Road to Avengers: Doomsday - Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment Review

We're back once again to the Road to Avengers: Doomsday. Also once again we see Doctor Doom teaming up with a Marvel hero.

Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment is a 1989 graphic novel that was published by Marvel Comics and can be found in issue forty-nine of Marvel Graphic Novel. The writer was Roger Stern and the artist was Mike Mignola (aka the creator of Hellboy).

The story is, Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange has entered a realm ruled by the sinister Mephisto, all in an effort to save a soul that means everything to Doom. But the questions are what price will be paid and is Doom willing to make the sacrifice?

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Let's keep it moving.

• Positives

One positive is the pacing. These may not be the quickest read but it's also not something that drags on and on. Pretty good for a graphic novel that's eighty pages long.

My other bit of praise goes to Mike Mignola's art. Now this was pre-Hellboy Mignola so maybe his style around this time wasn't noticeable during this point of his career. But regardless he does an incredible job. You get a gothic otherworldly visuals. Great use of heavy shadows, demonic realms, and a mystical atmosphere. And the colors provided by Mike Badger beautifully add to the moody feel.

The last aspect I'll praise is Roger Stern's writing. For Doctor Strange we see how he is kind of an opposite of Doom when it comes to his use of the mystical arts. But he's biggest story element is how he gets a different view of Doom even though he still feels the need to keep his guard up. But the best writing is for Doctor Doom. This story gives us more layers to his character by giving us more details to his backstory and motivations. We see him more humanized through his love and determination to save this trapped soul, however by the end he still isn't softened and redeemed. One of my favorite moment is Doom does save the soul, but it doesn't go the way I expected. I'd go into my details but they're spoils and I really don't want to give that moment away. It's just such a brilliant moment.

I loved this story! So far when it comes to Doctor Doom stories as of right now this is my number one.

My final rating is, A Must Read!

So first let me apologize for uploading this so late. But what was supposed to be a quick nap turned into something longer. Always make sure the alarm on your phone is actually turned on folks.

With that being said, come back on Saturday, Jul 25th, for the newest horror movie, Pinocchio Unstrung. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at Batman: Caped Crusader - Season 1

 

Season two will drop next week. So what better time then to review the first season.

Batman: Caped Crusader is an animated TV series based on DC Comics most popular character. Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment, Bad Robot Productions, 6th & Idaho Motion Picture Company and Amazon MGM Studios produced with Amazon Prime Video distributing. The show is developed by Bruce Timm and this season consists of ten episodes.

The story is, the corrupt outnumber the good. Evil runs rampant and the innocent live in a constant state of fear. One of these innocents affected by these evils was Bruce Wayne. No longer wanting to just be the heir of the Wayne fortune, Bruce became not just someone else, but something else. He became the Batman and vowed a one man crusade for justice. But some of Batman's intentions will have unforseen consequences.

• Negatives

I've got nothing here.

• Mixed

The biggest mix element is the writing. Now plots aren't too bad. There really wasn't a moment where I found myself bored. I especially loved the fourth episode "The Night of the Hunters". That was a very exciting episode what with Flass and Bullock trying to lure Batman out, a building being on fire, and Batman trying to save lives while avoiding the police. That was a fun episode. I also loved episode two "...And Be a Villain". I wish I could go into more details for that one, but what I will say is I did like the villain's origin and motivate. It was a good spin on a classic Batman villain. But then you get into things that are more modern when this show is clearly in the 1940s. There's also a slight issue with character development. Batman does start off cold a bit but he does get a little bit of development throughout. But I think the one who got it the worse is Harvey Dent. We're meant to feel said when he becomes Two-Face, but he was already kind acting slimy before his face gets disfigured so he's turn to Two-Face doesn't have that small emotional pull it did in previous Batman media like Batman: The Animated Series or The Dark Knight.

My other slight problem is the animation. Now let me stress something out, the animation is pretty good. It works well. But there are moments when characters aren't as fluid as they should be and there were times when CGI was used, and when there's CG it can kinda clash with the show's art style.

• Positives

One pro is the voice acting. Initially I wasn't all that excited about Hamish Linklater as Bruce Wayne/Batman. But he did grow on me. He's performance is very strong and he does sound intimidating.

The last thing I'll praise is the tone. The show delivers on a strong and dark atmosphere. Gotham feels dangerous even when nothing is happening, and the show is very mature without going over the top.

Without a doubt the show has flaws. But there's still something to enjoy from it.

My final rating is, Good.

