Venom 2018 has exceeded expectations bringing in over $856.1 million dollars to date! Many popular movie critics gave Venom negative reviews, mainly because origins of the character was altered for cinematic display. Despite the alterations, Venom is an action-packed film and Tom Hardy‘s performance as Eddie Brock was nothing less than perfect. Let’s break down the different aspects of this film that stood out to comic fans the most and what could happen for this film in the future…

According to the comic blueprint when the Venom symbiote arrived on Earth, Spiderman was its first host. What the symbiote fed on the most with Peter was the special abilities he gained from the radioactive spider. The Venom symbiote retained Spiderman’s abilities and costume design by the time it attached to Eddie Brock. The Venom symbiote incorporated Brock’s deep negative feelings toward Spiderman making them it’s own. Brock had a obsession to take down Spiderman, for he blamed Spiderman for the lost of his job and the end of his relationship with his girlfriend. In turn, Spiderman and Venom are always at odds, even though in rare occasions they would join forces. In the movie release of Venom, Eddie lost his job and girlfriend by overstepping boundaries when interviewing the Life Foundation CEO Carlton Drake. Eddie was determined that Drake was guilty of his accusations of human experimentation and was willing to do what it took to prove his story. This film featured other symbiotes such as Riot, who’s mission was to bring more of its species to Earth. Is it possible the symbiotes were fleeing their planet because it was near destruction by Galactus like in the comics? With eliminating Spiderman from the film origins of Venom, do you think that ruined Venom’s chances to encounter the wall crawler in future films? Would this version of Venom been a great new villain for The Amazing Spiderman film series or was this standalone film a good move for Sony?

Venom was featured as the main villain in Spiderman 3. This storyline of Venom was slightly changed as well. The Venom symbiote arrived on Earth through a small meteor and not from the shuttle return as shown in the comics and Venom 2018. In the comic story, the symbiote attached to Peter Parker becoming the black suit Spiderman. Peter discovered the suit enhanced his abilities and even began to turn his personality into a darker side. This began to jeopardize his relationships at work and with Mary Jane so Peter expelled the symbiote, thus making Eddie the new host. Once Eddie gained the symbiote, it became a creature not seen with Spiderman. The Venom symbiote was short lived in Spiderman 3, as it was disintegrated along with Eddie Brock. What threw the appearance off with Venom was that his size was comparable Spiderman, not making him much of a threaten menace. In Venom 2018, Venom was almost triple the size of Brock, easily towering over most humans. Since Eddie encounter the symbiote first, Venom was without his famous white spider across his torso and back. Venom was unable to cling to walls like Spiderman or create webbing, so the unique powers of the symbiote made up for the missing elements. Venom was seemingly destroyed like in the Spiderman 3 film, but returned to Eddie to help combat crime in his town. Another notable difference between the two cinematic Venoms was that the new version has a personality of its own while the other was a mindless creature under control of Eddie.

At the end of film, Eddie arrives at a prison facility to interview Cletus Kasady, an infamous serial killer who is portrayed by Woody Harrelson. Cletus lets Eddie know that when he gets out of prison there will be carnage. This hints that the murderous Carnage will be the next villain that Venom must face. What if Venom’s apparent destruction is what forces the symbiotes’ pregnancy in hopes to survive extinction? What if in this Venom story, Carnage and Venoms indifference stems from the passed down knowledge of Riot’s death and the disruption of the mission to invade Earth with symbiotes? What were your thoughts on 2018 film for Venom? Should producers continue with this storyline or will this movie become short lived?

Kate Beckinsale returns as Selene in Underworld: Blood Wars. To date Blood Wars grossed 81.1 million worldwide, pulling in negative reviews from The New York Times and Rotten Tomatoes. Underworld is a horror story of the greatest supernatural creatures battling through the centuries for dominance and survival. Van Helsing is another film Kate Beckinsale worked on in which vampire and werewolves share the same script. Let’s review each film leading up to Blood Wars, for this is the fifth film in the series…

The first Underworld was released in 2003, in the action/horror category as Blade was closing his film series in 2004. Underworld’s impact was big enough to become a solid foundation for the future films. Selene is a death dealer on the hunt for werewolves, in belief that they killed her family centuries ago. In this film, the Lycans/werewolves, are searching for a human with a unique strain of DNA that will allow the two supernatural species to blend successfully. This union will create a new hybrid immortal, stronger than both the vampires and werewolves. The wanted human is Michael Corvin, who is a direct descendant of the immortal gene. Michael is eventually bitten by both species. He takes on a dark blue appearance with the vampire dominance compared to the next film where his face takes on more of the Lycan species.

