Movie Review: Dawn of Justice

The following is my review of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  The short version is, “Holy Cow!  I can’t believe I just saw the movie that I saw.”  And for those who hated the movie, what is wrong with you people?  Have you ever read a bloody comic?  Go to a comics shop, grab one of the “essentials” guides and read through those and then go back and rewatch this film.  I actually suspected I would not like this film, but I loved it.  I should forewarn you, there will be MASSIVE spoilers ahead because I can’t properly discuss why this film was so good without giving elements of the story away, so with that said, stop now if you haven’t seen the movie yet.

 

And now for those still here, we can get into a bit more detail.  The thing that worked most for me is that this was a story.  A big problem the film suffered from was that people went in with a lot of preconceptions about what the film was and what it wasn’t.  The story component of super hero films has taken a backseat in the last few years.  The films coming out lately are character driven more than story driven.  When we meet these characters, we don’t know them well enough for that to be the driving factor.  Yet, an entire world was unfolded right before my eyes.  A rich world filled with fantastic and also flawed characters.  And to my amazement it was a world that I believed in from the second we saw Bruce driving through Metropolis.  

This movie wasn’t made for people who can’t appreciate the artistry of comic books, and I think that is responsible for some of its backlash.  Moreover, there is a lot of fan service here that means those of us who read comics will walk out knowing a lot more than those who don’t.  Throughout the film, Bruce experiences dream sequences or perhaps they were visions.  Some are myths that maybe he has told himself like the story of rising to the light.  Others are his worst fears realized, where we see nods to stories like Injustice.  Still others I suspect we will have to wait to fully understand, like the Flash appearing in a cloud of lightning to give Bruce a clue that will ultimately save them all is straight from the pages of Crisis on Infinite Earths but has nothing to do with the story at this point.

We get hints of what is to come, and much as I was excited for the Avengers, I am now very much looking forward to Justice League, a film I was rather ambivalent toward up to this point.  And if it delivers in the same way that this film did we have a lot to look forward to for a long time to come.  This film had a number of nods and a lot of influences that were taken straight from the comic pages.  They range from little things like Bruce standing at the computer in full costume just without the cowl to larger elements like Luthor not trusting Superman because he doesn’t believe that he can be that powerful and also that virtuous.

This film is one chapter in a story that is being told.  This is not a stand-alone movie that then ties into a larger team-up film.  That’s the marvelous competition for the super hero market you’re looking for.  This is one chapter of a single story.  And for that reason it also might feel like a miss to some people  From the above mentioned appearance of the Flash to the showcasing of Parademons to a giant Ω on the ground in another of Bruce’s visions, there is a much larger game afoot.  My preference for a storyteller other than David Goyer aside, they are foreshadowing things that aren’t going to pay off for a number of films.  As such, the viewer who doesn’t know what these symbols mean is likely to feel things are much more disjointed than they actually are.  

That brings us to one criticism the film is getting: “When in doubt, [Snyder] simply slings another ingredient into the mix, be it an irradiated monster, an explosion on government premises, or the sharp smack of masonry on skull.”  This review by Anthony Lane is hogwash and I question if he was writing the review rather than watching the movie.  This is not a case of another ingredient being thrown into the mix at all.  This was organic storytelling.  It’s complex, not convoluted and there is a difference.  Everything makes perfect sense in the film.  This story is the natural progression of things being manipulated by Lex Luthor and tying together elements from Dark Knight Returns and the Death of Superman while laying the foundation for a shared universe that is distinctly different from the one Marvel has been building, and should be.


Then there is Leonard Maltin’s statement “When was it decided superhero movies shouldn't be any fun?”  When was it decided that superhero movies had to just be fun?  This isn’t a story about fun, this is a story grappling with ideologies and belief systems and the hard concepts of life.  In the words of C.S. Lewis ““Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. . . Let there be wicked kings and beheadings, battles and dungeons, giants and dragons, and let villains be soundly killed at the end of the book.”  Fairy tales are not always fun.  Ancient and Medieval literature can be slow and plodding, but entertainment is not always their goal.  They were and are tools to teach and demonstrate principles and ideas, and that is the kind of film we have here; one that touches on and questions our ideas regarding justice and legality, good and evil, god and man.

