The Return of Tonbridge Comic-Con

"I could do this all day!"

Tonbridge Comic Con & Toy Fair has returned, with (I believe) different people running it, eschewing celebrity signings for more cosplayers, more photo ops, and more traders.

It must be a good five years since there was a Comic-Con at the Angel Centre in Tonbridge (that time I got flustered meeting Hannah Spearritt from Primeval and S Club 7 and got her to sign my copy of the Primeval roleplaying game), but this was quite a different affair.

In a strange - but comforting - kind of way, this fresh iteration reminded me a lot of Cavalier (our annual wargames show), but with people dressed as superheroes and anime characters and staged cinematic photo opportunities in lieu of wargaming displays.

The time we spent at the comic-con was really enjoyable, I got to chat to a load of people (stall holders and cosplayers) and - as you can see - Rachel took loads of pictures.

Today's event was 'nicely busy' (enough people to make me think it was a success for the organisers, but not so many that it felt claustrophobic or made getting to any particular place a struggle).

This definitely helped me adjust to the situation, and I surprised myself with how conversational I was with the many people I spoke to. Normally, I hold back, for fear of my aphasia tripping me up, but this felt really relaxed.

Major kudos to the Captain America cosplayer who we met before we got inside the event. He embodied the spirit of Cap nicely and, after he remarked on my t-shirt, we talked enthusiastically about James Gunn's impending Superman movie.

Meanwhile, inside the Angel Centre, the chap who'd 3D printed then built the array of animated Star Wars droids was clearly a Doc Brown-level genius.

Huyang moved (he didn't walk though!) and spoke with David Tennant's voice

These are the droids I was looking for

Deadpool dance class

"You now have fifteen seconds to comply." Robocop's ED-209 was quite threatening

"Beam me up!"

"This is The Way!"

Rachel snuck into Andy's room to play with Woody and Buzz

"The claw! The claw!"

Just chillin' with Thanos before we destroy the Universe

Radio-controlled baby droids to play with

Lightning McQueen

Our shockingly conservative haul from the day

Much to my (and Rachel's) amazement I didn't actually buy anything at the show (although there was some great art, action figures, and prop replicas that caught my eye), although I did get a free 28mm goblin from a man promoting promoting his self-published fantasy novel.

Rachel treated herself to a "Trust Me, I'm A Dogtor" pin badge to go on her NHS lanyard.

We may have stayed for only an hour, but we had a great time.

The only minor quibble I would point out is that for a COMIC convention, there was no one selling actual comics, which was a shame.

The Salvation (2014)

No genre quite embraces the revenge story like westerns.

Danish immigrant Jon Jensen (Mads 'Hannibal' Mikkelsen) has worked for seven years preparing his farm and raising the funds to ship his wife and child over from the motherland.

Unfortunately, on the day they arrive, and the family is traveling to Jon's home - that he shares with his laid-back brother Peter (Mikael Persbrandt), just outside the town of Black Creek - they end up sharing a stage coach with a couple of ne'er-do-wells with tragic consequences.

Jon, an ex-solider like his brother, quickly exacts revenge, but that's only the beginning of his troubles.

One of the men he kills (Once Upon A Time's Michael Raymond-James) happens to be the brother of the irredeemably loathsome land baron Colonel Henry Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, of Watchmen and Supernatural fame), an unbalanced ex-Indian killer, with ambitions to take over Black Creek.

Delarue, a gonzo pantomime villain of an antagonist, wants to buy up the town because of the oil beneath it that his paymasters have their beady eyes on.

He also lusts after his brother's mute wife, Madelaine (Penny Dreadful's Eva Green), and very quickly takes advantage of her loss.

Venting his anger on the townsfolk of Black Creek - which includes undertaker-mayor Nathan Keane (Jonathan Pryce) and sheriff-priest Mallick (Primeval's Douglas Henshall) - Delarue demands the capture of his brother's killer and it isn't long before the cowed inhabitants point the finger at Jon.

Despite aspiring to be the new Unforgiven, The Salvation is more spaghetti western in its execution (just check out the number of quirky, gimmicky deaths in the third act, for instance) with a script - from director Kristian Levring and co-writer Anders Thomas Jensen - that's not afraid to corral a few clichés along the way.

Eva Green's character, in particular, gets the short end of the stick, being little more than a trophy to be 'won' and whose development revolves around successive brutalisation until she is finally driven to fight back.

Given that Jon would have only known her as Delarue's sister-in-law and accountant, there's no real logic for why Jon saves her, mid-battle, from Delarue's lieutenant, The Corsican (ex-footballer Eric Cantona), except for the fact that she's Eva Green!

Shot in South Africa, The Salvation looks gorgeous, has great pacing and an ice cool central performance from Mads Mikklelsen - who really can do no wrong.

Plot wobbles and misogyny aside, The Salvation stands as a stylish, old school, western revenge movie.