Welcome to the Duel To The Death series on my personal blog on Comic Vine!
If you've been following me on Instagram (@newavengers) and was told to visit this page to see the results of Match 1: Spider-Man 2099 vs. Gamora, then you've come to the right place.
So without further ado, let's see how it went down:
Last night, people were asked to vote and include their input on who would win: Spider-Man 2099 or Gamora.
Out of 14 votes:
Spider-Man 2099: 79%
Gamora: 21%
Now fourteen votes total isn't enough to draw to any final conclusions. That's why, as I stated before, the voting would only convince me who would win and not entirely declare the winner.
(Editor's note: It's important to note that my Instagram page only has a total of 2k followers, a rather low amount compared to other superhero fanpages on Instagram. But nonetheless, this was my first attempt in hosting a versus match and I thought this would be a fun activity that I would use as a learning experience).
CREDENTIALS
To prepare for this DTTD Match Up, I read the following:
For Spider-Man 2099
Spider-Man 2099 #1-6 (2014) written by Peter David
Amazing Spider-Man #9-11 (2014) written by Dan Slott
Read all the issues to date but those specific issues feature Spider-Man 2099
Superior Spider-Man #17, 18, 19, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 (2013-2014) written by Dan Slott
Read all the issues to date but those specific issues feature Spider-Man 2099
Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #5, 7, 11 (2014) written by Christopher Yost & Kevin Shinick
Read all the issues to date but those specific issues feature Spider-Man 2099
Spider-Verse #1 (2014) written by Dan Slott
For Gamora
Guardians of the Galaxy #1-25 (2008) written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Guardians of the Galaxy #1-22 (2013-2014) written by Brian Michael Bendis
Original Sin #1-8 (2014) written by Jason Aaron
The Thanos Imperative #1-6 (2010) written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Annihilation #1-6 (2006-2007) written by Keith Giffen
Nova - Annihilation Conquest #1-12 (2007-2008) written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
THE BATTLE
As Spider-Man 2099 pulls out Lyla, his holo-unit, from his wrist, she feeds him detailed information of Gamora's skills, background, history, strengths and weaknesses from an Alchemax database in the year 2099. Gamora, unimpressed, gets up from her seat and charges her Godslayer toward the Spider with enhanced speed. Unknowing to Gamora, however, Spider-Man 2099 has phenomenal agility and dexterity that allow him to perform complicated acrobatic and gymnastic maneuvers, easily dodging her attacks.
As Gamora continuously swings her Godslayer at the Spider, she studies his every move that allows her to predict his next following movements. Catching him off guard, Gamora is able to nick 2099 above his rib cage. Spider-Man 2099 smirks as he reveals to be unhurt. Gamora then realizes that the suit he wears is so technologically advanced that it seems to be indestructible, even by the blade of her Godslayer. In fact, 2099's costume is made of Unstable Molecule Fabric (UMF), originally invented by Mr. Fantastic, that is made to be impenetrable.
Swiftly, Spider-Man lunges at Gamora with his retractable talons and viciously attempts to claw at her. Gamora reacts defensively and uses her sword to quickly block every move 2099 throws at her. At this point, they both realize that their superhuman strength is almost equal. With 2099's DNA re-written with the genetic code of a spider giving him the proportionate strength of one, and with Gamora's treatments from Thanos augmenting her strength to be physically equal to Adam Warlock's and rival that of Iron Man's, both their strength is matched.
But Gamora's Godslayer is slowing her agility down as she tries to defend 2099's hasty swipes. And so inevitably, he is able to harshly scratch her wrists, disarming her in the process. Although she is bleeding, she has a regenerative healing factor that is recovering her wounds. With the Godslayer on the ground, Spider-Man 2099 shoots his organic webbing towards the sword and pulls it towards him before Gamora was able to apprehend it back. 2099 launches the sword to the ceiling of the bar and shoots more webbing, sticking the sword to the ceiling where Gamora can't reach.
Spider-Man 2099: "I don't suppose you can fly. Can you, lady?"
Gamora stares into the eyes of her opponent with a burning glare.
Gamora: "I do not know who you are, spider. But you are about to find out why I hold the title of Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy."
With that said, she launches herself towards the Spider, unarmed. He reacts by shooting his webbing at her. She grabs the webbing and unexpectedly yanks it towards her, sending 2099 flying into his adversary. In midair, Gamora executes a flying armbar on 2099 as they land on the floor.
