It’s All About Image (The Image Revolution, 2016)

“We broke Batman’s back. We killed Superman.” – Rob Liefeld

The 90’s were an amazing time for comic books. It was the highlight of the speculator market, it was all about foil covers, and pouches. Characters with hundreds of pouches. In the early 90’s Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee were the top names. They each set records for the sales of X-Men and Spider-Man books.

Comics have a pretty sordid history when it comes to the treatment of their talent. Jack Kirby, the King of Comics, died pretty much at his desk to pay bills. He saw no compensation for co-creating characters like the Hulk and Fantastic Four.

The Image Revolution looks back on the moment a group of artists decided they had had enough. The mega-popular McFarlane was frustrated that Marvel was licensing products with his art…and he was not even getting a t-shirt out of it. McFarlane and Liefeld started recruiting the top Marvel Artists who all walked away from Marvel and DC to form Image Comics…a company where the creator ruled and owned their characters.

The documentary explores the highs and lows the group faced. They had very high highs, especially in proving their critics (who gave them six months at best) wrong. They broke sales records, found new talent, brought in other big names who wanted to do creator owned work. And then there were the lows, mostly ego and in-fighting…especially between Liefeld and Marc Silvestri.

It moves at a rapid pace, covering the twenty five year history. There are plenty of interesting and amusing anecdotes (how Robert Kirkman got Image to green light the Walking Dead comic book is quite funny). For comic fans, or people curious about the industry, the Image Revolution is a fun and informative watch about one of the biggest shakeups the industry has ever seen.

June 14, 2017 3

The Not So Fantastic Four (Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four, 2016)

You may think that there have been three Fantastic Four films. There were the two Tim Story film with Jessica Alba and Chris Evans…and the 2015 film with Miles Teller and Kate Mara. But there are tales of a first film, never seen by the world. Spoke in hushed tones. Okay, not really. There actually was a first movie made back in 1994. It was completed and even had release material. Outside of bootleg copies, the film has never seen the light of day.

The short version is that in the early 90’s, Marvel Comics was in real dire straights (they went into bankruptcy)…this resulted in them selling the film rights to multiple characters, such as Captain America, the Punisher and the Fantastic Four. The producer with the option for the Fantastic Four shopped the option around, finalizing a deal with the king of low budget film Roger Corman. The catch? Unknown to the cast and crew, This producer simply wanted to keep the rights. He had no plan to release the film.

But there is more to the story, and really? It is quite interesting. Doomed! The Untold Tale of Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four delves deeply into the story, giving the viewer insight into exactly how it all played out. With a cast of actors that were at least semi-recognizable at the time (and many who are still working today) such as Jay Underwood and Alex Hyde-White.

What stands out is that the director, cast and crew were dedicated to making a good movie…though one hindered by a tiny budget. The effects were limited and the story was not very strong…they never did ADR to make Joseph Culp’s Doctor Doom understandable. They hired a guy who claimed he was an effects supervisor on Independence Day…and they discovered…he was not.

The people behind the film were passionate, and it become clear that even Corman thought the film was going to be released. He was creating posters, button and trailers (I have a poster in storage somewhere, as well as a couple of the buttons). The people involved clearly wanted (and still want) the film to be seen. And there is a lot of hurt feelings involved, including some understandable bitterness towards Marvel Icon Stan Lee.

The film is a fascinating exploration of the passion that can go into film-making and when those hopes and big dreams get dashed. Even if you do not care about the Fantastic Four, this tale is epic and engaging. It is an effective documentary that can give you insight into the more heartbreaking side of film-making.

June 13, 2017 0

Love is the Weapon (Wonder Woman, 2017)

There has been a lot of hype declaring that Wonder Woman is the best of the DC movies so far. But that is not fair to the film. Wonder Woman only had to be mediocre to rise to the top. Wonder Woman is a much stronger film than that. While Batman and Superman have had multiple appearances on movie screens, this is Wonder Woman’s first film in her 25 year history. This in spite of the fact that she is an iconic character, she is part of DC’s “Holy Trinity” along with Batman and Superman.

It is no secret that despite financial success, the DC Cinematic Universe has hit a lot of speed bumps. There have been things to like in previous outings, but overall, the films had a dark oppressive tone and frankly, Snyder and Company really did not get Superman at all. One of the big pluses of Batman V Superman was, in fact Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. Enough so that I felt encouraged by the film. It help that it was in the hands of a director other than Snyder.

