5 Reboots That Hold Up

So a couple of months ago on the Blog I added a poll of what post you guys would want to read next....... I got 1 vote. It was 5 Reboots That Hold Up. Now I know that this is an objective topic, and some of you may disagree with me. I Love Movies! And, to be honest, in some cases I'm such a fan of the IDEA of a movie that I'll become a little biased and give it more credit than it may deserve. If you guys disagree with me, I completely understand. I WANT your opinions on the matter. That's why at the end of every blog I ask you guys to add your input in the comment section below. So, without any further delay, here they are:

5 Reboots That Hold Up (In My Opinion!):

5) Man of Steel

This is one that a lot of people hated. Frankly, I really don't get why. It was great! I thought that this movie portrayed the story of the most fearsome, ... uhm, I mean popular (go back and read my post on my fear of Superman [http://2ndtierguardian.blogspot.com/2014/09/serious-take-on-something-non-serious.html]). IMDb.com gave the movie a 7.3 out of 10 Star rating, which again I think was too low. The movie as a whole was great. I saw it in 3-D with a group of close friends, and it was amazing. One of the guys in the group was my older cousin Will, who is a major comic geek. He had one problem with the movie:  [SPOILERS!]  that Superman killed Zod. Superman doesn't kill (suposedly.... read the post!) and the fact that he snaps Zod's neck was a major problem to him. I sort of feel that Superman didn't really have a choice; Zod would've continued to come back and put innocents at risk, and he'd already done enough damage. But, I can understand how that would be a big problem for most folks. Still, Superman stopping the villain of the movie in a fatal way should't ruin a movie. Henry Cavill and Zakk Snyder did a great job, and I can not WAIT for the Sequel. I feel that movie Hold's Up!

4) Robocop

IMDb.com wasn't as nice with this pick, giving it a 6.3 out of 10 Stars. I made the fortunate mistake of watching the reboot first and then went back and saw the original version, and I'm kind of glad, because I'm assuming that's the reason I was allowed to enjoy the Reboot. To me, this movie gets major bonus points: it's one of those movies that make you think about just how far our country will go to keep us "safe". It's a political thriller, in that aspect, which I think is awesome! A "sci-fi/superhero" movie can make us reflect on the state of our society. You combine that with an All-Star Cast, including Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel Jackson, and combine the relatively new talent of Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, and Michael Kenneth Williams, and we have a movie that, while based on an incredible Original, still manages to Hold Up!

3) The Amazing Spider-Man (Series)

                   

Again, this movie, or really these movies, have been getting some undeserved heat. I loved these! They were 1,000,000,000 x's better than the Tobey Maguire Trilogy! Andrew Garfield was the Perfect Peter Parker: He was just the right amount of nerdy and charming! They went into the back story of Peter's Parents! And the villains that they chose for this were unexpected and absolutely perfect. This all around was an amazing set of films. Also, they managed to do an awesome portrayal of Gwen Stacey. It's just a much MUCH better attempt (successful attempt at that) at the Spider-Man story. Also, keep in mind that these movies are predecessor's to the Maguire Trilogy, so it isn't hard to beat that. But, IMDb.com gave the first film a 7.1 and the second film a 6.9 out of 10 Stars. That's their opinion. To me, these movies Hold Up! 

2) Star Trek (Series)

                   

I am a Trekkie. I am, I love Star Trek. I've Seen some of the original movies, some of the original show, and I've seen some of The Next Generation, and I'VE LOVED IT! It's amazing. These movies were what got me to become such a fan. From what I've seen, most everybody else agrees with me that these movies were amazing. IMDb.com gave the first movie an 8.0 and the second a 7.8 out of 10, which is better than all of the other films we've looked at. I honestly think one of the big reasons everyone was so accepting of was: [SPOILERS] bringing back Leonard Nimoy as the future Spock, which they did in both films. Star Trek is one of the oldest titles in the modern-era of sci-fi, and adapting such a big name is tricky. You've really got to do it justice for it to work, and I think that these 2 latest movies do just that. You've got Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, and Karl Urban as the core crew of the Enterprise, and then you have villains played by people like Eric Bana and Benedict Cumberbatch, and then other big names like Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, Ben Cross, and Leonard Nimoy; That's just a great ensemble! These movies have action, adventure, suspense, romance, comedy, and lots and lots of sci-fi! These movies undoubtedly Hold Up!

& finally, the movie(s) that held up better than any other movie(s) have

1) Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy

I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on this number one pick, because it's almost a law that these films were phenomenally well accepted and most certainly hold up to the original films. Nolan was an absolute genius, and managed to bring a very realistic portrayal of Gotham City and all of the criminal/terrorist waves that come upon the city. Christian Bale is a great Batman, and everyone else that they chose for these films were perfect (I'm not going to list them all [go to IMDb.com and look yourself]). Batman Begins received an 8.3, The Dark Knight received a 9.0, and The Dark Knight Rises received an 8.5 on IMDb.com. They Hold Up, plain and simple. 

These were my picks. Tell me yours! Let me know what your picks were, if you disagree or agree with my picks, or just say hi in the comments below. I'll be posting My 5 Games I Can't Wait For In 2015 later today. Also, check out my latest Blog Post over in "It's Dangerous To Go Alone! Take This." on Nehemiah Chapter 1: Do Something! Give Me Geekery or Give Me Death!

