by rodvanblake | Jan 4, 2019 | Blog, Character Journey, movie review, Pacing, Storyline
Jason Mamoa as Aquaman Now at first I was a bit skeptical as to how Warner brothers was going to bring this character to life in his own feature film, especially after his introduction to the cinematic universe in Justice League. Jason Mamoa was an interesting and good casting choice in my opinion for a few reasons, but that did not mean the execution would go well. To begin with I like the fact that they ditched the traditional blonde haired blue eyed version we were originally given in the cartoons and comic of old. Nothing wrong with that aesthetic but we have plenty like that to choose from and having someone with Hawaiian heritage play the role has some symmetry to it. It fits. Being a marine biology major only adds to the surfer dude attitude and overall mans man vibe you get from him on screen. I was a bit worried about that when he appeared in Justice league as that was all we got to see of him. In this film he gets to do more, not much more but more nonetheless. Black Manta played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II The supporting cast is good in this film but there are some that I would have liked to see more of. Specifically one of Aquamans most known villains Black Manta could have used some more fleshing out but I think they’re saving him for a future film. The premise behind Aquaman is kind of silly and not to be taken too seriously and DC leaned into that but still had some serious moments without overdoing it. Dark...
by rodvanblake | Sep 27, 2018 | Ancient Illumination, Blog
Last month the second novel in the Ancient Illumination novel went live and now I am prepping for my second Comic con appearance here in Baltimore MD at the convention center downtown. I have been pretty busy so this is just a quick blog to let everyone know what I have been and what I will be up to. So on September 28th thru the 30th I’ll be in Baltimore at table A219. I did well last year and returning with more than one book should bode well for another great showing. Before the close of the year I will be hard at work on the third novel and mapping out the outline for the first of my fantasy series. At the end of next month I will be at the VA Comic con in Richmond Virginia at the Speedway on October 27th and 28th. Should be another fun event with lots of comic book and scifi fans dressed up as their favorite fictional characters from a variety of Geekdoms! The last time I was able to participate was in 2015 I believe at the Tidewater Comic con in Va Beach. Towards the middle of the month I will be taking another voice acting class with Melissa Leebaert if I can get in. Why? Because I am also in the process of recording the audio books to put them up on audible and iTunes so that people who don’t have time to read my stories can at least listen to them on the way to and from work. I have confidence in my voice but want to make sure...
by rodvanblake | Aug 17, 2018 | Blog, movie review, Storyline
I know, I know. I am very late to the party but I feel its fitting given the uproar this film started with its seemingly controversial ending. I figured everyone has had more than ample opportunity to go out and see the film by now. Especially since its out for home consumption now. This film was a culmination of a ten year cinematic journey which began with the first Iron Man film birthing the official MCU. With the exception of a couple notable characters everyone was in this film which was no small feat, and with the exception of a couple characters everyone had their own feature films to flesh out their individual narratives leading up to this film. Not a jab but an honest observation but DC would do well to follow this practice before releasing another comic book team up film. This film had everyone, everything and for once I think the build up was paid off in the end. I do think depending on how they go from here though, will heavily impact the intensity of their results here but I’ll discuss that later. For those of you that perpetually stay under a rock and have yet to see this film…spoiler alert. Don’t want to be that guy but you should have seen this by now…multiple times if you’re at all a comic book fan. So to begin with the action which I had assumed would be great was very well done and on a much larger scale but diced up. What I mean by that is the characters were split into multiple groups which allowed each...
by rodvanblake | Jun 25, 2018 | Blog, Character Journey, movie review
A lot has been said recently about this film and I saw it opening week end. However I had to go through copy edits for my second novel over the past few weeks to get it ready for formatting and the custom cover before publishing and that delayed my movie reviews. For that I apologize. This film had some things going for it but unfortunately in my opinion fell victim to the angst built up the wake of the Last Jedi. This film or at least the concept for it had been talked about for a long while. The Han Solo trilogy is a much beloved series of books from the now defunct EU. First off I liked the film. Was it the best? No but it was satisfactory with a few standouts, great cinematography, and good action. The biggest chink in the armor here is the story. I’ll break it down. Alden Ehrenreich plays the young Han Solo and he’s…not bad. There are moments when he seems believable and he has his moments where I can see someone saying #notmysolo. I don’t think he disrespected a much beloved character though which is a good thing. Donald Glover in my humble opinion did an awesome job. He kind of does Billy D’s voice just enough that you know what he’s going for without outright imitating him. Charisma and charm comes from the guy and he make Lando his own. If they decide to pick up the Star Wars story again I hope he is given a chance to reprise...
by rodvanblake | Mar 28, 2018 | Blog, Character Journey, movie review, Storyline
First off I would like to start of by saying this film is chock full of flaws but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Secondly if you are of the generation that grew up watching reruns of the old Godzilla films, Ultraman/Specterman, Voltron or basically anything that had giant monsters fighting giant robots or giant robots against giant robots then you should be able to suspend belief enough to enjoy this movie. If none of that was ever your thing then likely you won’t enjoy it at all as the rest of the film is not going to be enough to satisfy your tastes in film. If you saw the first Pacific Rim then you should already have a good idea of what’s going on. The first film starred Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi. They don’t return for this one with the exception of Rinko who plays Mako Mori, and a couple of the other supporting actors like Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman who reprise their roles as pivotal scientists. The main protagonist is played by John Boyega and I must say I was very happy with his performance and substance in this film unlike his arc thus far in some other recent films “Cough…cough Star wars”. He plays Jake Pentacost, the son of the deceased Stacker Pentacost (Idris Elba). In this film he introduces himself as the street version of his father choosing to hustle and take advantage of the apocalyptic results following the harrowing battle that cost his father his life saving the world...
by rodvanblake | Feb 19, 2018 | Blog, Character Journey, movie review, Storyline
This film was much anticipated and there were worries in some camps as to if it would be able to live up to the hype. In my humble opinion it does so easily. Is it transcendent? No. Is it perfect? No, but what it is, is inspirational and highly enjoyable because of what it delivers to many members of the African diaspora as well as everyone else on this planet. The plot is well thought out. The cast is amazing through and through. This film has a weight to it when it explores political themes without throwing everything in the viewers faces or being too preachy, and it solves what has been Marvels achilles heal when it comes to the MCU. In case you hadn’t guessed it by now I absolutely love this film! I’ve seen it twice, pre-ordered the UHD version and will likely see it a few more times while it’s in theaters. First I will go over what I had an issue with then I will continue to sing its praises and break down why I feel as I do. My one and only gripe with this film is the over use of CGI in the late battle scenes. I feel they could have inserted more practical effects to make them more visceral and up close and personal between the two main opponents. If they had done that I think they could have given us more Wakanda than we got. I know we are at the height of using pretty CGI and I love effects but...
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