It was revealed to Selene that it was not the werewolves who slaughtered her family but her coven vampire elder Viktor. Upon killing Viktor, Selene along with Michael are wanted among the Underworld.

Evolution is the next movie in the series where Marcus, the first and most powerful vampire is awakened. This movie is a mix between the past and the present for we see the beginnings of the vampire and Lycan race. Alexander Corvinus is introduced to the story as the source of the immortal virus. Through the events of the first film, Marcus is mistakenly awakened with Lycan blood thus transforming him into a hybrid. Unlike Michael’s hybrid form, Marcus is able to take on a batlike appearance, making him more powerful than his normal vampire state. Through the blood memory of the of the Lycan and Kraven, Marcus set out to free his brother from centuries of captivity. After witnessing the change Lycan blood did for him, Marcus believed vampire blood could turn his twin brother William into a hybrid as well, with the chance of him transforming back to human form once again. Evolution reveals the importance on why Selene’s family was killed for they built the prison William was held in along with its location. With these key events, Selene, Michael and Marcus was eventually led to Alexander Corvinus. Marcus seemingly kills Michael, then impaled his own father for the key to his brother’s prison. Before dying, Alexander offers his blood to Selene turning her into a carrier of the original immortal virus. Selene’s strength increased pass any elder and gained the ability to survive in sunlight once again. Upon William’s freedom, the brothers were confronted by Selene and Michael. Michael was able to overpower and kill William because of his hybrid state, a form William failed to receive in time. With her new powers, Selene brought Marcus to his death along with his brother. Selene and Michael are now the last two immortals with the original virus, is it possible that Selene could become a hybrid as well? Is it possible, through his blood, Alexander could have resurrected Lucian, Amelia and Viktor when he was examining their bodies?

The Underworld series went into the past with the Rise of the Lycans. This film expanded on the origin of Lucian and the love affair with Viktor’s daughter Sonja. We discovered Lucian was the first Lycan, able to revert back and forth from his animal state, unlike the werewolves William created. With this discovery, Viktor used Lucian to create more Lycans like himself as daytime guardians for the vampires, in the manner like slaves. As Lucian grows up under Viktor, Lucian also grows close to Sonja. They are secretive lovers for some time, up to Sonja becoming pregnant with Lucian’s child. With this, Viktor ordered Sonja’s death in front of Lucian, for he forbade the blending of the species. With the help of the survived Lycans and the werewolf horde, Lucian acted his revenge on Viktor, nearly killing him and destroying his coven. Viktor, the hibernating Marcus and Ameila, and the historian Tanis, were the only survivors of the retreat. One confusing point was Lucian and Sonja is not of the original Corvinus bloodline. Since their blood was mixed within the child, Sonja and the fetus would not have survived either way, right? Also, why wasn’t a sequel made for this film? The sequel could have been a backstory of when Kraven misled the coven into believing he slain Lucian. This backstory would also show Viktor eliminating Selene’s family thus making her a vampire. That story didn’t make it to the big screen and could have been a great addition to the series. Hopefully we will see this film in the future………

Awakening is the next movie to follow Evolution, where the humans became aware of the Lycan/vampire species, declaring termination on sight. Selene and Michael are captured among all the other immortals. The importance of their apprehension was confusing for how would anyone know of their increased powers, when all the witnesses were deceased? Awakening revealed that Selene and Michael had a child named Eve, who was the first born, perfect hybrid. Eve is linked to her parents where they can locate one another with mental eyesight. The Lycans are studying Eve’s genetics to find complete immunity from all forms of silver. Along the way, a new hybrid Lycan is created using the original blood of Corvinus, much like Selene’s transformation to Corvinus blood. Would William have taken on this monstrous hybrid appearance as well if he received blood from his father Alexander? Selene gains a new ally named David, who replaced Michael in the male lead role to Selene. In the ending of the film, the mental link that Selene and Eve saw is believed to be Michael finally escaping his captives.

