March 31, 2016

Trying to make sense of Batman V Superman

tgfgfgI did not enjoy Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. There are things to like about it, but overall this is not a good time at the movies (something you kind of expect when you sit down to watch one of these things).

Anyways, beyond trying to figure out just what the hell was going on in this movie, I’m also trying to make sense of the titular heroes and what the character arcs were exactly. If the characters are compelling, you can forgive a lot when it comes to plot. But if they’re badly written? That’s when you start asking all the questions the filmmakers would rather have you ignore.

So as an experiment, I’m gonna list out all the major things that happen to a bunch of the characters in this movie to see if their motivations and actions are consistent, or at least understandable. This is gonna be all SPOILERS so don’t read if you haven’t seen the movie (and I honestly don’t recommend it unless you’re a hardcore DC fan):

Batman/Bruce Wayne…

  • arrives in Metropolis during the Superman/Zod fight from Man of Steel
  • saves an employee (Wally) who’s trapped under some wreckage
  • sees the destruction that Superman is capable of for the first time
  • searches for a large sample of kryptonite found from the wreckage of the giant thingy Superman busted in the Indian Ocean in Man of Steel
  • brands a low-level criminal with the bat symbol, which a news report tells us will get the criminal beaten to death in prison
  • has a conversation with Alfred where he expresses his extreme viewpoint on Superman: “If we believe there’s even a 1% chance that he is our enemy then we have to take it as an absolute certainty, and we have to destroy him.”
  • gets the cheques he’s been sending to Wally (who lost his legs) returned to him with guilt-tripping messages written on them
  • watches the Senate hearing on TV where Superman arrives to respond to all the bad shit he’s supposedly done and be confronted by Wally, who blows up the building and kills everyone inside (except Supes obviously)
  • steals the kryptonite from Lex
  • exercises
  • sets traps and signals for Superman to come fight him
  • fights Superman with kryptonite weapons
  • is about to kill Superman but Superman mentions the name Martha (referring to Martha Kent, but Batman’s mom was also named Martha)
  • stops fighting and goes to rescue Martha Kent (who’s been kidnapped)
  • realizes only kryptonite can kill the newly created Doomsday; lures Doomsday back to Gotham so he can get the kryptonite spear he left there.
  • witnesses Superman sacrifice himself to kill Doomsday
  • threatens Lex, who warns of a coming evil thing
  • vows to find other metahumans so they can fight future evil
  • believes “men are still good” at the end

Written out like this, Batman’s actions appear to be pretty consistent and his hatred of Superman generally makes sense. Even his speech at the end kind of works since this is a veteran Batman whose decades of crimefighting seems to have turned him into a murderer, and seeing Superman’s sacrifice would snap him out of that. What irks me is that the World’s Greatest Detective doesn’t think it’s the least bit suspicious that Superman apparently killed a bunch of people in Africa and is complicit in the Senate hearing bombing while at the same time he’s been flying all over the world saving people, presumably for the last 18 months. Any chance someone may be trying to frame him, Bats?

Superman/Clark Kent…

  • saves Lois in Africa by charging a guy through a freaking wall
  • sees one news report about Batman; wants Batman dead (but not “dead,” dead)
  • does a few actually heroic things
  • sees people on TV debate whether he should be hero-ing; gets very, very sad
  • talks to Lois about how shitty people are being to him, thinks the idea of Superman is dumb
  • arrives at Senate hearing; doesn’t notice suicide wheelchair before it goes off
  • goes off to the mountains to have useless conversation with his Ghost Dad
  • saves Lois from Lex
  • gets blackmailed by Lex into fighting Batman
  • tries for approximately 10 seconds to explain the situation to Batman, then gives up and starts throwing him through buildings
  • almost gets killed before hilariously blurting out “save Marthaaaaaaaa”
  • goes back to Lex; stands there while Lex puts finishing touches on Doomsday
  • flies Doomsday out into space; gets hit by nuke
  • shakes it off, flies back down to fight Doomsday
  • saves Lois; decides ‘this is my world’
  • sacrifices himself to kill Doomsday
  • gets buried
  • is obviously not gonna stay dead

This has got to be the single worst characterization of Superman on the big screen. Zack Snyder and his screenwriters have managed to turn a pop icon, a symbol of inspiration and hope, who helps people because it’s the right thing to do, into a mopey prick who’s seriously conflicted about whether or not he should be helping anyone because some people don’t like him. That is actually what he’s struggling with in the movie. And that would’ve been fine if something in the story convinced him that humanity is worth saving, like maybe some sage advice from his goodhearted parents? Oh wait, the living one tells him he doesn’t owe humanity shit, and the dead one’s lesson implies that he shouldn’t help people because all actions have consequences.

So his arc is that he goes from basically hating mankind because they complain about him sometimes (so much so that he straight up leaves for the mountains before Lois gets kidnapped again), to resigning himself to killing someone if they can’t be reasoned with, to willing to sacrifice himself because he loves the world? Can you connect the dots with a pencil if they’re on separate sheets of paper in different rooms?

Perry White…

  • chastises Clark Kent for prioritizing reporting on Batman’s vigilantism over sports
  • allows Lois Lane to do whatever the hell she wants

Lois Lane…

  • gets taken hostage in Africa; gets saved by Superman
  • investigates weird bullets used by bad guys in Africa
  • gets kidnapped by Lex Luthor; gets saved by Superman
  • goes to help Superman before Batman kills him; takes kryptonite spear and throws it into some water
  • realizes only kryptonite can kill the newly created Doomsday (absolutely no way she can know this); goes back to water to retrieve spear she threw away
  • almost drowns; gets saved by Superman

Lois Lane’s purpose in the movie is to be rescued. Nothing else she does matters in any way.

Martha Kent…

  • tells Clark to either be the hero and symbol for hope that humanity needs or tell humanity to go fuck itself
  • gets kidnapped by Lex Luthor’s hired goons; gets saved by Batman

Ghost Jonathan Kent…

  • tells Clark a story, the moral of which is basically “if you do a good thing, bad things will happen as a result”

Clark really needed to be protected from these people when he was a boy.

Wonder Woman…

  • borrows a device Bruce Wayne was using to steal encrypted info from Lex Luthor
  • returns said device
  • sees Doomsday on TV; goes to fight Doomsday

Actually maybe this is the most consistent character arc in the movie.

Lex Luthor…

  • finds kryptonite
  • “lures” Superman to Africa because Lois was there; has a bunch of people killed to frame him?
  • talks some guy (way too easily) into giving him full access to Zod’s ship and Zod’s body
  • gains a ton of knowledge from Zod’s talking ship?
  • returns Bruce Wayne’s cheques to Wally back to him with guilt-tripping messages because he somehow knows Wayne is Batman?
  • coerces Wally into blowing up Senate hearing to frame Superman even more?
  • uses Zod’s body to create Doomsday monster
  • kidnaps Martha Kent
  • kidnaps Lois Lane for the express purpose of pushing her off a building just so Superman will come save her
  • blackmails Superman into fighting Batman
  • unleashes Doomsday
  • disappears from the movie until he somehow lands in jail
  • apparently loses his mind

You’ll notice that I don’t seem very sure about Lex Luthor’s actions in the movie. That’s because I’m not, and that’s because they don’t make any damn sense.

How does having a bunch of people in Africa SHOT BY GUNS make it look like Superman did it?
Why does Lex seem to be losing his mind before he starts talking to the Kryptonian ship (I mean, if it starts happening afterwards at least you can connect those dots into something plausible)
Why does he blow up the Senate hearing? The news immediately reports that Wally is the one who set off the bomb so there’s no way it could look like Superman did it, so WTF?
What’s his problem with Batman?
What the hell is his plan if Doomsday successfully kills Superman?

Since we’re talking about character motivation, let’s not forget the reason Lex hates Superman so much is because he wasn’t around when his dad hit him or something.

And in case you were worried the big fight with Doomsday was gonna result in even more dead bodies and destruction, Anderson Cooper helpfully points out on the news that the work day is over and therefore ALL of downtown is empty.

This movie is insane.

August 15, 2015

‘Her Story’ is one of the best games of the year


I just solved a mystery. Never done that before.

Well, that’s not true. I closed a bunch of homicide cases in 1940s L.A. I discovered the identity of the Origami Killer and made sure he couldn’t hurt anyone again. Just last month I stopped Professor Pyg from stringing up bodies all over Gotham City.

