I'm the writer, director and producer for UltraHeroix.com. We produce Super heroine themed videos that features action, peril and sexy campiness. This blog will not just cover news, updates and pictures regarding UltraHeroix.com but also other cool and interesting thoughts that I would like to share.
Wow! Simply wow! I saw the latest X-Men movie on memorial day and although I was eager to see it, I was still a little wary on what to expect due to the teasers and fanboy rants on other forums. But now I can honestly say that this concerns were not necessary. XDOFP is possibly the best X-Men movie yet and arguably the best comic movie of the year. Yep, even better than Captain America:Winter Soldier.
First off, I've read the original comic book story and it is a definite classic story that all comic fans should read. Although this movie is inspired by that storyline, there are notable differences that serves the movie tone better and I do like the unpredictability this causes. The main difference which isn't really a spoiler is that it's Wolverine that is sent back in time and not Kitty Pryde although she does play a big role in this movie.
So far, If you didn't hear it in the grapevine yet is that just about everyone who has seen this movie is raving about it. We have old characters working side by side with the new class characters along with brand new characters to the series. A lot of concerns going into this film is that this another Wolverine dominated story and to be honest, he does have a big role but he takes a back seat to Professor X, Magneto and even Mystique in this story. James McCavoy and Michael Fassbender literally becomes their characters and you feel their pain and frustration. Those two truly carry the movie but Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellan does their share of work and are fun to watch. It almost feels like they are passing the torch to their younger counter-parts. Jennifer Lawrence does a a fantastic job as Mystique to the point that you forget about the Rebecca Romain version. Peter Dinklage does a great job as Bolivar Trask, the creator of the Sentinels and reason the human race will become extinct. Although he is supposed to be a villain he doesn't come off as truly evil, which is a cool thing. Hugh Jackman is Wolverine, Nuff said!
Ok, I have to say more about his performance...Hugh Jackman does a phenomenal job as Wolverine and you can see why he is the backbone to the X-Men franchise. He knows when to carry a scene and when to back off and let others shine and the script lets him do this very well. Another notable mention is Quicksilver, played by Evan Peters. Before this movie came out there was a huge outrage over this character when we saw a picture of him and folks already had the opinion that this would hurt the movie and even I had doubts. But, I am happy to say we were all wrong cause this character was awesome! Quicksilver had possibly the most memorable scenes and the performance was fun and exciting. It's kind of ironic in the character most people despised is now the one you'll want to see more of.
In closing, the story itself is pretty simple to follow with some cool twists and the payoff at the end is very satisfying as you see some familiar faces making a return. I'm not going to give any spoilers but lets just say that things they we had a problem with in the series, kinda gets fixed. I would highly recommend seeing this movie and not just stop there but get the blue ray/dvd when it becomes available because you'll want to see it again multiple times!
I figured I'll start a new feature for this blog and do a character spotlight from time to time. It'll be a great way to give some background info on some characters and give light of what's coming up in future stories.
For this spotlight we'll showcase: Devla, The Vampire Sorceress
When I created Devla, I wanted a Villainess that was deadly but gorgeous. A villainess that could rival the power of my powerful heroines and not just in strength but in other areas that would be hard to defend against like magic. She would also be manipulative and use minions and other creatures to do her bidding. Finally, I liked the vampire aspect in that they are devilish but at the same time can also be sensual and seductive to their victims.
Here is her origin:
Devla began her life as a human/vampire hybrid. She had the powers of the vampire but could survive in the daylight like a human. Feared by humans and shunned by other vampires, she grew a hatred for all beings. She began her quest to gain power to rule the world of light and darkness. To do this, she would have to surpass the power of a vampire, so she studied the dark arts of magic and became an expert level of a witch.
As her power grew, she became a threat to the Royal Vampire families. Her body was slain but her her life essence was imprisoned for 200 years in a magical chest. The chest was eventually lost until it was found by an antique collector. It was stored in a basement and forgotten until a thief found it and unwittingly opened it and released Devla's spirit which took over the thief's body.
Since then Devla has been slowly accumulating power, moving from one host body to another and building a legion of dark minions in her quest for world domination.
Strengths: Super strength, durability, mind manipulation, energy draining, magic and other common vampire attributes. Can survive in daylight. Can control monsters and other super-natural creatures.
Weakness: Although sunlight can't kill her, it weakens her. Has to drain energy and or blood regularly from victims to maintain peak strength. Vulnerable to magic. Due to her deceitful nature, there is a lack of trust between her and allies, who may later turn against her.
I plan to bring back Devla in a big way, she will have a new host body and more resources than just magic that may put Lady Ultra on the ropes...permanently.
