Coming Back Home.

Not sure if I've mentioned or not, but I am now officially back home.
Meaning that, for all intents and purposes, I am done with college for now. All I'm doing is waiting to get my degree and then its official. 

I had thought earlier to make a long post describing my life in VIT, as a sort of therapeutic "getting it off my chest" sigh of compressed anxiety and then relief. 

But then around about that time, my old laptop crashed.

Oh yes. I have a new laptop now. Its an Acer, and its able to play Warframe on high and not lag. Thats what most of you want to know right? What it can do?

Anyway.

Around about that time, my laptop crashed. My then roommate, and two of my older roommates and a couple of friends came to help out. While no one was able to actually do anything to fix it at the time, we did have a lot of fun making jokes at my expense and performing technical voodoo on the old system. 

So even though I had the app on my phone, I thought, "Why do something like that right now? Why not wait till a few months later when I can type on my laptop?" (At the time, I didnt think that it would take more than a week or so to fix it. 3 ICs, a couple of ports, and my laptop being sent to mumbai for repairs, later, and I realise thats so not the case.)

And basically since anyone who knows me knows what happened in college, since I was physically incapable of shutting up about it... It would be kinda redundant to write about it in this form, in this post, right now like. 

Not to mention slightly problematic. 

Cos. I would honestly be talking more about the food joints that served pasta outside the main campus, and the absolutely amazing views inside the campus. 

OH! Speaking of.
I am now a bit more reluctant to try pasta these days due to a failed experiment which involved uncooked pasta, strong (and I mean strong) peppered and salted boiling water, and a lack of a sauce. 

Yeah. Sometimes the experiments dont always pan out. 

Anyway, I left my college on a high note. 

I got all my stuff sorted. I got my stuff. I left finally.
And I was able to pass on a message to the future. "All the best to you all! Pass it on."
Hopefully that stays, and hopefully that helps anyone who manages to glance at it when they need it.

On coming home, there were a few things to notice almost immediately. 

One, My Dog. I dont know if I've ever spoken about him on the blog before. 40 Kgs of exuberance, dog hair and assorted crazy came barreling at me the instant I stepped through the door.

Two, the house seemed to have changed. Yes, we had just moved a while back and there is always periods of packing, unpacking, repacking, and redoing all of that till you get it just right was going on. But no. The dynamic. 

Thing is that at this point, It finally hit me that I was gonna be home for a lot longer than I had been in the past few years. Earlier, there always used to be a nagging thought at the back of my mind telling me how many days I had till I had to return to college, how many days till course registration, and so on. Many times, I thought that similar thoughts were running through my family's minds as well. 

This time?

Nah. It felt like I was there, at home. Not just unpacking for a while, and taking a break till the next stretch of the onslaught, but there to take my clothes and keep them in for however long I wanted to, and put my posters up (I had only come home once, quite briefly, to the new house. If that sentence makes sense), and simultaneously forget about going to sleep at 2 AM or skip meals when I felt like it. 

Three, although, this came about about three weeks after I got back: taking my dog for a walk. Now, when I go home, the first person to get upset is my dog. He knows that I usually only come for a few weeks here and there, so he wouldnt come to me for a walk unless he desperately wanted to.
Now, he comes to me most often, and unlike others, doesnt take "try asking (person) instead" for an answer. 

Cut to yesterday or day before morning at about 6 AM, where I get punched in the face by Joey's unofficial girlfriend's snout, cos she was so excited and came flying at my face without warning. Joey got jealous, so had to take him for a few walks that day, instead of the usual. 

The thing that I think people were all waiting for were the results of the semester that just concluded.
It was a pleasant surprise that I got a B grade in what can easily be called my worst subject EVER.

But that came and went. As did a couple of headaches that followed. 

This post really isnt to talk about a lot of things, its just to give an update, to get back to writing, and to sorta take a stab at normalising things after coming home. 

So, I hopefully will be writing a review for "Ant Man and the Wasp", on the new laptop, on a couple of older games like the BioShock or Zelda series, and maybe something new as well like Warframe. 

In other news, between the untimely end of my old laptop and starting this post today, a couple of things have shown up.

They're continuing the original Teen Titans show, probably from where it left off at the end of season 5. NOT a continuation of Teen Titans Go. This is not a drill!

And secondly, while the laptop was dead, and I was still in the hostel, I came across this show on Amazon Prime, called "Deception". Its like a cross between Castle, Now You See Me, and the mentalist.
Unfortunately, only one season.

BUT.
The season as such is incredible.

A little predictable at times.

But just plain amazing.
Do check it out. :)

Hope you all are having a decent or even great day,

and hopefully I have something more to talk about the next time. 

-Ryan

A One Year Anniversary and reflections

Recently, a sort of anniversary has passed by. My first foray into Poetry actually.

And I didnt realise this till a few days later, when Facebook sent me a notification about it :P

Oh well.

Anyway.

