The Expendables Movie Thoughts

"THE EXPENDABLES is a hard-hitting action/thriller about a group of mercenaries hired to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator. Once the mission begins, the men realize things aren't quite as they appear, finding themselves caught in a dangerous web of deceit and betrayal. With their mission thwarted and an innocent life in danger the men struggle with an even tougher challenge, one that threatens to destroy this band of brothers.

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is a man with nothing to lose. Fearless and void of emotion, he is the Leader, the Sage and the Strategist of this tight-knit band of men who live on the fringe. His only attachment is to his pickup truck, his seaplane and his team of loyal modern-day warriors. His is a true cynic who describes what he does as "removing those hard to get at stains". The team behind him is made up of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), former SAS and a savant with anything that has a blade; Yin Yang (Jet Li), a master at close-quarter combat; Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), who has known Barney for ten years and is a long-barrel weapons specialist; Toll Road (Randy Couture), a skilled demolitions expert and considered the intellect of the group; and Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), a combat veteran and an expert in precision sniping who struggles with his own demons.

When the mysterious Church offers Barney a job no one else would take, Barney and his team embark on what appears to be a routine mission: overthrow General Gaza (David Zayas), the murderous dictator of the small island country of Vilena and end the years of death and destruction inflicted on its people. On a reconnaissance mission to Vilena, Barney and Christmas meet their contact Sandra (Giselle Itie), a local freedom-fighter with a dark secret. They also come to learn who their true enemy is: rogue ex-CIA operative James Monroe (Eric Roberts) and his henchman Paine (Steve Austin). When things go terribly wrong, Barney and Christmas are forced to leave Sandra behind, essentially giving her a death sentence. Haunted by this failure, Barney convinces the team to return to Vilena to rescue the hostage and finish the job he started. And to perhaps save a soul: his own."

If ever anyone actually reads this, remember way back when i posted my thoughts on "Kick Ass"? I said that I was real excited about this movie and that I was going to watch it. I did, and i think the movie was as good as advertised.If you like action movies, explotions, guns, blades, and a whole lot of violence, you'll love this one. Just ask my father, he usually falls asleep during movies but he was wide awake the entire time. That's how good this movie was, either that or it was Terry Crew's BFG's fault.

PROS:
- Bruce Willis and Arnie's cameos. It would have been better if they had bigger parts but at least this movie featured the other great action stars from the past. Too bad guys like Van Damme and Segal didn't agree to show up, I'm guessing it would have been EPIC. The interaction between Stallone and Arnie (I don't know how to spell his last name so Arnie is what I'll call him), especially that line Sylvester says right after Arnold walks out.
- GREAT ACTION SCENES! The selling point of the movie didn't disappoint, what's so good about it is that the action isn't just limited to guns, it's very varied too. It was pretty much a mix of everything. They've got Hand-to-hand (wrestling, martial arts, street fight, etc.), Sharp stuff throwing, Big ass explotions, and of course. GUNS as in BIG FUCKING GUNS. Guns that wouldn't look out of place in a movie that features some of the biggest arms in Hollywood today.
- Story. I'm putting it as a pro because it was actually OKAY. I went in thinking that the story would be an after thought and would feel forced, the story is pretty much up to par with other great action movies. Another plus side to me is that they made sure that the story wouldn't get it the way of the action, try to read the synopsis up top, I'll wait for you to finish..
...
..
Done? The movie shows it, but they don't go into much detail in order to show it.
- Blood and Gore. This one had just the right amount of it. It wasn't overdone and they also didn't shy away from using it either. Some movies tend to go overboard with this stuff and end up looking fake, while others don't show it at all. this movie strikes the right balance between the two.

THE CONS:
- Delivery. I'm not sure if it was the crappy sound system of the theatre I watched it in but I could barely make sense of some of the words they were saying. But then again, Stallone, Rourke, Statham..those guys aren't easily understood.
- Editing. Especially at the last part, this was a real down side for me, it might not really be that noticeable but they could have done a much better job.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
If you enjoy action movies, you'll love this for sure. It's not THE GREATEST action movie, but the movie delivers and lives up to the high expectations set up by the trailers they've shown. The movie is 100% worth the money you'll spend watching this on the big screen.

