Batman v. Superman: Just how bad was it?

In short... Really bad.. Spoilers are present, btw.

I know this blog has primarily been talking about firearms, but I was so frustrated by the movie I saw last night that I just had to vent here.

Batman v Superman was about as hyped as movies can get. It was supposed to be the next big superhero movie and rival anything Marvel has done so far. It has not lived up to that.

When you read the title "Batman v Superman" you immediately expect an epic battle between two of the
most popular super heros  in the world. What you got was force fed a bunch of crap about the upcoming justice league movie.

The movie had almost nothing to do with the battle between Superman and Batman and I don't even know where to begin to complain!


I guess I can start with Lex Luthor being played by Jessie Eisenberg. When I heard this actor was going to be a villain in the movie, and when I saw the trailer for it, I immediately assumed he would end up being the riddler. he would have made a perfect riddler, or a joker, but he made an aweful lex luthor! Lex is a genius, which they got right, but lex is also cool, calm and collected. This guy was freakin nuts! he was jittery, weird and overall just metally psychotic! Lex may be perceived as evil, but he always had a "greater good" mindset. he was maybe doing things the wrong way, but he did it for a good reason, to try and make the world better. This guy was just a bad guy to be bad. he
spent the entire movie trying to make Superman look like a bad guy. like they should put a leash on him because his power could destroy them all. he plants this so that batman would want to fight superman, and apparently it works, for some unknown reason. So he convinces them to fight each other, to distract them, so that he can create this cryptonian monstrosity from the dead body of general zod and like four drops of his own blood. This monster then attempts to punch lex who is about the size of this things pinky finger. and the only reason he survived was because superman stopped him. there was a massive battle where superman and batman were working together, and somehow, wonder woman felt like she needed to get involved.


TO WHAT END?!?!?!?!?


it almost seems like he wanted to destroy the world, just to do it! he gives no inclination as to why this must be done. there is talk of "we need to have a deterrent in case these things attack" but in his "master plan" he lets batman take the kryptonite, and he makes a spear out of it, which they use to kill the beast thing that lex creates. he already had the deterrent! he made it without anyone's permission! He is such a lunatic that it cannot possibly be lex. If you want to create a young lex, with long hair, then fine, whatever, but you have to stick to the basic character traits of the character you are portraying. it's like getting spongebob to play the hulk! it just doesn't work!


Then you get onto batman, who is also mentally scarred. He has long, complicated, vivid dreams of the night his parents died, and he sees bats as weird demon bug things in his dreams. Alfred specifically tells him that it is a bad idea to pick a fight with superman, and he ignores him! and where the fuck did he get that god damn suit?!?!? he seems to have done absolutely no R&D for this thing, and he just shows up and it is done and he is wearing it! and the whole premise of  "superman is all powerful and reckless and can destroy the world" basis for his want to fight him is ludacris!  Superman has always been a good guy. His only major flaw is that he fights really powerful enemies, and happens to make a big mess. some buildings may have been destroyed and some lives lost, but it was much less than if he wasn't there. I was also really annoyed at the the movie starting with the death of batman's parents. IT'S FUCKING BATMAN! I THINK WE KNOW THAT HIS PARENTS DIED! and! he is an old guy! he specifically mentions that he is older than his father ever lived to be! he has grey hair! He is also a drunk! Alfred mentions that he hopes the next generation of waynes doesn't inherit an empty wine cellar, which means he has drunk most of the wine! He is a sad, and pathetic depressing batman, and I am not a fan. It's almost like he is doing this because he has to. it is some kind of
big burden that only he can take on, and it is some sort of punishment. When the billionaire bruce wayne

goes to a social function, he is supposed to be a proper, polite business man! in this movie, when he goes to the book thing, he just walked around like he didn't want to be there. when he asked, he just looked like a drunk, and was like, oh yeah, we totally support... fuck... what is this shit...? books? yeah! books! we support books! and they have him branding criminals! I get that he is all into torture and stuff to get information, but branding them? that is a bit excessive. that's not batman!


And! holy shit, how many times do you have to hint at a justice league movie coming next? first, wonder woman shows up, but you don't know she is wonder woman. she some how knows exactly what bruce is up

to, and steals the little electronic server copying device he seemed to have left alone for ten or fifteen minutes. then she gives it back, because she can't crack the encryption... she tole it because it had a picture of her from like 50 years ago, or some shit. and there are four obvious folders there that almost blatantly say who they are about. there is the flash, cyborg, wonder woman, and aqua man.