Blood Wars is next in Underworld timeline where the Lycans have driven the vampires down to extinction. In Awakening, it was believed both species were suffering extinction but really the Lycans had the winning side. Marius is the new Lycan leader, with enhanced Lycan abilities. In the end of Awakening, the audience believed Michael was escaping his icy prison when really, he was being abducted by Marius and his men. Marius gained his new powers by draining the blood from Michael then creating a serum from it. David is revealed to be Amelia’s son, thus making him the heir of the Eastern Coven. Selene gains additional abilities from the Nordiac Coven, in the process killing Marius and avenging Michael. Eve finally is brought in the ending of the film for she was still mentally linked to Selene even though Selene was not linked to Eve. Through all the events of Underworld, Selene becomes a powerful elder. Will Michael ever return to the Underworld franchise? Producer Len Wiseman claimed there is a 6th film in development, what could be the story plot for this film? Will Selene’s powers increase even further? What will become of the Lycans now that two of their most powerful leaders have fallen? Blade was rumored to become a crossover feature for Underworld but was declined. Do you believe Blade could bring back the high interest in the Underworld franchise or would he hurt it even further?

The Rise of Skywalker is the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga. Since the adventures of Luke, the galaxy is at war with the Empire, later becoming the First Order. In this final installment, Darth Sidious has returned to attempt his ultimate plan of controlling the galaxy. The theme of this film is similar to that of Return of the Jedi. To date, The Rise of Skywalker grossed $1.074 billion dollars. Since the release of this film, the world was introduced to Disney Plus, featuring all Star Wars films including mini-series that will tie the films together such as the Mandalorian and Obi Wan Kenobi.

Sidious transferred his consciousness to a clone body before his destruction on the Second Death Star. Since then, Sidious struggled to bring his cloned body to full power and mobility. Even in his weaken state, the Emperor is able to continue his reign in the First Order through Snoke. His final design was a massive fleet of Sith Destroyers, each with the power to destroy planets like the Death Star and the StarKiller Base. What the Emperor needed most was a way to keep the Sith alive, so he attempted to get Kylo Ren to kill Rey or have Rey kill himself. In either case, the Emperor was attempting to shift his consciousness into a fresh Force sensitive body. Instead, Sidious accidentally discovered the power to absorb the pair’s Force connection to restore his own body and it strengthen his power substantially. Since Palpatine has achieved different forms of survival, why would he allow himself to be taken down by his own power, in the same fashion that scarred him when he battled Mace Windu? Before Palpatine was destroyed by Rey, did he still transfer his consciousness into her as he originally planned to do if she slayed him?

Kylo Ren’s path continues deeper in the dark side. Still desiring to become equal with Vader, his journey brought him face to face with the fallen Emperor. Palpatine insured Ren that his power could be even greater than Vader if he obeyed him, a feat Ren didn’t consider for himself out of respect for his grandfather. Sidious also revealed to Ren that it was he who has been impersonating the spirit Darth Vader, a voice Ren has been following through this entire series. Even though Ren has Sidious in his head, he still wants to take the power for himself and recruit Rey by his side, as the Sith Rule of Two tradition states. During the span of this series, Ren and Snoke didn’t know of the Sith Order or how it should be operated. They only knew of the dark side, and they were the only two at the time wielding the dark force. The death of Leia broke his connection to the dark side, and he used his power to help Rey against Palpatine at the cost of his own life. Ren strived to become Vader’s equal, but he didn’t know he his actions was already running parallel to his grandfather’s path of the dark side. Fans want to know…, why didn’t Ben Solo appear as a Force Spirit with Luke and Leia, like his grandfather did along with Yoda and Ben Kenobi when he returned to the light side of the Force upon his death?

Poe and Finn both have risen within the ranks of the Resistance and their dynamic partnership on missions created a strong friendship. We’ve seen Poe begin as a top fighter pilot, then becoming a General in the Resistance. His success in missions is backed with his super confidence and arrogance. As a Stormtrooper, Finn was trained to be an obedient soldier, but his rising powers within the Force helped him divert from the dark path the Order set for him. In this film we see Finn’s sensitivity to the Force growing to the point of clairvoyance. Will Finn’s character develop even further to the level of Jedi, in possible future film or TV series with Disney Plus?

