I’m not even kidding; as good as last year’s Invasion crossover was cool, this year’s kicks off it’s two-night spectacular in style with Supergirl and Arrow, even if the casts are so meshed that you can’t even really tell which episode is which.

They don’t bury the lead either as we open on Earth-X itself, with crimson, lightning filled skies that bring to mind the Dark Multiverse worlds from the recent DC Comics event, Dark Nights: Metal. Black and crimson banners fill the skyline along with strange architecture and zeppelins. Oh yeah, we’re in Nazi Country.

A resistance warehouse is attacked and decimated by one lone archer, showing that Earth X’s Dark Arrow is not to be trifled with and he proves that by taking on that Earth’s James Olsen aka Guardian, in a way more beat-up patriotic version of his suit. He unfortunately dies but assures DA that there are more like him, nicely hinting at the upcoming animated Freedom Fighters: The Ray, which serves as a prequel to this crossover.

We catch-up with our main heroes as they’re all discussing the upcoming wedding, with nice location titles using the font of each respective series. It’s a neat little sequence, overall and serves as an introduction to the majority of the players for these first two parts.

During the build-up to the event, we get quite a lot of information dumped on us for those who may not watch every show and to show how all these disparate groups interact and it’s nice to see Barry catch up with Ollie and Kara again. They built up a real bond over the past couple of years and it’s paid off here as Ollie is best man and Kara does a beautiful rendition of Runnin’ Home To You, an original song from the musical team-up, Duet.

Kara’s adoptive sister, Alex, and Sara Lance hook-up the night before the wedding! Alex, rebounding from a recent break-up, and Sara, a notorious puss-hound, make for some nice, awkward comic relief but given how funny this collective cast is, there’s plenty to go around…

Like Mick! Dominic Purcell is frequently the funniest cast member on Legends of Tomorrow and is used to decent effect here, partnering up with Caitlin, most likely as a Snart surrogate. Get the whole fire and ice motif rocking again. They even have a go at Dark Arrow before being jobbed out (along with the rest of Team Arrow).

Back to the wedding where Nazis invade! It makes sense in hindsight since nearly every CW hero is gathered together but this gives the show the ample opportunity to have everyone show off what they do best and it gives one notable absence a real highlight…

While Kid Flash won’t be partaking in the event proper, Wally does get a really slick moment that made me smile and then made me sad because he’s amongst the three other black heroes that are sadly missing from this team-up.

OH! I should make mention of another odd attendant besides the assemblage of heroes and the Nazi gate-grashers. This odd little moment between Grant Gustin and a rather excitable Jessica Parker-Kennedy who is playing an unnamed character but my Spidey-Sense is tingling and I think she’s going to be important. There’s two theories I can offer but I’ll keep them under my hat for now.

Now, I guess I should talk about some of our villains and while Dark Arrow and Overgirl are just married versions of Ollie and Kara (gross, I know), they do make a menacing power couple and there’s a fair amount of affection between the two. The real odd-balls are Metallo, with some of the ropiest CGI this poor stretched production could muster and Eobard Thawne. Our Eobard Thawne. Wearing Wells’ face. I know they make mention of time shenanigans but this is ridiculous. I know they’re only doing the Wells-face again because they’re burning through their budget like no tomorrow and Tom Cavanaugh is up for literally anything but it’s still super weird.

Not as weird as Tommy Merlyn being Prometheus though! Holy shit! This was a swerve and a half and I applaud the writing team for bringing Colin Donnell back to Arrow after 5 seasons of his character being dead! Though I will admit that I didn’t recognise him immediately and only marked out when I heard his name.

I know there’s still a lot I haven’t covered and I’m already pushing 800 words but rest assured, I loved every second of the Supergirl and Arrow parts of this crossover and I can’t wait for tomorrow’s episodes when we’ll see Overgirl try to steal Kara’s heart and the rest of our heroes try to escape from Earth-X alive! Are you enjoying this year’s event so far? Let me know your favourite moment in the comments and I’ll catch you guys tomorrow for The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow!

