Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of Din's Geek Reviews.
Video games have been a major factor in geekdom for well over thirty years now. Older generations will remember the glory of Pong, the rise of the arcade, the crash of the 80s, and the revival of the genre under the home consoles.
A much darker chapter in our history comes from the disturbingly long line of video-game-based movies. Ever since the get-go people have been adapting popular game licenses into films, and not a single bloody one has been worth half a damn. From 80s crap like Super Mario Brothers all the way to the continued franchise-slaughter of the Resident Evil quadrilogy, video-game movies have never, ever worked, due in large part to an innate lack of understanding of the material by those attempting to adapt it.
Imagine my dread when I heard that one of my favorite games, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, was being adapted to the big screen. “Well,” I said, “here’ll be something else to despise.”
Well, did this film break all expectations, becoming the first good video-game movie ever, or did it rather continue the stigma, proving that games do not good movies make?
Well, it’s time to rejoice people: this movie doesn’t suck. It’s certainly not great either, but that’s beside the point.
Set in (of course) Persia, the movie follows the exploits of young Prince Destan (Jake Gyllenhaal) on a *~QUEST OF DESTINY~*.
Having nearly-single-handedly conquered the holy city of Alamut, Destan is then framed for the murder of his father. With the aid of the Princess/priestess Tamina (Gemma Arterton), he is able to escape, taking with him (purely by accident, mind you) the Dagger of Time – and ancient artifact with the power to reverse the flow of time up to one minute.
The plot is sadly linear from there. They try to get help, and are betrayed. It turns out the Nazim, Destan’s uncle (Ben Kingsly) is the actual villain (not a spoiler – for one, it’s in the trailer, and secondly his name has a “z” in it). They team up with a band of theives, try to return the dagger to its palce of origin, yaddayadda, and more fighting.
There’s some action and some questing, all culminating in a special-effects-laced climax of the ilk to make George Lucas drool with envy. All-in-all, a pretty predictable plot.
Fortunately, the acting is passable. All of the leads pull their weight well, with Gyllenhaal and Arterton both doing quite well. Their roles aren’t perfectly written, but they do well with them, giving an air of life to fairly flat, stock-ish characters. One performance I will applaud is Kingsly, who actually manages to do the near-impossible: he plays a convincing actor. It’s fairly easy to be given a character and play him. It takes massive, massive skill, however, to play a character playing another character. Nazim’s sly, conniving, murderous nature is concealed perfectly behind a mask of good-will, contentedness and love. If you want to see good acting in this film, Kingsly is really the only place you will find it. Everyone else does well, but not wonderfully.
But let’s face it – you’re not here for good acting. You’re here for action, swashbuckling, magical powers, and blood on the sand. Well, PoP gives you that. Tons of sword-fighting of various kinds, one or two explosions, and a fairly good mix of practical action and special effects. For every big, CGI-laced wide-shot you’ve got a fair number of actual hand-to-hand fights, which is good. Much better than Clash of the Titans at any rate.
Pace is good, visuals are nice, one weird scene with some ostriches, but hey, ya gotta deal, right? Over all, a passable action flick. Not great, not terrible, but solidly good.
…
Yep. That’s it… Pretty standard action movie.
Okay, fine, you knew it was coming.
I LOVE The Sands of Time game. That is one of only two games in my life where, while playing, I said to myself “Alright. This is art. No question – this is an artistic medium.” (the other, by the by, was Eternal Darkness)
So how does this film live up, not to Hollywood standards, but to the game? How’s it handle the source material?
Not well. If you’ve played the Sands of Time Trilogy, you will not be recognizing a ton, at least not directly. Okay, the Prince is there, and the Dagger of Time, but shy of that, you’re largely dealing with a whole new animal. Oddly, that animal isn’t a bad one, just utterly different. It’s almost as if they took the key elements of the Prince of Persia games, and then proceeded shuffle them, paint them different colors, and then put them back together. It’s not even remotely an adaptation of The Sands of Time, but you can see where they got a lot of things.
Biggest objections? No Hourglass of Time. Muslim context removed. Pagan context inserted (you don’t need “the gods” to have made the Sands, we will accept that “magic did it”).
My largest disappointment was the style of the action. Too much fighting, nowhere NEAR enough runny-jumpy-climby. I was expecting a movie full of freerunning, wall-walks, acrobatics and vertical wall scaling. Sadly, this was not to be.
So, final thoughts: as a reviewer, I encourage you to go see this film. Support the one good video-game based movie. You’ll have fun, stay enthralled, and enjoy it. As a fan, I was disappointed. I wanted more.
I suppose that’s my whole problem. I know this movie didn’t have to settle for “good” – this is one of the few titles that could have been really, really great. In the games, the dialogue was snappy, the characters enjoyable, the action killer, and the villain sinister. Here, you get a watered-down remix. Not bad on its own, but weaker than the original.
So go see it. It won’t wow you, but maybe, if Prince of Persia does well enough, a Metroid, Zelda, or Eternal Darkness movie will someday.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Din's Geek Reviews #7 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Hey all, and welcome to another installment of Geek Reviews. I apologize that this entry is so short and lackluster, but hey, better than nothing, right?
When you hear the words “Final Fantasy” what images come to your mind? Are you bombarded with thoughts of 8-bit sprites, Dragons, knights, and magery? Maybe your head fills with insane hairstyles, physically impossible weapons, cyberpunk dystopias, and the chants of Latin choirs. Perhaps you think of turn-based mechanics, collection quests, and words like “Ultima,” “Materia,” and “Magicite.”
Whatever your thoughts, if you’re a gamer, you have heard of Final Fantasy. With thirteen games spanning over two decades, the FF series is hands down the best known set of Role Playing Games ever to put paint to pixel. We all have some impression of the series.
Now please forget that impression, as the main, turn-based series is going to be left far behind as we discuss today’s title, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time.
First, a bit of background. The Crystal Chronicles sub-series of Final Fantasy began in 2003 with the Japanese release of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles on the Nintendo GameCube. Though praised for its graphics, musical score, control, and story-telling, many fans were disappointed with the game. A basic hack-n-slash dungeon-crawler, FF:CC alienated those who were craving a new, turn-based title on a Nintendo consol after the series left for the Playstation for FFVII.
Sadly, the game didn’t sell particularly well as a result, which is a shame, because it was really a solid title. Fortunately, it was successful enough to spawn a prequel on the Nintendo DS, Ring of Fates, in 2007. This, in turn, led to the creation of Echoes of Time, released in 2009.
If you’ve played the original FF:CC, Echoes of Time will feel familiar to you. Controls are basic – D-pad to move, A to attack, B to jump, X to grab, Y to cast magic – and the four “tribes” that serve as the character classes for this world remain largely unchanged:
You have Calvats, the standard “beginner’s choice” human-surrogate,
Selkies, who can double-jump and run slightly faster,
Yukes, who are better at magic,
And Lilties, who kill things with pointy sticks.
After creating your initial character, you are encouraged to craft up to three additional party members to aid you in your quest. Frankly, I found this one of the weaker portions of the game – the AI is dense as a brick – and only ever created one (a Yuke, to essentially serve as a giant “heal me now” button).
But now that you know the basic scheme of things, let’s break things down, shall we? How does Echoes of Time hold up in the traditional gaming departments?
Graphics & Gameplay, and Technical
Let’s face it folks: the DS can’t do all that much. Though fantastic by 2004 standards, this little chunk of hardware is starting to look a tad dated, even in the handheld market. Echoes of Time is a very strong example of the mixed bag of graphics that such a system – old enough to be pushed to the limits, but teetering on obsolescence – can do.
The game contrasts rather sharply between in-game graphics – which are quite passable– and startlingly beautiful pre-rendered cutscenes. In-game, characters are fairly discernable, easy to work with, and, though perhaps a tad pixilated, not as bad as online screenshots might lead one to believe. Text balloons fill the characterization gap nicely, with portrait shots allowing us to get far more emotional depth out of otherwise expressionless characters.
Meanwhile, the cutscenes are fully animated (though lacking moving lips for whatever reason) and voice-acted by a surprisingly good cast. Though sometimes distracting, they serve their purpose well enough without making us rue the graphical inferiority of the game itself.
Sadly, the controls don’t always quite work. As is wont to happen in these 64-bit (ish) environments, I more than once fell through the geometry. Also, the full-3D environments are sometimes tricky to navigate with a D-pad, leaving you spastically twitching your character back and forth alone diagonal walkways.
Despite these flaws, the game is actually pretty well-crafted. The level design is nice, the music (though a bit repetitive) is atmospheric, and the control scheme very easy to get used to. Magic is simpler than ever, the touch-screen elements blend seamlessly, and the game, over-all, has a passable learning curve.
Story & Setting
The story in Echoes of Time is a far more present happening than it was back in the original FF:CC. In fact, the only word to describe this game is “linear.” With the occasional exception of hunting down a rare item, you will pretty much cruise from level to level with no real stops in-between. Exploration is nonexistent, side-quests could more accurately be called “mini-games,” and even your equipment will pretty much be replaced after each dungeon.
That being said, this straight-as-an-arrow plot you are on is actually quite doable. Essentially, you play the standardized “chosen one” who must defeat an evil immortal bent on re-writing the past. There’s some poorly-concealed “crystals = oil” metaphors going on, but they don’t hurt too much. Characters such as Larkeicus (the aforementioned immortal) and Sherlotta (your surrogate mother/elder-sister) do their job well and get you at least marginally vested in the plot. Which is good, because despite leading you by the hand from level to level, this game is actually pretty low on actual plot-related events. What’s there is good, but the cutscenes are very limited in number, and seem rather detached from the actual dungeon-crawling you had to do to get there. In short, the plot and gameplay, both strong enough on their own, are separated by a 7-inch thick glass wall.
Conclusions
Echoes of Time is a fine game – not stellar, but good. Irritating graphical issues are made up for with streamlined controls, the lack of open exploration is made for with the ease of powering up, and the dungeons, though dangerously close to being repetitive, are short enough not to be bothersome. All in all, you’re only looking at about 15 – 25 hours of gameplay, depending on how many quests you do, what equipment you get, and how hard you play for completion. This works in the game’s favor – by the time I was done with Echoes of Time, I was just starting to get frustrated with the lack of variety.
In short, if you want pick-up-and-play, action fantasy game with little time or monetary commitment, Echoes of Time might be the game for you. I lucked out and got my copy for ten bucks, and was not at all disappointed. Give it a try – it might not be as good as the GameCube title, but you could do a hell of a lot worse.
When you hear the words “Final Fantasy” what images come to your mind? Are you bombarded with thoughts of 8-bit sprites, Dragons, knights, and magery? Maybe your head fills with insane hairstyles, physically impossible weapons, cyberpunk dystopias, and the chants of Latin choirs. Perhaps you think of turn-based mechanics, collection quests, and words like “Ultima,” “Materia,” and “Magicite.”
Whatever your thoughts, if you’re a gamer, you have heard of Final Fantasy. With thirteen games spanning over two decades, the FF series is hands down the best known set of Role Playing Games ever to put paint to pixel. We all have some impression of the series.
Now please forget that impression, as the main, turn-based series is going to be left far behind as we discuss today’s title, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time.
First, a bit of background. The Crystal Chronicles sub-series of Final Fantasy began in 2003 with the Japanese release of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles on the Nintendo GameCube. Though praised for its graphics, musical score, control, and story-telling, many fans were disappointed with the game. A basic hack-n-slash dungeon-crawler, FF:CC alienated those who were craving a new, turn-based title on a Nintendo consol after the series left for the Playstation for FFVII.
Sadly, the game didn’t sell particularly well as a result, which is a shame, because it was really a solid title. Fortunately, it was successful enough to spawn a prequel on the Nintendo DS, Ring of Fates, in 2007. This, in turn, led to the creation of Echoes of Time, released in 2009.
If you’ve played the original FF:CC, Echoes of Time will feel familiar to you. Controls are basic – D-pad to move, A to attack, B to jump, X to grab, Y to cast magic – and the four “tribes” that serve as the character classes for this world remain largely unchanged:
You have Calvats, the standard “beginner’s choice” human-surrogate,
Selkies, who can double-jump and run slightly faster,
Yukes, who are better at magic,
And Lilties, who kill things with pointy sticks.
After creating your initial character, you are encouraged to craft up to three additional party members to aid you in your quest. Frankly, I found this one of the weaker portions of the game – the AI is dense as a brick – and only ever created one (a Yuke, to essentially serve as a giant “heal me now” button).
But now that you know the basic scheme of things, let’s break things down, shall we? How does Echoes of Time hold up in the traditional gaming departments?
Graphics & Gameplay, and Technical
Let’s face it folks: the DS can’t do all that much. Though fantastic by 2004 standards, this little chunk of hardware is starting to look a tad dated, even in the handheld market. Echoes of Time is a very strong example of the mixed bag of graphics that such a system – old enough to be pushed to the limits, but teetering on obsolescence – can do.
The game contrasts rather sharply between in-game graphics – which are quite passable– and startlingly beautiful pre-rendered cutscenes. In-game, characters are fairly discernable, easy to work with, and, though perhaps a tad pixilated, not as bad as online screenshots might lead one to believe. Text balloons fill the characterization gap nicely, with portrait shots allowing us to get far more emotional depth out of otherwise expressionless characters.
Meanwhile, the cutscenes are fully animated (though lacking moving lips for whatever reason) and voice-acted by a surprisingly good cast. Though sometimes distracting, they serve their purpose well enough without making us rue the graphical inferiority of the game itself.
Sadly, the controls don’t always quite work. As is wont to happen in these 64-bit (ish) environments, I more than once fell through the geometry. Also, the full-3D environments are sometimes tricky to navigate with a D-pad, leaving you spastically twitching your character back and forth alone diagonal walkways.
Despite these flaws, the game is actually pretty well-crafted. The level design is nice, the music (though a bit repetitive) is atmospheric, and the control scheme very easy to get used to. Magic is simpler than ever, the touch-screen elements blend seamlessly, and the game, over-all, has a passable learning curve.