Rating: 4.5/5

On a side note:
- The theatre i watched this in was SO CRAPPY. The movie stopped twice for around one second. Right around the middle of the movie, it stopped AGAIN. We pretty much waited for 5 minutes (first was the "Sorry for technical difficulties" then a Ne-Yo song played.."Mad") Then at around the end the sound got weaker, and there was even some parts of the movie when the sound just straigh up died. Shouldn't we get a free ticket?!

Wolverine In Hell

Come September, Wolverine Weapon X will end and Jason Aaron will be writing the new ongoing Wolverine. It'll be the Fourth Volume of the Wolverine title (1st being the mini-series, 2nd is the 1988-2003 run, 3rd started in 2003 and was replaced by Dark Wolverine after issue 74).

The 1st storyarc will deal with Wolverine in Hell. I don't know how he'll get there, theories range from Nightrawler's request, to the eye of Aggamotto. A lot of people aren't too excited about this, saying it's been done already blah, blah. But I'm actually looking forward to reading this one, why?
- Of the more recent Wolverine writers, Jason Aaron is probably the best.
- His Wolverine Weapon X run was great, other than the final storyarc with the Deathlocks.
- He was able to put Wolverine in different situations and made it an interesting read.
- Wolverine in Hell, facing of against all those he killed and put there!
Yes, in that teaser piture (probably a cover) you can see Sabretooth, Gorgon, Hand, Hydra, Nazi, and a Japanese guy who may or may not be Mariko's father.

Whil Wolverine is stuck in hell, a demon will possess his body. Terrorizing people in the Marvel Universe!It might have been done already in Enemy of The State but that was one hell of a ride, plus this time I think everyone knows that he's possessed. You might ask how the X-Men will take this, well it's been said in an interview that in issue 4, Wolverine's body will take on Colossus! Fastball special anyone?

For those of you who are still on the fence for getting this one, I suggest you do. Jason Aaron's Wolverine is more of as hit that a miss for most of the time. He writes entertaining stories, whether it be something that's never been done before (Wolverine in a Mental Institute) or something that seems to be done every now and again (Adamantium Men). We'll see how this thing goes, but given Aaron's track record..it's going to be one hell of a ride (pun not really that intended).

Kotobukiya X-Force Wolverine PVC Statue

I already stated during my SDCC 2010 blog that this statue is still in my "not sure" list. One of the biggest reasons as to why I'm not sure about getting this yet is because it uses the same sculpt as the upcoming Tigerstripe Wolverine statue and that one really doesn't seem right to me, it looks like the body is really buldging but then the torso area seems real flat. Plus you can see the part where the head disconnects to the body. The negatives are really seen here but thanks to the dark colors of the X-Force uniform, it's not as evident there.
I'm still undecided about whether or not I'll get the X-Force Wolverine when it comes out (I'm not getting the other 2 versions). But lately it's been growing on me quite a bit. Unlike the Bowen X-Force Wolverine, which to me seems almost perfect (since Randy Bowen said that the underwear thing has been fixed already), I have a few things that I don't like about this piece. One of them is still the fact that it uses the same sculpt as Tigerstripe Wolverine, which means the problems I have with the torso are still there. I also don't like the base at all. They could've just made it the Danger Room Base depicting a war torn industrial place, or maybe if they wanted to make it differently they coulld have used dead purifier bodies as the base. I also think that the muscles are a bit overboard on this sulpt, I actually prefer the less muscular looks of most of today's comics compared to the bulky drawings that were almost considered as the norm during the 90s. Here's an example..this 1st picture seems to be the default Wolverine picture during the 90s or early 00s.
As you can see it's real bulky and overly muscular, it looks great in the comic books as long as it's not overly done, just the right amount of exagerrated muscles is nice enough. The style of the Kotobukiya Wolverine Statue reminds me of this style.

Not sure if there's really a default Wolverine picture now, but i think this might be the one.

Still muscular but not overly done, i prefer this one a whole lot more. Most of my busts have this type of body style, even my SDCC exclusive Kotobukiya X-Force Wolverine.