I spent the day before the anniversary asking for prompts, so that in my breaks I could write something. Cos with work and what not, it had been a while.

A cousin of mine, she gave me the writing prompt: "Reflections". Well... She gave me a couple others as well, but I made a poem based on "reflections".

Take a look,
let me know what you think,
and as always, where you think I can improve. :)

"Reflections"

Dusty mirror, hanging on a wall,
showing the inside of a house for years.
Faces examined, and people passing through the hall,
where history lived, through smiles and tears.

In years gone by, the reflections it showed,
the large looking glass world, where magic once flowed.
A babe's delight at discovering it's twin,
and self conscious tugs and caressess of creases on your skin. 

A few years have passed, and the walls have become weathered,
the doors all creak, and the house has grumbled.
But new faces finally came, to the mirror's delight,
though it couldn't see them clearly, such was its plight. 

Though seeming familiar, the looking glass could tell,
that old faces these were not, for it had bid them farewell.
while waiting, it reminisced reflections of faces gone by,
of reflections of moments and thoughts gone awry. 

Now curious and impatient, the mirror once shook,
alas, to lose its dust, this effort was less than it took. 
But the old house listened to the mirror's shudder, 
as it passed through the walls, and made things better.

A door slammed shut, and the walls shuddered once more,
The new faces turned, startled, this party of four.
The mirror, now noticed, commanded their attention.
On cleaning, they all stood there, an unlikely congregation.

A new set of faces smiled and greeted the looking glass,
and raised their hands to say, "hello".
A new set of reflections smiled in return through the glass,
to welcome its new family with a happy "hello"

The text is in yellow because I feel like this would be something that a certain friend of mine would prefer, and her favourite colour is yellow.
So... Theres that. :)

Black Panther: a Review

Black Panther is the latest movie in the ongoing MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), which has already featured a number of incredible movies such as Iron Man, Thor and the Avengers. (There are more, you should go check it out)

The film is considered the best installment of the franchise, which is saying something considering its 18 movie long series, divided into three phases.

This movie is set a few days after the events of Captain America: Civil War, in terms of chronology, and overall takes place over the course of a few days since that.

The setting of this movie is primarily in Africa, in the fictional country of Wakanda, although there are scenes set in other parts of Africa, and other parts of the world as well.

You have returning characters, from Civil War, the Black Panther/T'Challa played by Chadwick Boseman, Everett Ross played by Martin Freeman, and from Age of Ultron we have returning Ulysses Klaue played by Andy Serkis. The rest of the cast are new and have succeeded in making their mark in the connected Marvel universe.

Since the movie is based in Africa, there are a lot of tribal elements that have been incorporated, successfully, I might add. They've done their homework and made it look authentic, and not some westerners idea of what African culture looks, especially in terms of clothing, rituals, location, and language.
Alongside this, in the comics, Wakanda is known for being a very scientifically advanced nation who's technology surpasses the rest of the world. The creators have managed to properly mix together traditional and modern together in a way that both hold together without friction.
There is none of the old trope of "Science Vs Tradition" in this one, and nor is that used as a plot device, leading or otherwise.

Speaking of location, the nation of Wakanda is spectacularly made, and the visuals make it seem like an entirely new world, even its own franchise in its own right. On certain occasions you feel as though you forget the rest of the MCU even exists, and that Black Panther is its own stand alone movie, so strong is the plot, and the ability to execute said plot without pandering, without need for any external agents.

It feels like the creators have done their homework with this movie, and made sure that it's come together naturally without looking or feeling forced in any way or form.

The characters in the movie were unique, and each had a well defined role to play. Now with the characters, the most important thing that has to be said is "representation".
It is done, but not in the way one would expect on hearing the word. Like with the incorporation of African society for the design of the movie, the representation has also been slotted in seamlessly to the point that you don't entirely realise it till it's pointed out by the characters on screen or due to plot.
Personally I prefer this method (as a viewer) as opposed to having something shoved violently in my face and forced to accept things as they are, as is the case with a lot of movies.

Now, coming to the characters themselves, we have the titular character, the Black Panther.
The Black Panther is said to be the protector of Wakanda and its people, and that's exactly how the king, T'Challa sees himself. He does what he thinks is right for his people, after being advised by the representatives and elders of the various tribes of Wakanda. Chadwick Boseman delivers some of the most brutal and important lines of the movie and does so with the authority of a king.
T'Challa's family and close friends are just as equally incredible in terms of utter badassery and ability.

The main antagonist, played by Michael B Jordan, Killmonger, is a uniquely polarised anti hero, than an outright villain. Killmonger, unlike the Black Panther, has lived outside Wakanda his entire life, and has been witness to the harsh realities of his people in the outside world, and this is what shapes his way of thinking and how he should help the people by arming them, and not empowering them.
His views on the situation are targeted in a single fashion: his way is the right way, and all others are weak and feeble attempts at absolutely nothing.