I know what you are thinking... ooh! I love the flash! that tv show that I watched on Netflix is amazing! that is kind of exiting, right? wrong. they are using a different actor altogether. this means you can bet he will have

a totally different personality than the one we have become invested in with the show on Netflix! then in one of bruce's psychotic dreams about the demon bats, he gets a vision from cyborg telling him that he was right about superman all along. And the fact that wonder woman just decided that it would be a good idea to show up and fight the monstrosity that is destroying both cities (oh yeah, gotham and metropolis are about a lake's distance away from each other, if you didn't know). ya-know... since she is around... and batman didn't really do anything to fight the kryptonian monstrosity, because he was too busy running away from it. batman shows up after it is dead, and talks to supergirl and was like "you know how I thought that superman was like the worst person ever and I wanted him dead because he was too powerful? well I have had a change of heart. I think you and I should get together with the other three powered people I know about and fight together" Wonder woman thinks this is strange, and said something like "how do you know we are going to have to fight together?" batman responds with "I just have a feeling" which means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! that is like a child saying "why can't I have ice cream before dinner?" and the dad saying "because I am your dad and I said so!" that is not an acceptable answer! and they did not give any hint in the movie about any looming threats that might require six super heros!

The only thing they got even close to getting right was superman, but even that was too wrong to ignore! loise lane was all like, they are saying you are a bad dude, dude! and he was just like "I don't care what they are saying, you almost died" instead of being like "I didn't kill those people, Peeps be trippin'!" and then lex blew up some capitol building with a ton of people inside, and superman just looked sad and he ran away, like a child! he could have stuck around and been like "did you see that shit?!?!? this is aweful! lex did this!"


and then, lex kidnapped supermans mom, but gave no inclination about how he knew supermans real identity. he told superman that he would kill his mom if he didn't bring him the head of the batman! and superman just crumbled... he flew to where batman was waiting (because apparently he knew that night was going to be the night... or maybe he would have waited there every night until superman came... ) superman didn't even want to go to gotham. he didn't want to fight the bat, but somehow the bat was ready to fight superman before superman even knew that it was going to happen. Then superman tried to get batman to help him with his mom problem, but batman wasn't going to hear his crap and attacked him anyway. superman gave up on asking for help way too easily and decided to fight back, which just reinforced
batmans need to beat up superman... the words he was saying was not portraying his need correctly! if he said something like "my mom's innocent life is in danger, and I can't save her on my own" then maybe batman would have listened, or if he refused to fight back, maybe batman would feel like too much of a dick to beat up a guy who refused to fight back, when he knows superman can squash him like a bug...


at least when marvel characters fought, it was clearly really petty. like when cops fight with feds. you are in
my jurisdiction, dick. I got this, and I don't need your help. I am better than you anyway. Superman and batman fought like children throwing a temper tantrum and they tried to hide it like it was some kind of noble cause vs noble cause. they didn't even try to tackle the fact that batman seems to hate superman because he has killed people (on accident, while saving the world from zod), but batman kills people too. they just say "those are criminals and they get what they deserve"

I also thought batman hated guns, but I could actually be wrong here. I thought he connected guns with the death of his parents and decided to protect the streets while not using guns. he uses his grappling hook, and his bat-erangs. but in this movie, he seemed to be all for guns. very pro-gun. I am pro gun too, but why would he go through all the trouble to learn like ten different forms of martial arts if he is just going to wimp out and shoot people with guns anyway?


Notice how I have so much shit to complain about, and I have only spoke about ten words about the actually superman vs batman fight. it was pretty predictable. it only lasted like five minutes of the movie. batman busted out with some kryptonite gas that he developed and superman was not smart enough to get out of the cloud of toxic green gas. batman was totally ready to kill superman in his weakened state, until
batman mentioned the name of his mom, Martha, which was totally the same name as batman's mom, Martha again. apparently, the fact that they have moms with the same name was the big thing that turned batman around onto superman's side. no more questions asked. they were just best friends after that...

The cinematography was great though. I hated superman's bedazzled super suit, but the action scenes were very actiony.

overall, I hated it. Don't go see it. it was bad.

all photos I used were generic ones I found from google.

Rifle review - Tikka T3 Lite, Blued

Today, I would like to talk a bit about a rifle I recently picked up. Be prepared for a long winded background story about my decision making process, along with a short review.

