X-men Wolverine Movie Review (warning: movie spoiler

Just went to watch the latest x-men movie. The one dealing with the origin of Wolverine.

Wolverine is actually weapon X. A mutant who was enhanced by the government to become the ultimate weapon.

This movie deals with how the x-man wolverine came about and how professor xavier became the care taker of the mutants he later named the x-men. We also see a young cyclops there too.

Being a prequel, we kind of know how the story is going to turn out. Even the gist of the tale is expected for those who read x-men comics. Logan was born a mutant with self healing abilities. It is near impossible to kill him since his body automatically heals all injuries immediately. On top of that, he has dagger-like retractable claws that come out from his knuckles.

The difference between the natural wolverine and the enhanced version is that the final wolverine is made indestructible, with his skeleton and claws being made of adamium, a metal developed from metereorite, that is, the the marvel universe, the hardest metal on earth.

We see Logan, as a little boy, witnessing the death of the man he called his father. The resulting rage led to the little boy's claws emerging as he impaled the murderer. Both Logan and his brother Victor were on the run, now that they were labelled freaks of nature. The next few centuries were spent in battle, as soldiers serving their country. Soldiers that could not be killed. Not even by a firing squad.

Surviving that firing squad led to Logan and Victor (sabertooth) recruited into a special team of mutants working for the government. When forced to kill an innocent village, children included, Logan walks away. He resigns from his promising position and disappears to lead a quiet life, as a lumberjack.

Logan finds happiness with his girlfriend, a schoolteacher.

Everything seems blissful in these 6 years until his former boss, Striker, shows up and warns him of someone out to kill his former team. Then his girlfriend shows up dead (or so it appears) and Logan swears revenge.

All signs point to his brother, Victor, being the murderer. To defeat his brother, he agrees to co-operate with Striker, to have adamium pumped into his skeleton in order to become indestructible, so that he can kill his brother.

After the procedure is successful and adamium now forms Logan's skeleton, Striker double crosses wolverine as he orders the doctor to erase Wolverine's memory. Wolverine escapes.

Striker kills the elderly couple who give Logan refuge in their home, so it is revenge time again as Wolverine tracks down Striker.

In Logan's absence, his old team was made catch new mutants, young children at that time, to send to the island for experiments. The x-men, cyclops and icemen and amongst the kids in the jail cells there. Gambit was one of them, but he escaped. Wolverine convinced Gambit to bring him to the island to exact revenge.

Plot-wise, there are several holes. If wolverine's girlfriend could influence people to do her bidding by touching them, why couldn't she influence the Striker to release her sister?

The story is enjoyable, if you don't have your hopes too high. This isn't a block buster. Nor is there a major villian that is threatening to destroy the world, like you might expect to see in an x-man movie.

The x-men wolverine movie works largely because of Hugh Jackman's undeniable charisma and screen presence. He carries the entire movie on his shoulders.

Black Friday And Cyber Monday Action Figures, Toys and Comics

Know of a star wars fan? Or are you a fan?
Save 50% on a galaxy of Star Wars Statues!.
These would make great gifts for any Jedi Knight.

Need a gift for the guys? Pop culture should be a hit with them. Boys, tomboys and grown men and women do like stuff like the ones you can find at this

black friday and cyber monday sale. On top of that, they are giving away $100 in gift cards every day from November 28 through the end of the year.

Ben Ten Toys

Ben 10 is hot for Christmas. Kids, especially boys, are into this series. My sons loved the ben ten watches I got them. Here's more.

Ben 10 Its Hero Time TPB Written by Man of Action, Sholly Fisch, Robbie Busch and Ivan Velez Art by Dario Brizuela, Dev Madden, Ethan Beavers and others Based on the hit animated series from Cartoon Network! Collecting stories from CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and #11-21 as young hero Ben Tennyson discovers a device that allows him to change into ten different alien superbeings! Perfect action and adventure for every young reader! Advance-solicited; on sale January 7 ï 144 pg, FC, $14.99 US

Ben 10 Alien Force Season 1 DVD Part 02 From Warner Home Video, Inc.! It's been five years since Ben last wore the Omnitrix. But when Grandpa Max goes missing, Ben must go hero once again. Now it's up to Ben, Gwen, and Kevin to find new half-alien allies and stop a secret Highbreed invasion! Scheduled to ship in January 2009.

The Dark Knight Merchandise

With a block buster hit like The Dark Knight, can you imagine how much the merchandise will be worth 10 years from now?

That movie broke all the records. A rare feat.

The Dark Knight merchandise are going to be on many boys and grown ups gift lists. Think they are too expensive? Not these toys

Batman

DC Direct Infinite Crisis Series 2 Batman Action Figure

Damaged Box Infinite Crisis Series 2 Batman Action Figure

From DC Direct we have a damaged box Infinite Crisis Series 2 Batman action figure.

Damaged Box Knightfall Batman Series 1 Bane Action Figure

From DC Direct we have a damaged box Knightfall Batman Series 1 Bane action figure.