Spider-Man 2099: "Where the shock did you learn to do this?!"
As he struggles to break free, Gamora leverages herself and tightly breaks 2099's left arm, disabling it for good. Little does 2099 know, Gamora has mastered 83.4% of most known unarmed techniques from various warfaring cultures.
Yelling at the top of his lungs, 2099 uses his right hand to unmask a part of his mouth, open enough to reveal his fangs. Still in the armbar position, Spider-Man 2099 injects his deadly fangs into Gamora's thigh. She screams in agony and 2099 breaks free from her armbar, giving him space between themselves. Gamora quickly gets up but realizes that she's been poisoned by 2099's fangs. She feels paralyzed but still she fights the urge to become immobile. Little does Gamora know, 2099 possesses venom glands and pronounced, pointed canine teeth that can release a toxin to temporarily paralyze the bitten victim. The venom is so strong that it has shown to be very effective to powerhouses like Namor the Sub-Mariner and Thanatos.
The full effect of the venom kicks in and Gamora is fully paralyzed.
Spider-Man 2099 leaps into the air, clinging onto the ceiling of the bar with his right hand. Next to him is the webbed-up Godslayer in which he grabs with his fangs. He drops down from the ceiling back onto the floor, facing the paralyzed Gamora. He releases the sword from his mouth and wields it with his right hand, as his left arm is dangling, broken.
Spider-Man 2099: "I hope... there's no hard feelings between us... I came back to the year 2015... for a reason. And that reason... was to get rid of you."
2099 winds back the Godslayer and slices off Gamora's head, clean. The headless body drops to the floor with blood gushing out from the top. He then drops the Godslayer to the floor and pulls out Lyla.
Spider-Man 2099: "Please... tell me... the timeline is secured, Lyla."
Lyla: "Processing... Confirmed. With Gamora's extinction from this timeline, the year 2099 is safe and secured. Shall we head back home?"
Spider-Man 2099 opens the Virtual Unreality portal from his holo-unit and steps inside.
The portal closes and 2099 vanishes back to his timeline.
THE WINNER - SPIDER-MAN 2099
EXPLANATION
Gamora may be the Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy, but Spider-Man 2099 is DECADES ahead of her time. He is far more technologically advanced as a specimen with a wide array of skill sets that gave him the edge in this battle: Venomous fangs, retractable talons, indestructible costume and organic webbing. Gamora only had her Godslayer. And with Lyla giving him information on Gamora, Miguel O'Hara was able to anticipate and evaluate her strategy and fighting skills.
Spider-Man 2099 is also more cunning and strategic. While O'Hara is a genius-level intellect Spider-Man, Gamora is ultimately just an asssassin that was trained to be a living weapon for Thanos. O'Hara is able to outsmart Gamora even though both their strength, speed, durability, agility, senses, endurance and stamina is virtually identical.
Gamora has shown to beat opponents such as Rage, Night Thrasher, The Thing and even fought Ronan The Accuser to a standstill. However, she has shown to lost a battle against Angela and "ends up at the angel's mercy as Angela prepares the final strike."
Spider-Man 2099 has outsmarted and defeated opponents such as the Scorpion, Blood-Sword and his gang, Venom 2099, Goblin 2099 and Thor 2099. He was even able to impress Doom 2099 AND Superior Spider-Man.
Simply put, Spider-Man 2099 has fought and beaten tougher opponents who were set in the year 2099. Gamora is a worthy and spectacular fighter, warrior and hand-to-hand combatant, but Miguel O'Hara has been a superhero WAY longer than she has and therefore has the experience that cannot be matched.
So my full review on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 can be found on my Instagram: newavengers. There, I give a detail analysis of my thoughts about the film and what I give them praise for and what made me disappointed.
But for those of you who've already read my review, this blog will be about my questioning of why critics and some hardcore Spider-Man fans did not enjoy the film. Notable critics like Rotten Tomatoes (55%) and Huffington Post (2 out of 5) gave it poor ratings due to its unfocused narrative, overabundance of characters, and the obvious force feeding of characters.
So let's begin.