The really good thing about this villain is that he resembles some of the villains in the Legend of Korra series: they make the protagonist think, and understand the situation that drove them to become a villain, and this in turn helps the protagonist get a better idea (or a target) of how to fix a larger problem.

The rest of "Team Panther", are based off the characters introduced in the comics, and have an entirely different approach to their comic book counterparts.
The three main women in this team, Oyoke, Nakia and Shuri are all formidable in their own rights.

Martin Freeman's character, initially only a comic relief character in the comics has been reinvented for his role in the MCU as a capable agent who would be able to be diplomatic and combat ready as needed.
Martin brings a similar personality to his character from Sherlock, with a perfect blend of seriousness and humour.

The thing that stands out the most in this movie is the ground breaking technology and the fight sequences. I unfortunately cannot go into much detail regarding this since it is deep within spoiler territory, but what has been done is just well executed with proper blend of cinematography, music and CGI.

Overall, this movie is incredible. It does its homework and makes an African society that looks African, and not some idiots notion of what culture in Africa is.
The technology is impressive, and even puts parts of Ant Man's and Tony Stark's tech to shame, in parts.
The characters are spectacular, and well developed. Most everything is shown in morally grey terms, without it going into propaganda and political agenda.
This includes the representation of the characters and what they represent.

Well worth watching, even as a standalone film, in case you have yet to see major parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Thor Ragnarok: A Review

Thor Ragnarok is currently the latest movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the third installment in the Thor franchise.

Now, before we get into the major details of the film and the review, there are a couple of things that I MUST mention:

1) The MCU only uses the Norse Mythology as a reference to the creation of the characters, Thor, Loki, and so on and so forth. This is very important for later.

2) This movie, at the time I believe, was supposed to be the last movie before Avengers: Infinity wars. The Avengers' 4th film is supposed to be massively large, and extremely serious. So, instead of a buildup to that in terms of tone and... texture? This movie takes on a more comedic approach to things. 

If these points have turned you away from the movie, I advise you to stop reading further, since they did the exact opposite to me. 

Anyhow. 

This movie is set two years after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. We start off the movie with Thor giving an opening monologue, and you notice it isnt in the "ye olde english speake" that you get in Thor 1 and 2. His language seems a lot more informal now. Maybe spending more time on Earth helped? 

The film was first sort of introduced to us as a post credit scene in Doctor Strange, where we see the Sorcerer Supreme talking to Thor about his brother and father being on Earth. This was a scene that most movie viewers were looking forward to, especially seeing how Strange would be helping Thor with his situation. Months later, when news was released that Hulk was also going to be in it, excitement grew once more.

The film is actually based off a few events from the comics, and not just one story arc like what they attempted (see: failed) to do with Iron Man 3 (The Extremis Saga) and Captain America: Civil War (The Civil War storyline). Now, those titles were very much misleading in terms of what they were promising us, but Thor became an exception to that.

The title, Ragnarok, talks about the Norse mythology's End of Days, where the world is engulfed in flames, a lot of the gods are killed and the world begins once more. In the original mythos, Midgard (or Earth) was the one that would die. In the movie, they deviate from that a fair bit. And I am thankful for this actually. I mean... they did do a lot of things mentioned in the recipe... just not all of it.

The movie begins with a monologue from Thor about the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and we already start to see the comedic side of Thor that we had begun to see in the aforementioned movie. Then we meet Surtur, and his introductory scene are quite important for two reasons.
One, look at him! Tall fire giant with a flaming sword, looking every bit as amazing as he did in the multiple trailers we saw him in! But the actual thing is that Surtr talks about how Ragnarok is already begun, and that Thor cant stop it.
Two, in the dialogue between Thor and Surtr, we get some key important details. Thor thinks of himself more as a hero now, not a god or a king; Surtr is now officially one of the many... things, for lack of a better word, in the MCU who died and came back; and lastly, The Step By Step Instructions On How To Start Ragnarok; That Odin is no longer on the throne (seems odd, considering the end of Thor 2) and that Thor is also one of the larger causes of Ragnarok (The Poetic and Prose Edda have a different plan for Thor at Ragnarok) (The original "sources" of the Norse Mythology)

After that short exchange, we come to one of the first fight sequences of the movie. Its quite well done, and the song being played in the background is Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song". It follows the recent trend that we see in movies that have more than one enemy attacking the protagonist, rather than one at a time. (Thank god) The choreography was excellent and well executed.

Now, why I mention the song that is being played in the background is this: Immigrant song by Led Zeplin was specifically chosen since its lyrics mention Norse religion. Beyond that, Led Zeppelin is notorious for rarely licensing out their music in films, television or even games, so the fact that they allowed the song for this film is quite remarkable. 

Going along the sequence of the movie, the next major point is the play titled "The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard", which is a play about the events at the end of Thor: The Dark World. This... This is one of four reasons that this film is a must watch. They got Chris Hemsworth's (Thor) older brother, Luke to play Thor in the play, Matt Damon (you cant make this up if you tried) to play Loki, and Sam Neil as Odin. This segment alone had people rolling with laughter in the theatres.
A key feature in this is that the title is "Loki of Asgard", not Jotunhiem, like it was said by Loki in The Dark World. A key difference in the mindset of Loki compared to his previous appearances.

