Knightwing J - A Comic Blog

Sunday, October 16, 2022

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Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Zack Snyder's Justice League Review

As I start to write this, I am listening to the Zack Snyder’s Justice League soundtrack by Junkie XL. While everything I am about to talk about in this review is unbelievable, I don’t think anything quite sums up just how unbelievable and unprecedented this whole situation is, more than the fact that I am listening to a soundtrack for a movie that did not exist when the movie was originally released over 3 years ago. And yet, somehow, through a confluence of bad judgement, timing and unprecedented fan support, here I am listening to a very atmospheric and epic score. For an epic film.

I won’t rehash all the details of the events that led to this point, but I will quickly recap the highlights for those that may have missed all the other 10,000 articles that have covered the subject in the recent weeks. Zack Snyder was replaced by Joss Whedon for the release of 2017’s Justice League. While Zack had filmed virtually all of the follow up to Batman v Superman (BvS), prior to the release of BvS, the critical and audience reaction to BvS, combined with a box office that didn’t quite live up to Warner Bros. hopes caused WB to want to change course midstream. Joss Whedon came in and reshot (if reports are correct) almost 75% of the film, cutting much of what Snyder had done, and creating a more light-hearted film. While never publicly stated by anyone involved, I feel very confident in saying that WB was hoping to mimic Marvel’s success and style by bringing in the same director that help the first Avengers and Age of Ultron to such great box office and critical success. While I personally enjoyed the version dubbed “Josstice League” (see my old social media posts), I will never try to defend it from the critical and audience bashing it received. It is a mess of a movie, a Frankenstien’s monster of filmmaking that had just about as happy an ending as the classic monster movie. Josstice League movie failed by every measure - critically, commercially, even in just being a well made movie. Famously, because so much new footage had to be shot to change the story and tone, the cast that had already moved on to other projects had to come back to film all the new scenes. Henry Cavill was already filming his role for Mission Impossible and had grown a mustache for his role in that film. Because of his contractual obligations to Mission Impossible, he was not able to shave the infamous ‘stache and WB decided to digitally remove the hairy upper lip in all the newly filmed scenes. This was done so poorly, that it turned into a joke and the clear example of how terrible and far off the rails the production had become. This was not a well planned out epic that would elevate DC to the success of Marvel. It wasn’t even a cohesive vision or well produced film one would expect from one of Hollywood’s elite production companies. It was a joke to many. But worse than that, to many DC fans and fans of Zack Snyder, it was a slap in the face. And they were not going to let it just fade into history. Not when there was another version of the movie, an epic, universe establishing, masterpiece that was fabled to exist. This other version, was of course, Zack Snyder’s original cut of the film, supposedly put together and shown to studio heads in rough form (missing visual effects shots, soundtrack, etc.) and then shelved to never see the light of day. And thus began the “Release The Snyder Cut'' campaign. A years long fan push to get WB to release this version of the film. The fans held events, fundraisers (over $500,000 for suicide prevention) and flooded social media non-stop with their support for Snyder’s vision. And once it was evident the fans were not going to relent, after two years had passed since Josstice League as released and fans were still able to take over Twitter with the #releasethesnydercut alongside support from the cast and crew of Zack’s film, and with WB desperate to find some way to create hype and drive subscriptions for it’s new streaming service, HBO Max, Warner Brothers struck up a deal with Mr. Snyder to finally complete his version of the film and bring it to the fledgling streaming service. And that, believe it or not, is the short version of what happened. I promise.

Now, with all the background out of the way, and having sat down and watched the entire 4 hour film on March 18th straight through, I can honestly say, despite GREAT reservations on my part about what Zack Snyder would do to the heroes I have loved since I was old enough to consume entertainment, that Justice League is an amazing and epic film that has left me wanting more from Zack Snyder and company. It isn’t perfect. But the scope, heart and execution make up for the few small quibbles I have with the film.

I have seen some initial reactions bemoaning the movies length (yes, it is all of 4 hours), and while I understand that type of time commitment, I will point out that we live in an age were people pride themselves on binge watching entire seasons of television shows, 12-24 hours of content, in a single day or weekend, so complaining about a four hour film doesn’t hold a lot of water with me. And the film is broken up into chapters, so there are natural stopping points for those that just don’t think they have it in them to watch a movie for four hours. If you love these kinds of movies (superheores), then why would you not want more of them? I wish all superhero movies were this long, as long as there is a story to tell. And there is in this movie. It never felt slow or dragged for me. Each scene has a purpose and establishes the characters, motivations and overall story in a way that Josstice League didn’t come close to doing. Also remember that beyond the silly “cameos'' in BvS, this would have been the first introduction to Aquaman, Flash and Cyborg in the DC cinematic universe and barring a bland exposition scene, they have to be established in this world. And so do the villains.