Story & Setting
The story in Echoes of Time is a far more present happening than it was back in the original FF:CC. In fact, the only word to describe this game is “linear.” With the occasional exception of hunting down a rare item, you will pretty much cruise from level to level with no real stops in-between. Exploration is nonexistent, side-quests could more accurately be called “mini-games,” and even your equipment will pretty much be replaced after each dungeon.
That being said, this straight-as-an-arrow plot you are on is actually quite doable. Essentially, you play the standardized “chosen one” who must defeat an evil immortal bent on re-writing the past. There’s some poorly-concealed “crystals = oil” metaphors going on, but they don’t hurt too much. Characters such as Larkeicus (the aforementioned immortal) and Sherlotta (your surrogate mother/elder-sister) do their job well and get you at least marginally vested in the plot. Which is good, because despite leading you by the hand from level to level, this game is actually pretty low on actual plot-related events. What’s there is good, but the cutscenes are very limited in number, and seem rather detached from the actual dungeon-crawling you had to do to get there. In short, the plot and gameplay, both strong enough on their own, are separated by a 7-inch thick glass wall.
Conclusions
Echoes of Time is a fine game – not stellar, but good. Irritating graphical issues are made up for with streamlined controls, the lack of open exploration is made for with the ease of powering up, and the dungeons, though dangerously close to being repetitive, are short enough not to be bothersome. All in all, you’re only looking at about 15 – 25 hours of gameplay, depending on how many quests you do, what equipment you get, and how hard you play for completion. This works in the game’s favor – by the time I was done with Echoes of Time, I was just starting to get frustrated with the lack of variety.
In short, if you want pick-up-and-play, action fantasy game with little time or monetary commitment, Echoes of Time might be the game for you. I lucked out and got my copy for ten bucks, and was not at all disappointed. Give it a try – it might not be as good as the GameCube title, but you could do a hell of a lot worse.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Din's Geek Reviews #6 - Top Geek Films of 2009
Hello, and welcome to another exciting episode of Din's Geek Reviews.
Well everyone, it’s been a big year for us geeks, any way you cut it. Sarah Connor and Dollhouse both got canceled, Star Wars and Star Trek traded venues, and Captain America rose from the grave. But, all that considered, it has really been the cinema that has had the biggest year in geekdom.
With Marvel and DC each only contributing a single film this year, it looked to be a pretty lack-luster season. But then, just as summer was ending, BOOM! stream of awesome.
To celebrate this year in geek-movies, I will be counting down the top six geek films of the year. I’m sure you’ve heard of the majority, but never-the-less, here’s my take on this surprisingly good season, and why it will be a painful, expensive year to come at the DVD stores.
#6 Ponyo
I really, really hope at least a few of you got to see this movie on the big screen.
Ponyo, fully titled Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, is the latest anime film by legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. In some ways a loose re-telling of the traditional “Little Mermaid” story, the film follows the adventures of the titular Ponyo, a small fish… girl… thing… as she is washed ashore and rescued by a young Japanese boy named Sosuke.
At the same time, Ponyo’s father (apparently tasked with keeping the oceans in balance) is on a quest to retrieve the little fishgirl, as she has the potential to disrupt nature (or something. It’s been a few months, okay?).
Though featuring all of the reality-bending weirdery that Miyazaki has become famous for, Ponyo is still a charming film. I saw the English dub while it was in the theater, and I must, say, despite using two clearly market-targeted stars (Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas as Ponyo and Sosuke respectively) it was actually one of the better dubs I’ve seen. The supporting cast was great, featuring the likes of Liam Neeson and Tina Fey, and the voices always matched the characters.
But what really makes Ponyo a great film is the spectacle. The vast, hand-drawn oceans are simply amazing, particularly during the storm scene about halfway through.
All that said, this film also manages to capture much of that childhood innocence that a lot of kid’s movies lack these days. It’s a wonderfully charming film, with loveable characters, good lessons, and beautiful animation. Go rent it. Show your kids. Enjoy.
#5 Surrogates
Anyone who stepped foot into a theatre between the release of Terminator Salvation and September probably saw the trailer for this film. One of the two big, flashy, old-school sci-fi films of this year, Surrogates is based on a 2005 – 2006 comic book series and follows the adventures of… a character played by Bruce Willis, as he tries to solve a murder.
But you’re not here for that, not really. You’re here for the sci-fi attitude.
You learned about the premise in the aforementioned trailers. It’s the kinda-sorta future, and the supermajority of humans are living their lives through “surrogates” – essentially remote controlled android puppets – allowing them to live without limits. What the surrogates feel, they feel, etc.
However, all is not well for Willis, as the first murder in *generic amount of time* has occurred, forcing him to track down a killer that can murder people through their surrogates.
There’s plenty of action here. The whole normal-people-as-terminators thing is fully exploited, and the action scenes are pretty good. But what really makes Surrogates strong is its ideas.
This movie takes a very older-style sci-fi approach to the plot device – it’s not just an excuse for the action. It really does dabble with the questions raised: what would life be like with no consequences? Would some people give up on their own humanity? How would war change? What if such a system happened, but was taken away?
It’s the little stuff that makes to movie great – the character interaction, the backgrounds, just how normal these machines have become. A fun film to be sure, but probably a better discussion.
#4 Sherlock Holmes
Okay, I just saw this one yesterday, so I might be cheating a little, but I don’t really care. This film rocked.
Sherlock Holmes is the story of, well, Sherlock Holmes, and the continuing adventures thereof.
And I’m not going to spoil it for you. Let’s just say there is murder, and adventure, and high-flying action all around.
Without ruining it, the plot is an interesting blend of intrigue, going off in perhaps a bit of an odd direction. However, it concludes in a way that leaves you very satisfied with the entire adventure, and (as is always the case with good Holmes) gives you the chance to theorize a number of the pieces yourself. (I totally called it on the “fire” incident, by the way)
What makes Holmes wonderful is its acting. Robert Downy Jr. and Jude Law are fantastic in this movie, playing the characters off of each other perfectly. Watson is competent for once, and Holmes is a bit of a disheveled eccentric. I wish I could give you particular examples, but this film is (as most Holmes stories are) so detail-based that anything I could use would give away part of the fun. Just trust me – these characters have not been portrayed this well in… ever.
Oh, and the action was good. That happens too. I particularly liked the early slow-mo bits – they really brought in a new dimension to Holmes as a character that I thought fit quite well.
The only major complaint I have was the use of CGI – really, I know it’s cheap, but the tech is hardly perfect. Build some sets, danggit. If The Muppet Christmas Carol can do practical effects shots of Victorian London, so can you.
But the CG was really only a minor distraction. There’re only two or three shots that were annoying, and they were fast.
It’s still in theatres folks. Go check this one out.
#3 Inglorious Bastards
Alright, I know, this one might not really count as a “geek movie,” but look at it this way: what we’re dealing with is essentially a spaghetti-western set entirely in Nazi-occupied France, starring European actors no one has heard of, all directed by the guy who made bad kung fu movies cool again. Oh, and about 80% of it is in subtitles.
So yes. Yes it is a geek movie.
What may surprise you is that this movie, despite its promotional campaign and Tarantino’s history, is not so very gory. Oh yes, the violence is there, and it’s harsh, but there’s only three or four moments of it, and they don’t last.
What’s more, there’s actually not all that much action. Rather, this film is based on dialogue, building suspense and excitement through conversation – no mean feat, particularly in foreign languages.
The acting is universally enjoyable – even Brad Pit is good – but you’re really here to see Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa, and Melanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus. Waltz in particular is amazing, carrying the Nazi Colonel through not one, not two, but four different languages, and still keeping an atmosphere of venomous evil through the entire film. He’s one of those nice villains – the kind that might give you a cake, but that you really, really don’t want to piss off.
Over all, Bastards was an exciting, stimulating movie, possibly one of the best Tarantino has done to date. Turn your eyes away at the right moments, and you’re in for a treat.
#2 District 9
I dedicated an entire review to this when it first came out, so there’s really no need to re-hash the virtues of District 9. However, I will point out why this movie didn’t make the #1 slot on this list.
Sadly, all its strengths aside, District 9 is a hard movie to watch. The film is emotionally brutal, visually unpleasant, and leaves you feeling physically drained. It is certainly a “must see movie,” but sadly, you will probably only feel up to seeing it once or twice. It’s not a film you will be watching ever couple of months – probably not even once a year. It’s powerful, very, very powerful, but with that power comes the price of effort. You need to be in a particular mood to re-watch District 9.
If you haven’t seen it, see it now. If you have, rent it, watch it, and then put it down for a while.
#1 Watchmen
It’s a little ironic that I opened this list by pointing out the shortage of Marvel/DC adaptations, yet it’s Watchmen that takes the cake.
Where to begin? Well, I suppose the source material is as good as anywhere.
Based on the 1986/7 (and I don’t say this lightly) masterpiece by Alan Moore, Watchmen is a super-hero/alternate-history/Cold-War drama/romance/intrigue/detective story?
Alright, let me back up. It’s the 1980’s, and, in this universe, costumed heroes have been around for years. No powers, mind you, just flamboyant vigilantism. Over time, however, the government decides it doesn’t care for this, and makes it illegal.
The “core” story is that of a series of murders. Someone, somewhere, is attempting to kill off masks, and this does not sit well with those remaining. Clue leads to clue, eventually culminating in events that will reshape the world as we know it and make every reader/viewer question their own humanity.
…
Okay, look. I can’t do better than this. This story is so labyrinthine, so multifaceted, so interwoven between personal relationships, massive governments, and inner monologues on the nature of humanity you have to read it or, in this case, watch it. I can’t summarize it here, and it would be a disservice to try it.
Alright, so wonderful comic. What makes this movie so great?
Most things, to tell the truth. An incredibly loyal adaptation, Watchmen really does what it set out to do. The action is exciting (though admittedly sparse by modern standards) and the plot is well executed, but the reason to watch this is the characters.
Strong performances are delivered by almost the entire cast (with the notable exception of Malin Akerman, who kind of falls on her face). Patrick Wilson and Matthew Goode provide wonderful contrast as Night Owl and Ozymandias respectively, showing the various paths that vigilantism (and wealth) can take, depending on your attitudes. Wilson in particular performs well, creating a believable, insecure, and unconfident character that is easy to identify with.
Billy Crudup also brings a fair bit of talent to the table as Doctor Manhattan, coming off as (fittingly) emotionless. It takes a lot of effort to remain that monotone.
The star of this cast, of course, is Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach. Seriously. This guy nailed it. The monologue, the voice, the expressions – everything. Haley keeps Rorschach what he was in the book – cold, mean, and obsessed. Hell, the guy even looks the part.
As far as super-hero movies go, this one is top-bracket. Though some audiences might find it slow for an action film, that’s actually fine. Because this isn’t an action film. It’s a drama, and a sci-fi. It’s about questions, and discussions. When does the law cease to be justified? How far is too far? To what lengths do you go to protect humanity? What do you do with the powers of God? When does obsession become insanity? Does it even matter?
Watchmen is all about these kind of questions, and more.
Watch the film. Then read the book (you’ll thank me later).
Then buy them both so you can repeat the process every-so-often.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s been a huge year for geek films. Honorable mentions go out to Avatar for its special effects, Harry Potter for not sucking, and Star Trek for revitalizing the franchise, but in the end, none of those was quite good enough to make it on the list.
Well, 2009 is over. What’s 2010 got in store?
First up will be Iron Man 2 in May. After that? Well, we’ll just wait and see. 2011 is the “big year” for geekdom. But maybe, just maybe, 2010 will have as good a run as 2009.
Well everyone, it’s been a big year for us geeks, any way you cut it. Sarah Connor and Dollhouse both got canceled, Star Wars and Star Trek traded venues, and Captain America rose from the grave. But, all that considered, it has really been the cinema that has had the biggest year in geekdom.
With Marvel and DC each only contributing a single film this year, it looked to be a pretty lack-luster season. But then, just as summer was ending, BOOM! stream of awesome.
To celebrate this year in geek-movies, I will be counting down the top six geek films of the year. I’m sure you’ve heard of the majority, but never-the-less, here’s my take on this surprisingly good season, and why it will be a painful, expensive year to come at the DVD stores.
#6 Ponyo
I really, really hope at least a few of you got to see this movie on the big screen.
Ponyo, fully titled Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, is the latest anime film by legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. In some ways a loose re-telling of the traditional “Little Mermaid” story, the film follows the adventures of the titular Ponyo, a small fish… girl… thing… as she is washed ashore and rescued by a young Japanese boy named Sosuke.
At the same time, Ponyo’s father (apparently tasked with keeping the oceans in balance) is on a quest to retrieve the little fishgirl, as she has the potential to disrupt nature (or something. It’s been a few months, okay?).
Though featuring all of the reality-bending weirdery that Miyazaki has become famous for, Ponyo is still a charming film. I saw the English dub while it was in the theater, and I must, say, despite using two clearly market-targeted stars (Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas as Ponyo and Sosuke respectively) it was actually one of the better dubs I’ve seen. The supporting cast was great, featuring the likes of Liam Neeson and Tina Fey, and the voices always matched the characters.
But what really makes Ponyo a great film is the spectacle. The vast, hand-drawn oceans are simply amazing, particularly during the storm scene about halfway through.
All that said, this film also manages to capture much of that childhood innocence that a lot of kid’s movies lack these days. It’s a wonderfully charming film, with loveable characters, good lessons, and beautiful animation. Go rent it. Show your kids. Enjoy.
#5 Surrogates
Anyone who stepped foot into a theatre between the release of Terminator Salvation and September probably saw the trailer for this film. One of the two big, flashy, old-school sci-fi films of this year, Surrogates is based on a 2005 – 2006 comic book series and follows the adventures of… a character played by Bruce Willis, as he tries to solve a murder.
But you’re not here for that, not really. You’re here for the sci-fi attitude.