True, I’m a DC fan.  Man of Steel I walked out having thoroughly enjoyed because we finally got to see Superman cut loose and not be bound by his powers.  That doesn’t mean that the film was without its flaws, but just because a film has a flaw doesn’t mean it’s not a good film.  And flaws can be fixed.  The color pallet for Man of Steel was far to stark, here it feels more vibrant, a distinct improvement.  But, like its predecessor, Dawn of Justice does have some flaws.  The biggest one for me is Lex Luthor.  I liked Lex and I thought he was an excellent antagonist.  I simply did not care for the way he was made a modern boy billionaire in this film.  I did appreciate that they got to show his genius on the other hand.  This was also something that was finally restored to the Bat.  Bruce was once again a detective.  The element of Batman that had been missing from the Nolan films, replaced by gadgets, was restored.

As glad as I am to see Batman as a detective, I was equally glad to see him as the master strategist.  He orchestrated every aspect of his fight with Superman from where it started to where it would end.  However, there are some concerns with this character as well.  It is not that he uses guns.  Batman has ALWAYS used guns of some sort (grappling gun anyone).  There are people who got really upset to see Batman holding a gun in the trailers.  It never ceases to amaze how quickly people will jump to conclusions in this day and age.  There is this thing called context and it would be nice if we could all start waiting for it before leaping to conclusions again.  

The gun he was using in the trailers that stirred up so much controversy was a gas gun.  He previously used guns on his Batmobile and Batwing (1989).  In Final Crisis he literally shot Darkseid with a handgun so it’s not out of character for him to use that sort of weapon.  What is out of character is that he seemingly kills people.  I don’t particularly like this development.  However, it’s also clear that I’ve never seen this Batman before.  We see Bruce 20 years in.  He’s lost a Robin,that much we know.  The mansion has been burned.  He’s been broken and it has made him callous.  He doesn’t kill anyone that isn’t trying to kill him, and even then he kills as few as possible.  When he stops a grenade from being thrown it hurt fewer people blowing up where it fell than it would had he thrown it.  

However, Superman ultimately inspires Batman by the end of the film.  Bruce emerges from this storm a different and better man than he was when he sank into it.  Superman ends the film as Superman.  He sacrificed himself for the world, and the woman he loved.  And the silver “S” on the black coffin was beautiful.  He threw himself into the path of Doomsday in order to stop him.  And this was yet another character I feel they adapted him with great success.  I understand that this wasn’t panel by panel, but it was indeed the spirit of the character.  An abomination of Kryptonian science that gets stronger every time you kill it that Lex is ultimately responsible for… does it really matter how he was an abomination?

Though I would have preferred not having the somewhat awkward bathtub scene with Lois, the character fits in the modern world.  She is the same character we met in Man of Steel.  She is putting her neck on the line to get stories that no one else will and is able to connect the puzzle pieces of the bigger picture before anyone else.  Gal Gadot gives us a bit of an enigmatic Wonder Woman.  She works in the film but is not essential to it.  Much as she did in Bruce Timm’s Justice League cartoon she sort of just drops into the film to save the day.  I don’t consider that a valid complaint, because honestly that is my favorite portrayal of the character, but I would have liked her to get more fleshed out.  Fortunately, Wonder Woman is not far from being released.  And while I was concerned about Jeremy Irons as Alfred, I found I loved the way he handled the role.

So no, this is not a fun little romp into the world of superheroes.  This is an intricate story.  The manipulations of Lex are subtle.  Truthfully, I was on his side for the first 2/3 of the film, until everything was revealed.  The motivations for the characters are implied.  This history is in the background, not at the forefront of the film.  There are easter eggs scattered throughout that may just be fun nods, but more likely are foreshadowing events that are years from seeing fruition.  This is a comic book movie, not a superhero movie.  If you want to go on a fun little romp through the land of capes and tights, if you want to see the same story we've seen over and over again of guy becomes hero to stop villain or has to up his game because of new villain, then stay clear.  If you want to have an entire world and mythology built in front of you, then you must see this film.

