I just reread this comic series recently and I soon rediscovered why I believe this is one of the best mini-series ever made. The great story coupled by the involvement of two of the best teams ever assembled, the Astonishing X-Men and the New Avengers made this one of the best titles I've read.
The Setting: The story takes place in an alternate Marvel universe where several Avengers (the Vision, Hawkeye and Ant-Man) were killed by one of their own, the Scarlet Witch when she suffered a nervous breakdown after she lost her children. It is also a place where the X-Men founder, Charles Xavier, left the team to rebuild the charred remains of Genosha (the only mutant city) and came to the aid of his long-time friend Magneto, the shamed and outcast father of the Scarlet Witch, to help "cure" his daughter.
The Plot: The story begins with Xavier trying to convince a severly-traumatized Scarlet Witch to control her reality-altering mutant powers. He realized the need to do so because he knew that the Scarlet Witch's power was too dangerous to let loose. However, he also knew that he was powerless to help her. So he left Genosha and called on the Astonishing X-Men (Emma Frost, Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast, Shadowcat and Colossus), the New Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, the Sentry, Spider-Man and Luke Cage), Avengers Reserves (the Wasp, Falcon, Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man) as well as the Mystic, Dr. Strange to decide with him the fate of Wanda Maximoff (the Scarlet Witch).
There was a standoff - with the X-Men wanting to eliminate the Scarlet Witch before she poses a bigger threat on one side; and the Avengers wanting another alternative on the other. Both teams claimed that they should have jurisdiction over the matter. The X-Men believed that they should have authority since the Scarlet Witch was a mutant threat. While the Avengers believed that they should decide on the matter because she was part of their team. With the absence of a clear decision, everyone decided to go to Genosha to speak with the Scarlet Witch instead. However, they were all surprised to learn that the Scarlet Witch was moved. Fearing that Magneto took his daughter away, the heroes tried to pursue the fugitives. They closed in on them until Xavier was mysteriously lost and the whole world turned white.
The Twist: The Scarlet Witch used her powers to create a new world where the heroes got what they always wanted. It was a world where mutants were the dominant race, Spider-Man was a happily-married, popular and wealthy wrestler (his Uncle Ben was alive), Captain America was a retired war hero, Tony Stark (Iron Man) was a wealthy businessman (with an alive father), Emma Frost and Scott Summers (Cyclops) were living together, Colossus was a farmer, Shadowcat was a teacher, Ms. Marvel was the most popular superhero, Wonder Man was a celebrity etc.
Unfortunately, Wolverine also got what he always wanted - he got all his memory back. Along with that, he remembered a different world: a world where mutants were hated and feared; where war, violence and famine were more rampant; where the world was in tormoil. Wolverine knew that the world, where he was the head of the most elite force for the House of M (Magnus - Magneto's real name), was a better place - but it wasn't the real one. So he went rogue and tried to reassemble the X-Men and Avengers team that he remembered. He was helped by a powerful child psychic, Layla - a mutant that existed only on the new world but strangely remembered the world Wolverine described. She was instrumental in letting the heroes remember everything.
The Climax: The best part of the series was the face-off between the combined X-Men and Avengers heroes and those of the House of M. Although the heroes were a powerful group, the House of M were no pushovers - there was the Maximoff family (Magneto and his children), Namor the leader of Atlantis, Ororo (Storm) ruler of Africa and Dr. Doom ruler of Latvia among others. The battle sequences were brutal (Cyclops insisted that nobody should hold back). The two sides were evenly matched with nobody in any clear advantage. Concurrently, two important revelations about the story surfaced while all the fighting went on. 1) Xavier, who was presumed dead, was found to be only missing and 2) Magneto didn't convince his daughter to create the mutant-ruling world - it was Quicksilver's (Wanda's twin brother's) idea. When Magneto learned that Quicksilver did this and used his name in the process, he killed his son. This angered Wanda because she believed that Quicksilver only wanted to help her and everyone else in the process. Because of this, Wanda used her powers once again and wished to have no more mutants. Thus the whole world turned white again.
The Ending: The old world was returned to how it was - except that 1) Most of the world's mutants lost their mutant genes. 2) Nobody remembered the events in the world of the House of M except for the X-Men, Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. 3) Xavier, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were missing. 4) The repercussions of the lost energy of all mutants were about to unfold.
My Reaction: The story was great since the heroes were willing to let go of the reality created by the Scarlet Witch no matter how great it was. They were willing to die and fight without holding anything back in order to return to a world that's worse than the one that was created for them. Did they do it because it was the unselfish and noble thing to do? Or is it because they just couldn't live a lie? Be it for whatever reason, it epitomized how earth's heroes value integrity and dedication. It showed how these can overcome even their human emotions.