You learned about the premise in the aforementioned trailers. It’s the kinda-sorta future, and the supermajority of humans are living their lives through “surrogates” – essentially remote controlled android puppets – allowing them to live without limits. What the surrogates feel, they feel, etc.
However, all is not well for Willis, as the first murder in *generic amount of time* has occurred, forcing him to track down a killer that can murder people through their surrogates.
There’s plenty of action here. The whole normal-people-as-terminators thing is fully exploited, and the action scenes are pretty good. But what really makes Surrogates strong is its ideas.
This movie takes a very older-style sci-fi approach to the plot device – it’s not just an excuse for the action. It really does dabble with the questions raised: what would life be like with no consequences? Would some people give up on their own humanity? How would war change? What if such a system happened, but was taken away?
It’s the little stuff that makes to movie great – the character interaction, the backgrounds, just how normal these machines have become. A fun film to be sure, but probably a better discussion.
#4 Sherlock Holmes
Okay, I just saw this one yesterday, so I might be cheating a little, but I don’t really care. This film rocked.
Sherlock Holmes is the story of, well, Sherlock Holmes, and the continuing adventures thereof.
And I’m not going to spoil it for you. Let’s just say there is murder, and adventure, and high-flying action all around.
Without ruining it, the plot is an interesting blend of intrigue, going off in perhaps a bit of an odd direction. However, it concludes in a way that leaves you very satisfied with the entire adventure, and (as is always the case with good Holmes) gives you the chance to theorize a number of the pieces yourself. (I totally called it on the “fire” incident, by the way)
What makes Holmes wonderful is its acting. Robert Downy Jr. and Jude Law are fantastic in this movie, playing the characters off of each other perfectly. Watson is competent for once, and Holmes is a bit of a disheveled eccentric. I wish I could give you particular examples, but this film is (as most Holmes stories are) so detail-based that anything I could use would give away part of the fun. Just trust me – these characters have not been portrayed this well in… ever.
Oh, and the action was good. That happens too. I particularly liked the early slow-mo bits – they really brought in a new dimension to Holmes as a character that I thought fit quite well.
The only major complaint I have was the use of CGI – really, I know it’s cheap, but the tech is hardly perfect. Build some sets, danggit. If The Muppet Christmas Carol can do practical effects shots of Victorian London, so can you.
But the CG was really only a minor distraction. There’re only two or three shots that were annoying, and they were fast.
It’s still in theatres folks. Go check this one out.
#3 Inglorious Bastards
Alright, I know, this one might not really count as a “geek movie,” but look at it this way: what we’re dealing with is essentially a spaghetti-western set entirely in Nazi-occupied France, starring European actors no one has heard of, all directed by the guy who made bad kung fu movies cool again. Oh, and about 80% of it is in subtitles.
So yes. Yes it is a geek movie.
What may surprise you is that this movie, despite its promotional campaign and Tarantino’s history, is not so very gory. Oh yes, the violence is there, and it’s harsh, but there’s only three or four moments of it, and they don’t last.
What’s more, there’s actually not all that much action. Rather, this film is based on dialogue, building suspense and excitement through conversation – no mean feat, particularly in foreign languages.
The acting is universally enjoyable – even Brad Pit is good – but you’re really here to see Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa, and Melanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus. Waltz in particular is amazing, carrying the Nazi Colonel through not one, not two, but four different languages, and still keeping an atmosphere of venomous evil through the entire film. He’s one of those nice villains – the kind that might give you a cake, but that you really, really don’t want to piss off.
Over all, Bastards was an exciting, stimulating movie, possibly one of the best Tarantino has done to date. Turn your eyes away at the right moments, and you’re in for a treat.
#2 District 9
I dedicated an entire review to this when it first came out, so there’s really no need to re-hash the virtues of District 9. However, I will point out why this movie didn’t make the #1 slot on this list.
Sadly, all its strengths aside, District 9 is a hard movie to watch. The film is emotionally brutal, visually unpleasant, and leaves you feeling physically drained. It is certainly a “must see movie,” but sadly, you will probably only feel up to seeing it once or twice. It’s not a film you will be watching ever couple of months – probably not even once a year. It’s powerful, very, very powerful, but with that power comes the price of effort. You need to be in a particular mood to re-watch District 9.
If you haven’t seen it, see it now. If you have, rent it, watch it, and then put it down for a while.
#1 Watchmen
It’s a little ironic that I opened this list by pointing out the shortage of Marvel/DC adaptations, yet it’s Watchmen that takes the cake.
Where to begin? Well, I suppose the source material is as good as anywhere.
Based on the 1986/7 (and I don’t say this lightly) masterpiece by Alan Moore, Watchmen is a super-hero/alternate-history/Cold-War drama/romance/intrigue/detective story?
Alright, let me back up. It’s the 1980’s, and, in this universe, costumed heroes have been around for years. No powers, mind you, just flamboyant vigilantism. Over time, however, the government decides it doesn’t care for this, and makes it illegal.
The “core” story is that of a series of murders. Someone, somewhere, is attempting to kill off masks, and this does not sit well with those remaining. Clue leads to clue, eventually culminating in events that will reshape the world as we know it and make every reader/viewer question their own humanity.
…
Okay, look. I can’t do better than this. This story is so labyrinthine, so multifaceted, so interwoven between personal relationships, massive governments, and inner monologues on the nature of humanity you have to read it or, in this case, watch it. I can’t summarize it here, and it would be a disservice to try it.
Alright, so wonderful comic. What makes this movie so great?
Most things, to tell the truth. An incredibly loyal adaptation, Watchmen really does what it set out to do. The action is exciting (though admittedly sparse by modern standards) and the plot is well executed, but the reason to watch this is the characters.
Strong performances are delivered by almost the entire cast (with the notable exception of Malin Akerman, who kind of falls on her face). Patrick Wilson and Matthew Goode provide wonderful contrast as Night Owl and Ozymandias respectively, showing the various paths that vigilantism (and wealth) can take, depending on your attitudes. Wilson in particular performs well, creating a believable, insecure, and unconfident character that is easy to identify with.
Billy Crudup also brings a fair bit of talent to the table as Doctor Manhattan, coming off as (fittingly) emotionless. It takes a lot of effort to remain that monotone.
The star of this cast, of course, is Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach. Seriously. This guy nailed it. The monologue, the voice, the expressions – everything. Haley keeps Rorschach what he was in the book – cold, mean, and obsessed. Hell, the guy even looks the part.
As far as super-hero movies go, this one is top-bracket. Though some audiences might find it slow for an action film, that’s actually fine. Because this isn’t an action film. It’s a drama, and a sci-fi. It’s about questions, and discussions. When does the law cease to be justified? How far is too far? To what lengths do you go to protect humanity? What do you do with the powers of God? When does obsession become insanity? Does it even matter?
Watchmen is all about these kind of questions, and more.
Watch the film. Then read the book (you’ll thank me later).
Then buy them both so you can repeat the process every-so-often.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s been a huge year for geek films. Honorable mentions go out to Avatar for its special effects, Harry Potter for not sucking, and Star Trek for revitalizing the franchise, but in the end, none of those was quite good enough to make it on the list.
Well, 2009 is over. What’s 2010 got in store?
First up will be Iron Man 2 in May. After that? Well, we’ll just wait and see. 2011 is the “big year” for geekdom. But maybe, just maybe, 2010 will have as good a run as 2009.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Din's Geek Reviews #5 - Dracula the Un-Dead
Hello, and welcome to another long-overdue installment of Din’s Geek Reviews.
Let’s talk about vampires.
Today, there're more stories about these undead creatures of the night than one could imagine, ranging in genre from traditional horror to romance to action-adventure. Some are good, most are bad, and some even strike the balance between lame and awesome in such a way as to ascend to a new level of cool. But we’re not here to talk about Buffy.
When you think of vampires, any number of thoughts can come to mind. However, if you’re like me, there is one name synonymous with “vampire,” and name that has done more for the genre than any other. It’s not Angel or Spike. It’s not Lestat. It sure as fuck ain’t “Edward.”
No, the name I refer to is the best, the Dark Prince himself, Dracula.
Modern vampire fiction owes so much to Bram Stoker, it’s nothing short of amazing. Trace the history back, and you’ll find out that many of the elements we ascribe to the quintessential vampire come from Dracula, either in his various movie incarnations, or the original novel. Without him, there would be no True Blood, no Buffy, no Blade, none of the modern classics that have risen from the vampire mythos.
Which is why I was concerned when I learned that an official, estate-approved sequel to the original Dracula was to be written by Dacre Stoker, Bram’s great-grandnephew, and Ian Holt, a Dracula historian.
Well, being the dedicated fan that I am, I still picked the sucker up on release day, and, after several major distractions, have finally finished Dracula the Un-Dead.
But how did they do? With credentials like that, surely they could at least do a passable job, right? Maybe they can’t write all that well, but at least they’ll respect the source material, right?
Wrong. And that’s the thing that surprised me. But more on that later. First, the premise:
It is 25 years after the events of the original Dracula, and our band of heroes is in bad shape. Jonathan Harker has become an alcoholic. Doctor Seward is addicted to morphine, but is hot on the trail of a new vampire, perhaps even as deadly as Dracula himself. Arthur Holmwood has cut himself off from society, still distraught over the death of his beloved Lucy, Doctor Van Helsing is nearing death, and Mina Harker, the fair, innocent waif of Stoker’s novel, hasn’t aged a day.
This is the part where I warn you about the spoilers I’m going to reveal. Cut to the ending if you don’t want them.
The book mainly follows Jonathan and Mina’s son Quincy as he first struggles to become an actor, and later attempts to unravel the mysteries of a series of murders.
And that’s where the book goes wrong.
I’m okay with killing off characters. I think that's fine. But this novel is a slaughterhouse. Literally no one from the original party survives to the end. Some become un-dead, some just get rammed on spikes, but the result is the same. But the problem is, with the exception of Dr. Seward, these deaths don’t feel as tragic as they ought. Why? Because these are not the band of do-gooders from the original novel. These are people wearing their faces, using their names, and roaming their streets, but the real Mina, Jonathan, and Van Helsing all died in Transylvania, alongside the greatest vampire of all time.
Remember how I said that, if nothing else, this book would at least likely be true to source? Well, it turn out that the exact opposite is true. This book is actually really well written, using wonderfully vivid imagery, great dialogue, and an understanding of the historical period unlike any other novel I’ve seen. Quincy is an interesting character, mirroring Jonathan’s lust of justice along with Mina’s strong will, all amplified by the tainted blood in his veins. Mina’s conflicted psyche makes her a strangely tragic figure, Van Helsing’s madness is honestly unsettling, and Bathory, our new villain, is very good at the whole “pure evil” thing.
The problem?
That’s not how the characters were in the original novel.
That’s where this book falls apart: it is completely disloyal to its source. Mina, who was a conflicted, but pious woman in the novel, is now shown as truly in love with a monster. Van Helsing, the kindly old doctor, has now become a crazed maniac so hell-bent on immortality that he’s willing to endanger the entire world. And Dracula? What of the Dark Prince?
A total pussy.
You see, being un-dead doesn’t make you evil, it just gives you power. Dracula uses it for good. He’s a misunderstood creature, still doing God’s work even while being hunted. He loves Mina, he would never hurt her.
Oh, and he burns up in the sun. And holy relics don’t hurt him. And he’s Quincy’s father.
Gah!
That’s the main thing that bothers me: characterization. Not just of the characters, but of vampires in general.
Why does the world think we need our vampires to be love interests? Sure they’re sexy, but they don’t have to have souls. I think they could seduce us just as well without being tragic, misunderstood heroes. In fact, isn’t that what made vamps so scary, Dracula in particular? The fact that they are so appealing on the outside, but once you get close, they’re dead, rotten, predators bent on eating you.
Alright, but besides selling out the characters and the vamps, how did it do? It’s a sequel, so how does it measure up?
…
Seriously? You can’t guess?
If the book is willing to screw over the character of Dracula, you can bet they’re willing to screw over the book itself. In a (admittedly clever) bit of fourth-wall breakery, this novel retcons the events of the original novel into a hybridized version of the “actual” events, and a small vampire story that Bram Stoker (who is a character in this book, by the way) was writing. Doctor Seward, while drunk, leaked the story (or was it Van Helsing trying to become famous? I don’t think they ever cleared that up…) and so the novel, and the play based on it, are “real-world” artifacts that Quincy and other characters interact with.
Here’s the thing, guys. This would have been an amazing Dracula-based alternate-history book. It’s riddled with cool little tie-ins to history, from Jack with Ripper to the Titanic, and carries its story quite well. The characters, as they are, are consistent, believable, and really fun to read. You get that “holy crap, I’m watching a movie in my head” thing with this book, something that is becoming increasingly rare these days. The romantic bits are a little lame, and there are a couple (ill-advised) sex scenes, but hey, that sells, right? Heck, the book even fixes a lot of the connections to the historical Vlad Tepes, solidifying the relationship that many have suspected for years. It really can’t be faulted if judged on its own merits. It’s not perfect, but it’s good.
But it is not a good sequel to the true Dracula. There are simply a different set of standards once you tack on “official sequel” that must be met, and The Un-Dead fails at that. The characters, between the two books, are not remotely consistent. The authors throw away vast chunks of plot, text, and mythos in order to hammer out the story that they want to tell, regardless of what the primary document says. The fact is that Vlad Tepes and Count Dracula don’t synch up, and if you have to choose, you should go with the vampire. The amount of disrespect this piece shows the original novel is nothing shy of astounding, and I’d be hard-pressed to name a less-true sequel in all my years of fandom. The Phantom Menace was truer to its mythos than this book.
Which is really a shame. I enjoyed The Un-Dead a lot, and will probably read it again someday. Oh, it had a few pacing problems (suspense wasn’t handled well and the “big reveals” were easy to see coming) but over-all, it was a competent adventure/mystery. In short, a good vampire novel. But, by naming it Dracula, the authors committed themselves to failure, signing on to a legacy that they could have actually lived up to, but refused to. Alright, who am I kidding, they couldn’t live up to Dracula no matter what they did, but they could have come a hell of a lot closer. This novel didn’t have to be a disgrace to the name of Dracula, or the name Stoker.
