My Review of Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017)

 

Written by Ernie Altbacker

Directed by Sam Liu

Beast Boy: "But in the end, when the chips were down... and she finally showed her true self... Terra Markov was like a diamond. The most beautiful thing that I'd ever seen."

Follow the events of Justice League vs. Teen Titans, you've now got an established group of the latter. Once again, it's Nightwing (Sean Maher), Starfire (Kari Wahlgren), Robin (Stuart Allan), Raven (Taissa Farmiga), Blue Beetle (Jake T. Austin), Beast Boy (Brandon Soo Hoo) and now Terra (Christina Ricci) in the mix.

After the character actively sought out the Teen Titans, in this movie, she seemed to struggle to actually connect with them. With Beast Boy, she found him exhausting and the fact that he fancied her was something Terra didn't care for. There was also mutual distrust between Terra and Raven.

The one Titan she kind of connected with was Robin aka Damian Wayne but even that got married when it was revealed that Terra was working with Deathstroke (Miguel Ferrer) of all people. Yup, he's back and he's even more unpleasant here than he was in Son Of Batman. 

When he wasn't lording it over capturing Damian, the real nature of his relationship with Terra was revealed. If you've read or are familiar with the comic book this movie's based on, this didn't shy away from the insidious aspects of Deathstroke and Terra. The latter's completely under Deathstroke's spell until he made it clear he had no problem sacrificing her along with the rest of the captured Titans (except Nightwing).

While Deathstroke was at his most vile in this movie, he's not the main villain. Instead he's working on behalf of a fanatical cult ran by Brother Blood (Greg Henry) and Mother Mayhem (Meg Foster). Their plan involved absorbing the Titans powers through a machine so Brother Blood could become a god. 

It's a convoluted plan that inevitably failed with Terra eventually siding with the Titans and sacrificing herself to help save the day. Terra's sacrifice did affect the team and there's a lovely moment with Kevin Smith (yes, it was really him) talking to Beast Boy about her and being a Titan in general.

- Wonder Girl, the Donna Troy version joined the team after Terra. The original Titans also included Bumblebee (Masasa Moyo), Kid Flash (Jason Spisak) and Arsenal (Crispin Freeman).

- Other subplots included Nightwing and Starfire moving in together and Blue Beetle volunteering at a soup kitchen as well as reconnecting with his family.

- A post credit scene revealed that Jericho survived from being shot by Mother Mayhem.

- Chronology: A year since the events of Justice League vs. Teen Titans.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract adapted that particular comic story rather well, even with the sheer horror of Deathstroke and Terra's relationship. The various subplots are also handled pretty well. 

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016)

 

Written by Bryan Q. Miller

Directed by Alan Burnett

Ra's al Ghul: "You dare disobey me? Have you forgotten your heritage? You are an al Ghul."

Robin: "No... I'm a Titan!"

Following two movies where Batman (Jason O'Mara) had to grapple with a son like Damian Wayne/Robin (Stuart Allan), it seemed that both father and son realised that they couldn't really work with other no more. Fortunately there was a solution.

The solution being that Damian needed to interact with people closer to his age, so instead of assisting the Justice League, it was decided that he'd join the Teen Titans instead. Given Damian's social skills, this would be a bit of a doozy for him. The kid doesn't make the greatest of first impressions.

With Nightwing (Sean Maher) more as a former member, the group were led by Starfire (Karin Wahlgren) and comprised of Raven (Taissa Farmiga), Beast Boy (Brandon Soo Hoo) and Blue Beetle (Jake T. Austin). Damian managed to butt heads with all of them and got literally roasted by one of them with Raven having to step in to heal him.

As I've watched later movies, I know this continuity was hinting at a potential romance between Robin and Raven. In this movie, the two certainly clashed but also knew each other because of Raven healing Damian. This also meant Damian made a point to Starfire about Raven not being vetted. I trust Raven but Damian actually made a fair point.

Yup, the big bad in this movie of course was Raven's father, Trigon (Jon Bernthal) and he made a point of possessing Batman, Superman (Jerry O'Connell), Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), The Flash (Christopher Gorham) and Cyborg (Shemar Moore). This alone made the Teen Titans step up as a team in order to stop the threat of Trigon.

As a team, this lot definitely had their ups and downs and while Damian was his usual dour self, the more the movie progress the more he actually gelled with his team. By the end of the movie, he had successfully become a member while Raven had the perfect imprisonment for her hellish father.

- Other villains that popped up in this movie were Lex Luthor/Toyman (Steve Blum), Ra's al Ghul (Terrence C. Carson), Weather Wizard/Solomon Grundy/Atomic Skull (Rick D. Wasserman) and Cheetah.

- Setting up the next movie was a brief cameo from Terra towards the end of this movie.

- This movie made it clear that Superman and Wonder Woman were a couple.

- Chronology: Not long since the events of Batman vs. Robin. This movie was also released the same month as Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

Justice League vs. Teen Titans might not be the most epic of smackdowns but for an opening animated movie for this particular group, it's really good. The Trigon story was adapted well and Damian's progression as a character and working with others was a highlight.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Skeleton Key (2005)

 

Written by Ehren Kruger

Directed by Iain Softly

Luke/Justify: "Cecile? You all right?"

Caroline/Cecile: "I'm fine now, Justify."

Luke/Justify: "A fair bit harder than the lawyer, wasn't it?"

Caroline/Cecile: "It gets harder every time. They just don't believe like they used to. Gotta get 'em all riled up."