"Is it a love story about the challenges of being a superhero and having a girlfriend? Or is it the standard superhero vs. a cadre of crazed supervillains action feature?" This was one of the reviews that was commented on Rotten Tomatoes. My answer is: It's all of the above. Spider-Man has always had a lot on his plate: drama, responsibility, family, being a hero, dealing with his rogues gallery etc. I believe TASM2 depicted exactly how much Peter Parker has to deal with in his life.
In New Avengers Volume 1 issue #3 (2005), Daredevil says to Captain America: "Sometimes I look at all the things Peter Parker does in a month, and I have no idea how he gets it all done." This is a testament as to how complicated Peter's life has always been and everyone, including his fellow superhero friends, know this. They respect him for what's he goes through and how he is still able to be the hero we all know him as today. So when people say TASM2 has an unfocused narrative, then clearly you don't understand the character of Spider-Man. His life has NEVER been easy and "focused". For those of you who have read Dan Slott's Superior Spider-Man and are now reading his Marvel Now's Amazing Spider-Man title, then you would definitely understand what Peter Parker has been through.
Next.
Overabundance of characters? X-Men: Days of Future Past has over two dozen different mutants being featured in the film. I would love to list them all just to prove my point but that would be ridiculous. Not to mention those who aren't mutants like Bolivar Trask and his Sentinels will be in the film as well.
Avengers: Age of Ultron will have the same seven main characters (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nick Fury), in addition they're also including Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Ultron, Maria Hill, War Machine, Peggy Carter, Vision and Baron von Strucker. And who knows, they may even include more since they've only started filming. You can't say there was an overabundance of characters in TASM2. Off the top of my head there were only Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy, Aunt May, Electro, Harry and Norman Osborn, and... that's it?
Lastly.
The obvious force feeding of characters, particularly the upcoming of the Sinister Six, is something I agree that Sony is doing wrong. With Oscorp being one responsible for providing the weapons and tech to the Spider-Man villains (Rhino, Dr. Octopus, Vulture etc.) it takes away the very excitement of the whole Sinister Six idea to begin with. Sony is heavily rushing this process of trying to put together a group of Spider-Man's biggest and known villains on screen through this idea but they don't realize that it decreases the value of those characters. Spider-Man comic book fans have always known the Sinister Six separately and before they even banded together under the leadership of Dr. Octopus (aka The Master Planner). So to say that the coming of the Sinister Six will be... predetermined by Oscorp really takes away the excitement. It is just too unnatural and convenient for Sony to do something like this. On top of that, there is a confirmed movie in the making about a Sinister Six movie in the hopes that it will help characterize these villains. Will that Sinister Six movie still have Spider-Man in it? Who knows. No one is interested.
Before I entered the movie theater to watch Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, I didn't have high expectations BECAUSE of the poor ratings and critiques that the film has received. I wanted to know why and how exactly bad it could be. To my surprise, it wasn't even THAT bad as they make it sound. I enjoyed it but it obviously wasn't the greatest, but at least it was better than the first The Amazing Spider-Man.
SPOILER. DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET!
So hardcore Spider-Man fans who've read the Amazing Spider-Man (pre-Marvel Now) know that Gwen Stacy's death is one of the most iconic deaths in comic book history. So historical that it marked the end of the Silver Age. TASM2 made an impressive re-imagination of Gwen Stacy's death that definitely honoured the comic books. The whole thing about the Green Goblin (Although it was Norman, not Harry) throwing her off into the clock tower (suppose to be a bridge) and Spider-Man attempts to save her through the use of his webs but ends up snapping her neck, did her death justice. They made that whole scene absolutely breath-taking and intense.
But why did it still get poor ratings? Imagine if TASM2 completely ruined and disrespected Gwen Stacy's death. Imagine if TASM2 still had Gwen Stacy alive in the end? I couldn't even fathom the angry mobs of Spider-Man fans that would riot. Yet, TASM2 didn't do that and it still got poor ratings. They tried, right?
Everyone's a critic. We simply cannot enjoy superhero films these days without a comic book nerd pointing out the mistakes that the average movie goer would never think of. Comic book readers have got to the be the worst critics. Never satisfied and always have something to complain about. And yes, I do realize I am a comic book nerd too and is complaining right now, so yes, I do know that we are the worst critics for superhero films.