Damaged Box Spawn The Dark Ages i.23 Deluxe Box Set The Black Knight and Horse Action Figure

From McFarlane Toys we have a damaged box Spawn The Dark Ages i.23 Deluxe Box Set The Black Knight and Horse action figure.

Devil May Cry 3 Vergil Statue

From Kotobukiya we have the Devil May Cry 3 Vergil Artfx Staute.

Dark Knight Past The $400 Million Mark

The Batman Begins sequel is breaking all the box office records. Watch out Titanic! The Dark Knight is inching its way up.

Not exactly for little kids. This movie is for an older audience. Teens and up at least.

Still, it looks like Batman toys are going to be to on Christmas shopping list this year. Collectors of the original star wars merchandise know how much the prices of action figures, still in their original packaging can be worth a decade or more later.

Batman action figures and The Dark Knight merchandise will be worth many times its current price soon.

The Dark Knight Movie Review

What's the hype about The Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight?
Batman Begins started off the Batman series on the right foot. I've been reading Batman comics since I was a kid and though the Batman movies were entertaining, somehow, they missed it. The casting of Batman was wrong... until they got Christian Bale for Batman Begins. Then, Batman really began.

I've been dying to see The Dark Knight and finally got the chance to do so. It's got Batman's classic nemesis, Joker in it. And Heath Ledger did a brilliant job as the Joker, overshadowing Scarecrows short appearance and basically, Joker set the mood of the movie.

Bruce Wayne seeked to inspire his fellow citizens of Gotham, as Batman, and he was too successful. Too many copycat Batmans made a mess of his crime busting activities and caused utter chaos. The good thing was that the criminals were too scared to come out at night cos that's when the Bat appears. A fitting turn of events.

This movie is darker than the first and explores deep into the human psyche. You see the Joker's insanity. He seems so logical as he reasons out his insanity, in a way that is totally scary. Watch out for the nuances in Heath Ledger's performance. We see the human psyche as Bruce is tortured by the decisions he has to make as Joker pressures him to give himself up. Every day he delays leads to another death neither he nor Gotham's finest can prevent. You see commissioner Gordon under fire. Joker pushes each of them to see who would snap. The entire cast gave brilliant performances, far more depth than you might expect from a Superhero movie. Okay, so Spider-man featured brilliant performances too, which is why both movies smashed box office records.

I don't want to say too much because spoilers spoil a movie for one who hasn't seen this but I'd want to watch it again.
Here is a more detailed The Dark Knight movie review with spoilers if you want to know more.

So who do you think will win the box office race? Batman smashed Spideys records. Will the next Spider-man movie break Batman's records?

Iron Man Movie Review

Iron Man is Tony Stark. Billionaire weapons expert, playboy and drunkard. At least that was what he was. Until an accident made him dependent on his technology to stay alive.

THe first Iron Man movie is about the origin of Iron Man. We see Tony Stark as a thoughtless billionaire playboy whose company, Stark Industries specialized in weapons of mass destruction. He invents new ways to kill and is obsessed with his inventions. Women flock to this self absorbed playboy who doesn't give a damn about anything other than his work. He's the ultimate bad boy.

All that is well portrayed in the earlier scenes of the movie. His life before and after his encounter with the terrorists, who happens to be big fans of his inventions. In his capture, shards of his weapons pierce his chest and almost cost him his life. He is saved by fellow prisoner and patriot, who creates a cumbersome device to keep those pieces from entering his heart. Out of necessity, he is forced to invent a power source he wears in his chest to keep himself alive.

Personally, I think the best part of the movie was up to the point when he finished creating his suit and surfaced as Ironman. Robert Downey Jr did an amazing job in his portrayal of Tony Stark in his journey from irresponsible playboy weapons prodigy to a man with a purpose.

To escape, he creates the Ironman suit. Hence Ironman is born.

As he refines his suit and learns to use it, one can feel his exuberance. Much like Spidey learning to swing with his webs. The mood in the second part of the movie is so much like the first Spiderman movie. Kids would prefer the second part of the movie once the suit surfaces. That is where you see superhero action.

Overall, it is a very entertaining movie for the entire family. I was never a big fan of Ironman cos I don't like robotic suits and playboys don't appeal to me, but I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. My sons loved it.

With the release of Iron man, the merchandise becomes the latest must have thing for boys. I happened to be browsing through toys at a store when I overheard a grown man exclaiming excitedly that the discount store sold Iron man action figures. I called my son to ask him what toys he'd prefer I get for him and his friends for his party, listing iron man action figures as one of the choices and he chose Iron man action figures without hesitation.

Privacy

This blog displays adsense ads. In accordance with the terms and conditions at adsense, here my privacy policy. Besides google adsense ads, there may also be ads from networks or other advertising partners related to the site's topics. All these third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users’ browser, or using web beacons to collect information, in the course of ads being served on your website. You can check the browser you are using for user options for cookie management.

This blog is maintained using blogger. I'm not sure if blogger collects any info behind the scenes. Best to check google's privacy policy if you are concerned.

Action figures as gifts

For christmas or birthdays or any other occasion, action figures are great boy gifts for boys aged 3 to 99.