Going for something a tad more underrated on the horror front and I went for this movie from nearly twenty years ago. Sometimes being good at your job can really come back to get you in the worst way.

That's something that nurse Caroline Ellis (Kate Hudson) ended up learning in the worst way she found herself having to help elderly Violet Devereaux (Gena Rowlands) with her husband, Benjamin (John Hurt). The latter being a recent victim of a stroke after a mysterious encounter in the attic of their Southern homestead.

Except for the fact that no one can seemingly get into the attic as even the skeleton key that Caroline was given cannot open the attic. This naturally created some conflict between Caroline and the increasingly cagey Violet but Caroline seemed to have gained an ally in family estate's lawyer, Luke Marshall (Peter Sarsgaard) as well as her best friend, Jill Dupay (Joy Bryant).

The latter in particular introduced Caroline to a hoodoo women who gave her the tools to try and help Ben out of his paralysis. As the movie progressed there's a history lesson about former house slaves and hoodoo practitioners, Mama Cecile (Jeryl Prescott) and Papa Justify (Ronald McCall) along with the dangers of belief.

It turned out that being skeptical about the power of hoodoo was the actual life saver but the moment that Caroline's skepticism was shattered, she ended up becoming vulnerable to attack. For all of her efforts to save Ben, she ended up with exactly the same fate as him.

It's a particularly brutal ending with Caroline confined to Violet's body and now rendered in a stroke like condition alongside Ben while Mama Cecile and Papa Justify had both Caroline and Luke's bodies to continue their cycle of living forever. At some point, you'd think they'd just leave that house.

- What happened to Luke's soul? Did he end up in the mirror as well?

- We had a bit of a backstory about Caroline's parent, notably the relationship she had with her father.

- Standout music: Barefoot Dancing by Blackbud and Do Whatcha Wanna by ReBirth Brass Band.

- Chronology: 2000s Louisiana.

The Skeleton Key might have a few plot holes and gaps in logic but it's a decent enough horror flick with a suitably nasty ending for Caroline. The performances are solid enough to boot.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Wolf Man (2025)

 

Written by Leigh Whannell And Corbett Tuck

Directed by Leigh Whannell

Blake: "Sometimes when you're a daddy, you're so scared of your kids getting scars that you become the thing that scars them."

The second film released this year that I've actually seen and it's another horror themed one. It's also another one in a universe that was technically scrapped but still part of a series of standalone movies that could've been part of that universe had things been different.

Back in 2020, director Leigh Whannell went for a grounded and socially relevant take on The Invisible Man that ended up being a massive success for him. For this adaptation of Wolf Man, I can see why Whannell decided to go for a similar approach. However, it's not a case of second time successful.

Anyways, the movie opened with a younger Blake Lovell (Zac Chandler) being berated by his hunter father Grady (Sam Jaeger) about having survival skills. Cut to three decades later and a much older Blake (Christopher Abbott) along with his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth) find themselves on old stomping ground.

Following the death of Grady, Blake brought his family into the woods to his old house and a local man named Derek (Benedict Hardie) ended up being wolf fodder. Well, given the title of the movie, how could he not?

As for Blake, his transformation into the titular werewolf might be one of the worst cases of Hollywood trying to ground a fantastical concept. The prosthetics are some of the absolute worst I've seen on an actor depicting a werewolf. Films from nearly a century ago did a better job. Why did this movie decide to horribly half ass it?

The movie tried to ratchet up the tension as a feral Blake turned on his family but while the focus on Charlotte and Ginger was understandable, it's the second time in a row where Whannell has adapted a horror baddie/creature but pivoted the focus elsewhere. It also didn't work here like it did in his previous effort, making the last scene lack any real bite to proceedings.

- Originally Ryan Gosling was attached to play the title character before he dropped out and was replaced with Christopher Abbott.

- Leigh Whannell had a voice role as Dan Kiel.

- There was deleted scene involved Blake's ALS-stricken mother. Blake was also meant resemble having neurodegenerative diseases like ALS.

- Chronology: 2025 San Francisco but mostly Oregon in this movie, which was filmed in New Zealand.

I really wanted to like Wolf Man and on paper, I can see why Whannell made the choices he did but nothing works here. It's just such a misfire on nearly every level and the wolf look was genuinely awful.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Batman And Superman: Battle Of The Super Sons (2022)

 

Written by Jeremy Adams 

Directed by Matt Peters

Jonathan (to Damian): "I'm kind of new to this super-strength thing. Just give me a minute."

Keeping with a certain character this week, there's been a few of these DC Animated films that have slipped my notice and this was one that I had forgotten even existed in the first place. Anyways, I watched it yesterday evening, so that's been rectified.

Set in its continuity, you've got Jonathan Kent (Jack Dylan Grazer), the son of Superman/Clark Kent (Travis Willingham) and Lois Lane (Laura Bailey). Jonathan thought his parents were a bit dull and was disappointed when his father missed his baseball game. Then he discovered he had heat vision.

On top of that, he also discovered his father was Superman and the idea of being a future superhero was something that genuinely excited Jonathan. Then there was meeting both Batman (Troy Baker) and Robin/Damian Wayne (Jack Griffo). Jonathan somewhat clashed with the latter.

However despite both Jonathan and Damian getting off on the wrong foot with each, when both their fathers got taken over by the spores of Starro (Darin De Paul), they literally had no one else but each other. Okay, there's a subplot with Lois trying to get Lex Luthor (Darin De Paul) but it's mostly just them.