I bought my Tikka T3 a few months ago, in September of 2015. I bought it in 30-06 and I bought it because I plan on going hog hunting next week. I did not think to buy this rifle at first and many readers who are familiar with firearms may agree. Why would anyone buy this rifle? I will explain...

It all started about a year ago. A bunch of my friends went hog hunting and came back with tons of meat and many many stories. I was not invited the first time around because they wanted to check it out first and see if the place was legitimate. They could have just not wanted me around for all I know, but that is what they told me...

Anyhow, they planned on going in a year, and they invited me, so I decided I needed a new gun. I did a ton of research on the best guns for hog hunting, and the best calibers and all that jazz... I had originally decided on the 458 SOCOM upper. It was going to be great! A massive round, with tons of knockdown power, almost specifically designed for pigs. Semi-auto rifle that still uses regular AR mags just seemed so easy. Just buy the upper receiver and plop it on your AR lower (of which I have two) and you got yourself one of the best hog guns around for about $500!

But then... of course... my buddies had words to say about it. They said things like "Joe, Ammo is so expensive... even if you reload, you are looking at tons of money" as well as "It is an uncommon ammunition type, and if you ever get in a jam, you are going to run out of ammo!" and the most logical "you are going to buy this upper and use it once a year... If that..."

Damn their logic... they were right... As much as I like the flashy, sexy sound of saying "I used a 458 SOCOM to go hog hunting," buying a gun for only one purpose is just not who I am... I need a gun that I could see myself using more often... even if I dont use it more often, I still wanna think I can...

So I had to start from scratch... What I really liked about the 458, besides how cool it was, was the fact that it was Semi-Auto. Since the 458 is off the table, the only other larger caliber Semi-Autos I could think of were thousands of dollars... so I set up requirements in my head... What did I NEED to have in this rifle...?

I needed it to be a larger caliber... something easy to find, plentiful, and will work on a variety of game. I needed it to be accurate. as accurate as possible. I needed it to cost less than $600. I needed to have a really nice trigger.

After it was all said and done, I figured I would need a bolt action rifle. Again, not my first choice, but the smartest one. So I started compiling all of the bolt action rifles I could find below $600. There are a lot of options, by the way. I looked at really basic rifles, like the Rugar American, and the Savage Axis, as well as a bit higher end rifles like the Browning A-Bolt.

I needed to settle on a caliber as well. Of all the common calibers, I was stuck between two... 30-06 and .308... I am a fan of both calibers, but I am already making an AR in 308, so to change things up, I went with 30-06.

so after trying a ton of bolt action rifles, I had to narrow down the features that I felt were important. One of the biggest things was the quality of the bolt. I dont want to fight with a bolt to get it open and closed. I want it to be as smooth as butter. I also found the shorter bolt throw to be more comfortable than a standard Mauser style bolt throw. the 60 degree throw of the A-Bolt felt fantastic, because my fingers didnt get smashed between the scope and the bolt handle. There are a bunch of other options as well that was at a 70 degree bolt throw which worked just as well.

another thing that I NEEEEEDED was a great trigger... There were quite a few contenders there too...  a lot of really good triggers have been made. you can adjust the Ruger American rifle's trigger and it becomes light, and crisp. the Weatherby Vanguard also had a great trigger and came highly recommended, but the issue with the Vanguard is it did not come with a detachable magazine. What self respecting rifle maker of the modern age decides not to put a detachable magazine in their rifles? I personally thought that was a deal breaker, but my buddies wanted me to keep an open mind.

Out of all of these rifles, a bunch of them claimed they were quite accurate, and a few even had guarantees that it was within 1 MOA. obviously accuracy was very important...

When I threw all of this information together, I had exactly no freakin clue what I was going to buy. I hadn't even heard of the Tikka yet. It was not even on my list. whenever I asked to look at one, the guy behind the counter always said "nah, what you want is this Sakko that costs twice as much!" thanks, but no thanks...

I was pondering my decision, and stopping by gun shops almost every day. I am pretty sure the salesman thought I was just window shopping, cause after a while, they seemed less interested in showing me guns. One day I stopped by Scheels and was looking around and the guy at Scheels had me take a look at it. The bolt on it was perfect. a short, 70 degree throw, that felt like it was riding on clouds as I cycled it... Guaranteed 1 MOA... perfect trigger, adjustable down to 2.5lbs... detachable box magazine... just barely under $600... but my mind was not made up...