Rey is training to strengthen her powers within the Force, primarily the art of communion with Jedi spirits of the past. During the course of the film, Rey discovers her ability to heal the injured and instinctively wields Force Lightning. Rey is the granddaughter of Palpatine, a result of Palpatine’s clone escaping confinement and finding love. Now that Leia and Kylo Ren has passed, Rey is now the last Jedi. Before burying Luke and Leia’s lightsaber in the Tatooine desert, she constructed her own saber which represents being a Jedi Sentinel. If the galaxy is now at peace, why would Rey need to construct a new lightsaber? Now that the Skywalker Saga is complete, what new direction will Star Wars take?  What were your thoughts on this film? Leave your thoughts below and check out Sideshow Collectibles for Rise of Skywalker memorabilia!

Deadpool is back again! The first film’s huge success quickly ushered the second feature, which grossed $785 million to date. The cinematic version of Deadpool is displayed as a spoof movie or a parody to the Marvel films and is closely related to the X-Men franchise. Deadpool still struggles to fight justice in a civil fashion like most heroes. His humorous punch lines and graphic action sequences help draw in big audiences for an R-rated Marvel Film since the Blade movies and Logan.

What was your take on Josh Brolin playing Cable? Cable coming to the big screen is a great look for the X-Men series, but there were some powers and abilities about Cable that were not explored, which could have made this character just as good as the portrayal of Thanos. For instance, like his mother Jean Grey, Cable is an Omega Level mutant with the power of telepathy and telekinesis. His telekinetic powers seem more remotely used by his cybernetic eye, which in the comics was more used to detect psionic energy. With the heavy use of telekinesis and telepathy in this film, Cable would be mistaken for a Force User! Also, Cable is able to call force fields and make use of his time traveling device, but we missed the use of his teleportation mechanism. In the comics, Deadpool makes use of the teleportation gadget where in the movie he uses the time device as his own. This is just one of many things that confused the depiction of Deadpool on-screen. It could also be the reason in the ending credits, Deadpool enters X-Men Origins: Wolverine and kills that version of Deadpool. In DP2, Cable’s mission is to destroy the mutant Firefist before he kills Cable’s family in the future.

In Marvel Comics, X-Force is a team that was created by Cable in efforts to take down mutant terrorists around the world. In Deadpool 2, Wade was responsible for creating X-Force in hopes of saving Firefist from prison and Cable. Much of Deadpool’s recruits didn’t survive and what was left of X-Force eventually consisted of Cable, Deadpool, and Domino. Her feature on this film was excellent and the display of her mutant powers as a luck charm was interesting to see. Question is, if Domino can dominate luck into her favor, wouldn’t she be more deadly than Deadpool and Cable? Wouldn’t she also a difficult target to eliminate?

Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio return to aid Wade in his action-packed adventures. A version of Yukio is featured in The Wolverine, which was a character that was heavily mentioned in both films. Yukio in The Wolverine was able to sense impending death on an individual and in DP2 she can wield electricity. Even though Hugh Jackman states that he’s done playing Wolverine, wouldn’t it be cool for him to play the role once more for either possibly the next Deadpool or an Avengers feature? There were other X-Men cameos in this film such as Beast, Cyclops, Quicksilver and Professor Xavier. All characters we’ve seen in the other X-Men movies, Negasonic Teenage Warhead would be a new addition, but why was Colossus created different from his earlier version in X2 and Days of Future Past? Why was this Colossus always in his organic steel form where in the other films, the character was in his relaxed human form, especially in the X-Mansion where no danger was present?

What is your take on the film? Do you think it measures up to the first film or it was completely better? It’s not confirmed whether or not a 3rd film will be made, or X-Force will be the next installment to the X-Men franchise. If Wade returns, who do you think should be in it?

Leave your comments below and

Take A Look At Some Hot Collectibles for Deadpool!!