It’s been almost three years since I reviewed a set from the first LEGO Guardians of The Galaxy theme and doesn’t time fly? As of writing, I have not seen Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2 and I don’t even know what the synopsis is so I’m going into the latest LEGO sub theme completely blind.

Why are the Ravagers attacking? No clue! But what I do know is that I’m digging the changes LEGO has implemented in this new sub theme and I’m going to flarkin’ review this set!

76079 Ravager Attack consists of two bags of assorted parts (around 197 pieces), an instruction booklet, sticker sheet and a comic that helps with the context of the set somewhat. Apparently Taserface (who knew that was his name?) usurps leadership of the Ravagers from Yondu and hunts the Guardians on behalf of the golden Ayesha. Neat!

As always, we’ll check out the minifigures first and we have Mantis, Taserface and Rocket Raccoon. The newest member of the Guardians, Mantis, doesn’t have any accessories but has a unique hairpiece featuring antennae and an alternate angry face. Speaking of faces, Taserface’s is one of the ugliest I’ve seen depicted on a LEGO noggin. He’s got a cool top knot-long beard combo and has a big brick-built stud shooter bazooka. This is my first time handling a Rocket minifig and while he’s pretty big for such a small character, his unique head/shoulders sculpt is impressive and he even has a tail waist piece. He comes with two assorted blasters.

The first bag and half of the second consists of Taserface’s M-ship, an odd name but maybe that’s just the class of ship that it and the Milano belong to. The first bag contains the top half of the ship, building most of it’s impressive wingspan which actually accounts for the majority of the ship.

It’s a deceptive little build, making the final product appear much bigger than it actually is, at least to my mind. It’s like a reverse TARDIS, way bigger on the outside compared to the underslung cockpit. I really dig this sly little ship and it’s simple yet robust build.

The latter half of the second bag builds up the tree and gatling stud blaster. It’s simple but flourishes this small piece of forest with a splinter of the Milano’s hull plating and the make-shift cannon built by Rocket and Mantis to give it some pop and make it part of the story.

The M-ship, gatling launcher and Taserface’s bazooka all fire their studs super-effectively, enough to  warrant the extra studs that came with the set.

The 76079 Ravager Attack set, for being the gateway GoTG set that retails for £19.99, offers a lot of play value, three unique minifigs and a very interesting build for it’s price point and I doubt any LEGO or Marvel Superheroes fan would be disappointed. You can find this set at most good retailers, instore and online and also on the LEGO shop.

To say I’m excited for the upcoming release of The LEGO Batman Movie would be a gross understatement. I adored the original The LEGO Movie and Will Arnett was definitely a stand out performance so to give that particular Batman his own movie and then populate it with every forgotten villain that only I would know? I feel like this movie is made for me!

So the lovely folks over at LEGO were kind enough to provide me with 70903 The Riddler’s Riddle Racer to play with and I’m positively giddy! This set retails for £29.99, features 254 pieces and contains two bags of assorted parts, a sticker sheet, one black plate and an instruction booklet.

As always, we dive into the minifigures first and for a £30 set, you get a lot of minifigures, most of which are favourites of mine. First up is the titular Riddler, looking both smarmy and indignant thanks to his swappable faces and the headpiece for his hat is at a lovely jaunty angle. Magpie wasn’t immediately familiar until I found out that this design is more based on her appearance in Beware The Batman and not the ludicrous 80’s design I knew her for.

In the realms of Rogues Galleries, you’re not going to get a more eclectic bunch than Batman’s baddies and we have two of the dumbest (and therefore two of my favourites) here with Calender Man and Kite Man. Much like most the villains in this movie, they appear in their super-dumb, yet super-endearing, original costumes and I love them because of it. Batman is much like the myriad of previous Batman minifig releases but, much like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 2, now comes with a shiny new utility belt! It’s a nice little piece that changes up the status quo for one of the most prolific minifigures around.

