Margot Robbie went to David Ayers expressing discomfort with her Harley Quinn outfit in Suicide Squad. He shot this down, arguing that they needed to show fidelity to Harley’s costume iconography.
Here are other characters where Ayer’s showed his fidelity to the comics iconography:
Captain Boomerang:
Slipknot:
Enchantress:
Warner Brothers is pinning a lot of hopes on Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. They have already started talk of her next film. If it happens, they better bring along Poison Ivy.
Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini for Batman the Animated Series. She was a part of Jokers gang and soon filled the role of “Joker’s Girlfriend”. Her history was that she was a psychologist who fell in love with her patient…the Joker. She walked away from her career to a life of crime with her Puddin’. In the cartoons? This worked. The Batman Rogues Gallery were not running around murdering people. So, even the Joker was a bit lighter. People loved Harley Quinn (Kevin Smith named his Daughter Harley Quinn Smith) and she grew in popularity. Harley Quinn looked like this:
Initially, her introduction to comics was through Paul Dini created Batman the Animated Series comics. But eventually she was brought into the DC Universe proper. With art by Terry and Rachel Dodson, Harley still captured a lot of what people loved. She was kind of adorably sweet, though dangerous. And she kept her costume.
They also started moving her away from her close ties to the Joker. In the comics? Joker has pretty always been a maniacal murderer. He is a pretty horrifying character. This led to an attempt to make her into an anti-hero…one who succeeds-while trying to commit crimes. But it makes the character more of a trauma survivor-who survived by becoming more fractured emotionally…but whether this was handled well is up for debate.
DC reinvented their Universe in a line wide reboot dubbed the New 52. This brought about some changes to Harley and the most noticeable was this:
Her costume was now highly sexualized, which seemed counter intuitive to the character. All too often, comic books use “sexy” as code for “bad”. Characters who have upped the anti a bit. The sexier they dress, the more deviant they must be. In the New 52 Harley killed children, along with dressing a bit kinkier. In fairness, Amanda Conner has adjusted her Costume a bit:
Conner is part of a select group of artists who create “Good Girl Art” and receives more praise than criticism for their cheesecake. But I digress…The New 52 Joker was even creepier and homicidal in some ways…which forced an updating to Harley being more vicious. Any innocence to her character was removed.
Suicide Squad hits theaters with Margot Robbie in the role of Harley Quinn.
She clearly has a lot in common with the newer incarnations and the film made sure to heavily tie her to the Joker (even if he is not a prominent presence in the film). And the previews made appear that her personality was a bit more like a teenager lashing out at strict parent. I will say, Robbie does a solid job with the character in the film. She has expressed discomfort with the clothes in the movie. The iconography of her costume is not the corset and short shorts, and the fact that the filmmakers don’t get that…well…
The film struggles with her in the same way the comics often have. How to make her sympathetic when she is in love with a homicidal criminal? The film gives us a Harley who is a victim, yet can be unsympathetic in a way that is frustrating. It makes Quinn seem weak and trapped, in spite of the film’s portraying her as stronger without the Joker. It may have been better to leave the Joker out of it outside of a flashback or two.
Harley will always be a somewhat divisive character, but it really depends on if they cut her loose from the shadow of the Joker or not.
(Featured Image is by Alex Ross)
The title of the review comes from an actual line in the film. Of course, nothing seems to challenge Michael Bay’s toy based Franchise…as of this writing there are three more films (one being a Bumblebee spinoff film) in the pipeline. There is no stopping it…not even this film. It picks up ten years after the destruction in Chicago. They have repaired and now the government is trying to wipe the Autobots and Decepticons out entirely. To that end they have a space robot helping them who has an agenda of his own.
Nobody knows where Optimus Prime is…and it turns out he suffered massive damage and is now asleep in an abandoned movie theater. He is found by failing inventor Cade. Cade and his hot daughter are on the verge of losing their house. His friend Lucas, hot daughter Tessa and her street racer boyfriend escape their house after government agents show up to claim Optimus Prime (who Cade revived). Much of the film seems to be going in the direct of Cade finally being less distrustful of his daughter and accepting her boyfriend Shane. Shane shows himself to be highly competent throughout much of the film. So it makes sense that maybe they become friends.
They discover that businessman/genius has been building his own robots, his pride and joy being Galvatron. You can probably see where this goes way wrong. Eventually he teams with Cade to save the planet from a bomb left by the Robot Bounty Hunter who reveals that the folks who created the Autobots and Decepticons want to take them back and get rid of them. Basically, it is the plot from Prometheus.
