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Review – Avengers Vs X-Men

2nd June 2021

Review – Avengers Vs X-Men Written by: Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman Pencils by: John Romita Jr, Olivier Coipel, Adam Kubert Release Date: 2012 Introduction Avengers vs X-Men is the definition of an event book. It gives us an epic crossover and a superstar lineup both on the creative side as well as in the 616 storyline itself. Released in 2012, Avengers vs X-Men features some of the biggest artists and writers of the time tackling the biggest characters in the Marvel Universe dealing with one of the biggest ideas in comics- the Phoenix. The Phoenix is coming and everyone has opinions about it, so begins Avengers vs X-Men. What better device to pivot our beloved heroes against each other than one of the most popular cosmic forces in the 616 universe! Avengers vs X-Men is a culmination of a half dozen events that had been happening in recent years. The biggest influence, being House of M and the actions Scarlet Witch took in that book. You needn’t read those other books to appreciate Avengers vs X-Men though. They do add extra context and appreciations but the writers do their best to fill us in on what happened. Story The story is massive. It delivers on the name, Avengers vs X-Men, by giving you a plot that justifies their conflict as well as an abundance of fights that you expect from a book like this. They do a decent job at giving breathing room to a lot of characters, and even spreading out smaller moments for other characters. It’s very fun to watch new relationships get some play, like Hope and Spider-Man, or to see old dynamics come to a head like Xavier and Cyclops. There are legit great character beats hidden in this book, particularly with folks like Spider-Man, Cyclops, and Nova. Spider-Man has a scene that I won’t likely forget. The Phoenix is one of those things in comics that risks being played out. It’s used and referenced so much that it’s easy to almost cringe in fear when it’s brought up. They tow the line pretty well in using it in Avengers vs X-Men. At some point, after the Phoenix has chosen a host, they do start to lose the thread of why the X-Men are after Hope. There’s a scene where Cyclops is uber-powered and shows up demanding they hand over Hope that made me put down the book and try to remember why. It’s at this point that they’ve transformed the world for better and are only left chasing Avengers. It’s a big event comic though, so I let it go and kept enjoying the ride. I only need so much motivation to watch superheroes beat each other up. Review – Avengers Vs X-Men continues below That said, the story does stretch a bit long. If it weren’t for what I imagine is a publisher’s mandate, I could see this as more of an 8-10 issue story. 12 issues left it feeling a little bloated. At points it felt like we were nearing the climax, only to have a couple more issues. However, the climax was a rare feat for a Marvel event. It didn’t feel rushed or wrapped up too cleanly. Satisfying compared to other events of the era, perhaps a result of the superstar lineup of writers. I couldn’t help but wonder if this story, contained to an X-title instead of a crossover event, might not have been a bit stronger though. It would have had less publisher influence, more focus on the mutant side of the story, and maybe a more organic fit in the history. I wouldn’t have minded a little less defined lines in who chose what sides too, like what we got in Civil War. Less about teams and more about ideology, especially through a 2021 lens, but I guess that would take away from the title of the book. Art The book features gorgeous superhero art. Narrowing the selection down for this review got particularly difficult. There’s constantly action scenes packed full of characters or cool moments across multiple panels. It takes full advantage of the comic format as a visual medium, giving the reader page after page of fantastic art. They utilize the crossover nature of an event book like this to fill in the background with other characters or details that make the world feel real. Having multiple artists with different styles telling the story in chunks could have been distracting but ultimately it flows pretty smoothly and I enjoyed the changes in style. Review – Avengers Vs X-Men continues below Avengers vs X-Men delivers intimate, close up, character moments as well as the giant, action packed splash pages you expect in a bombastic crossover book. The Phoenix storyline itself lends itself to epic, colorful pages full of fire and screaming faces. We even get some new character designs, as a result of the aforementioned Phoenix and they’re mostly great. From covers to layouts to splashes, the art compliments the story and event pretty brilliantly. Overall The biggest disappointment with this book is the same with a lot of big hallmark events… it doesn’t mean anything. It has no consequences, it has no staying power. The status quo returns pretty quickly after. It’s not like Crisis where you felt it’s impact for 20 years. The book happens, it spikes sales, then after a few months they erase the effects. Heck, this very book exists to erase the effects of House of M. The Phoenix will come back or all of the improvements to the world by The Phoenix Five will be gone. Cyclops will be a normal part of the team again, despite murdering someone. That makes it hard to sink your teeth into. So if you want to enjoy this as a fun 12 episode arc of superhero fights, dive in! If you’re hoping for an impactful, important story of why two of the biggest teams in comics would