I'm hoping my slight criticisms won't pop up again in season two so fingers crossed. Anyways, that's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Jul 23rd, for another edition of the Road to Avengers: Doomsday. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

The Odyssey Review

 

Alright, after hearing so much controversy and drama surrounding this film, it's finally time for me to give my own thoughts on it.

The Odyssey is a fantasy action adventure film and it adapts Homer's epic poem of the same name. Syncopy produced along with Universal Pictures who were also the distributors. Christopher Nolan both wrote and directed.

The story is after fighting in the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men set sail on their way home. But this journey won't be easy as Odysseus comes across dangerous mythical beings all in an effort to get and reunite with his wife and the son who barely knows him.

Initial Reaction

Now originally I was excited for this film, so much so I put it on my list of most anticipated movies. But the closer and closer we got to this movie and more info was being released the less and less I was excited. But I still had hope that maybe, just maybe, Nolan would give us another win.

Cons

The only real problem I had was with the dialogue. Sometimes characters will talk like you'd expect people talk during ancient Greek times, but then next thing you know they talk in a very modern way. Why? I don't know. It's just a weird decision Nolan made.

Middle Ground

Let's get the biggest controversial thing out of the way. I am of course referring to the casting. I do admit some people are truly missed cast. The biggest example is Elliot Page. These are suppose to mighty Greek warriors, then you have Page who's what, 5 feet maybe 5'1? And might be 100 pounds when soaking wet? It's just when you see the cast try to play these characters sometimes you are taking out of the experience. But if even you can ignore casting decisions, how are the performances? Some like Matt Damon and Robert Pattinson are quite good. Pattinson does a great job at playing a guy who's very slimy, and Damon provides some really good layers with Odysseus being haunted by his hubris. Others are just fine. Nothing really to get upset about. The other slight issue was the pacing. Sometimes things move at a good rate. But there are moments where I was sitting and thinking "I'm starting to feel that nearly three hour runtime".

Pros

There are two good things about the movie. Firstly, Nolan's directing. While some shots didn't wow me, for at least 95% of the film there are some truly great shots. So while Nolan's writing for the movie wasn't all that exciting, I can't say the same for his directing. The last thing I'll praise is there are some truly great moments. One of the two was a sequence where Circe turns Odysseus' men into pigs and it looks like something out of a horror movie. Then there was also the third act. I would go into more details but it'll be too much of a spoiler. What I will say is that third act really did tie everything together.

Overall while I didn't truly hate this movie as much as I feared, I do gotta admit one thing. As far as Christopher Nolan films goes, this is by far his weakest. Which sucks to say as a Nolan fan because he's been killing since Memento, and I would've thought after Oppenheimer he would've delivered another truly great film. But sadly this is just decent at best.

My final rating is, Okay.

Yeah this something I don't feel like you have to rush to see. Just take your time. Well, that's all for now. Come back on Monday, Jul 20th, for my review of season one of Batman: Caped Crusader. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Raiders of The Lost Media - ECW: Anarchy Rulz - The N64 Port

 

Not an actual cover for the N64 port.

Welcome to a brand new edition of Raiders of The Lost Media. This time around I look at another lost (or supposedly lost) video game. So let's dive in.

Part One - Extreme Championship Wrestling

To understand this supposed video game we first need to under the company it's based on. I'll try to keep this history lesson as brief as possible.

ECW was founded on Feb 25th, 1992, but at that time it was called Eastern Championship Wrestling and was a governing body for another company that being National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Fast forward to somewhere in Sept of 1993, original booker Eddie Gilbert would depart from the company and businessman/wrestling manager Paul Heyman would take over as the book and assumed full creative control. Then on Aug 27th, 1994, the company's name would be changed from Eastern Championship Wrestling to Extreme Championship Wrestling. At the same time, ECW would no longer be affiliated NWA.

Under this new extreme direction, the company would feature more hardcore matches featuring things like matches with weapons, more usages of tables, ladders, and chairs among other hardcore elements. This new direction also featured wrestling styles from different countries most notably from Japan and Mexico. Another element was storylines would not only feature more violence but vulgarity and sexual content as well.

Sadly in during the early 2000's the company was having financial troubles, because of this ECW would have no choice but to shut down. Their popular show ECW: Hardcore TV would air it's final episode on Dec 31st, 2000 and on Jan 7, 2001, the company would air it's last pay-per-view that being Guilty as Charged, two months later ECW filed for bankruptcy with the company finally closing down on Apr 4, 2001.