Of course it fit the bill, but so did one or two other rifles... and I didn't know anything about Tikkas... How did I know if I could trust this gun or not? I needed to do more research!

Then... the universe forced my hand... my wife and I decided she no longer liked the pistol I gave her. There were too many ejecting issues, but that is a story for another post. so I was told to sell the pistol, and was given permission to use the money on my new rifle... I also had about $200 in Cabelas points from my Cabelas card, so there was a new variable in play now. I needed to be able to buy the gun from Cabelas, where I could sell the pistol, buy my rifle and use my points. so now I was down to two... the Ruger American and the Tikka both fit my needs... The ruger was much cheaper, but less accurate, and the bolt was not as good.

After another day or two of asking opinions and debating I came upon the realization that I was tired of having rifles that were "good enough." I have been getting second class guns for years now to save money. Before, it was all about how much bang I can get for my buck. The options I got were maybe not the best, but they were a good value. I was kind of tired of it. I didn't want my equipment to hold me back at all. This, of course, made my decision easy. I am going with the Tikka...

I said all of that, basically, to show you that I didnt buy this gun on a whim. I really really really put a lot of thought into this rifle before I bought it, and I have absolutely no regrets.

There are many gun owners in the world that would say things like "Why didnt you go with the Remington 700? Remington or bust!" or the also common "Bla bla bla, gross foreign gun.... bla bla bla... America is best... bla bla bla... shoulda bought an American gun!"

To those people I say... I feel sorry for you... If you would only open up your eyes and your mind, you would see that the entire world is filled with fantastic guns and equally fantastic gun companies. They are all out to make a great, safe product that people will want to buy. Some do it better than others, I admit, but just because you are not familiar with it, does not make it complete trash.

Tikka, if you didnt know, is actually owned by Beretta and gets imported by Beretta USA. Berettas are primarily made in Brazil now... What?!?!? This truely American company is outsourcing its work?!?!? The same gun company that made the M9 that many of our military still use to this day?!?!?! yes... it happens... there are so few gun companies that make things in America at all, let alone completely in America... So I had not qualms about buying this Finnish gun.

Now for the review:

Pros!

-Great trigger, adjustable.
-The best bolt I have ever felt. Smooth as butter
-70 degree bolt throw
-Guaranteed 1 MOA
-Detachable Magazine
-comes with 1" scope rings

Cons =[

-If a good stock is important to you, look elsewhere. This plastic stock is not bad, but it is not the greatest.
-plastic bolt shroud. I have heard they break often. Mine has never broken, but this is what I researched
-plastic magazine seems pretty fragile. Again, I have heard they break if you drop them.
-rail system is unique, which is not the best when it comes to finding accessories. not a standard Picatinny rail. comes with scope rings to fit, but it is not my favorite.
-Many people do not like how the magazine secures itself to the receiver. I have never had an issue with it coming off or breaking or anything, but any time there is plastic involved, people get nervous.
-Some people have complained that the safety isnt quite as snappy as they would like, and it is hard to actuate.

So with many of these Cons, there are ways to fix them. I have not done much to my rifle yet, but to have a better stock I plan on buying one from Boyds stocks. There are aftermarket aluminum bolt shrouds that at least one company makes. There is another company in Germany that makes a whole new magazine system for this guns as well. They take out the plastic trigger guard, the plastic mag well, and the plastic mags, and replace them all with metal parts, and a very simple (almost AK style) mag release. I ended up buying an extra mag and a full Picatinny rail directly from Beretta USA, but the rail was about $100 and the mag was about $50 for a five rounder. The last thing that tipped me toward the Tikka was they had a great deal when I bought it. Just for buying the Tikka, they gave me $150 in Beretta USA store credit, which is why I decided to get the rail and the extra mag. I didn't actually have to spend any more on it.  I don't see they are running that deal anymore, so that is why I am listing it as a Con, despite it not being an issue for me.

I also bought a sling for the gun, cause I thought that would be smart. I have shot the gun a few times now and I think it is fantastic. If I really concentrate, I can get 1 MOA on a sitting bench. I havent shot prone yet, although, I expect that to be easier to get that accurate. I do not claim to be a great shooter. I can hold my own, but I am not a competition shooter or anything. This is just all for fun.

I would personally greatly recommend the Tikka of any variation. They are great rifles and have definitely treated me well.