The next major event is the one that most moviegoers were looking forward to since Doctor Strange, and that was the involvement of Doctor Strange. This part was a bit of a disappointment personally. While the entire segment was humourous, it felt more like an over glorified cameo more than anything else. It wasnt what most viewers were expecting. The scene moves really fast, and this trend seems to follow through in the remaining part of the film as well.

From here on, mostly spoiler events come up, so I wont be discussing it scene by scene, but I MUST bring up the other 3 things that I feel make this movie a must watch. 

1) When Thor is entering the Contest of Champions in Sakarr, the music that is played in the background is "Pure Imagination" from the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie with Gene Wilder. That movie was released in 1971 and its music is used in the middle of space, in 2017,  not to show a sense of wonder like it did with the original movie, but to make things incredibly uncomfortable and strange.
For anyone interested, the original music is here:

2) The fight between Thor and Hulk:
Now we've all seen this in the trailers that have come out, and theres not really not a lot to say about it, except that you need to see it since its the first time we see Thor as the God of Thunder. We dont see ANY indication of his powers besides his use of Mjolnr in the first two films, and all the Avengers movies, till now.

3) Loki and the Grand-Master.
I will talk about both characters soon, but the performances of both of them just outshine everyone else in the scene they're with.


The movie is quite well made, directed and produced, if with a few glaring flaws. It serves two purposes, visibly. One to set up the events of Infinity Wars, and the second to work as a soft revamping of the Thor franchise. This movie takes and breaks apart the golden world of Asgard and now its forced to build anew for the future. It spoke about the infinity stones at the beginning, but then thankfully went off into its main plot. The movie is a comedy action film, that deals with the End of Days. Thats the main summary of the movie.

Pros:

• The direction and casting of this movie was brilliant. It was near flawless. According to the director, a lot of the scenes were ad-libbed or improvised (saying that about 80% of it was), and this just made the entire thing more enjoyable to watch. The humour was a nice touch, as it did downplay the more serious moments when needed, to avoid getting too heavy.
  
• The setting. With the Thor franchise, you get beautiful scenery and location shots that you dont in any of the other MCU movies, that lend it a sort of ethereal quality, and drives home that this isnt a movie about Earth as such, or about Humans. Every scene with the Bifrost bridge, every location shot of Asgard and the other nine realms that we see.
  
  However with this one, we get a similar treatment, but with a different tone to it altogether, as seen with the entire setting of the planet Sakaar. We also see new regions of Asgard itself in this film.
  
• Thor: God of Thunder. Till now, I have always liked Thor, but he always seemed... lacking in the appearances of a god, especially one who is so important in Norse Mythology. This one time, we see him as the god of lightning and thunder.
  
  
  Here. The thing is that considering that Thor was created in the comics to combat the Hulk, and as the strongest Avenger, we never really saw much of his fighting in any of the films. In the first film, it was minor skirmishes, and the scene with the Destroyer felt... meh. Similar thing with the second movie, and in Avengers. (Age of Ultron's Tripple Ka-me-ha-me-ha blast doesnt count at all).
  
  But here, we see the power  that is the God of Thunder. THIS is someone I can believe will be the cause of Ragnarok!
  
  We saw Thor going god-mode in the trailers a few times, and it is worth watching those scenes in full. Where you see Thor no longer holding his punches and fighting back and matching the Hulk for his immeasurable strength.
  
• The Grandmaster
  This guy is played by Jeff Goldblum, and he does an incredible job of just bringing out the creepiness inherent in this character. Just the way you have an immortal who has a total disregard for life, and still makes the moments funny.
  
  Just...  
  
  
  That face. I dont think anyone would have been able to pull it off like he did. It even creeped out Loki.
  
  The Grandmaster is an immortal who is one of the strongest beings in the known universe (at least his race is known to be).
  From his introduction itself, you have a sensation that something is wrong, when you see him. The acting and the character in itself is incredible.
  
• Loki!  
  
  
  He's come a long way since the ending of the second Thor movie's ending.
  
  Here, we see Loki as being acknowledged by his family finally. Odin says that he was proud of him (whatever be the circumstances), and Thor himself tells Loki that he thought the world of him. Hes also had a time to be Asgard's ruler, and has had to spend weeks with the Grandmaster, which couldnt have been a pleasant experience for him to acknowledge someone with more power than him.
  
  Hes gone from embodying "Chaotic Evil" to "True Chaos" and parts of "Chaotic good" in this one. He fights Hela, and stands for Asgard, and even takes on a more traditional approach to Ragnarok (but him and Hiemdal dont die).
  
  There is a LOT of character development for him since the beginning. I mentioned earlier about how he said that he was from Asgard, and not from Jotunhiem, in the play? Further proof of that.
  
