Comic Book Mini Figures - Oh the fun :)

So my darling husband bought me one more Christmas pressie that only arrived today - 32 mini comic book figures :) He knows me so well!

The were late because they came from China... which should give you a hint that they are Chinese knock offs rather than official Lego figures or similar :).

You can also tell this because if they thought the character didn't look dangerous enough, i.e. they had no obvious weapons, they gave them some. I think Hulk and Superman probably didn't need the guns they were given ;).

I honestly have no idea who some of the figures actually are (I only know the really famous characters) and, as I am sure we can all tell, there is a mixture of Marvel and DC :).

My fingers are now very sore because they all came in little bits and Rob and I assembled them. The hands were really tough to get on the arms! Fun though :D.

Somewhat disappointed that out of 32 figures only 3 are female, but at least some of them are I suppose. Of course it says everything that there are 2 Wolverines and 2 Hawkeyes, but no Black Widow at all!

All of them are now taking up shelf space in the library guarding books :)

Who can name all 32 figures in the piccie? :)

Monster Mondays #1 - Wilson Fisk

Today I have decided to start a new tradition on my blog: Monster Mondays. Who doesn't love a good monster?

Monster Mondays posts may be fiction, film reviews, book reviews or me waxing lyrical about a particular monster. Monsters can be paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy or even simply human. So basically, anything monster goes. I also invite anyone who would like to, to join in with their own post. (See end for details).

Wilson Fisk

So today I have chosen a human monster as my subject of choice. Over the last week my husband and I have been ravenously devouring Marvel's new Daredevil series and it is utterly brilliant. I may have to rave about the whole thing in a separate post later on. Be warned, if you watch it, it is basically a 13hr movie split into parts - you will not want to stop.

One of the things that makes it so brilliant is the villain, Mr Wilson Fisk.

Wilson Fisk as portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio

I only ever really remember Vincent D'Onofrio in Law and Order Criminal Intent even though he is a prolific and talented actor. So the two characters I associate him with now are on opposite sides of the law: Wilson Fisk, the villain, and Goren, police detective extraordinaire. What both characters have in common, however, is that D'Onofrio plays both as something a little left of normal. When he is on screen it is impossible to predict what these characters will do next. The look in their eyes says they see the world in a different way than you do.

Fisk is the bad guy who sees himself as the saviour. He loves New York city and, in his eyes, he's just trying to make it a place everyone can love and be safe when a masked nut in black shows up to put a spanner in the works. He orders death like it is nothing and claims it is a necessary evil he does not enjoy. He manipulates and plays with lives like he owns them. He knows he is not good, but he thinks what he is doing is right.

He is scarily calm and focused, on the face of it, unflappable, until that moment when he flips. Then he is violence personified, ready to kill with his own hands in the most brutal and horrific ways.

Fisk is a monster of contrasts and if you get in his way he will cut your down.

Yet, he is also a man of deep feeling. He has one friend, James Wesley, his right hand man and they have a deep connection. He loves completely; there is nothing he would not do for his mother or the woman he falls in love with. He also shows deference to those he respects, believing they deserve honour.

What I love about Marvel is so many of their villains have depth and Fisk has it in spades. At points during the series I hated him, at others I actually felt sorry for him. He is written well and Vincent D'Onofrio plays him with a skill rarely seen in TV villains. He is, undoubtedly a monster, but one with so many layers.

Have you seen Daredevil? Did you like it and Fisk? Who is your favourite villain with depths?

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Monster Mondays #1 Links 

If you would like to join in, please feel free to make your Monster Monday post and add it to the list.

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Review: Avengers - Age of Ultron (spoiler free)

Title: Avengers - Age of Ultron
Rating: 12A
Cast:
Robert Downey Jr. ... Tony Stark / Iron Man
Chris Hemsworth ... Thor
Mark Ruffalo ... Bruce Banner / Hulk
Chris Evans ... Steve Rogers / Captain America
Scarlett Johansson ... Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Jeremy Renner ... Clint Barton / Hawkeye
James Spader ... Ultron (voice)
Samuel L. Jackson ... Nick Fury
Don Cheadle ... James Rhodes / War Machine
Aaron Taylor-Johnson ... Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver
Elizabeth Olsen ... Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch
Paul Bettany ... Jarvis / Vision
Cobie Smulders ... Maria Hill

Summary (IMDB): When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and it is up to the Avengers to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.

