So THIS is the Super Mario Bros. 2 game that was never brought to the states either because it was too tough or too much like SMB1, right? All I can technically say is… good move.
Continue reading “GameFAQs Review – Super Mario Bros. 2 “The Lost Levels” (Famicom Disk System)”
Highlander: Endgame is the fourth Highlander film in the series and also serves as a continuation of the Highlander television series that concluded its run after six seasons. The film sees the film series’ Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) and the television show’s Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul) teaming up to face off against a dangerous new Immortal enemy in Jacob Kell (Bruce Payne) in what the trailers showed to be a completely different film from what ultimately hit theatres… and then would take yet another different form when Endgame eventually hit home video.
Endgame is an interesting beast of sorts. You show trailers for a film featuring a villain capable of splitting in half and performance cheap-end special effects of sorts… none of that stuff made it to the “final” cut that hit theaters. And apparently, the film was poorly received to such a degree that they did a new edit for home video. The DVD version, which is what I’ve watched, even includes an earlier cut to see how things went from there to here. Clearly, the people behind the film wanted to make a version that would appease most people, if not the most ardent of Highlander fans.
The thing is that Endgame ALMOST works… and to be fair, there are some bits that I like about the film. Once again, the fight scenes are top-notch; probably some of the best seen on film and it also helps that Adrian Paul holds his own quite nicely – six years of swordfighting on television will do that to you. The flashback sequences highlighting the relationship between the MacLeod clansmen are refreshing pieces compared to the present day’s modern drab circumstances, which makes the duo’s final confrontation all the more depressing.
Endgame was meant to be the swan song for Christopher Lambert’s Connor MacLeod as he passes the cinematic katana (so to speak) to his television counterpart. And it’s a bit of a sad end – seeing his adopted daughter die in a bomb explosion (nice that they brought back the actress from the first film to reprise her role here for the explicit purpose of getting killed off – good job, guys!) and resigning himself in a metal box for years… so clearly there’s no Mario Van Peebles or General Katana in this guy’s future anytime soon… only to be forced out as the only survivor of said sanctuary… and honestly, when the end does come – I won’t say how but it’s not hard to figure out – the whole thing comes across as depressing. Whether that fits the character as a whole is a debate for another time, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Other than that, the overall plot leaves much to be desired. There’s Duncan’s fawning over an immortal ex-wife, the villain’s (Kell) continued pursuit and psychological torture of the elder MacLeod over… something or other, the limited use of Duncan’s allies Methos and Joe Lawson (who, amazingly enough, do NOT get killed off – that’s progress, I suppose), and… man, I don’t know. There are ideas here and there that I can see almost working, but for some reason, it doesn’t click and makes me wonder if they really needed to make this movie in the first place. The dialogue here is pretty bad and not necessarily in a cheese sort of way. This is the sort of dialogue that feels like it was written by crack writers of a wrestling show who have no clue how to write dialogue.
Speaking of which, Endgame features a bit role played by WWE Superstar and multi-time champion Edge (or as those behind the scenes call him, THE EDGE – which is honestly a better name for him anyway). He’s fine in it and not quite in as big a role as some adverts would have you believe.
Highlander: Endgame is a sad, sad movie no matter how hard they try to revamp it. It is a sad end to the story of Connor MacLeod, it is a drab continuation of the Highlander television series and a generally poor passing of the torch story in terms of handing the movie reigns over to Duncan, and… honestly, it’s another example of how there probably should have been only one.
If there is only one positive that could be levied out of this, however, it’s that I like Adrian Paul’s Duncan enough to give the TV show a shot one of these days. And that would probably all the Highlander fix I’d need going forward because I shudder to think how bad the next film would be.
For a long time, the Punisher seems to be popular. Not because he has any fancy powers or a fancy costume, don’t be silly. It’s simply based on the fact that he shoots people for a living. Until the 12-issue mini that Ennis did, I didn’t see a decent interesting thing about a guy that shoots people… I mean, come on! What’s so special about a guy who shoots stuff?… However, Punisher must have been good enough for him to have another shot at an ongoing title. Then we came to number 16, which begins a small 2-parter about sawed-off legs and Wolverine having his umpteenth bar fight. (Oh yeah, this book was released earlier in the month as a result of a bi-weekly thing, so I cover the next issue when I get the chance.)