I must admit that even though I don't like the sculpt that much, it has a certain appeal that makes me want to get this thing. The X-Force costume seems to be highly detailed with the boots, gloves, mask and even the design around the knee. It's really similar to how Mike Choi drew Wolverine's X-Force uniform in the comic books. It has a real dynamic pose. It's the kind of pose that you can imagine Wolverine doing right before he screams and starts to attack. Plus, there's also news that the sculpt of this thing isn't final yet and that the base will be changed, so that's good news for me. I think that this piece is something that might not be for everyone but for those who like it, they'll like it very much. And i think the biggest perk of this piece is that it will most probably come with an unmasked head. I already told you earlier about the head not being a part of the whole body, the reason is that you can exchange the head with an unmaksed one. As of now, I'd probably get this if it'll be cheaper than the Bowen X-Force Wolverine (I'm assuming the Bowen will drop at no more than $200, so this one i'm hoping will be around $150), if it's going to be released a few months after the Bowen one (if i have the money, i'll get this 100%), and if they do something about the base. I really really don't like the base, it seems out of place. They could go with my earlier siggestions or even just remove the brown part altogether and just place him on a bigger gargoyle, anything that doesn't seem out of place.

Uncanny X-Force

I know that this is probably very late and that people already know who they are but here we go. The New X-Force..which will now be called "Uncanny" X-Force. The team was revealed in one of the chapters of the Second Coming finale. It's pretty much a team that Wolverine put together wherein all the members have no problem with killing. Every member from the last team, other than Warren, is out. Warpath has finally made his peace, Rhaine was never really supposed to be there, X-23 was sent away by Wolverine since she was starting to become just a weapon again. He didn't like how they were using her. Vanisher, i don't know. Last we saw him, he was shot in one of his brothels. I'm not sure whether or not he is still alive. The one big problem I have with the new line-up is that Domino isn't there, i don't know why she wasn't included since she'd be a very good match here.

Anyway, the new reveal happened when Scott and Logan were in Alcatraz talking about the ramifications of the actions of X-Force, how the other X-Men reacted and what would happen if guys like the Avengers found out about it. Both of them wouldn't want to have it any toher way as they knew that they were able to preserve mutant kind through those actions. Though there views clash since Wolverine thinks that X-Force is needed now more so than ever since there are even less mutants than there were prior to Second Coming. Scott on the other hand has faith in Hope and that it is a new age for them, and he doesn't want a mutant kill crew to be a part of that new age. Wolverine agrees, says that Scott should get some rest and he'll follow back to Utopia. He just needs to burn some stuff (evidence?). He then starts talking about how the meeting took longer than expected and that it also turned out differently. It was revealed that he was talking to his new team..

I really enjoyed Craig Kyle and Chris Yost's run on X-Force, afterall it was the one that brought me back into this very expensive world called comic collecting. I don't really know who Remeder is and I don't know who the artist will be either. But i'm going to get the first issue when it comes out, It will also have more lee-way compared to the other team books I'm getting. Not liking the first issue won't make me drop the title immediately. I'm really hoping for good things from this one. Oh, and for those asking about X-Force versions of Deadpool, Fantomex and Psylocke's outfits, here they are..

STUPID SDCC ANNOUNCEMENTS.

I started collecting action figures a few months after SDCC 2009, which makes this SDCC the first one that i anticipated. After seeing the announcements over the past few week, I realized that...

I'LL BE BROKE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.

not only that, i'm also hoping that the figs that i want will reach our shores, and if ever they do..i'm praying that they won't be hoarded. 2 action figures on my to get list are pretty much 3x their initial price (MU Archangel and Warpath). Anyway, here's the things that caught my eyes from the SDCC stuff..

this list won't even include the figures I already knew about pre-SDCC. Plus i still have some comics to buy, both current and back issues. PLUS the figures i'm still backtracking..WOW.

I'll be more broke than broke..i'll be broker.

1. MU Comic 2pack Wolverine/Capt. America - i'll get this but i won't really be happy, both figs are almost straight repaints. I'm not sure but i think the Wolverine is using the same body as the 2pack Wolverine/Hand Ninja body which has a shorter neck and smaller belly. The Capt. Am shield here also has a claw scratch if i'm correct. I'll probably split the set with a Capt. Am collector.


2. MU X-23 - New body sculpt, probably one that fits a teenage girl. This one was announced during SDCC but no picture has yet to be released. So here's X-23..

3. MU First Appearance Wolverine - I admit i was surprised with this one, though it does look nice. It's a new had sculpt that uses the XMO Tigerstripe Wolverine with different shoulder pads.