He-Man: The Eternity War Review

He-Man: The Eternity War has now finished.  I know it was a few weeks ago, but as I’ve never tried to write this sort of thing before and it took a bit to reread and write this. I’ve read most of the Masters of The Universe comics published.  The original DC trilogy, and the issues from MV Creations (basically anything related to the 200x series).  When DC got the comics license to do MOTU comics I was excited.  The first miniseries was enjoyable enough, but the origins issues fell a little flat.  The DCU vs MOTU crossover was the sort of thing I love about comic books, yet the “ongoing” series on the other hand was a pretty big letdown.  Things finally picked up by issue 13 but at that point, between some horribly drawn chapters and a plot that just felt by and large disjointed, I was okay with the series ending.

So with the way they were billing this I came into the series with a cautious optimism.  The art for the series overall thus far hadn’t been to my taste.  A few issues not withstanding I won’t say it was bad, just not to my personal liking.  The storytelling though I was really concerned about, but the pitch for this series was really promising.  I let myself hope I would walk into a world of adventure that would rival the imaginings of every kid that had seen their bedrooms converted into planetary battlegrounds where the fate of the universe hung in the balance.  So with high hopes but low expectations I ventured into this series.

Overall, I am happy to say that I was not disappointed.  I am still not particularly fond of the art.  There were some grand moments, but there were also points where the characters were so completely out of scale with themselves that it yanked me right out of the story.  There were also some points where the pacing was way off.  There were a lot of big (huge) moments in this series and they all hit you so fast, particularly at the start of the series, that you don’t have time to savor them.  The pacing does slow down towards the end but then that feels out of place with the rest of the series.  However, I was given precisely the sort of story that I was hoping to get.  This is a child’s imagination run wild, creating a universe using every single toy in their toy box to tell a grand story. 

The series did a lot of good for building the mythology of the series.  We are given two very important artifacts with the Eyes of Grayskull.  What was begun with DCU vs MOTU was continued here.  Eternia is not just the seat of all magic in the multiverse, hidden in the walls of Castle Grayskull is the very source of all creation.  The scale of this is huge.  In securing the castle and returning to Eternia, Hordak is in a position to be able to control all of existence.  This series also takes us a bit deeper into the goddess/star seed/source of creation.  Using this as a driving part of the story gives us a chance to look deeper into the motivations of the characters themselves.

On Eternia there are three faces of the goddess: Serpos, Zoar, and Horakoth. There are also three groups of inhabitants: Snake Men, Eternians, the Horde that have lived and fought for Eternia.  The values of each people group corresponds to the aspects of the goddess that they see.  And with the Horde returning they see the chaos and fury and death that is embodied by Horakoth.  They view themselves as agents of destiny.  They don’t see themselves as evil, rather they believe they are inevitable.  This is a bit different from the other approaches we’ve seen taken in other media, and the story that comes from this is pretty compelling.  This is recognized within the story itself.  Skeletor has cheated destiny and is now actively rebelling against what is thought inevitable.

One idea connected to the Masters of the Universe world is that each character is the master of something.  True, in the original minicomics this wasn’t quite the case, there the Masters of the Universe were pitted against the Lords of Destruction.  This idea is given fresh importance as this particular story goes on.  The first is that Skeletor is revealed as the Master of Death.  Using a bit of time travel and a bit of magic, it is revealed that the skull atop Skeletor’s havoc staff is his skull.  Yet he defies the destiny that saw him die before he was even born and so in cheating death he is granted power over death. 

In addition, we learn much about He-Man through this story.  The power that he wields is not without price.  He has, at this point, gone a long time without being Adam.  And it is revealed that in not letting that power go he risks becoming the very thing he seeks to defeat.  So he breaks his sword for the good of Eternia and becomes Adam alone at the height of a war.  However, while He-Man is the strongest man in the universe, it is revealed to us that Adam is the Master of Eternity.  By the time we reach this climactic point in the story, the stakes could not possibly be higher.  With every death, Skeletor grows more powerful.  Much as Nekron sought to do during Blackest Night, he stands on the brink of ending all life.  Only this is not the life of one universe, but of all creation.