If it wasn’t for the cover, you would have had me believe that these was another issue of that MAX Comic stuff that I don’t particularly care for… after all, these guys did do FURY (it’s okay if you don’t know what FURY is). That said, Ennis does what he usually does best; a good story-arc with its macabre moments that doesn’t include Punisher shooting everyone, although at least he fires a couple of shots. In fact, in one particular scene, ol’ Punisher blows off Wolverine’s face with a shotgun. Crap, man. I thought this was Marvel Knights, not MAX Comics! I didn’t expect to flying body parts or faces being blown away. What’s going on here?… Um, oh yeah, Darrick Robertson’s art is very good. The artstyle is rather befitting of this kind of dark, gritty environment with plenty of blood and flesh to pass around. The cover art is nice and simple – nuff said.
Okay, I realize that this is a Marvel Knights title, so there is some violent content expected, but there has to be some line crossed. I mean, count all the body parts on the floor or flying around in the book. I counted up to around twenty-three body parts, including nineteen legs and four fingers. Look, a guy’s face got blown off, for crying out loud! Such mindless depictions of violence and gore is befitting a MAX Comic, not Marvel Knights… Maybe I’m over exaggerating, especially since this is the same line where in the final issue of Punisher’s 12-issue mini, he kicks a cripple back into a burning house. That’s seems a little kiddy compared to this, though.
Punisher #16, if you can look past the loose body parts and the blown-off face, is a pretty good read. Rarely do you see a Punisher book where Punisher isn’t shooting or killing anyone (besides, you have the guy with the claws doing all that), so if you’re expect a massive gunfight, sorry. However, if you are interested in a decent Punisher story or just plain enjoy mindless violence, this book is for you.
Here is something I was initially intrigued with: a battle between the modern-day incarnation of Superman and a reasonable facsimile of the 1940s-Superman. Make no mistake… DC pulled this same stunt with Wonder Woman a while back: the modern-day incarnation meets up with the 1940s-version on the cover, only to have WW meet up with her mother in the past in the actual book. But people are thinking that they won’t actually pull the same thing twice, right?
The old adage of “Never judge a book by its cover” has never been so true.
Don’t kid yourself here though. There actually is a super-human being running around looking like 1940s-Superman. Heck, he’s even drawn in the same style and nicely done too in contrast to the current art included in the issue, which is also pretty good. Unfortunately, this is the only Superman-type character you’re going to see in this issue; the modern Kal-El is trying to convince an old man to delete his fictional work about a superhero. There’s nothing special behind this issue; it’s your typical “metahuman good-guy who uses brute force and eventually goes berserk” story. Only difference this time is that they’re using a character whose style comes from the early days. Nonetheless, it’s not a spectacular
This is worth buying if you’re a Superman completist, a regular fan of the franchise, or just get a kick out of seeing a guy drawn in the style of the forties beat on a bunch of cops drawn in the current style. Just don’t jump into this issue expecting what the cover shows and declares, because it is misleading (there is no battle between Man of Yesterday vs. Man of Tomorrow).
What’s next? Is Batman going to have an issue in which the cover shows the current-age Batman facing off against the 1940s Batman, only to be squaring off against 60s-style Batman?
Before we jump into this review, I want to share a little anecdote. A while ago, I have gotten my hands on the MAD ON SUPER-HEROES trade paperback. One of the strips in the trade featured this interesting little frame with Superman consulting with a therapist (supposedly at eighty bucks a session). It’s funny, it’s interesting, and it’s likely never to happen in actual continuity.
Apparently, someone must have read the same piece and thought differently, because just a few weeks ago, DC debuted Superman’s therapist. Contrary to what some people may think at first glance, that first story was far from hilarious, but you couldn’t help but see the irony of the whole thing. In addition, it offered a glimpse into the mind of the Man of Steel and as a result, it ended up being a good read too.
Action 797 brings Superman back into therapy, this time spilling his guts on the recent Manchester Black fiasco and the death of the pocket-universe General Zod and his two pocket-universe buddies by his hands (the Zod thing is happened in the early issues of the current Superman series, so you may have to check the back issue bins for a more detailed account). All of these recounts seem to be a method to finding out who Superman is. Of course, there are some light-hearted moments too.