And what do you know? It worked. Wonder Woman is an origin tale, which is no surprise. But the film opens with a beautiful sense of awe on the island of Themyscira (or as Steve Trevor calls it “Paradise Island”). We see warriors training, being watched by young Diana. She want to learn to fight, but her mother Hippolyta is adamant she will not be trained. As time passes, Diana learns combat in secret, much to the disappointment of her mother. Hippolyta eventually relents, but demands Diana be trained harder than any Amazon before her.

When a pilot on the run from the Germans crashes into the ocean near Themyscira it is clear that the war (World War 1) may come to them. Diana makes impassioned pleas to her mother that the Amazon’s must step in and join the war. In the end, she sneaks off the Island with Trevor to find and destroy the Greek god of war, Ares.

Diana is cast in the role of wide eyed innocent in a world she does not quite understand. And the film follows largely in suit. She has moments of child like wonder. For example, sshe sees a baby-something she never saw on her island home-home and instantly wants to run over to it. She tastes ice cream and tells the vendor that they should be very proud. Even the sexual humor is polite in this film. Yet, the innocence is not at the expense of Wonder Woman’s character. No, it is integral to her nobility. She believes the best. She believes mankind was created to be good and noble, only corrupted by Ares’ cruel nature. And then she must come to terms with the fact that this may not be the case. Mankind may be capable of both greatness and the worst.

It is the little moments of goodness that start to drive Diana, as she sees the small treasures in the band of mercenaries she and Steve are saddled with. At one point, one of the men buckles in combat, unable to do the one thing he was brought there to do. When he suggests they leave him behind, Diana looks to him with a gentle smile and asks who would sing for them? This instantly changes his spirit. And that is the thing with Wonder Woman. She is a fierce warrior. She is powerful and dangerous. But she is driven by kindness. She is drive by love. She is driven by hope. And that is something that was missing in the DC Cinematic Universe. A *hopeful* tone. This is what the first Wonder Woman movie brought us. Light in a dark movie universe.

There was a lot of talk about how Warner Brothers took a real gamble on Patty Jenkins as director. That is a whole other discussion. But if it was a gamble? It paid off. And Gal Gadot is proving herself to be the right choice for the role. She has grace and kindness, but is equally convincing as a warrior.

Wonder Woman is most certainly the best DC film, in large part due to the fact that it really understands it’s hero.

June 2, 2017 0

Father-Son Bonding (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, 2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy was a bit of a risk for Marvel Studios. It was really their first film that had little name recognition. It also was their first film not closely tied to the Avengers. And yet, under the guidance of James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy succeeded with a healthy dose of humor and action. Towards the end of the film, Yondu mentions knowing who Starlord’s father is. In this sequel, we meet dear old dad.

While fighting an inter-dimensional beast, Rocket steals some batteries from the Sovereign. This results in a chase through space that culminates in Starlord meeting his father Ego. Ego is a “living” planet. He has a human avatar who sired Starlord. In the meantime, they are being hunted by Yondu and the Ravagers to collect a bounty for the Guardian set by the Sovereign.

Volume 2 carries forward with the same tone and attitude of the first film, making it a lot of fun to watch. The opening credits are a blast to watch. Easily one of the best opening sequences for a comic book film. The cast has really come together and it shows in their performances.

The new cast adds to the fun, with Kurt Russell being a high point for…well being Kurt Russell. He is one of those actors you hire because you want a “type” that is specific to a particular actor. Call it the Goldblum Effect if you will. You hire Jeff Goldblum for a movie because you want a “Jeff Goldblum Type”.

In addition, Sylvester Stallone, Ving Rhames and Michelle Yoeh have small but pivotal roles (obviously setting up Volume 3). The film is full of blink and you might miss it fan service, but with James Gunn, it is not distracting (for the most part) and for people unfamiliar with the comics will be unnoticed.

Of course, the soundtrack is integral to this film, each song clearly chosen carefully by Gunn. Marvel was wise to stick with Gunn for the Guardians brand because he has a very specific vision that allows these films to stand out from the Marvel Pack.

A lot of the humor this time around is coming from Drax (Dave Bautista) and Baby Groot. Some of the more surprising emotion comes from Michael Rooker’s Yondu.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 can be pretty intense and it is not really for young kids. But teens and adults alike will find a lot to enjoy here. Personally, I found Volume 2 to be a very fun film-going experience and find myself anticipating the next outing.

Oh, and by the way…there are five mid to post credit scenes. So do not get up and head for the door right away.

May 11, 2017 0

Lost to An Alternate Universe?