However, I also felt for the Maximoff family because their stories showed how they succombed to their human sides. I felt for Scarlet Witch, a loving mother, who wanted to have a world where her children were alive. I also felt for Quicksilver who was selfish enough to suggest a new world where his sister can be spared from a possible execution. Finally, I felt for Magneto who was proud not to accept the mutant-supreme world (his lifelong dream) that he ruled when he learned that it wasn't real.
I like the way both sides in this series were properly developed. There were several other related titles to the House of M that further showed the altered lives of the heroes from both sides. It's obvious that a lot of work was exerted in creating the intricate stories and how everything came together. I really enjoyed the story and I'm looking forward to the series that follows this one, Decimation. Hopefully it's as good as it's predecessor.
Rating: Starbucks
5 - Starbucks
4 - Seattle's Best
3 - Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
2 - San Francisco Coffee
1 - Kapihan sa Kanto
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Friday, March 10, 2006
The Constant Gardener
Note: May contain a few minor spoilers, but this should not detract from your viewing enjoyment. I believe these were revealed in the original movie trailer anyway.
The Constant Gardener is part mystery, part current events, part social agenda. The opening sequence is pretty good. It shows flashbacks of Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, how they met and got married, how Fiennes job as a diplomat got them assigned to the British consulate in Africa, and how distant they can be to one another, yet maintain that level of respect.
Weisz is extremely dedicated to social work and is determined to do as much as she can to help the poor and suffering people in the region they are in. Sometimes it is as if she is merely using her husband to further her own social agenda. The movie skips ahead occasionally and shows us glimpses of the present. Rachel Weisz' character is found raped, murdered, and mutilated. The scene at the morgue where Fiennes identifies his wife's mutilated body is quite shocking as we are jolted with the horror and reality of death. The question is, who were the perpetrator(s), was it random bandit violence or did someone order the hit? This is where the actual movie starts as Fiennes unravels the circumstances behind his wife's death.
The fact that Weisz hasn't been telling her husband what her true motives and which activities she has been involved in the past few months make the investigation more difficult. We are left with plenty of scenes that illustrate just how difficult life is in Africa. There is poverty, corruption, hunger, thuggery and all sorts of negative aspects. There are also the aid workers who dedicate their lives to helping out the people.
Feinnes and Weisz make a weird couple. They are said to be in love with each other, yet they appear to be very distant to each other emotionally. I also find that Rachel Weisz' character in the movie has a lack of respect for her husband. She never tells him what she's doing, seems to be always at odds with anything he does, and even berates him in one scene for using pesticide in their garden. Feinnes is a saint, a martyr husband who has no idea what his wife is doing and sometimes doesn't seem to care. Due to this, I find the final events of the movie extremely hard to believe and unrealistic, given the nature of the couple.
This movie is well made and manages to entertain despite the grim subject matter. But I think it is limited by the plot of the original novel. One thing I didn't like was that it felt like it had a social agenda. For instance, all the good guys as well as all the bad guys were westerners (British). It felt like the African people were pawns easily manipulated by the big bad corporations, and that the west was responsible for their hardships when the fact is, it is the corrupt governments and officials that is mostly to blame for abusing and terrorizing their own people. It was this buildup of the gradual condascending attitude that made me dislike this movie. And by the way I didn't like the ending, not because it was bad but because it was dumb.
Don't get me wrong, this movie is well made. But I hated the message and the way it portrayed the victims in the story as powerless and unable to fight back. This may be the current reality but when I watch movies such as this that have an obvious social agenda, I want some solutions rather than just being given more problems.
Rating: 2/5 * *
Well made but misguided.
The Constant Gardener is part mystery, part current events, part social agenda. The opening sequence is pretty good. It shows flashbacks of Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, how they met and got married, how Fiennes job as a diplomat got them assigned to the British consulate in Africa, and how distant they can be to one another, yet maintain that level of respect.
Weisz is extremely dedicated to social work and is determined to do as much as she can to help the poor and suffering people in the region they are in. Sometimes it is as if she is merely using her husband to further her own social agenda. The movie skips ahead occasionally and shows us glimpses of the present. Rachel Weisz' character is found raped, murdered, and mutilated. The scene at the morgue where Fiennes identifies his wife's mutilated body is quite shocking as we are jolted with the horror and reality of death. The question is, who were the perpetrator(s), was it random bandit violence or did someone order the hit? This is where the actual movie starts as Fiennes unravels the circumstances behind his wife's death.
