familiar with, the go and find a secret SHIELD base that looks like the original one, that Peggy and Howard Stark set up after Cap went into the ice during the war. Deeper still they find a HYDRA bunker inside the SHIELD one. It turns out that Arnim Zola, from the previous film, went into SHIELD as a double agent and HYDRA has been present within the organisation from the start. Zola has stayed alive by putting his brain onto thousands of floppy disc hard drives and lives on as a computer. It turns out that Project Insight is an algorithm written by Zola to ensure humanity loses it's freedom. SHIELD bombs the complex and the pair barely escape.  

They flee to Sam's house and upon looking back it appears that Sitwell, a high level agent who was on the kidnapped boat as well as Pierce himself must be HYDRA agents. Sam Wilson's past finally comes to light and he comes clean about what kind of air force he was in, and shows the pari the plans to the Falcon wing suit. The three of them capture Sitwell and he let's loose the fact that the algorithm determines who will grow up to be super heroes or significant people that will protect humanities freedom, while name dropping Stephen Strange among others. They try to use Sitwell to break into a SHIELD facility and stop it, but while en route they are attacked by HYDRA and the Winter Soldier. During the explosive fight Cap knocks off Winter Soliders' mask only to reveal that it was Bucky Barnes inside. His friend from the War, having barely aged and seemingly he survived his fall from the train mission. They loose the battle and are taken prisoner. It appears that whatever Zola did to Bucky is wearing off and he goes into a further round of conditioning. 

Hill saves them all and takes them to a SHIELD safe house, revealing that Fury faked his death using a sedative that Bruce Banner designed for the Hulk. They master a plan where they need to break into a hellicarrier each and put a new chip into each command centre to change the codes from destroying every notable hero on the planet and instead destroying each other. The Hellicarriers launch into the sky as Cap, and Falcon fight their way on board. Widow sneaks in disguised as a head of the War council to get Pierce. 

Cap gives a speech over the intercoms at SHIELD HQ. and rallies a lot of support, truly dividing SHIELD and HYDRA in half for a confusing yet all out finale. Winter Soldier vs. Cap, Pierce vs. Fury and Widow, and Brock now resembling more his comic book counterpart, Crossbones vs Falcon. It's all out spectacle as they barely make it in time, to take out the carriers and to out all of SHIELDs secrets, including the heroes own shady pasts. Cap goes down with a Hellicarrier only to be saved by Bucky who escapes into the world on his own for the first time since his capture and torture during the war. What kind of world does it leave you with when the heroes are questionable and against their own government, while there's no intelligence agency in place? There's lots of follow up to this film in the TV series Agents of SHIELD. 

End Credits Scenes

In our first of two teasers, we see Baron Zemo has acquired the Sceptre from the Avengers film, and has used the power to create super powered people, namely the twins. Or Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch from the later released Avengers sequel.

We also get a tease at the catalyst for the next Cap film, upcoming Civil War, as Bucky goes to learn about his past by visiting the same museum Cap does and learns who he really is.

Review

This is widely regarded as one of if not, the best marvel movie to date. Rightly so, it's got everything that made the Avengers great. The large ensemble cast, where everyone get's their badass moment. The spectacle and show stopping action. The quite moments where the characters really shine through. Despite the more serious espionage style to the movie there is still the usual amount of light hearted joke quipping too. Only this time around, all origin stories are done and the story has more room to breath and be itself. 

There is a real gravitas to the future movies and finale of this one. No other movie in the franchise manages to have so much at stake yet still have so much set up carry over to the next films. After such a small, hilarious and yet still, out of left field twist about the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, to find out that SHIELD itself is completely riddled from the very beginning with HYDRA, and the sheer knife twist of the "Hail HYDRA" whisper in the ear of the employees, was truly story shattering. Best twist to date.

The spectacle of the fight above the Triskelion with the three Hellicarriers and Falcon flying about is on par with the Avengers movie finale. While the quiet moments like Sam's veteran talk group and Peggy losing her mind in hospital are really tear jerking. I was quite angry at Avengers for not including Peggy as I wanted to have Cap get that dance with his best girl, but this is so much better story wise.

The start of Bucky's redemption starts here and continues for movies to come. The fall of SHIELD and the outing of HYDRA and Widow's secret KGB past being outed is just so much story potential it's insane. Falcon is a welcome addition and not just because he's a minority hero, more because he doesn't require an origin, he's a soldier with tech and he knows how to use it. It's satisfying to have a ready made hero jump head first in simply because Cap asks.