4.. MU X-Force 3-Pack Wolverine/Warpath/Deadpool - I'll be real happy if i can get my hands on this since i'll finally be able to have a Warpath. Plus Wolverine is Wolverine, though i really hope they fix the shoulderpads (remove it). In terms of storyline this doesn't make sense since Warpath was with the pre-heroic age X-Force and Deadpool will be part of Uncanny X-Force. On a business stand point, this makes sense since DP is just a repaint of the XMO Deluxe DP, Wolverine is a kitbash of sorts with a new head (i think) and Warpath is exactly the same.

5. Web Of Spider-Man Heroclix: Brown Wolverine, X-Force Wolverine, X-Force Warpath, X-Force X-23 - I don't know, there's something about the Heroclix that makes me overlook the crappy paint and see something in it. I guess it has a certain appeal. Can't find a clear picture of the Brown one but it's pretty much the same as the X-Force Wolverine..


6. HML 2-pack X-Force Warpath/Deadpool - i prefer this one over the X-Men variant. I'm sure to get the Warpath but I'm still not sure on the Deadpool, if i do get him i will repaint him into X-Force colors. Assuming i get my hands on this pack of course.

7. Minimates Uncanny X-Force Boxset (Wolverine, Psylocke, Fantomex, Deadpool, Archangel) - I'm not really sure yet if this will be an exclusive or a general release. I'm really hoping that this will be a general release so I can at least complete all the released X-Force figures in one line.


Those that I'm not sure about..
- MU Comic 2-pack Daken/Dark Spider-Man - I'm not really that into the character of Daken, probably because eversince his debut he's been shoved to the spotlight. But that's not the reason why i might overlook this comic pack even though it'll be the first Daken figure..the body. The only reason that you can say that this is Daken is because of the tattoos. The body is too bulky, Daken is more lean than muscular and yet they're using Wolverine's body in this one. If possible, i think they should have used Spidey's body instead.

- Minimates AoA Boxset: Weapon X - I'll probably just get this one if i happen to run into it somehow..I'm not really completing the minimate wolverines but i do find them cute. I'll get this if it's a regular release and if i have someone to split the set with.

- Minimates 90s X-Men Boxset: Shirtless Wolverine - Everything i said about the AoA Weapon X minimate? pretty much the same goes for this one too..


- Kotobukiya X-Force Wolverine Statue - I'm about 70% sure that I want this one, the only reason I can't be a hundred percent is that i really prefer the Bowen Museum pose which means I might not have enough money to buy something this expensive, and that something about the torso sculpt bothers me. It's not as evident compared to how it looks in the Tigerstripe but it's still there.

I'm GLAD i don't like:
- Wolverine Berserker Rage Life Size bust - i know that this is only a prototype shot, but something about this bust just doesn't seem right to me. If given a choice i'd prefer the Alex Ross Lifesize bust released a long time ago. I think it might be the eyes being unemotional while the face is full of rage.

Of course, I'm hoping all the things that I want will reach our shores at SRP and that they won't be hoarded...or at least i'll get to them first before the hoarders do.

X-Force 26: Death of an X-Man

Let me start off by saying that i have really enjoyed the first third of the Second Coming crossover, it's like watching the old(?) Phoenix Suns (Nash, Amare, Marion, Joe Johnson, etc.) play basketball. They just keep on going, fast paced all the way.

X-Force 26 features the first major death of an X-Man in Second Coming and it probably won't be the last (i think Cable will go down with guns blazing on the finale) and it does deliver, There have been deaths before this one (Ariel) but she wasn't really one of the core X-Men. Like the rest of the Second Coming issues, this is very action packed while also being able to distribute the appearances to the four most prominent "teams" that have been appearing, Alpha (Wolverine, X-23, Colossus, Archangel, Psylocke, Cable), Beta (New Mutants, right?), Home (Cyclops, Emma, etc.) and the newly formed Rogue, Kurt, and Hope. i really like the detail in Choi's art, the only thing that bothered me was the face of Psylocke, i think it was way too round. Other than that, i think it was great. I already got used to the way he draws Logan's face.