The film opens with the death of Superman at the end of BvS and his death cry being the catalyst that wakes up ancient machines called Mother Boxes that have been locked away by the three main protectors of earth - humans, Atlanteans, and Amazons. This works well, tying the story to the previous movie and giving you a quick idea of the scope of the film. It will cover the entire world, the threat is not just to one city or country, and involves ancient races much of the human world has forgotten about. Then we get a beautiful series of scenes as Bruce Wayne makes his way across a frozen tundra in search of Aquaman. While I understand the complaints that this goes on too long, the cinematography is incredible and it is a throwback to the old days of filmmaking when all of the credits ran at the beginning of the film, as well as the end.

Arthur Curry and Bruce Wayne’s first meeting plays out similarly to how it did in the previous version, except here Bruce comes off much more serious. He is lighter, to be sure, than the Bruce we saw in BvS and Affleck does a great job of subtly moving the character away from the vindictive version he played in the previous film. His voice isn’t as hard and his words don’t drip with anger the way they did in almost all of BvS. He feels much more like Batman in this version than he did in Josstice League, in which he came off almost goofy and jokey (“I hear you talk to fish”). Jason Mamoa’s Arthur works really well, coming across as someone who wants to be left alone, and standoffish, but still likeable. He may not want to get involved, but he isn’t a jerk about it. The scene ends with the people Aquaman has come to help singing to him as he leaves. I have heard that this is unnecessary and drags on too long. I understand this complaint. I think the scene could probably get cut and not affect the overall story, but I think it is a good scene and goes a long way to show that despite Arthur’s insistence that he wants to be left alone, he clearly is a character that helps people in need, so much so that the people of this village revere him as a god-like figure that they sing to/praise.

Quick, but emotional scene with Martha Kent at Clark’s grave. This is the kind of thing that Josstice League failed to do. The kind of thing that Marvel does so well. When big events happen in other films, the weight of them carries over to other films. They aren’t just glossed over. In Josstice League we got a quicker version of this scene, but it holds more weight here. The first of many tears roll.

Great scene with Alfred welcoming Bruce back from his journey to recruit Aquaman. And the banter and relationship between the two is already markedly better than in BvS. Alfred comes across as concerned for this boy, now man, he has been a defacto father for and who was left in his charge, but not scolding. Bruce is much more respectful and appreciative of Alfred’s input and point of view, not dismissive and almost hostile towards him as he was in BvS.

Lois visiting Clark’s memorial. Heartbreaking. See my above comments on the Martha scene. Tears are back.

Wonder Woman time! Gal is an incredible Wonder Woman. At this point, I can’t imagine another actress playing her better. She is obviously beautiful, but she has a presence that makes her strength, toughness and grace real. You buy that she is one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe, but also able to perform incredibly graceful moves with speed. Great balance. But more than anything else, she can switch from that tough as nails badass portrayal, to the kind, caring ambassador of peace on a dime. After she takes care of the terrorist, she immediately goes into that role, and it is a wonderfully sweet scene. I am sure many would call it hokey, but I am a sucker for hokey.

I need to break from the scene by scene recap to cover something quickly. This was the first, of a handful of scenes that illustrated my biggest issue with Zack Snyder’s characterization of these characters - they have no subtlety or restraint, maybe, about them. They have no chill when it comes to taking out criminals and villains. Wonder Woman kills all of the terrorists. She clearly outclasses them and would be able to subdue them without killing them, but she does not. She tosses/kicks terrorists into walls, leaving blood splatters. She uses her gauntlets to vaporize the final terrorist. Now, I am not saying that these villains didn’t deserve what they got. They did. And I am willing to accept that WW comes from a race of Amazon warriors, and they are more inclined to not “take prisoners” as it were. But I have also spent the past 30 years reading stories of these characters where they subdue bad guys. They try to rehabilitate people. They don’t just kill their adversaries. This was my biggest problem with BvS. The only other overtly vicious thing I can think of that happens in this film is Superman using his heat vision to sever a piece of Steppenwolf’s head and Steppenwolf’s ultimate fate. But outside of these two instances, I was pleasantly surprised that Zack kind of reigned in the brutality of these heroes. Which makes them feel more like heroes, to me. Yes, the parademons are brutally slaughtered, but as is stated early in the film, parademons are more or less mindless drones. I think of them as zombies, they are not really living beings, but just mindless minions in a pseudo-alive state. Their slaughter is more akin to robots being destroyed. This may be splitting hairs, but it works for me.