So, the day Sony and Disney drop the new Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer (which was met with a pretty positive response) producer Amy Pascal drops the bomb.

One of the things that I think is so amazing about this experience is that you don’t have studios deciding to work together to make a film very often.

In fact, it may never happen again–after we do the sequel.

It appears Sony is hoping to pull Peter back into their fold-out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We probably should have seen this coming, after Sony announced plans for their own Spider-Verse, starting with an ‘R’ rated Venom movie. Sony and Pascal seem to be misreading this situation.

Sony had some success in 2002 and 2004 with the Spider-Man franchise when it was headed by Sam Raimi. But after the mess of Spider-Man 3 and then a somewhat lackluster reboot…Sony was floundering. They made the deal with Disney after the big hack two years ago humiliated the studio.

Marvel Studios, on the other hand, won praise for Peter Parker’s appearance in Captain America: Civil War. The previous incarnations of Spider-Man tended to get aspects right, but Marvel’s team pretty much got it all right.

And I suspect that everything that looks so good about Spider-Man: Homecoming is from the Marvel Studio’s side. Backing out and taking him out after the next sequel and Avengers: Infinity War would be a mistake. Sony will, no doubt, mess up their progress. To remove him from the MCU just to start their own Marvel Universe? Not a wise decision.

If Sony insists on starting their own Spider-Verse. I propose the following…

Leave Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper. Let Marvel continue to handle him. Instead, create your Sony MCU around Miles Morales from Ultimate Spider-Man. Sony can double their money and have their alternate Spider-Man themed MCU. And fans get to see Spider-Man remain in the MCU.

March 29, 2017 0

Something Strange Going On That Wasn’t Here Before (Doctor Strange, 2016)

Every now and then, Marvel Studios opts for a riskier venture for their tent-pole pictures. In some cases, such as Thor, the risk is levied by the Avenger’s Connection. But sometimes, that connection is much thinner. Guardians of the Galaxy and now Doctor Strange.

And what we have here is another Guardians of the Galaxy result. Doctor Strange is an exciting, emotional, funny trip of a film. Benedict Cumberbatch carries an arrogance early on in the film. Stephen Strange is a truly prideful man, but he has very carefully crafted an image. When that is all taken away, at the end of his rope, he finds a man that had, similarly faced bodily destruction and appeared to have fully recovered. He is pointed towards Katmandu and a place called Kamar-Taj. There he encounters the Ancient One who, with her followers Mordo and Wong, begin to train Strange.

Meanwhile, the rebel Kaecilius and his disciples are trying to for ever alter reality. Doctor Strange finds himself in the “New York Branch” which leads to battles with Kaecilius and his minions. With Strange Mordo and Wong coming to a final fight with Kaecilius.

The movie manages to skirt the line of seriousness, but an undercurrent of humor. The humor is dryer than other Marvel films, but it works, as often Strange finds his attempts at humor falling flat with Wong. There is a fun payoff with that one.

It is hard to ignore the impressive visuals. Early trailers made things look like it was ripping off Inception. But Derrickson and his team actually gave us much more. The film brings to life those trippy multidimensional visuals that Steve Ditko drew in the 60’s with a beautiful and lush feel.

There has been a lot of controversy over the issue of Tilda Swinton playing the Asian One. In the comics the character was Asian. And yeah, it was a pretty blatant “Mystical Asian” stereotype. Which is what resulted in the choice to cast Swinton. The film does overcome this. But as written? They easily could have cast and Asian actor in the role. There are not a ton of major roles for Asian actors. Avoiding stereotypes is done in the script and performance. And I believe this film would have successfully avoided the stereotype, without making one less role for Asian actors. I do not believe racism was at Derrickson and his casting teams heart. I suspect it was an attempt to avoid the very issue of racism. I think they made a choice I would not. But Swinton is entertaining in the film.

Doctor Strange is one of Marvel’s strongest entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is certainly yet another origin story, but it is handled so very well. It also has no requirement that you be familiar with the character. You can enter the film with zero knowledge of the character and fully enjoy this film.

November 5, 2016 0

Rebellious Teens (Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015)

As with every sequel, things must get bigger and louder. Unlike the first film, the danger really comes from within. Tony is obsessed with changing the way things are done by building a peace keeping for that will put an end to the need for the Avengers. He has been working on an A.I. to watch over the world and prevent tragedy. Even as the Avengers are in action, he has Iron Man like robots trying to do crowd control. But the people are not as confident.