But this time felt different. In Her Story, a terrific new indie game written and directed by Sam Barlow, there is no hint system, no sound chime to indicate I’d found something important, no text popping up or voiceover narration telling me what the next move was. Not once did I feel like my hand was being held on the way to the next piece of the puzzle.

Her Story resembles those old CD-ROM games from the 90s that combined live action video footage with gameplay (The 7th Guest and Phantasmagoria come to mind), which makes perfect sense in the context of the game world. Check out this screenshot:

The mystery you’re trying to solve is a missing persons case from 1994, and as such the UI is made to resemble a desktop computer from that time period, presumably the only functional machine from which you can access a 21-year-old database of police interviews. To use the database, you have to search for video clips using words taken from the interview transcripts.

How did I know to do that? Simple. I read the readme files on the desktop, which told me how to play the game without telling me how to “play the game.” An initial search term (“MURDER”) is provided to get the ball rolling, and without spoiling anything, I’ll briefly take you through the process of how I started playing.

The clips are of a British woman, and the date and timestamps (in addition to the different clothes) indicate this interview took place over multiple days. She doesn’t identify herself, but she mentions the name Simon. My next search is easy. From the new set of clips returned I discover that “Simon” is Simon Smith, and that he’s missing. I find out the woman being interviewed is his wife, Hannah.

The game’s non-linear storytelling makes it difficult to discern at first what information is pertinent and what isn’t, and that’s part of what makes Her Story so compelling. At first, I was hopping around from clip to clip and search term to search term, looking for Hannah to reveal the kind of information that I thought would be most useful were this a real police investigation: what Simon looks like, how long he’s been missing, where he was last seen, who his friends and family are, etc. And I was curious to learn more about Hannah as well. Why was she being interviewed so much? Can she be trusted?

You can save clips for easy access, and while I did this haphazardly at first, I found that I was forgetting too many details, which led to a lot of repeated searches. So I decided to restart the game, and began arranging the clips in order. It’s hardly a necessary method, it’s just the way my brain works. I thought that being able to see Hannah’s interviews in chronological order would put what she was telling me in the context of not just what happened to Simon, but what role Hannah played in the events that led to his disappearance (if any).

There was a lot of footage to comb over, and I spent long stretches of time playing. I found out things. About Simon. About Hannah. Each new revelation would spur me on to keep searching and searching. It was very hard to stop. Playing Her Story brought about the kind of obsessive nature that can be seen overtaking characters in films like Zodiac and JFK.

But the who, what and how are only part of the story. The why ends up being the most important question, and the “answer” doesn’t come until you choose to end the game. A traditional win state doesn’t really lend itself to the non-linearity of the story, so there isn’t one. You can finish the game before you uncover every clip. You’ll know what happened to Simon, but understanding why it happened and what it means soon becomes more important, because of your character. 

In Her Story, you take on the role of… someone. Who this person is doesn’t become clear until the end, though you can spot glimpses of this person, when flickering lights in the background occasionally reflect their face onscreen.

(Actually, I can only speak for myself with regards to that. I’m not exactly sure how the ending of the game is triggered, so maybe it’s possible to finish the game without discovering some of the more vital details of the story.)

I mentioned that Sam Barlow wrote and directed the game, which isn’t usually how people refer to those who make games, but it feels appropriate here. While I don’t doubt a lot of effort went into making the UI look authentic and ensuring the music accentuated the emotional beats without being obtrusive, the key to the game is the writing, and how closely Barlow must have worked with Viva Seifert, who plays Hannah. The police interview conceit is a clever way to get around the fact that the entire game is basically just one long exposition dump, and it rests on Seifert’s shoulders to make sure that Hannah’s story feels real and honest. It’s a quiet, subtle, and very strong performance.

Games have become so complicated over the years. Gone are the days of pressing Start and leaving it to the player to just “get” that Mario is supposed to run to the right forever. Her Story feels retro in many ways, but it’s approach to story is fresh, and it’s the rare game that makes you feel like you (or your character, however you want to read it) need to be the one to solve this puzzle. After all, this case has technically already been solved, yet the role you play, as both player and game character, has never felt more singular. Her story is your story too.

You can purchase Her Story here.

July 7, 2015

Batman: Arkham Knight

A LOT of thoughts here so we should just jump right in. I played Batman: Arkham Knight on PlayStation 4, and completed 100% of the Story mode.

Narrative has never been the high point of the Arkham games. I always looked at the cutscenes and dialogue exchanges as thin tissue that connected one objective to the next, and while Arkham Knight tells the best story of Rocksteady’s trilogy, like its predecessors, it makes some major missteps in its ambitious attempt to blow players’ minds. The series’ approach to the character’s mythology and its stickiness to the Arkham name has also become more problematic as it’s continued.

Spoilers on the identity of the Arkham Knight follow.

At first, the Jason Todd reveal felt like a cheat, redressing an established character (who had already been resurrected with a new alter ego years ago in the comics) and claiming he was completely original. But after thinking about it, what irked me most wasn’t the reveal itself, but how blatantly telegraphed it was, and the fact that it ended up having no effect on Batman’s arc or the larger story the game was trying to tell, which as it turns out, was another Batman-Joker story.

Or I should say, the conclusion to the Batman-Joker story that was first introduced in Arkham Asylum. And while I’m a little confused about the details that set this final, deeply internalized conflict into motion (I thought Batman cured his Joker blood infection at the end of Arkham City), the way Rocksteady brought Joker back into the game worked beautifully, as did the game’s climax, a real head trip that shows how good the developer is at playing with players’ perception and gaming mechanics themselves.

Gameplay has always been the series’ greatest strength. Before Arkham Asylum was released in 2009, no game had ever been able to capture the feeling of being Batman, and as the series progressed, Rocksteady has refined its formula to extraordinary results (with one caveat that we’ll get to in a bit). Controls feel as responsive as ever, which is critical considering that combat has gotten more challenging. The sheer number of gadgets and abilities Batman has at his disposal is overwhelming, so much so that I would recommend that newcomers play one of the earlier games first before diving in. All of them are worth playing, but Arkham City, to which Knight is a direct sequel, is the best of the earlier games from a gameplay perspective, and will put much of Knight‘s story in proper context for non-Batman fans.

One of the criticisms against the game has to do with side missions, with critics and players complaining that the series has turned into an Assassin’s Creed style of open world game, with a map riddled (no pun, I swear) with icons denoting so much content that playing the game starts to feel like checking boxes off of a to-do-list.

There are two sides to this. On the one hand, playing side missions (known as Most Wanted missions in the game) is the best way to gain the XP needed to buy upgrades, many of which are key to the whole “Be the Batman” thing this series has been pushing from the start.

Next, and most egregiously, a certain number of side missions have to be completed in order to activate the “Knightfall Protocol,” which is essentially a second ending. Then, if you want to see the FULL ending, you have to complete 100% of the side missions, meaning collecting every single Riddler trophy scattered throughout Gotham City.

This is a mistake. Instead of earning some additional reward for being a completionist, players are being punished for not completing the entire campaign. Suddenly, the so-called “side” missions, a term that’s always been used to describe an optional objective, don’t feel optional to players who only want to experience the story without having to track down all 243(!) riddles, or disable watchtower-like checkpoints throughout the city, or battle an endless number of unmanned tanks in the Batmobile.

Fortunately, there’s an easy solution to this problem, and those who don’t have the time or the patience to make it to 100% should feel no guilt about it: watch the full ending on YouTube. Not only will it save you time, but you’ll find solace in discovering that this final cutscene really isn’t worth the effort.

On the other hand, Arkham Knight does a good job of parceling out side missions in such a way that it never feels overwhelming. Not every mission is accessible at the same time, and they all play out in stages so you can’t simply play them from start to finish in one go. This may seem like a bad thing, but it helps in mixing up gameplay and keeping one type of mission (whether it’s combat, predator, Batmobile-related, etc.) from becoming stale. So any complaints that the world map has too much stuff on it is unfounded. If anything, the game’s missions are structured in such a way that it actually feels more like Arkham Asylum than Assassin’s Creed or Grand Theft Auto.

Now let’s talk Batmobile. The biggest new addition to the franchise, and a polarizing one at that. Batman’s iconic car comes in two flavors: pursuit mode and tank mode, and there’s definitely a learning curve. The control scheme takes some getting used to, and I think it took me a good dozen laps around the Riddler’s first racing course before driving started to feel good, and I wasn’t instinctively hitting the left trigger to brake/reverse. There’s an alternate control scheme that is eventually accessible in the pause menu, but I found it to be even more awkward than the default.

