Life

I have no right to complain about life.  It is hard sometimes; I can’t deny that.  Yet I am still living, and I am blessed with a wife and three beautiful children.

Through my many failures I can at least look upon what I am blessed with and feel successful.

I picture at times what my life would be like if I had never married my first wife.  True, I would have saved myself the headaches that came from the divorce; saved myself the heartache of it.  Yet I would not have the two beautiful children who were born from that union.  I think about what my life would be like if I had stayed in the military to retire, or stayed on the road travelling from state to state.  Yet I would never have met my second wife who has given me a beautiful son.

I have held these children in my arms, and at those times, those moments, my life felt right.  I felt like I had done something right in this world.  I look upon my daughter who is 12 now and I still remember holding her for the first time in my arms.  I remember holding her close to me hours before I left for Iraq, burning the image and sensation in my mind of what that little baby felt like because when I would come home, that baby would be gone.

I remember the day my first son was born and it seemed as if all the stars aligned that day.  I have watched him grown, and I hope I have guided him well up to this point.  Where my daughter is the intellectual, my oldest son is the comedian.  He makes me laugh at the corniest of jokes, and his wit is sharper than mine ever was.  I missed a lot watching him grow because of my time in the military.

I missed my daughter’s first steps, her first words; and I would miss the same with my older son. 

Then my third child was born, and I have been here for his first words, his first steps.  I wrestle with him on the floor because he is a hulking wild child who likes to use his mother as a jungle gym.  He drives me crazy, my oldest daughter sets me on edge with how much she is growing into a beautiful woman, and my older son strengthens my resolve to ensure he becomes a better man than me.

My life is a crazy rollercoaster of children and yet I would not have it any other way.  Their lives are more precious to me than my own.  I would trade them for nothing.  It saddens me to hear how others would trade their unborn baby’s lives to erase a “mistake”.  Life is no mistake.

Some women will go through life wanting a baby only to find out they never will be able to.  My wife was told she never would bear children, and yet through our union a child was born.  My wife knows and understands the value and the gift of birthing a child.

Some women will bear their child inside their wombs only to wake up one day to find the child within no longer awake. 

As crazy as my life is with all the responsibilities children place upon me, I could never imagine my life without them.  I could never imagine them one day not waking up from their sleep.  Could anyone else do the same?

A friend of mine suffers right now.  I cannot imagine the pain and hurt she is going through.  What I can do is imagine how I would feel; and as I do tears stream down my face as I type this. 

My older children are at their mom’s, and my youngest is fast asleep in his crib.  Yet I want to drive down to where my older children are and hug them tight to me.  I want to pick up my hulking toddler from his crib and hold him in my arms.  Because somewhere, right now tonight a friend of mine holds her two older children while mourning the death of her third before he even had a chance to see the light of day.

Hold your children tight tonight if you have any.

Fantastic 4: A Comic Book Guru Rant

FOX has a record of releasing great films only to be soured by the multiple failures they have had in pleasing their overall fan base.  For every success FOX Studios has had with Star Wars (pre-Disney) and The Simpsons, there are failures including Firefly, Terra Nova, Almost Human, Fantastic Four (2005), its sequel, and now the reboot Fantastic 4 (2015).  However, for all the failures FOX has had, perhaps this time it is not the fault of the studio itself; though some blame still needs to be laid at FOX’s feet.

I, the self-proclaimed and thus true apparent Comic Book Guru, have not seen the rebooted film Fantastic 4; I have no plans to either.  Honestly, the Fantastic Four as a comic book series has never appealed to me as a reader.  I do like them in a supporting capacity in mainstream storylines like “The Onslaught Saga”, “The Civil War”, and such story arcs which cross over multiple titles.

Although I have not read many of the comic books, I still see the appeal in them and I still want to see a good movie adaptation of the Fantastic Four.  After all, the FF was the genesis of the Marvel Comics Universe.  It was the first title Stan Lee and Jack Kirby put to paper all those years ago, and from that genesis came Spider-man, the Hulk, the Avengers, and so forth and so on. 

So when the 2005 adaptation of the FF came out, I went to see it.  I might never have read the comics, but I was still familiar with the characters.  I was sadly disappointed in the treatment the 2005 movie gave the FF, particularly the revamping of Doctor Doom.  When the sequel came out, I thought it was a step in the right direction but poor execution of the plot and the representation of Galactus casted a long shadow of disappointment.  After Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer failed to impress, any further releases under the FF banner went silent.

