AQUAMAN: King of Atlantis!

 Yes I know, He's the guy that talks to fish and has a pretty bad reputation for being quite silly and boring. What better way to change this opinion than casting Game of Thrones badass Jason Momoa! DC are giving the character a place in a team up movie and his own solo flick, cementing him as a big player in the DCEU. 'Justice League' is set to release in November. However after Justice League, Aquaman's solo movie is next up and it could possibly be the most exciting of all! While there may be only *very mild spoilers* this week, there whale be puns. Ahoy! No wait I meant Enjoy!

Aquaman is mostly shown in his comics as the king of the underwater location of Atlantis. In the comics, Atlantis was shown as a location of earth where early civilisations of humans lived and this was around the time that dinosaurs existed. Eventually, a dome was built over Atlantis, establishing it as a well fortified kingdom. This was until a meteor struck earth, drove the dinosaurs to extinction and pushed Atlantis completley underwater. Usually through some sort of magic or act of the gods, those who survived the meteor developed the ability to survive underwater. Over the years they repopulated Atlantis and built underwater palaces, formed social structures and became a complete underwater civilisation. Queen Atlanna of Atlantis, in most of the origins tends to always get banished or for some reason find herself in a sea storm which leads to her being in danger but rescued by lighthouse keeper, Thomas Curry. Atlanna and Tom form a relationship and have a child named Arthur Curry. Arthur Curry grows up on both land and underwater being a hybrid of the two worlds. Nearly all of Arthur's origins include him leaving land in search for his true destiny in Atlantis which is being the king, ruler and defender of the underwater kingdom. Although his role requires putting Atlantis first, growing up on land leads Arthur to defending both land and sea in search of harmony between the two worlds. He takes up the title of 'Aquaman: King of Atlantis' having super strength on land, being able to control water, communicate with sea creatures and much more. He is also known for his weapon of choice, the trident which is passed down through Atlantis royalty and holds many abilities.

Now that you know who Aquaman really is, let's talk about why his movie, set for a 2018 release, is super super exciting! DC and Warner Bros. have decided to ditch the blue eyed, all American, blonde haired cliche for Jason Momoa. The Hawaii born actor with his recognisable hair, beard, and eyebrow slit is most well known for playing Khal Drogo, a warlord of the Dothraki people on HBO's game of Thrones. He's huge (6ft 4in) and intimidating let alone a total real life badass who's obsessed with guinness and is able to accurately throw axes. As you can sea from his picture below, being the fearless leader of an underwater kingdom strong enough to take on Superman isn't that far fetched to believe. He's just so dam cool. Anywaves, another reason why you should be excited, is the prospect of seeing an entirely new kind of environment on the big screen! We've seen new planets before (Krypton) and we've seen abstract locations (Themyscira), but we have never seen a movie about a superhero who's home is entirely underwater. The director has confirmed the movie will not shy away from Atlantis which means the majority of the movie will be focusing on underwater civilians, armies, villains, monsters and buildings. It will be like nothing we have ever seen before.

If that's not enough to get you excited, how about the director, James Wan. The specialist horror director, known for movies such as Saw, The Conjuring, Anabelle and Insidious, has been given the oppor-tuna-ty to direct the genre defying solo movie of a justice league founding member. Briefly speaking about the movie, he has been very clear that his experience in making horror will play into his ideas for Aquaman. To be more pacific, Wan is keen to explore the darkness and monsters of the deep sea, something which has never been explored before in a superhero setting. He also assured fans that the movie will entail some jump scares so you can wave that relaxing movie time goodbye because Aquaman will be very intense. Justice League will give us our first look at Aquaman, some of the other characters and possibly even a look at Atlantis in the hopes of it raising interest in the character and that interest will pay off when the Aquaman movie releases.  From what has already been seen in the Justice League trailer, Aquaman seems to be a very gritty and intense character holding the burden of being protector of land and sea. However, he is not absent of humour. If you haven't seen it yet, check out the Justice League trailer here. 

The main cast confirmed so far for Aquaman has Jason Momoa as Aquaman himself, Nicole Kidman

as Queen Atlanna, Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master and Yahya Abdul-Manteen II as Black Manta. A very exciting cast list! Amber Heard's character, Mera is Aquaman's wife in the comics and is set to be his big screen partner also. It is unknown whether the movie will be a full origin story as he is already Aquaman in the Justice League however, the movie is likely to contain elements and explanations of the origins. With this being said, we will have to wait and see if Arthur and Mera are together already or if the relationship will form through the characters story arc. Abdul-Manteen's character, Black Manta, will be familiar to DC comic fans. He is Aquamans arch enemy and is sure to cause the big screen version of the character similar trouble to as he does in the comics. I won't say anymore about Black manta with the risk of spoiling possible story elements. The movie is set to release late 2018 but is filming now!