Tank mode seems to be the biggest point of contention among players, and while I agree that the whole concept feels out of place for the character, I still found tank battles to be a fun, arcade-y minigame that added some variety to the campaign. The problem is that these tank battles seem to get more and more frequent as the campaign goes on, and there are sections where you’re forced to “stealthily” come up behind certain enemy vehicles in order to attack them. It’s nonsensical and the complete opposite of fun.

So overall, I think the good parts of the Batmobile (including using it as a gadget to solve puzzles and being able to control it remotely) outweigh the bad, but the thing that straight up made me angry concerns a side mission that’s introduced late in the campaign (Spoilers, I guess):

After defeating the Arkham Knight, his militia forces are overtaken by Deathstroke, who’s returning from Arkham Origins to exact revenge. The Deathstroke boss fight in that game is my favorite boss battle of the entire series (yes, I like it more than the Mr. Freeze fight in City), and instead of taking that duel and refining it with a Rocksteady-level of polish, defeating Deathstroke comes down to yet another tank battle. It’s the single biggest missed opportunity in the game, and there really is no excuse for it. Deathstroke is one of the deadliest assassins in the DC Universe and you put him in a tank?

But while we’re on the subject of Arkham Origins, I was pleasantly surprised by how often the events of that game were referenced in Knight, since Rocksteady’s PR seemed to be going out of its way to ignore its existence and refer to the Arkham games as a trilogy. Knight even borrows mechanics that were introduced in that game (i.e. the crime scene reconstruction). It’s good to know that Origins is an officially recognized part of canon because, and I’m sure I’m in the minority here, if I were to rank the Arkham games based purely on narrative, I would put Origins in first place, the reasons for which I’ve talked about on this blog before. WB Games Montreal, who developed Origins, wrote a solid prequel story that does something that Rocksteady’s games have not been very good at doing: putting things in context.

Let’s use Arkham City as an example. As a longtime Batman fan, I got why Batman felt so strongly about saving Talia al Ghul (while disregarding all the other lives at stake), but for casual fans and newcomers, who may not know who the hell Talia is and why she’s important, understanding Batman’s motives requires a lot of additional reading. This is one of the Arkham series’ problems as a whole. It pulls from so many different parts of the mythology – mostly from the comics but from the animated series as well – that you could easily end up getting lost when it comes to following this Batman’s story. Hell, the fact that Jason Todd even existed in this canon* doesn’t come up until midway through Arkham Knight, and this late addition to the story just undermines the mystery of the Arkham Knight’s identity (because seriously, there’s no one else it could possibly be, and you don’t need to be a hardcore Batfan to figure that out during Knight‘s campaign).

*Yes, Jason Todd is referenced in a few easter eggs hidden throughout the games, and they’re cool, but only confuse matters further.

The criticism surrounding the treatment of the game’s female characters is… well, it’s justified. There are four major female characters in the game, three of whom share the same body type and highly sexualized/impractical fashion sense, and Barbara Gordon has been cast as the game’s go-to victim, who isn’t allowed at any point to save herself even though she was once a superhero. Hopefully the forthcoming Batgirl DLC will be able to make up for at least some of the game’s problems.

Well, I’ve been pretty negative up to this point so let me say that despite all of these problems, Arkham Knight really is the best in the series – the ultimate Batman game. Gotham City is absolutely gorgeous – a rain-soaked, neon wonderland. It feels like every street corner and every building contains some hidden easter egg that really brings the city to life, that gives it a sense of history – something I rarely think or care about in open world games, even ones based in real places. The dual play battles are so much fun that I wish there was more of them. The game contains more jump scares than most horror games, which is a hell of a feat (I freaked out during Man-Bat’s introduction). And again, the way Joker is used during the game is ingenious, giving the campaign a feeling of momentum that most open world games simply don’t have since you’re the one setting the pace.

My personal philosophy on game sequels is they’re rarely ever meant to be all that different from their predecessors. They’re the next step in the iteration process. Developers are trying to refine their ideas, not transform them. It’s one of the reasons you see so many HD remasters out there right now. A game sequel shouldn’t be held to the same standard as a movie sequel, where a phrase like “more of the same” is a pejorative. I want more of the same gameplay. It’s the tech being used to build said gameplay that should be different. As a story, Arkham Knight is deeply flawed, but as a gaming experience, it’s almost perfect, and most of the things that make it so fun to play couldn’t have been possible on last-gen hardware. We needed an asylum, a city, and their origins to get to this knight, and the team at Rocksteady can rest easy knowing that their ultimate goal has been achieved. I was the Batman.

FInal, random thoughts:

  • It made sense in Asylum, and even City, but there is absolutely NO reason this game needs to take place during ONE night. There’s at least 12 hours of gameplay here, it doesn’t make any damn sense!
  • As stated previously, the whole Arkham Knight mystery was a bust from the start, and that whole part of the story was really just an adaptation of the “Under the Hood” arc from the comics, but because the game had to have the word Arkham in its name for some reason, this “new” character was conceived.
  • As a character, the Arkham Knight is a whiny brat, not a menacing threat.
  • John Noble was fantastic as the Scarecrow, though it does kind of suck that Batman was able to defeat him in pretty much the same way he did in Arkham Asylum.
  • A lot of good voice performances all around, from Mark Hamill’s triumphant return to Jonathan Banks’ turn as Gordon, but if I’m being honest, Kevin Conroy just didn’t do it for me this time around. Maybe it was his dialogue, or the fact that Batman was just a straight up jerk throughout the whole game, but there was little nuance to his performance here.
May 20, 2015

‘The Flash’ Season Finale did the Impossible

When it comes to season finales, Arrow likes to go big. High stakes, heavy action, with little downtime between set pieces. It’s par for the course for superheroes on screens both big and small, but the formula is reaching the point of diminishing returns. In its third season finale, Starling City is once again in danger of being destroyed (“The city’s under attack? Must be May,” Captain Lance says), but this time around clumsy plotting and a diminished sense of scale kept the show from reaching the heights of season two. Hopefully the new status quo and relatively clean slate that Team Arrow find themselves in at the end of the season will allow the show to start fresh in the Fall.

Given that they share some of the same producers and writing staff, I expected The Flash to follow Arrow‘s lead and hit the gas on the action and special effects in “Fast Enough,” (despite the fact that Barry finally captured Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash in the previous episode), so I was pleasantly surprised as I watched the show pump the brakes instead, structuring itself around Barry’s choice of whether or not to accept Wells’ offer.

That offer? Allow Barry to go back in time to save his mother’s life and reunite the Allen family, in exchange for letting Wells return to his future.

It’s a monumental decision, an act of heroism (with a side of selfishness) that the show has been building to since it premiered, and episode writers Gabrielle Stanton and Andrew Kreisberg take their time in weighing the pros and potential consequences of changing the past. So Barry seeks the advice of Joe, who doesn’t think there is a choice, telling Barry to save his mom. Henry, in the first of several scenes that ripped my heart to shreds, is against the idea, fearing that it may undo all the things that have made his son the hero he is today. Finally, Iris convinces Barry to follow his heart, and so Barry decides to go back.

Time travel is a very tricky thing. Decades of science fiction books and movies and TV have trained viewers to try to make sense of the rules at play, so we instinctively call it out when the plotting doesn’t quite measure up. So there’s no doubt some were irritated by the fact that seemingly no one brought up the uncertainty of what happens to the current timeline if Barry succeeds as a reason not to go through with the plan (not to mention the added threat of a potential black hole sucking up Central City should he fail), but I was okay with it. It felt like the writers made that choice consciously, choosing instead to focus on the emotional stakes. When the character work is as strong as it’s been on The Flash, it’s much easier to let cracks in logic slide.

But that’s not to say the question of what may or may not happen gets ignored completely, as Barry considers the fact that should he succeed he’ll never live with Joe and Iris, and may never meet Cisco or Caitlin. Again, the writers are allowing emotion – not cold, hard logic – to take center stage.

At least until Barry finally makes it back to the night Reverse Flash killed his mom. In the middle of all the chaos, future Flash spots Barry and waves him off, signaling to let his mom die. Barry listens, and can’t look as Reverse Flash stabs Nora Allen. In the aftermath, Barry enters the room to find Nora still alive, and takes the chance to reveal himself to her and tell her that he and his dad are okay (Disclaimer: my eyes are not getting glassy as I write this). I was genuinely surprised by this turn, which made the scene even more devastating, and Grant Gustin absolutely nailed this moment. Ever since his initial introduction in Arrow‘s second season, Gustin made Barry Allen feel fully formed before he even had his own show, and his performance in the finale deserves to be talked about alongside the very best of the year.