It’s not an action-packed issue. It’s Superman in therapy. There isn’t that many mindless battles that has been the dominant theme in the “Ending Battle” story, nor do I expect. Joe Kelly does a wonderful job in trying to surmise who Superman is and how he is viewed. Only thing is that some of this stuff is relying on continuity, which is a nice thing, but it’s something that may get lost on new readers. The artwork is alright, but nothing particularly noteworthy.
I wish there were more emphasis on the “man” and not on the “super” in these Superman books and Action 797 manages to work nicely. It’s better that Superman 188 where Superman goes flying around, beating the crap out of bad guys, and crack lame jokes that Spider-Man would cringe at. It’s a nice change of pace that doesn’t feature 100 different fights. It’s Superman in therapy and it’s a pretty good read.
First, it was Batman: The Ten-Cent Adventure. Now Marvel releases its own “cheap” comic (and by cheap, I mean inexpensive, not poorly produced) with Fantastic Four #60 for the incredibly low price of NINE CENTS (15 cents Canadian… boo.) The story revolves around the Fantastic Four attempting to boost their public image by hiring a consultant. Likewise, the premise is similar to Marvel’s goal, which is to attempt to boost the slipping sales of the comic by hiring a new creative team and lowering the price (although the creative team stays, the price is a one-time-only deal.)
One of the reasons you should get the book is the price: at 9 cents, it’s pretty cheap and it’s not some demo issue or something with missing pages like the free comics offered a few months. There isn’t much to the story, but in the end, Mark Waid managed to create a script that does what it’s intended to do, which is to familiarize the newbie reader with the main characters of the book. The artwork of Mike Wieringo definitely complement this book, as it has some detail and adds some sense of
realism.
When Batman: The Ten-Cent Adventure was released, it not only served as a good introductory issue, but it was also a set-up for the Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive storylines. As a result, you’d buy the other comics in order to check out the whole storyline. Fantastic Four #60
is a self-contained issue that doesn’t really lead into any major storylines, although that isn’t a pre-requisite for cheap comics. The only problem I have with the story is the characterizations of the Thing and Human Torch; in some respects, they’re almost like overactive kids.
I highly recommend Fantastic Four #60. Besides the obvious reason (it’s real cheap!), it is a good introductory issue to anyone who has never read the comic book before.
Space Jam was a movie I saw in an empty theater with my brother and someone else. It was one of the first times I’ve been to a movie that has (almost) no one in it. That kind of memory sticks out more than the movie itself.
But as far as the movie goes… I thought it was alright.
Story goes that the Looney Tunes characters are being challenged by alien basketball players who want to beat the past out of the ‘toons, so they enlist the help of one Michael Jordan, who was in the middle of a baseball career in between stints in the basketball court. The movie is done in the same way as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where Michael Jordan himself would mingle with the ‘Tunes in their hand-drawn cartoon world and eventually vice versa would happen. Obviously, years of technological advancement has made the technique a bit more seamless than before, but it’s not the only film to pull it off. The whole thing looks fine as a result. The animation is pretty smooth, the voice acting is true to the characters, and Michael Jordan… well, he’s Michael Jordan and he does Michael Jordan better than anyone else… even Michael Jordan.
Space Jam turned out to be a pretty enjoyable film and Bill Murray even shows up to share some of his comedic magic… because you sure as shit ain’t gettin’ it from ol’ MJ. Still, fun for the whole family and all that. Well worth a revisit these days.
Rollerball is a remake of an old 1975 film starring James Caan. I wasn’t remotely aware of that until I came across a VHS copy of the film at a video shop somewhere. While I never saw that original film, I have – unfortunately – seen this remake.
There’s no way ’round this. This movie absolutely sucks.
It’s an EXTREME sports movie involving a variation of roller derby (you know, that sport that airs on the ol’ NASHVILLE NETWORK) and a ball. I generally don’t care for these sorts of films, which makes you wonder why I’d even watch the damn thing, let alone review it. But even if I’m not interested in the sport, I can get into a sports movie if it’s compelling enough. I enjoy good stories more than anything. I get none of that here.
