Into the Spider-Verse: in Pseudo 3-D

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is possibly the most comic-book-looking animated film I've ever seen. And it was able to pull together nearly all past versions of Spider-man into one movie.

Somehow, each Spider-man who has ever existed, or been dreamt up, exists in his or her own universe. (Sorry -- I just can't misuse the word "dimension" as most shows do. The proper word is "universe.") After Kingpin opens a portal to these other universes, they all clash together.

In one sense, this is yet another movie like TRON, where the overall idea is ludicrous, but when put together in an enjoyable way--a good plot, good humor, and good action--no one seems to notice the ludicrousness. You want to see how good writers can effectively fit in a looney-tunes talking spider pig? Then watch this film.

The animation is awesome. It seemed like it was constantly switching between different styles, and I couldn't find any patterns, but it all seemed to work. Sometimes the animation was an intentional low bit rate, helping to create a jerky comic-book action feel. Sometimes there was an out-of-focus double vision to emulate 3-D without the glasses -- sometimes with red-blue borders, and sometimes more like today's polarized 3-D look. (In fact, during the viewing, I thought the theater had accidentally shown us the 3-D version without the glasses. I only found out later through research that the pseudo 3-D effect was intentional, even in the 2-D version.)

Sometimes the animation looked like the old 4-color dot matrix comics. Other times it was a newer more modern type of animation with computer-aided 3-D shading and the like. And often we got to see word bubbles with some humorous variations.

Overall, it was fun for the whole family. I saw it in the theater, but it's out now on disc and streaming. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. I'll probably be watching it again sometime soon to catch what I missed the first time.

Shazam: A Marvel of a Movie

SHAZAM! helps to bring DC out of the dust in the movie sphere. Using a good balance of humor and action, this movie keeps attention from start to finish.

Billy Batson, foster teenager in search of a good home, is chosen to be the champion to help protect the world. All he has to do is say, "Shazam!" and he turns into an adult-sized superhero with several superpowers.

This movie brings back several memories from similar movies and TV shows in the past. Just like in The Greatest American Hero, Billy doesn't receive an instruction manual and needs to discovers the powers on his own. Of course he has a friend to help him along, and the results are hilarious.

Just like in Big, Billy must learn how to deal with an adult body while having only the experience of a child. As one might expect, Zachary Levi pulls this off remarkably well. Then again, he's always been great in acting as a child.

It appears that the writers give intentional nods to these works that came before it. And before anyone accuse the current writers of being unoriginal, just remember that SHAZAM (Captain Marvel) did it first in the comics in the 1940s, well before these other shows.

This movie, as well as providing tons of good laughs, also provides good action scenes. Dr. Sivana is a good evil villain. He obtains his powers through impure means and provides Shazam a formidable foe. A warning though: at least one scene is likely to scare younger children. Warner Brothers still allows its foes to go a little further than we've yet to see in the Marvel universe. I actually enjoy the darker feel in these movies.

When you go see this movie, be prepared to relax and enjoy the show. If you think too hard, it should be easy to find plot holes (such as: "Where are Superman and Batman, et al?"), but this movie is too much fun to care about those.

Random trivia: SHAZAM is a acronym of Solomon (wisdom), Hercules (strength), Atlas (stamina), Zeus (power), Achilles (courage), and Mercury (speed). Also, I doubt there has been any superhero character that has been sued more than SHAZAM (Captain Marvel). You should look it up and enjoy the whole story.

Take your family (teenage kids and older) to catch this in the theater. It's not an Adam Sandler movie as some previews would have you believe. Rather, just a good humorous action-filled fun movie.

First Contact: Rocking in Space

I'm not one to pick up a book featuring a rock star in space, but Kelly Brewer makes it work in First Contact. I was asked to provide this review, and occasionally I love to read works from new and uprising authors.

Earth has reached the edge of its solar system and is slowly branching out further, an effort known as the Deepening. While things are bad on Earth, Kyle Supplantis, lead singer of the Cosmic Mechanix, embarks on a rock-and-roll tour throughout the solar system in an attempt to bring hope to mankind and to inspire further exploration.

Along the way, nefarious parties try to sabotage and otherwise destroy the tour. Even those close to Kyle have hidden motives. And evidently unseen aliens are watching as well.

As one may expect from a rock-and-roll book, there is music, crazed fans, dangerous drugs that kill, band member issues, backstabbing, some strong language, and a little bit of sex. Though, Kyle is noble and pure, almost to a fault. He needs to be clean if he's going to try and save the world.

The writing style is new and interesting, incorporating what might be called Millennial speak. Several words contain periods or emoticons, like one might see in code or on the Internets. The people of the strange Coexist religion seem to have their own language heavy with the letter Z.

The concepts in the book are highly imaginative: robots that are half human / half machine, long distance jumps in space involving the switching of matter, built-in communication devices, new kinds of drugs, and so on.

Overall, the plot is satisfying, though it leaves much open to sequels. This book seems more about building the world and stage setting for these future books.

If you love rock-and-roll and you also love space operas, then give this book a try. It's good light entertainment.

Captain Marvel: Another Hero

Here we are ... the movie what proceeds Endgame. That means you have to watch it, right?

Then again, is an excuse needed? Captain Marvel is a fun ride all the way through. Again proof that Marvel still knows how to put together an enjoyable movie. This is yet another standalone origin story -- and get this -- possibly the best noninvasive incorporation of Avengers mythology out of all of the other post-Avengers (1) origin stories. (Maybe?)

Vers (as the future Captain Marvel is called in this movie) has joined her fellow Kree in their war against the Skrull. When things go wrong, she finds herself on the planet Earth. Cool for us! The Skrull, who are able to shape-shift and imitate anyone, start infiltrating and trying to stop her. Along the way, she joins forces with none other than younger 1995 versions of Nick Fury and Agent Coulson.

The action was fun. The music by Pinar Toprak was good and different. The plot was decent. The acting was believable. Special effects awesome -- especially in a theater, with an amazing young-ification of Nick Fury's face, though Agent Coulson's face had a little uncanny valley going on.

Some people have accused this movie of pushing a feminist agenda, but honestly, I must have missed it all. There were little "you go girl" moments here and there, such as one lady saying, "Who are you calling a little lady?" For a movie with a so-called agenda, it certainly had a lot of men helping her along the way!

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and I look forward to see how it all comes together in the upcoming Endgame. Take the family, and catch this before it leaves theaters.