  Unfortunately, he didnt get to go "god-mode" like Thor and Hela do, but theres always next time.
  
• The accurate portrayal of a sibling relationship.
  Now. I am an only child, but I've seen enough sibling behaviour to see the way Thor and Loki, and even Hela interacting with each other is essentially spot on.
  I dont wanna list out all of it, cos someone on Tumblr already did, and for your viewing benefit,
  
  TA-DA! :
  
   Do give this a read. Its worth it.
  
  
  
  

  Cons:

  
  
• The pacing of the movie. The scenes in this moved too fast personally, and it felt like it was kinda rushing through a lot. This is seen especially in the scenes with Odin, with Strange, and even in the background scenes of Hela on Asgard.
  
• Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you The God of Lightning and Thunder himself. Somehow, somehow, he has managed to get taken out by electricity a grand total of seven, so far, since his introduction in Thor 1. In this movie alone, he has been electrocuted a good 6 times.
  
  In fact, lets do a small count down.
  
  
  1: When Darcy tasered him (but that was when he was depowered and exiled)
  2: A net fired at him when he landed on Sakaar
  3: Stopped by Valkyrie upon his capture
  4: Again, by Valkyrie, in the space craft to the prison
  5: Third time with Valkyrie, in front of the Grandmaster
  6: Valkyrie. Again… For Thor calling her a traitor/coward
  7: Grandmaster. WHEN Worldbreaker Thor. Goddamnnit… I give up... I honestly do...
  
  
  
• The Doctor Strange appearance and disappearance. He showed up in the movie about a total of Three Minutes and Thirty Five Seconds. The entire scene was rushed, and it just... it was sloppy, and it really felt like a glorified cameo more than anything else. It was a nice idea to do a post credit scene at the end of Doctor Strange, but then at least give the guy some more screen time.
  
• The Humour! A lot of people have mentioned that the humour, while great, was too much and too often, stating, "sometimes you'd end up not having enough time to prime yourself for the next joke, so that would fall flat". I agree with this. Coupled with the pacing issue that we see, this actually makes the movie feel less like its telling a joke, and more like it has its family at gunpoint and the only way to save them is to finish their standup gig.
  
• The trailers being a deliberate misdirect. All I'm gonna say here is that we never properly saw the conclusion to the fight between the Hulk and the massive fire giant that we saw in the trailers. I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT! 

Overall, I loved the movie, and feel like it is a good way to wind up before the events of Infinity Wars. Of course, Black Panther starts in a few days, so lets see. 

It is and always will be fun to see Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki. It IS disappointing that we wont be seeing many actors come for the later movies, for fairly obvious reasons. 

This movie has a massive tonne of easter eggs in it, including things like why Valkyrie is called SR-142, why Thor needed to get his hair cut, and who the blonde lady who pushed Valkyrie out of the way was intended to be. If you're interested, take a look at this and/or this.

Hope you enjoy watching it. :) 

My Review of The Justice League Movie

Now, unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years, then you would be aware of the ongoing DCEU (DC Extended Universe), and the films that have been released till now.

I'm here to talk about the latest one.

Before I begin though, this film is being released on the same day as the animated series (Justice League - 2001) first aired some sixteen years ago.

Now, I'd like to go through this in parts, firstly talking about the characters, then the actual way the movie is presented, the pros and cons, and then a concluding statement.
Normally at least.
But, since there is the situation of Marvel vs DC among all the denizens of the world, that needs to be brought up as well to an extent.

Since this is going to contain Spoilers, I'd advise you not to read ahead, and merely skip to the ending for the Marvel Vs DC comparison and Conclusion. I also apologise in advance about how long this is, but I cant help it this time. I guess I'll get the hang of things with more practice.


The Characters!
We have the Justice League (never actually mentioned by that name in the movie), comprising of Barry Allen, Cyborg, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. It isnt till halfway through the movie does our favourite boy scout join the party. Beyond the Justice league, we also have other important characters who make the story, the story. We have Lois Lane, Martha Kent (MARTHAAAAAAA..... Ahem. Wont happen again), Alfred and Steppenwolf. Now, there are a few other characters who are named, but not much is spoken by/of/to them in comparison to the main cast

Barry Allen, easily the life of the movie. Ezra Miller was able to do justice to this character (pun not intended... Sorry). The youngest and most inexperienced of all the members of the team, he shows his childish nature quite often, but without it being detrimental to the scene, or causing the audience to become frustrated by the lack of seriousness.

He is such a dork, and I love this. He freaks out over the Batman's stuff, gets super excited running around the bat-cave, and then feels really hungry afterwards. He is described, in movie as "tripping over his own feet as well as (my own)" by Aquaman, and this is also shown in the way he runs: he looks like hes constantly running downhill. There's no grace of finesse, just the speed. For a guy who can travel ONLY as fast as Superman, its a given that he has little control over it.