Here we go. Our first EPIC set piece. Steppenwolf’s arrival and war with the Amazons. This is what Zack Snyder excels at. Giant, visceral, action. Seeing the Amazons, this race of warriors face off against this seemingly omnipotent god from another universe is inspiring. Had this movie come out in this form as it was supposed to back in 2016, DC would be able to tout itself as not only having the first female led modern superhero film with Wonder Woman, but also having the first female centric action scenes in modern superhero films. Every hero in this scene is a woman. Every one is strong, smart, and self-sacrificing. And yes, this scene is in the Josstice League version, but it is neutered (yes, I recognize the disharmony of using the phrase neutered with regards to a female centric scene, I just can’t think of a better analogy in this circumstance). The way it plays out here, you see how over matched the Amazons are, but yet they keep coming, keep sacrificing. The scene doesn’t play as a plot point to set up where Steppenwolf gets the first of the mother boxes, but is more a look at how important these women are and were to the safety and security of the earth over time and why Wonder Woman, the greatest of these women, will be the primary bulwark between Steppenwolf and his armies until Superman makes his return.

Steppenwolf gives some exposition here, laying out his plan as he establishes his base on earth. Maybe not the most elegant way to do this, but without thought bubbles, I don’t know a better way to have a villain convey their plans to the audience. And it works, as he is giving directions to his minions, and not just talking to no one like some crazy person.

In an effort to not make this review not quite as long as the film itself, I will start glossing over or skipping entirely some of these quicker scenes. While I may be doing so, I want to make it clear that I think they are all great. They are all of value. They all offer something important, be it story/plot development, or character development that is worthwhile and contributes to the movie being so great as a whole. Bruce gets a good scene in here showing the impact that Superman’s life and sacrifice had on him. Great line about spending time trying to divide, and now he needs to bring them together. He is making amends. Wonder Woman gets a warning from her sisters, and is led to a temple revealing what she and the rest of the League is about to face.

We now get our first character focused moment on one of the League members we would have known very little about at this point, had the film come out in 2016. Aquaman. This is a really good scene that gives you an idea of Arthur’s feelings about the world. It does a great job, along with the opening scene, with Bruce at the fishing village, showing how he doesn’t feel like he belongs to either part of the world, the sea or the land.

Zack Snyder and company's vision and imagination shine yet again, with a very cool method of communication between Apokolips and Steppenwolf. The molten metal changing shape and dripping is just a crazy and cool visual. It also plays nicely when you think back to the way information was shared/relayed in Man of Steel, with Krypton using clean polished metal to morph into scenes of its history.

Wonder Woman gets into Bruce’s lair. Fun interaction between the two again. Their flirty nature and interactions was always one of my favorite parts about these versions of the characters, and harkens back to past comics and the old Justice League animated show where the two have been involved. I always preferred the Bruce/Diana paring over the Diana/Clark paring. Clark has Lois. That is his lobster for those of you that are Friends fans. Bruce and Diana are more... driven, I guess is the right word, characters. They both understand and respect the determination and single mindedness they see in each other.

As the Joker said in The Dark Knight, “And here. We. Go.” Any DC comics fan that has watched as Thanos became a pop culture icon, a new baseline for villainy and evil in cinema, has waited for this moment. Thanos is a major MCU threat, to be sure, but in the pantheon of comics history, it is well known that Thanos is pretty much a knock off Darkseid. Darkseid is THE threat in the DCU. The villain capable of not just world, but universal, domination. And he makes his glorious debut here. He will be used sparingly, but to great effect throughout the rest of the movie. His presence looming over all the events that transpire from here on out.

Another great action scene. Plays out much like I remember the Josstice League version. It has been so long since I have seen that version though, I am sure there is additional footage, as well as more bloodshed. This scene can go pound for pound with any of the great battles ever put on screen. Lord of The Rings, Game of Thrones, etc. It may not be quite as long, or have the set up of some of those, but in terms of execution and spectacle, this is on the same level.

This next chapter gives us some really good character development. We get an introduction to Barry Allen, and while I still prefer the CW Grant Gustin portrayal of the character, this version grew on me throughout this film. He is clearly socially awkward, but he maintains that exuberance that the character has had over his decades of publication. The car crash and save is a good way of showing his powers, if a little common place. Not sure how else you show superspeed, but the go to method for all entertainment nowadays is put everything else in super slow-mo and have your speedster move at normal speed. The one thing that struck me as a beautiful attention to detail with this scene was the care and gentleness with which Barry saves Iris. He doesn’t just grab her and pull her into his arms. He carefully folds her arms to her body and cradles her, doing all he can to spare her from even incidental harm. This was a great touch. And just to show I am not a COMPLETE homer for this movie (ok, I am), but the pause to grab the hot dog was a little silly. He could have easily grabbed it on his way back in, not in the midst of a dramatic rescue. Oh, and the music. I know some people don’t like Zack’s use of music to accentuate scenes, but I think it is great, and found this to be a perfect example of how he uses music to elevate the tone of a scene.

Atlanteans being dragged from the sea, and Steppenwolf being light years ahead of anyone on earth with his tech. Just further showing the odds our heroes are up against. Lois, understandably, having a hard time moving on. Looking for anyway to keep hold of that connection to Clark, even if it is only through his things. I’m not crying! You are! More great Bruce and Diana interaction. And they lead us into our next, and basically last, character introduction. Cyborg.

