Superman II the Remix (Superman II, The Donner Cut, 2006)

Assemble almost 30 years later, the Donner cut restores the original footage Donner shot and also uses some of the Lester material to fill in the blanks. It was not assembled by Donner, but it had his blessing.

And in many, many ways, it improves the movie. Gone are the weird additional powers. Gone is the opening Eiffel Tower sequence. Instead we have Lois trying to prove Clark Kent is Superman by jumping out a window of the Daily Planet. Which is pretty absurd. In a way, it is reminiscent of the Bible story where Satan tries to Tempt Jesus by suggesting if he jumps off the temple, Angels will save him. And this is not Lois being a smart reporter, this is her doing something dumb.

The stuff that works, works very well and make this a pretty fun watch. But some of the additions are problematic. While the Super-Kiss to rob Lois of her memory is gone, Superman’s resolution is to fly the world backwards. As I noted in the Review of Superman the Movie, this bit was meant to be the ending of Superman II. As they had no ending shot by Donner, they re-use the sequence, and he reverses time to the point that the Kryptonian criminals are again trapped in the Phantom Zone once more. But this creates all sorts of problems. Superman is supposedly making it so the entire second film never happens. The criminals never get loose, Clark never reveals his identity to Lois, they never visit the cafe. Yet Clark goes back to the Cafe and beats up the trucker. Who must have no idea why a guy he has never seen before walked in and started insulting him. This is not Superman.

And reversing time does not mean the cycle won’t begin again, unless Superman avoids the situation that freed Zod, Ursa and Non in the first place. End why should we have cared about any of it if Superman completely undoes everything? So, even the Donner cut has problems. Superman still causes a lot of destruction in his fight with his Kryptonian foes. They still lose their powers and get kills by Superman and Lois. I am told the novelization claims they survived…apparently they landed on pillows or something…but the novelization is not the movie. It is pretty obvious they are dead.

So, why more entertaining and slightly less frustrating than Lester’s cut, the Donner Cut is plenty flawed on it’s own.

August 10, 2016 0

Bring on the Bad Guys (Superman 2, 1980)

Superman the Movie and Superman II were filmed back to back, but director Richard Lester came in when there was friction between the Salkinds and Donner. He threw out a lot of what Donner filmed and started over. Remember Zod and his Cronies? They are still floating through space in the Phantom Zone. When Superman thwarts a terrorist plot by launching a bomb into space, they are set free and make their way to earth.

Superman 2 is often held up as a standard of great sequels and a great super-hero film. Unfortunately, it is not. The film has Superman (and Zod, Ursa and Non) developing random powers and weapons. Their heat vision suddenly can be used as tractor beams, Superman’s logo can turn is a giant cellophane bag, they can shoot beams from their fingers.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some good points. The Villains are frightening at times. Terrance Stamp is menacing and arrogant, while Douglas plays Ursa with a disinterested flair. She is slightly amused by earthlings, but she could never care, she lacks all compassion.

There is a story in which Lois and Clark must pose as newlyweds. This leads to the reveal of Clark’s secret to Lois, which leads to them running off for romance. Superman and Lois hide away in the Fortress of Solitude, completely unaware of the arrival of the Kryptonian criminals. Superman realizes that to be with Lois, he must give up his power. He consults with his Mother Lara (well, a hologram of her and she shows him a machine that will bath him in the light of a red sun and make him human. You can see where this is going. When Lois and Clark start to make their way home, Clark tries to defend Lois at a cafe. A trucker beats the crap out of him. This moment is actually really well handled, Reeve really sells Clark’s startling realization that he is no longer the strongest man alive. But then Clark learns of Zod.

So, Superman’s human life is a short lived one. Even though the Fortress was damaged and he was told the process was irreversible… Clark gets his powers back off screen. This leads to a dramatic fight in the city. You know, for all the criticism Man of Steel gets for it’s destruction, Superman II has Superman carelessly throwing the criminals through building, the character beating each other into the ground and so on. There is little concern for the city.

One of the other good points is the duplicitous nature of Lex Luthor. Towards the beginning he breaks out of prison and then runs off to the Fortress of Solitude. He starts listening to the information from Lara…considering Lara can hold conversations with Superman, I am not sure why she cannot react to Lex. Luthor helps the Kryptonians attempt to take over the world (they promise to give him Australia). But when things look tough, he is quick to side with Superman (for Survival).