Shorely you're excited for Aquaman now! A great cast, a completely underwater kingdom, a badass lead, and a horror influence. It will be the first ever action superhero horror adventure movie! In a time where superhero movies release practically every month, it can become quite a repetitive experience. A cliche origin movie which follows a standard blueprint in a half hearted attempt to get fans excited for sequels. Aquaman is excusing itself from this rule by adding other genre elements and creating a whole new world. Overall Aqauaman gets a Blog of steel excitement rating of 9/10!

That's the end of this weeks post! Hope you have enjoyed reading it and spotting all the puns! There were 7 in total! If you're excited for Aqauman leave a comment below and tell me why or follow and tweet me  @Akash_Sond. I would love to hear your opinions! Also theres a button on the right side of the page that you can click to follow me on google+ or follow me by email to make sure you never miss a post! See you next week!

Wisdom. Grace. Wonder.

Wonder Woman has been in cinemas just under a month now and has already been a huge success.  It's one small step for Women, one giant leap for equality in Hollywood! With the movie being a pivotal part of the DCEU whilst also furthering blockbuster movies for the better, I thought it would be perfect for me to review the movie and it's implications.  **Spoilers for Wonder Woman throughout!**

Director Patty jenkins, along with her cast consisting of Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Chris Pine (Steve Trevor) and David Thewlis (Sir Patrick) ought to be very happy with the box office earnings and critical response the movie has received. Outside of the movie, it is evident through countless interviews that the cast has a very strong chemistry with the two leads getting along very well and having a close friendship with the director. Patty Jenkins did an incredible job on this movie and this was most likely due to her immense passion for the project and well thought through idea of what she wanted Wonder Woman to be. All of the warriors on Themyscira trained together and were put through very strict programmes to become the warrior force. Through this, Jenkins created a real life Themyscira with the actors, consisting of athletes and models, creating a bond with each other and really feeling the full effect of what a powerful female army is. 

The movie opens by introducing the audience to a young Diana and through a montage of training shows her grow up to be the person we are familiar with from Batman V Superman. It is clear from very early on that her Mother isn't the most pleased with Diana training, fighting or learning about who she truly is. These early scenes introduce us to the incredible island of Themyscira and the warrior amazonians that live there. Through great CGI, awesome slow-mo's and heavily trained warriors, audiences were stunned into amazement. The introduction to life on Themyscira is like nothing else ever seen in a comic book movie before. Eventually, Diana does train and the path to her finding out who she is speeds up dramatically with the arrival of Steve Trevor. Diana and Steve form a quick bond. Through Trevors confusion, the innocence and naivety of Diana, and the intimidation of the army, the movie becomes an easy and very entertaining watch! Wonder Woman grabs her armour, shield and the god killer sword and leaves with Steve to go and save the world by killing Ares, which should lead to the end of World War I. 

It's this mid section of the movie, that relies on it's actors, character development and humour to keep the pace up and not feel as though the movie is dragging along. This is achieved as by this point audiences were already sold on Diana, who she is and what she stands for. The same goes for Steve Trevor. In these scenes, although not much is happening towards the movies plot, it was entirely necessary to deliver the strong emotional aspects of the movies ending. Audiences were shown Diana embodying the characteristics of Christopher Reeves' beloved Superman and scenes clearly paying homage to classic movies such as Indiana Jones. The movies light and inspirational tone did well to balance the dark and sinister scenes that were definitely shown. This is an area where many feel as though the DCEU has failed before. Increasingly at this stage of the movie, Diana's likability consistently increases as she shows her naivety to the world and her absent knowledge of artificially created social constructs that existed at the time and still exist today. She shows her strength and her ability to keep up with, or surpass anyone on intelligence and physical strength. The movie continues to deliver great development on the relationship between not only Diana and Trevor but the relationship of the group who are on the mission with her. The movie carries a strong sense of morality, heart and perseverance. 

In my opinion, the movies defining scene/moment is where Diana decides to leave the trenches and storm forward over No man's land despite clear instructions from Steve telling her it's too dangerous. The scene radiates inspiration. With the enhanced backing track and camera focus solely on Diana as she charges forth with her shield and gauntlets blocking enemy fire, it is no doubt a scene that will be remembered for a very long time. It is at this point she truly becomes Wonder Woman for the first time. The scene leads on to various other points of action as they defend a local village. With more slow mo's and demonstrations of Wonder Woman's ability, the enemy forces are wiped out in another all empowering display of power. The group are cemented together as friends and a photograph is taken. This was the photograph Diana was after during Batman V Superman. 

The end battle against the main villain comes after Wonder Woman defeats the faux main villain general Ludendorff and Trevor and the rest of the guys attempt to stop Dr poison from taking her creation to the air with the hopes of killing thousands. It is quickly revealed through a very cool twist, that Ludendorff is not Ares and that the sword Diana wields is not the god killer, she is! through a heavily CGI fight, Wonder Woman struggles to bring Ares down. She is very clearly overpowered by him being beaten down and eventually trapped in the metal of from a tank. Unable to escape she is forced to watch the death of her beloved Steve Trevor who sacrifices himself to ensure the destruction of the poison gas. Fuelled with rage, Wonder Woman breaks free and unleashes true power by demolishing German soldiers very quickly with ease. She is instructed to kill Dr Poison but due to a flashback to a very emotional conversation she has with Steve just before his sacrifice, she decides to let poison go and proceed to taking Ares down. Ares fires everything he has but Diana is just too powerful, striking him with a deadly blow which seemingly kills the big bad. 