Remember my thoughts on Cade and his relationship to his daughter and her boyfriend? Boy was I wrong. For some reason they opted to make Shane totally incompetent and a complete fool that Cade has to suffer through. And when Cade saves the days? His daughter grabs her boyfriend and gives him all the credit for saving them. It is a sudden and unnecessary character change to make Cade look good, but it just does not work in any way. It is not even funny.
This is a better film than Revenge of the Fallen, but then, that is not saying much. But it does have Optimus Prime Riding a Robotic T-Rex.
So the Autobots came to earth in an attempt to escape with a weapon the Decepticons wanted. It was lost when it bumped into our moon. On board is Sentinal Prime. Turns out when they established Optimus was the Last Prime in the previous film…it was incorrect.
Sam is no longer with Mikaela, instead he lives with his new hot girlfriend who is introduced to the audience with a five minute tracking shot focused solely on her ass. Because what better way to introduce you cast member. It is not presented with any eye of satire or self criticism. The Autobot’s relationship with the Government is a bit stressed, and when there is a betrayal, the Decepticons make a threat to the world to get rid of the Autobots. Chicago is totaled as they take over.
Again, the effects look great and the cast is absurdly good. Frances McDormand, Alan Tudyk, Leonard Nimoy and John Malkovich join the mostly returning cast. But the frustrating thing here is that some of the characterization feels off. The fact that Sam is still lacking any confidence is tremendously nervous is tiring. He is a goof, yet (among other things) gets stunning girlfriends and has directly saved the world twice before this film. There is no evidence that people think he is a joke, so the idea he cannot get a higher level job than a mail-room clerk is hard to believe. The character has not grown at all since his introduction in 2007.
In the beginning, Optimus Prime is pretty in character as a noble leader and warrior. But towards the end of the film he lets thousands die to teach Earth a lesson about how needed the Autobots are. He coldly kills characters who are surrendering and begging for mercy.
I noted in the Revenge of the Fallen review that Fox was gone after that. According to production interviews with Bay the reason Fox was gone? She looked different when she came in for the third film. He heavily implies that she had enough surgery that she looked nothing like her character anymore. Bay laments that “for some reason” women in the entertainment industry feel a need to “change their looks”. Has Michael Bay actually seen one of his movies? Because if he has, he might get a clue as to why actresses “change their appearance”. And to replace Fox? He hired a model (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) who had never acted before. Because being an actress is unnecessary for a Michael Bay film.
The story is another revision to the series…every film to this point revises why the Autobots and Decepticons are here. The effects and stunts are the high point. And that is about it. Maybe these are the best they can do with a toy robot collection. But that should not be the case. Creativity should be possible, even with a toy based franchise.
The story goes that they started filming the movie without a full script. Not a rough script…an unfinished script lacking an end…among other things. It is a real mess of ideas and makes for a completely incoherent film. Sam goes to college, leaves Mikaela behind until the action kicks in. And the army guys and Autobots are a team. Remember how the Autobots came to Earth for the All Spark? Wait, it is not why…now they came to stop the Fallen, who came to earth thousands of years ago. And Optimus Prime is Autobot Jesus. There are black stereotype Autobots (what is it woth Bay and race based “humor”?). The film brings in the Constructicons who make one big vacuum cleaner.
The cast is, as before quite good. But they seem lost and unsure where they are going…I almost expect to see a script supervisor to run into frame and hand people pages with their updated lines and story. The mess has great effect, but raises weird questions. The Decepticons send a sexy girl to go after Sam. She looks and apparently feels human to the touch…if this is a possibility…um, why are they turning into cars and planes and tape decks?!
Why?
This is the film that got Megan Fox in trouble…she called Bay Hitler. And word is Producer Steven Spielberg sent her packing. But I suspect it was different than that. Bay sticks with the Cleavage and Explosions formula. But in the end…nothing save this from being a complete implosion of a film.
When it was announced that there was a live action Transformers movie on the way, former kids everywhere rejoiced. Even when it was announced that Eye Candy & Explosions Master Michael Bay was directing the film, we did not let that stop our hopes for “Awesome”. The final product? Well, I guess it as as good as any Alien Robots That Turn Into Cars and Stuff movie could be.