But with the way the book ends, it’s clear they plan a sequel. And I’ll probably read it. But for me, there hasn’t been a real Dracula story since Bela Lugosi left the stage, and it’s likely to stay that way for a long, long time.
Let’s talk about vampires.
Today, there're more stories about these undead creatures of the night than one could imagine, ranging in genre from traditional horror to romance to action-adventure. Some are good, most are bad, and some even strike the balance between lame and awesome in such a way as to ascend to a new level of cool. But we’re not here to talk about Buffy.
When you think of vampires, any number of thoughts can come to mind. However, if you’re like me, there is one name synonymous with “vampire,” and name that has done more for the genre than any other. It’s not Angel or Spike. It’s not Lestat. It sure as fuck ain’t “Edward.”
No, the name I refer to is the best, the Dark Prince himself, Dracula.
Modern vampire fiction owes so much to Bram Stoker, it’s nothing short of amazing. Trace the history back, and you’ll find out that many of the elements we ascribe to the quintessential vampire come from Dracula, either in his various movie incarnations, or the original novel. Without him, there would be no True Blood, no Buffy, no Blade, none of the modern classics that have risen from the vampire mythos.
Which is why I was concerned when I learned that an official, estate-approved sequel to the original Dracula was to be written by Dacre Stoker, Bram’s great-grandnephew, and Ian Holt, a Dracula historian.
Well, being the dedicated fan that I am, I still picked the sucker up on release day, and, after several major distractions, have finally finished Dracula the Un-Dead.
But how did they do? With credentials like that, surely they could at least do a passable job, right? Maybe they can’t write all that well, but at least they’ll respect the source material, right?
Wrong. And that’s the thing that surprised me. But more on that later. First, the premise:
It is 25 years after the events of the original Dracula, and our band of heroes is in bad shape. Jonathan Harker has become an alcoholic. Doctor Seward is addicted to morphine, but is hot on the trail of a new vampire, perhaps even as deadly as Dracula himself. Arthur Holmwood has cut himself off from society, still distraught over the death of his beloved Lucy, Doctor Van Helsing is nearing death, and Mina Harker, the fair, innocent waif of Stoker’s novel, hasn’t aged a day.
This is the part where I warn you about the spoilers I’m going to reveal. Cut to the ending if you don’t want them.
The book mainly follows Jonathan and Mina’s son Quincy as he first struggles to become an actor, and later attempts to unravel the mysteries of a series of murders.
And that’s where the book goes wrong.
I’m okay with killing off characters. I think that's fine. But this novel is a slaughterhouse. Literally no one from the original party survives to the end. Some become un-dead, some just get rammed on spikes, but the result is the same. But the problem is, with the exception of Dr. Seward, these deaths don’t feel as tragic as they ought. Why? Because these are not the band of do-gooders from the original novel. These are people wearing their faces, using their names, and roaming their streets, but the real Mina, Jonathan, and Van Helsing all died in Transylvania, alongside the greatest vampire of all time.
Remember how I said that, if nothing else, this book would at least likely be true to source? Well, it turn out that the exact opposite is true. This book is actually really well written, using wonderfully vivid imagery, great dialogue, and an understanding of the historical period unlike any other novel I’ve seen. Quincy is an interesting character, mirroring Jonathan’s lust of justice along with Mina’s strong will, all amplified by the tainted blood in his veins. Mina’s conflicted psyche makes her a strangely tragic figure, Van Helsing’s madness is honestly unsettling, and Bathory, our new villain, is very good at the whole “pure evil” thing.
The problem?
That’s not how the characters were in the original novel.
That’s where this book falls apart: it is completely disloyal to its source. Mina, who was a conflicted, but pious woman in the novel, is now shown as truly in love with a monster. Van Helsing, the kindly old doctor, has now become a crazed maniac so hell-bent on immortality that he’s willing to endanger the entire world. And Dracula? What of the Dark Prince?
A total pussy.
You see, being un-dead doesn’t make you evil, it just gives you power. Dracula uses it for good. He’s a misunderstood creature, still doing God’s work even while being hunted. He loves Mina, he would never hurt her.
Oh, and he burns up in the sun. And holy relics don’t hurt him. And he’s Quincy’s father.
Gah!
That’s the main thing that bothers me: characterization. Not just of the characters, but of vampires in general.
Why does the world think we need our vampires to be love interests? Sure they’re sexy, but they don’t have to have souls. I think they could seduce us just as well without being tragic, misunderstood heroes. In fact, isn’t that what made vamps so scary, Dracula in particular? The fact that they are so appealing on the outside, but once you get close, they’re dead, rotten, predators bent on eating you.
Alright, but besides selling out the characters and the vamps, how did it do? It’s a sequel, so how does it measure up?
…
Seriously? You can’t guess?
If the book is willing to screw over the character of Dracula, you can bet they’re willing to screw over the book itself. In a (admittedly clever) bit of fourth-wall breakery, this novel retcons the events of the original novel into a hybridized version of the “actual” events, and a small vampire story that Bram Stoker (who is a character in this book, by the way) was writing. Doctor Seward, while drunk, leaked the story (or was it Van Helsing trying to become famous? I don’t think they ever cleared that up…) and so the novel, and the play based on it, are “real-world” artifacts that Quincy and other characters interact with.
Here’s the thing, guys. This would have been an amazing Dracula-based alternate-history book. It’s riddled with cool little tie-ins to history, from Jack with Ripper to the Titanic, and carries its story quite well. The characters, as they are, are consistent, believable, and really fun to read. You get that “holy crap, I’m watching a movie in my head” thing with this book, something that is becoming increasingly rare these days. The romantic bits are a little lame, and there are a couple (ill-advised) sex scenes, but hey, that sells, right? Heck, the book even fixes a lot of the connections to the historical Vlad Tepes, solidifying the relationship that many have suspected for years. It really can’t be faulted if judged on its own merits. It’s not perfect, but it’s good.
But it is not a good sequel to the true Dracula. There are simply a different set of standards once you tack on “official sequel” that must be met, and The Un-Dead fails at that. The characters, between the two books, are not remotely consistent. The authors throw away vast chunks of plot, text, and mythos in order to hammer out the story that they want to tell, regardless of what the primary document says. The fact is that Vlad Tepes and Count Dracula don’t synch up, and if you have to choose, you should go with the vampire. The amount of disrespect this piece shows the original novel is nothing shy of astounding, and I’d be hard-pressed to name a less-true sequel in all my years of fandom. The Phantom Menace was truer to its mythos than this book.
Which is really a shame. I enjoyed The Un-Dead a lot, and will probably read it again someday. Oh, it had a few pacing problems (suspense wasn’t handled well and the “big reveals” were easy to see coming) but over-all, it was a competent adventure/mystery. In short, a good vampire novel. But, by naming it Dracula, the authors committed themselves to failure, signing on to a legacy that they could have actually lived up to, but refused to. Alright, who am I kidding, they couldn’t live up to Dracula no matter what they did, but they could have come a hell of a lot closer. This novel didn’t have to be a disgrace to the name of Dracula, or the name Stoker.
But with the way the book ends, it’s clear they plan a sequel. And I’ll probably read it. But for me, there hasn’t been a real Dracula story since Bela Lugosi left the stage, and it’s likely to stay that way for a long, long time.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Din's Geek Reviews #4 - The Top Ten Greatest Comic-Book Women
Hello, and welcome to Din’s Geek Reviews.
This time, rather than doing another long, sometimes tedious review of a comic or film, I have decided to be exactly like every other reviewer on the ‘net and do a Top Ten list. This time, we’ll be looking at what are, in my humble opinion, the Top Ten greatest female characters in comics.
Now, we need some ground rules here; after all, there are a TON of women in comics. It’d be easy to fill this list entirely from the X-Men series, or have the top five all come from Batman. To that end, I will only be allowed to pick one character from a series. Keep in mind, however, that this does not mean only one per universe. So I could, in theory, list Mary-Jane Watson from Spider-Man and Rogue from X-men, but I could NOT list Rogue and Jean Grey.
Secondly, keep in mind that this is not really a “favorite” list, nor is it a “best” list. Rather, I have selected women who were highly memorable for a number of reasons. With me? Okay, let’s go:
#10 – Mina Harker, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Yeah, yeah, not technically a comic-book character in her own right, but the way I see it, Alan Moore created a whole new Mina for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Based on the character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Moore’s Mina is a girl of a completely different caliber. Taking the kind, gentle Mina of the novel, Alan Moore makes the one crucial alteration that changes her character completely without feeling forced: he makes her a vampire. Thus, John Harker has left his wife, and slowly she became bitter, angry, and cold. This, plus her raw supernatural powers, led to her becoming the leader of the team of Victorian super-heroes, an unexpected twist indeed.
Strong, calculating, and having weird taste in men, Mina is one vampiress that doesn’t sparkle. Just the way we like ‘em.
#9 – Mystique, X-Men
This one was tricky. You have a lot of choices from X-Men, as it is one of the few series to actually have a large number of thought out, complex female characters. However, when it comes down to it, you can’t top Mystique.
A shape-shifter, Mystique has been in almost every incarnation of the series, from comics to TV to movies. Why? Well, the most obvious reason is her looks – I refuse to deny the hawtness that is Mystique. Athletic, scantily clad, shape-shifting, and blue? Yeah. That is pure, unadulterated win.
But all that aside, Mystique is an interesting character. Ruthless, cold, and focused, she never, never loses her cool. I can’t say I’ve read enough comics to really know her motivations, but though she is certainly a terrorist, she is also a very loving character. She truly cares for her children (who, I might add, are quite possibly two of the most awesome mutants ever, Rogue and Nightcrawler [screw you Graydon Creed!]). What’s more, she’s an intelligent villain – she’s not just evil for evil’s sake, she really has thoughts behind her actions.
Mystique – cold as ice, hot as hell. If the mutants have to wipe out humanity, I hope it’ll be her that pulls the trigger.
#8 – Callie Liddle, The Wonderland Trilogy
This one is probably the least-known character on the list, but that doesn’t make her any less interesting. Callie, protagonist of the Wonderland cycle (a popular spin-off of Zenescope’s Grimm Fairy Tales series) was just a normal middle-class highschooler, living her life, when the insanity of a dark, twisted Wonderland decided it wished to possess her.
What’s so great about Callie is the way she changes. She starts out just like any of us would – scared out of her wits – but she slowly begins to take power, eventually escaping Wonderland. But then, once free, she has to live with herself. At first she flees – again, like we would – but, as she sees that she can never truly escape, that Wonderland will always follow her, she finally embraces her destiny, becoming the very kind of ruthless killer needed to rain vengeance down on the denizens of the blackened fantasy realm.
But, even above all that is the fact that we have no idea if she’s even sane through all this. It’s entirely possible that Callie is actually stark raving mad, and that all the murders she believes to be the fault of Wonderland are really just her own actions whitewashed by her psyche.
Of course, she not mad, but it’s still an interesting angle.
Callie Liddle – a messed up girl in a messed up world.
#7 – Misa Amane, Death Note
Speaking of crazy chicks…
Misa Amane, from the hit manga Death Note, is probably not on anyone’s list of favorite characters. Over-emotional, utterly devoted, and kind of annoying, Misa can get on your nerves after a while.
Until you realize that she is blatantly psychotic, willing to lie, slaughter countless innocents, and even give up her own life (twice!) all to aid a boy who clearly dislikes her, admits openly to using her as a tool, and who is perfectly willing to kill her once her usefulness has ended.
But say what you will about her, Misa is memorable. You never forget her as the second Kira, and you even begin to pity her part way through the series. She is one of those insane people who honestly deserves help, not punishment. She could have been so much if not for Light.
Misa Amane – the girl many wish to sleep with, but no one wants as their ex.
#6 – Harley Quinn, Batman
Apparently all of the crazy girls go in a row here…
Anyway, any fan of Batman can tell you the history of Harley Quinn – created for the Batman Animated Series, Quinn is the Joker’s on-again/off-again henchman/girlfriend. Immensely popular, Quinn’s bubbly personality endeared her to fans, earning her a small cultdom all her own. Eventually she was adopted into the comics, where she even got her own monthly series for a while.
Originally a psychiatrist serving at Arkham Asylum, Harleen Quinzel became fascinated with the Joker. Eventually she snapped completely, falling madly (literally) in love with the villain. After breaking the Joker out, she took on the role of Harley Quinn, and has been running amuck in Gotham ever since, recently teaming up with Catwoman and Poison Ivy in the new Gotham City Sirens series.
Harley Quinn. Quite the wildcard. (please forgive that pun. It was… strained.)
#5 – Sakura Kinomoto, Cardcaptor Sakura
C’mon. If Misa made it here, you really thought an icon like Sakura wouldn’t?
For those of you not in the know, Cardcaptor Sakura was a long-running manga series by the creative team known as CLAMP. Together, they produced one of the most ADORABLE characters in history… with lesbian overtones. (ask if you want, but I’m not addressing it here)
Chosen by destiny to become the new guardian of a set of mystical monsters housed within the “Clow cards,” Sakura is led down a series of adventures. Hers is a charming story of believing in oneself, in the love of friends, and lots and lots of sparkles.
What endears Sakura to me personally are her facial expressions. She’s never unpleasant to look at – either her chibi expressions of anger or worry charm you, or her beautifully drawn smiles make your heart sing.
Sakura is one of the few honestly cute characters I’ve run into in comics. Hers is the story of a child, and for a brief time, you too can embrace that wonder along with her.
#4 – Gwen Stacy, The Amazing Spider-Man
Okay. I’ve never read a single issue in which Gwen Stacy appeared – I don’t read much Spider-Man, and besides, I grew up in the Mary Jane generation anyway.
But here’s the thing: the effects of her death are still being felt. Take a look at books like Sins Past, or even One More Day – Peter Parker is still an emotional mess because of that incident.