How good was this movie? Well, despite sitting in the perfect storm of obnoxious and annoying audience members it did not ruin the awesomeness of this movie for me. Before I get to the movie, I got to you about my experience sitting in the audience as one of the worst experiences I've ever went through with my wife. Behind us was an obnoxious 6 year old, who would not shut up. I don't know why her mother would even bring her to this but I did notice that this mom brought her 3 other kids too and she sat on the other side of the row with 3 kids separating her from the 6 year-old. I guess she didn't want her movie experience ruined by her own daughter. On the other side of the aisle was a dude, who was obviously on some form of drug either talking on his on the phone or talking at the movie. "Yo that's Godzilla!" he yells. No shit dumb ass, it's the name of the movie and you're surprised to see him?
Now here is the real kicker...On the other side of us was a younger couple where the girlfriend would not shut up. Seriously, why would you go to a movie and not even watch it to talk through out. Her own boyfriend/date was trying to watch the movie and she would just keep yapping. It got so bad that the couple in front of them asked her to keep quiet respectfully. Well, this chick took umbrage to this. She proclaims, that she has the right to talk and then even got louder. This is where even I and my wife (even her own date) had to step in and told her to keep quiet which I think caught her off guard. She got up and left "to get some air". Then I was literally in shock when she returned (this chick brought back reinforcements!) with the usher to make a complaint against the first couple to possibly get them kicked out. The usher was actually going to ask the couple to leave just for asking this girl to quiet down. The usher didn't know who the real culprit was so I had to intervene to bring him up to speed. The loud-mouth chick tried to say she was disrespected but by this point everyone was sick of her crap and told her to shut up. So finally she asked,"what was she supposed to do?" Then the usher rightfully told her, "Everyone says you're the problem so sit down, be quiet and enjoy the movie." So, she silently admits defeat and we didn't hear a peep out of her for the rest of the night. All that in the first 20 minutes of the movie. But like I said, the movie was still good enough to overcome this.
Now onto the movie! This movie was great, if you were a Godzilla fan before then you would appreciate the update that Gareth Edwards has done to this monster. You can tell he is a fan by the way he keep all the qualities the fans love but at the same time updating it as well:Godzilla's look, his size, his roar even his radioactive breathe is still there but looks much cooler and fits in the 21st century expectations people would have for a Godzilla movie. At the same time the regular audience would enjoy this film too due to a good but simple storyline, dazzling special effects and a good cast.
Bryan Cranston, literally acts his butt off in this. He gives by far the strongest performance in the movie and you really feel his presence and torment of his character. He is not in this enough and when he is not there, he is missed. Too bad it is only as a supporting role despite what you may think from the trailers. The rest of the cast are good but you feel that they are just there to move the story along and you are not too invested in them. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the kid who played "Kick-Ass" is the actual leading actor in this and he does a good job as the hero, who cares for his family but at the same time fighting the monsters as a soldier. His wife is played is played by Elizabeth Olsen (The good, non-Olsen twin). She's too good to not have a bigger role in this. The there is Ken Watanabe, after Cranston he gives the most heart-felt performance as a scientist who must find a way to stop these creatures but at the same time is in awe of them.
That leaves the real star of the movie, Godzilla himself and he looks great! You could feel his power and he is a beast in this but has a personality too. His foes are two other monsters and without revealing too much one comes off as combination of Rodan and Mothra and the other looks a lot like the Cloverfield monster. Both looks very impressive and they pose worthy threats to Godzilla and humanity.
"Godzilla" was very engaging and entertaining, the moment you see the opening credits to the final scenes, you are totally enthralled. I must admit that the general tone of the film changes as you watch it. It starts off very heavy in emotion when we are following Bryan Cranston's story, then it becomes more action oriented when Aaron's character takes over the story and then it becomes sick Kaiju-fun in the last half hour and you will literally be cheering and rooting for Godzilla in the end. I must admit that I did not expect this by the way the movie was being marketed to how it ended. Although, there is no end credit scenes, it's not needed. You just feel ready for more. As a Kaiju fan myself, I noticed a little similarity between this and another Japanese film, "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe". I won't go into details but if you're a giant monster fan, I suggest you check this film out too and see some of the similarities in the story lines.
In the end, This movie thankfully makes you forget about the Godzilla'98 in that this is how you do Godzilla right. I have no doubt Toho studios will continue to make Japanese Godzilla films but I now feel when we see a Godzilla film done here it will be done right and hopefully Toho would take notes as to how it could bring their versions into the next century and leave the rubber suits behind. I say this is a must see! #Godzilla
MY RATING * See it now * Rent it Forget about it
For a treat, here is a video to see the evolution of Godzilla.
I plan to include more monsters in upcoming videos but for now here is a pic from "Devla's Revenge" of Devla and her monster zombie as an extra treat. Check it out at www.UltraHeroix.com
Everyone knows about the Linda Carter, Wonder Wonder Woman show and Batgirl from the 60's Batman show and those spurred most of us into being fans of the super heroine in peril genre. But recently there has been a growing fan base for another television show called "Electra Woman and Dynagirl" and a lot of fans are enjoying stories based on those character on other super heroine related sites and videos.