The acting is absolutely abysmal. Like the cast seems to be phoning it in and are just there to collect a paycheque. I suppose I can’t blame them if they had a shit script to work with. Let me put it to you another way. The two best actors in this entire film was Shane McMahon in a two second silent cameo and also Paul Heyman, who plays the bombastic announcer. Those are your best actors in this film and one of them is barely there for a cup of coffee. I sat through this whole movie for THOSE two. Something is seriously wrong here.
Visually, this looks like a mess. There’s nothing visually appealing here – even the token post- apocalyptic features have some reasonable visuals. More emphasis is spent on close-ups and horrible acting than on the sport itself. In fact, the pacing is so bad that I often lose track of what’s going on, but I’m too scared to go back and rewatch because that means subjecting myself to this horrible mess. This is just really ugly. An eyesore to say the least… especially in regards to those HORRENDOUS night vision sequences. It seems like the longer I watch this, with each passing moment in time, I can somehow feel my soul wither away as I attempt to follow the excruciatingly awful storyline.
Rollerball was a dreadful film to sit through. I need to stop watching movies based on the fact that people I know from other properties will appear in them, especially if those movies are going to suck the proverbial meat missile. Avoid at all costs.
Well, John Stewart is back in the spotlight in the main Green Lantern book, presumably to cash in on his regular appearance on the Justice League cartoon. Not begrudging DC over this decision. It’s a smart decision to capitalize on the success of a hit cartoon by featuring characters from said cartoon. It’s just that I liked Kyle Rayner; that was my GL. It’d be nice to see Kyle in better stories that aren’t just “his friends keep getting hurt or killed or whatever.”
In any event, we have John Stewart’s first solo story in a while and how does it fare? Well, about as well as you’d expect… a man who hasn’t been on the job in a while, questioning whether Kyle made the right choice in trusting John, another look into the darker side of humanity at the beginning of the book, and then after a couple bits, he starts to ease himself in. It’s the kind of story you’d expect the new guy to get for their first outing and the issue did a good job of bringing readers up to speed on what John’s been up to without going too deep into things. If nothing else, it’s nice to read an issue of GL that has some levity to it. Maybe John can bring that here.
Art continues to be solid. Writing’s still good. No complaints going forward. We’re off to a good start for this latest new (old?) era of Green Lantern
Here’s an interesting little book. It’s called the Pro and is nothing like any other superhero-type book you have read. Yes, I know it’s a phrase overused time and time again. In this case, however, it kind of applies. You see, The Pro is a one-shot featuring the world’s first prostitute ever to become a superhero. No, I did not make that up. In fact, I’m rather quite surprised by this revelation… actually, anything come from the twisted mind of Garth Ennis hardly surprises me.
If you have read some of Ennis’ work, then you have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this one. The spoofing of a certain group of superheroes *cough* *cough* Justice League *cough* is rather ingenious and it’s good to see someone actually showing how worn and clichéd the goody-two-shoes superhero is. The art nicely complements the story and is well done. The one significant thing about this book is the profanity and sexual scenes featured. Yes, some other books have them, but those buttons must have pressed on some many times it got jammed. It gets to the point where you can’t go through one page without seeing at least one “four-lettered word” or some sort of sexual reference… I’m not going to go any further with this.
Um, what can I say? Writing’s good. The art is good. The only complaint I have had is that there is no warning that usually accompanies a book of this kind… you know, the one that says the book is for mature readers or something to that extent. Although that has nothing to do with the book’s content, I wouldn’t be surprised if some clean-cut kid picked up a copy of this book and was thoroughly disgusted with what’s inside… of course, the cover of a somewhat slutty super-hero should be warning enough. Actually my personal regret is that it’s only a one-shot, but that’s okay.
In the end, The Pro comes off as a great book if you can look past the profanity and stuff… actually, that’s pretty much what makes this book. After all, if a story about a prostitute with super-powers doesn’t have any swearing, it isn’t believable. Then again, the story isn’t that believable to begin with. Who cares? If you don’t mind the profanity and sexual slurs, then The Pro is a worthy addition to your collection.
Written by: Garth Ennis
Pencils by: Amanda Conner
Inks by: Jimmy Palmiotti
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