The first brick-built segment of the process is Kite Man’s flying apparatus and it’s a perfectly good little glider pack, not pushing the boat out but still neat.

The titular Riddle Racer takes up the majority of the build, the first bag building much of the body work…

While the second finishes it off and holds the engine/weapon gimmick.

The finished Riddle Racer is a sleek little number that sadly only seats The Riddler but makes up for that with it’s sleek curves and overall awesome aesthetic.

The missile-firing gimmick is particularly strong too, easily launching missiles at least 6ft across the room!

As a fan of LEGO, I liked this set for having a cool looking vehicle but as a massive Batman villain mark, I adore the cadre of baddies you get in this set and, for me at least, that elevates this set to a must-buy! The LEGO Batman Movie range of LEGO sets are available from most major retailers now and you can look forward to the theatrical release on 10th February 2017!

When the original trailer for Lionsgate’s Power Rangers debuted, I was all set to write up a TMB article for it but then it turned out to be nothing, really. Not spectacular but it had a bit of young adult adaptation about it (à la Hunger Games, Divergent, Chronicle, etc) and the following slew of toy reveals were not helping the image of the movie at all but as the release date creeped closer and no new trailer, expectant fans were growing even more concerned about the movie. Now, with just 9 weeks until theatrical release, a second trailer finally emerges so let’s see what we can expect…

Wow. Okay, that wasn’t terrible! I think everyone assumed that this was going to be a shit-show but that trailer was pretty cool! I don’t even mind the use of Kanye West’s Power, even if Saints Row did it first and better.

Five Teenagers With Attitude

The first trailer showed a lot more of the cast doing their thing in a desaturated Breakfast Club kind-of way but we got some revealing snippets of dialogue that give some insight to the personalities and I’m on board with a bunch of snarky gits taking the piss out of each other during training sessions.

Front and (Command) Center

Bryan Cranston was announced early doors as the Rangers’ blue-domed mentor and this is his first appearance. I like it! It’s different but it looks damn cool and Cranston (who is no stranger to the Power Rangers franchise) gives a powerful delivery to the lines we hear. Assisting Zordon, we have Bill Hader (of Saturday Night Live fame) as Alpha 5 and much like everything else in the trailer, looks better in motion than in concept art or toy form.

Back to Action!

The teaser trailer was light on suit action but we get plenty in this one as we see Jason assisting a helpless civilian from some rubble and Billy delivering some devastating kicks to a Putty monster. The suits look sooooo much better in motion than I’d expected.

Green with Evil

From her initial reveal to now, I’ve been in love with Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa. She exudes an aura of wickedness and power and we get to see plenty of that with this trailer. Speculation at this moment points toward her being the Green Ranger at some point and I would be totally down for that but given her more hands-on approach to world conquering and her line from the teaser “I’ve killed Rangers before“, she may not need the power boost.

We need Megazord power!

Oh boy, the Bandai toys did not do these mechs justice. They look great in motion for what is sure to be the climax of the film. Hell, even Goldar looks good in spite of his terrible toy design. We can only hope the filmmakers took a few cues from Pacific Rim when it came to the final kaiju fight.

My final thoughts on this trailer are really positive! I was going to give the movie the benefit of the doubt despite all of the associated media giving me cause for concern but I think, come March 24th, we’re going to see a truly morphenomenal movie!

It seems to be Doctor Strange week here on DOOM between the movie releasing and Mars Needs doing a commentary for the 70’s TV movie so I’m getting in on the action with LEGO Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum!

This set retails for around £29.99 and features 358 pieces for a 7-14 age range. You can find it at most good retailers and on the LEGO shop website!

Opening up the box, we’re treated to three bags of assorted parts, two instruction booklets, one sticker sheet and one base plate.

As per, we’ll be taking a look at the minifigures first and look at this trip of stern-faced folk. You’re using magic, people, crack a smile at least. Look at Ancient One – she gets it!

