Davedevil

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Everything posted by Davedevil

  1. I find myself very amused at how many disclaimers TNG needs, if you're not already invested. I don't think I would've tried this show out in general if it wasn't for one of my best friends sending me extremely hilarious, surprisingly horny, out of context scenes. The cast is definitely what carries the show at its lowest. Spiner does some pretty exceptional stuff, even if the rules of Data seem to vacillate every other episode.
  2. Star Trek TNG: Finished season 1 with my friends. It felt like a sitcom in space at first, which I found highly entertaining but the lack of urgency started to get to me as the season went on. Each episode definitely has something charming about it, but the first season is pretty weak. A couple episodes into season 2, and the improvement is apparent, but not yet the sea change I've been hoping for. Star Trek TOS: About 8 episodes in, and it feels a bit more solid as a viewing experience, though I wonder if that's giving it a pass for being much older. It reminds me of the Twilight Zone that I've seen, down to having an episode by Richard Matheson. I don't think they quite knew how to make the most of the 45 minute runtime, but the character moments are pretty great.
  3. Could be wrong, but I had heard that after his sister died and he went home to the Philippines, he had issues getting back into the US.
  4. Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat Annihilation: Both were hilarious and a ton of fun, but I think I liked the latter half of the first and the first half of the sequel the best. Neither of them are good movies but they really capture the games well. I honestly don't think the second deserves the trashing it got, it's about as entertaining as the first, with the added bonus of not having as much exposition in the way. Setting aside Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage is the definite standout from the first, while Jax was the highlight from Annihilation. It's a shame that Johnny Cage wasn't around for the second, I think he, Jax and Sonya could've been a great team. Oddly enough, I think the second one had better staged fight scenes, as I found the first to be a little awkward. Really looking to the upcoming reboot movie.
  5. Mortal Podkast: I don't know if anyone would have thought that telling a Mortal Kombat character's story from beginning to end, episode by episode, would make for a good podcast but it is surprisingly engaging. The host does a great job finding the emotional hook for each character; I play these games but I have a much better appreciation for them now. I have no idea what he'll do for the characters with significantly less material, but I'm sure it'll be fun to listen to.
  6. Birds of Prey: A total blast. The movie that Suicide Squad was advertised as. It could've used more of the Birds of Prey (Harley and the BOP would've been a much more truthful title, though from what I understand Robbie pushed for giving them more of a spotlight) but their stories all converged in interesting ways. Really looking forward to more Black Canary especially. Sionis was the weakest link of the cast, I feel like he was on the verge of something memorable but didn't quite reach it. Though I did appreciate the viewpoint about him being an R-rated Batman '66 villain.
  7. Spider-Man: Life Story - I haven't read Spider-Man in years (Spider-Gwen's been where I've been getting my fix in the meantime). This is just, wow. Everything I love about Peter Parker and Spidey stories is there, the triumph and heartbreak, the lack of easy decisions, the journey that each character goes through. Some of the plot developments were honestly really hard to read, such as Harry and MJ in the 70s, and Aunt May in the 80s issue. Oof. Bagley's art is always really good, but I've always thought of him more as a blockbuster kind of artist (I probably need to read more of his ongoings). This was a bit of a surprise to me, the range that he's able to bring to a six decade story. While I wish each issue had a bit more individual visual identity, he, Dell and d'Armata illustrated the hell out of this story. If I have a complaint, it's that each issue feels about a couple pages short, several things happen just a bit too quickly. But overall, I had a great time with this. I'm really looking forward to catching up with what I missed, I hear Spectacular Spider-Man by Zdarsky's really good.
  8. Spider-Man: Far From Home - It might be the good will of the second half, but I thought this was great. Again, there's some not-Spidey elements there, but the core is very much in the spirit of the character. I feel like the MCU tie-ins were at first, a way to ingratiate the character with the audience and integrate him into the larger universe, but now they're going back to center with the core appeal of the character. There's a lot to unpack here, but I think it's comfortably in the upper tier of Spidey movies.