The war comes to a close,  with a mix of emotions from Diana as celebrations commence in London and the lives of those who fell are remembered. Flicking forward to present day as it is revealed she still has Steve Trevor's watch and his memory is held very deep in her heart. Diana's end monologue reveals she has found new hope in the world and will continue her fight for peace and justice. She jumps off of the building striking a mighty pose ending the movie and very nicely setting up DC's next movie, Justice League. 

Overall, Wonder Woman is a thoroughly enjoyable movie with the dark and serious elements keeping the tone consistent to other DCEU movies, the light and humour combating past criticisms and the spectacular action demonstrating that Wonder Woman is a force to be reckoned with. The success of the movie is a very big deal for Hollywood. It demonstrated that fans want to see female superhero movies and that females can most definitely be the lead of a summer blockbuster. The movie does well to really show Diana's strength without weakening male characters or making her so cold and absent of emotion. The character is relatable and finds her strength through love. The movie does well to stay on the right side of this as it can easily become a factor that weakens a character. Diana and Trevor are on equal terms but Trevor clearly sees she is more suited to fight then he, or anyone else is. Diana constantly displayed ability in areas that blockbuster females just haven't. She is an icon. The characters movie was about 75 years overdue but it was worth the wait. I give Wonder Woman a Blog of Steel rating of 9/10. With the only negatives being an underdeveloped villain and some instances of CGI that looked a little out of place.

Hopefully, off the back of Wonder Woman's success, audiences will be treated to more blockbuster movies with strong female leads and the inequality of gender representation in Hollywood will slowly fade out. It's frightening how children, did not have a strong female superhero too look up to on the big screen before 2017. Wonder Woman is the first comic book movie that tells a young girl that she can be a superhero too. Marvel have released an insane amount of movies none of which feature a female lead. We can only hope Wonder Woman's success has opened the door for many many more female comic book characters to get their own movies. The movie is more relevant than ever right now and it's success is deserved and promising. Maybe one day we'll have a world of big screen superheroes that represent all genders, cultures, religions and ages. 

That brings us to the end of this weeks post! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it and as always if theres something you want to say or ask, just comment below or tweet me on my new twitter @Akash_Sond. See you next weekend with another post! 

The state and future of the MCU!

The Marvel Cinematic universe, MCU for short, is the biggest cinematic franchise ever to exist. It is responsible for delivering highly praised and loved movies such as Ironman, The Avengers, Ant-Man, Thor, and of course Captain America: Civil War. So what is the current state of the MCU? What does the future entail?

Phase One: The road to the Avengers.

The MCU kicked off with Ironman (2008) starring Robert Downey Jr as Ironman and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. It currently sits at a 7.9 on IMDB which is fairly high, a good starting point for a shared universe. Following Ironman, The Incredible Hulk took to the big screen starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. Despite Norton later being replaced by Mark Ruffalo, the universe wasn't knocked and moved ahead with IronMan 2, Thor, and, Captain America: The First Avenger. These movies introduced the four heroes along with small roles from Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. These six heroes would then go on to star in the first major blockbuster superhero team up movie, The Avengers. The avengers is a widely loved movie with and IMDB score of 8.1. The movies previously mentioned, along with the converging team up movie is known as 'Phase One' of the cinematic universe. Previous movies such as entries to the X-men franchise, a spider-man trilogy and two Fantastic four movies were not included as part of the MCU. After the conclusion and success of Phase One, Marvel proceeded to Phase Two. 

Phase Two: Expansion.

Marvel upgraded Kevin Feige to president of Marvel studios due to a clear vision, structure and plan for the future. He was then set to produce any future movies the MCU releases. Phase Two saw the release of Ironman 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 1, Avengers: Age of Ultron and finally Ant-man. The difference this time, was a clear over arching plot running through the movies with more inter-linking, cameos and references. More specifically, most movies referenced and even showed a big purple alien guy sitting on a chair! I won't spoil anything but for those who know who that is, it's pretty exciting. Guardians of The Galaxy was definitely a stand out in this phase and is considered by most to be the MCU's best movie ever. Age of Ultron concluded the phase by highlighting relationship strains between the members of the Avengers, a theme that would go on to be a huge part of Phase Three.   

Phase Three: Full Throttle.

This is Marvel's current phase which kicked off with what is arguably their biggest movie to date, Captain America: Civil War. (**SPOILER ALERT** for civil war, skip to next paragraph to avoid!) The movie saw the climax of the relationship tensions between the Avengers. The government called into question the Avengers' control and accountability for damages. The movie introduced Tom Holland as Spider-man and Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, which sparked great excitement for the future of the MCU. The movie ultimately resulted in splitting the avengers and leaving them as two separate teams, Captain America's team and Ironman's team. This is sure to play a huge part in movies throughout this phase. 