As a team, this movie needed both Jonathan and Damian to be on the same page and for the former's power set to fully kick in. They were the only ones who posed a threat to Starro and it was through their team work that managed to free the rest of the possessed heroes from Starro's grasp and stop him.

Along with both father/son duos besting Starro, the film also had Damian fail to get into the Titans but reject their latter offer in favour of working with Jonathan. It's a rather a funny turn of events but also the best move for Damian as well.

- Credit to this movie for actually giving Damian his pet cow but how did he not know how to milk it?

- Wonder Girl and Lara (Myrna Velasco), Green Arrow and The Penguin (Tom Kenny), Jimmy Olsen (Zeno Robinson) and Jor-El (Nolan North) all factored here as did Martian Manhunter, The Flash and Krypto.

- This film was done in CGI, which took some getting used to, compared to the usual animation of other DC movies.

- Chronology: Present day story that focused on Jonathan's birthday. 

Batman And Superman: Battle Of The Super Sons was a rather straightforward invasion story/team up origin story for both Jonathan and Damian. It's not the best DC Animated movie but it's charming enough to pass the time.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Batman vs. Robin (2015)

 

Written by J. M. DeMatteis

Directed by Jay Oliva

Batman (to Talon): "You and the Court tried to take control of my city and destroy my home... but worst of all, you messed with my kid. So this is gonna hurt and I'm gonna enjoy it."

Following the introduction of Damian Wayne/Robin (Stuart Allan) in the previous movie, the road for him and his father, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Jason O'Mara) was always going to be fraught. In this movie, they both came to blows big time.

In some ways, there's more empathy on Damian here because a lot of his acting out was fairly justified. His own father won't acknowledge his identity, both publicly or privately with suspicious new girlfriend, Samantha Vanaver (Grey DeLisle). It's enough to make any child want to act out.

On top of that while Damian does have that more knee jerk reaction to things, I actually don't blame him for losing it with Dollmaker ("Weird Al" Yankovic) at the start of the movie. However, it's all of these things that allowed the gap to be widened between father and son here.

It also gave the Court of Owls and their most faithful acolyte, Talon (Jeremy Sisto) an opening to further that gap between Batman and Robin. Talon certainly pretended to be the father figure Damian wanted and Damian certainly let himself believe the violent stranger had his best interests at heart.

As for the Court of Owls, it's the usual for them. They want to reshape Gotham into their own image as well as trying to intimidate Bruce Wayne and have Talon replace Damian for a sacrifice. Samantha being part of the Court of Owls and being Talon's lover was treated almost as an afterthought that even Batman didn't seem the least surprised by it.

As for Batman and Robin, I think the latter's breakdown of everyone being in his head and trying to find his own identity was nicely handled. It also allowed Robin the chance to take a trip to the Himalayas in order to find himself. 

- This movie was partially based on the 2011 Batman: The Court Of Owls arc.

- Nightwing (Sean Maher) had to cancel a romantic get together with Starfire in order to babysit Damian.

-  Kevin Conroy had a brief role as Thomas Wayne during flashbacks where a young Bruce first heard about the Court of Owls.

- Chronology: A few months since the events of Son Of Batman.

Batman vs. Robin was a strong follow up to its predecessor for Damian Wayne with the story bring pretty sympathetic towards him. I think the Court of Owls and Talon are also handled particularly well here too.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Son Of Batman (2014)

 

Written by Joe R. Lansdale

Directed by Ethan Spaulding

Deathstroke: "Finish me. You were trained to kill your enemies, weren't you? It's what you want."

Damian: "It's what I would do."

Deathstroke: "It's what your grandfather would do. Well, do it!"

Damian: "No. I'm my father's son, too. I'm Robin."

In 2006, Batman's world took quite a turn after decades of mentoring Robins and Batgirls, he actually had a son of his own. Eight years later, DC Animated Movies decided to introduce the son in question into their movie continuity.

This movie opened with Damian Wayne (Stuart Allan) and his mother, Talia Al Ghul (Morena Baccarin) witnessing the murder of Ras Al Ghul (Giancarlo Esposito) at the hands of an overzealous Deathstroke (Thomas Gibson). Running out of options, Talia had no choice but to introduce Batman (Jason O'Mara) to his son.

Bring raised by the League of Assassins posed quite a challenge for Batman when it came to bonding with Damian. The kid's a precocious and rather violent little sod, who unlike his father didn't have a problem with killing. He also didn't have a problem reminding both Nightwing (Sean Maher) and Alfred Pennyworth (David McCallum) that he was the blood son.

Damian's a character I've taken a long time to warm to and this movie alone certainly highlighted his worse traits, even if his upbringing really did explain them. While he did butt heads with his father on many an occasion, the two of them do make for a good team against Deathstroke. Damian took on the Robin mantle.

Getting back to Deathstroke, he kept Talia prisoner in the hopes of drawing out both Batman and the new Robin but his main plan was more than that. Using Dr Kirk Langstrom (Xander Berkeley), Slade wanted an army of Man-Bats and to take over the League of Assassins. He almost succeeded.

However he had gravely underestimated Batman and Robin and while the latter was almost tempted to kill him, Batman's growing influence on Damian stopped the boy from carrying out the task. That's probably another reason why Talia then ended up letting Damian stay with his father and be Robin. Even she knew that he was better off with Batman.

- A post credit scene showed the fight between Nightwing and Robin, which the latter just about managed to win.

- The movie skirted around the way in which Damian was conceived between Bruce and Talia.

- There's some cameo appearances from Joker, Killer Croc and Ubu.

- Chronology: It was the third movie in the DC Animated Movie Universe.