During the later years elements of ECW would makes its way to WWE. One of those was from May 28, 2001 to Nov 18, 2001, ECW stars along with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) stars would be part of an invasion storyline in WWE, but from what I've heard it wasn't a very good story arc. In Jan 28th, 2003 WWE would buy assets of ECW that they weren't able to own because HHG Corporation held those rights. Then starting in 2005, WWE would an ECW event titled One Night Stand before that series of pay-per-views would be canceled in 2008. Then during the year WWE would turn ECW into their third brand along side the existing brands of Raw & Smackdown. This brand got a show called ECW on Sci-Fi. This third brand would last until Feb 16th, 2010 and would be replaced by NXT.

Part Two - From Revolution to Anarchy

Before Anarchy Rulz was a thing, ECW's first video game was Hardcore Revolution and it was released on Feb 17th, 2000 for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and Game Boy Color with a Dreamcast port released on Feb 29th, 2000. It was the first pro wresting game to receive a Mature rating expect for the Game Boy Color version which was rated Everyone. Hardcore Revolution got mixed reviews at best but sold over 600,000 units, because of how much the units sold this would inspire Acclaim to quickly develop a sequel, that sequel being you guessed it, Anarchy Rulz. The game taking its title from the short lived pay-per-view of the same name.

Anarchy Rulz was released on the PlayStation on Aug 15th, 2000 with the Dreamcast version released on Nov 28th, 2000. Reviews for the game were much worse than they were for Hardcore Revolution, with the general reception being universally negative. A matter of fact, the Dreamcast version had way more negative reviews than the PlayStation one. Anarchy Rulz would be the second and last video game based on ECW before the company closed down.

Part Three - The Nintendo 64 Port

I could provide a story of the N64 port but the truth is the existence of this thing is a mystery.

The Apr 2000 issue of Nintendo Power reported that Anarchy Rulz would receive an N64 port in September. GameSpot would later try report on Nintendo Power's claim, but when GameSpot tried to get in contact with an Acclaim representative for confirmation but the company refused to give details surrounding the game or confirm of an N64 version was being developed. People assumed details would be given during E3. But the E3 event would be very odd, because only the PlayStation verison was shown. There was no info on an N64 version. Hell the Dreamcast verison didn't get a formal unveiling and Anarchy Rulz was actually released on that console.

Part Four - Status

As of writing this there has been no new information both from Acclaim or other sources. Even if development happened we still to this day have no footage or screenshots of this verison of the game. The only thing we got is the Nintendo Power issue briefly mentioning it. Other than that, the existence of this is unconfirmed.

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Jul 18th, for my review of Christopher Nolan's newest film, The Odyssey. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Evil Dead Burn Review

 

Hell yeah! We got a brand new Evil Dead movie! Does it continue the franchise's winning streak or will this be the first dud?

Evil Dead Burn is a supernatural horror movie and the sixth installment of the franchise. New Line Cinema, Screen Gems, and Ghost House Pictures produced while Warner Bros. Pictures were the distributor. Sébastien Vaniček directed and wrote the story along with Florent Bernard.

The story is after the death of Will, Will's wife Alice along with Will's family of Joseph, Joseph's girlfriend Thya, his parents and grandmother go to an old family house to seek solace and support. But this getaway will turn into a nightmare when the Deadites arrive.

Initial Reaction

This is one that's been on my most anticipated list and I just couldn't wait for it. I got even more excited with trailers and ads.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

It's definitely the story. It doesn't add anything to the Evil Dead lore that we don't already know. We know about the Book of the Dead, the Kandarian Dagger, and so forth. But I do think what saves the story quite a bit was how the movie touches upon things like abuse, toxic family dynamics, and grief.

Pros

I've read some complaints about the tone and how this is meaner and more dour compared to the previous films. And all I gotta ask is, where have you people been since 2013? Since the 2013 soft reboot to Evil Dead Rise to now, these movies have taken on a more serious tone. Which I don't mind because there's still so fun to be had. I also want to praise the pacing. Evil Dead Burn didn't waste one minute of its one hour and fifty-one minutes runtime. Everything moved at that perfect brisk pace. Finally, as per usual with this franchise we get great kill scenes. Plenty of brutal and creative kills. I think this might be the first movie I've seen where someone is killed with a car headrest.

While the story didn't break any new ground, Evil Dead Burn still thankfully continues the franchise's winning streak.

My final rating is, Good.

Okay that'll wrap things up. Due come back on Monday, Jul 16th, for a brand new edition of Raiders of The Lost Media. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Street Fighter (2026) - Street Fighter Alpha Review

 

We're back to the Road to Street Fighter (2026), and this time we're going back to the animated Street Fighter movies.

