#marvel

Endgame Review

Lee Hall 3 Comments

Last night I had the pleasure of spending an evening in the company of what is probably one of the most stacked casts in cinema, of course I am referring to Avengers: Endgame.

Of course I enjoy a good comic book caper but I consider myself a casual Marvel fan but I will also admit like Iron Man I show up for the big ones.

This won’t be a concise review but more of a love letter of sorts to the culmination of 10 years work for what has turned out to be an incredible universe and this film is part 2 of a great capping of said world.

The story opens as the last Avengers closed, we finally see absentee Hawkeye who is drawn into the wrath of purple Homer… I mean Thanos. Those who didnt turn to dust must work together and convince Tony Stark to come back yet again and fight.

What ensues is a different sort of film. More of a journey into other genres as opposed to aliens taking over a city and battling for the free world. This film takes a new route and refreshingly does not feel like an Avengers film and although long it wont feel that way.

The mainstays of this assembly of heroes take centre stage such as Thor, Hulk, Captain America and Iron Man. This is their journey and they carry it with such finesse but because this is such a wide universe compliments go to Ant Man, Racoon, Captain Marvel et all. Their objective turns into delving back in time to get the infinity stones and changing the course of time.

As I said this isnt just a hero film but a time travel caper that maybe the crowning piece to an incredible series. The best Marvel movie? A resounding yes! Its emotional in many places, many of the RIGHT places and takes the audience on one hell of a ride and culmination.

Full salute to the Avengers!

5 Stars

Introducing my next book; The Teleporter

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Just when you thought there were enough super hero stories in this world, we made another one…

My next book’ The Teleporter is officially out now in both paperback and e-book formats. 

dfw-lh-tt-cover-ebook

What’s it about?

Some of you will have seen the official announcement via my FB page and you can see a snippet of it below.

This book is predominately a comedy with fourth wall breaking elements and a genre aware story telling style very much seen in Open Evening. But is also a departure from horror and moves my work into a more lighthearted area of reading. Having written comedy only once before for a live action play I am already having a lot fun putting together the pieces that will make up a promising project.

Why ‘super heroes’ ? 

The main character of the Teleporter will tell you very early on that ‘super’ and ‘hero’ are both dirty words in his story and to me they are also. Even though they describe the genre to an extent this book wont be the standard guy trying to save the world. Cinema and television are inundated with comic book hero types and there seems to be no signs of that slowing down anytime soon. Both Marvel and DC are juggernauts in producing these stories which seemed to be unlimited, taking that into account and the success of more comedic swaying stories I have decided to make my own.

The Teleporter is a character I have explored before and it didn’t really get very far. After producing other books I have found some more material and background for this story of a guy who can teleport and that’s about all. Back when I devised this character I did it because there doesn’t seem to be someone who can just teleport, it is a pretty useless super power which will just add to the comedy.

The influences are many in the Teleporter; Deadpool and Hancock come to mind along with Kick Ass and even the Hangover. This is an internet age hero who finds himself no choice but to fight for what is right in a situation.  That is even if he has a slight drinking problem.

You can catch the Teleporter on Facebook and even like his page for support, so check it out.

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Logan Review

Lee Hall Leave a comment

I don’t think anybody knows where the actual timeline of events lies with the last few X men films but I can happily say that’s not relevant. As a matter of fact I myself have never seen a bad X men film and so I went into watching Logan with rather high hopes.

If you have read my reviews before I do my best not to include major spoilers so consider this a warning if you haven’t seen Logan.

logan.PNGThe year is 2029 and quickly we are introduced to an older beat up Logan. Hugh Jackman fits into an older wolverine well considering he is older now. Walking around with a limp you immediately believe Logan has seen better days. The mutants we all know too well with this universe are nearly all but gone. That is apart from the Professor himself (Patrick Stewart) who brings probably his greatest performance of Professor X I have seen.The wheel chair bound genius is reduced very much to his somewhat demented thoughts and is reliant on medication.

For the first time in these movies we see the pinnacle icon characters for who they really are, and without being poetic this film about mutants has never been so human. Wolverine is literally floating down at the bottom of the barrel and trying his best to keep Professor X above water. The likes of Storm, Rogue, Cyclops and the school for the gifted has long gone making the premise of Logan dark and even desolate in some places.

The story soon enough unfolds which is; survival of the mutants. The mostly mute and brilliantly cast Dafne Keen plays a young girl caught up in the full on extermination of her kind. It is up to Wolverine and Professor X albeit their conditions to bring her to safety. Action is woven in and out of the plot and feels relevant at all times even if this is an uber violent version of an X men film. We see the very graphic repercussions of what clawed hands actually do to a man in a somewhat Tarantino style. Paired with this is the swearing and a lot of if which is no complaint to me, it just adds to the humanistic realism.

The bad guys come in the form of Boyd Holbrook a bounty hunter type and later on the twisted doctor played by Richard E Grant who are equally great and convincing. They do their best to track down the final mutants some of which are very young kids all in hiding.

As much as we could predict from the trailer this film did feel like a final send off for an era of great films.Anything that did happen wasn’t predictable and even came out of the blue. I must give full credit to Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stuart who both in my opinion put in oscar worthy performances. Both of them were really emotionally attatched to their characters and you get a well invested performance across the board, even the minor characters felt like they were well thought of.

As much as its uncomfortable to see X men favorites in such a position it has given them a brand new angle and relevance. Emotion, brutal struggle and coming of age are the words I would use to define this film which was watchable all the way through.

Other news about books n stuff

Ok so I have been looking for more ways to get eyes upon Open Evening (my first book) and may have actually found a little inch of success and a few sales. Over the past few weeks I have been running a few giveaways.

  1. Amazon giveaway to people of the US – Over 500 people signed up and glanced upon Open Evening, that competition is now closed and books are on their way to the winners.
  2. Goodreads – Giveaway runs until the 21st of March 2017, currently 555 people requesting 1 of 3 signed copies. Link here 

Both giveaways have helped immensely in terms of follows, facebook likes, and tweet people following me. I have even sold some books over in the US. Thanks to all who have taken part, got themselves a copy and have joined me on this journey!