If you are one of the three people left in the world who knows nothing about Gwen Stacy, I’ll tell you this: She was Spider-Man’s girlfriend. Then she died. And she never came back.
Think about that. Then go read the Wikipedia article if you want to know more.
#3 – Naru Narusegawa, Love Hina
“What’s this,” you say, “Someone from a manga beating out Gwen Stacy, the girl who changed comics forever?” Damn straight.
Female protagonist of the quintessential “harem manga” Love Hina, Naru is on this list not because of anything she did in particular, but for what she became. In Love Hina, you really get to see a romance blossom, and by the ending, you are seriously emotionally invested in the characters, Naru in particular. She’s a well-written, multifaceted character in an otherwise fan-service heavy book, which leads to even more comic hilarity when she (inevitably) ends up with Keitaro’s face in her cleavage (I told you it was a harem manga).
That’s what Love Hina was great at in general – it might have hooked you in with cheap laughs and boobs, but in the end it was an incredibly well-written romance story, the likes of which only manga can do. Think of it; they’re actually allowed to end their comics over in Japan.
Central to all that emotional investment and romantic development was Naru Narusegawa – the girl who gave us nerds hope.
#2 – Mara Jade, Mara Jade: By The Emperor’s Hand
“CHEAT!” the masses cried in rage, “Mara Jade is no comic book character! Din’s Flame, you are a liar and a rogue, you handsome devil!”
Guilty as charged. Mara Jade is not originally a comic-book girl. Rather, she was created for the 1991 novel Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. She became immensely popular, going on to star in many other books, and even her own video game. In fact, she even got her own comic series in 1998.
In that series, Mara Jade: By The Emperor’s Hand, we got to see Mara in her earliest, purest form – as the Emperor’s Hand, an elite assassin used only for the Emperor’s personal agenda. She’s cold, perfectionist, a perfect spy, and honestly believes in the rightness of the Empire, so long as it remains under Palpatine. It’s an interesting spin on the whole “My Brother, My Enemy” story, and one that is made all the better by the book being written by both Zahn and Michael Stackpole, “the other greatest Star Wars author.”
The very definition of a fem fatale, she's the woman for all seasons. Mara Jade. She wins at everything.
#1 – Wonder Woman
Okay, tell me you didn’t see this one coming, I dare you. Seriously, how could I not put her up here? She’s friggin’ Wonder Woman for cryin’ out loud. The first female Super Hero! Without her, we wouldn’t even have half of the characters on this list.
Wonder Woman began life in WWII, and… okay, I don’t actually know much about her as a character. But I do know that she inspired a generation of little girls, and actually became a feminist icon (Seriously. Gloria Steinem even put her on the very first cover of Ms. In 1972).
Look at it this way. DC has three super heroes that have never been out of print since 1944. The first is Superman. Alright, first superhero ever, it makes sense. Then there’s Batman. Again, pretty obvious. He’s frikkin’ Batman.
And then there’s Wonder Woman.
She’s always been there – a strong, honest, intelligent woman, Diana Prince is Amazon, hero, and savior to the earth a hundred times over. She’s fought aliens, madmen, and even Hitler, and she’s always come out on top. She is Truth, and she is truly, truly, a wonder.
Conclusion
That’s all I’ve got folks. I wish I could have included more – this list wasn’t particularly in-depth, I know – and I’m sorry a lot of awesome characters got left out – I was particularly torn between Rogue and Mystique – but in the end, these are my top ten. Not all of them are strong, not all of them are sane, but every single one of them is memorable.
From the inner strength of Sakura to the raw power of Wonder Woman, from the influence of Gwen Stacy to the obscurity of Callie Liddle, these are my Top Ten Women of comic-books.
Further reading:
The League of Extraordinary Gentle: Volume 1
House of M, X-Men: Messiah Complex
Return to Wonderland, Beyond Wonderland, Tales from Wonderland
Death Note, Volumes 1 - 13
Harley Quinn: Preludes & Knock-Knock Jokes, Batman: Mad Love
Cardcaptor Sakura/Master of the Clow, Volumes 1 - 12
The Amazing Spider-Man: Sins Past
Love Hina, Volumes 1 - 14
Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand (soon to be omnibussed in Star Wars Omnibus: Shadows of the Empire)
Wonder Woman: Love & Murder
This time, rather than doing another long, sometimes tedious review of a comic or film, I have decided to be exactly like every other reviewer on the ‘net and do a Top Ten list. This time, we’ll be looking at what are, in my humble opinion, the Top Ten greatest female characters in comics.
Now, we need some ground rules here; after all, there are a TON of women in comics. It’d be easy to fill this list entirely from the X-Men series, or have the top five all come from Batman. To that end, I will only be allowed to pick one character from a series. Keep in mind, however, that this does not mean only one per universe. So I could, in theory, list Mary-Jane Watson from Spider-Man and Rogue from X-men, but I could NOT list Rogue and Jean Grey.
Secondly, keep in mind that this is not really a “favorite” list, nor is it a “best” list. Rather, I have selected women who were highly memorable for a number of reasons. With me? Okay, let’s go:
#10 – Mina Harker, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Yeah, yeah, not technically a comic-book character in her own right, but the way I see it, Alan Moore created a whole new Mina for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Based on the character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Moore’s Mina is a girl of a completely different caliber. Taking the kind, gentle Mina of the novel, Alan Moore makes the one crucial alteration that changes her character completely without feeling forced: he makes her a vampire. Thus, John Harker has left his wife, and slowly she became bitter, angry, and cold. This, plus her raw supernatural powers, led to her becoming the leader of the team of Victorian super-heroes, an unexpected twist indeed.
Strong, calculating, and having weird taste in men, Mina is one vampiress that doesn’t sparkle. Just the way we like ‘em.
#9 – Mystique, X-Men
This one was tricky. You have a lot of choices from X-Men, as it is one of the few series to actually have a large number of thought out, complex female characters. However, when it comes down to it, you can’t top Mystique.
A shape-shifter, Mystique has been in almost every incarnation of the series, from comics to TV to movies. Why? Well, the most obvious reason is her looks – I refuse to deny the hawtness that is Mystique. Athletic, scantily clad, shape-shifting, and blue? Yeah. That is pure, unadulterated win.
But all that aside, Mystique is an interesting character. Ruthless, cold, and focused, she never, never loses her cool. I can’t say I’ve read enough comics to really know her motivations, but though she is certainly a terrorist, she is also a very loving character. She truly cares for her children (who, I might add, are quite possibly two of the most awesome mutants ever, Rogue and Nightcrawler [screw you Graydon Creed!]). What’s more, she’s an intelligent villain – she’s not just evil for evil’s sake, she really has thoughts behind her actions.
Mystique – cold as ice, hot as hell. If the mutants have to wipe out humanity, I hope it’ll be her that pulls the trigger.
#8 – Callie Liddle, The Wonderland Trilogy
This one is probably the least-known character on the list, but that doesn’t make her any less interesting. Callie, protagonist of the Wonderland cycle (a popular spin-off of Zenescope’s Grimm Fairy Tales series) was just a normal middle-class highschooler, living her life, when the insanity of a dark, twisted Wonderland decided it wished to possess her.
What’s so great about Callie is the way she changes. She starts out just like any of us would – scared out of her wits – but she slowly begins to take power, eventually escaping Wonderland. But then, once free, she has to live with herself. At first she flees – again, like we would – but, as she sees that she can never truly escape, that Wonderland will always follow her, she finally embraces her destiny, becoming the very kind of ruthless killer needed to rain vengeance down on the denizens of the blackened fantasy realm.
But, even above all that is the fact that we have no idea if she’s even sane through all this. It’s entirely possible that Callie is actually stark raving mad, and that all the murders she believes to be the fault of Wonderland are really just her own actions whitewashed by her psyche.
Of course, she not mad, but it’s still an interesting angle.
Callie Liddle – a messed up girl in a messed up world.
#7 – Misa Amane, Death Note
Speaking of crazy chicks…
Misa Amane, from the hit manga Death Note, is probably not on anyone’s list of favorite characters. Over-emotional, utterly devoted, and kind of annoying, Misa can get on your nerves after a while.
Until you realize that she is blatantly psychotic, willing to lie, slaughter countless innocents, and even give up her own life (twice!) all to aid a boy who clearly dislikes her, admits openly to using her as a tool, and who is perfectly willing to kill her once her usefulness has ended.
But say what you will about her, Misa is memorable. You never forget her as the second Kira, and you even begin to pity her part way through the series. She is one of those insane people who honestly deserves help, not punishment. She could have been so much if not for Light.
Misa Amane – the girl many wish to sleep with, but no one wants as their ex.
#6 – Harley Quinn, Batman
Apparently all of the crazy girls go in a row here…
Anyway, any fan of Batman can tell you the history of Harley Quinn – created for the Batman Animated Series, Quinn is the Joker’s on-again/off-again henchman/girlfriend. Immensely popular, Quinn’s bubbly personality endeared her to fans, earning her a small cultdom all her own. Eventually she was adopted into the comics, where she even got her own monthly series for a while.
Originally a psychiatrist serving at Arkham Asylum, Harleen Quinzel became fascinated with the Joker. Eventually she snapped completely, falling madly (literally) in love with the villain. After breaking the Joker out, she took on the role of Harley Quinn, and has been running amuck in Gotham ever since, recently teaming up with Catwoman and Poison Ivy in the new Gotham City Sirens series.
Harley Quinn. Quite the wildcard. (please forgive that pun. It was… strained.)
#5 – Sakura Kinomoto, Cardcaptor Sakura
C’mon. If Misa made it here, you really thought an icon like Sakura wouldn’t?
For those of you not in the know, Cardcaptor Sakura was a long-running manga series by the creative team known as CLAMP. Together, they produced one of the most ADORABLE characters in history… with lesbian overtones. (ask if you want, but I’m not addressing it here)
Chosen by destiny to become the new guardian of a set of mystical monsters housed within the “Clow cards,” Sakura is led down a series of adventures. Hers is a charming story of believing in oneself, in the love of friends, and lots and lots of sparkles.
What endears Sakura to me personally are her facial expressions. She’s never unpleasant to look at – either her chibi expressions of anger or worry charm you, or her beautifully drawn smiles make your heart sing.
Sakura is one of the few honestly cute characters I’ve run into in comics. Hers is the story of a child, and for a brief time, you too can embrace that wonder along with her.
#4 – Gwen Stacy, The Amazing Spider-Man
Okay. I’ve never read a single issue in which Gwen Stacy appeared – I don’t read much Spider-Man, and besides, I grew up in the Mary Jane generation anyway.
But here’s the thing: the effects of her death are still being felt. Take a look at books like Sins Past, or even One More Day – Peter Parker is still an emotional mess because of that incident.
If you are one of the three people left in the world who knows nothing about Gwen Stacy, I’ll tell you this: She was Spider-Man’s girlfriend. Then she died. And she never came back.
Think about that. Then go read the Wikipedia article if you want to know more.
#3 – Naru Narusegawa, Love Hina
“What’s this,” you say, “Someone from a manga beating out Gwen Stacy, the girl who changed comics forever?” Damn straight.
Female protagonist of the quintessential “harem manga” Love Hina, Naru is on this list not because of anything she did in particular, but for what she became. In Love Hina, you really get to see a romance blossom, and by the ending, you are seriously emotionally invested in the characters, Naru in particular. She’s a well-written, multifaceted character in an otherwise fan-service heavy book, which leads to even more comic hilarity when she (inevitably) ends up with Keitaro’s face in her cleavage (I told you it was a harem manga).
That’s what Love Hina was great at in general – it might have hooked you in with cheap laughs and boobs, but in the end it was an incredibly well-written romance story, the likes of which only manga can do. Think of it; they’re actually allowed to end their comics over in Japan.
Central to all that emotional investment and romantic development was Naru Narusegawa – the girl who gave us nerds hope.
#2 – Mara Jade, Mara Jade: By The Emperor’s Hand
“CHEAT!” the masses cried in rage, “Mara Jade is no comic book character! Din’s Flame, you are a liar and a rogue, you handsome devil!”
Guilty as charged. Mara Jade is not originally a comic-book girl. Rather, she was created for the 1991 novel Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. She became immensely popular, going on to star in many other books, and even her own video game. In fact, she even got her own comic series in 1998.
In that series, Mara Jade: By The Emperor’s Hand, we got to see Mara in her earliest, purest form – as the Emperor’s Hand, an elite assassin used only for the Emperor’s personal agenda. She’s cold, perfectionist, a perfect spy, and honestly believes in the rightness of the Empire, so long as it remains under Palpatine. It’s an interesting spin on the whole “My Brother, My Enemy” story, and one that is made all the better by the book being written by both Zahn and Michael Stackpole, “the other greatest Star Wars author.”
The very definition of a fem fatale, she's the woman for all seasons. Mara Jade. She wins at everything.
#1 – Wonder Woman
Okay, tell me you didn’t see this one coming, I dare you. Seriously, how could I not put her up here? She’s friggin’ Wonder Woman for cryin’ out loud. The first female Super Hero! Without her, we wouldn’t even have half of the characters on this list.
Wonder Woman began life in WWII, and… okay, I don’t actually know much about her as a character. But I do know that she inspired a generation of little girls, and actually became a feminist icon (Seriously. Gloria Steinem even put her on the very first cover of Ms. In 1972).
Look at it this way. DC has three super heroes that have never been out of print since 1944. The first is Superman. Alright, first superhero ever, it makes sense. Then there’s Batman. Again, pretty obvious. He’s frikkin’ Batman.
And then there’s Wonder Woman.
She’s always been there – a strong, honest, intelligent woman, Diana Prince is Amazon, hero, and savior to the earth a hundred times over. She’s fought aliens, madmen, and even Hitler, and she’s always come out on top. She is Truth, and she is truly, truly, a wonder.