That was until the rise of Marvel Studios and their Cinematic Universe (MCU), and merger with Disney that FOX Studios hopped on board to reboot the Fantastic Four.  Why?  Because any further delay in producing the movie based on the property would cause said property to revert back to Marvel Comics, and thus the characters could be used for the MCU. 

It is this fear of property reversion to their source of origin that caused Sony Studios to reboot Spider-man so quickly after the last Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire film, and furthermore for FOX to produce more X-Men films.  There is a shelf life on these properties when sold to the studios.  Sony has learned from their mistakes and reached out to Disney/Marvel Studios, brokered a deal, and now Spider-man will appear in the MCU under the banners of both Disney and Marvel, and Sony.

FOX Studios; however, is stubborn.  If they had not pushed for this reboot then they would have lost the rights, and we the fans would see Reed Richards discussing quantum physics with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.

However, like I said in the introduction of this blog, the complete blame cannot lie with FOX Studios.  Barely a week prior to the release of the reboot Fantastic 4 (already released as I type this), the lead actor Miles Teller, aka Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic states the film may be poorly received by the critics.  The lead actor is telling reporters that the film, before it is released to the public, MAY BE poorly received!  That is a bad sign. 

Yet he was right; the film has received poor ratings from critics.  However, many true filmgoers like me really do not pay attention to critics.  After all, most critics are looking for the next Gone With the Wind, or some great social agenda piece of film.  They are blinded by that and thus do not care that The Avengers (2012) made over a billion dollars during its theatrical run.  So even with the Fantastic Four reboot receiving negative reviews from the critics, maybe this could have been another indication that the critics do not have a clue as to what moviegoers are watching.

Then the Director Josh Trank speaks up to blame the studios (FOX) and states the version he had envisioned a year ago was basically trashed by the studios in order to rush this film.  Not so fast Trank.  Maybe FOX are a bunch of idiotic douchebags; see X-Men Origins: Wolverine as proof.  However, under the FOX banner lies the successful X-Men film franchise (except for the above mentioned Wolverine film and X-Men: Last Stand) and the firm directing hand of Bryan Singer.  Under the same studio, Bryan Singer has had his way whenever he has been directly involved in the X-Men franchise and led the franchise to success.  So Director Josh Trank, what is your excuse now?

The truth is no matter how “douchebaggery” a studio may be, it is still the responsibility of the directors, the writers, and the producers to deliver and execute a film that represents in high quality the property they were hired to produce.  The actors need to do the same.  I was watching The Avengers last night (6 AUG 2015) on FX, and during the commercial breaks the FF (2015) actors were discussing the film.  They seemed completely lost, and lacked all sense of enthusiasm for this film.  The actress portraying Sue Storm, aka Invisible Girl had the “deer looking in the headlights” expression while discussing the film.

I suspect this film will bomb the box office.  FOX has already mentioned they are planning a sequel, but I hope they seriously reconsider it and just let their hold on this property lapse.  I would wager FOX will never strike a deal with Disney/Marvel with the FF because then that would have to open the door concerning the X-Men properties.  So please FOX, just let the property go back to Marvel.

To Josh Trank and Miles Teller, if you have that much lack of faith in your work, then leave Hollywood; or at the very least never touch a superhero property again.  Else you will face the ever boisterous, but pretty much harmless wrath of the self-proclaimed thus truth apparent Comic Book Guru!!!

The Comic Book Guru Reviews: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Before anyone else says it, yes I know I am late on this review.  I have been meaning to write this review since I watched the movie opening night.  Actually, I got to watch the movie the night before its actual premiere at a special screening at the local theater.  Anyway, I apologize for the tardiness of this review but life has been busy.  Without further delay:

WARNING: SPOILERS (but by now everyone should have seen this film)!!!

There is a lot to be said about the Joss Whedon directed, second installment of The Avengers story (11^th-installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe [MCU] canon) Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).  There were high expectations for this film after the smashing (pun intended) success of The Avengers (2012).  There was a lot riding on this installment to continue the story of the MCU, wrap up Phase II of the MCU (although technically Ant-Man was the Phase II wrap-up), and then transition the MCU into Phase III.  The question becomes did it deliver?

As with every MCU movie to date, I thoroughly enjoyed Avengers: Age of Ultron.  I had fun watching it and thought it was a fun-thrilled ride the way it was meant to be.  Joss Whedon has long been known as the master of witty dialogue as evidenced on his past works like Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and Angel.  AOU did not disappoint in that regard.  Also not disappointing were the action sequences and the pace of the film.   

From start to finish, AOU started fast and did not slow down until the closing scene.