I'll admit that while Son Of Batman reminded me of why I initially disliked Damian Wayne as a character, it also was the best way of introducing the character and building his relationship with Batman. Deathstroke served as a decent antagonist too.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Harley Quinn: "Breaking Brainiac"

 

Written by Katie Rich

Directed by Diana Huh

Brainiac (to Coco): "I will never again have a home. I shall forever drift in the cosmos raging against imperfection."

Following the ending of last week's and the title for this one, the focus on Brainiac was by far the best thing the show could've done. This episode gave quite the origin story for the guy.

On Colu, Brainiac was certainly living up to his name, which for the most impressed his wife but it saw some conflict with his son. With his own world being 1% off perfect, Brainiac dismissed the need for concern. That would be something Brainiac would live to regret.

With his pet monkey, Koko for company, Brainiac found his world destroyed and his family killed. This gave him the mission to wipe out imperfection as he went along. If it meant taking cities like Kandor off the map, then Brainiac had no problem doing such a thing. Then Metropolis got his attention.

Yes, as the episode got into its final five minutes, Brainiac had to deal with both Harley and Ivy being openly hostile towards him. In fact had Lena Luthor not stepped in and revealed she was working with Brainiac (not a shocker), Harley might have been dead on the spot.

Instead Harley and Ivy had their memories wiped, got sent back to their apartment where they ate takeout and Lena wanted them to be more sociable in Metropolis. While Ivy seemed blissfully unaware of everything, there was a part of Harley that was trying to remember her encounter with Brainiac.

- Apparently Harley can lose herself for hours when scrolling through this show's version of Instagram.

- Lena seemed very adamant about Brainiac sparing Harley/Ivy in exchange for having Metropolis.

- Humans came in at 0.2%. It's no wonder Brainiac doesn't think so highly of us. Koko was also a pile of bones.

- Chronology: Colu, Space Sector 1287 for the start of the episode, setting up Brainiac's origin.

Breaking Brainiac was definitely a great origin episode for the character. The sympathetic villain backstory, maybe it's a bit cliched but it's well executed here and I'm intrigued but not surprised by Lena's team up with Brainiac.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Aftersun (2022)

 

Written And Directed by Charlotte Wells

Sophie (to Calum): "When you were 11, what did you think you would be doing now?"

With a certain awards ceremony next month, I decided to go back and look back at something from a few years ago that I missed out on. That would be this particular film.

Told in a fairly mixed up format, this movie focused on a young father named Calum Patterson (Paul Mescal) and his young daughter, Sophie (Frankie Corio) taking a vacation to Turkey in order to reconnect with each other.

Throughout the film, you see the pair at a tourist resort interacting with some of the locals, doing activities such as scuba diving and mud baths while also getting to know each other a bit better than before. Mentions of other family members, particularly Sophie's mother do happen quite a bit, including a phone both Sophie and Calum have with her.

Calum as a father does come across as someone who's eager to be there for Sophie and he does often let her do her own thing, including hanging out with slightly older kids and not reacting badly when she admitted to having her first kiss with a boy her age. It's also made clear that Calum did suffer from depression.

Sophie herself did seem very eager to also connect with her father and she's savvy enough to see through some of Calum's bluster and gently call him out on it. The reveal at the end of a much older version of the character (Celia Rowlson-Hall) with her own wife and child was a little unexpected.

The back and forth between Calum and Sophie as they spent more time with each other was gripping. There's some great scenes in a rave, especially with Calum that are gorgeously shot. Not to mention his comments about living past 30 were rather haunting as well.

- It's an emotionally autobiographical movie from writer/director, Charlotte Wells.

- Both Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio had a two week rehearsal before filming. Mescal's Scottish accent was pretty on point.

- Standout music: Losing My Religion, Drinking In LA, For He's A Jolly Good Fellow and Under Pressure.

- Chronology: Calum turned 31 during the holiday and I think Sophie was around that age when we met the older version of the character. She was 11 for the majority of the movie. Took place in Ölüdeniz, Turkey.

Aftersun reeled me in with two exceptional performances from both Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio. They're absolutely amazing together and Wells's direction and writing brought out the best for both actors. This was an incredible movie.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Reboot - Hulu Pilot Order Nearing With Sarah Michelle Gellar Returning

Well, I certainly didn't expect this on my bingo card for 2025 and yet, I probably should've done.

Today, it was announced that a reboot of classic 1990s show, Buffy The Vampire Slayer would be happening with Hulu and better yet, series star Sarah Michelle Gellar (currently playing Tanya Martin on Paramount+ series Dexter: Origin Sin) would be returning. 

Executive produced by Gellar along with writers Nora and Lilla Zuckerman (Poker Face). Both Nora and Lilla write the pilot episode, which will be directed by Chloe Zhao (Nomadland, Eternals). Original series’ executive producers Gail Berman of the Jackal Group and Fran Kuzui & Kaz Kuzui via Suite B will also be involved with the upcoming potential series.

Right now, its a pilot that has yet to be officially picked up as a series but a writers room will be assembled with the possibility of other cast members possibly involved at a later date. The show will represent a new chapter for the popular supernatural show. 

Now for the elephant in the room - will the show involve series creator Joss Whedon? Nope, it will not. The announcement made that abundantly clear but after years of ruling out reprising the role, it seems that Sarah Michelle Gellar has finally warmed to the idea. 

Years ago, I would've hated this idea but now and with the talent involved, I'm cautiously optimistic about this one.