There's a lot here for comics fans too. Stark's engines, Banner's sedative, Widow's past, Name dropping Stephen Strange this is well and truly a living breathing world we are now seeing on screen. All the building blocks are now in place. This film completely breaks the mould on how many villains you can shove in. Batroc, Zola, Crossbones, Pierce, HYDRA and Zemo allot naturally and flow well throughout. Who would have though a Z list villain like Batroc the leaper could be so threatening, cool and real on screen. Maybe this was an early warning sign that a talking tree and gun toting raccoon would work so well on screen in Guardians of the Galaxy.

The tone shift breathes a breath of fresh air into the usual super hero action and the more serious spy movie works well with all the characters involved. The close up action scenes are no longer cheesy as people throw each other through buildings. More of the same stereotypical super hero story and action is only good for so long, but you run the risk of it getting too same-y or no longer been able to top yourself each time. Pirates of the Caribbean is guilty of it. My main argument of the 3rd and 4th is that it was just more of the same. It got a bit too pirate-y. Here the action has gone from cheesy to almost modern Bond/ Bourne style instead. The close up knife fight with Bucky is hostly quite jaw dropping.

Marvel Studios needs Super Hero films to stay popular and changing tones occasionally is definitely a way to keep them fresh.

I don't think I can put into words just how great this film is. I'm glad the team behind this film are behind the upcoming Civil War as well as Infinity War Avengers two parter, despite the similar Cap vs government story, more of this can only be a good thing.

Captain America The Winter Soldier Rating: 9/10

What's not to like? A change in genre from superhero to spy/ espionage, and a tone shift to be a tad more serious really helps sell this colourful fleshed out world for it's best instalment yet. See this movie now!

Thor: The Dark World: Big Marvel Movie Re-Watch

I'm attempting a great big Marvel movie re-watch ahead of the release of Captain America Civil War on 29th April. A summary and brief review of each of the 12 instalments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be posted each Thursday and Tuesday.

Sequel time continues in the 8th Marvel movie.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Summary

We start with a little exposition about the history of the Dark Elves owning the universe before the light came. Young Odin and his father took out the majority the Dark Elves, during an attempt to destroy the 9 realms using a powerful artefact, and their leader Malekith destroyed his entire army and went into hiding within one of his ships. Odin and his father hide the powerful Aether.
Flash forward to the post Avengers world. Loki is getting sympathy from his mother whilst his father puts him on trial and locks him up in the dungeons for what he did to Earth.

With the Bifrost and Rainbow bridge now working again, Thor, Sif and the warriors three have been trying to put the nine realms back in order after the chaos of being cut off and left to run riot.
Jane and Thor long to reunite. Jane is still researching scientific fluctuations in space/ time and with the help of Darcy, her intern, and Ian, her interns intern, the follow the fluctuations right to an abandoned property in London. Jane wonders through a portal by accident and is possessed by the power of the Aether. Thor is notified that Jane is no longer on Earth and finally makes the jump back there to make contact with her again. He finds that she has been possessed by some strange force and takes her to Asgard to be studied.

The Dark Elves and Malekith have been awakened by the presence of the Aether in the Universe again. They start an attack on Asgard. Jane is taken with Thors mother for protection. This massive half fantasy half sci-fi Asgard proves for a spectacular action set piece as the Elf ships crash into the throne room and proceed to let prisoners out of the dungeon. All except Loki who even they don't trust. Thor's mother sacrifices herself to save Jane. In response Odin keeps Jane prisoner until they know what to do with her. 

Sad Loki has sex appeal. "I could totally fix him right?" *mimes stroking his hair*

Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three break Loki out and proceed to escape with Jane to get her back to trick the elves away from Asgard. Thor and Loki make a great team against Malekith and trick him into getting the Aether from Jane. After a failed attempt from Thor to destroy it, it reforms into a stone and Malekith sets off for Earth to start the alignment and destruction of the 9 realms, in another attempt to plug everything into darkness. Loki appears to die during a really kick ass redemption scene. 

Darcy and Ian have reunited with Dr. Selvig and got him out of a mental institution. He is thrilled to realise he isn't insane after all and that the borders between the realms/ worlds are genuinely getting weaker because of the alignment. Selvig has made some electronic pillars to warp space time back how it should go, and plans to use them to stop Malekith. Jane and Thor reunite with them and discover the whole allignment will take place in Greenwich,  London.