After Civil War, Marvel expanded the universe by introducing a new character and a new magical side of their universe in Doctor Strange. Doctor Strange, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch, did well to keep consistent with the universes humorous action movie formula but also expand it with mystical elements and mind bending visual effects. 

Releasing next, is possibly the most exciting movie of Phase Three. Spider-Man: Homecoming! Scheduled for July 7th this year. After the eventual cancelling of the the original Spider-Man 4 with Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker and Sony's reboot, The Amazing Spider-man, with Andrew Garfield as the hero, Sony made a deal with Marvel which allows Marvel to use the character in the MCU. He was first seen in Civil War and was met with high praise. He is now getting his own solo movie that won't rehash the same origin story and will be strengthened with a seemingly quite large role to be played by Robert Downey Jr's Ironman. Spider-Man is considered to be Marvels best or at least most well known comic book character meaning he is likely to have big involvement in the universe from now on. 

After Homecoming, the MCU sees the return of two original characters, Thor and Hulk. Scheduled for a release november this year, Thor: Ragnorok will be another off earth adventure for the heroes possibly explaining their absences during Civil War. Post Ragnorok, another new fan favourite, also introduced in Civil War will get his own solo flick. Black Panther. Most of the movie will be contained to Black Panther, most likely to set up sets, characters and plots strong enough for sequels. Black Panther is scheduled for a February 2018 release. After a few more movies, phase three will conclude with Avengers: Infinity War, a movie set to be unbelievable. With the plan to include nearly every single hero or main character ever introduced in the MCU, it is sure to go down in the history books. It probably has something to with the purple guy in the chair *wink* *wink*.

So be excited! if you love the MCU, you're sure to love whats currently happening and what's to come with the release of movies such as Spider-Man, Black Panther, Thor and the biggest Avengers yet. The MCU isn't slowing down any time soon and at the rate its growing, characters perviously off limits, separate or not yet included could easily make an entrance. Maybe the Fantastic Four? We shall see. I can only imagine what Marvel has in store for Phase Four which i'll be labelling as; Phase Four: All out Marvel. 

So that's the end of this weeks post! It's been a pretty long one but don't blame me, blame Marvel and their huge universe! If theres anything you want to give your opinion on or if you have a question about anything comic book or pop culture, comment below or tweet me at @Akash_Sond. See you next time!

The state and future of the DCEU!

Is the DC Extended Universe doomed? no, it's actually just beginning! and heres a run down of whats happened so far and whats to come. Enjoy! Oh and there are spoilers for Man of Steel, Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad but you've probably seen them all by now and if you haven't, this probably isn't your type of blog!

The DC extended universe kicked off in 2013 with 'Man of Steel', a Superman movie starring Henry Cavill as Clark Kent, Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Diane Lane as Martha Kent. This was warner bros. first attempt at a superhero movie/universe since the massively successful Dark Knight trilogy. It was diversely received by fans and critics alike but none the less can be considered a success with it having enough 'power' to spark a shared universe of movies including wider DC characters. The movie reinvented Superman's origin and portrayal with the hopes of introducing a Superman of current time who's alien background was emphasised and his godlike powers were displayed like never before. Also a superman who knows how to wear his underwear properly. 'Wayne Enterprises' And 'Lexcorp' easter eggs can be seen throughout the movie.

The studio then announced and eventually released Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016

which was arguably the most divisive movie in comic book history. You pretty much either hate it or love it. It introduced a new Batman, played by Ben Affleck, to this shared universe which despite HUGE initial backlash, Affleck's portrayal of the caped crusader was generally considered one of the highlights of the movie. Along with Batman, the movie introduced a character who has had to wait a very long time for big screen action; Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). Similar to Affleck, Gadot's casting was met with backlash but in the same way, her appearance was met with an overall positive response. This led to an announcement of a Solo Wonder Woman due to release 2017. The movies ending ultimately sets the beginning of a full DCEU with a changed Bruce and Diana off the back of Clarks sacrifice. Batman V Superman also easter egged The Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman all of which are Justice League members. Something we will talk about later on.

Regardless of the critical responses to Man of Steel and Batman V Superman, Warner Bros. and DC had enough of a fan base/potential fan base and money to make 'Suicide Squad', a movie which tells the story of a joining together of some of the most deadly villains in the DC universe. Amander Waller a corrupt government official leverages a 'kill switch' in the villains heads over them in order to get the squad to be obedient and complete a mission. Once again, critically, it fell. It is currently the lowest rated DCEU movie on rotten Tomatoes. But we're not here to judge or review, we are here to talk about what is next! Suicide Squad introduced a bunch of popular villains along with some less popular villains such as The Joker, Harley Quinn and Deadshot. These three characters are known for causing big trouble in Gotham, often being dealt with by Batman himself. This allows for an easy set up of future solo Batman movies where they could potentially just drop in villain(s) that audiences are now familiar with. Captain Boomerang is one of the 'rogues', a group of villains famous for opposing the Flash who we saw make an appearance early on, capturing boomerang. There is rumours about a solo Flash movie focusing on some rogues as villains. If this is true, boomerang can now appear with no back story needed.

