DareDevil Season One Review

     Last year when Daredevil first debuted on Netflix, I started it but didn't finish it. Season two was released a few weeks ago, and I started watching it again. I finally finished season one today. 

    Daredevil is a series on Netflix about Matt Murdock who's blind. He's a lawyer by day and a crime fighting superhero by night. It makes sense to have a superhero who's blind be a lawyer because justice is blind. Murdock and his partner Foggy are just starting out and have a very small law firm in Hell's Kitchen in New York.

     This series came out about a year or two after Marvel got the rights to the character back. It takes place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After the Battle of New York a lot of territory got wiped out and a lot of people want to capitalize on that. The main one is Wilson Fisk also known as the Kingpin. Who's played by Vincent D'Onofrio. Kingpin in my opinion, is one of the best villians in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He's such a complex character. One scene he'll be really calm and collected, the next scene he'll get really angry and beat someone to death. There's one episode that deals with his back story. That was one of the highlights of season one for me. It was refreshing to have such a great villain in the MCU because that's something we don't get too often.

    This series just felt so real. First of all, Daredevil's costume was not extravagant at all. I could cosplay as Daredevil so easily. The costume looks like something someone would wear in real life. Second of all, the fights are filmed so well, it looks real. In the second episode there's a fight that takes place in a hallway. It was easily the best action sequence in the season one. 

     Overall Daredevil has a great protagonist, a great villain, a very good supporting cast, and exciting action sequences. I say Daredevil is worth watching. I will review season two after I see it. I did see Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice and I will be posting that review as well soon. Thanks for reading everyone you will hear from me again soon.

Deadpool Review

     Hello everyone! Welcome to my Deadpool movie review. This will be my spoiler free review. I'll probably post a spoiler review tomorrow or Tuesday. Just to make sure everyone gets a chance to see it on its opening weekend without spoilers. Without further ado, let's begin.

     Deadpool is directed by Tim Miller and stars Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J Miller, and Ed Skrein. Ryan Reynolds plays Wade Wilson who's an ex mercenary who gets diagnosed with terminal cancer. He undergoes treatment that turns him into a superhero, but also leaves him really disfigured. So he goes on the hunt for the man who treated him.

     I'm going to start off by saying, that this movie is fun from the opening title sequence on. I had an absolute blast with this movie. I knew a little bit about the character of Deadpool. But now I can say with absolute certainty that he is one of my favorite comic book characters. The jokes in this movie were just spot on! Ryan Reynolds makes fun of the Green Lantern movie he did a few years ago. And he makes fun of the Deadpool in X-Men Origins Wolverine. It boggles my mind to think that FOX actually ok'd some of the jokes in the movie. Because Deadpool makes fun of FOX studios a lot in this movie. This movie was rated R. It would not have worked at all if it was PG-13. Some of the jokes would've fallen flat if it hadn't been rated R.

     Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson was fantastic. I've never been a huge fan of his. However, much like Sylvester Stallone plays a great Rocky Balboa, Ryan Reynolds plays a great Deadpool. Reynolds had great chemistry with Morena Baccarin who played Vanessa. Vanessa was the love interest in the movie. While I was watching the movie I thought to myself this is actually an appropriate movie to be released on Valentine's day weekend. Ed Skrein played the main Villian Ajax. He did a very good job as well. He made for a very entertaining fight scene at the end of the movie. Also I feel I should mention that this movie has the best version of Colossus we've seen on screen as well.

    If I have any flaws with the movie, they're personal. They have nothing to do with the structure of the film at all. There are over 100 Easter eggs in this film. Way more than any other comic book movie we have. That's a lot to process for me. But I'm nitpicking at this point. 

     Overall I loved Deadpool. It did a great job at balancing out the humor and the violence. There are two post credit scenes so be sure to stick around for those. I'm going to give Deadpool a 4.75 out of 5. A sequel has already been green lit so I'm very happy about that. Let me know in the comments if you've seen Deadpool and what you thought about it. Thanks for reading everyone.