Announcement: https://deadline.com/2025/02/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-reboot-sarah-michelle-gellar-hulu-pilot-chloe-zhao-1236273767/

I'll post more information on this potential revival as it comes out. 

My Review of Fantastic Four (2015)

Written by Jeremy Slater And Simon Kinberg And Josh Trank

Directed by Josh Trank 

Reed: "Victor, don't do this!"

Victor: "There is no Victor... there is only Doom!"

Oh dear. After a rather fun duology for this group in the 2000s, the 2010s were less kind to them. This one movie really felt like such a setback that even if their upcoming MCU isn't a slam dunk, it's already a step from this epic misfire.

I've seen plenty of mediocre and downright bad superhero movies but this movie managed to miscast four leads who've been generally good in other projects but here are rather devoid of chemistry and felt completely wrong for the parts. Mainly because they're all too young for the roles they've been cast in.

Anyways social outcasts Reed Richards (Miles Teller) and Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) become fast friends due to being social outcasts and having terrible families. They also bonded over a project that allowed them to potentially teleport.

That particular project attracted the attention of the government and in particular, Dr Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and soon both Reed and Ben were working under Franklin and the latter's gifted children, Sue (Kate Mara) and Johnny (Michael B. Jordan). Oh and massively disliked genius, Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbel) for good measure.

Soon enough, you've got scientific advancements going awry and the group (and Victor) ended up with their usual power set. Only Reed decided to abandon the group and it took both Ben and Sue to get him help out with a much bigger problem. Of course that problem would be Doom.

Yes, another movie with this group and Doom as the main villain and try as he did, Toby Kebbel really failed to deliver any menace or campy fun to the iconic baddie. Of course when Doom did get defeated and the group managed to leverage their own freedom from the government, there was the issue of coming up with a decent name.

- There's no Stan Lee cameo or mid/post credit scene with this movie.

- Michael B. Jordan would later go on to play Kilmonger in the Black Panther movies for the MCU while co-writer Jeremy Slater would take on Moon Knight for Disney+.

- It seems like both Josh Trank and Jeremy Slater had very different ideas in how to handle this movie with Simon Kinberg having to rewrite the script.

- Chronology: 2007, 2014 and 2015 in New York, Central City and Central America.

There's no denying that this version of Fantastic Four might be as far from fantastic as you can get. It's an absolute mess of a movie, very much miscast with it's leads and visually unappealing from start to finish. There's nothing good I can say about this one.

Rating: 4 out of 10 

My Review of Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer (2007)

 

Written by Don Payne And Mark Frost And John Turman

Directed by Tim Story

The Silver Surfer: "Treasure each moment with her and tell her she's right, we do have a choice."

With the 2005 movie being a success, a sequel was to be expected and it's not one that was exactly beloved. Is it really that bad? I guess I'm going to against the grain and say not really. I don't hate it but it's certainly shorter than expected.

Anyways, you've got the wedding of Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) and Susan Storm (Jessica Alba) and needless to say, it's not an event that doesn't go without a hitch. Whether it's Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) on bachelor party duties with certain women and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Michael Chiklis), there's also the title character making their presence known.

Yup, the Silver Surfer aka Norton Radd (Laurence Fishburne/Doug Jones) being a menace in the sky had Reed researching him behind Susan's back at the behest of General Hager (Andre Braugher) and the title character also disrupted Reed and Sue's first attempt to get married. Needless to say that didn't exactly endear the character to the title.

Speaking of characters not on the endearing, Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon) returned for seconds, seemingly wanting to help the Fantastic Four with the Silver Surfer. Of course, it was clear that he had his own agenda and Sue soon realised that the Silver Surfer wasn't the villain of the piece. Sue was the first to figure that out about the title character.

The real villain of the piece that wasn't Doom was of course, Galactus. This version was basically a planet eating cloud that Silver Surfer was a servant. Silver Surfer did get something of a heroic sacrifice when She became a casualty of Galactus while Doom also got his ass handed to him for the second movie in a row.

As for the rest of the movie, we saw Reed and Sue eventually get married and briefly consider disbanding the team. We also got a little more depth with Ben's relationship with Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington) while Johnny met his match with the less easy to impress Captain Raye (Beau Garrett). 

- Captain Raye's first name was Frankie and yeah, she was a nod to Nova. Not that you'd know, lol.

- A post credit scene confirmed that Silver Surfer actually survived the events of this movie.

- Stan Lee made an appearance as a rejected wedding guest called Stan Lee.

- Chronology: A while since the events of the first movie. New York, Shanghai and Japan.

I had a lot of fun with Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer. The power swapping antics were amusing, the title character was nicely handled and our four leads were on fine form. The only flaws were the shorter run time and Doom feeling tacked on and Galactus not being used as well as they could've been.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Fantastic Four (2005)

 

Written by Mark Frost And Michael France

Directed by Tim Story

Reed: "I'm trying to figure out why we each ended up with different symptoms."

Johnny: "Oh, well that's easy: I'm hot. You're... well, you're a little limp. Sue's easy to see through. And Ben's always been a hardass."

With the imminent arrival of the MCU version of this particular group, it was time to back twenty years and watch the first successful attempt of a live action translation. I mean there's a certain hot guy here who became even hotter when he took up a shield six years after this movie's release.

Now, for the titular group themselves, we've got scientists and former couple Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) and Susan Storm (Jessica Alba), the latter's younger and reckless brother, Johnny (Chris Evans) and the former's best friend, Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis). Add a space mission at the behest of their boss, Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) and suddenly this group levelled up.