The growth of the mythology was in part done well because the characterizations were done very well.  The one exception to this rule might be She-Ra.  The changes to her origin story have her now cast as a somewhat more tragic and brutal character.  It makes sense given the way her origin was changed, and honestly works very well, but she does feel like she’s a bit off from the She-Ra most of us grew up with.  However, overall the characterizations are spot-on still.  Roboto is loyal to his friends, Duncan will sacrifice everything for Teela (and is not to be screwed with).  Catra and Scorpia are fighting each other to try and secure the spot as Hordaks top lieutenant and hate Adora passionately.  Fisto has a gruff exterior but a kind heart.  Other characters like Teela are nicely grown.  She and Evil-Lyn have always been matched up but until this series they’ve not been on equal footing, and that was nice to see.

The way that the mythology was grown throughout was accompanied by a rich showcasing of what had come before.  Through the introduction of a multiverse, we see every iteration of the Masters of the Universe exists.  So if you are a fan of the mini-comics, the Filmation cartoon or the Mike Young Productions cartoon, or if you prefer the universe you created yourself with the action figures, we see that all of these universes are considered to exist.  This goes even further, showing us glimpses of Pre-ternia and the others that have acted as He-Man through the centuries.  And it extends beyond this to include the future and the planet of Primus.  So every era of MOTU is also validated in this story (and yes that actually does include a nod to the movie).

While the art is not my style of choice, there are some really nice nods throughout this series.  We are given glimpses of lesser known characters like Octavia, Imp, and Entrapta.  Lookee pops up throughout the book quite nicely as well.  At other points you can glimpse Dare, son of He-Man and a number of concept characters showing up.  Perhaps my favorite cameo was when they had Adam don the armor of King Hsss.  Not only do we get to see this armor, but he is given the grabber from the MYP series that Snake-Armor He-Man used.  The vehicles are nicely used throughout as well.  We get to see Spydor, roton, and the Dragon Walker, come out in epic fashion.  And they did a great job of incorporating a lot of other things from the history of MOTU.  The Slime Pit, Well of Darkness, and Sands of Time all are important, as is the Temple of the Sun.  There’s more to be explored of the world.  We didn’t see Zalesia, Avion or Subternia for instance; but throughout the series it felt like a real world and these sorts winks to the fans were really nice to see.

The first time I read through these issues there were several things I missed, but looking at it now, I must say that Abnett deserves some praise for how well thought this story really is.  True, the pacing was a bit rushed for how big the reveals and ideas being revealed were.  But there is a lot of foreshadowing that lays the groundwork for how the story is going to go very well.  From Duncan being a strategic genius, to the way Adam is able to earn the admiration of Rattlor and how all of those pay off by the end of the story, the ground work is just well laid.  Nowhere is this more relevant than with Skeletor’s plan, the risks involved, the twists and turns that we get taken through by him, are on the level of Jokers plans in The Dark Knight.    

I would say that this series is a good read.  I recommend getting it as a graphic novel because reading it from start to finish I found much more satisfying than reading it month to month as it came out.  The art I will give a C up to a B.  But I want to stress again that this is simply not my style.  The writing however I feel made up for the artwork.  Even reading it monthly I hated getting to the end of an issue because I was left with a month of wondering what was going to come.  There are some seeds sewn that could see more stories come out of this, focusing largely on She-Ra, that I hope we see explored.  And if I’m honest, the last page shocked me a little bit and made me want to reach out my hand.  So if you want a universe in the balance, good vs. evil, character driven story this is one you should pick up.  If you are a fan of the Masters of the Universe franchise you should definitely pick this up, because this is exactly the sort of story I would liked to have had the toys and imagination to tell growing up.

The Deadpool Movie is Exactly what it Should Be!

Hi, I’m Daniel and it’s been 2 weeks since I’ve seen the Deadpool Movie.

In my defense, I saw it three times opening week, and I have come to the conclusion that I absolutely loved the movie.  I have yet to read or hear a legitimate complaint about the movie.  I have some personal issues, the humor was a bit too crude at some points for my taste and there was some nudity that felt a little excessive, but those are personal complaints not legitimate issues with the film itself.  And yeah there are spoilers ahead.  But if you’re reading a movie review this late after the film has come out and you get upset by that then I’m pretty sure you’re just broken inside. 