'Wonder Woman' was the next movie in the DCEU. Geoff Johns, the new chief creative officer at DC

was involved in this movie unlike those that came before in the universe. They wanted it to be a success with both the fans and critics. Sure enough, it was! With it's high level of praise it has raised excitement for the character especially with the movie being about 75 years over due! Throughout the coming of age story of the naive humanised god, audiences get behind the heroine and are able to understand some of her actions, emotions and motives displayed in her Batman V Superman appearance. It provides back story and support to an otherwise underdeveloped character. With the hype, success, earnings and social media presence this movie has achieved, it is not too much of a stretch to think a sequel is already being developed. Along with excitement for future solo movies, Wonder Woman should also excite fans for her upcoming appearance in the DCEU's next movie Justice League.

The DCEU seems to be playing out an unusual structure to their universe. What I mean by this is that the heroes and villains already exist and movies such as Batman V Superman and suicide squad are meant to show characters, cities and stories that make audiences want to learn more about them. This is evidenced by Wonder Woman's BvS appearance later leading to a solo origin movie, Batman villains being introduced in Suicide Squad ready for use in Batman movies and The Flash being glimpsed at in BvS and Suicide Squad. In other words, they show us something and it will pay off in a future movie. It seems a lot of these pay offs may come in the Justice League movie set to release later this year.

Batman V Superman ended with a Superman who sacrificed himself and a Batman and Wonder Woman who seemingly had restored faith in humanity after Clark's heroics. Bruce Wayne, now slightly more optimistic, has a feeling that something is coming and he alone can't stop it. Wonder Woman, being reminded by Superman's sacrifice and the memories of World War 1 brought back to her by Bruce is also ready to join and stop what is coming. The two decide to set up a team to prevent this great danger consisting of themselves, The Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman. All of which Lex Luthor was keeping tabs on through BvS.
During BvS, Bruce has a vision or 'nightmare' about being defeated in an apocalyptic world. He is spoken to by a man appearing out of a portal warning him about a potential future. This is part of the reason Bruce believes something evil is coming. The man from the portal was none other than The Flash. Due to the Flash's well documented ability to time travel, it isn't hard to believe what bruce saw was a real warning from the future. Sounds like another thing that could pay off in a future movie and provide more clarity to BvS. Aquaman is seen underwater with the sole purpose of audiences saying "ooh who's that?". He will be introduced in Justice League similar to how Wonder Woman was in BvS. The introduction should peak interest in the character which is to be followed by a solo movie scheduled for a 2018. The same will likely occur with The Flash. More decisions that should pay off later on in future movies.

The state of the DCEU is hopeful. Wonder Woman was a success, peaking excitement for the character and the universe. Justice League will see the return of familiar characters from BvS who audiences now know, as well as a few others hoping to catch interest for movies following the Justice League. So far, Justice League is set for a November 2017 release, Aquaman is set for a 2018 release and is being directed by James Wan. The movie stars Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Patrick Wilson (Ocean Master), Amber Heard (Mera) and Nicole Kidman (Queen Atlanna). The DCEU also has movies apparently planned for 'The Green Lantern Corps', Batgirl, Man Of Steel 2, The Batman, The Flash, Nightwing and more. I will hopefully post more about them as they get nearer and are confirmed.


So get excited! The full DCEU is on it's way with more unique stories and beloved characters! there will be choices in future movies that will pay off in movies between and after. The benefit of this is as the universe progresses older movies will develop more layers and future movies will be adventurous in what they choose to do. By the end of it, it will all make sense. We should end the post here because I could talk about the DCEU forever! The next two movies are Justice League and Aquaman which I will write about after Justice League is released on 17th November 2017.

That's the end of this weeks post! I hope I managed to get someone or some people more excited about the DCEU and clear up any confusion there was! If you have something you want to ask or an opinion you want heard, comment below or tweet me @The_BlogOfSteel. Next week I will be doing the exact same as I did this week but for the MCU! So make sure you come back for that it should be fun. See you next week!

JURASSIC BLOG!

*Jurassic Series music* Oh how I wish I could put music on this blog. Would've been such a cooler intro. Sigh. Anyway, Jurassic World is the fourth installment in the Jurassic series, although it doesn't really acknowledge the second two movies, lets be honest, we can understand why. This movie is one of, if not the most successful movie of 2015 passing Age Of Ultron at the box office. But is it actually as good as the hype says?.... find out in this review. I'll try to keep it spoiler free but i'll worn you if i'm going to spoil anything. Enjoy...

Jurassic World! I should start off by saying, contrary to the movies title, it is still a park. However, unlike the original trilogy, it is now a sort of theme park I guess, putting the dinosaurs on display for the public's amazement. It appears that the park has been open for sometime now and continues to attract mass customers. However with new attractions being added each year, its becoming harder to create a wow factor! "They're dinosaurs, wow enough!" which funnily enough, is an actual quote in the movie! The scientists at the park therefore create a new genetically modified dinosaur. Yeah... you know that's a bad idea! I won't go into exact detail though to avoid spoiling.