But the dramatics don’t end there! As Wells gets ready to ride off into the future sunset, Barry returns to thwart his plans for a second time (or third time, it’s hard to keep track with so many Barry Allens running around in space-time). And here is where the action kicks in, as the Flash and Reverse Flash square off once more. Wells gains the upper hand, but before he can deliver a final blow, a gunshot rings out. I don’t have time to groan at the idea that mere gunfire would be able to stop someone as powerful as the Reverse Flash, because I am again surprised (How does this show do it?) when the camera cuts to one Eddie Thawne, who fired a fatal bullet not at Wells, but himself. And while I wish the writers didn’t feel the need to have Cisco explain exactly what was happening, that doesn’t take away from the power of Eddie’s noble act. And as Reverse Flash seemingly disappears from existence, that black hole we were warned about earlier gets going and starts to do some serious vacuuming. With Central City in danger of being wiped out (If you wanna survive in a superhero universe, don’t live in the city), Barry needs to do the impossible again, and he speeds off (into the air!) to shut down the black hole.

Since I don’t think we’re going to come back in the Fall to find that the Flash failed and all that’s left is a black screen, I see the final scene less as a cliffhanger and more as the jumping off point for what’s looking like a very ambitious second season. For me, the season ended when Barry said goodbye to his mother, and Eddie stopped Wells for good. Both of those sacrifices made for one of the most heartwrenching yet spectacular hours of TV I’ve seen this year.

It doesn’t have the production value anywhere close to the budget of a Marvel movie, yet I thought the best set pieces of this season were just as exciting, if not more so, than the best set pieces in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it doesn’t have as much critical acclaim or prestige, but I found “Fast Enough” to be more emotionally satisfying than the end of Mad Men.* And that’s how The Flash did the impossible.

Other thoughts:

  • *I have a draft of stuff on the series finale of Mad Men, and I may get around to finishing it some time (probably after reading 200 more thinkpieces on the meaning of the ending!), but long story short, I liked it. It felt honest. But I understand why so many were disappointed, and despite some fantastic moments, I wouldn’t rank it among the show’s best.
  • Eddie was probably the second weakest character at the start of the show, with little to do other than be the obligatory third side of a love triangle, but he eventually found his way, acting as the voice of reason when Barry and Joe still refused not to let Iris in on Barry’s secret, and Rick Cosnett was able to do just enough with the character to really let Eddie’s death make an impact.
  • With all the stuff going on between Barry and this three dads, it’s easy to overlook the father/son relationship between Cisco and Wells, so it was really nice to see them get a scene together. And Wells reveals that Cisco was affected by the particle accelerator (Vibe alert!)
  • Also, Killer Frost alert! Jay Garrick’s helmet! The Flash museum! And there was Captain Cold! And someone who might possibly maybe become Hawkgirl in a second DC spinoff to debut midseason next year!
  • “Goodbye, Dad.” “Goodbye, son.” Damn you, Jesse L. Martin. Damn you.
  • One thing that stuck out in a not good way: the episode made me wonder if all of Caitlin’s credentials have been mentioned on the show, because she sure seemed confused by all the science-y mumbo jumbo being discussed.
  • I’m hoping to get more in depth later about the many missteps of Arrow‘s third season, many of which are now exacerbated in the wake of the success of this finale.
May 8, 2015

Thoughts on Avengers: Age of Ultron

hjkhThere will be spoilers.

During the audio commentary for The Avengers Blu-ray/DVD, writer/director Joss Whedon remarks candidly that he didn’t think his big Marvel superhero team-up was a great movie, but “a great time.” And he was right. I love the movie, and I return to it often on Blu-ray, but there really isn’t much more to it than a great time. Now that’s no small feat, especially with all the moving parts Whedon had to juggle, but even before signing on to direct The Avengers, Whedon was renowned for his ability to explore complex themes and write well rounded characters within conventional genres, and that’s why Buffy, Angel and Firefly became cult favorites. Those shows were a ton of fun, but they were also emotionally and thematically rich. They’re proof that Whedon can do more than entertain.

With Avengers: Age of Ultron, Whedon brings the gang back together for a lot more CGI punching and smashing, and again it’s fun to watch (though the core concept isn’t as shiny the second time around), but this time there’s much more to chew on in terms of theme and character. For a really nice exploration of said themes, check out this article by Devin Faraci at Birth.Movies.Death. Almost everything that happens in Age of Ultron can be traced back to character, and despite what some elitist critics might say, this movie really is about something. It’s thoughtful, funny, hugely ambitious, and it’s got a soul. I know everyone likes to groan about the Marvel Movie Machine and how these blockbusters are designed for mass consumption and the selling of merchandise, but any mega franchise that opens with an arrogant (yet charismatic) weapons manufacturer almost losing his life but instead finding his heart, and closes a major chapter with a robot and a synthezoid (created by that same weapons manufacturer) meditating on the nature of humanity…. I mean, there’s something to that, you know?

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More thoughts on Avengers: Age of Ultron, in a bullet list, in no particular order:

  • The opening assault on Hydra is my favorite set piece in the film, with the “tie-in” shot evoking fist-pumping memories of a similar shot from the first film. Of course, this means all the remaining set pieces fail to top it. Captain America: The Winter Soldier remains the best Marvel movie in terms of action.
  • Music continues to be a weak link in the MCU, though Age of Ultron‘s score is probably the most memorable because they didn’t change the main theme like they have for every Iron Man, Thor and Captain America sequel. And I liked that composer Brian Tyler was able to incorporate his Iron Man theme into the Hulkbuster fight. Didn’t notice Cap’s theme from Winter Soldier at any point, though.
  • There has been a ton of backlash on the internet with regards to Black Widow and her relationship with Bruce Banner, specifically the scene where she reveals to him that she was sterilized during her training in the Red Room. These critics are calling this reveal misogynist because they think it redefines Natasha’s character as ‘the female who believes she’s damaged because she can’t have children.’ I’m with the film’s defenders (like Alyssa Rosenberg at Washington Post), who understand that the scene is really a lament on the choices both Natasha and Bruce have had taken away from them, and the ability to have children is a part of that, but not all of it.
  • As villains go, Ultron certainly had the potential to stand out from the pack of generic Marvel bad guys seeking world destruction. And while James Spader’s performance gives the titular robot a sarcastic flavor that only Spader can provide, Ultron is no different from all the other sentient machines encountered in science fiction. It feels like there should have been more to the Stark/Ultron relationship. If Tony’s the mad scientist, Ultron is his monster and his progeny, but the reasons Ultron hates Tony so much aren’t very well defined. I mean, you can infer some of it from his dialogue, but it’s not enough. As a precursor to Civil War, I would have loved to have seen the Avengers go up against an Ultron that’s more a product of Tony’s worst impulses – the part of him that “can’t tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it.”
  • I’m guessing a lot of Quicksilver was left on the cutting room floor. Out of the four new main characters, he makes the smallest impression, and not even his heroic death can make up for it. The version of Quicksilver (played by Evan Peters) in X-Men: Days of Future Past wins this faceoff.
  • The Vision – you know how you can tell if a character is awesome? They make the biggest impression with the least amount of screen time.
  • Unsurprisingly, the Avengers wind up saving the day – rescuing the people stranded on the floating city of Sokovia and everyone else on Earth below it. But as I watched the movie, I couldn’t shake the feeling that that wasn’t supposed to happen, and that some part of the Avengers’ mission should have failed. It would’ve been in keeping with the theme of consequences (“Everyone creates the thing they dread”), and it would’ve set up the coming conflict between Cap and Tony in Civil War. I could be way off base here, but it’s possible Whedon and Kevin Feige had a darker ending for the film in mind but some Disney/Marvel bigwigs wouldn’t go for it. And now there’s going to have to be some other kind of devastating event to set the plot of Civil War in motion.
  • Let’s talk for a second about how great Hawkeye was this time around. As the one real human with no special abilities (we don’t know for certain if Black Widow is enhanced like she is in the comics), and a surprisingly normal personal life, Barton serves as a reminder of what it is the Avengers fight for. Funnily enough, his role here reminds me of Green Arrow’s introduction in Justice League Unlimited, where Batman tells him that his presence in the League would “keep us honest.”
  • Where would I rank Age of Ultron in the MCU? Probably 3rd or 4th, after Winter Soldier, Iron Man, and maybe the first Avengers. Ultron is probably a deeper film than all of those, but it falls short on the action front, and Loki remains the better villain (of the movies. The best villain of the entire MCU is Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk in Daredevil). I hope the talk of an extended version of the movie coming to DVD is true. I really would love to see the 195-minute cut that Whedon has mentioned in interviews.
April 14, 2015

Some Thoughts on Marvel’s Daredevil, Season 1

dd1I spent this past weekend in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s been some time since the sky opened up and that horde of aliens came spilling out onto the streets. Sure, Iron Man, Captain America (who’s looking pretty good for his age) and that giant green guy managed to beat them all, but by then the damage had been done. The ongoing gentrification and increasing affluence the old neighborhood was enjoying stopped cold, and the residents were plunged back into a world of crime and dilapidation. Fortunately, while the Avengers are busy fighting monsters and aliens from other worlds, there’s at least one guy in a mask who’s dedicated to standing up for the little guy.