Next we have the Cyborg. We've already seen the background of how Victor Stone got his cybernetically enhanced body, and we see how he's grown with it and can perform near perfect technopathy. Iron Man, take note. THIS is what the Extremis sage should have looked like.
Ray Fisher really nailed the whole "Frankenstein" way of dealing with the change.

Cyborg is the second youngest of all the heroes, and its shown. While not as childish or carefree as the Flash, you do see parts of his less serious side. I am really really thankful that they gave him his famous "Booyah!" quote from the original Teen Titans show (GO! is a mess. Dont even go there.)
The later adjustment of his suit makes it look closer to the one from the TV show and the animated movies, but the original one looked... TOO CGI, that it kept my attention more than the plot did whenever there was a close

Coming back to how Cyborg and The Flash are the youngest heroes on the team, you appreciate the bonding they have, such as the fist bumps, and the scene about "being the accidents" of the team, despite the fact that barring Superman, they are easily the more important members of the team (plot wise).

Aquaman. Jason Momoa does a fantastic job with this character and acts as the secondary (tertiary even?) comic relief in the movie. Audience did find this annoying, but it was mentioned that the film is gonna be more lighthearted compared to the other films. Like the scenes with the Flash, these moments of humour dont take away all that much from the character as such. We see that in the scene with the Lasso of Hestia.

Talking about the way Atlantis was shown, while I'm happy that Mera and Atlantis is shown, it seems a lot like this is the first time he's been to Atlantis. Seems odd, and their interactions quite awkward.

There are a few things which I am thankful that they added to the movie! He doesnt talk to fish! Thank god for they mentioned this!

Continuing about the underwater parts of the film, I like how they choreographed the fighting sequences underwater; pushing off surfaces while underwater is one thing, but using the water to unbalance the enemy is actually logically how a water fight sequence would be, especially by a race of mermen.

Throughout all interactions between Aquaman and Wonder Woman, I kept thinking about the Flashpoint timeline. In BVS, there was an allusion to the Injustice timeline. I dont know if this was intentional, like in BVS, but to someone whos seen the Flashpoint movie, and read some of the comics, it seemed like a setup for it. 

Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman was just phenomenal. I should at this point like to point out that I havent yet seen her standalone movie (I will get to it once I can). So for me, seeing her personality and such is a first time for me (the scenes in BVS dont really count).

There is a really nice interaction between her and Batman, when they get the third motherbox, about how they both are interacting with the rest of the world. She tells Bruce to get some sunlight (I paraphrase), and he calls her out on the hypocrisy of that in her own behaviour in the last century or so. Not to mention, in the same scene you have Diana comforting/reassuring that Superman's Death wasnt Bruce's fault. Of course, from there, the dialogue turns into a fight, but its a nice touch.

Again, the interactions she has with Aquaman had me thinking a lot of the Flashpoint Paradox timeline, though this may be unintentional. I may just be seeing it since I am aware of the comics of that series, and have seen the cartoon movie, so may not be visible to everyone.

I do dislike a couple of things about the character, I should mention. She has "one move", where she bangs the gauntlets of Atlas together to create a shock wave. Its good, but its kinda all she does. Considering that she is one of the strongest in the Justice League, it seems a bit of a waste to have her do not much else. Sure, she can use a sword with a ridiculous amount of proficiency, but, shes versatile in usage of practically most weapons.

Secondly, she doesnt/cant fly. I dont remember her flying in BVS, and I didnt see her flying in this one either. I may be missing a large part of the movie lore since I havent seen her standalone, but yeah. Seems odd.

And lastly, Batman Vs. Superman.
No seriously.

Its nice to have a batman thats a lot more calmer and less bloodthirsty. You can see the development of character between the two movies. Theres not a lot to add here on the whole "Batman" part of the character. This version differs quite a lot from the Nolan trilogy version, in that there is less swinging of fists and more gadgets. Seriously, he is really reliant on the grappler, and his (totally amazing) rides. You dont really see much of the "Bruce Wayne" side here, or at least the version that the rest of the world sees. This adaptation seems to be going more and more towards the version from the cartoons.

Speaking of cartoons, the relationship between Batman and Wonder woman resembles the one from the cartoons as well, albeit in the development stage.

Coming to Superman, 

Yes, there is something glaringly obvious that everyone can (not) (un)see. I will bring it up soon.

This version of Superman... Delivers the most brutal lines, quoting the Batman even, with "Do you bleed?"

That line had the entire theatre just going "DAMN". I am unashamedly one of those people.

Once he gets his head screwed around, he becomes the boy scout from the cartoons. He makes jokes, he moves fast, and he manages to hold his own against the entire remaining part of the team.

Speaking of, you know a character is overpowered when he effortlessly headbutts wonder woman into the ground, and makes the villain look like a minion level monster.

The whole interaction between the Justice league and Superman was incredibly well thought out and well made. The scene between Barry and Superman in (perceived) slow motion, was again, a moment when the theatre was at the edge of its seat. The one between Batman and Superman shows how the whole progress of time was for Superman, being dead for a while. 