When Tony gets access to some Asgardian technology, he recklessly uses it to try and jump a hurdle with his A.I.’s processing power. Of course it goes wrong, resulting in a mad child called Ultron. Ultron constantly works to better himself. And one goal is to put an end to the Avengers. Not quite in the way Tony anticipated…he was thinking retirement. Ultron is thinking annihilation. To better reach those ends, he brings brother and sister Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. The orphans consented to Hydra experiments that have given them super-powers. Pietro is the super-fast Quicksilver and Wanda has reality warping powers.

In a confrontation with Ultron, the Scarlet Witch manipulates several Avengers, including the Hulk who goes on a rampage. Eventually the reveal of Ultron’s plans (including wiping out the human race) horrifies his cohorts. His continuing evolution actually leads to the introduction of a new character for the MCU. The Vision is introduced when the Mind Stone and lightening (along with the Jarvis AI) are combined to create the Vision.

Age of Ultron tries to be the Empire Strikes back, and is certainly loaded with darker themes than the previous films. The performances are strong, and when the Scarlet Witch exposes Iron, Cap, Black Widow, Thor and the Hulk to their greatest fears of their past or potential futures, it threatens to break their bond apart.

The action is top notch. There are several excellent and memorable fight sequences. The jokes mostly land (but who thought it was a good idea for Tony to suggest if he can lift Thor’s hammer that he would reinstate the practice of kings sleeping with new brides on their wedding night). There are a couple running jokes that can be particularly entertain. The running gag about lifting Thor’s Hammer (which has a very good payoff) is especially fun.

The movie gives more attention to Hawkeye. There was talk that Renner was very frustrated with the path the character took in the first Avengers. This may be Whedon’s way of saying “sorry” to Renner. It also establishes firmly the friendship with Natasha.

The effects are very good. Vision looks very close to his comic book counterpart, without looking to fake. Yet he is slightly unnatural. Which is kind of the point. Bettany gives life to the role. It only took his seven years to be more than a voice-over (now he is a motion capture voice-over).

The film faced some criticism over Natasha calling herself a monster to Bruce Banner. Some viewers felt the takeaway was that Natasha saw herself as a monster due to being sterilized. I don’t know that I accept it was that clear cut. Because the film is quite direct that it is the idea that she was a cold and efficient killer, and the folks who sterilized her believed this would make her that cold and efficient killer. But I will agree it was somewhat clumsy in the writing, and Whedon deserves the credit for that.

In the end, I enjoyed this second outing with the Avengers. It has some weak points, but nothing that ruined the overall enjoyment.

September 30, 2016 0

I Will Avenge Thee (the Avengers, 2012)

The Avengers was the culmination of four years of effort on the part of Marvel Studios. They worked to establish their interconnected Universe building up to this. People were excited and the Marvel Machine had primarily seen success with their films leading up to this. The first hiccup was losing Edward Norton. Ed and Marvel could not come to an agreement for the Avengers. So Marvel brought in the likable Mark Ruffalo. The other big announcement was that Joss Whedon would direct. He did not have that many movies under his belt, but he did have a few beloved television series, so as an overseer for the Cinematic Universe, he seemed well suited.

Loki is the central villain of the film, working with an alien race called the Chitari. The film moves quickly to introduce the core members to each other, with a brief but exciting “Heroes meet, misunderstand the situation and fight” sequence. This is an old comic book trope, and Whedon makes it work, and does not drag it out.

Once the heroes are brought together, they capture Loki who has a devious plan. His escape leaves the team in shambles and a supporting character dead (but don’t worry, he got better for the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series). This, of course, encourages the heroes to band together and defeat Loki and stop the alien invasion.

Whedon proves himself to be quite skilled with both small moments and spectacle. The final battle is exciting and full of grand heroics as Captain America takes charge. We see him as a wise strategist. When a police officer questions why they should listen to his instruction, he takes out an alien assault, no questions as the officer starts telling his men to implement Cap’s plan.

The introduction of Black Widow is pretty classic. It is one of those “damsel in Distress” sequences where you realize the bad guys never had a chance. The cast has an amazing amount of chemistry. Even their bickering is engaging. The film has the rapid quippy dialog Whedon is known for in shows like Buffy and Firefly. Ruffalo fits in to the crew seamlessly. As much as I like Norton and his Bruce Banner, Ruffalo manages to make the character all his own. It is all quite engaging.

I feel the biggest lapse in judgement is having Hawkeye spend the first half of the film as a possessed lackey of Loki. It just feels like the character deserves better than that.