Yup, within the first half of the movie we had Reed discovering he could stretch, Sue becoming invisible when her emotions heightened, Johnny literally being too hot to handle and Ben having his skin harden and gaining super strength. Out of them all, Ben was the one who liked his powers the least.

It also didn't help that Johnny not only counted the Fantastic Four terms but Mr Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch and The Thing were also on him. Personally, I think Ben almost went easy on Johnny as the latter was definitely pushing his luck. On the other hand, the new powers were also instrumental in getting Reed and Susan to reconnect, much to Victor's jealousy.

Yes, there's a love triangle between Reed, Susan and Victor and the latter himself also got infected by the same accident as everyone else. Victor's transformation into Doctor Doom was done pretty well and he certainly did his best to try and kill off the Fantastic Four. Even Susan wasn't safe from his wrath but it was Doctor Doom's attack on the group that finally made them unite as a team.

After a lot of bickering and fighting between the title team, it was great to see them band together in order to defeat Doctor Doom and become a proper team. As for Doctor Doom, well, let's just say that we haven't seen the last of him.

- Stan Lee had a cameo appearance as Willie Lumpkin and a deleted scene also had Reed change into Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).

- There's some nice supporting roles for Kerry Washington as blind artist, Alicia Masters and Hamish Linklater as Victor's assistant, Leonard.

- Some changes were made to the movie in order to avoid comparisons to The Incredibles.

- Chronology: 2005 New York with Doom also being transported back to Latveria.

Fantastic Four has aged pretty well as a movie. It's light, fun, breezy and doesn't overstay it's welcome. The title group and Doom are cast well and the origins for both are nicely handled. It's a really fun debut for this group.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

DCU Blog - January 2025 Edition: Supergirl First Look, Puppy Bowl, Sinestro And More

We're just one month into 2025 and the DCU news has been coming at all corners. The majority being good fortunately. Here goes.

Filming for Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow has begun in the UK and this first look of Milly Alcock was released. David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham have been cast as Kara's parents.

David Leitch has expressed interest in making a solo movie for Lobo. Jason Momoa's role in Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow as Lobo will be a small one.

Josh Brolin has admitted that he's in talks for a big role in the DCU.

James Mangold has admitted his vision for his yet to be greenlit Swamp Thing movie will be more of a standalone event.

Superman (2025) will not have a trailer for the Superbowl in February but the Puppy Bowl will feature something relating to Krypto. The movie will have a presence at CinemaCon in April.

In news that's not too shocking, the second season of Peacemaker will have a new dance sequence.

A logo for DC Elseworlds projects is currently being worked on. This really is a smart idea.

DC animated movies to expect this year include Batman Ninja Vs. Yakuza League and Atzec Batman: Clash Of Empires.

Andy Muschietti recently admitted in an interview why he felt The Flash movie failed while also confirming that The Brave And The Bold won't be happening for a while.

Matt Reeves has also confirmed that filming for The Batman - Part II will take place later in 2025. They're not merging universes.

Joker: Folie A Deux found itself being nominated for the Razzies, including nominations for both Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. Yikes.

James Gunn has admitted that he's currently writing another DCU project at the moment. 

Ulrich Thomsen has been cast as Sinestro for the upcoming Lanterns series for HBO. Cameras have started rolling already.

The final season of Superman And Lois will air Sundays at 11.30pm on BBC1 from February 9th. All the episodes will be available on iPlayer.

Colin Farrell won a Golden Globe for his performance in The Penguin. The show has since been nominated for SAG awards.

Creature Commandos second season is currently being worked on. Other characters that nearly made it on the show included Solomon Grundy, Man-Bat and Vincent Velcoro.

That's it for this month. The DCU officially has begun. Expect bigger news throughout the year.

My Review of Harley Quinn: "Floronic Man"

 

Written by Vidhya Iyer 

Directed by Joonki Park

Floronic Man: "Goodbye my sweet Pamela."

After last week's episode, I had slightly hoped that the creation of Floronic Man would be something of a multi episode problem for both Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Obviously this show had other ideas.

The episode started with Harley finding out about Ivy killing Jason Woodrue and making it a bit too much about herself. It even got to the point where Harley even interrupted one of Ivy's lectures, which was somewhat annoying.

Of course that was the least of Ivy's problems as once she was in the Green, she had to contend with her toxic ex yet again. Jason Woodrue was now Floronic Man and he was very much in the mood to kill Ivy. Had it not been for the intervention of both Harley and Frank, he definitely would've succeeded on that front.

Harley destroying Jason's body in the real world stopped him from killing both Ivy and Frank. Add a nice making up scene between Harley and Ivy and then the two of them ended up in Brainiac's ship because they're a bigger threat to him than a certain Kryptonian.

As for the B-plot, it was fun enough. Clayface took a bad review so badly that he kidnapped Perry White, impersonated him at the Daily Planet and hired Bane to be a theatre reviewer for the paper. He also unwisely ignored Lois's growing concern about Brainiac's ship in the sky. 

- Clayface really did get the struggling actor's apartment in Metropolis, huh? His depiction of Pearl Harbour was problematic.

- Harley walked into two different rooms with students having sex with each other before finding Woodrue.

- Frank eats Ivy's lipstick, even the discontinued one.

- Chronology: A few days after the previous episode.

For the most part, I did enjoy Floronic Man as an episode but I was a bit disappointed with how quickly he was taken out as a villain. On the other hand, it's nice that the Brainiac plot has taken off.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Nosferatu (2024)

 

Written And Directed by Robert Eggers

Ellen: "Come to me. Come to me. A guardian angel. A spirit of comfort. Spirit of any celestial sphere. Anything. Hear my call. Come to me."

