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Archive for Comics

The Dark Knight Rises

Sep26

Title: The Dark Knight Rises

Cast: Christian Bale (Actor), Christopher Nolan (Director)

Genre: Comic Book

Watched:  September 22, 2012

Summary: Unrelenting dark

_

According to Box Office Mojo, the latest Batman film cost $250 million dollars to make. Some of these effects are understated, but this is certainly one of the largest scale movies in a long long time. Not only are there a bewildering array of main characters (many played by top actors), but the notable secondary roles are legion. Plus, the entire city of Gotham (New York reimagined) joins the cast. This is a big city movie that really feels like it’s in the big city.

It’s also dark. Unrelentingly and violently dark.

The plot itself is baroque to say the least. Lots of characters, lots of heroes, lots of villains, lots of ambiguity. Our main heavy, Bane, is a creepy truck of a man hidden behind a bizarre gas mask. Unlike the Joker, he has absolutely no sense of humor. He is, however, fairly frightening. His motives, even by the end of the movie, are cryptic. This is one of those stories where the villains have a ton of different plots in the works which serve mostly to set up grandiose scenes. I had the same feeling about the Joker’s machinations last time around. This year, the end goal, destroying Gotham with a nuclear bomb, sort of negates all the intermediate steps. Bane and crew seem to live by the mantra: “the journey is more important than the destination.”

This journey seems to involve taking over the city and creating an atmosphere of terrifying martial law. Plus locking Batman, who like all superheroes in their second or third film, is losing his powers, into a mysterious hole in India. There, because the existing six or so villains weren’t enough, he is visited by the shade of Ra’s Al Ghul.

Plot aside, it’s a very good film, bordering on great (if you like this sort of thing, and I do). The Hans Zimmer soundtrack is so dark and bombastic that it smooths over 99% of the problems, lending an epic quality to the whole proceedings. I’m not understating matters, as in Inception, the score is vital here. It creates the mood. It sells the scale. And there are some showcase crazy over-the-top scenes here. The opening with the airplane is pretty impressive, particularly as it tilts back and the wings rip off. Very Inception like, but taken to the next level (although I like Nolan’s more intellectual mind-bending prior film slightly better).

In TDKR, the acting is, for the most part, excellent. Bane is creepy, if a tad flat. Staples Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Liam Neesen deliver their usual slam dunks. Even in the midst of that star studded firmament, newcomers Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Blake/Robin) and Anne Hathaway (Selina/Catwoman) deliver with feisty charisma.

Overall, the film draws upon the Batman mythos and reinvents itself with a dark nihilistic 21st century zeitgeist. Stripped of camp, free of post-modern self-reference (which The Avengers is packed with), shorn of sentimentality, I’m not exactly sure what we’re left with. But Christopher Nolan pulls it off.

Spectacle is delivered.

For more Film reviews, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Dark Shadows – Why?
  2. Near Dark – The Hurt Coffin
By: agavin
Comments (25)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Art, Batman, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Comic book, Comics, Hans Zimmer, The Batman, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Warner Bros

The Amazing Spider-Man

Jul18

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man

Cast: Andrew Garfield (Actor), Emma Stone (Actor), Marc Webb (Director)

Genre: Comic Book

Watched:  July 9, 2012

Summary: Characters First! (9/10)

_

This new Spider-Man has to be one of the fastest reboots in film history. Ten years, just five since the wretched Spider-Man 3! So valuable is this franchise that in recent decades, Sony Pictures has only made money during Spider-Man years.

But the truth is, everyone loves a good origin story. Because of the quick reset, the new Spider-Man doesn’t look radically different technically or stylistically. If anything, the CGI is actually a tad more subtle, even though there is more of it. What the film does differently, is take a tighter even more Peter Parker centric view of the world.

The action scenes have been stripped down to make room for good stuff: character development. Not that there isn’t action, but the fights are the right length instead of being gratuitously overextended. And there is only one villain. The writing is strong and direct. We focus on Peter, his feelings, and his relationships: With his aunt and uncle, with his missing dad, with Gwen (the new MJ replacement), with his mentor/villain, etc. We focus on his life in high school before, then on the feelings of transformation as he becomes the webslinger. Certain elements are mostly dropped, like his photography and the entire Daily Bugle angle.