It amazes me that people are complaining about this film at all.  There’s nothing to complain about really.  So let’s look at some of these.  First up, they weren’t true to the origin.  Okay, I’ll give you that, they tweaked the origin a bit.  They had to so that it could fit into the X-Men Film Universe.  For the most part if you have an issue with that you basically have an issue with Brian Singer’s universe.  A universe I personally think he has screwed up royally since X2 (and seriously why do you hate color in costumes dude).  But the nods they gave us in the origin were spot on, they demonstrated that they did their homework and they did it well. 

Sure, Ajax is both Francis and Killebrew.  Without having both around basically we have assured that the sequel won’t just be another quest for revenge and will actually push the character in new directions, hardly grounds to complain.  Related, in the film Deadpool wasn’t a part of Weapon X and didn’t get his powers grafted onto him from Wolverine.  Well, honestly we don’t know that this wasn’t connected to Weapon X.  And so he just has the same ability as Wolverine that was triggered rather than grafted.  That’s a valid adaptation, especially given that his origin when last done in conjunction with the hairy little Canucklehead is rock bottom for our protagonist.

They also successfully adapted where he got the name Deadpool for the film.  The difference between it being a betting pool for what patient is going to die and a pool for which merc is going to die is pretty slim.  Connected to this is that he isn’t madly in love with Mistress Death. 

For those that don’t know, in the Marvel Universe Death is a stone cold fox.  But there’s a mad Titan named Thanos that’s out to destroy the proper MCU to try and get her attention right now and so thanks to some licensing insanity that’s not likely to be someone they even could include.  And as the story moved along it became less and less that he was in love with her and more that she was enamored with him as the one man that she couldn’t lay claim to anyway so I’m okay with us sidelining her for right now. 

Secondly, and a bit more interestingly, it wasn’t “Deadpool” enough.  Really?  Precisely how was this movie supposed to be “more Deadpool”?  Deadpool isn’t just a schizophrenic character; his storylines are just as insane as he is.  So which Deadpool did you want to see?  There’s the Circle of Blood version.  Maybe people wanted the Joe Kelly version, that strives to be a hero but keeps getting dragged back into the mud and the blood.  The guy that sort of embraced his inner mercenary a bit more under Jimmy Palmiotti’s pen is a fun read.  Perhaps we were hoping for someone a little more quirky like the chap we met in Cable & Deadpool? 

Then there is Daniel Ways current run and I don’t even know how to describe it.  That’s done everything from having his body share a soul to having him get married to a demonic queen to having him going banana’s because he gets to kill a bunch of dracula’s.  Oh and let’s not forget the mini-series’ and one shots out there.  One of my favorite reads is honestly the Merc with a Mouth maxi-series.  So it’s not that the character wasn’t Deadpool enough, truthfully, it is more likely that you simply prefer a different iteration of the character.  The Deadpool we got drew heavily from elements of Circle of Blood (his first mini-series), Joe Kelly and Palmiotti’s runs.  And one of the reasons this might not seem as familiar to some folks is because they haven’t actually read those issues for a good decade or so (insert gratuitous ad for Deadpool Classics here)

Now let’s talk about something far more important than just invalidating a few complaints, and that’s just how much this film got right.  The film has done spectacularly at the box office and there are a lot of reasons why.  The biggest fear now is that the people who cut checks to make movies are going to learn the wrong lesson.  They’ll say it’s okay to make movies about “heroes” that bang hookers, cuss a lot, and they can show boobs and other naughty bits and they’ll make money.  None of that is why Deadpool is the financial success that it has become. 

Deadpool is doing so well for a lot of reasons.  The first one is it was made by fans for fans.  They didn’t cut corners or try and water it down so that it would be more easily understood by the “general audience”.  They adapted the film to work within the universe and budget available but they didn’t change anything about the character himself.  They did a good job of blending together a version of Deadpool that stayed within the lines for every version that has been written over the last 20 or so years.  If there is one lesson that should be taken from this movie it’s that there is a reason fans are fans and if you tell a good story that is true to the character the fans have supported for years then you will likely have a good movie that makes a lot of money (take note Michael Bay and Transformers producers it is possible to have a visually enjoyable film that makes money that has a story worth following).