The Revenant Review

     A big thank you to winter in Wisconsin for making me feel like I'm actually in the Revenant. The Revenant is directed by Alejandro Inarritu and stars Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hardy. The movie takes place in the 1800's, Dicaprio and Tom Hardy are trappers. They're hunting game and collecting pelts when a bear attacks Dicaprio. He gets left for dead and Tom Hardy kills his son so now he's trying to survive in this frozen wilderness and get revenge on Tom Hardy.

     The cinematography in this film is absolutely phenomenal! Inarritu shot this in natural light. When the sun was shining where he wanted it, that's when they would start filming. Which meant they didn't have a lot of time to get the scene right. If someone made a mistake, they would have to try again another day when the sun was just right again. I'm sure that drove the studio up the wall, but it made for a film that looked and felt so real.

    Leonardo Dicaprio was great in the movie. He's Oscar nominated right now. I've heard a lot of speculation that this could be his year to finally take home the statue. It could be tough to beat the defending champion Eddie Redmayne, but I think he's got a great chance to do it this year. Tom Hardy was also great as the villain he's also up for best supporting actor. Will Poulter and Domhall Gleeson was also great He's really had a fantastic year in 2015 with Ex Machina, Star Wars, and now The Revenant.

     I don't really have a negative with this film. However there are some things that need to be addressed. If you go into this movie expecting a straight up revenge story, you will be disappointed. Dicaprio fights the conditions more than he fights anyone else. This is more of a survival story than a revenge story in my opinion. This didn't bother me because it made the movie feel very real. 

    Overall I really enjoyed The Revenant. It was directed flawlessly, the acting was great, the cinematography was astounding. This is a day one blu-ray purchase for me. It gets 4.5 out of 5. Feel free to leave a comment below. Let me know if you saw the Revenant, or if you want to see it. This weekend it want to see The Hateful Eight, and I'm also want to finish reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'll have reviews up for those hopefully soon. Thanks for reading.

Top 10 Anticipated Movies of 2016

      Hello everyone and a happy new year. One thing I want to do this year is post on this blog more often. So I thought I would start off with my top 10 most anticipated movies of the year.

Number 10: Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice
      I might regret putting this so low on my list, or I might regret putting this on my list all together. I really want this movie to be great. The first trailer looked pretty exciting, the second one had some issues. I'm still excited to see this one and it comes out on March 25th.

Number 9: Independence Day Resurgence
     This one I might regret putting this one on my list. Roland Emmerich who hasn't done anything worth merit since the first Independence Day. Will Smith is not going to be in this one. But Jeff Goldblum is back. Independence Day is one of the best movies of the 90's so I'm willing to give this movie a try. It comes out on June 24nd.

Number 8: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
      I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter series. Eddie Redmayne has the lead role and he won the Oscar in 2014. J.K Rowling wrote the script for this movie. It looks like the right team is working on this movie and it comes out on November 18th.

Number 7: Doctor Strange
     I was excited to see this movie in October when they announced it. Then they cast Benedict Cumberbatch to play Steven Strange, then a photo was released recently of Cumberbatch as Strange and he looked exactly like Steven Strange from the comics. This movie is directed by Scott Derrickson and he's going to bring a lot of horror elements to this movie. It comes out on November 4th

Number 6: Bourne 5
     I love the original Bourne trilogy. The Bourne Legacy with Jeremy Renner was a forgettable film. But Matt Damon is coming back for this one. Paul Greengrass is coming back to direct it. This movie is in the right hands and it comes out July 29th.

Number 5: Deadpool
     Finally! Six years after X-Men Origins Wolverine, Deadpool is finally getting done the way it should be. Even in X-Men Origins a lot of fans were saying Ryan Reynolds was a good choice to play the character. This looks like the movie fans of Deadpool have been waiting for. The trailers have really got me excited and it comes out on February 12th.

Number 4: Suicide Squad
     Yes this movie is higher on the list than Batman V Superman. In Batman V Superman we're going to introduce Batman and Wonder Woman in the new DC cinematic universe. In Suicide Squad we're getting The Joker and Deadshot amongst other great villians in the DC universe. The one I'm most excited about is Harley Quinn making her big screen debut. She is being played by Margot Robbie who looks awesome in the trailers. I can't wait to see this one and it comes out August 5th
Number 3: X-Men Apocalypse
     X-Man Days of Future Past is my favorite movie in the X-Men franchise. Bryan Singer is back and he's a great director for these movies. Oscar Issac is Apocalypse and I know there's been some controversy on how he looks. I'm reserving judgement until I see the movie. This movie comes out on May 27th.