And that’s the backdrop for Marvel’s Daredevil, the latest Netflix original series and the first of a new team of “street level” superheroes who’ll be making their live action debuts in the next year or two.

The last time the character appeared onscreen he was played by Ben Affleck, in an adaptation that was not well received by critics or fans alike. My knowledge of the character is limited to that campy, forgettable film and his appearances in the Spider-Man animated series from the 90’s.

This latest version, developed by Drew Goddard (co-writer/director of The Cabin in the Woods and writer on various genre shows, including Buffy and Angel) before Steven S. DeKnight (another Whedon alum) came onboard as showrunner, stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, an attorney born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen. A car accident involving a chemical spill robbed Matt of his sight at a young age, but those chemicals also heightened his other senses to superhuman degrees. For reasons that become clearer as the season goes on, he dons a black mask and beats down on thugs as he tries to get to the bottom of a criminal conspiracy.

Daredevil is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which I hope became obvious from the intro because the show itself keeps any references to that fact to a minimum. This is the opposite approach to Marvel’s two other shows on the air, Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter. The shadow of the MCU looms so large over both series (but especially the former) that neither is really able to stand on its own. Daredevil doesn’t suffer from this problem. It carves out its (relatively) small part of the world and tells a (relatively) small story that nonetheless feels every bit as crucial to the Marvel mythology as any of its blockbuster counterparts.

And even though it doesn’t have 9-figure budgets to play with, those Netflix dollars and the show’s tone have allowed Daredevil to become the most visually distinctive property in the entire MCU. It towers over the laughably cheap looking SHIELD, and while Agent Carter‘s visual effects artists give it a nice, sepia-toned period look, I wouldn’t bring it up as a defining attribute (it’s not Marvel’s Mad Men, in other words). Daredevil is darker and more graphic than the movies, with the level of violence often matching (at times exceeding) the grim and gritty tone of the crime story.

But it’s still Marvel, so there’s plenty of action. Murdock’s acrobatic and combat skills make for some inventive and brutal set pieces. The highlights of the season include an intricately choreographed one-take fight between Murdock and a gang of Russian gangsters, a bloody one-on-one duel with a deadly ninja, and the season-ending showdown between Daredevil (who eventually dons his iconic red suit) and his arch-nemesis, Wilson Fisk.

Played by Vincent D’Onofrio, Fisk doesn’t make his first appearance until a couple of episodes into the season, but the character’s presence is felt early through the deadly thugs he employs and by his right hand man Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore). Moore brings a ton of personality to what could’ve easily been a superfluous character. D’Onofrio, with his huge bald head and towering frame, brings Fisk to life as accurately as a human can (his comic counterpart, while human, is an inhumanly sized guy). You couldn’t be blamed for thinking such a commanding presence would be matched with an equally commanding temperament, but that’s not the case with Fisk. The first time we meet him is the first time he meets Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer), a beautiful woman working at an art gallery. When she notices him staring intently at a particular painting, their exchange makes an instant impression:

Vanessa: It’s not about the artist’s name or the skill required. Not even about the art itself. All that matters is, “How does it make you feel?”

Fisk: It makes me feel alone.

Has there ever been a more subdued introduction to a supervillain? No puffed chest, no display of power (that comes later), but a sad confession. Their next meeting is as close to a meet cute as you’re going to see in a story like this, as Fisk awkwardly asks Vanessa out to dinner. Fisk has a rough voice but a meek speech pattern. It’s jarring at first because it’s so unexpected, and I love that about D’Onofrio’s performance. By the same token, it seems like Fisk’s operation is the same as any other criminal organization, but again, expectations are turned on their head. Fisk has a plan for the city, born out of a troubled past. He’s so haunted by it that he’s willing to completely raze Hell’s Kitchen in order to keep it buried.

So far in the MCU the villain has rarely been afforded the same level of development as the hero, but Daredevil breaks from tradition by making Fisk just as interesting as Matt, if not more so. This is an advantage of doing a series, and of the Netflix model. Netflix shows are designed to be binge-watched, which allows the writers to parse out information at a slower pace. In the case of introducing Fisk, that method works beautifully. The slow build-up adds to the impact.

But not everything Netflix does works. Their original series episodes tend to be longer than network or cable, more in line with HBO, and I don’t think the extended runtime is particularly beneficial to Daredevil. There are a number of scenes throughout the season that feel like they go on longer than necessary, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these scenes usually involve Matt’s secretary, Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). Her story parallels Matt’s in that she’s on a mission to uncover the truth about Fisk’s activities, but for a large chunk of time in the middle of the season, her development comes to a standstill. We can only learn so much about her character when her actions remain the same for several episodes. You could make the same argument about reporter Ben Urich, but he’s a richer character thanks to the pathos and world-weariness that Vondie Curtis-Hall brings to that role.

Yeah, the supporting cast of characters are a mixed bag. As Matt’s legal partner and best friend Foggy Nelson, Elden Henson is used almost exclusively for comic relief in the early going, but as the stakes start to rise the character does get balanced out, though there are times when Henson isn’t quite able to nail those dramatic moments.

Gahh, this is too long and I still have so much to talk about. I think I’ll stop here and do a Part 2 later.

January 21, 2015

“The Flash” Review: “Revenge of the Rogues”

96546465I was a fan of ‘Prison Break’ for a while. I mean, yes, the longer it went on the more preposterous it got, but as a weekly adrenaline rush, it got the job done. I appreciated how the writers of that show tried to keep things fresh by rebooting the central premise every season. This did eventually lead to that dead on arrival fourth season, but kudos to the show for trying to do something new, rather than having Michael Scofield and his brother Lincoln Burrows stay in the same prison for years and years.

But as much as I enjoyed the show, one of its biggest problems was the fact that the supporting players were a lot more fun to watch than the two leads. As played by Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell, Michael and Lincoln got as much mileage out of brooding stoicism as possible and then just became boring. Now, had Miller and Purcell been cast on ‘Prison Break’ as Leonard Snart and Mick Rory, the two characters they’re respectively playing all these years later on ‘The Flash,’ that would’ve been a much more interesting show.

This is Miller’s second appearance as Snart, aka Captain Cold, and it feels like he’s having even more fun than he did in “Going Rogue.” Purcell, meanwhile, gets to chew up the scenery in a way he never got a chance to on ‘Prison Break,’ and while it runs dangerously close to being too hammy, what keeps Purcell on the right side of it is the fact that Rory, whom Cisco dubs Heat Wave, proves to be smarter than he looks, even if he has lost a marble or two from being heavily burned during an earlier heist gone wrong. As partners whose professional philosophies don’t quite mesh (Snart is the obsessive planner, Rory clearly more hotheaded and impulsive), the two actors get a fun dynamic to play that is miles ahead of the first time they worked together.

Best of all, the pairing makes them a formidable threat for Barry, whose head isn’t quite in the game when Snart and Rory start making their moves.

Since getting his ass handed to him by the Reverse Flash (who may or may not be a past or future or something version of Dr. Wells) at Christmas, Barry has been focusing all his attention on improving his speed. Barry’s fear that the man in yellow could strike at any moment has messed with his head so much that he all too easily takes Dr. Wells’ advice to not answer Snart’s challenges for a fight. This leads to some friction between Wells and Joe, who (of course) knows that Barry is at his best when he’s helping people. On the upside, the absence of the Flash gives Cisco a chance to get out of the lab and help Joe and the cops defend themselves against Snart’s cold gun, a gesture that isn’t quite enough to put Star Labs back in everyone’s good graces (but by episode’s end, proves to be a good start).