Now, the movie some things which are worth mentioning, things that stand out in the movie.

THE PROS:

• The Parademons, actually felt like a credible threat. Most other movies... ALL other movies, have minions that are... cannon fodder level of monsters. This is one of the first movies where the monsters actually look like their own threat, without having to rely on numbers. Yes, they do have a strength in numbers, but even individually, or in small groups, they are able to fight well, without the aid of Steppenwolf. They are a credible threat in this universe. They're also like the concept of the undead army: they conquer and take over the body of the conquered.
• NO STORMTROOPER AIM. Parademons are the main ones with the guns in this movie, and they ACTUALLY HIT their targets! They waited for the fast moving targets to be presentable and then hit them, like they did with The Flash and Batman.
• Steppenwolf. One of the few villains in movies that are just powerful. He managed to fight the Amazons, the Atlanteans, one demigod, one Human-Merman hybrid, one speedster, and a walking talking boombox, in less than a few days, and he still kept coming back for more. At no point did Batman even directly engage with Steppenwolf.
• The interactions between the team. Making them more human, with more normal speech and mannerisms. Noteworthy among them, Diana telling Bruce about needing a contingency plan, Flash and Aquaman after the Lasso of Hestia, and the end credit scene where the Flash and Superman race. (Ah... for those wondering... The Flash is faster, any day of the week.)
• The DELIBERATE (I assume) change from the trailers. I liked how they alluded to a lot of things in the trailer, or showed them in a different order to make it look different. This is what the purpose of a trailer should be: to allude to the movie, and not showcase everything. (I feel like they paid some attention to the criticism towards the latest Spiderman and Thor movies regarding this)
• We see the mention of the Green Lanterns, the old Gods, in the flashback to the old Unity war.

Of course, there were plenty of things which, again, stand out and should be noted:

THE CONS:

• Ideally, this should be a pro, but the thing is that I saw this movie in 3D, at one of the good theatres. I do NOT think that this experience would have been as enjoyable in a non 3D film, the way the graphics were played out. This is just my opinion, and I may change my mind when I can see it in 2D again later.
• This version of Batman has been at it for about... 20 years, if I'm not much mistaken. Every other character gets an allusion to their pasts, but Batman doesnt. Diana gets a mention of Steve Trevor, Cyborg gets a talk about his accident and mom, Aquaman gets a thing about his mother leaving him on the Surface for his safety, we see barry talk to his dad even... But Batman of 20 years, doesnt get any mention of his villains, his robins, or anything. Its currently still speculation WHICH robin is the one that Joker killed (most people thinking that its cannon with Jason Todd). We dont see much of his past, but we see a small part of everyone elses!
• Henry Cavill's moustache... It has to be said...
  The first scene in the movie is a part of a montage used for Superman's memorial. At this moment itself, its obvious that something is slightly... off about the actor. We know its the same Henry Cavil, but its not the same face. Later on, I learnt that it was CGI removal of his moustache, thanks to his filming parts in Mission Imposisble 6. This doesnt bother me as much, now that I know that it was issues between studios... But... There are scenes where the level of CGI used are different. It doesnt look uniform throughout. In fact, I think the scene where he "wakes up" and at the farm (Not the in between scenes) are the only ones without CGI.  Its just so.. odd. The inconsistency just makes it stranger.
• Continuity issues. This is a major problem for me. In BVS, we saw Victor becoming the Cyborg BEFORE Superman died, yet this was turned around for this movie. We have the rubble floating at the end of BVS, over Clark's casket, but we apparently needed a motherbox to bring him back? What? There are other mistakes like this in terms of continuity but these two are the two major ones that stuck out to me when watching the movie itself. 
• The main soundtrack for the movie, or the music that you normally associate with the movie, was shown only for one fight sequence, and that was with Aquaman, and nothing iconic or spectacular was shown for the team up at the end.
  
• While I mentioned that it was a good thing that they changed the order of things to be shown in the trailers, I do not like that they removed a lot of content, such as Barry's intro to the Speedforce, Alfred's line in the batcave, and stuff like this. Yes, they had a direct order from WB to make the film no more than 2 hours, not including credits, but that makes the movie feel like another BVS. If they make an extended edition/directors cut/ultimate edition... well, you know what to do. 

The Comparison to Marvel:

(Yeah, there is actually a comic about this. Check it out. )

This is something that is quite unfortunate, but we have to bring this up.
Till now, I am yet to find a review online that doesnt take the time to add a paragraph or so, comparing DC and Marvel.
There IS a lot of hate regarding the entire DCEU, thanks to the famously misunderstood "Save Martha" line from BVS (explanation given if I ever get around to finishing my review of BVS), and the wasted oppurtunities of Suicide Squad (ditto).
However, Wonder Woman has pretty much saved the day for the DCEU and should have done something of a turnaround or at least a pause, in the DCEU hatred that seems to stem from nothing except for the fact that it ISNT MARVEL.