Doctor Stephen Strange looks pretty faithful to the movie design and includes some pretty nifty magic sigil discs. This is the first time I’ve dealt with this kind of cape too and after some initial fiddliness, I’m pretty impressed with it.

The Ancient One, similarly, looks spot on with Tilda Swinton’s bizarrely flat face but jokes aside, she’s got some weird lines all over her bonce that confuse me. Is it hair, is it wrinkled flesh? I’m sure it makes more sense in the movie but here it looks odd. She also wields some eldritch-emblazoned fans as weapons so that’s cool.

Karl Mordo is dreadfully boring, design-wise. So much so that he doesn’t get magic, he gets a quarter staff. From the trailers, Chiwetel Ejiofor has a wry humour about him and I wish that was conveyed on the minifigure’s face.

Fitting with the Sanctum Sanctorum, the base plate layout is all odd angles and bizarre brick placement that doesn’t seem cohesive until you step back and see the finished result.

The actual building process is deceptively simple. The finished set looks more complex thanks to the large portal beast and a nicely cluttered living space, giving it a nice dense feeling.

Amongst the good Doctor’s various possessions includes a chest full of jewels and keys, bookcases filled with arcane tombs, assorted magical tchotchkes and various grimoires and letters; one from Stark Industries, interestingly.

The portal beast is my favourite part of the set because of it’s simplistic but highly effective gear system that makes for a truly menacing mollusc.

There’s also a couple levitation gimmicks sprinkled in, one for the Doctor’s cape and for the minifigures themselves which is pretty fun.

Between a smooth build and fun gimmicks, I had an absolute blast with this set and with the movie coming out, I highly recommend this is as the perfect Christmas gift for any budding Sorcerer Supreme!

Okay, DC… You got me. After the debacle that was Man of Steel and the awfulness that was Batman v Superman; I was ready to write DC off all together but as this year’s San Diego Comic Con has shown… Maybe there’s still some hope for the world’s most iconic heroes and who better to bring that hope than Wonder Woman?

She’s Beauty, She’s Grace…

Holy cow, Gal Gadot is gorgeous! Maybe I didn’t see it in BvS because the movie was bad and the promo shots of her weren’t fantastic but seeing this lady in motion sends my heart aflutter. Whether in her finest gown (with matching sword) or on the battlefield, Gal exudes femininity like a physical aura of awesome.

… She’ll kick you in the face.

And lady knows how to beat an ass or two, that’s for damn sure! While traditionally a peaceful emissary for the Amazons, Diana is no stranger to combat and she certainly gets to show that with multiple shots of swordplay, close combat, lasso tricks and taking heavy machine gun fire like a champ!

Secret Origins

This line is pretty indicative of the way they could be going with Diana’s origin and that’s great. Because she’s had, like, six in her 75 years of publication and having one of the more mythical ones is a good step. Unless that’s just the story Hippolyta (Diana’s mother) told her… Which would also be interesting!

Take me down to the Paradise City…

Diana’s people, the Amazons, inhabit the hidden island of Themyscira (aka Paradise Island) and we get a nice few shots of the island, it’s people and their culture and I’m getting a very Thor-ish vibe from it.

Pine-ing for Fjords

Chris Pine is Steve Trevor; first man to set foot on Themyscira/Paradise Island and designated damsel for the movie. Pine’s a good choice because while he is charming, he can also play clueless and inept for laughs equally well. Which is another thing…

Candy is Dandy

There’s HUMOUR! Oh glorious gods of Olympus; there are jokes in a DC movie! Etta Candy (Lucy Davis) is Steve’s secretary and one of Diana’s closest human friends. Great to see a long neglected character get some real screen time.

To say I’m excited would be an understatement. Sure, Wonder Woman appears to be aping Marvel’s earlier outings with Thor and Captain America but is that a really bad thing? Given how dire MoS and BvS were; DC are clearly going for a more Marvelous approach and just look at the response on social media – people are responding positively to it! People are hyped for Wonder Woman and I’ll gladly count myself among that crowd!