Now, onto the death itself. (I'm assuming that if anyone is reading this, he/she has already read the issue)

It's believable to think that Bastion saw through the diversion created by the Alpha Team, though he still made sure just in case by sending a lot of people there. He could have seen through it since their fastest mode of transportation is heading somewhere else with Rogue. My only problem here is that Kurt didn't need to die..i thought he would die because there would be no other choice. He could have jumped behind, instead of infront of Hope, getting there just in time to BAMF the two of them to safety. I did like the way when he said in the end that he believes that it is worth it because he believes in her. and here's a look at how the Alpha team found out..

images taken from Psylocke - like a Butterfly

i REALLY wish Wolverine will be the one who gets to kill Bastion instead of Hope, i think it'll be a great way for him to avenge the death of Kurt.

Kick-Ass Kicked ASS!!

Title says it all! i really liked this movie. This is the type of movie that if i ever run into while surfing the tv a year from now and i see it, i'm going to watch it again. This isn't usually the type of movie i like this much, i'm not really into slasher and action movies. I'm usually into comic book movies, romantic-comedy movies, straight up comedies and the like. This movie is actually a comic book movie but as far as i now, there's only one that was kind of like this (Punisher: Warzone) which i also liked. Anyway, i'm not really going to do a review or anything like that. I don't actually know how to do that, I guess i'll just post the things i like and i didn't. Oh, and just to make it clear. I'm not going to compare the comic to the movie since i never got to read the comic. Though thanks to the movie, i'm planning to check it out REAL SOON. Though i guess it does have some differences such as the costume and some other stuff.

CONS:
- Red Mist: didn't really like the selection of Red Mist, something seemed off about him.
- CENSORSHIP: movie's R-13 so the blood and gore are there, too bad the other "mature" parts were cut. here in our country. Can anyone tell me if there was a nude part in the scene where Dave Lizaweski (Kick-Ass) was in Katie's room and he was massaging her? Not sure about the name..
- Big Daddy: The thing he did with his voice making it sound robotic, not good. Though i did like his last scene though. The one where he was getting burned, really sad.

PROS:
- the 3 main geeks were really believable for me, especially the fat one who plays Dale on Greek.
- BLOOD and VIOLENCE - there were plenty, and i don't think they were over the top.
- Hit-Girl -I LOVE HIT GIRL. i seriously do! i cringed when the big boss bad guy kicked her in the face. She's so cute and yet she's so violent and she says "cunt" and is shot by her dad in the chest and stuff. I especially liked the scene where she took out the entire mob of muscles of the big bad guy.
- The jet-pack gatling gun thing - yeah, it only killed 3 guys..but still.
- THIS GIRL: Lyndsy Fonesca. WOW. she's up there in my list of celebrity crushes now.I liked a lot more about the movie but i'm not in the modd to think right now, all i can say is that the movie isn't for everyone. Parents shouldn't bring their kids to go and watch this. But for anyone who's looking for a good movie to watch that has a mix of comedy and brutality, go and see this. KICK-ASS is great. I want to be like Kick-Ass now, maybe go and start a super-hero trend in our world.

Oh yeah, now i'm excited about these movies:
- Iron Man 2
- The Expendables
- The Losers

And I should really go and get my new comics:
- Dark Wolverine 85
- Uncanny X-Men 523
- X-Men Legacy 235

House of M. Some thoughts.

House of M happened around 5 years ago. It was Marvel's major crossover for 2005. That was a time when i wasn't able to read comic books anymore. After 5 years, i was finally able to read the crossover (i pretty much read the entire Civil War, including the tie-ins).From what i have read from Wolverine's and the main book itself, it's actually quite good. It was Scarlet Witch pretty much going crazy and altering the course of the world. Granting the desires of most (if not all) people. Bust most importantly, Magneto's dream of Homo Superiors domination over Homo Sapiens. The only hitch was that Wanda might (since i'm not sure) have created another girl who knew about the real reality and Wolverine's desire was to remember EVERYTHING (and be like Nick Fury). I didn't think the story was forced, the only problem for me was that they didn't try to go deeper on what Jessica Drew said, about what was so wrong about what happened. Since i only read the main book and Wolverine's part, i'm not sure i picked up all of it. Unlike Civil War, this major crossover had little effects on the "status quo" other than wiping out the mutants. I'm just wondering how Scarlet Witch selected which mutants get to keep their powers. I'm also interested in knowing how Prof. X, Magneto, and Iceman get their powers back.