Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Review

Yesterday, "Superman Batman: Public Enemies" was released, which I purchased on BluRay. Here is my review... spoilers ahead.

In the midst of an economic crisis, Lex Luthor pulls the United States out of an economic meltdown, eventually gaining the public's trust and becoming President of the United States. Superman's arch nemesis is now leader of the free world. What does he do with this political power you ask? He uses it to bring down Superman... what else? Employing Captain Atom, Powergirl, Black Lightning and Major Force as a federal arm of law, Luthor uses the power of media and his newly formed team to discredit Superman, making him a wanted criminal.

Tim Daily, the original voice of Superman The Animated Series, returns for this film. It was a nice touch as I consider him a definitive voice for Superman much like I do Kevin Conroy for Batman. This movie is filled with action! If you followed the comic series this was inspired from, written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ed McGuiness, they follow the story fairly closely (giant BatSup robot included). There is a ton of action in this film, with some pretty long fight sequences. Most of the villains were literally appearances without speaking roles, simply to give or take a beating from Batman or Superman. The animation was handled quite well, incorporating the muscle-bound style of Ed McGuiness. One of my favorite parts of the film was when Batman and Superman were both heavily injured from a battle with Metallo. After fleeing due to heavy injury, they both help each other to journey through underground tunnels to reach the Batcave. Their cannon fodder chit-chat was pretty funny, displaying their friendship for each other. At one point, Superman calls Batman his best friend.

There is a definite air about this film being geared towards adults, especially hearing Lex yell "bitch" so prominently. The young-adult direction of DC's Animation is fantastic, without underestimating a younger audiences intellect. At the same time, not short-changing the adult audience.

What stood out in the "extras" that were included in the BluRay edtion was the dinner with Kevin Conry, Andrea Romano, Bruce Timm and Greg Noveck. In a candid and open discussion, they talk about how far along the DC Animated Universe has developed and all the ins-and-outs of working together. Being a long time fan, it was cool being able to understand the time lines and inside jokes they were referencing. I couldn't help but think that Mark Hamil would've been a great addition to that discussion, but something in side me wondered if he'd try to steal the spot light.

Overall, great BluRay purchase! I highly recommend buying it.

Season Premiere of The Simpson's

As promising as the season premiere looked for The Simpson's, I couldn't help but grow disappointed halfway through the show. Comic Book Guy and all the comic book references were the highlights of the show (they even nailed "Every-Man's" Iron Man pose). But beyond that, there was very little to even smile about.

To shed a some light on the episode, Every-Man, the brainchild character of Comic Book Guy, had the power to absorb powers by simply touching any comic book. Being convinced to self publish his comic, Every-Man grew popular enough to reach movie studio executives, to be turned into a major motion picture. Homer was chosen to play the lead role.

The moment Homer began taking charge of the episode, I quickly feel out of interest. I'm saddened by this, simply because The Simpson's hold a special place in my heart, being a fan of the show since grade school. It seems "Family Guy" and "South Park" have out done The Simpson's when it comes to raunchy tasteless jokes, which seems to make The Simpson's tame in humor by comparison. I'll still continue to watch the season, but won't be surprised when people aren't talking about it in the office the following day.

Joker Hot Toys - Parallel Eyeball Rolling System

Not only is the new head sculpt for the latest Hot Toys Dark Knight Joker beyond amazing, they've added a new eye system that allows even more depth and realism to these amazingly sculpted 1/6th figures! Not sure what's more creepy [and cool at the same time], moving Joker's eyes or taking the back of his head off to do so? Either way, great way to innovate already great figures!

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Breaking world records!

I hope my blog isn't coming off as a running advertisement for Batman: Arkham Asylum, but hearing that it holds a Guinness World Record for "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever." Then again, great superhero video games have never really existed until this Batman game came out.

It also sounds like there's are new DLC (downloadable content) challenge level, exclusive to the PS3 called "Heart of Darkness." Xbox owners who are Batman fans can't catch a break can they! I'm glad I own a PS3!

By the way, here's the awesome billboard I get to see everyday commuting into work.

The recession can't be this bad, can it?

Doing a toy run in the middle of errands, I couldn't help but laugh at these toys. Not that they're not great toys for kids, but it almost seems like a well suited image for our current economic times. Even superheroes need second jobs!

MTV True Life - "I'm a Fanboy"

Over the weekend I caught MTV's True Life episode titled "I'm a Fanboy." The documentary followed the lives of three people: A 26-year-old Power Rangers fan seeking love, a horror fan trying to break into the horror film industry and a World of Warcraft player dealing with her love life.

The Power Rangers fan stole the show for me. He was probably the most relatively extreme when it came to being without social skills, specifically in the opposite sex arena. He wasn't a complete leper, he maintained a regular job at Staples, but you could tell he was socially awkward. At least the other two people documented on the show had significant others, indicating they could function minimally outside of their fantasy worlds. The focus his struggle, the Power Rangers fan, was finding a girlfriend as he's been without a girlfriend all of his life. During the course of the show, he managed to find another girl at an anime convention who was also a die-hard Power Rangers fan. All seemed to go well with his quest, until he revealed that she was only 17! He's 26! I'd say the most awkward moment was when he decided to ask her out. It went something like this: "Would you... maybe... consider... going out with me... in the distant future... maybe?" as the sound of crickets and awkwardness ensued! She didn't flat out reject him, but she squeamishly said no. They did remain friends though.

It was interesting watching their stories unfold, all while sitting at the edge of my seat, wondering where I'd see elements they had that I could relate to. Thankfully, their lives don't mimic mine [at least I don't think so], but I shouldn't be quick to make fun or judge them. After all, we are all fans, just on different degrees of weirdness, and there is nothing wrong with that!