Joss Whedon focused more on character development and progression with this entry after not having a real chance to do so in the first film.  Most notable of Whedon’s focus was on Hawkeye; perhaps in response to the somewhat moronic, negative criticism placed upon Whedon for making Hawkeye a mindless drone in the first film.  Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye also got a chance to quip some of his sarcastic wit that Hawkeye is known for in the comic books.  His interactions with Aaron-Taylor Johnson’s Quicksilver showcased the dark humor of Hawkeye.

I have read criticism of this entry being another Tony Stark-centric film; particularly with Stark being the inventor of Ultron instead of Hank Pym, aka Ant-Man like in the comic books.  However, this is not the case.  First of all, while Tony Stark and Bruce Banner tinkered with the idea of an Ultron program, the complete creation of Ultron really goes to Thanos indirectly through the Infinity Stone placed in Loki’s staff from the first movie.  Second, while the comic book purist in me would have enjoyed having Hank Pym be the “father” of Ultron as depicted in the comic books, there really was no room in the MCU to properly introduce Hank Pym.  With the events of The Avengers (2012) and Iron Man 3 (2013), and with Tony Stark living in paranoia/fear about not being able to protect the world AND his friends, it was fitting for Tony Stark to be the “creator” of Ultron.  I can write a whole other blog about this particular subject so I will save further discussion just for that.

I will not even discuss the idiocy concerning the criticisms levied against Whedon for the supposedly weakening of the Black Widow character in this movie.  Some people need to get a life and stop analyzing movies for hidden socio-political motives.

Age of Ultron was another fun and action-filled entry into the MCU.  It delivered on the points it needed to, and it set the ball in motion for Phase III which will take place after Ant-Man (2015). 

However, as good as Age of Ultron was to watch there was something that seemed missing from it.  As I write this I still cannot place my finger on it.  To this day, whenever I watch the first Avengers movie, I still get goosebumps when the Avengers assemble on the busted streets of New York City after Hulk arrives.  Age of Ultron really did not deliver that sensation. 

I felt Disney and Marvel made the trailer (the “No Strings Attached” teaser) darker in tone than what the movie actually was.  I really expected a darker movie based on that teaser.  When it did not happen, it took me awhile to get back into the atmosphere of the movie to enjoy it.  There were moments where I thought James Spader’s portrayal of Ultron was creepy, but then Ultron would mutter a comedic line and take me out of the moment.

I also thought Ultron did not seem menacing enough.  I really expected Ultron to be shown destroying an entire city and killing everyone in it like in the comic book storyline Avengers: Ultron Unlimited.  Most of the destruction caused by Ultron happened off camera it seems as the Avengers were reading the incident reports from the comfort of Avengers Tower.  I really hoped for Thor to even utter the line, “Ultron! We would have words with thee,” (from the previously mentioned comic book story) after his team was beaten to within an inch of their lives.  Again, sadly, that did not happen.

Joss Whedon is known for killing his characters in his films and TV shows.  Usually, they are very poignant and devastating.  However, in the Age of Ultron, Quicksilver’s death did not feel that way at all.  It felt like Whedon was merely checking off his list of what needs to happen in a Whedon movie.  Maybe I am being harsh because I did like Johnson’s portrayal of Quicksilver.  However, after seeing the Quicksilver from FOX’s X-Men: Days of Future Past move fast enough to divert every bullet fired at Professor X, Magneto, and Wolverine; watching MCU’s Quicksilver die from multiple bullet shots just seemed nonsensical.  In other words, a needless sacrifice.  Perhaps Disney and Marvel did not want to hassle with the split copyright of the character?  Who can say?

Finally, and this is nitpicky of me but the comic book story OCD I have compels me, I felt disappointed that there was never an explanation as to why Tony Stark was even still Iron Man after the events of Iron Man 3.  While Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson make mention of Bucky Barnes, there was really no transition from where Captain America was telling Falcon at the end of Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014) they were going after Bucky to seeing Captain America driving through the snow-covered forests on his motorcycle. 

Overall, I say that while Age of Ultron lacked the same awe of the first Avengers movie, it still stands as a great movie to watch.  I think it did exactly what it needed to do to transition to Phase III (Ant-Man serves as the official wrap of Phase II), and we get another look at Thanos and the bigger picture concerning the Infinity Stones.

There were a few curse words (of which Captain America admonishes Iron Man for using them), but this movie is still kid-friendly. 

What did you think?  Agree?  Disagree?  Let me know.

Also, let me know what movies from Phase III you are looking forward to. 

 

Until next time…