Tag: Lockjaw

  • An Honest Review of Marvel’s Inhumans

    So I leave town for a few days and I come back to see the web flooded with nothing but negativity for the Inhumans. Well, I happened to see it night one, and I, as a matter of fact, loved it! It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely better than some of the really negative reviews out there would have you believe. So, here’s my honest to goodness review of Marvel’s Inhumans, as a true, through and through Marvel fan.

    First off, I want to address the problem most people are having with the show being, well, a show instead of a movie. Get over it. Number one, making it a show gives us more time to focus on all of the characters, and there are 8 of them (yes, including Lockjaw). You can’t give 8 characters meaningful arcs in a 2 hour movie. Iron Man is about Iron Man, one character, easy. Inhumans is about a family. That’s a bit more complex. And secondly, they put the first two episodes out in theaters, so you still get your movie! So what are you complaining about???

    So now let’s get into the actual show. The plot is exactly what we’d expect from an Inhumans story: Maximus initiates a coup to take over the throne of Attilan. It appears as if he’d been planning this for a while, considering his goons were already referring to him as king and Auron was on board. The spark to start the fire, it seems, came from the boy, Bronaja, who got Ulysses-like powers to see visions of the future. I’m surprised they didn’t just make him Ulysses, actually, that would have been cool. After telling Maximus he’d be attacked by snakes, and it actually coming to pass in the form of Medusa, he’s kind of pushed over the edge.

    With Triton supposedly dead, Gorgon going to look for him, and Black Bolt locked away thinking, Maximus seized the opportunity to take over Attilan. Crystal’s first instinct upon hearing the news was to protect her family, having Lockjaw take them all far away from the danger, to Earth. Thus began the Inhumans’ fight to survive in a world that’s foreign to them.

    So let me list everything they did right, since no reviewer out there seems to want to do that. First off, they nailed the Inhumans character wise. Watching this show felt like reading an Inhumans comic. Maximus’s jealousy of his brother, resentment for being human, and desire for the throne; Gorgon being the strong dumb guy, and Karnak the tactical pessimist, all on point. Medusa translating for Black Bolt was the best, by establishing that she’s the only one who knows what he’s trying to say, they really solidify the relationship between the two. I nearly shed a tear at that heartwarming moment on Earth, when Medusa asked Black Bolt to let her know he’s alive and he placed the communicator to his heart. Some people questioned why these communicators would be vocal since Black Bolt can’t speak, which I admit is a pretty noticeable oversight. Maybe they were designed before he was king? And he always has Medusa by his side, so that probably was just never a bridge they had to cross.

    Next is the display of powers. I don’t know why people were whining about the CG on Medusa’s hair, it looked fine, and it looked even better in action. It was made more than evident that Medusa’s strength and confidence is derived from the power her hair gives her. Which explains why she was so shattered when Maximus cut it. This makes her fight with Auron such a strong character moment. Her line “I am the Queen of Attilan. No one tells me what to do.” shows us that Medusa has come to terms with her new haircut, and is ready to fight back, with or without the hair. I will admit, being that Medusa is my favorite Inhuman, it was sad to see the hair go so soon. But I like Medusa because she’s ruthless, and just as strong a leader as, if not more so than Black Bolt.

    Back to the topic of powers, Gorgon was shown to be the powerhouse, and undoubtedly so. One stomp caused some pretty massive damage, and he’s clearly no stranger to combat, considering he called Maximus out. I will say I’m not too optimistic about a bunch of Hawaiian surfer bros taking on an Inhuman army to defend their beach. You know, because the Inhumans have powers, and they have surfboards, but hey, that’s their decision. Karnak’s powers were probably the best part of the show. The way he literally mapped out a scenario in his head that ended with his death, then went back and redid it, emerging victorious that time was pretty cool. It’s a shame he hit his head and now his powers are on the fritz, but let’s hope he can fix that in time to kick more butt. I will say this though: Guy whose power is finding the weak point in everything grabs onto the weakest point of a mountain he’s descending… Yeah, didn’t plot out that scenario, did ya buddy?

    Crystal didn’t have a lot to do, but the way she exploded Auron’s food tray demonstrated just a taste of her power. Crystal is probably the most powerful of all the Inhumans, barring Black Bolt, since she can control the elements. But her youth and naivety will probably prevent her from reaching maximum power until a moment of extreme pressure. I like that Crystal is so sweet and innocent, she’s not a warrior, and she just wants to keep her family safe. But all of her decisions result in not so optimal outcomes, because she’s childish, and doesn’t fully comprehend situations. All she wants to do is play with Lockjaw, and can we really fault her for that? Lockjaw, by the way, was great. Animation was on point and he was utilized just enough to be satisfying. I also think the teleporting effect is very cool, how he sort of disintegrates and reforms. Very cool indeed.

