Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Spider-Man 3 was my second favorite movie of the Tobey Maguire trilogy, behind the first. This, despite being the worse rated. This is all because of villain character development. If it wasn't for Harry Osborn in the second movie, Doc Ock could've been left alone and all would've been fine unless he blew up the city. The villains in this film, like the Green Goblin in the first movie, were personal.

Sandman is a ridiculous character. But being Uncle Ben's killer gives Spider-Man motivation for vengeance, a trait he doesn't typically possess. Unlike the second movie, where Peter is getting dumped on, Peter is on top of his game for this movie, even achieving celebrity status as a hero for NYC. This hits its zenith when he becomes infected by the alien symbiote Venom. Until recently, I had only heard of the character Venom because of the movie, and it wasn't until about 6 months ago that I realized Venom was a Marvel character. Generally, I enjoyed Venom's character, despite resembling something from a horror movie. It reminded me a bit of Deadpool. Seeing Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker character play the over-the-top and obnoxious Venom was an amusing break from his typically reserved personality. I think the awkwardness of Tobey playing such a character was intentional and was supposed to feel unnatural, though at times it was a bit difficult to tell.

Peter's career is contrasted with Mary Jane's career, who is struggling as a Broadway actor. She gets fired from her gig and resorts to being a waitress & singer at a jazz club. Include Pete's friendship with Gwen Stacy, and you've got some tension between Peter and Mary Jane, just as their relationship was taking off. I liked that Gwen was played by Bryce Dallas Howard. I'm obviously familiar with her dad, Ron, but just learned of BDH because of her involvement with The Mandalorian. I didn't realize she acted as well as directed. 

Harry's amnesia after his battle with Spider-Man as the New Goblin character was an interesting twist as well. After his memory returns and his mind is altered by the Green Goblin, he returns to antagonizing Spider-Man by interfering with his relationship with MJ. Eventually he teams up with Spider-Man to help him battle Venom and Sandman, before succumbing from injuries obtained during the fight. 

Overall, I thought the character development in this movie was better than Spider-Man 2, and made for an enjoyable and fun film. I'm looking forward to moving on to the Andrew Garfield films.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

 

Having established Peter Parker's background in the first Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 jumps right into the action as Peter goes against one of his science idols, Dr. Octavius. Half of the movie is spent dumping on Peter, as being Spider-Man comes with a lot of baggage. He still can't be with Mary Jane and has to sit and watch as she gets married to another man. His best friend Harry is angry with him because Peter won't tell him who Spider-Man really is. It gets so bad for Peter that he quits being Spider-Man for a bit. Even Aunt May gets angry with him. In the end, however, all is good as Spider-Man saves New York City from the mad scientist and ends up with MJ, as she breaks off her marriage.

The big thing that Spider-Man 2 did for me was introduce me to Doc Ock. He is a commonly referenced villain, and seems to be a fan favorite. I found him to be a bit goofy, honestly. His mechanical arms are wonderfully over the top, in classic comic book character fashion. His only motivation is to complete his science project. He doesn't have any personal grievance with Spider-Man, or anyone else. Not until Harry Osborn bribes the doctor does he go after Peter. Generally I found him to be less interesting than the Goblin or some of the other villains Spider-Man goes against. I know he appears in subsequent films, so I will see how I feel about the character after seeing those movies.

Star Wars: A New Dawn

 

A New Dawn takes place after the Clone Wars but before A New Hope. It focuses on former Jedi Kanan Jarrus. Jarrus first appeared in the animated series Rebels. He, alongside Hera Syndulla, lead a group of rebels against the Empire. One aspect of the post Order 66 era that is under explored in the movies is the fact that Jedi who survived have to remain in hiding. This concept is discussed in Rebels, as Inquisitors sent by the Empire actively hunt surviving Jedi. This concept is also explored in the awesome game Jedi: Fallen Order, which a sequel was just announced. This is where A New Dawn begins - with a Jedi in hiding.

