X-Men #1 (July 2013)

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Creative Team: Brian Wood, Olivier Coipel,

Jubilee is headed to the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning with a special baby in tow, hoping to give the infant the same chance at life she had when she first arrived at the (then) Charles Xavier School for the Gifted. However, she is being tailed by John Sublime, for reasons unknown. Storm, Rogue, and Kitty Pryde move to help her but they don’t realize what’s at stake, for them and for the Earth.

First off, I really dig Brian Wood’s (TMZ, Northlanders) writing. I am currently reading his Northlanders (links to my reviews HERE and HERE) series and so I wanted to give this X-Title a try. I haven’t really gotten into a lot of the newer X-Books, aside from All-New X-Men, but the novelty of an all-female team intrigued me enough to check it out.

Olivier Coipel’s (Legion Of Super Heroes, Thor) artwork is great and it works in concert with Wood’s writing very well. The issue reads somewhat at the same pace as if you were watching an action flick, despite being a little vague and confusing at times, which brings me to…

There were a couple things I didn’t like about it, but they were mostly minor. I think that having an all-female team is interesting, but I can’t help but think about the double-standard being held when almost every other book has to have strong female characters and not just have all male characters on teams. Also, the villain chosen for the X-Men to face in this instance is sort of underwhelming and seems set up (with him being an “attractive” male character, but also being evil) to deliver a sort of girl-power message in the end, after they face him with his slicked-back hair and unbuttoned shirts and all. Sure, this has been done before with the genders reversed (attractive, evil female) but this seems sort of forced, like it’s just because it’s an all-female team that the villain has to be a good-looking dude.

Still, with that said, if they can stay away from the same types of tropes that plague man-centric comic titles, this one should be pretty decent. New takes on team rosters and new group dynamics are always fun to explore within the Marvel Universe. In any case, I hope to give this a chance with a few more issues. So far, I am intrigued and can’t wait to see where the current story arc goes.

This title is an experiment and I think most people will like it well enough if they give it a shot.

JOE Rating: ★★★★

Here’s A Sample Page From X-Men #1

Oz The Great And Powerful (2013)

Original Theatrical Release: March 8, 2013
Director: Sam Raimi

Oz (James Franco), a small-time traveling circus magician, finds himself on the run due to his philandering. He escapes the clutches of a slighted circus strongman with the aid of a hot air balloon and is hit by a tornado which transports him to the land of Oz. With his newfound companions, he must defeat the Wicked Witch and restore Oz to its former glory and also redeem himself.

Before seeing this film, I’d had lots of trepidation about it. We have all (hopefully) seen the original Wizard of Oz and it’s one of those untouchable films that has withstood the test of time, and will seemingly always be a classic in our hearts. So, when I heard that Sam Raimi was doing an Oz prequel with James Franco and Mila Kunis…yikes. I was pretty scared.

However, my fears turned out to be unfounded.

The film starts out true to 1930’s/40’s film fashion and Raimi does a great job with the transition from black and white to full color. You can definitely see his influence in the film with the way some of the scenes are shot and especially with how one of the witches looks. (She looks like a Deadite from his Evil Dead series) This may or may not be a good thing, given the nature of the flavor Oz movies have.

The best part of the film, to me, was Mila Kunis as Theodora. We finally see how she became the evil witch we all love to hate, and despite the crazy makeup she still somehow exudes sexy. There were a couple of weird nods to her hotness, with a butt-shot and a bodice-ripping scene…but it didn’t jar me for too long. She looked amazing as The Wicked Witch.

All of the companions are creepy but somehow entertaining. (Doll with a knife?! Helloooooo?!) There were nods to other characters like the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow that we know we’ll eventually see. The visuals were great and the music was nice by Danny Elfman (despite the random pop song during the credits…WTF?)

All in all, I think it was a fun movie. It had some plot holes and dull moments, so it’s not perfect, but it’s nice to revisit Frank L. Baum’s universe again and see how Oz, The Great and Powerful got his start.

JOE Rating: ★★★★

Movie Trailer For Oz The Great And Powerful

Deathstalker (1983)

Original Theatrical Release: February 1984
Director: James Sbardellati (As John Watson)

The warrior known as Deathstalker (Richard Hill) is tasked by an old witch to gather three powerful items; a sword, an amulet and a chalice, before the evil magician Munkar (Bernard Erhard) collects them first and becomes unstoppable. After getting his hands on the sword and angering Munkar, Deathstalker enters The Big Tournament where he hopes to wrestle the kidnapped princess from Munkar’s control, while Munkar has plans of his own to kill Deathstalker.

First off, this movie is from 1983. I was only two years old, then. The special effects are TERRIBLE and are pretty consistent with the visual effects limits of the time, utilizing even puppetry to supplement the fantastical needs of the film. That being said, the puppetry is part of what made this movie so laughably bad.

Bernard Erhard is pretty much the only actor who can actually act in this film, but his performance is so over the top that it’s awkward to watch next to the wooden and stoic Richard Hill and his portrayal of Deathstalker.

As far as Deathstalker movies are concerned, I actually thought Deathstalker II was the best out of the bunch. (Even though Deathstalker II rips a scene right off the reel from this movie and just re-uses it, no questions asked)

Most lovers of fantasy have to give a nod to cheesy, 80’s Fantasy films like this, filled with topless barbarian women, oiled and dumbed-down Conan the Barbarian clones and ridiculous makeup, and this is no exception. It’s worth a watch if you’re in the mood to laugh at a terribad film, or for nostalgic reasons…that’s it.

This is definitely not Lord of the Rings caliber material.

JOE Rating: ★★

Movie Trailer For Deathstalker