Street Fighter Alpha, or as it's titled on-screen Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation and released in Japan as Street Fighter Zero, is a OVA (Original Video Animation) based on the video game of Street Fighter Alpha 2. It's not a prequel or sequel to the 1994 animated movie serving as only an independent entry. Production was done by Group TAC with distribution by Manga Entertainment. Reiko Yoshida wrote the story while Shigeyasu Yamauchi directed.

The story is, Ryu is struggling to control a dark power called the "Dark Hadou" and fearing he'll turn into his deceased master's brother Akuma who succumbed to it. Meanwhile a sinister force knows about Ryu's Dark Hadou and wants that power all to himself.

• Negatives

I gotta give to the villain, Dr. Sadler. He's just not a memorable villain as M. Bison, Akuma, or Vega are.

• Mix

It's the story. Much like the animated '94 film, the plot can be very simple. We do get some sort of depth what with Ryu struggling against the Dark Hadou to the point where he fears he'll lose control and will want his friend Ken to kill him. There's also a pretty good story with Sakura being inspired by Ryu and wanting to be a great fighter like him, but also getting a glimpse at the darker side of martial arts. However a lot of the story doesn't break any new ground. We once again get another story of someone going after Ryu for his powers.

• Positives

One praise I'll give is the animation. Once again the animation shines especially during fight scenes. Group TAC did a spectacular job with muscular physiques, expressive character designs, and dynamic movements. There's just so much kinetic delivery and impactful choreography to enjoy.

The last thing I'll touch on is the English dubbing. Now I don't think for one moment this one of the greatest dubbing jobs, but it is an improvement for the 1994 animated flick. Mainly because the actors are not only putting more effort in, and it also helps a lot of the voices fit and didn't feel a tad forced.

Overall while it has its issues, Street Fighter Alpha is another worthy entry to look into regardless if you're watching a sub or a dub like I did.

My final rating is, Good.

That's gonna do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Jul 11th, for my review of Evil Dead Burn. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Is It True? - Palpatine Killed Padme

 

Since I haven't done a theory post since January of this year, it's time to change that with a really dark Star Wars fan theory.

Who Are Palpatine & Padmé?

Since these are two very popular Star Wars characters I imagine people are well aware who Palpatine and Padmé are. So I'll just give a brief description.

Palpatine is not just a powerful Sith Lord, but he's the Sith Lord. He's the major villain throughout the Original Trilogy, the Prequel Trilogy, and plays a part in the Sequel Trilogy. Palpatine is a master of manipulation. So much so he's able to play both sides without anybody knowing unless he wants them. His biggest accomplishment was secretly orchestrating the fall of both the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order, during this same time he turned Anakin Skywalker who was the Chosen One, the one who meant to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force, and turned him into the feared villain, Darth Vader.

Padmé, full name being Padmé Amidala, is the former Queen and later Sentor of Naboo. She was of the many brave souls fighting for democracy against the evil alliance known as The Separatist. Padmé was also the wife of Anakin Skywalker and sadly witnessed her husband's fall to the dark side. Even more tragic than that she would later die after giving birth to twins Luke and Leia. The cause of her death was that of a "broken heart".

The Theory

The theory goes Padmé didn't actually die from a broken heart.

What truly killed was Palpatine used his dark force powers to drain Padmé of her life force and transferred it to Anakin, or as he was now called Darth Vader, as way to save his life so he didn't die from the severe burns he got after his duel with Obi-Wan on Mustafar.

This act wasn't just a way for Palpatine to ensure just the survival of Darth Vader, but was a way to break and isolate Anakin one more time that way he'll be absolutely loyal to him. By killing Padmé Palpatine eliminated the last anchor to Anakin's old life.

Is Theory Believable?

Well no. George Lucas made it clear that Padmé died of a "broken heart", meaning she lost the will to live. If George Lucas' whole plan was it was actually Palpatine who killed her then he would've came out and said it years ago. However I do think it's a pretty fun (albeit in a dark way) thing to think about. I mean Palpatine is the biggest rat bastard in the entire Star Wars galaxy, so it's not too crazy to think he would do something like this. This is after all the same guy who had chips put into every Clone Troopers' head that way he when he says "execute Order 66" the Clones would kill their Jedi friends and commanders without so much as a second thought. So him killing Padmé by taking her life force away and giving it to Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker wouldn't be beneath him.

That's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Jul 9th, for the return of the Road to Street Fighter (2026). Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.