Malekith crashes his ship on the banks of the River and his Elves start to clear the area and the Aether starts to power through the portals to the 9 realms in the skies above Earth. Thor and the gang start using the pillars back to stabilise the area resulting in an epic battle as Thor and Malekith teleport violently through the 9 realms until he eventually sinks a pillar right through Malakith's chest, sucking him into oblivion. 

Thor is congratulated by Odin who surprise surprise is actually Loki using his magic. It appears he faked his own death and disposed of Odin somehow. 

End Credits Scenes

Two again this time around. The first Sif and Volstagg take the Aether to The Collector, stating it is too dangerous to keep two in the same place. The Collector says 1 down 5 to go to his assistant. This being a prelude to guardians of the Galaxy. The clues and foundation for the upcoming Infinity Stones plot that will tangle through the next several movies culminating in the Avengers Infinity War 2 parter still some ways off. 

The second scene is Thor returning to Jane and them getting to kiss. Also there's still an ice giant beast roaming around in London that they seem to have forgotten about. This plot thread carries over into Agents of SHIELD TV series.

Review

I can't understand how people generally think this is worse than the first Thor. In my opinion it's a helluva lot better in most ways.

The break out star of the first Thor film, Loki is used to great effect here. He appears almost apologetic and wounded by the events in the first film and proves to the audience he can have a good side, as he shares quite the bond with his mother and not just their joint use of magic. The relationship between Thor and Loki and their dialogue together during the escape is spot on too. It appears that Loki is here for good. 

The setting of Asgard and the 9 Realms is greater explored and elaborated on. A set piece early on, set on another world starts things off. The action set in this greater expanded fantasy/ sci-fi Asgard version, as the Elves attack. And during the finale the battle that flies throughout the 9 realms as they teleport mid battle, almost reminiscent to the finale of Jumper. I prefer this larger Asgard. This is a much better setting than a small American desert town, like the first movie. The setting of London is also a welcome change too. It was beginning to look like USA was getting all the fun.

Asgard looks more lived in and epic. There's a sense of grandeur that this is a huge technologically advanced world that our ancestors confused for Gods. I like Odin and Loki's explanation that they are not immortal that they just live a damn site longer than humans do, and that most of what the do is just confused for being Gods that were worshipped by humans. It's a cleverly scripted scene. I hope when Wakanda and the Black Panther are featured in Civil War that they get the advanced yet appropriately themed science right too. 

Like I stated at the start of my Green Lantern review, I hate exposition that is literally just narrated and spelled out to me. When you do this with sci-fi or fantasy concepts it can come of sounding really dumb, confusing or at worst laughable. I'm still not sure of the Thor/ Jane relationship. They don't sell it very well. It still feels like they spent a day together then were just besotted for very little reason. 

I'd happily watch more of these guys. Why can't these guys get hired by SHIELD?

The humour was amped up in this film too. Darcy, Selvig and Ian providing much of the comic relief. This film has several of my most favourite cinematic universe moments in. 1. when Loki turns into Captain America and starts saying how he feels all patriotic. 2. when Thor goes into Janes apartment and hangs his hammer up on the coat rack. It was the latter scene that probably led to the who can lift the hammer moment in the Avengers sequel. 3. another interesting scene that I thought is so true to the real world that it was scary. In the finale when Jane and Selving are trying to evacuate the library people refused to leave because there was a superhero outside and they were filming it on their phones. 4. Thor catching the underground because he'd lost his hammer and needed to get back to the fight.

Odin comes off very unlikable again. He acts like a dick to his children and Jane. He shows literally no compassion towards his wife's death and also seems to want to entice war to Asgard by keeping Jane locked up there. On the other hand Loki completely redeems himself and the cliffhanger of Loki on the throne feels almost welcomed. How many times are we going to fall for Loki's magic let alone the characters in the story itself?!

Ecclestone is wasted here. 

The actual enemy of the film Malekith is possibly the most one note and quick to disappear yet. He's so one dimensional and I'm longing for another character with the longevity and fun of Loki to get introduced. 