One of the big problems is the film has a Superkiss that robs Lois of her memories of who Superman is…and he also goes back to the cafe to humiliate the trucker. This is not Superman. And his character is tarnished for a joke. Superman II does not hold up, and is actually a weaker film than it’s predecessor. And more recent Super-hero films are vastly superior.

August 9, 2016 0

Young Superman(Superman the Movie, 1978)

Richard Donner’s Superman is often presented as a more upbeat and hopeful film than more recent Superhero efforts. And, in a lot of ways, it is a brighter view overall. Donner opens the film with life on Krypton. His version of Krypton has influenced countless versions of Superman. It became a ruling vision. And I get it…it is a society and world at it’s end. But the severely antiseptic frozen tundra look is actually unpleasant and does not really speak of an advanced society. Jor-El is introduced presiding over the trial of General Zod and his army. Well, him, Ursa and Non. Not really an army. What stands out was that in the middle of this trial, Zod tries to convince Jor-El to join him. And then they are zapped by a giant reflective record sleeve. Then, they never appear in the rest of the film.

Jor-El declare the planet is soon to die and is mocked by his fellow scientists who make him commit to staying on the planet. We all know the story, found by the Kents, young Kal El is raised as a typical Kansas kid. These moments are great. They show the thought the Kents have tried to install in their son. Clark’s struggle to not use his powers for only his gain is evident. Clark wants to be the football star and get dates with cheerleaders. But he also knows it would be a cheat to use his powers to succeed in that fashion. And when Pa Kent dies? Glenn Ford is barely on screen for any meaningful amount of time…and yet it is a real gut punch.

The Fortress of Solitude used to be a giant cave with a giant door. Now it is a spiky crystal building with no doors. Here he learns from holograms of his father. When he enters the world, he is ready to be Superman. One of the things Donner did right is that he fills the film with Superman…an it is Superman saving people over and over again. Sure, he stops crime as well, but saving people is his main gig.

Lois Lane is shown as a tough reporter (who cannot spell) who has little notice of new Reporter Clark Kent, but then swoons when Superman appears on the screen. This is not a negative, for one thing, she still follows her instincts when Superman shows up for an interview, clearly smitten with her. Kidder and Reeve have terrific chemistry in the film and Lois is fun and daring.

We are introduced to Lex Luthor via his bumbling lackey Otis. Ned Beatty is entertaining, though a bit over the top in his mindlessness. Hackman’s Luthor is a change from the comics of the time. He is still brilliant, but instead of super armor, he is simply a criminal mastermind. It is a bit over the top, but Hackman makes it work. The third spoke in the wheel is Valerie Perrine’s Miss Tessmacher. I am unsure exactly what her purpose is. I mean, Perrine is undeniably sexy in the role and appears in a variety of revealing outfits. But she seems distant for a girlfriend, and yet a lot of what she does is lounge around. She does play the role of “distraction”in part of Luthor’s plan. Oh, and that plan…

Luthor is planning to make a land grab…this becomes a running thing for him in the movies. He plans to blow California off the map and sell land. I do not see how this really would be an effective plan. Seriously, the guy who stole two missiles from the army and used them to blow up a sizeable chunk of land is going to be able to own and sell land?

Superman is a pretty fun movie with a really impressive cast. The weakest moment is the weird “Superman spins the earth to Fix Things. This was actually meant for the sequel, which Donner was already filming alongside this film. But the studio wanted him to use it to give this a big bang of an ending.

But all in all, Superman the Movie is a fun film for kids of all ages.

August 8, 2016 1

Suicidal Tendencies (Suicide Squad, 2016)

After the cool reception to Batman V Superman from critics and fans alike (It has it’s supporters) DC and Warner Brother started providing hype for Suicide Squad to divert attention. Set to classic hard rock music the trailers screamed “This will be fun and exciting!”

Suicide Squad, for the uninitiated was a DC Comic written by John Ostrander (he actually was reviving an earlier comic, but the Suicide Squad as it is known now was Ostrander’s baby). It was a government task force that forced some of DC’s baddest villains to take high risk jobs for our government in return for reduced sentences. Of course, nobody was expected to survive long enough to get to take advantage of their reward. Not a bad idea.