Number 2: Captain America Civil War
     The Civil War comic book has one of the most iconic storylines ever in comic book history. I'll be interested to see if Spiderman shows up at some point in the movie. Ever since the first Avengers film, I've wanted to see Iron Man and Captain America fight. That's what we're going to see. This comes out on May 6th.

Number 1: Rogue One
    This movie takes place in between episodes three and four. It's the story of the Bothan Spies stealing the Death Star plans. Gareth Edwards is directing this one. He's taken members of the crew of Saving Private Ryan and Zero Dark Thirty. In an interview he said it's called Star "Wars" for a reason. This movie sounds like it's going to be pretty intense. I loved the Force Awakens. Disney knows what they're doing. It comes out December 16th.

      So that' my most anticipated movies on 2016. There are so many movies coming out this year that look exciting. This could've been a top 15 or 20 movies. There probably will be movies that I don't know about yet, that I will love and would have put on this list had I known. What movies are you all looking forward to. As I stated above, I will try to post more stuff on here this year. Thanks for reading everybody.

Name of the Wind/Wise Man's Fear Review

       About six months ago I reviewed "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss on this blog. I never reviewed the sequel "Wise Man's Fear" on this blog because I was afraid of spoiling anything. This is such a fun series to read going in knowing absolutely nothing. I'm currently re-reading the series. I'm on Wise Man's Fear and I thought why not give an overview of the whole series? Because I don't feel it gets enough love that it deserves. Imagine the dark elements of Game of Thrones, add in some of the charm of Harry Potter. You get the Kingkiller Chronicle.

     Last August I was at my local Barnes and Noble wearing my Game of Thrones t-shirt and the individual working the counter saw my shirt and told me that because I was a Game of Thrones fan, I would enjoy Name of the Wind. I picked it up shortly afterwards and was immediately enthralled by it. Since I don't want to give too much away I'll just give a brief overview of the series. It chronicles the rise and fall of a man named Kvothe who would become the greatest wizard of all time. He gives up on his life of adventures, fakes his own death, and opens a tavern. His patrons will come in and tell stories about him, not knowing the man they're talking about is the man who is serving them drinks. One thing leads to another and he ends up getting the opportunity to tell his whole story over a span of three days. The first book Name of the Wind is the first day he tells his story, A Wise Man's Fear is day two, Doors of Stone which is not yet out will be day 3. We get to see everything that happens to Kvothe, all his successes and his failures.

        A Wise Man's fear picks up where Name of the Wind leaves off. It has more adult themes to it. It expands this universe that Rothfuss created in a really nice way. For most of the first book Kvothe mainly stays in one region of the world that this takes place in. In A Wise Man's Fear he goes on the other side of the world and has some adventures there. This book does what a second installment in any franchise should do. Develop old characters and add in new ones. Rothfuss did both like a master.
 
        I feel I should also mention The Slow Regard of Silent Things in this review as well which is a novella about another character in the series. There's no action and very little dialougue in the book, but it's so wonderfully written I was able to really enjoy it.  

         What I love about these three books is that it's not your typical fantasy story. There are no armies of elves and orcs fighting. It's not about a hero in shining armor who defeats a dragon and saves a princess. This is a more character driven story. The characters in this story I can easily imagine them living in our world today. I think that's why the people I talk to who have read it love it so much.

    Patrick Rothfuss is an up and coming star in the literary world. I give this series as a whole 5 out of five stars. I love it just as much if not more than Game of Thrones. I'm eagerly awaiting Doors of Stone. Hopefully it will be out next year. If you love Game of Thrones pick up these books.

Avengers Age of Ultron Review

     I just saw one of my most anticipated movies of the year. Avengers Age of Ultron. The first Avengers movie is one of my favorite movies of all-time. I coinsider seeing that in the theatre the end of my childhood. I had my best friend from high school over, we watched all the build-up movies, and the next morning we saw it. The first Avengers movie was also the first movie I bought on blu-ray. Some of my readers may remember that the Avengers review was the first post I made on this blog. That movie made me want to start this blog. Needless to say I'm a huge fan of the Avengers. Does this movie live up to the hype, or was phase two all for nothing?