The fact that Weisz hasn't been telling her husband what her true motives and which activities she has been involved in the past few months make the investigation more difficult. We are left with plenty of scenes that illustrate just how difficult life is in Africa. There is poverty, corruption, hunger, thuggery and all sorts of negative aspects. There are also the aid workers who dedicate their lives to helping out the people.
Feinnes and Weisz make a weird couple. They are said to be in love with each other, yet they appear to be very distant to each other emotionally. I also find that Rachel Weisz' character in the movie has a lack of respect for her husband. She never tells him what she's doing, seems to be always at odds with anything he does, and even berates him in one scene for using pesticide in their garden. Feinnes is a saint, a martyr husband who has no idea what his wife is doing and sometimes doesn't seem to care. Due to this, I find the final events of the movie extremely hard to believe and unrealistic, given the nature of the couple.
This movie is well made and manages to entertain despite the grim subject matter. But I think it is limited by the plot of the original novel. One thing I didn't like was that it felt like it had a social agenda. For instance, all the good guys as well as all the bad guys were westerners (British). It felt like the African people were pawns easily manipulated by the big bad corporations, and that the west was responsible for their hardships when the fact is, it is the corrupt governments and officials that is mostly to blame for abusing and terrorizing their own people. It was this buildup of the gradual condascending attitude that made me dislike this movie. And by the way I didn't like the ending, not because it was bad but because it was dumb.
Don't get me wrong, this movie is well made. But I hated the message and the way it portrayed the victims in the story as powerless and unable to fight back. This may be the current reality but when I watch movies such as this that have an obvious social agenda, I want some solutions rather than just being given more problems.
Rating: 2/5 * *
Well made but misguided.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Review - PS2 Game: Shadow of the Colossus
I haven't even finished the game yet (I only managed to defeat 5 of the 16 colossi) and I already know that this is a lousy game. I heard that a lot of people don't agree me since this game scored well in other reviews. Frankly, I don't know how these people felt that way. This game is boring - plain and simple. It offers no real challenges to a gamer except for some thought-provoking moments. I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone I know.
Cons:
1) The main character doesn't look like a hero. He looks lame. You wouldn't even know he's a guy until he got to speak; in a lousy language nonetheless.
2) No Action! The only time you get to use your sword and bow (your only un-upgradable weapons) is when you're fighting a colossus. There is not a single interaction (at least as far as I'm concerned) with another human character throughout the game. Not even while travelling anywhere in the whole map.
3) The game flow is repetitive. You start in an altar, you are told where to look for the next colossus, you look for the colossus, you kill it, then back to the altar for you. It doesn't get more predictable than that.
4) The video is awful, controls are a burden, game physics kinda sucks, lighting needs improvement. I think all of these add up to a bad gaming experience.
Pros:
1) The game can be partly entertaining when you're looking for a colossus (It seems ironic that this is one of the challenges since a colossus is about 50 times bigger than your character) and figuring out how to kill it. At least you get to use some imagination while doing so.
2) I didn't buy the game. I just borrowed it from a friend. I couldn't think of another plus for the game so I added this up.
rating: RicRic Marata
5 stars - Jason Kidd
4 Stars - Chris Paul
3 Stars - Steve Nash
2 Stars - Chauncey Billups
1 Star - RicRic Marata
Cons:
1) The main character doesn't look like a hero. He looks lame. You wouldn't even know he's a guy until he got to speak; in a lousy language nonetheless.
2) No Action! The only time you get to use your sword and bow (your only un-upgradable weapons) is when you're fighting a colossus. There is not a single interaction (at least as far as I'm concerned) with another human character throughout the game. Not even while travelling anywhere in the whole map.
3) The game flow is repetitive. You start in an altar, you are told where to look for the next colossus, you look for the colossus, you kill it, then back to the altar for you. It doesn't get more predictable than that.
4) The video is awful, controls are a burden, game physics kinda sucks, lighting needs improvement. I think all of these add up to a bad gaming experience.
Pros:
1) The game can be partly entertaining when you're looking for a colossus (It seems ironic that this is one of the challenges since a colossus is about 50 times bigger than your character) and figuring out how to kill it. At least you get to use some imagination while doing so.
2) I didn't buy the game. I just borrowed it from a friend. I couldn't think of another plus for the game so I added this up.
rating: RicRic Marata
5 stars - Jason Kidd
4 Stars - Chris Paul
3 Stars - Steve Nash
2 Stars - Chauncey Billups
1 Star - RicRic Marata
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)