The film always seemed out of place for the DC Cinematic Universe. We are actually meeting some of the enemies of heroes we have barely met. Including Suicide Squad? We have about two minutes of Flash time. I am including that Justice League trailer from SDCC. And this is actually one of the big problems with the film. They are trying to fill in so much information, we are bogged down with tons of background. The cast is pretty large, causing more than one character to get little to do. Killer Croc has a few moments, but gets little to do until the very end of the film.

I wondered how the Kitana character would fit in (she is not a villain in the comics). Here she is pretty much a baby-sitter until the final act. It feels more like they put her in the film in case they wanted to use her in the future and she would already be established.

The emphasis on the Joker and Harley Quinn relationship is that it…well, polishes up their relationship. We do get a moment that makes it clear that the Joker tortures Harley Quinn before she takes on the identity. The film apparently cut a lot of bit that really suggested the relationship was abusive. It could have been an interesting opportunity to have her standing against the Joker, but instead, she keeps running back to him. Harley Quinn is also often forced into the position of eye candy. The character has always had a sense of being…innocent. Like she just thinks she is being wacky and funny. Like when little kids insult grown up and are “only teasing”. One scene has her dressing in public, looking around and realize everyone is staring and then just asking “what?” Had Robbie not been stuck in outfits putting her on display throughout the film, that might have been more effectively funny.

Jared Leto’s Joker has been the source of much criticism and concern for many fans. I have run into many fans who were tired of him long before the film saw release. And I did feel like he was one of the weaker links of the film. Not because the performance was terrible…but rather the performance was inconsistent. He has an effective scary laugh which is barely used in the film. Sometimes he seems bored, but other times he is very menacing.

And yet, in spite of these things? I enjoyed the film quite a bit. I felt it worked far better than Man of Steel or Batman V Superman. Smith’s Deadshot is an interesting character who on the one hand is a deadly sharpshooter and a doting father. While not a wholly original dichotomy, it works pretty well here. Harley Quinn’s big focus is as the Joker’s Girlfriend. In spite of this, Robbie really captures the core of the character. She seems carefree, but yet dangerous. Almost sickeningly sweet, all while being thrilled by mayhem. Robbie is endlessly engaging. Viola Davis brought Amanda Waller to life in an amazing way. She was every bit as frightening as she should have been.

The big surprise for me was Diablo. I went in knowing next to nothing about him other than he was the fire guy. His character is a pacifist refusing to use his power for fear he will lose control and kill people.

The action is pretty easy to follow as it unfolds on the screen, and aside from the obligatory slow motion shot towards the end, is exciting to watch. The fact that you really have a bunch of characters that want nothing more to walk away makes a “Let’s Do this” speech entering into the final act really tough. Yet, somehow, the group choosing to act as a team works.

The rumor is that a lot of the humor was from re-shoots demanded by Warner Brothers. If that is the case, good call from Warner Brothers. The film peppers humor through out the film that works effectively at keeping the characters likeable. I know that there have been some real rough reviews…but I avoided reading them so far because I wanted to see the film without pre-set expectations of terribleness. And I walked out entertained. I am not saying it is a great film. Of the Super-hero films we have had this year? I still give it to Captain America: Civil War. But I had fun, and that can be hard to say with DC films as of late.

August 7, 2016 0

David Ayers and Iconography

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:

August 7, 2016 0

The Problem of Harley Quinn

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:

Harley_Quinn_Character_Sheet — Art by Paul Dini

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.

Harley_Quinn_Dodson — Art by Terry and Rachel Dodson

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:

Harley-Quinn-Suicide-Squad-Cover — Art by Ryan Benjamin

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:

Harley-Quinn-Power-Girl — Art by Amanda Conner

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)

August 6, 2016 0

Alien Bomb Coming Through! (Transformers: Age of Extinction, 2015)

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.

August 5, 2016 0

Moonshine (Transformers: Dark of the Moon,2011)

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.

August 4, 2016 0

What Script? (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2009)

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.

August 3, 2016 0

It Meets The Eye (Transformers, 2007)

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.

August 2, 2016 2