2012 has been a good year for comic book films. First The Avengers, then this. Maybe it’s karma, maybe it’s the fact that the director’s name is Webb, but it almost seems that Hollywood has learned to focus on story and character. But probably they just got lucky and picked talented filmmakers by accident.

The acting/casting is even better this time around too. Emma Stone is cute, perky, and has real personality and The Lizard isn’t too over-the-top (Wilhelm Dafoe, I’m looking at you!). But Andrew Garfield is the one who really steals the show. In the previous incarnation, only the second film really worked. The one with Doc Oct. The first started off strong, but devolved into Green Goblin nonsense, the third… well we won’t go there. This time around, Toby’s wooden and brooding Peter Parker is replaced with a quirky, smart, funny, everyman who really takes a pounding. In short — and I did read the comic for most of the 80s — Spider-man.

For more Film reviews, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Amazing Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield, Arts, Comics, Emma Stone, Marc Webb, Peter Parker, Spider-Man

Avengers

May29

Title: Avengers

Cast: Robert Downey Jr. (Actor), Chris Evans (Actor), Joss Whedon (Director)

Genre: Comic Book Action

Watched:  May 22, 2012

Summary: Very good, but not perfect

_

Normally I take Marvel super hero movies with a grain of salt, but considering the buzz around Avengers and the fact that it was written and directed by Joss Whedon (creator of my favorite show of all time, Buffy) I was fairly excited.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9cuGZJ9DP0]

The setup is band of superhero misfits vs alien invasion (more on that later). Marvel has spent no small effort establishing the players: 2 Ironman movies, Thor, The Hulk, Captain America, etc. That’s all well and good, and I’m reminded slightly of the 80s “Secret Wars” stunt in the actual comics. To this vast array of characters we add Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury (all of whom seem to have super strength and speed without any particular specified reason). Then we throw in some really weird aliens invading from another dimension/planet.

The attack is lead by heavy of heavies, Loki, reprising his role from the way stranger Thor. I wrote extensively about this movie before, and the Avengers villains descend from this bizarre mythology of Norse gods as aliens. This includes, but is not limited too, all sorts of undefined powers, immortality, lightning calling hammers of infinite weight, mind control staffs, cubes of limitless energy, beams of plasma used to drill worm holes in the universe, and much much more. And that doesn’t cover the earth based oddities. Super strength serums, invincible flying robot suits, and a flying aircraft carrier!

The strength of Jos’ writing transcends this recipe for disaster and makes an ultimately very watchable film. It’s often even very funny, full of action, and exciting. It’s not, however, a masterpiece. Given the crazy cast, the film tries its best to give each a bit of time a and story. This is ultimately most successful with Ironman, the Hulk, and Black Widow. Still, there just isn’t that much time, particularly given the rapacious demand for long and involved action scenes.

The villains are a bit weak. Loki is kind of fun, but he spends a lot of time preening and just waiting around. The mysterious skeletal-bio-mechanical hordes are just that, hordes. They exist to maraud and then to die.

The last third of the film is one long monster battle for New York with aliens drooling through a hole in the sky and the entire team of Avengers fending them off. For a while, this is pretty cool, but it does go on far too long. I don’t know whose fault this trend is — Transformers perhaps? — but it’s become standard for big action movies to have these monster (haha) final battles. In Harry Potter 7.5, it’s almost two hours long! Unfortunately, they have the side effect of stealing way too much screen time away from character development.

Effects wise, this movie is loaded with CGI. Probably almost every shot. It’s often quite good, but there is no focus on realism. This is comic book to the hilt, in every way, with all the look and feel, firing on all cylinders, expertly executed. It delivers, but there is no real jeopardy or pathos, and no totally unique feel (say in the vein of Sin City or Hell Boy). It feels like Thor or Ironman. In fact it’s about exactly on par with Ironman (the first film, the second sucked) quality wise.

On one hand, I’m relieved to have seen a comic book film with actual story and characters. On the other, I feel Jos could do better creating his own world. Maybe the success of this film will give him more leeway to try.

For more Film reviews, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Movie Review: Thor
  2. Black Swan
  3. Book and Movie Review: Let Me In
  4. Book Review: The Ghost Brigades
  5. The Inside Story
By: agavin
Comments (20)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Avenger, Avengers, Black Widow, Captain America, Comics, Hulk, Joss Whedon, Marvel, Nick Fury, Robert Downey
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