Conclusion
That’s all I’ve got folks. I wish I could have included more – this list wasn’t particularly in-depth, I know – and I’m sorry a lot of awesome characters got left out – I was particularly torn between Rogue and Mystique – but in the end, these are my top ten. Not all of them are strong, not all of them are sane, but every single one of them is memorable.
From the inner strength of Sakura to the raw power of Wonder Woman, from the influence of Gwen Stacy to the obscurity of Callie Liddle, these are my Top Ten Women of comic-books.
Further reading:
The League of Extraordinary Gentle: Volume 1
House of M, X-Men: Messiah Complex
Return to Wonderland, Beyond Wonderland, Tales from Wonderland
Death Note, Volumes 1 - 13
Harley Quinn: Preludes & Knock-Knock Jokes, Batman: Mad Love
Cardcaptor Sakura/Master of the Clow, Volumes 1 - 12
The Amazing Spider-Man: Sins Past
Love Hina, Volumes 1 - 14
Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand (soon to be omnibussed in Star Wars Omnibus: Shadows of the Empire)
Wonder Woman: Love & Murder
Friday, September 18, 2009
Din's Geek Reviews #3 - A Special Report - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
“Come with me if you want to live”
Eight little words that, just shy of twenty-five years ago, began what is, to this day, the greatest action film series of all time. But the story of the Terminator series is not simply one of films. This is not a review of those films. However, the various aspects are pretty intertwined, so perhaps a little explanation is in order.
In 1984, a small independent film was produced. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Michael Biehn, The Terminator was the story of a young woman named Sarah Connor and her flight from a deadly, unstoppable cyborg.
In the future, Skynet, a global defense grid, has become sentient. When humanity attempts to rein it in, Skynet attacks the USSR, provoking a nuclear holocaust known as Judgment Day. But the few remnants of humanity band together, eventually destroying Skynet and its machines under the leadership of one man: John Connor.
Sensing immanent doom, Skynet uses the newly-developed Time Displacement Equipment to send one of its infiltration units – a Terminator – back in time to kill Sarah Connor, preventing her unborn child from ever becoming leader of the Resistance. Humanity, however, has sent Kyle Reese back to protect Sarah, and he, it turns out, is actually to be John’s father.
Well balanced between action and exposition, The Terminator became a monster of a sleeper hit, eventually making more than twelve times its initial budget.
This spawned a sequel in 1991. Even more well-received, Terminator 2: Judgment Day would go on to become one of the most popular films of the decade, and is still widely considered the greatest action film of all time. Introducing the “liquid metal” T-1000, this film saw a major reversal from the first film – rather than hunting Sarah, Schwarzenegger’s Terminator was actually sent from the future to protect her and her son John.
T2 was less wordy and more action-driven than its parent film, but at the same time kept the original’s feel. Both films carried heavy sci-fi undercurrents (other than the basic premise) and, though clearly action films, were actually about something. T1 was about the dangers of computers, and how, in all-too-short order, they might very well be able to compete with us as a species. Likewise, T2 was about the nature of the machine, and what you do with an entity so intelligent, yet unfeeling. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to feel?
At the same time, the films explored the issues of time-travel. The duology straddled the lines between free-will and predestination quite well, never really picking a side. T2 ends with Sarah Connor speculating on the nature of destiny, that there “is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” At the same time, her son, John, was in and of himself a predestination paradox. It’s never declared what elements have to happen, and which ones can be altered.
These elements were largely dropped in 2003 for the next piece of the trilogy, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Much lighter-toned than the first two, the film suffered from an un-compelling villain and mediocre actors. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good movie, but it didn’t live up to the other two.
Though T3 contained some minor character ideas (John Connor wanting no part of his destiny, the Terminator losing control of himself, declaring himself to be a machine) the soul was lost.
And that’s where we come in. In 2007, the Terminator series took a turn for the episodic with the launch of the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Blatantly ignoring the sub-par additions of T3, TSCC picked up where T2 left off. Sarah, and her now teenaged son John, have been living a fairly good life, roaming from location to location, finally settling down. Sarah has a boyfriend, John likes him, hooray!
But all is not well. Sarah leaves in the dead of night, vanishing with John and beginning anew in a different town. But when John goes to his first day at his new school, he learns that no, the future is not set. Skynet is still gunning for the boy-who-would-be-leader-of-humanity, and has sent the new T-888 model to finish what the T-800 and T-1000 couldn’t.
Enter Cameron Phillips – advanced-model Terminator, protector, and super-hot lady. Straight, male readers may use this time to drool over Summer Glau. I advise the women to do something productive, like cure AIDS, or write a letter to your senator. We’ll be here when you get back.
…
…
…
Ahem. Yes. Cameron, attempting to buy them all some time, uses an emergency set of Time Displacement Equipment to sent the Connors forward to the year 2007, hiding them from the eyes of Skynet, but moving them that much closer to a 2011 Judgment Day.
Since the plot is so central to what makes this series great, I won’t spoil much more of it for you. Eventually, Sarah, Cameron, and John are joined by Derek Reese, Kyle Reese’s brother. Together, they begin to seek out and attack Skynet in one last prolonged attempt to stop Judgment Day completely.
But what makes this series so good?
Everything.
No. Seriously. This is great stuff.
Though one might suspect a special-effect riddled ‘spolsion-a-thon for a franchise like Terminator, TSCC is actually extremely well balanced. Based more on the first film as far as tone goes, the series is incredibly smart, asking deep, relevant, philosophical questions while still managing to blow stuff up a lot. For every episode spent shooting at robots, there is another one spent mostly in dialogue. Cameron is the most advanced Terminator model yet, capable of far more emotional development than previous models. This raises even more questions than T2 did: can a machine love? Can one (sanely) love a machine? At what point does humanity begin, and what, if any, responsibilities do we have toward such synthetic life-forms?
Other questions abound as well, and are explored with wonderful performances by the cast. Thomas Dekker captures the evolution of John Connor from boy to hero perfectly, really conveying the inner struggle of a young man “destined” for greatness, but still unsure of himself. Brian Austin Green’s Derek Reese shows the inner conflict of a man who saw the world burn, and must learn just how much of his humanity he may be willing to give up to prevent it.
But best of all is Lena Heady (*sigh*) as Sarah Connor. Heady gets that, while Sarah is sane, she is not perfectly sane. There was a reason she was in an asylum for so long in T2. That little touch of paranoia adds a beautiful underscore to her depiction of a woman torn by war and fear, yet willing to do anything to protect her son. A woman who truly cares for her boy, but doesn’t know quite how to deal with their changing relationship as he matures.
The cast is rounded out by other wonderful supporting actors such as Richard T. Jones as James Ellison, Leven Rambin as Riley Dawson, Shirley Manson as Catherine Weaver, and, best of all, Garret Dillahunt as Cromartie. Though perfectly suited to playing a Terminator, Dillahunt proved himself a wonderful actor in Season 2, where he took on the role of John Henry, a child-like computer the size of a room. His scenes with Jones were nothing shy of amazing, showing an alternate side to the possibility of computer intelligence.
Amazing plot twists, brilliant characters, and deep themes all make TSCC great. But what about the action? You know, the special effects – robots, explosions, guns and lasers?
Well yes. That’s all there too. This is not a second-rate show in any way – the SEs are stellar, and the photography is nothing shy of gorgeous. Each episode renders the world with life-like precision – hell, this show looks a lot better than Terminator Salvation did. Rarely do you notice any issues with the CGI – it’s one of those rare cases these days where you really don’t notice the boundary between computer imagery and live-action (appropriate, no?)
Visually stunning, character-driven, story-based, philosophy-coated artistic genius, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was a breath of fresh air in the world of television, bringing a faint flicker of greatness to a world of mediocrity and cheap thrills. It was a thinker’s show that could be enjoyed by anyone, an action show with deep ideas. Once in a while things could get a bit wordy, but it was a rare issue, usually balanced by a prolonged gun-battle later on.
So where did Sarah go?
Sadly, TSCC didn’t have particularly strong viewership. Like many other shows before it (such as Firefly) TSCC’s nature as a sci-fi series alienated enough of the population to prevent it from gaining a real foot-hold. This issue was compounded in Season 2, when the series was moved to Friday night in order to lead in to the Joss Whedon show Dollhouse. With Friday night prime-time a much harder fight than on Mondays, Sarah fell by the wayside. Things were aggravated by the fact that a large number of Terminator fans are, well, geeks. Translation? We know how to use Hulu. Although the official site at Fox counted hits towards ratings, Hulu, though far more popular, did not.
I watched more than half of the season on Hulu. My viewership, and those of countless others, went unrecorded, hastening the downfall of a truly stellar show.
Earlier this year, it was announced that The Sarah Connor Chronicles would not receive a third season. Some cite the waning numbers, others say they didn’t want the show competing with Terminator Salvation’s theatrical run. Whatever the reason, the show lost out. Though praised by reviewers and adored by fans, Terminator was done.
Or was it?
Even before the official announcement of TSCC’s cancelation, a website devoted to keeping Sarah on the air was made. http://www.savetscc.com/ was created to raise company awareness and organize fan support for the show.
Now a turning point has come. Rumors has leaked from within Warner Bros. that TSCC is being considered for direct-to-DVD films, and one can never rule out the possibility of a full Season 3.
To that end, SaveTSCC has launched a massive fan push to both celebrate the release of Season 2 on DVD, and to beg for TSCC’s continuation in some shape or form. Dozens of different fan activities are going on, with letter writing, priced-at-production sticker distribution, phone calls, billboards, and even ads in movie theaters.
I’m here to ask for your help. This fall could very well be the endgame for TSCC, and we must not let that happen.
How many of you wished for that 14th episode of Firefly? How many of you craved a 6th season of Angel? How many of you uttered “hasta la vista, baby” while wearing those new sunglasses, or quipped “I’ll be back” with the pseudo-Austrian accent?
If you are one of those people, or even just a person who wants to see more artistic effort on television, stand with us now. If you are someone who is sick of the mistreatment of intelligent programs, who likes to occasionally think while viewing, stand with us now. If you are someone who admires the talent, effort, and love it takes to tell a good story, to take fiction and make it so very, very human, stand with us now.
Get involved.
For the future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.
Save The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Save The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Facebook
The Terminator Wiki
The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Amazon
Eight little words that, just shy of twenty-five years ago, began what is, to this day, the greatest action film series of all time. But the story of the Terminator series is not simply one of films. This is not a review of those films. However, the various aspects are pretty intertwined, so perhaps a little explanation is in order.
In 1984, a small independent film was produced. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Michael Biehn, The Terminator was the story of a young woman named Sarah Connor and her flight from a deadly, unstoppable cyborg.
In the future, Skynet, a global defense grid, has become sentient. When humanity attempts to rein it in, Skynet attacks the USSR, provoking a nuclear holocaust known as Judgment Day. But the few remnants of humanity band together, eventually destroying Skynet and its machines under the leadership of one man: John Connor.
Sensing immanent doom, Skynet uses the newly-developed Time Displacement Equipment to send one of its infiltration units – a Terminator – back in time to kill Sarah Connor, preventing her unborn child from ever becoming leader of the Resistance. Humanity, however, has sent Kyle Reese back to protect Sarah, and he, it turns out, is actually to be John’s father.
Well balanced between action and exposition, The Terminator became a monster of a sleeper hit, eventually making more than twelve times its initial budget.
This spawned a sequel in 1991. Even more well-received, Terminator 2: Judgment Day would go on to become one of the most popular films of the decade, and is still widely considered the greatest action film of all time. Introducing the “liquid metal” T-1000, this film saw a major reversal from the first film – rather than hunting Sarah, Schwarzenegger’s Terminator was actually sent from the future to protect her and her son John.
T2 was less wordy and more action-driven than its parent film, but at the same time kept the original’s feel. Both films carried heavy sci-fi undercurrents (other than the basic premise) and, though clearly action films, were actually about something. T1 was about the dangers of computers, and how, in all-too-short order, they might very well be able to compete with us as a species. Likewise, T2 was about the nature of the machine, and what you do with an entity so intelligent, yet unfeeling. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to feel?
At the same time, the films explored the issues of time-travel. The duology straddled the lines between free-will and predestination quite well, never really picking a side. T2 ends with Sarah Connor speculating on the nature of destiny, that there “is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” At the same time, her son, John, was in and of himself a predestination paradox. It’s never declared what elements have to happen, and which ones can be altered.
These elements were largely dropped in 2003 for the next piece of the trilogy, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Much lighter-toned than the first two, the film suffered from an un-compelling villain and mediocre actors. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good movie, but it didn’t live up to the other two.
Though T3 contained some minor character ideas (John Connor wanting no part of his destiny, the Terminator losing control of himself, declaring himself to be a machine) the soul was lost.
And that’s where we come in. In 2007, the Terminator series took a turn for the episodic with the launch of the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Blatantly ignoring the sub-par additions of T3, TSCC picked up where T2 left off. Sarah, and her now teenaged son John, have been living a fairly good life, roaming from location to location, finally settling down. Sarah has a boyfriend, John likes him, hooray!
But all is not well. Sarah leaves in the dead of night, vanishing with John and beginning anew in a different town. But when John goes to his first day at his new school, he learns that no, the future is not set. Skynet is still gunning for the boy-who-would-be-leader-of-humanity, and has sent the new T-888 model to finish what the T-800 and T-1000 couldn’t.
Enter Cameron Phillips – advanced-model Terminator, protector, and super-hot lady. Straight, male readers may use this time to drool over Summer Glau. I advise the women to do something productive, like cure AIDS, or write a letter to your senator. We’ll be here when you get back.
…
…
…
Ahem. Yes. Cameron, attempting to buy them all some time, uses an emergency set of Time Displacement Equipment to sent the Connors forward to the year 2007, hiding them from the eyes of Skynet, but moving them that much closer to a 2011 Judgment Day.
Since the plot is so central to what makes this series great, I won’t spoil much more of it for you. Eventually, Sarah, Cameron, and John are joined by Derek Reese, Kyle Reese’s brother. Together, they begin to seek out and attack Skynet in one last prolonged attempt to stop Judgment Day completely.