The inevitable confrontation between Flash and the Rogues was nicely done (though Barry sure seemed to recover from the cold and heat blasts really quickly), but more importantly, the fight reveals to the cops (and I’m assuming the rest of Central City) that the Flash is real. This is a big deal, and yet another thing that separates the Scarlet Speedster from the perpetually cloaked-in-shadow Arrow. One of my favorite episodes of the great ‘Justice League Unlimited’ was the Flash-centric “Flash and Substance,” which gave us an illuminating look at how everyone in Central City sees Flash – as their greatest hero and hope. In addition to saving them from what I’m guessing are near constant attacks from the Rogues, Flash takes the time to say hi to everyone he speeds by, just passing along goodwill to others. It’s what makes Flash unique among other heroes, and it’s why he was the heart and soul of that series. It’s no coincidence that Barry’s decision to finally step out of the shadows immediately reminded me of that episode. You can’t exactly inspire people when they don’t know you exist.

I’m spending a lot of space talking about the Rogues, but they don’t completely dominate the episode, which also picks up threads left dangling from last Fall. Caitlin is still searching for Ronnie, and her slight progress there gives us our first glimpse at Victor Garber as Martin Stein, the other half of Firestorm. Iris moves out, and things between her and Barry are still weird since he confessed his feelings for her. While I still don’t really care about the Barry/Iris thing, this subplot did lead to my favorite scene of the episode, where Barry and Joe amusingly decide to have Barry move back in. I know this is the first time I’m writing about ‘The Flash’ on this blog, so let me state for the record that the Barry/Joe relationship is one of the show’s greatest strengths, and Jesse L. Martin’s ability to hop between dry comedy and heartfelt emotion is uncanny.

Winter premieres have not been a strength of ‘Arrow’ in its admittedly short life, and it looks like the writers were determined to not make the same mistake with ‘The Flash.’

They did good. “Revenge of the Rogues” is a rock solid start to 2015, and I’m very glad to have ‘The Flash’ back on the air.

Also in this episode:

  • Barry gives new meaning to the term “speed reading.”
  • Snart: “Give me one reason I don’t kill you right now.” Rory: “It’s gonna be hard to find someone else to listen to your winning speeches.”
  • The episode was so fun, I’m just gonna ignore the question of how Snart knew who Caitlin was and where she would be.
  • Captain Cold and Heat Wave plot to steal a painting called “Fire & Ice.” That’s such a comic book thing.
  • Looks like Eddie has changed his mind about taking down the Flash, protecting him from a cold and heat blast.
  • Wells: “In case you doubt it, you push me to be better, too.” That’s ominous!
  • Ghostbusters is “really quite funny.”
January 5, 2015

Favorite Movies of 2014

snowpiercerI’m still playing catch-up with several of the more high profile releases (Birdman, The Imitation Game, Selma, etc.), but even without having seen those films, there were still a lot more than 10 movies that I loved in 2014. Here are 15 of the most memorable:

Honorable mention: Boyhood
Without a doubt, Boyhood is a special kind of achievement. The idea of shooting a movie over the course of 12 years, and the way the film so subtly marks the passage of time – it just sneaks up on you – is something that deserves to be recognized.

And yet, if I’m being completely honest, upon my first viewing of the film I found myself admiring it a lot more than actually liking it. There are scenes that I absolutely love, but despite the intimate, personal nature of the story, it didn’t quite hit the emotional beats I thought it would. The purpose of this list is to celebrate the movies I enjoyed the most or stayed with me long after I saw them, and Boyhood is an example of the latter, but more for the groundbreaking shooting schedule than anything else at this point. I am definitely looking forward to seeing the film again, but for now the best I can do is this honorable mention.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier / Guardians of the Galaxy
It’s a shame overall box office was down this past summer, considering more good-to-great blockbusters were released when compared to 2013. Case in point: Marvel Studios continued its winning streak with arguably the two best (and least superhero-y) films in its Cinematic Universe so far. The Winter Soldier, an all-around terrific sequel that doesn’t fall into the trap of repeating what its predecessor did, felt like a Bourne movie crossed with a political thriller, and Guardians was just an absolute blast. Writer/director James Gunn and his stellar cast easily made up for the fact that the film’s plot was basically a carbon copy of The Avengers, by focusing in on this motley crew of charming space misfits, led by the awesome Burt Macklin, FBI Chris Pratt.

Edge of Tomorrow
Another example of the year’s stellar summer output was this Tom Cruise vehicle that turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. What could have been another generic sci-fi action flick (like 2013’s Oblivion, which also starred Cruise) quickly revealed itself to be far more clever, funny and thrilling than the uninspired marketing and godawful title would have you believe.

Enemy / Nightcrawler
It’s a great time to be Jake Gyllenhaal, who in recent years has been making some very smart choices in the roles he’s taken. In 2014, Gyllenhaal pulled double duty in the criminally overlooked Enemy, a mindbending slow burn of a thriller that practically demands repeat viewings to uncover all of its secrets. But Gyllenhaal’s dual roles in that movie were a mere warm-up compared to the career-best performance he gives in the dark and hypnotic Nightcrawler. Gyllenhaal enthralls as the sociopathic Lou Bloom, whose pursuit of the American Dream takes such dark turns that you simultaneously don’t want to see what happens next yet can’t look away. I imagine that was writer/director Dan Gilroy’s goal, as Nightcrawler forces us to question the role we play as viewers of the trashier, more exploitative side of news media.

Gone Girl
I was surprised by the number of times I laughed during Gone Girl. I haven’t read Gillian Flynn’s novel (she also wrote the screenplay), so I don’t know if the dark humor was carried over or if it was something that director David Fincher brought to it, though the latter wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Whenever I read or watch his interviews, Fincher always strikes me as having a twisted sense of humor. With Gone Girl, it seems like he found the perfect material to let that side of him shine through, and the result is a murder mystery that’s superior to his immaculately crafted but completely uninspired adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are fantastic as the leads, but the most memorable performance may have been from Carrie Coon, who also made quite an impression on me in HBO’s “The Leftovers.”

The Grand Budapest Hotel
There ain’t no movie like a Wes Anderson movie. Even if you don’t know his name, you can always tell if you’re watching one of his films, so singular is his visual style. But that doesn’t mean his movies are samey, nor does it mean he sacrifices substance for that style. Take his latest, for example. The Grand Budapest Hotel, with its luxurious production design and shifting aspect ratios, is dryly funny (Ralph Fiennes has never been better), and many scenes take on the manic pacing of the screwball comedies of old. But the wartime setting, and retrospective way the story is told, eventually reveals something more thoughtful and emotional. And it’s that emotion, so carefully sprinkled throughout, that allows it to rise above the idea of the film as light confection (though you could hardly be blamed for enjoying the film on that level). It’s just a pleasure to watch unfold.

The Guest
Whoever came up with the idea of casting Dan Stevens (the boring one on “Downton Abbey.” No, the other boring one.) as the human monster in this brutally entertaining horror film is a genius. Sporting an American accent, and playing a guy so far removed from the stuffiness of the BBC drama, Stevens has completely changed my original perception of him, and his work here shows that he has the potential to break out in a big way.

Interstellar
Is it everything I hoped it would be? Almost. But as much as I tend to love Chris Nolan’s films, even I can’t ignore the poor dialogue and his tendency to over-indulge in the pursuit of epic epicness (lose the entire Matt Damon section and I’d be a lot happier with the film as a whole). That being said, there’s a scene in the middle of Interstellar that is one of the most poignant movie moments of the year. It shows us that Nolan continues to make strides in giving his densely plotted tales the emotional heft they need to engage not just the mind, but the heart as well.

The Lego Movie
Hilarious, clever and surprisingly touching, The Lego Movie shows that even the most cynical and financially motivated of Hollywood product can be a real winner if you’ve got the right filmmakers behind the camera. Writers/directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord have made a career out of taking the flimsiest of concepts and breathing some real life into them (they’re also responsible for 21 Jump Street and its sequel). The Lego Movie would have been a great time had it just played out as a wacky adventure starring generic Lego figure Emmett (Chris Pratt, killing it again), but Miller and Lord go one step further. They know that for a lot of people, those colorful blocks are more than just toys. Not only are they capable of bringing kids and parents together, but they can ignite a child’s imagination in a way that few things can. The film is a celebration of that creative spark.