The second is that it was fresh.  This wasn’t just another super hero movie.  This falls squarely in the genre of action/comedy/romance/horror.  It isn’t just one type of movie it’s all of them blended together, and blended together well.  And what’s more is that it at no point apologized for what it was, rather the film reveled in the fact that it wasn’t really that easy to define.  It doesn’t take itself so seriously that it’s not fun anymore but at the same time they take themselves seriously enough to ensure the story they are telling is worth seeing.  Honestly in some ways the film is daring you not to like it because if you don’t like it then clearly it wasn’t a film that was made for you so shut it.  If you don’t like Deadpool, you will hate this film and that’s okay, go watch something else.

Now let’s talk about something else they got correct, the characters.  The relationship between Blind Al and Wade was pretty accurate.  They made it a lot less creepy by having her be his roommate instead of his captive, and the ways he tortured here were also less creepy than locking her in a box surrounded by things that she would run into that would hurt her.  Deep down they do love each other and they seriously show that by screwing with each other as much as they possibly can.  From making the blind lady build the furniture to constantly insulting him, the relational dynamic was accurate.  Weasel was a bit more off base than Al was.  They combined him with another character named Patch so that he ran the bar and was Wade’s best friend instead of just he was a gadget geek and was Wade’s best friend.  A change made for the sake of the story that worked because while they shifted the setting of the character, they didn’t really change who he was. 

But what about Vanessa, she’s not even a mutant in this movie, and she’s supposed to be copycat!  Yeah yeah yeah, I know.  But how sure are we that she isn’t a mutant?  She even acknowledged that she’s played many roles, what’s to say she wasn’t playing one that she just found herself really liking there?  However, that’s not the key to making her character work, and it works great in this film.  The key is that her crazy matches Wade’s crazy.  I know, line from the film, but it’s the best way to describe their relationship, she’s not Syren, the gal wade is hoping to be worthy of, she’s not Domino, and she’s not any of the other gals that have gone through Wade’s life.  She’s the bad penny that always turns up and that is perfectly matched because she’s just as unstable as Wilson, just like in the film they complement each other almost perfectly. 

A lot of the others are in here too.  Francis is a one dimensional sadistic bad guy that hates his name and Wade: check.  Colossus is a gigantic Russian stereotype: Check.  Bob is a friend of Wade’s that he beats the tar out of: Check.  If you read the comics these are all really pretty accurate portrayals of who the characters are at their core.  Change the settings but as long as that doesn’t change then I’m calling it a successful adaptation.  Is anyone really upset that Negasonic Teenage Warhead had way cooler powers in this than she does in the comic? 

And then there is Deadpool.  So what are the defining characteristics of Deadpool.  He knows he’s a fictional character and breaks the fourth wall, yeah in spades.  He does not shut up.  Nailed it.  Anyone complaining because there were too many jokes and some of them weren’t really that funny has clearly never read a Deadpool comic because seriously I get tired of reading them sometimes because there is so much dialogue because Wade just never shuts up. 

He’s a badass.  Oh yeah, even the people like Taskmaster that hate him have to admit that he really is just that good, he just goes about being that awesome in a manner that is befitting a perfect idiot.  He’s not really a villain or a hero.  Much like wreck-it-ralph, he’s a bad guy but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy.  I’ll trust you to insert the correct inflections there, but he really does have a soft spot and tries to help folks out, he just does so with extreme prejudice at times.  And honestly, I think that sums up the character pretty well and is why this film works.  They let Deadpool be Deadpool and for the folks that didn’t like it that was their problem.

Last thing I want to acknowledge real quick, and that is the marketing on this film.  This was brilliantly marketed.  From the comic-con introduction to the red band trailer, to the Christmas ad this movie was promising great things.  It released two of the best videos on checking for cancer I’ve seen, informative and entertaining.  The spoofing of other movies, like Green Lantern and the various other banner ads that popped up just kept driving home exactly what this movie was, a serious love story that probably shouldn’t be taken seriously.  Even without action figures thanks to the ongoing feud between Fox and Marvel this movie was on point with its marketing strategy.  It might help that I think Ryan Reynolds walked away with a suit and was just having a lot of fun.  So take heart true believers, there are writers and producers out there that are actually fans of this stuff and they know how to tell a good story using these characters, that won’t sacrifice for runtime, for fear of not being understandable, or relatable and will instead just be a great movie that doesn’t care if some people don’t get it.