[http://dangerousalone.blogspot.com/2015/01/nehemiah-chapter-1-doing-something.html]

Serious Take On Something Non-Serious: My Fear Of Superman

A SERIOUS TAKE ON SOMETHING NON-SERIOUS

My Fear of Superman

This is something I want to try: I often over-analyze things that quite honestly don't matter. Superman is super popular right now. He has been for years, really. Superman is one of those heroes that is not only incredibly well known, but is ridiculously powerful. 

Most geeks wish that super heroes were real. It's a common wish, that I do indeed share. But, ....... I'm afraid of Superman being real.  I do NOT want Superman to be real. I repeat, please don't hate me, but I do NOT want Superman to be real. 

Here's a brief, general summation of his background (DC has changed details constantly over the years, so this is the most generally accepted background):

First of all, I'm not a Superman hater. I loved Man of Steel. I'm very excited about the sequel. He has definitely revolutionized comics. He's super recognizable, and an all-american (unless you're reading the Red Son series). So please, I'm not just trying to bash Superman.

Now, DC has changed up Superman's background several times over the years, but basically Superman is a Kryptonian that was sent to Earth by his parents in a rocket ship before the destruction of his home world. Krypton has a much heavier gravity than we do, and it also had a Red sun. Kyrptonians can use their enhanced abilities under a Yellow sun. So Earth was the perfect place for Superman to end up.

Krypton was destroyed by an unstable radioactive explosion within the core. With the destruction of Krypton, it created fragments of the planet that were altered by the radioactivity. This is what's commonly known as kryptonite, which is deadly to Superman. Krypton is 27.1 light years from Earth.

After crash landing in Kansas, Superman was adopted by the Kent's, and was given the name Clark. As he grew, his powers began to surface. He learned to harness them, and also developed a very strong Moral Compass.

Here are my fears:

Superman is pretty much the most powerful hero in all of comics. Superman's famous arsenal of powers has included flight, super-strength, invulnerability to non-magical attacks, super-speed, vision powers (including x-ray, heat-emitting, telescopic, infra-red, and microscopic vision), super-hearing, super-intelligence, and super-breath, which enables him to blow out air at freezing temperatures, as well as exert the propulsive force of high-speed winds. He barely survives a nuclear blast, and his space flights are limited by how long he can hold his breath. Superman's power levels have again increased since then, with Superman currently possessing enough strength to hurl mountains, withstand nuclear blasts with ease, fly into the sun unharmed, and survive in the vacuum of outer space without oxygen.Superman can fly to other worlds and galaxies and even across universes with relative ease. He would often fly across the solar system to stop meteors from hitting the Earth or sometimes just to clear his head. Even with the restrictions that have tried to be implemented to the hero, he is still unbelievably powerful! We've already established that he only has one weakness, which is kryptonite. There is only one thing that can stop the effects of kryptonite: lead. So even his weakness has the potential to not have very much effect.

In the recent Comic Series/Video Game Injustice: Gods Among Us, In an alternate reality, the Joker destroys Metropolis with a nuclear weapon, killing millions of people, after tricking Superman into killing Lois Lane and their unborn son. In retaliation, Superman murders the Joker during Batman's interrogation. He establishes a new world order as the High Councillor. A war ensues between the forces of Superman's Regime and those allied with Batman's Insurgency

My fear is that, despite Superman's impeccable moral compass, what if? What if Superman were real? What is he decided that the only way to save humanity was through enslavement and developing a new world order in which he was our dictator? What could we do? He's unstoppable! None of our weapons would have any effect. Our nukes could maybe stall him, but Superman could confiscate them before we could even say, "Push the Red Button!" And I know that everybody and their mother has kryptonite in their back pocket in the comics, but here on Earth, we don't. Now before you guys start saying, "Batman beat Superman! Batman beat Superman!", from what I can tell, Batman HUMBLED Superman, not actually defeat him. Also, this is strictly a speculation if Superman alone was real, not Batman. No one on Earth (that I know of) is at the peak of human physical health, trained in a dozen martial arts, a billionaire, and a genius detective. If Superman was real, and he decided that he knew best......we'd be in Serious trouble.

What I am most afraid of, is that if Superman were real, and he wanted to, he could take away our free-will. (A bit of theology time) God gave us free-will. It dates all the way back to the Garden of Eden when God ccreated the world, made Adam and Eve, and then gave them that one rule that has changed absolutely everything, and we are still feeling the results of that decision today. If Superman were real, he would almost be God (No, he wouldn't actually BE God, but he'd be godlike) in the sense that he would have unparalleled power over us. God himself allowed us to keep this free-will. But, again, Superman isn't God; he's a lowercase god. What's to stop Superman from acknowledging this power he has over us and abusing it. What would stop him if he went through events similar to what happened to him in the Injustice plot-line? How could we as mere mortals stop a god?


Call me overly religious if you want, but I believe that since God himself gave us free-will (the ability to examine information and make a decision, acknowledging or not acknowledging the consequences for ourselves), no other god has the right to take it from us. We're humans, and we make mistakes, but they're our mistakes to make. Superman, as wonderful and heroic as he is, can (and has) made mistakes. He's great on paper, but I believe would be disastrous in real life.

So that's my fear. Rational? Irrational? Let me know. I know that this is different from my normal post format, but I want to every now and then really look at geeky subjects like this and really research and discuss what type situations could occur. But please, leave your comments below, and as always, stay true to the ways of Geekery.