Batman Arkham Asylum Review

Since the midnight release of Batman: Arkham Asylum, I’ve literally been glued to the game. I’m finding that friends of mine that aren’t huge Batfans are buying this game and giving it praise, not just for being the best Batman game to date, but for being a great game overall in regards to game play, story and sheer fun factor. Within a week and a half of playing Batman Arkham Asylum, I finished the game in normal mode. Here is my review of the game which I have for the Playstation 3.

Pros:

The game play and control is awesome! The camera mode follows you in third person, giving you the ability to toggle quickly into first person zoom by tapping R3. You don’t have to worry about any fixed or awkward angles as you can easily pan around when needed. This is an essential part of the game as there’s a lot of detail and character nods in the game.

Quickly making use of Batman’s different gadgets is seamless, as you use the directional pad to quickly choose and maneuver through a tool set of 8 different gadgets. Once chosen, R1 and R2 make them quickly accessible in sticky situations for quick evasions.

There is TONS of detail in this game I’m glad the designers included. Although the main villains are Joker, Harley, Scarecrow, Bane and Croc, the game shows a large number of Batman’s famous rouges gallery through items in jail cells and fixtures throughout Arkham Asylum. They even included some character’s I’m unfamiliar with such as The Great White Shark and Ratcatcher! These character nods are part of the game, integrated as puzzles set forth by The Riddler. Can anyone say Calendar Man?

The combat system is fantastic without the hassle of complicated button combinations. With simple button sequences, you’d expect repetitive moves. Not here! There was enough strike-variation with each hit, that kept me very entertained and engaged. If you look closely at how Batman fights, every strike resembles a comic book panel fight scene. As if you could pause any fight throughout the game, and have it inserted into a comic book. What I really enjoyed was being able to dodge and parry opponents that attack from behind. All this can be chained into one continuous fight combination, adding to the effect of “comic realism.” Making use of batarangs and your grapple is easily accessible in these fight sequences, but toggling into other gadgets can be difficult unless you’re fast enough and have enough running room. Ultimately, you don’t really make use of any other gadgets. Predator mode is just as, if not, more fun to play. This is where you get to sneak around in the shadows, toying with your enemies. Here you are able to make use of all of Batman’s gadgets, more elements of bringing Batman to life. This brings out the strategic aspect of the game, allowing you to be as creative as you want when beating down thugs. Although there are maps that are specifically identified as “smash and grab” or “silent and deadly” you have the option of going in either direction.

If you’re not interested in diving into the story mode, there are loads of challenge maps. They have to be unlocked through the story mode. If you’re a PS3 owner like myself, you can also do challenge maps as The Joker, available as DLC. I have to say, they did a great job of making The Joker his own character, not just outfitting a Joker skin on Batman’s body. Again, great job on detail!

Cons:

It’s no surprise that you fight The Joker at the end of the game. Juiced by Bane’s venom [or was it called Titan?], Joker puts himself physically on par with Batman. The final battle is very involved, as Joker’s henchmen keep you occupied while Joker showboats for the GCPD on top of Arkham Asylum. In normal mode, it’s relatively easy to figure out how to beat him. I have yet to try it in hard mode, so I’ll reserve my opinion about this at a later time.

There isn’t any video playback from the animation cut scenes in this game. After beating a game, I really enjoy being able to watch cut scenes and Batman: Arkham Asylum doesn’t allow you to do so. You’ll have to play the game over again if you want to see them {or hop on Youtube].

After you’ve beaten the game, you can still go back to find unsolved Riddles, but there are no more inmates to fight. The place simply becomes a ghost town. If you want to get your ass-kicking-fix, you have to go into challenge modes and fight them there.

Overall:

The developers didn’t just manage to make the best Batman game, ever, they managed to make a great game. Period! Bringing on Paul Dini was the best decision made, because the story and level of detail was phenomenal. I felt like I was in Batman’s shoes [or boots] playing this game. Some parts of the story were scary enough to make my skin crawl... a bit… [ala Scarecrow]. Last but not least, my hat goes off to the voice cast, bringing some of the original voices from the animated series such as Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamil and Arleen Sorkin to Arkham Asylum. Their definitive and distinguishable voices brought this game further to life.

My only question…. When’s the sequel coming out?

Batman Beyond coming back in 2010?

Could it be? Is it possible that Batman Beyond, the Gotham of tomorrow, could come back in 2010? According to this article, I stumbled upon, it seems so in the form of a "mini series."

Batman Beyond reignited my interest in Batman, back in January 1999. It had a healthy run until they simply stopped making episodes near January 2002. It's not that Batman Beyond wasn't meeting their ratings, they simply put it to rest as other Batman projects came along. With that, they never gave the show a whole lot of closure. The last episode was just like any other episode. They later provided closure to Batman Beyond in a later airing of JLU.

I'm not sure how reliable this source is, but hey, any chance this show may come back, I'm all for it! Read the full article here.

Heroclix is back!

In May 2002, my friends and I were immediately drawn to Heroclix! The board-style miniature game was fun combing strategy and team building of your favorite superheroes. Eventually, more expansive packs were released and more-and -more Heroclix were becoming more collectibles than game pieces. After a year of playing and collecting, my friends and I retired from Heroclix.

Back in November 2008, Wizkids, maker of the popular miniature game Heroclix went out of business... falling victim to the declining global economic melt down.

Alas, Heroclix will be back, but with new owners. NECA has acquired Wizkids and will continue making Heroclix along side other miniature games such as ActionClix, HorrorClix and SportsClix, etc. Read the full story here.

Disney/Marvel Mash-Ups!

Of all the parody drawings I've seen (Thor in Micky Ears, Wolverine in Mousekateer gloves, etc.) this is my favorite by far! I wonder of Marvel is getting tired of these fan made mash-ups?