I found it interesting how well the cast is juggled. All of the human characters as well as Asgardians make a great ensemble and are each given moments to shine. This was juggled almost as expertly as Avengers Assemble which is very high praise indeed. They completely outshine the villain and work so well as a team that you have literally nothing at stake here. It is worth taking not that Thor's brawn is nothing against the Dark Elves yet human brains are what stop him.

I can't believe they killed their mother for the sake of motivating Thor and Loki to drive the plot along. She was so badass and I'm honestly shocked they women in fridged her. Unforgivable.

Thor: The Dark World Rating 7/10

I so very nearly gave this an 8/10 but I gave that score to Captain America, which I believe was a lot more simple and fun. The first Thor movie I gave a 6/10 and this film is leaps and bounds better than that. 

A great team dynamic, and the return of Loki completely overshadow the real villain of the film. The macguffin feels meaningless and overshadowed by a better villain and theres no real sense of peril. Easily the weakest villains of the franchise. Much better use of the source material but an awful plot, filled with a welcomingly large amount of humour. Possibly the most Marmite film by Marvel Studios so far.

Iron Man 3: The Big Marvel Re-Watch

I'm attempting a great big Marvel movie re-watch ahead of the release of Captain America Civil War on 29th April. A summary and brief review of each of the 12 instalments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be posted each Thursday and Tuesday.

The first film post Avengers.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Plot Summary 

Tony has everything. His love life, his suits and his company is doing well, but all is not right with the man. After the events of the Avengers, Tony is crippled by anxiety attacks. Which would happen to you if you nearly got stuck in space trying to ride a Nuke into an Alien invasion. He's confined himself to his workshop making more and more Iron Man suits as failsafes against different problems that could arise. His suit numbers are well into the double digits.

Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.

A new villain, a terrorist called the Mandarin. Linked to the ten rings of his terrorist cell's from the first movie. He's attacking America. Tony's past comes back to haunt him as industrialist and scientist equal, Aldrich Killian has a bone to pick with him, thanks to the way Tony treated him when he was his awful old self. 

Killian takes aim at his company, now been run by Pepper. Pepper gets Happy to follow him and sees the Extremis he's peddling in action. As the Chinese theatre explodes. Tony investigates and finds that it was a human that explodes, overloaded with Extremis. While Tony brazenly gives his address on live TV for the Mandarin to come get him and consequently gets his ass handed to him as his house is destroyed. He get's knocked out and flown by JARVIS to a site he was investigating.

Iron Patriot is Americas way of making War Machine more friendly!

By now we have seen what Tony can do in the suits. So here he's left to fend with just his wit and a child sidekick. He acts like a father figure while kitting up and hand making Iron Man gadgets. He takes the home of the Mandarin, suspiciously in Miami..? In what is possibly the most shocking and surprising twist in a Marvel film so far, the Mandarin turns out to be a failing British actor. Killian was trying to entice a war so he can sell his soldiers to both sides. 

An Extremis user kidnaps the President from Air Force 1 mid flight. Tony remotely pilots, again another surprising moment at the reveal, a suit to catch the dozen crew member, barrel of monkeys style mid air before they die. 

House Party Protocols.

When Tony and Rhodey, find out about the president being killed on TV by the "mandarin's" men, Tony activates JARVIS' house party protocol. An amazing finale treats you to the spectacular fight between all 30 plus Iron Man Armours, war machine and Killian's Extremis users. 

Review

Normally by the 3rd instalment of any franchise, exhaustion sets in, there's more of the same. Pirates of the Caribbean got so big and over the top that they essentially couldn't outdo the last. Spider-Man 3 essentially over crowded itself with villains. Here Iron Man not only had to battle third act syndrome but somehow follow the spectacle of Avengers. They have to juggle action that out does the Avengers finale, yet not have just more suit users, after the first two films essentially followed the same plot of "hey look at my suit(s)". 

Switching directors and giving someone else the reigns seems to have helped. Tony spends a lot of time out of his suit, essentially being his usual charming self and still playing with tech. Taking time away from the regular cast and bouncing off the child character they pair him with. The humour is still there good and strong.

The action pieces are solid still. Playing with what they have yet doing new things. During the attack on the mansion Pepper gets in the suit. Something new. An aerial attack on a plane and a problem that needs solving without shooting guns is a refreshing use of the suit. Tony making Iron Man tools out of hard ware store materials, is charming and really enjoyable while still being entertainment. The final battle blows the Avengers ending out of the water in my opinion. Tony leaping from suit to suit as JARVIS gets a chance to shine piloting the other three dozen suits. It's all out enjoyment and spectacle. One of the main complaints I heard when this came out was that Tony wasn't in the suit enough, but with a finale like this how can you complain about that?