You know who should be the ones who have the right to judge and should have their opinions respected and acknowledged? Stan Lee. Jack Kirby. Steve Ditko. They are the ones who started it all. They created Spider-Man. They should be the ones asking "Did they do MY character justice?". You know who else has the right to judge superhero films? Those who are directly related and have contributed to the character of Spider-Man. Dan Slott. J. Michael Straczynski. Howard Mackie. Denny O'Neil. These guys wrote for the Amazing Spider-Man comic book series and should have the right to critique. Even the voice actors of Spider-Man should have the right to judge. You know why? Because they had a part of the upbringing of Spider-Man we all know today. All WE do is read or watch Spider-Man. We're just fans with an opinion.
But inevitably, we will review and we will judge and we will critique. So the point I'm trying to make is that as comic book readers, we shouldn't go too hard on comic book films. Even as bad as Green Lantern. Or Spider-Man 3. Or Wolverine Origins. They may have been bad but then again, who are we to say that they should have done these character justice just because we read about them. We should be happy that superhero films are created in the first place.
I kind of went on a tangent here and just started ranting... But if you've read this far into my blog then I salute you for staying. I'm just trying to put a message out there for critics of superhero films in general.
Ah, yes. Another DC animated film, this time we're diving into the New 52 for the first time. Before I begin my review, I'm going to share my thoughts on this movie BEFORE it came out and also my expectations on it. So here we go:
Justice League: War is directed by Jay Oliva and for those who don't know, he's worked on MANY popular DC and Marvel animated films that were successful. My favourites being Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. Not to mention he did work on two of my favourite TV series: Young Justice and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Right off the back, I knew that Justice League: War would be in good hands. Scrolling down their Wikipedia page, I was scanning the voice actors for the characters. Unfortunately, I didn't recognize any of the voice actors and was disappointed that NONE of the original voice actors for the Justice League TV series were used. The only voice actor I noticed was Dee Bradley Baker who would be voicing the Parademons. He's a personal favourite voice actor of mine. But this meant that my biggest fear would be the voice acting of the animated film. Now, voice acting, to me, is extremely important and crucial especially in an animated film. I passionately adore voice acting as a talent and recognize that an animated film needs to have the perfect voices for each characters. There are many obvious reasons why but a personal one would be that because it would be THEIR voice I would be hearing whenever I read a comic book. For example, when I'm reading Detective Comics or any Batman title, I would always hear Kevin Conroy's voice as Batman whenever I read the dialogue. Same goes for Mark Hamill as the Joker. Tim Daly as Superman. So on and so forth. The point is, the voice acting defines the animated film itself. One more thing I want to add is that Justice League: War is going to be based off of Volume 1 of the New 52's Justice League. Same plot, same villain, and basically everything is the same. Good news is that the story will most definitely be incredible since its based off the source material. Bad news is that we won't be getting anything fresh and new. It' going to be a story we've already been told from the comic books. To me, it's kind of a "cop out" move: Relying on a 'already great story' and simply transitioning it into a animated film. Nonetheless, I was excited for this film but also was worried.
Here's my condensed review in a couple of sentences:
"Justice League: War is an accurate and exceptional representation of Geoff John and Jim Lee's story of the Justice League. Overall, the voice acting is either underwhelming or amazing, and some in between. Nonetheless, the characterization between characters is highly enjoyable with a few standout quotes. With its entertaining dialogue and spectacular fighting sequences, this DC animated film has introduced itself as a great start as it dives into the New 52 universe."
Now let's get into the details (that's jumbled and in no particular order) and my personal thoughts (which hopefully count for something)
No Freeze Breath?!
First thing I noticed is that Superman NEVER used his freeze breath. His heat vision is overused yet effective but his freeze breath isn't used at all and can be JUST AS effective. I mean like, if you're going to show off Superman's abilities, why leave out one of them? Did people forget that he can actually freeze things using his breath? This reminds me of how people always forget that Bizarro has freeze vision... I bet YOU didn't know that. You rarely see it, yet he possesses that ability. Go read Alex Ross' Justice.
SHAZAM!
