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None of the recent hype for Batman vs. Superman made me want to go to the movie theater, but it did convince me to finally pick up a copy of TT Games' Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham video game for the Wii U. What can I say? I was in the mood for some superhero fun, and Lego Batman 3 is vastly more fun than the irritable, bloated and grumpy BvS . As the number in the title suggests, Lego Batman 3 follows two previous games in the series. The first game was strictly a stand-alone Lego Batman game, and the second game introduced Lego Superman during the game and the rest of the Lego Justice League in its conclusion. This third entry begins with Batman and the Justice League, and the game expands from there to all sorts of characters and locations within the DC universe. So how does the third entry fare as a video game? In a nutshell, Lego Batman 3 has both too much--and not enough--Batman. Read on for my complete review. If you've been following Lego superhero games like I have...

I have a confession to make. In a recent post , I mentioned how I had no interest in watching the new Batman v. Superman movie because I wasn't excited about it. What I did not mention was the movie-going math I did in my head as part of this decision. This year marks the release of two high-profile movies about superheroes fighting superheroes: BvS by Warner Bros. and DC and Captain America: Civil War by Disney and Marvel, which is slated for release on May 6th. In light of these two films, I had to ask myself this question: Which movie will feature a story that is worth enduring almost two hours of explosive CGI effects and eardrum-shattering surround-sound noises? Making such a decision may not sound like much, but this is a big deal for a movie geek like me. For as long as I can remember, watching as many high-profile special-effects driven movies as possible had become an annual tradition. This was largely due to growing up in the late '70 and the '80s, when filmmak...

For what may very well be the most anticipated live-action superhero crossover movie ever, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is shaping up to be quite a disaster. Even though it will probably make boatloads of money, critics and fans alike have so far been trashing BvS for its nonsensical plot, thin characterization, and pretentious mood. While I hate to say I told you so , I didn't have much faith in this project from the get-go. When it was first announced, it looked like the Warner Bros. executives wanted to take the Batman and Superman fight from the fourth issue of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns comic book miniseries and shoehorn it into a semi-sequel to Man of Steel . That's exactly what happened--a fragmented, under-developed idea has now blossomed into a fragmented, under-developed movie, so I'm going to pass on this one. Besides, there's only one good outcome for something called "Batman v. Superman": Batman gets to keep the Wayne fa...

Of my many years of being a geek, I've learned two things: 1) never underestimate the power of nostalgia and 2) never underestimate the lingering appeal of a well-designed toy. Even though Mego went out of business in 1983, its contribution to geek toys has lived on among collectors for many years since. Specifically, its eight-inch action figure model--a model that's flexible enough for any franchise license and cheap to produce--has been enjoying a renaissance in recent years. Toy companies such as Bif Bang Pow and NECA have been releasing figures for various licenses based on the Mego figure model, licenses that were never carried by Mego when it was still in business. In contrast, Figures Toy Company has been releasing DC superhero figures that look exactly like the same figures that Mego released during its heyday the '70s. These figures have been so popular that Figures Toy Company has expanded its DC lines to include different versions of popular DC characters, such...