While there is weight of imminent destruction, the film never gets too dark. You have lighter moments to even it all out. The Avengers was overall a great success that is a lot of fun to watch.

September 29, 2016 0

In From the Cold (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2014)

The success of both the first film and the Avengers, Captain America was bound to return. While the First Avenger had a straight forward black and white approach (not to hard when your villains are Nazis) the Winter Soldier is about how far the world has fallen. Steve’s values are clashing with even the good guys. He is starting to doubt his missions and his teammates.

The one bright spot is his meeting Sam Wilson, who works with vets in dealing with their experiences and return to civilian life. Steve is also trying to keep the trust with Natasha (Black Widow). Meanwhile, Nick Fury seems to be hiding secrets from Cap and the government to boot.

When Alexander Peirce calls for Captain America to be arrested for Treason, the movie shifts into hero on the run trying expose a conspiracy.

This film shakes up the status quo of the Marvel Cinematic Universe* with it’s deep dark conspiracy based plot line. The primary heme is “Who can you trust?” And overall it it is handled pretty well. There are some spectacular action sequences, especially the close quarters of an elevator. The film has a lot of humor, considering the plot.

The cast is full of charm. Anthony Mackie’s Falcon is a blast (and off-screen comments indicate Mackie has had a blast playing the character). Of course, Chris Evans makes a noble and heroic man out of time. As Black Widow, Johansson is getting a change to build on the role from the Avengers. Robert Redford brings a certain gravitas of an elder statesman.

This is a strong and exciting entry in the franchise, and is a nice companion to the First Avenger.

*well, it did for ten minutes. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pretty much put S.H.I.E.L.D. back in play.

September 28, 2016 0

Marvel Begins (Captain America: The First Avenger, 2011)

Captain America was a hotly debated character for the Marvel Films. Could a character so tied to American Nationalism be a hero the world loved? Joe Johnston (who directed Disney’s fun comic book movie the Rocketeer 20 years earlier) was brought in and found a way to make that answer be yes. Among the choices made were to set the film in World War 2, rather than begin in Present day. Chris Evans was hired on to play Steve Rogers. This was not his first foray into a Marvel Property, He was Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) in the 2005 and 2007 Fantastic Four Films. He was also one of the Evil Exes in Edgar Wright’s adaption of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim graphic novels.

The film quickly establishes Steve Rogers as heroic, in spite of his physical weakness. He will take a beating. Standing up for him is his buddy ‘Bucky’ Barnes. This is one of the film’s biggest deviations. In the comics, Bucky was a teen sidekick to Captain America. The filmmakers (rightly) realized that may not play so well. And there is a twist to having Bucky go from Steve’s savior to needing saving by Steve. Steve’s multiple rejections by the military catch the attention of a part of our military that is looking for someone to be a part of an experiment. While many try, scrawny Steve Rogers keeps managing to stand out, not by his physical prowess, but by ingenuity. This catches the eye of British officer Peggy Carter.

One of the things the movie does so well is that they avoid tropes. Peggy and Steve are smitten before his transformation. She is impressed by who he is, not what he is. It would have been easy to make her yet another obstacle for her to notice only after he is physically altered. And yet, due to a terror incident that destroys the remaining Super Soldier serum, Steve is still unable to see combat. Instead, he is reduced to a promoter of War Bonds and propaganda.

Evans really sells Roger’s frustration and even feelings of humiliation. But while on a USO tour, he ends up making a big save, convincing the military they need him. This leads to crossing paths with the Red Skull, who is determined to rule the world through Hydra. Hydra begins as an arm of the Nazis, but has it’s own goals.

The film ultimately hangs on Evans to sell the character of Captain America, and boy does he sell it. He comes off as kind, dedicated to justice and most of all, simply heroic. He is supported but a great cast of actors. Tommy Lee Jones is perfectly cast as Colonel Phillips. Hugo Weaving got one of the better villain roles, since he gets to simply be Nazi Evil Incarnate. The movie makes the choice to introduce the Howling Commandos (Sans Nick Fury) as the team that works with Cap. They are an entertaining bunch.

But the standout is Haley Atwell. She is more than Cap’s love interest. She is a tough and clever military officer. But at the same time? She and Evans have a real solid chemistry, and when the film reaches it’s inevitable conclusion, their exchange (certain Steve is heading to his death) is heartbreaking.

Johnston gives us a terrific film that stands on it’s own, even if part of it’s purpose is to set up the first Avengers film.

September 27, 2016 0