Life Itself
I may just do this for fun, but I wouldn’t be doing it at all were it not for Roger Ebert. It’s because of him that I love movies as much as I do, that I read about movies as much as I do, that the internet is so alive with people’s opinions and perspectives on and troubles with and celebrations of movies. Based on Ebert’s memoir, Life Itself is a warm and heartfelt tribute to the late critic, who always stood out to me because it never felt like he was talking down to me or showing off how much smarter he was than me through his writing. I read a lot of reviews, and often it just feels like critics are actively trying to confuse you. I could read hundreds and hundreds of words and sometimes still not be able to tell if this guy (let’s call him Armond White) actually liked what he saw. But Ebert understood what the purpose of reviewing was: to let people know if a certain movie was worth seeing or not. Ebert wasn’t some extraordinary, larger than life figure. He was a normal guy with flaws, and while his career was a great success, you could tell watching the film that his family is what made him happiest, and his illness, even at its most painful, wasn’t going to take that away from him. Life Itself can be difficult to watch at times. There are scenes throughout that show Ebert, missing his jaw and unable to speak due to cancer, going through rehab or being in obvious pain, but they’re counteracted by moments of obvious joy. It’s absolutely worth seeing.

The Raid 2
I was not a big fan of The Raid: Redemption. My problem with its nonstop action, strikingly choreographed and shot though it was, is that it never really took a moment to take a breath. That film was pitched at 11 for its entire runtime, to the point where it started to feel monotonous and numbing. With The Raid 2, Gareth Evans has expanded the scope of his cop vs. (many) gangsters tale, and the result, while unwieldy at times, is one of the most visceral action epics of the last several years. The set pieces in this movie are just a sight to behold: the camera moves so fluidly and the sequences are edited so crisply that you feel the full impact of every punch, kick, blow, slash, etc. In terms of pure action, it’s the best movie of the year.

Snowpiercer
This summer, while everyone was busy losing three hours of their lives (and pieces of their souls) to Michael Bay, smarter people (or at least people who didn’t hate themselves) chose to see Snowpiercer, Bong Joon-ho’s wild and inventive dystopian action epic. Set aboard a train carrying the last of humanity as it travels around a now-frozen earth, the lower class survivors at the back of the train (led by Chris Evans in a revelatory performance) revolt and make their way forward through the middle and upper class cars in thrilling fashion, as Bong makes his statements on class warfare purely through his visuals. It’s a refreshing spin on your typical dystopian science fiction, and best of all, it’s an hour shorter than Transformers.

Two Days, One Night
In this French-language film, a working class woman, ready to return to work after suffering a nervous breakdown, finds that her co-workers have voted to have her lose her job permanently in order to receive pay raises. Now she has a weekend to convince each of them to change their minds. Despite the ticking clock, Two Days, One Night is not some fast paced thriller. There’s no shocking twist, no villain. There are only people (some kind and compassionate, others selfish and rude) working to make ends meet. It so authentically captures the hardships of life that can befall any of us. And at the center of the film, providing its big, beating heart is Marion Cotillard, delivering one of the most empathetic performances of the year. Her Sandra goes on an emotional roller coaster, and Cotillard, with her wonderfully expressive face, takes us on that journey with her as we observe Sandra’s anxiety, her hopefulness, her fear, her determination, her soul. Two Days, One Night may not transcend time and space, pose questions about mankind’s place in the universe, or capture 12 years in the life of a young boy, but it is the most human story of the year.

Under the Skin
This is definitely a case of differing consensus between critics and general audiences. Currently holding a one star rating on Netflix Canada yet appearing on several critics’ top 10 lists (in the top spot in many cases), all I can say about Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin is that it stuck in my mind in a way that no other movie has in a while. I’d be lying if I said my attention never wavered during the film, but that’s only because it refused to explain itself (it’s an anti-Nolan movie in that way), leaving me to think about what was happening more than usual. Here, Scarlett Johansson plays an alien being of some kind who drives around Scotland luring unsuspecting men to their apparent deaths. The purpose of her mission isn’t explained and never becomes clear, but what does become apparent is the effect that her human guise and interactions with these men (one in particular with a disorder that disfigures his face) end up having on her.

It’s actually been quite a year for Johansson, appearing in three wildly different films where she played characters that felt thematically linked. In addition to the creature she plays in Under the Skin, she also reprised her role as the calculating yet compassionate Black Widow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. And as the title character in Lucy, she displays a range that runs from traumatized and helpless to inhuman and omnipotent as a result of a drug that unlocks the dormant abilities of her brain. That’s a ridiculous premise, no doubt, and while Lucy isn’t top 10 (or top 15) material, Johansson’s performance is fantastic and serves as an interesting mirror to her role in Under the Skin.

I could cite a number of qualities that make the film stand out, like the cinematography or the unusual score or the unexpected visual effects work, but in the end, Johansson – who I consider to be one of the smartest and most talented actors of her generation – is the reason Under the Skin got under my… something. (I can’t write anymore.)

September 23, 2014

Pilot Review: ‘Gotham’ (FOX)

gothamWhile overseeing the beating of a man in an alleyway, a thug asks a young Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), “How do you like Gotham so far?” Jim replies, “Well enough.”

That’s how I felt about the pilot for FOX’s ‘Gotham.’

Written and developed by ‘Rome’ and ‘The Mentalist’ creator Bruno Heller (two shows I never watched so I can’t speak to his talents), ‘Gotham’ is being described all over as a Batman story without Batman, but as the title implies, what it really is (or what I’m hoping it will be) is the story of the city itself. The pilot, directed by Danny Cannon, is an intriguing and never boring hour of TV that’s unfortunately saddled with the unenviable task of introducing a lot of characters and backstory – which it does in ways that, for the most part, feel forced and unnatural. But because this is a big network TV pilot that needs to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, this is a necessary evil that, if dispensed with quickly, can hopefully make way for something more subtle and nuanced later on. For that reason, and because Heller has stated in interviews that it will be toned down going forward, I’m willing to accept the early heavy exposition, knowing that this show isn’t in a position to be written like the first episode of ‘The Wire,’ which threw you head first into a world with little to no explanation for what was happening or why.

The pilot opens with the murder of Bruce Wayne’s (David Mazouz) parents, which everyone has seen about a thousand times before in comics, films and cartoons. What makes this version stand out is the frank depiction of the violence, blood included. The twist here is that the fresh-on-the-job Gordon (and his partner Harvey Bullock, played by Donal Logue) is the detective assigned to the case. The investigation leads to encounters with a number of characters who will definitely maybe become supervillains someday, including Ed Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) and Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova). The pilot also introduces crime boss Fish Mooney, a character created specifically for the show and played by Jada Pinkett Smith, who’s clearly having a lot of fun.

To get more specific than that would be spoiling some of the more interesting aspects of this new interpretation. Gotham City has been depicted in the past (most notably in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy) as a town ruled by crime and corruption, but usually at a point where Bruce Wayne is in a position to do something about it. What interests me most about ‘Gotham’ is seeing what Gordon—intent on cleaning up the city—does that ultimately makes things even worse. He’s always been depicted as the last honest cop in the city, and I like the idea that by the time Bruce puts on the cape and cowl that he’s become as jaded and cynical as Bullock as a result of his failure to save the city.

That’s a pretty dark way to go, but I think the fact that the show is even dancing with the idea is an achievement. There’s a palpable sense of potential and possibility in this pilot. Seeds have been planted that could pay off handsomely during the season. By the end of the hour, Gordon has already made some choices that will no doubt come back to bite him in the ass. For a moment, I was briefly reminded of the pilot for ‘The Shield,’ which is probably the highest compliment I can pay to the show. I’m hoping the writers can generate some serious tension by having Gordon (and Bullock) get into trouble, make some questionable (but not stupid) decisions and compromises, and then figure out clever ways to get out of it. I also hope that everything in between—like anything involving future villains or Barbara or young Bruce—is interesting enough that it doesn’t just feel like the show is including these elements because it feels obligated to.

While we’re on the subject of the Batman-ness of it all, any and all nods to what forensic scientist Nygma and low-level grunt Cobblepot become in the future were awful and completely unnecessary, expressed in cringe-inducing dialogue that didn’t sound the least bit natural. Dialogue was easily one of the pilot’s weakest links. I didn’t keep a running count but I’m pretty sure Gordon introduced himself as James or Jim Gordon to every single person he came in contact with throughout the episode.

