Jovann Harper

I can't lie, I enjoyed this one. Weird thing is I kinda expected to?? I haven’t been a huge fan of James Gunn’s direction, but between parts of Lanterns and now Clayface, I’m lil more optimistic about this DCU than I was before. The Good First off, it’s rated R and it actually uses it. It ain’t really a horror movie, but it has jump scares in places you don't anticipate. Those unexpected jump scares were hands down the best part of the movie for me, I appreciated THAT. The body horror was really good too. I’m not the biggest horror guy, so this was the perfect level for somebody with a mild tolerance like me lol. The kills were crazy creative. They really dug into what you can actually do with clay, and every kill was unique and more creative than the last one. I was also good with them saving the full Clayface reveal for later in the movie. A full Clayface with no Batman around to counter him would’ve been lame as hell anyway. The Bad The main thing: it did NOT feel like a comic book movie at all. The only thing tying this to the DCU was them saying it’s in Gotham. Not even a mention of Batman at all. Idk if that’s because Batman hasn’t shown up in this universe yet or what, but literally no other comic book characters got mentioned besides Matt Hagen. It felt just like a street level crime movie tbh. The pacing at the beginning was too fast. Once he got his injections though, the pace got good. The love interest could’ve been a little better. She was a great actress in the role mind you, and I did like the chemistry they had on camera, but the character could’ve used more. Matt’s descent into madness was good and gradual and pulled me in, but idk if it’s because I already know he’s a villain that it felt kinda expected. Like maybe a better backstory to make the character more human than they depicted would've been appreciated. Maybe it’s cliché, but I’m a fan of villains you can relate to, where you feel like their side of the story is actually valid. Final Thoughts Barely felt like a comic book movie, but the creative kills, the body horror, and those jump scares had me locked in. Gunn MIGHT be on to something after all but we’ll see for real when Man of Tomorrow releases.

I'mma be honest, I went into this not expecting much. What James Gunn has done to the DCU has been so shitty I was halfway expecting to clown this by episode 2. Not only did that not happen episode 1 hooked me. The interrogation scene is one of the best I've seen in a long time, in any genre. It was tense and patient, and it let the characters breathe then everything flipped. That scene told me this show was trying to be good TV first and a superhero show second, and that's my whole thing. I'm a big proponent of not putting these shows in boxes. You can make a legit good crime drama and still have a guy with a power ring in it. For 5 episodes they nailed that balance. Episodes 1-5 were gas man. The action was good, the pacing was right, and I never knew where it was going. Every episode ended with me having more questions and wanting the next one right then. Episode 5 was the climax and it delivered. Hal talking to the manhunter then letting her know he was bait, then John getting the killing shot right after, was beautiful. That moment let me know John was really like that. Even with all the gripes I had, those first 5 were a solid 9.2. Then 6-8 happened and the show kind of went off the rails. All the stuff I was willing to let slide because the writing was strong came to the surface once the writing slipped. The ring and the flight They barely used the ring man. It was always damn near dead, or it only came out when it was absolutely necessary. I counted only 10 constructs in 8 hours of tv. I get wanting stakes and not making John or Hal overpowered, but the ring is the whole point of a Green Lantern. If you're rationing it like phone battery every episode, it stops feeling like a Lantern show. The flight was so lackluster too. Lanterns are supposed to glow green when they fly, but you could tell these guys were just being hoisted on cables and it looked cheap as hell. This is DC and HBO Max. They have way more money than this, so I really don't know where the budget went! The one thing I'll give them is the concept of making constructs. John being an architect and building stuff from the inside out was creative and different from anything I've seen a Lantern do on screen. That's why it's frustrating they ain’t do it more! They clearly had ideas for the ring and barely let him use it. Where are the aliens? This was a big one for me. Manhunters are supposed to be synthetic, robot-looking beings that run on pure logic, the kind of thing that's scary because it can't be reasoned with. Here they were regular-looking people with advanced tech who never showed any real superhuman ability. They were basically sneaky people with gadgets. The aliens hunting the Manhunter didn't look alien either. One fight with super strength and that was it. We got one shot of the back of a Guardian's head as a tease, and I really didn't know that would be the only real alien we'd see all season. It's a space cop show with no space and no aliens. Space cop vs. town detective We went off world twice the whole season. I didn't mind the detective vibe, it's part of why the early episodes worked. But they could've done the same detective story in space with the same tension, just on a different planet. Instead it felt like a small-town crime show where the main character happens to have a ring. Same with the Corps. Every Lantern we saw was from Earth. Technically that's 3, or 4 if you count Sinestro. They mention other Lanterns but we never see the mainstays, no Kilowog, nobody. If the plan is a 4-5 season thing and they're saving it, cool, I get it. But there's no guarantee this gets that many seasons, so holding back that much on season 1 is a gamble. Hal I actually wasn't THAT against Hal dying. Showing him dead in the first episode was interesting since most of the show takes place 10 years before that. You spend the season knowing where it ends and wondering how they get there, and that's a good hook. I just hated how they fleshed it out. Man survived 40 years as a Green Lantern just to get killed by a woman in Nebraska who had a panic attack, and she wasn't even attractive lol. If you're going to kill Hal Jordan, it needs weight, a sacrifice, something that matches who he is. This felt small and somewhat pathetic. They also made it seem like everybody hated him. Hal could be a dick at times, that's part of his character, but he should always come across as virtuous and as one of the greatest Lanterns ever. This show made him look like a washed-up guy nobody who knew him actually liked. Which sucks, because Kyle Chandler was legendary in the role. Perfect casting, and he deserved better writing. Same goes for Sinestro, who looked like a frail old purple man, and we missed his whole arc. We missed Hal's whole arc too. Honestly I'd love a flashback spinoff with Hal in his heyday, running with Barry Allen and Green Arrow, and showing how he and Sinestro went from partners to enemies. That's what you’d expect from a Lanterns show, sometimes it don’t have to over complicate things. The one loop they did close was the Halogram and John ending on good terms, and I liked that. John John walking away from being a Lantern after being programmed for it his whole life was the first real choice he ever made for himself. When it happened I wasn't enthused, but I understood it. Him picking the mantle back up because he knew it was needed was redeemable, and that's a hero choosing to be a hero. I liked that. But then making up his own oath was just lame as hell lol. The oath is iconic, you don't need to remix it. And him using a lantern Sinestro made with yellow fear toxin made no sense. How does Sinestro even know how to make lanterns?? Then John has zero consequences for using it. That should've been a whole storyline. I also wish they'd put John in the suit. It didn't need to be on all the time, but there were spots where it would've fit. He also never resolved anything with his family. All season there's tension, then he pops up at the end of the finale and everybody's kumbaya. There's no payoff for that. Everything else I'm not a big Guy Gardner fan, but I always respected that he'll fight anybody, anytime. Went from standing up to Superman to now he wouldn't even step to John, just came off timid. The reparations storyline was completely unnecessary and felt like it was added for screen time (lowkey she was the best-looking person on the show though lol). The easter eggs were hella good, but every comic show does that, so it's not much extra credit. Final thoughts The first 5 episodes were a 9.2, easy, gripes and all. The last 3 were like a 6.4. The bones of a great show are there: the interrogation scene, the constructs, Kyle Chandler, John's choice to come back. But a strong first half can't fully carry a back half that forgot it was a Green Lantern show. If season 2 gives me space, aliens, the Corps, and a fully charged ring, I would have no complaints.