  9. Infinity - The event Hickman did years ago. I have a fondness for this, as it's the only event (aside from the original Spider-Verse) I followed as it was coming out, so far. I didn't read all of the tie-ins though, so I only got part of the story. With this complete set of the Hickman-written stuff...I still don't get it beyond the broadest of strokes, but I respect how hardcore scifi this was. Let's see somebody try to make a movie out of this, hah. Mostly dug the art, with Yu and OpeƱa, and Cheung, Weaver, and Deodato all complementing each other in different ways. Only nitpick is that the former group draw faces and bodies really oddly from time to time, which was really distracting. Skyward - Bought the two volumes out so far, since there was a sale. I can see why it's been nominated for an Eisner, even if I kinda doubt it'd win. The storytelling is solid, the world is fleshed out despite the out-there premise. I really dig the protagonist, she's a ton of fun. Love the art by Lee Garbett, he does a lot of good character work, especially in relation to the wacky low-gravity stuff. Antonio Fabela's colors are gorgeous, they really help set the tone.
  10. Godzilla: King of the Monsters - Mixed on this. It looks really nice, the monsters are framed in appropriately mythic scale. The cast is fantastic, and commit to the material. They're much more memorable here than in the 2014 movie. The monsters get a lot of great moments, each manage to convey their personalities in fun ways. I never expected Mothra to be a breakout character, despite being beloved by fans of the original movies. On the other hand, the movie crammed so much material at such a relentless pace, it was exhausting. My response to Godzilla arriving during a battle with two other kaiju shouldn't be "this is still going on??". I don't know what else they can do for Godzilla vs Kong.
  11. I had a ton of fun with this movie. It goes a little too long, but I think it's the most consistent movie, quality-wise, DC has put out in this current slate yet. Tonally, it mostly handles the shifts well, with little jarring bits here and there that I don't think quite work out but gets going again reasonably quick. I thought Wonder Woman and Aquaman were good indications for where the solo movies are going, but this might be my favorite so far. I enjoyed just about every character in the movie, with the exception of Sivana. He's okay, Mark Strong does a really good job with him, but he's very underwritten despite having a few scenes all to him. But the rest of the cast more than makes up for it. They get some great humor, and angst, from the kids. I'm really interested to see where they go with them, especially since I hear they're potentially doing sequels sooner to keep them cast. I find it interesting that for all the talk of this being a different movie to the rest, and it is, a lot of the same elements as the rest of the DCEU show up. Slowmo, (obviously) CGI creatures, use of flashbacks, a whole lot of angst, sudden (but ultimately bloodless) violence. Just an observation, not really saying anything about the previous ones because I did enjoy all of them to varying degrees.
  12. Dragon Age: Origins - In the middle of my first playthrough. God, BioWare RPGs are slow. Still, glad that I'm getting into this series, the characters are great, and I enjoy how much your choices are reflected, even in small ways. Which sounds a bit like the other game I've been playing lately... Baldur's Gate - I've played D&D before, so some of the mechanics are familiar to me, but I've had to keep the guide open basically the whole time (what is this, like 3 editions back?). Still, having a great time with the witty bits of writing. I really like the cast, it's one of the more memorable sets I've seen from a BioWare game. I wish that they went somewhere when you dismiss them though. I got a New 2DS XL recently, my first experience with a Nintendo console since trailing off somewhere in the middle of the DS's life. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - Came with the system. This was a breeze. Some of the puzzles were a bit annoying, but overall very satisfying. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Haven't finished yet, only just got to adult Link, but it really is a great adventure. And as a Dark Souls fan, it's funny to see where the inspiration for different aspects of those games came from. Mega Man X - From the Virtual Console. God this game was so hard, but then I got the right items, and I suddenly dashed through the whole game. Resident Evil: Revelations - Impressive for a handheld. It's not very scary, but it's fun.
  13. Green Arrow/Black Canary: Road to the Altar - Trying to be more familiar with DC, and I've always liked Canary so I picked this up. Pretty fun read, good insight to Dinah as a character. The art was pretty good, except in the Wedding Planner issue. Green Lanterns vol. 1 - Some of the writing doesn't feel all that cohesive to me, but the characters shine really well, even if I am so unfamiliar with all the cosmic stuff. Love Simon and Jessica, they're a great team that I can't wait to follow. The art is pretty good, in keeping with the DC style, but doesn't really hold up in the quieter segments.