The movie's lead is Chris Pratt who plays Owen, an animal expert of some kind who was hired to oversee the treatment of the dinosaurs and safety of the park. The movie makes a point of  showing the audience how Owen has formed a relationship with his velociraptors; they respect and listen to him. We are then introduced to Claire, the parks Main manager making the important decisions. She does not have the same relationship with the dinosaurs that Owen does. Long story short, the plot involves Claire's nephews visiting the park and finding themselves in a very dangerous position and Owen and Claire must team up to stop the crazy freakin dinosaur and save the children!

The movie does well to implement humor throughout the movie without it being too cheesy or unnecessary. Honestly, its pretty damn funny! And I have seen a couple of reviews online claiming that the movie is slow and/or boring..... I assure you that this is not the case by any means. There is a lot of action but not enough to get sick of, a fair bit of comedy but not enough to undermine the story. And the dinosaurs...... oh the dinosaurs just look awesome. They look amazingly real. From the actual known dino's like the raptors and the pterodactyls to the new genetically modified dino's, the visuals are spectacular. 

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

If you don't want spoilers, skip this paragraph. **SPOILER ALERT**

During the intense 'run for your lives' scenes involving the children, they end up at the abandoned section of the park. Can you guess where this is? Its the old park building from the original Jurassic park movie. That's when you know its Easter egg time!! The younger child picks up a pair of functioning night vision goggles which can be seen being used by the little boy in the original. The kids then repair a broken jeep labeled 'jeep 29' which, as you probably guessed, can be seen in the original in the scene where John Hammond is rushing to the danger area. Now the biggest most awesome moment and Easter egg in the whole movie... the T-REX! the big bad dinosaur, the Indominus Rex couldn't be beaten by the raptors alone, they needed a powerhouse and they called upon the T-Rex, of course! Now this isn't an ordinary T-Rex, its the T-Rex from the original Jurassic Park which still has its scratches and scars from its fight with the raptors all those movies ago.

Okay! **NO MORE SPOILERS** the movie closes after 2 hours and 10 minutes of entertaining action, quirky comedy and crazy freaking dinosaurs, and so a question starts to raise on everybody's mind... will there be a sequel? well, it isn't made obvious or even confirmed but on the other hand, it was left open. The plot makes sure to leave the movie open to a possibility of there being another. It is a box office smash so I think its very much possible. With that being said, judging by the way it ended, it would be difficult to make a sequel. It raises questions that are very difficult to answer.

Overall, this movie is as good as the hype says it is. It does extremely well to build off the original movie without relying on it. The cast provided strong performances with Chris Pratt (Owen) and Bryce Howard (Claire) being the stand outs, as they should be. It is a thoroughly entertaining re-imagined version of the 22 year old classic, providing fun for all ages. It is probably the best movie so far this year therefore getting a Blog Of Steel rating of 8/10, .

    

 That's it for another hopefully enjoyable post! Next week I'm not sure what I am going to post but I am going to post for sure! Thanks for having the patience to read the whole thing. even if you didn't, subscribe to this blog to be notified whenever I post. Like always, share this blog between your friends, family, pen pals, and just anyone really. Thanks. If you have anything you want to say then leave a comment below or tweet me @The_BlogOfSteel. See you next week!

Blog of Steel: The Return

Holy crap! the last time I posted was literally a year and four days ago. Sorry, I've had college and exams to deal with. Anyway.... The Blog of Steel is BACK!! with its normal inconsistent posts and weirdness! You happy? Well you should be!! I had to drag this blog through the deep, dark abyss of the lazarus pit! And what a time to return! we have a lot to discuss. But  from here on out, its a huge **SPOILER ALERT!!!** lets get to it! this week....

• Review of the Arrow finale 'My name is oliver Queen'
• Review of The Flash finale 'Fast Enough'
• Batman V Superman promo images!!

Arrow review - 'My name is Oliver Queen'

MY NAME IS OLIVER QUEEN 

Ok guys, this episode closed off another great season of Arrow, arguably their strongest season yet. However, I do have to say it left me feeling pretty underwhelmed and not satisfied. I love the show and I'm really happy with the way it has st up for season 4 but the episode itself wasnt very good.
Quite near to the start of the episode, Oliver reveals to Ra's Al Ghul that he is still Oliver and not Al-Sahim in what was probably the best scene of the episode as Oliver shouts "My name is Oliver Queen" and starts an entertaining fight scene on the plane.

It all boils up to the point where Oliver and Ra's face off on top of a bridge, (with a 'coincidental' risk of falling to your death) which is expected to amaze viewers just like the mid season finale fight. But, it didn't. It was slow, unimpressive and was over far too quickly to the point it where it seems like an easier fight then non-mirakuru Slade Wilson. Oliver is then shot and falls to his death... Surprise!! Felicity in the Atom suit is there to save him. Pretty funny!