Extremis in action.

There are genuinely shocking moments for comic book fans here too, the Mandarin isn't the same as in the comics, Extremis is used but not in the same way. They've picked bits from the books to make a great story out of and it isn't predictable or disappointing. Whereas Marvel villains have been one note and done in one with each film, except Loki, here the Mandarin is done away with in a surprising fashion and the Extremis weapon comes back a lot in Agents of SHIELD, despite Killian vanishing. 

Mandarin could have been a racially difficult character, originally being Chinese war time and communism, propaganda. Just the worst kind of character. Updating him as a terrorist is more current and feels more natural. Perhaps in 40 years time we will look back and cringe at a middle eastern portrayal. 

Marvel movie villains are notoriously one note, but none have gone out like this before. 

The first sequel missed the mark story wise, yet had really enjoyable moments. This film moves everything along leaps and bounds, whilst going completely new places and being true to the characters. 

End Credits Scene

It turns out as a way to cope with his anxiety Tony, who has being narrating the film, has been telling the story to Bruce Banner, who has fallen asleep. He jolts awake and tells Tony he's not that kind of Doctor. A follow up to the humourous end credits scene at the end of Avengers.

Iron Man 3 Rating: 8/10

This film feels like the end of one story and the start of another and I feel this film shows Marvel proved that sequels can go new places and still outdo the last film. It's a surprisingly fun down to earth blockbuster. 

This film answers the question posited in previous films: Is Tony Iron Man or is the suit Iron Man?

Just-Us Society Episode 1: The Real Ghostbusters

Hi and welcome to the first Just-Us Society. I'm Matty H, and along with Snapper of Fat Polly's Comix (another awesome comics website that you need to check out) we've teamed up to bring you commentary goodness to classic 'toons. This time around we are watching The Real Ghostbusters. Snapper is a huge GB fan and I love the movies but haven't ever seen a cartoon. He picked one of the weirder ones for me to start.

Who ya gonna call..?

It's series 1 episode 8 if you'd like to follow along. "When Halloween Was Forever" by none other than J. Michael Staczynski from Spider-man writing fame. 

J. Michael Stuaiwcivorwevqcv

In this episode wikipedia tells me that Samhain, the spirit of Halloween, is released from his centuries-old prison and seeks to make Halloween last forever by stopping time. Can the Ghostbusters prevent eternal Halloween? Let's find out...

• Matty H
  

  ok lets do this
  
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  on it
  

  that disco music is such a welcome noise
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  having only ever seen the movies this is going to be jarring haha
  

  is that ghost all beard?
  
  

Yes. This is Beard Ghost.

• Matty H
  

  aha that ghost looks like a digimon reject
  
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  did you notice that news crew just screeched to a halt and had to just go straight off? imagine being that poor woman having to be just ready to go instantly
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  It's a good job the ghostbuster brought their own street signs too
  

  Egon's hair is epic

  I know in cartoons they often change likenesses slightly but that hair Oh Em Gee
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  i have no idea how he can keep it up, doing that every morning
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  I reckon he sleeps in a giant curler
  
  

I've got hair envy.

• Snapper
  

  peter sounds so down to earth, he's the john lennon of the group
  

  hell of a soundsystem in there
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  Is that where halloween started or have they just made this up haha
  

  Slimer was just copping a feel

  What a beautiful sunset
• Matty H
  

  These ghosts are getting increasingly elaborate
  

  Oh god I swear these ghosts get off to the boogy music
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  slimer looking for treats in egons socks haha
  

  slimer definitely copped a feel
  
  

He's really handsy.

• Matty HJanine looks the spitting image of her movie counterpart
  
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  the eyes are going insane on this cartoon, nobody has any idea how much effort it is to try and capture them in screenshots
  

  i guess i'm relating to the ghostbusters catching ghosts
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  clearly they weren't planning on this kind of scrutiny
  

  Legit line "It's not christmas" in a halloween special.
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  you're right on the elaborate ghosts, these ones are wearing clothes! how are they doing that? like multicoloured clothes no less, these aren't your typical one-colour-ghouls
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  I always wondered why Slimer was such a big deal. He's in the movie for like 5 minutes
  
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  better than the sidekick they had in the 'Evolution' cartoon. there's some weird cartoons for adult movies in the world.
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  Poor Slimer though. I feel for him not wanting to be a ghost.
  