  14. Immortal Hulk vol 1 - Got this during a Comixology sale, and holy shit. I've read different Hulk runs over the years, but this is the most impactful story I've read in a while. There's a lot of continuity here, but it's mostly smooth reading. And the art is just incredible, didn't know Joe Bennett can do such moody work like this. Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle - Reading through it, great stuff. Breyfogle was such a versatile artist, he can probably follow up Todd McFarlane, Ty Templeton, Neal Adams, or Bernie Wrightson and it won't be jarring. It's a bit of a transitional period for Batman, I feel, with the quips and whimsical villains slowly starting to give way to social commentary and grotesquery (appropriate for the 2000 AD pedigree of Wagner and Grant). I'm not always convinced by the writing, it's a little much, but I do enjoy getting into this run that I've only read scattered issues of.
  15. Assassin's Creed: Origins - The easiest of the series to recommend, personally. What a fantastic game. I love how directed it starts and then gradually opens up; I didn't feel the same open world dread that I was expecting. Not an original observation at all, but it takes a little bit of everything from The Witcher 3 and Dark Souls, blends it with the AC formula, and makes something just a bit more enjoyable in the moment than those two. I doubt I'm even halfway through, but I'm excited to see where it goes from here. Bayek is easily my favorite AC protagonist now, despite me recently claiming that the Frye twins are. Injustice 2 - Wasn't expecting to have as much fun with this as I am. Don't care for the story at all, but I'm still enjoying how the characters are handled. Might check out Mortal Kombat X soon. Marvel's Spider-Man - The dlc was just lacking. They approached some cool concepts, but everything that followed was so predictable, it's hard to care. The difficulty spike made it PAINFUL to play, especially on the hardest difficulty (I've never hated someone near as much as I hate Screwball). The new suits and photo mode updates were the most worthwhile thing about these to me.
  16. Looks recognizably Doom Patrol, from my very limited experience. I'll be watching it.
  17. I believe Miles was 16-17 when the 616 and Ultimate universes merged. Especially since he had a bit of a thing with Spider-Gwen, who's 18-19, and it wasn't too weird.
  18. I was cautiously optimistic, but now I'm excited. Looks like a lot of fun.
  19. Do people really follow the modern day stuff? It's been how many games and there hasn't been any meaningful payoff, from what I've seen. I don't know if it does anything except subvert expectations in your first AC game, and provide the UI.
  20. Not too interested in ship combat either, and a whole game revolving around it doesn't hook me. Though from what I hear from my friends, its story is one of the best of the series. Not sure if I should play Origins first, or jump directly to Odyssey. I'm sure the former's a compelling game, but who doesn't want to play Kassandra?
  21. I've been playing a lot lately. Assassin's Creed: Syndicate - My first AC game since my Revelations save was corrupted halfway through. My favorite so far. It's a light and breezy game (even if the music overdoes it) with great banter, which is exactly what I wanted from it. Evie and Jacob are my favorite protagonists of the series so far. I dug the portrayals of class and imperialism, there were even quests about fighting fake news, essentially. But where conceptually it's ahead of its time I feel, the gameplay feels so dated. Combat and traversal haven't changed at all since AC2, even if the animation is mildly smoother and detailed. The line launcher is a welcome addition, but not substantial enough in my opinion. The pace of combat is weird, it seems to reward thoughtful fighting, but encourages button mashing with how fast it is. While I do love the game, I think it's telling that this was the last of its era. But it's a good place to end. Dark Souls Remastered - Good for its time, but made immediately dated by its follow-ups. Also, the second half is not very good. The Last of Us - First time. Deserves all the praise it gets. Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Mixed bag but overall positive. When it's at its best, it's the most enjoyable of the series for me. It feels very classic TR with the exploration and puzzles. It has one of the most endearing sequences with Lara. It's taken a great step with interrogating Lara's white savior role. But there are a little too many quiet moments, Lara's characterization is ramped up to the point of unlikability, and the deconstruction doesn't really pay off in a meaningful way. Still, I don't regret getting this game, especially in the Croft Edition, since it promises more tombs, which are the best part of the game. Great time to come back. Pick up any of the other PS4 exclusives, you won't go wrong with any of them.
  22. Same, Don. I haven't really enjoyed a comic-based show in about a year (the first half of Luke Cage season 1 probably) and I'm glad to see something so good, especially with one of my favorite characters. Even Netflix's ill-advised 13 episode requirement didn't work against the season like it has for almost every other Marvel show.