Killmonger was almost my favourite Marvel villain

There’s nothing like low/non-existent expectations to make you enjoy a movie all the more. I really didn’t know what to think about Black Panther going in. If anything I have been overly pessimistic about all of the super hero movies coming out this year. I’m actually glad this has just turned out to be my bad attitude in this case, as when I eventually got to go and see Black Panther, I really enjoyed it.

One of the things that stuck out about it the most to me though, amongst a whole swash of strong points, was the movie’s villain; Erik “Killmonger” Stevens, played by Michael B. Jordan. Anyone who thinks about the Marvel Cinematic Universe even slightly critically will know that the franchise’s movies have a villain problem. More often than not, they’re pretty weak as far as characters go. They might have cool design or seem physically imposing, but them actually being compelling as characters is rarely the case.

Continue reading “Killmonger was almost my favourite Marvel villain” →

Star Trek Discovery is still good Star Trek

People get real worked up about Star Trek don’t they. I’ve never been deeply invested in the lore of this franchise, so I inevitably shake my head at people’s reactions to something I find really entertaining. Then I remember the things I’ve written about Star Wars in the past few months and realise I don’t have much of a leg to stand on judging hard core fans.

There has been a lot of negative coverage of Star Trek: Discovery. Most common amongst the complaints I’ve read seem to focus on the fact that it doesn’t feel like “Star Trek”. I would scoff at this, but I do actually see where this is coming from. I have seen a fair bit of the Next Generation, and Discovery feels a lot more action packed than that series ever did.

Continue reading “Star Trek Discovery is still good Star Trek” →

How the Switch Became my Indie Machine

I felt burned by Nintendo. Almost like they’d let me down. While I still played my 3DS, the Wii U was a device I was becoming increasingly resentful of. Support for the console dried up almost immediately after a strong 3rd party developer presence upon release. After only a short few years, It was a device I was buying one, maybe two, games for a year. And even then the games I were buying, I’d only end up playing them for a few hours before they just started gathering dust on my shelf, forgotten.

I became increasingly frustrated with the device and Nintendo, and as a result was very reluctant to pick up the Nintendo Switch when it was released last year. But like the predictable, weak willed consumer that I am, the promise of a new Zelda and Mario titles eventually wore me down enough to pick one of these up when stock eventually became available again. And guess what happened…

Continue reading “How the Switch Became my Indie Machine” →