      If you don't know the plot, Tony Stark creates Ultron with the intent of protecting the world, however Ultron becomes self-aware and tries to destroy the world. All that stands between him, and the extinction of the human race is the Avengers. 

     One problem Marvel had with phase two is that their villains were not memorable. Ultron is not only the best villain in phase two, he's second only to Loki for the best villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe right now. James Spader as the voice of Ultron knocked it out of the park. What I loved about this movie is that the stakes get higher and higher with each confrontation the Avengers had with him.

    The other new characters to mention are Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff  played by Elizabeth Olsen. They had good chemistry together. I liked the Quicksilver in X-Men Days of Future Past a little better, but this one is still pretty good. The route they go with these two characters in somewhat unexpected, but I didn't mind it too much. I like when a movie can surprise me like that. Also as seen in one of the posters, Vision is in the movie played by Paul Bettany. I really liked him as well. It was interesting to see Paul Bettany do something besides Jarvis, and I thought he pulled it off very well.  

     I have two problems with the film. The creation of Ultron seemed a little rushed. I know Joss Whedon cut some scenes out. I read somewhere that the original cut of the movie was almost three hours. It's been confirmed that there will be an extended cut released on blu-ray. Hopefully that will resolve this issue. The second problem is that I was hoping for more set-up for Civil War at the end. The very last scene in the movie is somewhat of a set-up for it, but not as much as I wanted.  

     A few problems aside, I loved this movie. Needless to say stick around until the middle of the credits. The scene was one of my favorite post credit scenes. My friend and I stayed after that scene and there's nothing there. I'm going to give this movie 4.75 out of 5. These Avengers movies are the definition of summer fun at the movie theatre.

Kingsman The Secret Service Review

    Kingsman the Secret Service is directed by Matthew Vaughn and stars Colin Firth, Micheal Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Teron Egerton, and Sophia Boutella. In this movie Colin Firth is a member of a secret spy organization called the Kingsman. He recruits Teron Egerton, the son of a former Kingsman to audition to become a Kingsman. He trains him not only how to be a spy, but also how to be a gentleman.
  
     Matthew Vaughn was rumored to direct Star Wars for a very long time, he was also going to direct X-Men Days of Future Past and he turned it down to direct this movie. Why would he turn down such a big franchise like those? Because he can direct a very fun and action packed spy film. This is a great omage to classic British spy films. Spectre and Mission Impossible 5, you have a lot of competition for the best spy movie of this year.

    Colin Firth was amazing as the lead role in this movie. I really doubted weather or not he would be able to do the action scenes well. I read somewhere that he did 80 percent of his own stunts. That amazed me! Samuel L. Jackson as the villain, they gave his voice some sort of lisp, I thought that itself was an omage to old school James Bond movies. To give the villain some sort of tick. Samuel L. Jackson knocked this role out of the park. I've saved the last performances I want to talk about for last, Teron Egerton, and Sophia Boutella. What Breakout performances by both of these actors! I've never seen either of them before in anything. Something tells me I have not seen the last of them either. Teron Egerton plays the young kid Colin Firth recruits. He was so believable and his performance really drove this movie.  Sophia Boutella as Samuel L. Jackson's assistant. She was such a great villain with blades for feet. She was really over the top in such a great way.

     Another great thing about this movie is the soundtrack. As soon as the movie opened "Money for Nothing" by the Dire Straits played and at that point I knew the soundtrack was going to be a character as well. It adds a comical element to one scene that I will not spoil. But when it happened, I was laughing very hard.  

    If there's any negative I can think of it's there's one action sequence in particular that went a little over the top with the violence. and this movie is not for the faint of heart. 

    Overall I had an absolute blast with this movie. My hope is that this movie will overtake Fifty Shades of Gray in the box office. I don't think that's going to happen but it deserves it. I can't wait to see it again I'm going to give Kingsman the Secret Service 4.8 out of 5 stars.