Saw this on Friday and I need to talk about it, because it's easily the second-best Tom Holland solo Spider-Man movie. The good stuff first. Tom Holland is genuinely becoming the best overall live-action Spider-Man we've gotten. The acting in this one was just great — there were real surprises, real weight to the character moments. The rooftop scene when Jean took over was intense, and l it wasn't even the most devastating gut-punch of the movie. Peter’s slight dirty mackin was also hilarious. The time skip was handled really well too. Quick-cut action montages of the rogues he's taken down over the years, paired with the city visibly embracing him now — it sold the passage of time without dragging the pacing. Now let’s talk Frank. They kept the essence of the Punisher intact without watering down the R-rated version of him, which is a genuinely hard needle to thread when you're operating inside a kid-friendly Spider-Man movie. Jon Bernthal's chemistry with Peter in this is honestly up there with his chemistry with Matt Murdock — which says a lot more about how good Bernthal is than anything else. He just elevates every scene partner he's across from. Also — an ACTUAL Hulk. Not the "Professor Hulk" nonsense we've been stuck with for the last 8 years. It's such a small thing but it mattered. The critiques. My biggest gripe is with the "Man-Spider" transformation during his lash-outs — it felt incomplete. Like they set up this metamorphosis and then pulled back right when it should've gone up a notch. I wanted the full unraveling, not a tease of it. Then there's the Peter-inhibitor-collar reveal. The idea that Peter is basically the reason mutant inhibitor collars get made is wild when you sit with it. Not necessarily bad, just a huge swing. My real hesitation is with the villain focus. Making Jean Grey the antagonist felt less like "Spider-Man defeats a villain" and more like connective tissue for an eventual X-Men crossover. And look, I get that Spider-Man's rogues gallery sometimes skews C-tier and street-level — a lot of his villains just aren't on his actual power level most of the time. But that's exactly why I'd rather see them go the other direction: give him someone who can actually go toe-to-toe with him. Venom or Carnage could really push the envelope in a way that feels earned, instead of borrowing gravity from a different franchise's roster. Bottom line: I really loved this one

Season 1 of this show is phenomenal. Matt’s character development is some of the best the character’s ever gotten — watching him wrestle with who he is and what he’s willing to become feels genuinely earned. And the chemistry between him and Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle is easily some of the best on-screen dynamic I’ve seen in this franchise. Their scenes together crackle every time. The fight scenes are amazing, full stop. But what really elevated the season for me was watching Matt take that step toward the dark side when he tries to kill Bullseye — it’s a genuinely bold, uncomfortable moment that pushes the character somewhere the show had earned the right to go. Arguably the best Daredevil season ever made, or top 2 at worst. Season 2 is a different story — a real drop-off. Adding Jessica Jones as a side character just didn’t land for me, and the season overall felt like it was coasting. Not bad, just… there. Nothing that pushed the story forward the way Season 1 did. If this show was rated purely on Season 1, it’d be a five-star, all-time great. Season 2 drags the overall average down, but Season 1 alone makes this worth watching.