I'm glad they didn't underestimate the power of Shazam's lightning bolt. When Billy Batson first used it on the Parademon, the lightning bolt was devastatingly powerful that it blew out all the lights in its radius. That mystical lightning bolt should never be underestimated! However there are some questionable things with Captain Marvel and the word Shazam. I always thought that when Captain Marvel said the word Shazam, he would immediately transform back to a kid (and vice versa) along with the magical lightning bolt hitting him. But in the movie, Captain Marvel introduced himself by saying his name as "Shazam" outloud. In theory, that should have made all that transforming and lightning bolt stuff happen. But it didn't. Captain Marvel said Shazam again to charge the Motherbox and it didn't happen again! I looked up on Wikipedia and it clearly says: "When Billy Batson says the magic word "Shazam!" and transforms into Shazam/Captain Marvel, he is granted the following powers...." It was a crucial error in terms of consistency throughout the movie AND in the comic books. Also, he never used the Shazam lightning bolt against Darkseid which is a bummer.
Introducing Cyborg
The origin story from Cyborg was illustrated very well. It's different from the comic book but it's an interesting take on how Cyborg actually inherits his mechanical being. I also enjoyed the drama and relationship between him and his father. It's down-to-earth and relatable. Also, having Cyborg as a main character and founding member of the Justice League is a big deal. He was never in the animated TV series with them, he was only in the Teen Titans. Suddenly, we saw him in Justice League: Doom. And now he's in the New 52 Justice League. He's a great addition to the team. Brings diversity and the technological smarts in which he works incredibly well with Batman. It's like he graduated from the Teen Titans and moved on to the Justice League.
The Fight Scenes
The fight scenes were AWESOME. Every character's abilities and skills were utilized greatly (except for Superman's freeze breath). Wonder Woman's combat with a sword is highly entertaining as she slice 'n dices up all those Parademons swiftly and effortlessly. The Flash using his lightspeed abilities to its full potential as he runs on water, creates cyclones and outruns Omega Beams. The way he was fighting with all that speed was fascinating too. Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and Cyborg were equally amazing as expected but Green Lantern stole the show for me. His green constructs were amazingly detailed in this animated film as he used various objects as he fought. Such as a dragon, elevator, the classic baseball glove, a locomotive train, bear trap, bank safe, multiple chains, robotic machine shooting missiles and so much more! I thought it was very creatively done. I also noticed that the fighting sequences were violent and bloody. Which is a good thing, especially for DC. DC should be more darker, gritty and edgy when it comes to dealing with villains as oppose to Marvel. Just picture all of Batman's villains and what they're all capable of doing.
No Aquaman?
When they first released the trailer for this movie, all the fanboys instantly noticed that Aquaman is not in the movie and is actually replaced by Captain Marvel. Hardcore Aquaman fans were upset and felt that he's not getting the respect that he deserves, since he's usually seen as a joke. Personally, I was surprised because since I thought they were following Geoff Johns story where they had Aquaman instead of Captain Marvel, I wondered why would they deliberately replace him? Was it because he was THAT much of a joke? Plus, having Captain Marvel on the team is just way too many powerhouses with super strength now. But there's good news. 1. Captain Marvel was one of the best things in that film. 2. Aquaman is actually getting his OWN DC animated film next! According to the post-credits of Justice League: War at least. So there you go. DC is making up for all those hardcore Aquaman fans.
Unoriginal Story From DC
I've mentioned this before but I want to stress it out again. Justice League: War is taken directly from a comic book. It's a good thing because the story is great and we get to see it as an animated film. But the bad thing is that DC relies on original stories so much and that we already know what's going to happen. They are afraid of trying something new and going into a creative direction. The fans always want to see something new! So far they've done Under The Red Hood and the Flashpoint Paradox. Both in which are my ALL-TIME favourite animated films but at the same time they're taken directly off from the comic books. Now, they're making Son Of Batman which is yet another story taken from the comic books. Although, the story is taken from the comic books, not everything is copied so I guess it's that all that bad as I make it sound.
Vulgarity & Extreme Violence
Oh. My. Goodness. Let me begin by saying that there was quite an excessive amount of swearing and name calling in this film. Although I shouldn't mind it too much, it's just that I've NEVER heard superheroes swear. Not in the comic books and not in the TV series. But they do so in this movie! Hal Jordan called Batman a "phenomenal douchebag". REALLY? I busted out in laughter after he said that. That is ridiculous and out of character. Also, the word "idiot" and "moron" is thrown around a lot from Green Lantern and Batman, along with "son of a bitch" and "smartass". But the one that blew me away was when Cyborg was trying to get the Motherbox to work in order to get Darkseid back to his home planet and in doing so he momentarily failed to have enough energy and whispered out "SHIT." WHAT. NO. WAY. I had to replay it again just to make sure he actually said that. I laughed out so hard. Even harder than the "phenomenal douchebag" part. So yeah, there's some vulgarity in this film. Works hand-to-hand with the extreme violence.