Rogue One became another successful movie for Lucasfilms and Walt Disney Studios. Star Wars continually brings in big bucks for their films and merchandise, being among the top sci films of our generation. To date, Rogue One stands at $1.059 billion  grossed from the budget of $200m. This film focuses on the time period where rebel forces are gathering against the Empire. Their mission is to cripple the Empire’s strength, by destroying their new super weapon: The Death Star. The tone and theme of this story appeared darker in nature without losing the essence and story line of the original Star War episodes.

What was unique about this film was the use of CGI effects to revive General Tarkin and Princess Leia to the present-day cinema. Cameos of the rebel squadran leaders was also tied in the story, stunning fans on how well this standalone film ties with A New Hope. With new technology that cinema has tapped into, new current actors are able to share a movie screen with actors of the past. Shortly after the release of Rogue One, Carrie Fisher the actress who portrayed Princess Leia passed away from unknown medical conditions. Fortunately, Carrie was able to revive her role once again as an older Leia in The Force Awakens. May her memory stay alive forever in the Force…

Darth Vader making an appearance in this film was a favorite for Star Wars fans across the world. In the film, we see Vader submerging in a bacta tanka, continually treating his body from the extensive damaged he sustained years ago. Vader boarding the Alliance ship was among the favorable light saber fight scenes in Star Wars history. Even though Vader has two small scenes, it was enough to make you fiend for more battle scenes with the dark lord. In that case, will Star Wars have more standalone films in the future that bridge each of the original episodes? So, what was your take on the film? Do you think this film was visually better than The Force Awakens?

To get more an in-depth perspective of the Rogue One film, go to http://www.starwars.com/films/rogue-one

Movie Review!!

Independence Day: Resurgence is the anticipated sequel to Independence Day. Resurgence brought in 143.7 million dollars opening weekend, much lower than the first film which was a blockbuster hit in 1996. The first film was released on July 2 coinciding with it’s film’s events, unlike Resurgence which was prematurely released from that date. In Resurgence, it took 20 years for the aliens to return to Earth which ran parallel in taking 20 years to make a sequel to the first film. Resurgence received much negative reviews than positive. What was your take on the film?

Twenty years ago Earth was invaded by hostile aliens, which in fact had Earth on it’s sights since 1947. On July 2, 1996, the invading alien forces came to Earth to conquer it, but on July 4th, the aliens were defeated by small collective of survivors before being brought down worldwide. Defeated, the hostiles sent a distress call back to their home world before being captured as prisoners or destroyed. During the 20 year span, Earth was rebuilt and improved by the salvaged alien technology from the two day war in 1996. Earth has accomplish what they always wanted: a space defense against future threats and the means to expand their space exploration within the solar system.

According to the first film, when the alien pilot invaded President Whitmore’s mind, it was revealed that the aliens move to different planets like locust, consuming the planet’s resources which results in the destruction of the planet. In Resurgence, it was explained when the aliens consume planets, they would drill down to a planet’s core to harvest it. Once harvested, the core is used to power all of the alien ships and weapons. The harvested energy is also used to sustain a planetary ecosystem on board of the mega mothership. This way of planetary consumption is very similar to how Galactus replenishes his cosmic power in the Marvel Universe.

Much of the cast returned to the film for the exception of Will Smith, who had the role of US Fighter pilot Captain Steven Hiller. Because of his commitment with Suicide Squad, his character Captain Hiller was killed off in Resurgence, with only portrait and photos cameos left of him. Within the 20 years between the two Independence Day films, Will has starred in many blockbusters sci-fi films. Could his experience in the sci-fi film category been a great influence on Resurgence, thus making it a huge blockbuster like the first film?

The return of Dr. Brackish Okun portrayed by famous Brent Spiner was the most confusing spin of the movie. In the first Independence Day, his character was actually killed after he was used as a voice puppet for the captured alien, brought to Area 51 by Captain Hiller. Resurgence changed Okun apparent death to a 20-year-old coma which was uplifted when the alien reinforcements arrived. Not only was Okun able to connect with the aliens, but the doctor also made a friendly alliance with another extraterrestrial that arrived to Earth to help against the invasion. This alien technology also offered to level up the Earth’s advanced technology even further. The alien tech also set plans to level up Earth’s advanced space travel to interstellar traveling, all in hopes to invade the alien’s home world and end the alien’s reign of the universe. Do you think Independence Day was perfect the first time around without this sequel or should the story continue?