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  Holy shit Sam Hain's the bad guy! he terrified me as a kid, think he was a big deal in Extreme Ghostbusters.
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  Do you remember the mummy cartoon? That was messed up
  
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  wait was that Mummies Alive! or something?
  

  mummies as superheroes, brilliant.
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  These ghosts look like they should be in mystery packets and sold in newsagents
  

  The voice acting is spot on

  Why is a clown reporting the news?!

"Several children died in a fire today..."

• Snapper
  

  fuck sam hain's voice is legit terrifying
  

  
  

  slimer just got called out on being a traitor just for moving in the crowd. they're good.
  
  canteen full of skeletons, that's the second scariest canteen sequence I've ever seen- after that terrifying issue of Sandman
• fuck clown news reporter looks strangely normal
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  I'm not sure if he's a ghost or just dressed like that!
  
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  oh shit it makes sense cos of halloween obviously, but after seeing so many ghouls doing normal things it comes off as jarring
  

  ''stop that car!!'' by shooting nuclear weapons at it.
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  It would definitely stop it though
  

  The Jack o lantern is scary as hell.

Sam Hain bringing the pain!

• Snapper
  

  yeah definitely, Sam Hain threatening the busters from a high building comes off as way spookier than it should be.
  

  his mouth is freaky as fuck
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  If he was simply a cut out that would be one thing but the gums and teeth just make me nervous
  

  The powers out. But our packs are still working...
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  definitely! and the dots in his eyes, somehow creepier than blank eyes
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  Were they plugged into the wall? haha
  

  Its a long cord if they were

  I think I just saw the 1000 volt ghost from scooby do in the background
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  i love peter's voice so much, he just doesn't give a single fuck about anything. so nonchalant.
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  zone dweebies? what a put down
  
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  slimer blowing a raspberry in Hain's face is a brave move. tough spud.
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  some of these ghosts look like spuds
  

  really messed up mr potato heads
• 
  

  Snapper
  

  I love that the full-on ghostbusters tune is playing like egon calling them zone dweebies is an epic move
  
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  Did they animate the show and then get someone else to animate the eyes
  
  

"Cower before your enemy... STAIRS!"

• Snapper
  

  oh no, the ghostbusters worst enemy, stairs! carrying on the continuity of the movie there
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  its off the hook crazy
  
• 
  

  Snapper 
  

  egon's got spunk, he's got so much sass when dissing ghosts
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  Slime getting held hostage and he's just sat there looking so stoned
  

  Egon is the real hero of this show
• 
  

  Snapper 
  

  ''Traitor! Fill the green with green!''
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  Peter got too many zingers in the movie so Egon gets them all here clearly
  
• 
  

  Snapper 
  

  ''sometimes i think the universe just waits for me to get cocky'' is such an arrested development-level of humour for egon to say during his plan haha
  
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  The clock yelling bong is just more subliminal weed culture
  

  
  

"bong Bong BONG BBBOONNNGGG!!!"

• Snapper 
  

  ghost just grabbed ray's nose, fucking deadly
  

  LOOK at that clock! terrifying
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  i love that they have a viewfinder for their ghost prison
  

  Sliders young girl voice scared the hell out of me

  I'm so glad I never saw this as a child it would have messed me up!

  You chose a good first episode for me
• 
  

  Snapper 
  

  the viewfinder is hilarious to me. the recent idw comics have a backup story that is just like a follow-up to this episode where it's set in the ghost prison
  

  honestly we need to get on extreme ghostbusters soon, so much more adult somehow
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  We'll have to try that next then!
  

  
  

  Snapper
• 
  

  i think it could have been a lot worse, especially on a special-holiday episode. Christmas, halloween, thanksgiving episodes usually grate me but it was just pure ''problem arises...ghostbusters sort it out thanks to egon's sass, despite some sets of stairs getting in the way''
• 
  

  Matty H
  

  haha exactly. Specials seem to be cornier than ever but clearly Halloween was made for the GBusters
  

And that's all folks. This went relatively well as an experiment for shared content (Just need an easier way to edit it) so I'm sure we will be back for more in the future. Long live the Just-Us Society! This could be a podcast if I had more charisma than a retarded tree stump. Thanks for reading!