Which brings me to my next point. I know that the violence was pretty cool and enjoyable but there were some over-the-top ones which made my jaw drop. The first being when Victor Stone get blasted by the explosion from the Motherbox, only to see Victor Stone's pink muscle tissues around his body... Kind of disturbing. The other one was when the Flash took a crowbar and jabbed it straight into Darkseid's eye... and a hell lot of blood came spewing and dripping out of it. Really unnecessary and over-the-top. I like violence but those two moments were too much.
Cameos
I LOVE cameos. Especially in superhero TV series such as Arrow and Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. So when I saw T.O Morrow working with Silas Stone, I smiled a lot. Also seeing Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen at the end were pretty awesome too even though they didn't have any dialogue. You can also count Steve Trevor for being in the film too. But nonetheless, cameos and superhero references are my favourite things in the world. No idea why. They just make me happy.
Dialogue & Friendships Between Characters
The dialogue, for the most part, is spot on, witty, and genuine. Geoff Johns take part of the writing for this animated film so it was expected. So even though Wonder Woman's voice acting was not all that great, her written lines were fantastic. The writing aspect of an animated film is equally as important as the voice actor who voices the characters. The lines need to be in character and at the same time be creative and witty for the audiences to keep up with. It's really hard to write dialogues for characters. It's a respected talent. You'll appreciate it if you read comic books a lot, then you'd understand.
I loved Batman and Green Lantern's dialogue that they trade among each other. It's really funny and enjoyable. They're not supposed to get along which is why their dialogue is entertaining. Hal Jordan is an arrogant, cocky, hard-headed and reckless superhero. On the other hand, Batman is a strategic, patient and proud superhero who keeps to himself. They both try to earn each other's respect by trying to outdo one another and see it as a competition which is why their friendship between each other is so great and fun to watch.
I also loved Captain Marvel/Billy Batson's dialogue with Cyborg. Billy Batson really looks up to Cyborg and praises him every time they see each other. Captain Marvel is literally the same person but in a different body and it is equally fun to see a grown man praising him exactly the same way. Captain Marvel is a childlike and goofy character who balances Cyborg's mature and humble self. The lines they share with each other is just as entertaining as to Batman's and Green Lantern's.
I also want to add that the Flash had some great lines too and a few stand out one-liners! Another favourite part of the movie is Green Lantern and Flash's reaction to seeing Batman as a real thing. Classic dialogue right there.
The Flash Running Out Of Breath?
Yeah. So there was that one scene with the the Flash running away from Darkseid's Omega beams and when he finally escapes it, he is seen out of breath. First of all, the Flash has superior endurance. The only time he is seen out of breath is when he fought Lex Luther/Brainiac as he was running around the world delivering punches to him. THAT I understand. THAT was a iconic and epic moment in Justice League history. But now we're seeing him out of breath dodging laser beams? Inaccurate and inconsistent. But then again, I'm just nitpicking. Still though.
Batman And Superman's Encounter
Loved this scene. When they first encounter each other, you can see Batman testing the water and seeing how much potential Superman has as an alien from another planet. In this scene, you can see how resourceful Batman is against a super powerful alien and also how persevering Batman is as he gives it everything he's got. At the same time, you can see how mighty Superman is. He's tanking everything Batman's got effortlessly and without flinching. This is how I imagine how Batman and Superman are going to meet during the movie adaptation!
Now let's talk about the voice acting:
Wonder Woman. One of the worst voice acting I've ever heard for Wonder Woman. They did it right in the Justice League TV series (Susan Eisenberg) and also in her own solo animated film (Keri Russell), but this one by Michelle Monaghan was off. Really awkward voicing for an Amazon princess. I was scrunching my face whenever she was talking. You can tell how amateurish the voice acting is as they introduce Diana Price into the movie. Not very confident and charismatic at all, especially since she's the only female superhero among the bunch. If you check out Monaghan's discography, you notice that she has done absolutely no work on voice acting at all.