Count Orlok: "You. You awakened me from an eternity of darkness. You... You... You are not for the living. You are not for human kind."

I've been anticipating this movie for quite a while. Like many, I'm a fan of Robert Eggers as a director and I was definitely curious to see how he would adapt the 1922 classic for a modern audience. It turns out, spectacularly.

Making it even creepier and darker than the original, Nosferatu (Bill Skarsgard) himself would be the result of a lonely Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) summoning him when she was younger and essentially an outcast within her own family. It's an interesting development already.

Of course finding true love with Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) would remove the need for Nosferatu but the latter only became enraged by her relationship with Thomas and sought to destroy it. Nosferatu had Hutter's boss, Herr Knock (Simon McBurney) bring the latter to him while he invaded Ellen's dreams.

Ellen had a friend in Anna Harding (Emma Corrin) who was mostly sympathetic to her plight but the latter's husband, Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) wasn't as gracious to Ellen. In fact, he wasted no time abandoning both Ellen and Thomas when they needed help the most and upon Anna's death, it was Ellen he blamed out of everyone.

As for Ellen and Thomas, their love really was tested throughout this adaptation with the former confessing the origins of her connection to Nosferatu and the latter not taking it so well. Of course there are least two allies in their corner to help battle Nosferatu.

The allies being the compassionate Dr. Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson). Sievers was more modern thinking as a doctor and genuinely wanted to help both Ellen and Thomas as did Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz  (Willem Dafoe). Ultimately to defeat Nosferatu, a sacrifice needed to be made.

The sacrifice being Ellen herself. It made sense for this adaptation and it certainly gave this movie one hell of a poignant ending as Ellen was the one to bring the end of Nosferatu's reign of terror. The last shot in particular was rather evocative.

- Originally this was going to be Robert Eggers second film after the success of his debut, The VVitch.

- The character or Count Orlok aka Nosferatu was inspired by Vlad the Impaler as was Dracula himself. Bill Skarsgard did audition for Thomas Hutter before getting the title character.

- Had things been different, it could've been Anya Taylor-Joy and Harry Styles in this movie.

- Chronology: 1838, Germany and Transylvania.

Nosferatu was an absolute triumph. Robert Eggers struck gold with this adaptation and the performances from the likes of Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgard and Willem Dafoe alone are utterly sublime. It's genuinely horrifying, atmospheric, a little bit sexy and downright creepy in parts. Beautiful.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Scream 7 - Additional Casting News

Well, the production of Scream 7, now currently filming in Atlanta certainly hasn't been dull and over the last week, we've had more major casting news.

First of all, let's talk Sidney Prescott's (Neve Campbell) husband. In 2022, it was revealed that she was married to Mark and had children with him. It was naturally assumed that it was Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey) from Scream 3. It was also expected that Dempsey's casting was about to be announced as production started up.

However in a twist no-one saw coming, it turns out that Sidney instead married a man named Mark Evans and he's being played by Joel McHale. To say, the reception to this development has been divisive would be an understatement but a week has passed and most seem to have now calmed down on the idea of the former Community actor playing Sidney's husband.

Gettong back to returns though, if it was shocking that Mason Gooding was reprising his role as Chad Meeks-Martin, then it's even more surprising that Yellowjackets star Jasmin Savoy Brown will also be returning as Mindy. That now means that Scream 7 will have Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Roger L. Jackson, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown reprising their respective roles alongside newcomers Anna Camp, Joel McHale, Isabel May, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O'Connor, Asa Germann and Sam Rechner.

Also added to the cast officially was Mark Consuelos. The Riverdale actor will apparently play a rival TV host named Robbie to Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox). Not much else is known about his character but if he's not a potential Ghostface, I wouldn't be shocked if he ends up having a very public killing by the masked killer/s on air. 

Other rumoured actors include Victor Turpin (Shades Of Blue) and Amy Louise Pemberton (Legends Of Tomorrow). If their casting gets confirmed or more casting is announced within the week, I'll edit this blog. 

Scream 7 will be in theatres from February 27th 2026.

My Review of Harley Quinn: "Back To School"

 

Written by Leslie Schapira

Directed by Christina Manrique

Ivy (to Dr Woodrue): "It's Poison Ivy now!"

Well, it only took five seasons but hey, better late than never. If you were hoping the show would stick the landing with Poison Ivy's backstory, then this episode certainly delivered on that front.

Now that Ivy has decided to work for Lena Luthor, the latter introduced her to Dr Jason Woodrue. Truthfully, it's a reintroduction for Ivy and she's not happy with seeing her former boyfriend/mentor/would be killer. However, Ivy decided that revenge was the order of the day.

In flashbacks, we saw Ivy challenge Woodrue in classes while also being romantically involved with him. When she showed her prototype of combining human and plants via baby Frank, Jason wanted the credit. Ivy didn't want that and he tried to kill her, forcing Ivy to create herself so to speak.

Ivy's thirst for revenge led to her exacting the same fate to Jason that he did to her. By the end of the episode, she helped to create Floronic Man and just as bad, she didn't tell Harley about it either. I don't imagine it'll be too long before both Harley and Ivy realise that Floronic Man will be a problem for them.

As for Harley, she got suckered into babysitting King Shark's rambunctious children with one of them being a particular pest for her. Add in a birthday party for Bane's adopted daughter, Goldilocks, a fake Pippa Middleton and Vincent Edge and this plot wasn't as strong as the Ivy one but still entertaining nonetheless.