But there is one super heroine who had not just one movie but two and and a television series that was chockfull of action, peril and sexy campiness..."Black Scorpion".
I think this is an awesome character, she's tough, sexy and has an impressive rogues gallery that never fails to put this heroine in peril to the point that I'm surprised that this super heroine and her related media isn't higher on the totem pole for super heroine in peril fans.
The origin of the Black Scorpion came from 2 Roger Corman movies based on the super heroine starring, Joan Severance who played a character named Darcy Walker, a police detective who felt ineffective in her work against crime and after suffering a personal loss becomes the super heroine "Black Scorpion" and uses her skills in martial arts and technology to fight evil. The first movie had the origin story and a few great fight and knockout scenes with a pretty cool villain called "Breathe Taker", played by Adam West. I must admit that I was a little disappointed in the ending in which the final battle was over way too quickly and could have had more suspense due to a seemingly stronger villain in Breathe Taker.
Still, this movie was successful enough to spawn a sequel with Joan Severence returning as Black Scorpion. The sexy campiness was still there and the special effects was better than the first.
In my opinion, the first movie was better due to a better story, action and better peril. The second had hotter villainess but was lacking the action and peril the first one had. Thankfully, the movies proved popular enough to give us a live action series that was aired on the SciFi Channel.
This is where things got awesome! They had a better looking actress playing Black Scorpion named , Michelle Lintl and the stories and villains were great. Black Scorpion had a lot of fight scenes where she was knocked out and held captive. There were even a few good unmasking scenes where the villains had her tied up and powerless. The villains were probably the best part, they had a lot of attractive villainesses and the male villains came off as powerful and threatening. One of my favorite scenes and one that I hope to recreate is where all the villains gang up on the heroine and she lays unconscious and helpless at their feet.
Unfortunately, this series only lasted one season due to low ratings but the whole series could now be seen on DVD and there is a digital comic series that I haven't seen yet but will check out soon.
I suggest all super heroine fans check out the movies and television series for this under-rated but extremely satisfying super-heroine and hopefully we could elevate her status as one of the best super heroine in peril characters out there.
This past weekend, My very pregnant wife, a few friends and I braved the long lines to see the 2nd must see movie of the year for me (after Captain America:Winter Soldier, naturally) and we were not disappointed. It was such a great experience that I wanted to dedicate the second entry of this new blog to do a brief movie review on "The Amazing Spider-man 2".
I'm a life-long diehard web head and I enjoyed the Sam Raimi movies. It was a thrill to finally see Spidey on the big screen and for the most part I felt they were pretty good. Although, Spiderman 3 was the weakest out of the trilogy, I kinda liked it. Now after watching Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-man"I'm convinced this is a much better rendition of the character. This movie really captured the Peter Parker/Spider-man character we all know and love from the comics, specifically his mannerisms and wit. It was great to see Spidey crack jokes while in the middle of a super villain battle.
The positives besides the perfectly captured Spiderman/Peter Parker character are the special effects and action scenes. It really felt like i was watching a comic book in motion. The music was also a plus and a lot more memorable, especially Electro's theme music, it was totally bad ass and added to the battle scenes.
The actor's did an overall great job; Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx and especially Dane Dehaan were great in their roles. Dane really stole the show as Harry Osborne as a tortured and brooding boy billionaire. Sally Field as Aunt May turned a minor role into one of the strongest performances in the film.
Some of the problems I had with the movie was that it was way too long. they jammed too many plot points and felt overwhelming at times. Also, a big disappointment was the Rhino. He did not need to be in this movie in that it added nothing and would have been better as an after credit scene.
To wrap up, I enjoyed the movie especially as a Spider-man fan. It's not as good as "Captain America: Winter Soldier" but it's better than the first Amazing Spider-man movie. #amazingspiderman2 #asm2
MY RATING * See it now * Rent it Forget about it
Before I go, here is treat of with our own Spider heroine from UltraHeroix.com: Arachne Dame
Hi all and welcome to the first posting of "Da Jinx Blog"! This is a new feature for UltraHeroix.com that I would like to use to interact with you fans. What you will find here is a new posting (at least) once a week on various topics ranging from news/updates on ultraheroix.com to reviews on movies, comics, other super heroine related videos from other producers and anything else that I think would be cool to share.
You'll also see more pics from past, current and future releases of our videos. So there'll be a reason to visit Ultraheroix.com besides to see if/when the next video is up.
For your first treat, is the pic of our lead and flagship character, "Lady Ultra" back in her red and white costume after a very long time from being in black as Dark Ultra. You'll be seeing her soon against a new version of "Death Punch" in the upcoming video…"Lady Ultra Returns" only at www.Ultraheroix.com !