But what makes this series so good?
Everything.
No. Seriously. This is great stuff.
Though one might suspect a special-effect riddled ‘spolsion-a-thon for a franchise like Terminator, TSCC is actually extremely well balanced. Based more on the first film as far as tone goes, the series is incredibly smart, asking deep, relevant, philosophical questions while still managing to blow stuff up a lot. For every episode spent shooting at robots, there is another one spent mostly in dialogue. Cameron is the most advanced Terminator model yet, capable of far more emotional development than previous models. This raises even more questions than T2 did: can a machine love? Can one (sanely) love a machine? At what point does humanity begin, and what, if any, responsibilities do we have toward such synthetic life-forms?
Other questions abound as well, and are explored with wonderful performances by the cast. Thomas Dekker captures the evolution of John Connor from boy to hero perfectly, really conveying the inner struggle of a young man “destined” for greatness, but still unsure of himself. Brian Austin Green’s Derek Reese shows the inner conflict of a man who saw the world burn, and must learn just how much of his humanity he may be willing to give up to prevent it.
But best of all is Lena Heady (*sigh*) as Sarah Connor. Heady gets that, while Sarah is sane, she is not perfectly sane. There was a reason she was in an asylum for so long in T2. That little touch of paranoia adds a beautiful underscore to her depiction of a woman torn by war and fear, yet willing to do anything to protect her son. A woman who truly cares for her boy, but doesn’t know quite how to deal with their changing relationship as he matures.
The cast is rounded out by other wonderful supporting actors such as Richard T. Jones as James Ellison, Leven Rambin as Riley Dawson, Shirley Manson as Catherine Weaver, and, best of all, Garret Dillahunt as Cromartie. Though perfectly suited to playing a Terminator, Dillahunt proved himself a wonderful actor in Season 2, where he took on the role of John Henry, a child-like computer the size of a room. His scenes with Jones were nothing shy of amazing, showing an alternate side to the possibility of computer intelligence.
Amazing plot twists, brilliant characters, and deep themes all make TSCC great. But what about the action? You know, the special effects – robots, explosions, guns and lasers?
Well yes. That’s all there too. This is not a second-rate show in any way – the SEs are stellar, and the photography is nothing shy of gorgeous. Each episode renders the world with life-like precision – hell, this show looks a lot better than Terminator Salvation did. Rarely do you notice any issues with the CGI – it’s one of those rare cases these days where you really don’t notice the boundary between computer imagery and live-action (appropriate, no?)
Visually stunning, character-driven, story-based, philosophy-coated artistic genius, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was a breath of fresh air in the world of television, bringing a faint flicker of greatness to a world of mediocrity and cheap thrills. It was a thinker’s show that could be enjoyed by anyone, an action show with deep ideas. Once in a while things could get a bit wordy, but it was a rare issue, usually balanced by a prolonged gun-battle later on.
So where did Sarah go?
Sadly, TSCC didn’t have particularly strong viewership. Like many other shows before it (such as Firefly) TSCC’s nature as a sci-fi series alienated enough of the population to prevent it from gaining a real foot-hold. This issue was compounded in Season 2, when the series was moved to Friday night in order to lead in to the Joss Whedon show Dollhouse. With Friday night prime-time a much harder fight than on Mondays, Sarah fell by the wayside. Things were aggravated by the fact that a large number of Terminator fans are, well, geeks. Translation? We know how to use Hulu. Although the official site at Fox counted hits towards ratings, Hulu, though far more popular, did not.
I watched more than half of the season on Hulu. My viewership, and those of countless others, went unrecorded, hastening the downfall of a truly stellar show.
Earlier this year, it was announced that The Sarah Connor Chronicles would not receive a third season. Some cite the waning numbers, others say they didn’t want the show competing with Terminator Salvation’s theatrical run. Whatever the reason, the show lost out. Though praised by reviewers and adored by fans, Terminator was done.
Or was it?
Even before the official announcement of TSCC’s cancelation, a website devoted to keeping Sarah on the air was made. http://www.savetscc.com/ was created to raise company awareness and organize fan support for the show.
Now a turning point has come. Rumors has leaked from within Warner Bros. that TSCC is being considered for direct-to-DVD films, and one can never rule out the possibility of a full Season 3.
To that end, SaveTSCC has launched a massive fan push to both celebrate the release of Season 2 on DVD, and to beg for TSCC’s continuation in some shape or form. Dozens of different fan activities are going on, with letter writing, priced-at-production sticker distribution, phone calls, billboards, and even ads in movie theaters.
I’m here to ask for your help. This fall could very well be the endgame for TSCC, and we must not let that happen.
How many of you wished for that 14th episode of Firefly? How many of you craved a 6th season of Angel? How many of you uttered “hasta la vista, baby” while wearing those new sunglasses, or quipped “I’ll be back” with the pseudo-Austrian accent?
If you are one of those people, or even just a person who wants to see more artistic effort on television, stand with us now. If you are someone who is sick of the mistreatment of intelligent programs, who likes to occasionally think while viewing, stand with us now. If you are someone who admires the talent, effort, and love it takes to tell a good story, to take fiction and make it so very, very human, stand with us now.
Get involved.
For the future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.
Save The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Save The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Facebook
The Terminator Wiki
The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Amazon
Monday, August 31, 2009
Din's Geek Reviews - Wednesday Shuffle #4
Hello everyone, and welcome to another installment of Wednesday Shuffle, your weekly source for comic-book rundowns.
Okay, that’s a lie. I blatantly admit to having missed this past week outright (which is a shame, as there were some good books). However, I propose that the facts that I was ill AND my mother was in the hospital last weekend excuse me. So here we go: a little late, but not useless.
Gotham City Sirens #3
Blatant fanservice at its finest
Plot
The story of GCS#3 is a pretty straight-up detective story. The Riddler, who has gone straight apparently, is now a private eye, working to clean up the streets of Gotham City. To that end, he takes on a job which, he believes, to be part of a serial murder case. Each murder has small, subtle clues leading to the next victim, much like Mr. Nigma’s former work.
The entire issue is pretty much a game of wits between the Riddler and Batman (Dick Grayson) as they both try to predict the next murder and prevent it from being carried out. The Riddler discovers that this Batman is not in fact the Batman, but decides to let it go.
So yeah. Noir crime-fighting all around.
Art
The art in this issue of Sirens is quite doable. You’ve got a fairly decent line style, and the colors are very well done. As an issue centered on the Riddler, much of this book has a faint green tint to it, giving it a sense of the underground, as if the majority of the book were being cast in neon light.
Not much to say beyond that. The Batman is dark and shadowy (though his nose is a tad pointy), but well-represented, the Riddler’s facial expressions are quite good, conveying a wide range of emotions, and the admittedly overt fanserice is done in such a way that, though you can be looking down a woman’s shirt every-other page, you certainly don’t have to.
Writing
I really enjoyed the writing of this issue, more than the first two, certainly. The Riddler is handled perfectly: as a villain, he was always a little second-rate, a wannabe standing amongst giants (The Joker, Two-Face, etc) Now that he’s good, Edward Nigma is still the dramatic, eccentric man he always was, but he also stays true to himself as a pretender. But rather than fancying himself a master criminal, he now fancies himself a hard-boiled detective. Which, in fact, he might very well become, if given the chance.
The main feature of this book is the inner monologue of the Riddler, which turns this comic from cheap Batman spin-off into almost a parody of old noir comics and movies. It’s a welcome break, proving both a tribute to, and a stab at, Batman’s previous history. The book is solidly written, and well characterized.
Thoughts
Despite the praise I’ve given this book, I have to say it is still dead wrong. This book should not exist. Why? Because this is a book called Gotham City Sirens, a book about Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy. The female villains of the Batman rogues gallery. The Riddler doesn’t belong in this book.
I counted. Including a brief flash of Harley on a TV screen, the main girls appear in a total of five panels in this book. Five. That’s it!
This book would have made a killer one-shot. I don’t know why they had to hold up the action with Isley and Kyle, but it was a tad misleading to even feature them on the cover.
In short, a great comic, but a pretty awful issue of GCS.
It's $2.99, and you should pick it up. Just don’t expect Harley, Ivy, or Selina.
Legacy #39 – Tatooine, Pt. 3
A somewhat lesser time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
Plot
Set roughly 100 years after the “current” events of the Star Wars Galaxy (that’s circa 160 years after A New Hope) Legacy follows the adventures of Jedi-turned-bounty-hunter Cade Skywalker, a descendant of Luke’s through his son, Ben.
There is no real point in explaining why the galaxy is like it is now. It would take more time and pages than anyone in their right mind would care to read (I, of course, have read it all).
Summary:
The Sith rule the galaxy again, and want Cade dead, because he’s one of the handful of people who know that Darth Krayt, former Sith Emperor, has been killed. To that end, Darth Wryylok, currently ruling the Empire as Regent, has hired some Anzati assassins to kill Cade.
However, he is also being pursued by Imperial agent Morrigan Corde, (who is also Nyna Calixte, as well as Cade’s mother) and his (secret) half-sister Gunner Yage.
Blahblahblah, stranded on Tatooine, blahblahblah, lost in the desert with Yage, blahblahblah.
This issue opens with Cade and Yage scrambling for cover from an approaching sandstorm. Where do they end up? Why, the Lars Homestead, of course!
So, while waiting for the storm to pass, Cade and Yage have a brief pissing contest and then debate the politics of the Sith/Imperial War. Elsewhere, their pursuers continue to… pursue.
Eventually, Cade falls asleep and has a Force-vision confrontation with his mighty ancestor, Luke Skywalker. There is some exposition, and then they fight!
However, Luke shows Cade that, should he continue as he has, he will become an agent of evil the likes of which the galaxy has never known. Only for Cade to wake up and find himself and Yage under attack by the assassins! Then there’s more fighting.
Art
Okay. You remember how last week I said that KotOR had awful art, and that it wasn’t how Star Wars should be done? This is how Star Wars should be done.
Jan Duursema is a bloody goddess. But when she’s teamed up with the Parson/Anderson ink/color team? Well, you get Legacy. Really, really, really pretty Legacy.
What makes this art so great, you ask? Well, let’s begin with the characters. Each of them is very distinctive, with unique character design, expressions, and equipment. Colors are simply amazing, with lush shadows and bright colors, but the colors remain muted by their surroundings.
Action scenes feature an organic flow to them, and characters bend realistically while fighting. Events progress logically, making the fight scene both exciting, and simply a pleasure to look at.
The number of panels-per-page vary greatly, meaning that you have a nice balance between splash-art and smaller, intimate shots. It is simply a really, really well-drawn book, the likes of which we rarely see. Now, of the five Star Wars titles currently in print, I’d say Dark Times has the nicest art, but Legacy certainly has the best. This issue is a great example of that: Jan can take something as plain and boring as the Tatooine desert and making it an interesting shot.
Writing
Let’s get something straight. I don’t know many comic-book writers by name. Sure, Alan Moore, Neil Gaimen. But, just below that, comes John Ostrander.
This guy is great. His run on Republic was simply stellar, and since he has been in charge of Legacy since day one, he’s really had a chance to shine.
This issue is a decent example. Ostrander continues to provide organic, immersive dialogue, interjecting the standard Star Wars banter with blips of Hutteese and in-universe terminology. Characters are well done, with believable motivations. In this issue we get Cade’s irritating immaturity, Yage’s military-crispness, and even a taste of ol’ Luke Skywalker: Jedi Master himself.
But what Ostrander really does best here are relationships. Yage and Cade both have their mother’s intelligence and ferocity, but completely different upbringings, and that friction is really well done. At the same time, Corde and Syn (Cade’s co-pilot) get to have some nice flirting (ew, ew, ew!) and even the dynamic between the three assassins (particularly the two Anzati) is really interesting (can anyone say Spike & Dru?).
Thoughts
This is how Star Wars is supposed to be: lush visuals, deep characters, galaxy-changing stories and that perfect hybrid of gunslinger action and lightsaber swordfights.
Now, this by no means makes this issue perfect. Cade can come off a bit whiny (but then again, with his ancestry, who can blame him?) and the fun-with-Force-visions does mean that other characters get a tad left behind.
Mainly, this issue suffers from “New Reader’s Nightmare,” which is both its greatest strength, and greatest flaw. Tatooine, Pt. 3 makes no qualms about being part of a larger story, and if you haven’t been following Legacy for the previous 38 issues, you will likely be in the dark. This issue in particular and this story arc in general trade off accessibility for immersiveness, meaning that we get deeper, more inter-woven stories and characters, but at the risk of leaving newbies in the dust.
John and Jan are always a safe bet. If you have slightly higher than average understanding of the Star Wars galaxy, I recommend them whole-heartedly. If not, it might be a good idea to do a little research first. On its own, Legacy #39 goes for $2.99.
Ms. Marvel #44
She’s kinda like Superman, only people care about her as a character. And she has boobs.
Plot
I have absolutely no idea what is going on in this book. This is the first issue of Ms. Marvel I have ever picked up, so I can only offer my impressions on the greater plot of the comic.
From what I can tell, Carol Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel, is dead, and Norman Osborn has installed Karla Sofen in her place on the Avengers. However, out of the blue, the “real” Ms. Marvel attacks Osborn, his bases, and the pseudo-Marvel.
The book opens with Ms. Marvel having been subdued by Lily Hollister, knocked-up –Goblin wannabe. Osborn thinks the situation is under control, but Karla does not. She points out that a pumpkin-bomb is barely enough to make Spider-Man flinch, and that there’s no way Danvers went down that easily. Nevertheless, Osborn takes “Ms. Marvel” into custody.
Meanwhile, somewhere else entirely, Catherine Donovan, a writer who also happens to be the genetic twin to Danvers, arrives in New York to enquire about the whole Ms. Marvel situation.
Let’s recap, shall we?
Carol Danvers is the original Ms. Marvel.
Karla Sofen is the acting Ms. Marvel
Catherine Donovan is the genetic equivalent of Carol Danvers.
Gah.