But the casting is top notch, regardless. As protagonist and audience surrogate, McKenzie is rock solid as the future Police Commissioner. He maintains a soldier-like demeanor and speaking tone that makes me wish Heller didn’t tell us that Gordon was a war hero, and instead allowed us to infer that from McKenzie’s performance. Tiny nitpick aside, Gordon provides ample contrast to the rest of the characters, specifically Logue’s gruff and weathered Harvey Bullock. The actors playing villains or future villains are going a little broader, which may put some off but should be expected when watching anything related to the Batman universe.

On the technical side, ‘Gotham’ looks good, with the visual influences ranging from The French Connection to Seven to Blade Runner, and as such there’s a timeless quality to the look of the show that is probably the right way to go with a project like this. The pilot also takes advantage of shooting in New York, as it feels like the action is actually taking place in a city and not just a series of sets. There are a touch too many sweeping shots of skyscrapers, and a couple of dolly shots (I think) of McKenzie during a chase sequence that were distracting, and immediately reminded me of a similar chase from the ‘Arrow’ pilot.

Flaws aside, I’m cautiously optimistic that ‘Gotham’ could become a tremendously entertaining cop drama. The 75 years of comic book mythology provides the necessary pieces to put together a fascinating world that would be worth visiting every week. My only fear is that Heller draws too much from said mythology too often, introducing characters from the comics too soon or who serve no purpose other than to remind you what’s coming in the future (a future we’ll most likely never get to see onscreen). I’m also hoping that Heller has a plan in place for the more tired elements that he’s already brought into the show, namely young Bruce and Barbara (Erin Richards), who I’m already worried is going to suffer from what I’ll call the Laurel Lance problem – being a love interest who can’t sustain a compelling subplot on her own. In order for ‘Gotham’ to really shine it’ll have to find a way to make all of this work and not just half of it because, as another cop show I mentioned earlier proved so well so often, all the pieces matter.

July 23, 2014

A look back at the Batman: Arkham games

I meant to have my post about Batman on TV up before this one but since I’m still working on it, and because today is Batman Day, I’m putting this one up a little early.

Yes, there have been numerous Batman video games over the past couple of decades, but really, this series is the only one that matters. Nothing else comes close. And as gamers everywhere anticipate the Dark Knight’s next-gen debut in 2015 with Arkham Knight, let’s take a look back at this series, starting with the first game to actually make you feel like you were Batman.

Arkham Asylum (2009)

I was on vacation in the States when Arkham Asylum came out. I remember walking into an HMV with the intention of simply checking out the game box. I couldn’t do that, because they were sold out. When I came back home, it was sold out. Everywhere. It stayed that way for at least a few weeks, and when I finally got my hands on the game, it didn’t take long to understand why. This was the Batman game I’d been waiting for. A dark, atmospheric descent into Gotham City’s favorite nuthouse, Arkham Asylum allowed me to do so many of the things I’d seen the Caped Crusader do in film and animation. I had the grapple gun, I could glide for long distances with my cape, I beat down a room full of enemies in one sustained freeflow of movement (a brilliant in-game example of the character’s gracefulness and brutality). I struck fear into the hearts of the cowardly and superstitious (I’m not just using that turn of phrase – enemies actually got scared), I analyzed clues, followed evidence trails, solved riddles, and I confronted my nemesis and my demons.

And I actually wasn’t even all that impressed by the game’s story (despite the fact that it was written by the great Paul Dini), which speaks to how strong the game was on the gameplay side. The story functioned well enough as a means of allowing me to do Bat-things and encounter some familiar bad guys, and the game did so many things right that I was able to overlook weaker moments, such as walking (slowly) through a maze of sewer tunnels and fighting a mutant-sized Joker at the end. What an anticlimax that was.

It didn’t matter. The rest of Arkham Asylum was such a blast to play and sold so well that a sequel was inevitable. I wasn’t sure how Rocksteady Studios would be able to top it.

Arkham City (2011)

I’ve already described the many ways in which Arkham Asylum allowed you to be Batman, but that was all within the confines of an island separate from the rest of the city, and really, what’s Batman without Gotham City? Rocksteady’s next game was an attempt to drop the Dark Knight into an open world setting in the form of a walled off section of the city where criminals were imprisoned, but free to do as they wished. After a fantastic opening sequence that sees Bruce Wayne intentionally getting himself thrown into this prison (from which the game’s title takes its name), you too are free to do as you wish. Despite the map not being as outright massive as a Liberty City or Italy in the 16th century, there is plenty to do in Arkham City, and if I haven’t mentioned this enough times already, you do it as the Batman.

Arkham City felt like a natural next step for the series, one that didn’t see any significant changes to the way you played as Batman, but refined all the things I loved about the first one. The combat system was fleshed out and made deeper and better, the expanded setting allowed for a lot more traversal which was a joy, and the boss battles were improved (mostly — there were still some stinkers in there). However, the story once again proved to be a disappointment. In Hugo Strange we had an intriguing villain whose master plan was shrouded in mystery, and that turned out to be a good thing, because when said plan was set in motion and the “real” bad guy revealed, I was not impressed. And the disparate story threads failed to come together in any meaningful way. The most memorable thing about the story was the ending, but it didn’t feel particularly well earned, done more for the shock value than because it was the right ending to this story.

But this shouldn’t dissuade you from playing Arkham City, which functions beautifully as a game if not as a great Batman tale. I spent a lot of time playing this game. It offers as complete a package as you can find for a single player experience, and it’s one of the few games I still return to every now and then if I feel like beating up some thugs or just taking a nighttime glide.

Arkham Origins (2013)

There was a lot of disappointment on the interwebs following the announcement that the next game in the Arkham series wasn’t being developed by Rocksteady. Almost immediately gamers had decided that Arkham Origins, a prequel in the series’ timeline, wouldn’t be as good as its predecessors, which had set the bar pretty damn high. I actually wrote a post on another blog noting the ways in which the switch in developer did not mean instant doom, and the reasons why we should have been excited for its arrival.

Did the game live up to expectations? Yes and no.

In terms of gameplay, Origins was almost identical to Arkham City, which at times gave the game an overly familiar feeling, but the tweaks and additions the team at Warner Bros. Montreal made hindered my overall enjoyment. Combat felt ever so slightly off. The new crime scene investigations were half-baked; a neat way of playing a sequence that could’ve been a simple cutscene, but a disappointment because they did all the work for me. Navigating certain environments felt repetitive because many rooms looked the same. And there were several bugs and glitches, which was especially noticeable because the earlier games had been so polished. All the things I loved about the previous Arkham titles I loved a little less. The game was still fun to play, but could also be a little frustrating this time around.

On the other hand, Arkham Origins managed to correct pretty much everything I didn’t like about the previous games, starting with the story. This turned out to be a strong early-career Batman tale, depicting a younger and less refined Batman and his first encounters with a number of key figures in the mythology, including the Joker. I’m not the biggest fan of cutscenes in games. If I’m not interested in a story, I tend to check out during cutscenes. That didn’t happen my first time playing Arkham Origins. The meetings between Batman and Joker, Batman and Gordon, and scenes between Batman and Alfred were given the weight you should expect from such moments, and even though such encounters have been depicted in the past, they felt fresh here, because they were connected by an honest-to-goodness character arc. Batman’s stubbornness and reluctance to trust anyone is the throughline of the game’s campaign, and as events play out, he comes to the realization that in order to accomplish his mission, he’s going to need help. It’s simple but it’s clear, and the game never forgets that.

It’s the little details that allow Arkham Origins to rise above its flaws. The opening cutscene reflects a photo of young Bruce and his parents in a dinner tray cover. Alfred calls in while you’re on patrol to wish you a Merry Christmas (the game takes place on Christmas Eve). There’s a great sequence in the middle of the game that takes you into the Joker’s mind after he first meets Batman. Even the game’s trophies contain references to important parts of Batman lore. I consider the score composed by Christopher Drake (who’s done the music for a number of animated Batman films) to be the best of the series. Another improvement over earlier games is the boss battles, with the best being an early duel between Batman and Deathstroke that tests your timing and reflexes.

If only the controls and other gameplay additions were as well modulated as they were in Arkham City. As it stands, Arkham Origins is absolutely still worth playing for Batman fans, and I enjoyed my time with it despite its quirks.

Oh, and there’s also multiplayer. It’s crap.