New 52 cover art

The episode ends with Felicity and Oliver running away together to coast city (Wink Wink) and Oliver claiming he has retired as the Arrow. Diggle and the gang; Laurel (Canary) and thea (Speedy) are presumed to keep the job of saving starling city. Don't worry, Arrow will have a season 4 and Oliver will be a hero once again just not as the arrow but as..... Green Arrow! Awesome right! I believe that any show on its fourth season should change and reinvent itself. Thats why im happy with the ending its just the rest of the episode was mediocre. I would have to give it a Blog Of Steel rating of 7/10. happy but I expected more.

I will cover whats to come in season 4 in a future blog post along with my thoughts on the upcoming Arrow/Flash spinoff, Legends of Tomorrow.

The Flash review - 'Fast Enough'

MY NAME IS BARRY ALLEN!!

So this is how you make a kick ass finale! Arrow, take note. The Flash has only had its first season and some are already calling it the best TV comic book show ever. I cant say I disagree. The season never really dropped (except episodes 2-5, they weren't very good) and has just continued to get better and better! The cast are great, the story is amazing and the CGI is pretty good! it has the perfect balance of romance, drama, action and comic-ness and this season finale blended it all into a perfect 40 minutes.

Lets start with Barry and his dad, wow, thats some emotional television right there folks with acting on point! makes me tear up everytime. Henry Allen tells Barry he believes everything has a natural order and shouldn't be messed with through time travel. talking from experience?? do we have a possible Jay Garrick here?? we did see the helmet near the end. Only time will tell. The episode then progresses to Caitlyn and Ronnie's wedding which will play a huge part in the first half of season 2. trust me. Barry then travels back in time to save his mother but is stopped by future barry who warms him, by one hand signal, that saving his mum is a bad idea. Cue the next emotional scene where Barry sees his mum die but reveals who he is, I teared up again, don't judge me. 

"its me mom, Barry, I'm ok and Dad is too. I love you"

Just wait till ya see season 2 

Barry then makes it back in time to stop Wells (Eobard) from leaving, they face off in a really intense scene which ends with Wells ready to kill Barry until Eddie makes the ultimate sacrifice and shoots himself. If Eddie dies, Eobard can never be born, therefore wiping him from existence. However, messing with the time fabrics that much caused a worm hole to open in star labs and a black hole to open above Central City. Eddie is sucked through the wormhole whilst wearing a necklace with a ring on it. Iris engagement ring or Flash ring?? not sure, but what I do know is that wormhole means we have not seen the last of Eddie. And technically if Eobard never existed, he never killed Wells which means Tom Cavanagh could possibly play the real Wells in season 2, cool. Barry then tries to close the black hole but actually ends up running through it. Great cliff hanger for season 2 along with some of the easter eggs we saw such as the flash museum and Killer Frost. This episode gets a Blog Of Steel rating of 10/10. I will cover Flash season 2 in a future post which will also include the earlier mentioned Legends of Tomorrow. 

Batman V Superman: New promo posters

"I'm here to help"

Firstly, the Superman one. I really actually like this poster. I think its sleek, stylish, modern and purely just badass. It seems as though superman gained the governments trust from the events of Man of steel and now theyre trying to convince the public that he means well. However, the public are not listening. As you can see, 'False god' has been written over the poster along with 'Superman destroyed metropolis' which is a widely held criticism of the first movie. Zack Snyder is acknowledging the criticisms, thats a good sign. On to the most interesting part of the poster... 'Luthor is our saviour' presumably because he has the money to help rebuild the city and he hates superman and is probably causing negative effects on how people view him. Luthor's persuasions will probably make Batman doubt Clark's intentions.

I'm the hero Gotham needs...

Now the Batman one, which is also very cool because its almost the exact opposite of the Superman one! the government hate him and want him caught however the public are very much on Bruce's side and realise that Batman is helping and is needed more than ever. The phrases 'Save our city', 'Fear the bat' and 'Gotham's dark protector' are written on the poster along with the massive 'HERO' witten across the middle. it is clear that Batman is no longer a myth of Gotham has come into the public eye. This makes sense due to Batman being of significant age in this movie. However it does raise the question of if Batman has been around for a while, why are the police still after him? Are the GCPD against batman forever in this universe? 

Maybe teaming up to take down Lex Luthor in this movie will improve the public view of Superman and the governments view of Batman. Batman V Superman opens March 25th 2016. 

Thats it for this week! Hoped you enjoyed it, if you did, subscribe to this blog to be notified on future posts and make sure you share this with others that are interested in comics and movies!! And like always if you have a question or want to get in touch, tweet me @The_BlogOfSteel or leave a comment below! My next post will hopefully be a review of the upcoming summer blockbuster Jurassic World! until then, see ya!!

DAWN OF JUSTICE

I'm back!! I know it has been ages since I posted something and i'm sorry but I had exams. Well, I still have exams but im nearly done! I have enough time to actually post something every sunday! So lets get to it! This week I will be....

• Updating you on the upcoming, NOW TITLED, Batman VS Superman movie 
• Reviewing the Arrow Season finale
• Reviewing the Flash extended trailer 

BATMAN v SUPERMAN: Dawn of Justice

You still think i'm not Lex?