So anyway, Osborn tries to imprison Ms. Marvel, but she seems to be getting stronger by the minute. At the same time, Donovan arrives at Avengers Tower, only to be swarmed by guards when scanners ID her as Danvers. Ms. Marvel, who apparently has a psychic link to Donovan now, warns her to flee, which she does, only to be captured by the Dark Avengers, including Venom, Hawkeye, and the Iron Patriot himself, Norman Osborn. In the end, it is Sofen who brings her in.
Sofen believe that the two – Marvel and Donovan – might be connected, becoming stronger the closer they are together. To that end, while Osborn tries to fend off the escaping Ms. Marvel, Sofen attempts to execute Donovan. Suspense!
Art
The artwork here is pretty above-average, actually. Characters are well-drawn, action is conveyed well, and expressions are fairly emotive. All things considered, the art in Ms. Marvel is better than many other books out right now, keeping the brightness of the Marvel Universe without exaggerating it. That’s a hard feat, and for pulling that off, I salute them.
Writing
Okay, this book is a great example of how a long, continuous, and relatively unpopular superhero book should be done. The action is fast, in your face, and plentiful, while at the same time the plot is interesting enough to hold your attention. In many ways, Ms. Marvel harkens back to the earlier days of comics – sure, there’s a large, sweeping plot going on, but it’s perfectly alright to just jump right in without any background knowledge of the character.
Dialogue is good, and characterization better. I really like how Norman Osborn is portrayed as being kind of brash, while Sofen, though a villain, seems to actually have a good head on her shoulders. Donovan is an interesting character – as a normal person, she reacts how anyone in their right mind would to being confronted by the likes of Venom – she hesitates, and then runs like hell.
Thoughts
I’ve never read Ms. Marvel before, and I kinda doubt I’m going to start now, but the fact that such an obscure character (as far as the mainstream Marvel universe is concerned) could be so instantly engrossing, so very likeable, is really quite impressive. This seems to be a strong, doable superheroine book, and if you’d like something a little less mainstream that Spider-Man or a little less dark than Captain America, I highly recommend it. Ms. Marvel #44 retails for $2.99
Closing
Once again, I apologize for the late update.
What we have here is actually a very solid, very inexpensive week in comics. With a splash of DC, Marvel, and tie-in, it’s very well-rounded, and since you have issues focusing on mystery, action, and plot-development respectively, you end up feeling satisfied with each issue in completely a different way.
Add to that the fact that you can get the entire line-up for $9, and you’re just sitting pretty. No $4 one-shots, no $5 event comics. Just a great set of issues at a great price.
Coming Soon to Wednesday Shuffle:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #28
Invincible Iron Man #17
Tales from Wonderland: Tweel- you know what? Screw it. I’ll just review it when I see it.
Okay, that’s a lie. I blatantly admit to having missed this past week outright (which is a shame, as there were some good books). However, I propose that the facts that I was ill AND my mother was in the hospital last weekend excuse me. So here we go: a little late, but not useless.
Gotham City Sirens #3
Blatant fanservice at its finest
Plot
The story of GCS#3 is a pretty straight-up detective story. The Riddler, who has gone straight apparently, is now a private eye, working to clean up the streets of Gotham City. To that end, he takes on a job which, he believes, to be part of a serial murder case. Each murder has small, subtle clues leading to the next victim, much like Mr. Nigma’s former work.
The entire issue is pretty much a game of wits between the Riddler and Batman (Dick Grayson) as they both try to predict the next murder and prevent it from being carried out. The Riddler discovers that this Batman is not in fact the Batman, but decides to let it go.
So yeah. Noir crime-fighting all around.
Art
The art in this issue of Sirens is quite doable. You’ve got a fairly decent line style, and the colors are very well done. As an issue centered on the Riddler, much of this book has a faint green tint to it, giving it a sense of the underground, as if the majority of the book were being cast in neon light.
Not much to say beyond that. The Batman is dark and shadowy (though his nose is a tad pointy), but well-represented, the Riddler’s facial expressions are quite good, conveying a wide range of emotions, and the admittedly overt fanserice is done in such a way that, though you can be looking down a woman’s shirt every-other page, you certainly don’t have to.
Writing
I really enjoyed the writing of this issue, more than the first two, certainly. The Riddler is handled perfectly: as a villain, he was always a little second-rate, a wannabe standing amongst giants (The Joker, Two-Face, etc) Now that he’s good, Edward Nigma is still the dramatic, eccentric man he always was, but he also stays true to himself as a pretender. But rather than fancying himself a master criminal, he now fancies himself a hard-boiled detective. Which, in fact, he might very well become, if given the chance.
The main feature of this book is the inner monologue of the Riddler, which turns this comic from cheap Batman spin-off into almost a parody of old noir comics and movies. It’s a welcome break, proving both a tribute to, and a stab at, Batman’s previous history. The book is solidly written, and well characterized.
Thoughts
Despite the praise I’ve given this book, I have to say it is still dead wrong. This book should not exist. Why? Because this is a book called Gotham City Sirens, a book about Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy. The female villains of the Batman rogues gallery. The Riddler doesn’t belong in this book.
I counted. Including a brief flash of Harley on a TV screen, the main girls appear in a total of five panels in this book. Five. That’s it!
This book would have made a killer one-shot. I don’t know why they had to hold up the action with Isley and Kyle, but it was a tad misleading to even feature them on the cover.
In short, a great comic, but a pretty awful issue of GCS.
It's $2.99, and you should pick it up. Just don’t expect Harley, Ivy, or Selina.
Legacy #39 – Tatooine, Pt. 3
A somewhat lesser time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
Plot
Set roughly 100 years after the “current” events of the Star Wars Galaxy (that’s circa 160 years after A New Hope) Legacy follows the adventures of Jedi-turned-bounty-hunter Cade Skywalker, a descendant of Luke’s through his son, Ben.
There is no real point in explaining why the galaxy is like it is now. It would take more time and pages than anyone in their right mind would care to read (I, of course, have read it all).
Summary:
The Sith rule the galaxy again, and want Cade dead, because he’s one of the handful of people who know that Darth Krayt, former Sith Emperor, has been killed. To that end, Darth Wryylok, currently ruling the Empire as Regent, has hired some Anzati assassins to kill Cade.
However, he is also being pursued by Imperial agent Morrigan Corde, (who is also Nyna Calixte, as well as Cade’s mother) and his (secret) half-sister Gunner Yage.
Blahblahblah, stranded on Tatooine, blahblahblah, lost in the desert with Yage, blahblahblah.
This issue opens with Cade and Yage scrambling for cover from an approaching sandstorm. Where do they end up? Why, the Lars Homestead, of course!
So, while waiting for the storm to pass, Cade and Yage have a brief pissing contest and then debate the politics of the Sith/Imperial War. Elsewhere, their pursuers continue to… pursue.
Eventually, Cade falls asleep and has a Force-vision confrontation with his mighty ancestor, Luke Skywalker. There is some exposition, and then they fight!
However, Luke shows Cade that, should he continue as he has, he will become an agent of evil the likes of which the galaxy has never known. Only for Cade to wake up and find himself and Yage under attack by the assassins! Then there’s more fighting.
Art
Okay. You remember how last week I said that KotOR had awful art, and that it wasn’t how Star Wars should be done? This is how Star Wars should be done.
Jan Duursema is a bloody goddess. But when she’s teamed up with the Parson/Anderson ink/color team? Well, you get Legacy. Really, really, really pretty Legacy.
What makes this art so great, you ask? Well, let’s begin with the characters. Each of them is very distinctive, with unique character design, expressions, and equipment. Colors are simply amazing, with lush shadows and bright colors, but the colors remain muted by their surroundings.
Action scenes feature an organic flow to them, and characters bend realistically while fighting. Events progress logically, making the fight scene both exciting, and simply a pleasure to look at.
The number of panels-per-page vary greatly, meaning that you have a nice balance between splash-art and smaller, intimate shots. It is simply a really, really well-drawn book, the likes of which we rarely see. Now, of the five Star Wars titles currently in print, I’d say Dark Times has the nicest art, but Legacy certainly has the best. This issue is a great example of that: Jan can take something as plain and boring as the Tatooine desert and making it an interesting shot.
Writing
Let’s get something straight. I don’t know many comic-book writers by name. Sure, Alan Moore, Neil Gaimen. But, just below that, comes John Ostrander.
This guy is great. His run on Republic was simply stellar, and since he has been in charge of Legacy since day one, he’s really had a chance to shine.
This issue is a decent example. Ostrander continues to provide organic, immersive dialogue, interjecting the standard Star Wars banter with blips of Hutteese and in-universe terminology. Characters are well done, with believable motivations. In this issue we get Cade’s irritating immaturity, Yage’s military-crispness, and even a taste of ol’ Luke Skywalker: Jedi Master himself.
But what Ostrander really does best here are relationships. Yage and Cade both have their mother’s intelligence and ferocity, but completely different upbringings, and that friction is really well done. At the same time, Corde and Syn (Cade’s co-pilot) get to have some nice flirting (ew, ew, ew!) and even the dynamic between the three assassins (particularly the two Anzati) is really interesting (can anyone say Spike & Dru?).
Thoughts
This is how Star Wars is supposed to be: lush visuals, deep characters, galaxy-changing stories and that perfect hybrid of gunslinger action and lightsaber swordfights.
Now, this by no means makes this issue perfect. Cade can come off a bit whiny (but then again, with his ancestry, who can blame him?) and the fun-with-Force-visions does mean that other characters get a tad left behind.
Mainly, this issue suffers from “New Reader’s Nightmare,” which is both its greatest strength, and greatest flaw. Tatooine, Pt. 3 makes no qualms about being part of a larger story, and if you haven’t been following Legacy for the previous 38 issues, you will likely be in the dark. This issue in particular and this story arc in general trade off accessibility for immersiveness, meaning that we get deeper, more inter-woven stories and characters, but at the risk of leaving newbies in the dust.
John and Jan are always a safe bet. If you have slightly higher than average understanding of the Star Wars galaxy, I recommend them whole-heartedly. If not, it might be a good idea to do a little research first. On its own, Legacy #39 goes for $2.99.
Ms. Marvel #44
She’s kinda like Superman, only people care about her as a character. And she has boobs.
Plot
I have absolutely no idea what is going on in this book. This is the first issue of Ms. Marvel I have ever picked up, so I can only offer my impressions on the greater plot of the comic.
From what I can tell, Carol Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel, is dead, and Norman Osborn has installed Karla Sofen in her place on the Avengers. However, out of the blue, the “real” Ms. Marvel attacks Osborn, his bases, and the pseudo-Marvel.
The book opens with Ms. Marvel having been subdued by Lily Hollister, knocked-up –Goblin wannabe. Osborn thinks the situation is under control, but Karla does not. She points out that a pumpkin-bomb is barely enough to make Spider-Man flinch, and that there’s no way Danvers went down that easily. Nevertheless, Osborn takes “Ms. Marvel” into custody.
Meanwhile, somewhere else entirely, Catherine Donovan, a writer who also happens to be the genetic twin to Danvers, arrives in New York to enquire about the whole Ms. Marvel situation.
Let’s recap, shall we?
Carol Danvers is the original Ms. Marvel.
Karla Sofen is the acting Ms. Marvel
Catherine Donovan is the genetic equivalent of Carol Danvers.
Gah.
So anyway, Osborn tries to imprison Ms. Marvel, but she seems to be getting stronger by the minute. At the same time, Donovan arrives at Avengers Tower, only to be swarmed by guards when scanners ID her as Danvers. Ms. Marvel, who apparently has a psychic link to Donovan now, warns her to flee, which she does, only to be captured by the Dark Avengers, including Venom, Hawkeye, and the Iron Patriot himself, Norman Osborn. In the end, it is Sofen who brings her in.
Sofen believe that the two – Marvel and Donovan – might be connected, becoming stronger the closer they are together. To that end, while Osborn tries to fend off the escaping Ms. Marvel, Sofen attempts to execute Donovan. Suspense!
Art
The artwork here is pretty above-average, actually. Characters are well-drawn, action is conveyed well, and expressions are fairly emotive. All things considered, the art in Ms. Marvel is better than many other books out right now, keeping the brightness of the Marvel Universe without exaggerating it. That’s a hard feat, and for pulling that off, I salute them.
Writing
Okay, this book is a great example of how a long, continuous, and relatively unpopular superhero book should be done. The action is fast, in your face, and plentiful, while at the same time the plot is interesting enough to hold your attention. In many ways, Ms. Marvel harkens back to the earlier days of comics – sure, there’s a large, sweeping plot going on, but it’s perfectly alright to just jump right in without any background knowledge of the character.
Dialogue is good, and characterization better. I really like how Norman Osborn is portrayed as being kind of brash, while Sofen, though a villain, seems to actually have a good head on her shoulders. Donovan is an interesting character – as a normal person, she reacts how anyone in their right mind would to being confronted by the likes of Venom – she hesitates, and then runs like hell.
Thoughts
I’ve never read Ms. Marvel before, and I kinda doubt I’m going to start now, but the fact that such an obscure character (as far as the mainstream Marvel universe is concerned) could be so instantly engrossing, so very likeable, is really quite impressive. This seems to be a strong, doable superheroine book, and if you’d like something a little less mainstream that Spider-Man or a little less dark than Captain America, I highly recommend it. Ms. Marvel #44 retails for $2.99
Closing
Once again, I apologize for the late update.
What we have here is actually a very solid, very inexpensive week in comics. With a splash of DC, Marvel, and tie-in, it’s very well-rounded, and since you have issues focusing on mystery, action, and plot-development respectively, you end up feeling satisfied with each issue in completely a different way.
Add to that the fact that you can get the entire line-up for $9, and you’re just sitting pretty. No $4 one-shots, no $5 event comics. Just a great set of issues at a great price.
Coming Soon to Wednesday Shuffle:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #28
Invincible Iron Man #17
Tales from Wonderland: Tweel- you know what? Screw it. I’ll just review it when I see it.
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