First off let me say I really enjoyed the movie. I was entertained the whole way through and it didn't screw up as far as my head canons go, which is always nice :). However, I wasn't blown away. With every MCU movie including and since Avengers, I have walked out of the cinema wanting to walk right back in and watch it again - not so with Age of Ultron. Oh, I have it on pre-order, but I was not overtaken with the desire to see it again immediately.

The dialogue is brilliant, the characters are superb, the action is well done, the special effects are awesome, however, for me, the plot falls down.

First of all the good stuff. The dialogue in this film is magnificent. It is, in places, hilarious. The timing is perfect and the one liners are brilliant. You can tell this cast know each other well and get on like a house on fire, even when they are in conflict. The script, when it comes to interactions between the characters, is flawless.

I love the characters and where they have been taken. They are all a little bit broken, and that is very important and yet they are strong. The interpersonal relationships really come through and where they took some of the characters was awesome. I really liked all the directions Joss took it in. They were unexpected and, for me, perfectly done, but I suspect some people are grinding their teeth :). The reveals that happen were great and the reactions of the other characters to certain reveals was really nicely done. I also loved the new characters.

The action sequences are exciting and engaging. I've seen some films recently (Jupiter Ascending for example) where I thought some of the chase scenes etc were too long, not in Ultron. I thought everything was put together very well. The film starts with a bang and keeps going.

The special effects are wonderful, as we have come to expect. They defy reality and make you believe what is going on.

The cast is marvellous. I love, love, love seeing Paul Bettany rather than just hearing him. James Spader had the sexiest voice ever, even when he is being a psychotic machine. Everyone else is brilliant. They all pulled off what they were asked to and I love them all.

BUT ...

The plot was messy, bits just didn't make sense and it felt to me as if the film should have been another hour longer to make sense of everything. Thor has his own little part, that just felt silly, Yes, thank you for the gratuitous shirtless scene, but that whole sub-plot needs at least another half hour to make sense. I suspect if you are familiar with the comics it's fine, not so for me. There are also things that happens to several characters where it felt very meh.

Unfortunately, to me, this felt like a fill in film, one that is a bridge rather than being utterly wonderful in it's own right. I never had that sense with the Avengers - yes it was all about bringing the team together, but it was still an awesome story all of it's own. This had Ultron, but it still felt like a stepping stone to The Infinity War arc, not it's own entity. I think that's because it tried to cram in too much.

Don't get me wrong, I honestly, really, really enjoyed it and I recommend it to all fans of the MCU, but I don't think it's as good as those that have gone before.

My Husband is Awesome - he feeds my Loki addiction :)

I have the best husband in the world. Not only is he generally awesome, but he feeds my Loki addiction with things from eBay.

This is nano-Lego (only he's from China so it isn't really Lego) Loki. He has 180 pieces and the kitkat is in there to show scale :). He arrived this morning through the post and Rob and I put him together over lunch. It was a bit tricky, let me tell you ;).

He has now taken up residence on my desk under my monitor with the three other Loki figures there and I'm pretty sure Heimdal is about to have a nervous breakdown, because he's the only other figure to share the spot!

M is for Marvel - Blogging from A to Z April Challenge

I almost did A is for Avengers, but then I realised if I did M is for Marvel I could get them all in anyway and I could mention others too :).

I would call myself a Marvel fan, but I am not old school and I don't read the comics. I'm one of those annoying new Marvel fans who's gateway to the universes is the movies. Not that I don't respect the comic fans, I have several friends who are deeply into the comics and their knowledge is incredible, but I'm about to witter on about movies and TV shows, not comics :).

I discovered Marvel via cartoons. I remember many happy hours watching Spider-man and his Amazing Friends as a child. It's corny and bad, but I loved it when I was younger.

Then there was Spiderwoman and of course the original X-men cartoon. I was a big fan of Gambit and he was my favourite character, which made me very disappointed when he wasn't in the first three X-men movies.

It's probably why my favourite is the one every body pans: Wolverine Origins, because it has Gambit in it. Of course they did it all wrong because my favourite thing about Gambit in the cartoon was always his eyes. I have a thing about eyes :).