Darkseid. Nevermind about Wonder Woman's voice being bad. Darkseid's take the medal for being the WORST voice in the film. Terribly overdone and echo-y. They tried to make him sound like a true supervillain by making his voice deep and evil. That backfired and instead, they made him sound like a ridiculous and cliche cartoon-y bad guy voice. Couldn't take him seriously at all. Fortunately, he didn't have many lines.
Batman. At first I didn't like it at all. Batman's first line in the movie was: "What were you doing at the docks... I want answers!" Jason O'Mara said it so terribly off that is was awkward. They should have redone that line. The thing is that, I've watch the Batman: TAS, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Batman: Gotham Knight, Justice League: Doom, Batman/Superman: Apocalypse etc. etc. and concluded that Kevin Conroy IS Batman. So when I hear another voice actor playing as Batman, in which Conroy has voiced since '92, it's absurdly weird. But I really tried to have an open mind on other voice actors who've voiced Batman in the past. Like William Baldwin in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (which I found was terrible as well) and Rino Romano from The Batman TV series (which was pretty decent). BUT, I actually got used to O'Mara's voice acting for Batman. I probably hated it for the first half hour of the movie, but then I ended up liking it. Good thing I ended up liking it because he's going to be Batman again in the next Batman animated film: Son of Batman
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan). It was decent. You don't actually see Hal Jordan in animation so hearing his voice is sort of new. The only times I've heard Hal Jordan was when he's voiced by Nathan Fillion in which he does a fantastic job. I thought this Green Lantern's voice, done by Justin Kirk, was a tad too immature and comical than his usual self. Overall, it was passable.
Superman. This one was also decent. You can hear a bit of Tim Daly in this Superman's voice. Alan Tudyk's voice for this Superman wasn't too charismatic and distinct. It was like a watered down version of Tim Daly's take on the voice. Still, I never scrunched my face whenever I heard him speak, so it was passable as well.
Cyborg. Really well done. A very mature and solid voice acting for Victor Stone. I always thought that the voice actor for Teen Titan's Cyborg was great but I guess it was only meant for that show. Above average voice acting.
The Flash. Also very well done. That voice actor was correctly chosen for the voice of the Flash. I can really hear the familiarity of the character. Second best voice acting in the film.
Billy Batson/Captain Marvel. The best one of the film. Really genuine and lifelike. Both voice actors that provided the voice for Billy Batson and Captain Marvel nailed it. You can hear the cleverness, curiosity and slyness of Billy Batson. At the same time, you can hear the enthusiastic, fun and man-childlike voice in Captain Marvel. Excellent voice acting for both characters.
Bonus Favourite Scene
I have to conclude that the ending dialogue between all the characters at the end was the best thing in this movie for me. It was the part when the President is giving his speech and the characters are talking among themselves. The lines are flawless and highly entertaining. I don't know how else to describe the whole scene so I'll give you the script...
President: Today marks a momentous day in human history, in our darkest hour, these superheroes don their colour costumes -
Green Lantern: Costume? This is my uniform!
Batman: Quiet.
Green Lantern: Oh, NOW you want to bark orders? After I did the heavy lifting and pulled everyone together?
Batman: You’re referring to when you botched my simple directives and Wonder Woman lead the charge?
Captain Marvel: Are you kidding me? Of course you should, we won. Be proud, your dad looks like he is. By the way man, thanks for not talking about the… other thing.
Cyborg: Don’t sweat it. And thanks for seeing me in here.
Captain Marvel: What? You’re the bomb, Victory!
Cyborg: I know, I know. You keep reminding me.
Captain Marvel: Victory! Victory!! Victory!!!
President: These super friends used their super powers to protect us -
Green Lantern: And we’re not friends either.
Batman: We’ll let them think we’re both.
Green Lantern: Why?
Batman: So it’ll keep Gotham PD off my back. The air force off yours.
Captain Marvel: I don’t know. A team? I got a lot of… responsibilities.
Wonder Woman: As do I.
Green Lantern: Well I have a whole universe to protect, people. So there you go
The Flash: C’mon, we can do it together.
Green Lantern: Yeah? Can you fly into space?
Superman: I can.
Green Lantern: Not my point. Look, we are not friends! We’re not a team.
The Flash: I don’t agree, Hal. I kind of like being a part of something.
Green Lantern: Yeah you would. Listen, this was just a one-time deal, okay?
Batman: And what if something like this should happen again?
Green Lantern: Please! What can possibly happen?