- Lena seems to be too accommodating towards Harley and Ivy's wave of destruction that she has to have an ulterior motive.

- In the comics, Vincent Edge was part of Intergang, so I guess we'll be seeing them fairly soon.

- It's a good job that I did watch Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! given the way this season has referenced events from that show.

- Chronology: Not long from where the first episode left off.

Back To School had its moments. The Ivy storyline was easily the best part of this one with some very real present day consequences while Harley's was suitably chaotic and pretty fun.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Blade: Trinity (2004)

 

Written And Directed by David S. Goyer

Dracula: "Blade, ready to die?"

Blade: "I was born ready motherfucker!"

Dracula: "Motherfucker... I like that."

Okay, finishing off this trilogy, I noticed we had a certain co-lead who at the time did not get along with the leading man of the piece. Saying that, twenty years later would be a different situation but here, yup, two of the three main leads weren't on the best of terms with each other.

For the first two movies, Blade (Wesley Snipes) had his mentor, Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) to work but here, the latter's role was somewhat diminished and instead we got his daughter, Abigail (Jessica Biel) and former vampire, Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) to aid the titular vampire instead.

As an actor, Ryan Reynolds does have a a certain schtick and even in the early 2000s, it's very much apparent. His version of Hannibal King basically felt like a proto Deadpool throughout the entire film and oftentimes he was the weakest of the trio. Physically too, given that his character got captured and beaten up quite a bit.

Then there's Abigail herself. I don't think this trilogy was good with women and Abigail herself did feel like a generic action girl but she's a competent one who worked well with both Blade and Hannibal throughout the movie itself. Other women included scientist Sommerfield (Natasha Lynne) and young girl Zoe (Ginger "Haili" Page), both of whom were decent enough.

There was also Hannibal's vicious ex-girlfriend, Danica Talos (Parker Posey). Along with her brother, Asher (Callum Keith Rennie), Jarko Grimeood (Triple H) and a few others, they had a goal. The goal was to rescue Drake aka Dracula (Dominic Purcell) while also framing Blade for a murder to distract. They were successful with the former but not so much the latter.

As a group of vampires, they were mostly entertaining, even going as far as making vampire dog hybrids but as a villain, Drake was bland as fuck. Dominic Purcell eluded little menace and seemed to be sleepwalking through the entire role. It's such a lifeless performance that did kill a lot of the momentum for the movie.

- Other roles in the movie included James Remar as FBI Agent Ray Cumberland, Christopher Heyerdahl as Caulder, Patton Oswalt as Hedges, John Michael Higgins as Dr. Edgar Vance and Eric Bogosian as Bentley Tittle.

- Sommerfield was reading about the Nome King to Zoe before that particular scene went down.

- Hannibal narrated and the end of the movie, hinting about Blade's fate after being infected. There's an alternative ending to that scene.

- Chronology: A few years since the previous movie with scenes in the Syrian Desert as well as the USA for most of the movie.

Blade: Trinity made for a dull ending to a largely mixed trilogy. There's some decent moments but between an extremely dull incarnation of Dracula and okayish sidekicks, I just didn't care for this one at all. 

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Blade II (2002)

 

Written by David S. Goyer

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Blade: "There's an old saying: Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer."

A few months ago, I watched the first Blade movie and I had intended to watch the sequels but I got caught up with other stuff. This month I went back to rewatch MCU movies I hadn't reviewed and I realised I needed to catch up with three sequels.

This one in particular had Blade (Wesley Snipes) searching for his former human turned vampire mentor Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) and reuniting with him in Prague. It's a bit of a tense reunion but soon enough both Blade and Whistler have bigger problems to deal with. Oh and there's Scud (Norman Reedus) too.

Anyways the main plot of this sequel involved a pandemic that severely affected both humans and vampires alike. This forced Blade, Whistler and Scud into teaming up with the Bloodpack gang. The Bloodpack included Asad (Danny John-Jules), Nyssa (Leonor Valera), Reinhardt (Ron Perlman), Chupa (Matt Schulze), Snowman (Donnie Yen), Priest (Tony Curran), Verlaine (Marit Velle Kile), and her lover, Lighthammer (Daz Crawford).

They're a motley crew and the team up with them and Blade, Whistler and Scud had its moments. In between bickering, a deeply heated rivalry between Blade and Reinhardt and Bloodpack members getting picked off, one by one, there was also the main threat himself.

Nyssa and her brother, Jared Nomak (Luke Goss), it was their father Eli Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann) who was the main villain. He had the great scheme to create a superior race of vampires and he was the one responsible for the Reapers problem. Not to mention that Scud was also revealed to be a traitor, though that didn't end well for him.

The rest of the movie itself dived into the final battle between Blade and Damaskinos and the latter's offspring. It's fine enough with Damaskinos getting his just desserts and Blade getting something of a power boost. There's a nice final moment for Nyssa, who was presented as a sympathetic character.

- Blade managed to get revenge on Rush (Santiago Segura) by the end of the movie.

- Goyer had planned to use Morbius but Marvel kept a hold on the character.

- Standout music: Cypress Hill and Roni Size's Child of the Wild West and Lennox "Buppy" Brown's Mind What You Say.

- Chronology: Two years have passed since the events of the first movie.

Blade II was an okay sequel. I feel like there's not a lot else to really say. The action sequences are fine, Damaskinos was a decent enough baddie, Blade and Whistler got some cool scene and Scud's betrayal didn't jar that much. I didn't love it but it didn't annoy me either as a sequel.

Rating: 6 out of 10