    Overall, story, characters, and powers, were all great. I have a few gripes, however, as I mentioned earlier, it’s not perfect, but what is? First off, I want to see more Triton! We didn’t even get to really see what he can do, and he got written off so quick. I want him back! Another thing is that they kind of skimped on the action. This is very much a character story, and I do appreciate that, but I do feel the IMAX event should have had a bit more hands being thrown. Black Bolt got a good fight scene, until he was introduced to a taser, and I did like the fight with Medusa and Auron. Other than that, the only problem I have is that I want more! The Inhumans were left broken, vulnerable, in a world they don’t know, and Maximus has taken over the throne, holding Crystal and Lockjaw hostage. This seems like it’s going to be a really fun story, and I for one can’t wait to see the rest.

    So that’s an honest review, from a fan of these characters, and not some random know-nothing reviewer that’s probably never picked up a comic a day in his life, or someone that’s salty because Inhumans are ‘replacing’ X-Men or whatever. So what did you guys think about Inhumans? Comment down below, and stick to Face Front for all your Marvel news!

  • New Inhumans Trailers #SDCC

    Comic Con hit us yesterday with a brand new trailer for Inhumans! This time we get to finally see Medusa’s hair! And today we learned from Marvel Live that Auran is in the show (And apparently a danger to bus drivers everywhere!) I was wondering also why Triton was on Earth, but it looks like he’s been deployed to find all the new Inhumans (or Nuhumans as it were) that sprung up as a result of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the fish oil incident. And speaking of S.H.I.E.L.D., we got a glimpse in the first trailer, but now we clearly see the alien writing that led the team to Afterlife! Maybe these are coordinates to Attilan. Either way, it’s good to see that kind of consistency with these shows. One thing I’m embarrassed to admit, however, is that I didn’t know Maximus was a human! I always thought his Inhuman  power was that he was really smart since he’s always inventing things, but this really explains his issues. And boy does this guy have issues! Another cool thing is seeing how Karnak’s power works, that blue flash when hits the weak points is a stroke of genius! Oh, and let’s not forget Lockjaw! This show looks great, and the first two episodes release in IMAX September 1.

  • Marvel Powers United VR #D23

    Well what a nice surprise! Bill Rosemann, the head of Marvel Games (aka a guy who has done more work in the past few months than in his entire career at Marvel) announced at D23 a new exclusive, Marvel Powers United VR! Markiplier was there and everything. This game is exclusive for the Oculus Rift+Touch (which means I should probably re-label my ‘PlayStation VR’ money jar) and, so far, features Captain Marvel (heart eyes emoji), Hulk, and Rocket Raccoon. Here’s a trailer:

    I could have sworn from the colors she was wearing that girl was going to transform into Black Widow. But that aside, this looks great! And I’m not just saying that. Every time I see VR it looks choppy and awkward, but I’ve come to accept that because I honestly didn’t think it could get any better. But this looks fluid, and responsive. When ‘ol Markiplier was playing it, it really seemed like he was Hulk smashing some Kree goons.

    The story apparently consists of Ronan the Accuser (hence the Kree) and the Masters of Evil (isn’t Falcon going to fight those guys in Episode 2 of Sam Says! Sorry, shameless plug, I regret nothing) getting their hands on the Tesseract and tearing apart time and space. Luckily Lockjaw is there to help them teleport around this mess!

    They promised more characters and multiplayer, which we actually saw in action, so I really am looking forward to this. I normally don’t look twice at VR projects (except that Spider-Man Homecoming one), but this has my undivided attention! What about you guys? Are you gonna buy a Oculus Rift for this? Lef me know down below!

  • First Inhumans Trailer!

    Watch the trailer below!

    Marvel has dropped the first trailer for Inhumans, and I’ve got to say, I am very pleased. This looks like an Inhuman comic coming to life. A Maximus coup, teleporting Lockjaw, and the costumes are so comic accurate and colorful! Oh, and Attilan is on the moon! And this is a TV show! Granted, the first two episodes are going to be in IMAX theaters, but that just makes me even more excited. What are you guys thinking? Comment below, let’s start a conversation.