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Review – Deadpool

14th May 2021

Review – Deadpool Directed by: Tim Miller Produced by: Ryan Reynolds & Stan Lee Written by: Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Ed Skrein & Morena Baccarin Release Date: February 10th 2016 (UK) Believe it or not, this movie came out over five years ago, so I thought that it was high time to go back and revisit the first Deadpool movie for review. It is hard to imagine now following the huge success of this film and its sequel, but there was a time when many thought that this movie would never get made, but I am very glad that it did. The movie served as an origin story to Deadpool, – something that was long awaited by many comic fans. The movie version of The Merc With A Mouth is fairly faithful to his comic book counterpart, at least much more so than the previous iteration of the character that Ryan Reynolds played. Reynolds is fantastic as Deadpool in this film, he truly was born to play the character in my opinion. He brings the crass, funny, violent and energetic energy needed for Deadpool. He manages to consistently do this along with being pretty similar to comic book Deadpool, with the only thing missing from this version being the multiple voices in his head. Now that the rights to the character are with Disney following their acquisition of 20th Century Fox and Deadpool has been confirmed to be joining the MCU, hopefully that is a character trait that we will see developed in future movies. The movie’s plot is pretty straightforward but it is well-written and delivers on what we need it to; humour and action. We are introduced to Wade Wilson and shown how he got his powers after being diagnosed with incurable cancer via flashback. From there we basically follow him while he attempts to track down Ajax, or Francis, (the guy that turned him into Deadpool and made him deformed,) so that he can cure his skin and give him back his good looks. The screenplay isn’t exactly of a Nolan-level complexity, but it doesn’t need to be and it works. The one thing that was always going to either make or break this movie, was the humour. However, the script captures Deadpool’s signature meta humour perfectly, which is an essential as it is a crucial component in what makes up this character and is one of the main reasons why so many people love him. So, if you are one of these fans, don’t fret as the movie is chock full of clever fourth wall breaks and pop-culture references. The film was granted an R-rating by the studio and the filmmakers take full advantage of that fact, with constant violence and egregious amounts of blood splattered along with plenty of f-bombs being dropped throughout the film’s dialogue. The hip hop based score also adds to the energetic tone of the movie and helps to add to the excitement of the action scenes throughout. Overall, whether you are a fan of the Deadpool comic or not, as long as you are into crass humour, over the top cartoon violence and R rated superhero movies, then there is no reason why you won’t love this movie. It is also still the best Fox superhero movie that we ever got some may even argue that it is the best R-rated superhero movie ever produced. [yasr_multiset setid=2] [yasr_visitor_multiset setid=2] If you enjoyed Dan’s review of Deadpool, you can check out what he thought of the sequel here. Buy tickets for BGCP Comic Con in and around Glasgow Scotland – BUY TICKETS Check out all of our Comic, Movie, Television and Videogame Reviews HERE and our Podcasts/Interviews HERE If you want to be part of the BGCP community, Join us on Discord, Twitter, Instagram etc then click HERE www.bigglasgowcomicpage.com

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Review – X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

23rd April 2021

Review – X-Men: Apocalypse Directed by: Bryan Singer Produced by: Bryan Singer & Stan Lee Written by: Bryan Singer & Simon Kinberg Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender & Oscar Isaac Release Date: May 18th 2016 I remember when this movie first released and received very mixed reactions from both critics and fans. At the time, I fell on the more positive side of the fence and actually kind of enjoyed this movie for what it was when I saw it for the first time in the cinema. It is amazing how things change… I revisited X-Men: Apocalypse for review last night and found it very difficult to get through. The year is 1983, 10 years after the last X-Men movie, Days Of Future Past; as in the kind of 10 years where no one ages a day. We know that it is 1983 because some of the young mutants go and see Return Of The Jedi in the cinema. The hairstyles and fashion statements are suitably 80’s, which is actually a very appropriate motif to choose as it adds a more comic book feel to the movie and forces it to stick to a brighter colour palette than some of the previous X men outings. Another positive is the return of Quicksilver, who has another grandiose slow motion scene in the film, but unfortunately it is not as well choreographed as the one in DOFP and somewhat falls flat in comparison. The design of Apocalypse in this movie is something that I just could not get behind. There were points where it took me out of the movie entirely and although Oscar Isaac is a great actor and he does his best with this portrayal of the ancient mutant even he can’t make this film palatable. The other major downside to his character is that he is significantly nerfed in terms of his powers here. He does feel mildly powerful at points, but never overwhelmingly so and when the final confrontation does take place, it feels like he is holding back. This could be explained in a contrived manner by saying that he doesn’t want to kill mutants, because they are all his children, but if the success of his plan depends on it then he shouldn’t even hesitate, he should just wipe all the X-Men out in an instant like we know that he can. The tone is another issue I have with the movie, it is extremely inconsistent throughout and never reaches the level of threat or peril that it is aiming for. However, this isn’t the fault of the cast or the performances they give. MacAvoy and Fassbender stand out here as you would expect, their relationship also remains one of the most interesting parts of the plot. Isaacs’ performance is also suitably threatening and sinister, the only thing lacking in his character other than the odd design choice, is how short he is next to the other mutants. He doesn’t have to be huge like in the comics and cartoons, but making him a little bit more physically imposing with clever camera tricks would have went a long way in adding to the character. Jennifer Lawrence is fine here as usual, even if it does seem like she doesn’t want to be there in certain scenes. Young Cyclops and Jean Grey are perfectly serviceable, although Sophie Turner’s American accent does come and go in certain scenes. Even Peters does his best as Quicksilver and the actress who plays Storm here is also pretty convincing, as is the young English actor who plays Angel. Nightcrawler is also a welcome addition to the roster as I feel that he has been criminally underused since the second X-Men movie and his power set is definitely one of the most interesting in all of the X-Men movies, also the actor playing him here does a good job throughout the film. The special effects are noticeably shabby throughout the film, especially when you remember that this movie came out in the same year as Captain America: Civil War. This was also the last X-Men movie directed by Bryan Singer and knowing what we know now, good riddance. The direction in this movie certainly isn’t anything to write home about anyway and the cinematography is also pretty lazy and by-the-numbers. Overall, upon re-watching X-Men: Apocalypse for review, it has not aged well at all. I don’t often say that about movies that are only five years old, but here we are. If you remember this one being okay back when you first saw it in the cinema, then please don’t do what I did and revisit it because you will only be disappointed. [yasr_multiset setid=2] [yasr_visitor_multiset setid=2] Check out Dan’s review of Captain America: Civil War here. Buy tickets for BGCP Comic Con in and around Glasgow Scotland – BUY TICKETS Check out all of our Comic, Movie, Television and Videogame Reviews HERE and our Podcasts/Interviews HERE If you want to be part of the BGCP community, Join us on Discord, Twitter, Instagram etc then click HERE