President: …That said, I am very pleased to introduce to you – Gee I didn’t even ask. Do you guys have a name?
Captain Marvel: Yes we do!
Cyborg: We do?
Captain Marvel: That’s right! You can call us… The Super Seven!
Superman: Aw no
The Flash: No, no
Wonder Woman: Hera help us.
Green Lantern: The Super Seven?
Captain Marvel: What you don’t like it?
And that concludes my review! A very long one, indeed. But it feels good that I poured out everything that I wanted to say about this animated movie. If you read my whole review, damn, leave a comment saying that you did
Okay, so I'm reading Peter David's X-Factor Volume 1 with Darwin being on the team. His mutant ability is called Reactive Evolution which means his body will adapt to his surroundings as long as it allows him to live. For example, if there was a building on fire and Darwin walked into it, his skin would become fireproof. That's a simple example. In extreme cases such as being thrown into space, Darwin's body would no longer need oxygen to breathe for that moment in time. An interesting moment was when he was fighting the Hulk and his mutant ability was like "Aw hell naw, we stand NO chance against the Hulk. Let's see what's the best way to survive out of this... Hmmmm.. Well the only thing I can actually think of is teleporting the HELL OUT OF HERE LOL." And that's exactly what Darwin's mutant ability did. It teleported him away from the Hulk because his mutant ability believed that that was the best way to survive! Haha I guess that says a lot about the Hulk. But the coolest thing I've seen his mutant powers do was when Hela, the Asgardian goddess of death used her infamous Hand of Glory (which is used to instantly kill anything) on Darwin and his body literally adapted and turned him into some sort of superior god of Death who was certainly immune to Hela's death touch and OWNED her.
Now that I just witnessed this amazing turn of events and what he's capable of doing, I'm looking back at Darwin in X-Men: First Class. He was the first character to die because he simply swallowed an energy blast? In the movie, it caused him to explode from the inside. THAT IS RIDICULOUS. Darwin is seriously invincible. He would have adapted to swallowing that energy blast ANYTIME OF THE DAY. If it were in the comic books, Darwin could be eating energy blasts every week for breakfast. I'm sure it would be pretty nutritious. BUT SERIOUSLY. HE DIED!? That's absurd. It makes me wonder about if the writers actually read any content about Darwin and what he's capable of doing. I swear they just wikipedia'd his mutant ability and thought it would be cool to have him grow gills in the movie. I'm just saying that they didn't do Darwin justice at all.
I'm currently reading more about Darwin in the X-Factor title and the more I read about it, the more angrier I get that he died in the most stupidest way. They could have done so much more with his mutant ability but they made him grow gills when he dunked his head in an aquarium. They could have been super creative with his way of adapting for his survival. Like, if he got struck by lightning from Storm, Darwin would turn his body into rubber or something. Or like some sort of metal that would absorb lightning and then fire it back at Storm. The possibilities are endless with this dude's mutant ability! But nah, they killed him off because he swallowed a stupid energy blast. What a pile of horse doo doo. The worst part is that everyone who watched First Class probably accepted his death, just like that, not knowing his ACTUAL mutant ability. Whatever. I'm only like, three years too late of realizing this anyways.
Looking back now, buying Albett & Lanning's Guardians of the Galaxy trade paperbacks from FanExpo was the best and luckiest buys I've ever had in my life. At that time I didn't even do my research and didn't know that their run on the title was incredibly amazing. All I knew was that I wanted to buy anything that had to do with the Guardians. So when I entered FanExpo, I had a list of things I wanted to buy and I checked every comic book booth for any Guardians of the Galaxy titles. Little did I know that Albett & Lanning's run on the title was the only comic books out in trade paperbacks. I didn't even know how many volumes there were. But at long last, I was able to find something I didn't even know I was looking for: Guardians of the Galaxy volumes 1, 2, 3 AND 4. They were even the last ones. Immediately I bought them and got them for really cheap. Great condition too. I was incredibly happy and satisfied with my experience at FanExpo BECAUSE I was able to buy the books.
For me, the best time to read a comic book is at night in your bed. And that is exactly what I did. It was one volume per night, so those four nights of reading the Guardians were probably the best nights I've ever spent. I had such a blast reading them and was so surprised how awesome the comic book series was. SO yeah, just the thought of me owning them in physical copies makes my life THAT much happier!
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