While the X-men movies were good (except X3) I was a fan of Toby Maguire as Spider-man. The first two movies were superb and the second one pushed all my reveal buttons. I love it when superheroes are unmasked and the whole scene on the train it my favouritest ;). (Yes, I know that's not a word).

I didn't see The Amazing Spider-man for quite some time and eventually watched it on Blu-ray because I was not sure they could make me love Spidey as much as I had before. I was wrong, the film is an awesome reboot of the franchise.

However, I'm getting ahead of myself.

What really dragged me into the movie love of Marvel properly, however (which I define as wanting to write fanfic and collecting memorabilia), was X-men First Class. The chemistry between Charles and Eric had me riveted through the whole film. It's played almost like a romance, which makes the ending all the more dramatic and heart wrenching. The rest of the characters are also brilliant.

The young Charles Xavier quickly became my new favourite X-man.

I know it was a different studio to the movies in the Avengers franchise, but this was the movie that rekindled my love and made me want to see lots more comic book movies.

There have been many, many bad comic book movies, but we live in an era where the special effects are brilliant and the fanboys/girls are directing and there are now some great movies out there.

Let's talk about Iron Man. Now I saw the cartoon when I was younger and I have to say, I never liked Iron Man. Then, along comes Robert Downey Jr and suddenly I'm an Iron Man fan. The first film is incredible, the second is awesome as well and I hope the third builds on what is a fantastic franchise. RDJ is Tony Stark, it's that simple :).

The films are visually stunning and the plots have actually been thought about. Add that to the fact that they have a brilliant cast and there is nothing left to ask for. I have to admit I did not see 1 or 2 in the cinema, but on blu-ray.

In fact the only one of the marvel movies I have seen in the cinema was The Avengers. However, I'm getting ahead again.

After seeing Iron Man I saw Thor, and was initially unimpressed. However, I saw it on a small screen and was half asleep. I know this because having rewatched it more than once, it is my favourite of the Avengers prequels. Not gonna lie, sorry Thor, it's not because of you, it's because of Loki. Tom Hiddleston plays the part of what is effectively the villain, in such a way that I wanted him to win, kinda.

It a very Shakespearian tale, which isn't overly surprising given that it's directed by Kenneth Branagh. It big, it's epic and it's just how we needed to be introduced to Thor.

Next I saw Captain America, which is my second favourite Avengers prequel. I love the humour, the characters, the plot and, well everything. The Steve/Bucky friendship is brilliant and the way Peggy has Steve blushing and totally confused is superb.

I own on DVD the 80's version of Captain America, which is so terrible it's almost good. This version is much better :).

This was the point where I gave up and just ordered all the blu-rays.

The less said about Ang Lee's Hulk the better IMHO, but if you like it, go you :).

I love The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton. It's action packed and a great romp even if you can tell what mood Banner is supposed to be in by whether it's raining or not.

Then, however, we come to The Avengers. I may possibly have gone a little gaga over this movie.

I love Loki, not going to attempt to hide that. He made the film for me as Tom gave another stellar performance. I cannot wait to see him in Thor 2.

However, it wasn't just Tom. Joss Whedon did an incredible job on this film. He brought together four sets of characters from highly successful movies and merged them into one like no one else could have done.

It isn't just a superhero movie where everyone comes together, defeats the bad guy and all is sweetness and light. There is conflict, there is anger, there is plot and there is humour.

The cast could have not gelled, but they did. Mark Ruffalo taking the role of Banner and Hulk is simply brilliant, RDJ is as superb and on form as ever, both Chrises give great performances, Renner as Hawkeye is superb and Scarlett was knock out as Black Widow.

This film was a hell of a risk, if it had been bad it could have sunk the franchise, but it was gold and I am so looking forward to the rest.

And just to add, well done to The Avengers and Tom Hiddleston for their wins at the MTV Awards last night.

This year we get Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, next year we're supposed to be getting X-men First Class 2 and Captain America 2. Things are looking up.

Are you a Marvel fan? What was your gateway and who is your favourite Marvel character? Please stay and chat, I'd love to hear from you.

If you would like to see what all of my posts will be about in advance, click here to see my theme post.
My twin and I are also doing the A to Z Challenge over at our fantasy erotica blog: http://fantasyboysxxx.blogspot.co.uk/