Lets compare the two series.

By now, the DCEU has completed five movies:
Man Of Steel, Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and Justice League.
Thats 5 movies released, with 2 of them dedicated to origin stories, and one of them being a semi intro to Batman.

Marvel's Phase 1, had released 6 movies:
Iron Man 1&2, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and The Avengers.

So.. its not like there is a pacing issue, considering that the number of movies are similar.
Also, Marvel was the pioneer. It was the one that set up the notion of an extended universe of a scale this large, in live action.
(Lets not talk about the animated cinematic universe... DC wins that hands down and Marvel didnt venture too deeply into it either)
Yes. But it doesnt have the patent for a large scale cinematic universe.
Seeing Marvel's success, other industries have tried to emulate such complicated networks but so far DC is the only on to come up with something close to their comic book counterparts.

The comparison is quite unfortunate.
Mostly because of how the two series are almost like entirely different genres.
I cant place the quote exactly but...
it was something along the lines of

"The Avengers are a group of humans pretending to be Gods,
while the Justice League is a group of gods, pretending to be human."

Now, while this doesnt work, cos... Thor, Batman, Barry, and related... You get the picture. I hope.


Anyhow, the bottom line for this movie:

I grew up watching the animated tv show, and I can see a lot of the parallels from the initial episodes. I can appreciate the jokes and the way the movie is directed and put together. This movie was never made as a competition to Marvel's hugely successful cinematic universe, and it shouldnt have ever been seen as such. This is the continuation of the story at the end of BVS (possibly WW... I did mention that I havent seen it yet?).
The direction is well done, and the sequence of events is logical.
I will be honest, that scene where Kal-El advances on Batman, I half expected either Bruce or Diana to randomly shout out, "Martha", for some ill advised comedic purposes, and mayhaps even laugh at itself, but (thankfully) this wasnt to be.

The action scenes are on point, and the dialogue isnt rushed or forced. It fits the overall theme of the movie (being lighter than its predecessor, BVS) and the characters are true to their counterparts in the comics. Batman is broody, Diana is badass, Clark is Superman, and Cyborg and Barry are uber dorks. Aquaman, has shown the greatest improvement in my opinion, but thats just me.
Prior lore of this universe is set up properly, and without taking too much away from the main film, and doesnt have wasted moments or unnecessary scenes in it.

The credits scene with The Flash and Superman, taken directly from the comics, and Superman: The Animated series, was a nice touch, especially the number of speed related show offs between the two.

All in all, worth watching. Worth watching in 3D.

Hope you enjoy watching it, and I hope you watch it with an open mind. :)

At 3 in the morning

So... This is another attempt at poetry. 

This time dealing with something that's been a part of me my entire life: travel. 

I've been travelling since I wasnt even able to walk, and my folks always liked travelling by train, even back then. 

And since coming to college, there's been... A collection of moments that you don't really notice till you're awake at 3 in the morning and everything and everyone around you is asleep. 

Which is what was happening on a recent trip back home for a long weekend, where I took this picture from inside my closed off lower side berth. :)

Enjoy. :)

And as always, I'm open to criticism. 

A world apart, this world outside,

That shimmers past in the darkest light

Moving too quickly for eyes to focus,

Of life and lives living like us

From inside this train, we rock along,

To the lull of the tracks, like a song,

Seeing lights burst softly, then vanish,

Falling asleep, to dreams most lavish

Compartments and carriages, now softly asleep,

Breaking silence with snores from dreams so deep.

Lights peering in, standing still, 

While we move along, through valley and hill.

The world shaking beneath and all around,

As metal groans, and chest does pound,

We drift slowly to the rhythm of the track,

Through darkness and silence, and dreams to ransack.

"I've got all this ringing in my ears and none on my fingers."

"I've got all this ringing in my ears, and none on my fingers."

Yes, the title is the same as a song by Fall Out Boy. What can I say?
I'm a fan.


So, this is my first COMPLETED poem I've written (meaning, its not my first attempt at poetry, just that this one is the first completed one. The other thing, is huge, massive and all things that trigger a "thats what she said" joke.)

A little backstory: Its about someone who desperately wants to play the music in his mind, but unfortunately he doesnt have the talent he needs to make it happen. Then he does. :P
Then he plays. :)

Enjoy :)


Trading my mind for a rhythm in my fingers,
to play the songs that haunt me so.
Trembling hands running with the music that lingers, 
that echo, set your pulse racing and your eyes aglow.
Turning my dreams into the notes on the pages,
into words and lyrics for the voices to live,
that dance in the wind, painting like brushes, 
The music of my thoughts and the melodies I give, 
to call the listeners of this world, the dreamers,
the weary travellers and the world weary thinkers,
alike, to the edge where I play my symphony, 
where the sky thrums with notes, dancing in harmony.

Its short, its simple.

So, let me know what you all think. :)