We get a glimpse of the beginning of Caleb Dume's new life in the first episode of the Bad Batch. In the middle of a battle with his master, Order 66 is executed, and Caleb is able to escape. To help hide his identity, he changes his name to Kanan Jarrus. As an adult, Jarrus spends his time bouncing from job to job and planet to planet, hiding his force abilities and spending spare time in cantinas. He runs into Hera, who is investigating a person named Count Vidian. Vidian is an industrial and mining efficiency expert, who is sent to various planets by the Empire to improve efficiency and output of the mines. Mining materials is of major importance to Star Wars storylines in this time period due to the Empire's ambitions of building the Death Star. Of course, Vidian acts in a completely Empire kind of way, killing as seen fit and generally being a bad guy. He also has a checkered past, and has some interest in secondary gain as well. Hera is attempting to form a rebellion against the Empire, but is doing so intelligently, unlike the other character they run into, Skelly, who blows stuff up as he sees fit. Despite Kanan being a loner and hiding his Force abilities, he becomes smitten with Hera, and decides to help her out and eventually decides to join her rebellion at the end of the book.

The story told in this book is OK. It has a typical mining backdrop, Empire bad guy, and a hero or two. I new Vidian died at the end of the book and wasn't present in other Star Wars stories, so I didn't get too invested in him. To me, the most interesting part of this book was the portrayal of Caleb after Order 66 and what it did to him. Going from a promising young Jedi to a bar hopping loner is sad, and it shows how much devastation Order 66 brought with the rise of the Empire. This topic is under explored in the Star Wars canon, though it is getting more attention as of late. The other interesting aspect of this book is that it explains how his relationship with Hera is formed, which helps explain how the Rebels group in the animated series came to be. 

City Journal: London - Presenting Trains!

 London is famous for its Underground subway, the first subway system in the world. Being underground allows for a lot of flexibility in terms of placement of the rail lines. I started to omit the Underground initially, instead focusing on building my city and region. The flexibility of being underground makes it easier to go back after the fact and add the underground rail lines. As my region expanded to the east I discovered that the Underground is only one of many rail systems transporting people and goods throughout the London region. Tower Hamlets is home to Canary Wharf, an area of skyscrapers and corporate headquarters in east London. The area historically was home to docks and shipping, but fell into disarray as time progressed. In the 1980s, thanks to redevelopment and corporate tax exclusions, Canary Wharf developed into what it is today. Along with this growth in the 80s came the Docklands Light Rail (DLR), one of the additional rail lines running in London. The interesting thing about the DLR is that it is fully automated without drivers. Discovery of the DLR caused me to introduce trains to my region a bit earlier than anticipated, but this is fine. It allows for a more fully integrated transit system.

Above on the map you can see the layout of the DLR system in east London. Below is a satellite view of my region, with the DLR represented by the purple line on the map. It is still under construction, with only about 25% of the system built. Additionally, above is a picture of the modern day Canary Wharf, and below is a picture of Canary Wharf in my city. This region is still under development.

In addition to the DLR and the Underground, there is another system called the Overground. It consists of heavy rail for commuter travel as well as freight throughout the region. Throughout the east I have built the East London Line (ELL) to provide this type of transport service as well. Below, the ELL can be seen running next to Hotspur Stadium in Tottenham. White Hart Lane can be seen next to Hotspur Stadium. I fully realize that stadium has been demolished, but wanted to include it in my city because it has such a cool name.

Spider-Man (2002)

 

Spider-Man, where the **** have you been? After finishing the main X-Men movies, I was planning on watching the Wolverine movies and Deadpool. However, Spider-Man has been in the news a lot lately with his new movie and I am eager to see it, especially since it ties into the MCU. I decided to watch the Wolverine and Deadpool movies at a later time, and instead focus on the Spider-Man movies, starting with the 2002 film Spider-Man, in the Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi era.