You'd be surprised at the number of grown men who collect action figures. They usually keep these for sentimental value or as collectors who see these as investments. When books go out of print, they become rare and valuable. Same with virtually any commodity. Including action figures.

Somehow, I think a kid may appreciate the action figure hasbro more than grown ups as they tend to get totally immersed in the world of make believe. Yet when you want a grown man play with his son, somehow, there is a Peter Pan side in every guy.

If you know someone to be a collector, get him the action figures he lacks in his collection.
How would you know?
Ask him.

Marvel legends action figures

Super-heros aren't going away anytime soon. For Christmas, superhero action figures make wonderful gifts for the young and old alike. Especially Marvel Legends action figures.

My father brought for my kids his old comic books which he kept from my childhood. He read comics as a kid and let me read them since I was a kid. After I got a job, I bought my own comic books. Still do. And I share them with my kids. DC and Marvel are the biggest names in the superhero biz.

Of these, Marvel Legends capture the imaginations of readers of all readers.

I must admit that I'm addicted to the X-men. Especially Phoenix. Her raw power, yet frail femininity makes her a contradiction, which is fascinating

12
Collosus is.. so so. Superstrong. Yawn.
Nightcrawler is an interesting character. He looks creepy, yet has a saintly character and the Daredevil is technically a blind man, who can see with his other senses.


12

With all the fantastic four movies, fantastic four action figures would be a hit with the kids. I like hot headed Johny Storm, a.k.a. The Human Torch best.

Marvel Heroes Legends Icons 12-Inch Human Torch Action Figure
Ok. His arrogance and "I'm God's gift to womenfolk" attitude can be off putting but, well, he is cute (at least the movie version is). That impulsiveness, youth and perchant for getting into trouble makes him an interesting character to read.


Marvel Heroes Legends Icons 12-Inch Silver Surfer Action Figure

The silver surfer is an enigma. The latest Fantastic Four movie features the silver surfer, so that would make that action figure a hot christmas gift right?

Action figures are great for kids and collectors who buy expecting the prices to go up as these models are no longer over manufactured decades from now.

Personally, I prefer comic books.

Daredevil TPB: Marvel Legends Vol. 1 - Yellow

Hulk Hogan

I never thought I would see the day. Pro Wrestler (okay, now semi-retired) Hulk Hogan has is own action figure. He was a rock bassist. A professional wrestler. A hollywood actor. Guess it was only a matter of time before you see hulk hogan action figures in the store.

His arrogant persona, very alpha male, makes him a hero among many boys who want to be like him when they grow up. Hey, he is successful, having gone so far.

These action figures would be wonderful gifts for WWE wrestling fans. and for those who look up to this Hollywood Hulk.

Spiderman monopoly game

I used to play monopoly. A lot.
I loved comic books and movies and our entire family loves Spiderman movies. My collection of spider-man comics has been rummaged by my kids who treat those hidden stacks as treasure troves.

Now there is Spider-man monopoly. That classic board game with a twist. Some interesting differences, roll double ones, get to web swing anywhere on the board. A double six allows you to challenge any other players for a property they own.
The basic rules remain the same. Buy property, collect rent, get the most money to win the game and do that by - 4 green houses for 1 red hotel. Or in this case, 4 apartments for 1 skyscraper.

That is a fresh take on the classic game.

Besides spiderman, there's fantastic four, star wars and many other versions of monopoly board games available today. They make wonderful gifts for families.

Robin, former sidekick

Robin used to be in Batman's shadow, but with the formation of the Teen Titans, he now leads the heros in his own right.

Trained by Batman, he is every bit like his mentor, minus the bitterness. Robin is day to Batman's night. Or was the Superman? Anyway, a broody character like Batman need some cheering up, by his young charge Robin, and by his best pal Superman. Notice how opposites attract.

For a complete DC collection, you need robin action figures as well as figurines of his high profile mentor.

Transformers for kids

I've been getting Transformers stationery sets for my kids to get them more into their studies lately. I think it makes school more fun for them. They are proud of their pencil cases and pencils bearing pictures of the transformers.

Long before the movie, they have been crazy about transformers. Their show and tell would always revolve around their transformers action figures

I prefer transformers to some of the other more disturbing toys in the market today. At least these are educational in that each transformer is a puzzle in a sense. You can take the robots apart and put them back as vehicles, or take the vehicles apart and put them back as robots. You can even combine several transformer figures together for a new robot. It takes some brain power to do that so in that sense, I classify that as an educational toy. Though not half as good as the classics like Scrabble.

Superheros

Lots of action figures are based on superheros.

That's not just boy territory. Growing up, as a little girl, I was fascinated by superhero comic books. My cousins and I would read my uncle's private collection of DC comics.

Superman, green lantern and wonder woman were among my favourites. Firestorm and other lesser known heros entertained me for hours in that library.

My cousins and I enjoyed playing make believe with the action heros. In some of our games, we actually jumped on grandpa's and grandma's beds pretending to be superheros flying around and bashing up the bad guys.

Those were the happy, innocent days of childhood.

The superhero price comparison site is a treasure trove for comic book lovers, both the very young and the young at heart. Nothing beats a great fantasy read which superhero stories provide.