Introducing us to Sam Witwicky…in the old cartoons there was a Witwicky, but if they are meant to be related or if it is just a fan service thing…I don’t know. Sam is a …uh…jittery and nervous kind of guy. He has his heart set on Mikaela…who hangs with a different crowd. Unfortunately robots who turn into cars totally interfere.
It is hard to sum the film up, as the cast is huge. HUUUUUGE. There are army guys, secret undercover agents. Sam’s overbearing parents. Hackers (Cute Blonde and antsy black guy). Racial Stereotypes abound. In some way, most of them come together and help the Autobots fight the Decepticons.
Bay hires a lot of actresses for their eye candy factor. When an attractive girl is on screen, the camera lingers as he makes her pose. I can just hear him telling Megan Fox as she is looking over a car engine “Lean forward a little more!” The Autobots came to earth to find the “All Spark” and we humans have been hiding it. Okay…that is the basic plot. Plus cleavage and explosions.
Remember that huge cast? One thing that blows my mind is how Bay can populate his films with solid actors. I mean, Armageddon had a cast made up almost entirely of indie movie actors and Bruce Willis. The script is not confusing, but it takes awhile to come together as a whole.
The robots look quite good. And it is fun that they cast Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime) and Charlie Adler (Starscream) reprise their roles from the 80’s cartoon. The film can be very exciting and it is a real effects spectacle. Light on plot and characterization, it may be okay for a mindless evening.
Days of Future Past is a well loved storyline where Kitty Pryde is thrust into a future where Mutants are herded in camps, marked and in some cases killed. They are hunted by giant robots called Sentinels. And for the most part, Days of Future Past keeps these ideas. Except the film begins in the future and instead of Kitty Pryde going to the future, they send Wolverine back in time to stop it from ever happening. Kitty Pryde is still a part of this, as she can use her phasing ability to phase people through time. Only to a few days earlier, so they are playing a cat and mouse game with the Sentinels finding their hideout, Kitty sending Bishop back in time to warn them. They decide they need to go farther back, but it is to taxing on Kitty and the brain of the person she sends back. Wolverine volunteers to go, arguing his healing factor makes him the best choice.
Wolverine awakes in the 70’s and finds that the School Xavier opened is in shambles…there are no students. Xavier is addicted to a drug that allows him to walk, but also prevents him from using his powers. Beast is also there as his aide. They do not initially buy Wolverines arguments, but he eventually persuades them to the cause. They are trying to stop Mystique from assassinating Bolivar Trask. Trask is the creator of the Sentinels and he has been using mutants as part of his R&D. The research is fatal, and this is actually used to kill several characters from First Class off screen.
This is without a doubt one of the strongest films in the entire X-Men series. The return of Bryan Singer as director was clearly a smart choice. There is well timed humor and exciting action. We see the return of the original (still living cast). The future sequences are full of cool uses of power and we get new characters like Blink (who creates wormholes characters can escape through-the film is very inventive with these powers) and Warpath (a character from the 1970’s return of the X-Men comics). We have Storm and Iceman back. The films have always had a hard time placing Magneto on the side of evil and seeing real life friends Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan back together again.
And the new characters are pretty memorable. Quicksilver appears only a short time, but he totally steals every scene. He is funny and likeable. Peter Dinklage makes Trask a sympathetic and misguided villain. He is not simply evil…he is consumed by fear of what mutants mean for the human race. It does not make his actions acceptable. His choices are evil, but you can see what takes him there. William Stryker returns to the series and is trying to weaponize mutants, treating them as less than human already. The film is, of course, very Wolverine-centric.
There are two cuts of the film out on Blu-Ray. The theatrical cut eliminated Rogue entirely with the exception of the film’s final scene, even though they filmed several scenes focused on Rogue. The second is not a directors cut, it is the Rogue Cut and restores Rogue to the story. Both versions are good, but it is nice seeing the inclusion of Rogue and the important part she plays. It also brings things back to the first film and Rogue’s relationship to Wolverine.
The film has continuity issues in regards to the film series. One being how Patrick Stewart is back…it is a bit more focused on undoing X3 and “fixing a timeline”…which results in questions. Like First Class, Days of Future Past overcomes a lot of these questions while watching it. This film feels like the passing of the baton to the new cast (much in the way Star Trek Generations tried to do…but this does it oh so much better). It is, like X2, a film that has a strong identity that is built on strong performances.
Tripping Through Gateways 