Prior to my current Marvel kick (which started exactly a year ago), I can remember watching three Marvel movies: X-Men & X-Men 2, and Spider-Man. When watching Spider-Man, I remember enjoying the film and thinking that the Marvel movies and characters were something I could be interested in. Then, for some reason, I let 20 years go by before I watched any additional movies. Watching this film again was a bit like walking down memory lane, and I enjoyed it now like I did back in 2002.

I remember loving Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin character, and that hasn't changed. Willem plays a great villain, and his Green Goblin cackle is fantastic. The relationship between Peter, Harry, and Mary Jane makes the rival between Spider-Man and Green Goblin feel more important, though Peter's awkwardness in the scenes with Mary Jane can be a bit tough to watch. Despite not seeing any of the other movies yet, I read where Harry becomes a bit of a villain himself, which makes sense based on how this movie ended. 

I like Spider-Man as a character and am looking forward to watching the subsequent movies, especially as they progress to tie into the MCU. Below are a couple of random thoughts about the movie.

• I forgot how the Green Goblin makes Norman insane. He doesn't physically transform into a different person or beast. Instead, his mind transforms into a different personality. This is much different than a lot of Marvel villains, and I think it is pretty cool.
• After Norman drinks the solution that turns him into the Green Goblin, and during a scene where his mind is battling with the Goblin's voice, he throws his glass, shattering the container, instead of just simply sitting it down. I don't know why, but I got a kick out of this.
• Norman being a successful industrialist and head of a company bidding for a military contract to make a super soldier, is a classic Marvel and comic villain back story. It's right up there with the always occurring nuclear accident.
• J.K. Simmons portrayal of the lead editor at the Daily Bugle was fantastic. The few scenes he was in were highly entertaining. Hopefully his character returns.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

 

The issue with this movie is that throughout the Jennifer Lawrence-era X-Men movies, the young Jean Grey is an underdeveloped character. We know she is an especially powerful mutant from the comics. Beyond that, we don't have much to go on from the movies. She has very little dialogue. Even in this movie that features her, Sophie is the fifth credited actor. Her relationship with Scott/Cyclops is also underdeveloped, and this is true in the Hugh Jackman movies as well, so we can't build from that relationship a character with a deep background. It's Wolverine's interest in Famke Janssen's Jean Grey in the earlier movies that elevates her character to some level of importance. The movies spend a lot of time investing in the relationship between Charles, Erik, and Raven, and subsequently their characters are much easier to love or hate. With Jean, it is more of a "meh" situation. I understand why they featured her character in a movie, as she seems to be a very important mutant. It's disappointing how dull her character is, however. This movie isn't terrible, but it is at the bottom of the X-Men movie list for me. 

On a side note, Jean kills Mystique in this movie. I'm a bit confused, because this movie takes place in the early 90s, and in the Hugh Jackman movies, which I thought took place in modern day, Mystique is very much alive (although she lost her powers in those movies). Her comic character's story is nothing like the story she follows in the movies, so I'm assuming this is an example of Marvel manipulating a character to fit the story they're currently telling. I've never read any of the comics, but I do like to read about the characters and their back stories, and it seems like this type of manipulation happens a lot. I don't put much effort in learning the details of the characters, because a lot of them have very tangential histories.

Ted Lasso - Season 2

 

When season 2 of Ted Lasso ended, I saw headlines stating it wasn't as good as season 1. I disagree. I think season 2 was the same old Ted Lasso we're used to. I'm not going to belabor how good this show is because it is so well known. The writing and acting are so good, you actually care about the characters. The end of the season closed some story lines, while leaving us with some good cliff hangers for season 3. The weasel Nate-dog is now coaching Rupert's West Ham United team. Keeley's career is skyrocketing, while Roy seems a bit lost. Is their relationship going to end because of this? Sam is staying with Richmond, likely because of Rebecca. Ted's anxiety is now a public story. Richmond is back in the Premiere League. There's so many good storylines going into season 3, I can't wait to watch. This show is as good as advertised.