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Review – Deadpool 2

20th May 2021

Review – Deadpool 2 Directed by: David Leitch Produced by: Ryan Reynolds & Stan Lee Written by: Rhett Reese & Ryan Reynolds Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin & Morena Baccarin Release Date: May 15th 2018 (UK) I was recently asked to review Deadpool 2 for the site and I honestly went back to it reluctantly. Although I did enjoy the movie when it came out, it has never had the same re-watchability as the first one and although it is only a 3 year old movie, I wasn’t expecting it to have aged very well. Thankfully my negative preconceptions were misplaced and I ended up actually having a really good time re-watching Deadpool 2 for review. Deadpool 2 is the kind of sequel that knows exactly what it is. It doesn’t pretend to be anything original and it’s main focus is getting a laugh out of it’s audience over anything else. It succeeds greatly at this with the film being hilarious throughout and it comes very close to being as funny as it’s predecessor, it just doesn’t quite get there. I think that the main reason for this is because it chooses to focus more on a story than the last one did and through that, the humour loses some of the momentum that it builds up. Although the first movie’s laughs have better momentum, an argument could be made for this movie’s individual lines being funnier. My particular favourite was the jab Deadpool makes at his creator Rob Liefeld for not being able to draw feet properly in his comics. Check out our fantasy MCU Casting for the X-Men I loved how they chose to show off Domino’s powers. Her power of ‘luck,’ could have came across really lame onscreen, but David Leitch’s fantastic direction helped it to come across brilliantly. I also loved the cameos, from the room full of X-Men, to Brad Pitt as the Vanisher. When they killed Vanessa at the start of the movie, I was disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing her character develop in this movie and I felt like just killing her off to give Deadpool motivation for his arc in the movie was pretty lazy. Then, they immediately rectified it with the hilarious Bond-esque opening title sequence. Later on, I thought that they were going to make Vanessa become Death, who is Deadpool’s love interest in the comics because he has so many encounters with her, but at the end of the movie we see Deadpool going back in time to reverse her death from happening, which also sort of negates a lot of the emotional beats that the movie surprisingly managed to hit during it’s finale. The Juggernaught is the movie’s surprise villain and while it is nice to see him in his comic accurate form, the CGI used is really cartoony and even hard to swallow in a surreal superhero movie like this one. However, that’s not why anybody watches a Deadpool movie. If I was looking for deep, meaningful character arcs and realistic CGI, there are a ton of other movies for that. Deadpool is there to make you laugh and there is no doubt that it succeeds at that. There are some comedic moments that feel oddly dated, like the constant references to dubstep for example and I feel like they missed a trick not bringing up the fact that the director was swapped out during the film’s production or the real life scandals involving TJ Miller, but every joke earns at least a chuckle, which justifies it’s place in the film. It may not as quite as novel because we have seen it before, but there are plenty of scenes in here that will have you laughing out loud in the cinema and fans of the character will not be disappointed. [yasr_multiset setid=2] [yasr_visitor_multiset setid=2] Buy tickets for BGCP Comic Con in and around Glasgow Scotland – BUY TICKETS Check out all of our Comic, Movie, Television and Videogame Reviews HERE and our Podcasts/Interviews HERE

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