Wonder Woman will be spinning into theatres June 2nd 2017! Be sure to keep your eyes glued to Doom though because Aaron will be looking at something in a whole different League!

JJ and his amazing friend Jason did not feel like they had an exciting week. It started when JJ finally saw Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Super Duper Extended Version That You Never Saw In Theaters And We Really Mean It When We Say If This Was The Version You Saw The First Time You Would Have Loved It, Fanboy Scum or BVSDOJSDEVTYNSITAWRMIWWSITWTVYSTFTYWHLIFS for short. Then the pair share stories about how work has been less than exciting lately. At least Jason saw a cool concert and got to meet a legendary wrestler!

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When I was growing up, and even to this day, Ghostbusters is one of my all-time favourite movies. It’s science fiction, it’s comedy and, most of all, it’s a stunningly timeless piece of media so when the idea was being knocked about that it would be rebooted; suffice to say there were nay-sayers. When it was revealed it’d be an all-female cast, even more-so. But this could be star just about anyone and I’d still be excited. Why?

Cos it’s fucking GHOSTBUSTERS. So now we’ve got first footage of the Paul Feig produced requel (reboot/sequel, eh?) starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth — what’s the verdict?

History doesn’t repeat; it rhymes

My biggest fear was that the cast would be carbon copies of their predecessors and while the archetypes are there, each lady appears to be an amalgamation of different characters. McCarthy is the Ray analog but she’s also the Venkman, spurring the team to assemble. Wiig is a mix of Egon and Ray in her curiosity and scientific background. McKinnon is Egon with Venkman’s playfulness and Jones has Winston’s everyman status but with Ray’s excitable nature.

Yes, there are similarities present but once the film rolls around, I’m sure each character will have more depth to them.

The Big Twinkie
Speaking of character fusions, Chris Hemsworth appears to be pulling double duty as both the Ghostbusters’ receptionist and as the designated possessed person, so a mix of Janine and Luis. Here’s hoping he’s going full Annie Potts and will just be a hot glasses-wearing snark machine for the movie.

We got the tools; we got the talent

One thing I’ve always loved about Ghostbusters was the tech and I’ve always said that as long as the science is cool in this movie then I’ll be happy and from what I’ve seen, I’m real happy. Yes, the packs are different but all the variations on display here have appeared in other Ghostbusters media in one form or another. The current packs and trap look similar to those used in Extreme Ghostbusters (sans the terrible beam effects) and the proton pistols, shotgun and gauntlet have made appearances in the 2009 video game (which I highly recommend) and the IDW comic book series, which is super fun if you don’t mind the art style.

Spook Central

The driving plot point is that someone or something is riling up the ghost population and it’s enough to warrant a new team to answer the call. It’s got shades of Ghostbusters II and Extreme Ghostbusters and I’m interested to see where it goes. While the spooks aren’t all practical or stop-motion, they are visually striking, which is great. Plus we do get a quick peek at one of the many returning cast members in the form of the green spud, Slimer.

So what’s the verdict? I’m optimistic! Sure there’s some hints at the kind of humour modern audiences eat up and I hate but hopefully that’s just trailer-bait and the movie itself will have more of a sardonic, gallows sense of humour like the original. Apart from that; I’m loving what I’m seeing — and hearing with the tinkling piano and funky remix of the Who You Gonna Call? Theme song. Seriously, it gave me goosebumps!

You can make the call for yourself when Ghostbusters appears in theaters this summer!

I mean, just look at him.

*takes a deep breath* mmmmmmm, acting.

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JJ and his amazing friend Jason talk about off color topics. All the time, actually. However, today it is a long podcast, just so they can discuss all the rude stuff! Find out why JJ is a terrible boyfriend! Find out who saw a rumored steaming pile in the theater! And why that steaming pile reminds the guys of BLUEGRASS!

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