Yes! the official name and logo have been released! BATMAN v SUPERMAN: Dawn of Justice! of course, this has received a lot of hate over the internet, which is expected now. But once again, I am really happy with this choice of title. It perfectly sets the franchise up for a Justice League movie, which is all I really want from life! before you freak out saying "oh but its not a superman sequel" or "why couldn't they just call it Dawn of Justice" well, think about it! Thor gained so much hype after avengers so Supes will too! plus, if all goes well, imagine the anticipation for what comes next. And the title, if it was just called Dawn of Justice all the old people or cave inhabitants would be like "what? I don't know what this is. I'm not watching it" Whereas, you mention bats and supes and everyone goes crazy! The only minor problem I have with the title is the "v". Why 'v'?? why not 'VS'? That puzzles me! but still, overall its a great choice of title and it gets me all the more excited for its release. The logo is epic. Its untouchable. And with the title underneath, its amazing. A few days ago I had some doubts about Eisenberg as lex until I saw this fake picture of him bald. I was of the opinion that he has the swagger of lex but he wont look good bald. I was wrong! He looks awesome and it has removed any doubts from my mind. I cant wait!

Arrow - Season Finale

We're pretty badass!

"Unthinkable" was epsiode 23 and the last episode of Arrow's strong second season. And as an episode of a superhero TV show it was very good. It had the badass moments that we expected to see and it gave us the typical cheesy scenes between the characters. Especially that scene where roy has his 'golden arrow' moment when he fires that one shot right on the money! The episode had the usual expanded budget of a season finale with cool effects and situations that make it badass. I suppose the name 'unthinkable' implied that one big thing was going to happen that would drastically change the course of the episode. However there was a few small things that were unthinkable.

Red Arrow is HERE!

 For example we found out that Diggle's is a father, Oliver said he loved felicity, Thea left with malcolm, Sara left, Detective Lance got hurt and Slade was put in prison! all of which are pretty unthinkable! But lets talk about the flashbacks, I liked them, then I accepted them, and now? I really do not like them! I hope that in season three they slow them down and make them less frequent. Now onto the final fight between Oliver and Slade! After Oliver had outsmarted Slade by making him think that Felicity is the girl that he loves (or does he really love her?) they had their final showdown! And it was one hell of an epic fight which flashbacked to the scenes on the island where Oliver drove an arrow through the eye of slade. The fight ended with a cured slade tied up against a wall. Defeated. Amanda Waller called off the strike, Starling city was saved once again!

"Kill me or not, I win."

The season finale was different then a standard CW finale. There was no real surprise or twisty cliff hanger to end the season it was more of an episode where all storylines were closed and a
happy end was reached. This is to show the fact that Oliver is now a hero. He saved the city without killing and locked slade in prison where he is unable to hurt anyone. It sets season three up with endless possibilities. I like that. We can go anywhere from here. A little storyline teaser wouldn't have hurt though! But overall, a strong, confident end to a strong, confident second season.

The Flash - Extended trailer review

This picture is sooooo badass!

Before I continue, if you haven't seen the extended trailer, the  link is here!

Flash costume looking cool!

I'm going to say, that this program looks amazing for comic fans, it looks funny, entertaining, cool, awesome, and a great representation of an iconic comic character. However, to a non comic fan, it may seem a little stupid. Say, if you compare it to he quicksilver scene in the new Xmen. That was on a movie budget. The Flash definitely has a TV show budget! so it will not look as cool as that. But to me it seems like they have done the best job they could do. The visuals seem as though they will be more like sharp red and gold lighting strikes that 'flash' as barry runs. This is especially seen where we see the murder of Barry's mother (0:15 in the video) and these visuals are stunning! I think that Grant portrays a very relatable and friendly Barry Allen. His character is easy to empathise with. The trailer shows that BArry has hero in him since day 1 but the main part of season 1 will be barry trying to learn new things that his powers can do whilst using them to destroy minor meta-humans that cause the city some disruption. Arrow is seen in the trailer just to confirm that Oliver will be involved in the flash pilot and may have more appearances later on. Iris looks great, she plays the role well and it looks like they got the casting right. We will have to wait and see if she plays the usual damsel in distress! Caitlin Snow has had a brilliant performance already as seen in arrow and it looks like she will play a huge part in the series. yes!!
As I was repeatedly watching the trailer i noticed something cool at (2:12). Site where they test Barry's speed is a FERRIS AIR testing facility. Im hoping that a lot of you just went "OMG GREEN LANTERN!" yes, Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern works at Ferris Air. could we be getting a lantern spin off? seems a little far fetched but we can hope!

That is it for this week! I am back in full flow and I will be posting every Sunday! or at least, if I cant post, I will let you know and I will post on a different day! Make sure you follow me and subscribe by clicking the button near the top of the page! Let me know your thoughts on the new title, The arrow finale, The flash or anything you want to talk about by commenting below and tweeting me @The_BlogOfSteel 

Have a good week and I will see you next sunday! peace out!