There has been a lot of online discussion about Ray Fisher and his portrayal of Cyborg, and his treatment and accusations about filming once Joss Whedon took over. I will admit, I wondered if maybe Ray was just upset his role had been minimized for time constraints when Joss took over, and he was just upset he didn’t get as much face time as he was expecting. I wondered if maybe his performance wasn’t that great, and that led to his role being minimized. Cyborg has traditionally been a member of the Teen Titans in the comic books. His inclusion in the Justice League was a relatively recent development with the DC New 52 publishing initiative back in 2011. So if you are going to cut a character arc to make a movie shorter, it stood to reason for me, you would do so with one of the less well known members of the league. However, having now seen his character arc and his portrayal of the character, to say it is obvious why he was upset is an understatement. This is one of the most moving and compelling character introductions in all of comic movies. And it is done in such an emotionally investing manner. Victor is a kid that has the world at his finger tips, and despite that he can’t get the one thing he wants more than anything, his dad’s attention/love/time. His dad isn’t a bad guy, he just doesn’t have his priorities in order. Then Victor loses everything, and is turned into something he never asked to be. We get another bit of exposition here as his dad explains to him what he can do, thus letting the audience know what he can do, and even though it is exposition, it works well, accompanied by the great visuals. And then Zack tugs on the heart strings, hard. He shows us Victor is a kind and compassionate hero. No matter what physical or emotional trauma he is dealing with, he is going to be a hero. He finds a single mother struggling to make ends meet, who still has the kindness to help those less fortunate than she is, even to her own detriment. And Victor changes her life by “adjusting” her financial situation. Better hand those tissues back over.

Then we get more character insight into Barry, with his visit to his father, which is touching. And Bruce’s recruitment of Barry. All done well, with a bit of humor - “I’m rich.” Moving into a great scene with Diana and Alfred, a pairing I have hardly ever seen interact in 30 years of reading, watching and listening to DC comics. Love Alfred being concerned with Diana making tea the “proper” way. And we get a great quick explanation for how Bruce will be able to withstand going up against parademons armed with other worldly weaponry, as well as the Man of Steel himself. Diana asks for Cyborg’s help and plants the seeds that he isn’t alone in the world despite what he may be feeling. Our first look at Jim Gordon! Good scene establishing how and why the Justice League will be able to find Steppenwolf later. And we get a live action Crispus Allen, which if you are a fan of the Gotham Central comic, you have to love!

Balancing the quieter character driven moments with the bombastic action scenes, it is now time to jump back into the latter. And here we get the treat of having another female character take the lead, at least for a moment. While Mera doesn’t get billing as being part of the Leauge, this scene shows that she is more than capable and powerful enough to join the other six. She almost single handedly takes down Steppenwolf, using her water manipulation powers to pull the moisture from his body. He is able to fend this off, barely and discards her before being confronted by Aquaman. Despite Aquaman and Mera’s best efforts, Steppenwolf is able to grab the second Mother Box and get away. Nice touch of having Mera give Arthur a dose of tough love, making him understand he has a responsibility whether he wants to accept it or not.

We jump ahead and meet Gordon on the roof of the GCPD. For all the seriousness and dark tone surrounding the movie, Snyder does a good job of inserting levity fairly naturally and in ways that are not distracting, at least for me. With Josstice League, the jokes felt very forced. Here they play as a nice palate cleanser from the more intense scenes, so the viewer doesn’t just get hammered over and over with doom and gloom. Barry’s excitement over seeing the Batsignal, the heroes bailing on Gordon (a long standing trope of the Gordon/Batman relationship) and Barry pointing out how rude it actually is.

We are now in the last half of the movie, and we see a significant uptick in the action from here on out. Hopefully this will also mean an significant uptick in the brevity of this review from here on. ;-)

Much better tunnel/Gotham Harbor scene than Josstice League. Wonder Woman just absolutely dominates and shines. Keeping Steppenwolf and his minions at bay while Bats, Cyborg and Flash do what they can to rescue hostages. Great nick-of-time save and intro of Arthur to the team proper. They aren’t dominated the way they were individually, but they clearly are still not enough to take down Steppenwolf. This fight shows them they need something, or someone, more.

Cool intro to our modern day version of Darkseid. In dripping molten metal form. Introduction of anti-life, and set up for why Earth is so important to Darkseid. Really liked Victor becoming a virtual tour guide of sorts for the history of the Mother Boxes for the rest of the team. I will point out here, and maybe I missed it, but one of the quibbles I have with the movie is why doesn’t Darkseid remember/know where the planet was that defeated him. It plays out like Steppenwolf just randomly stumbles upon Earth, or is drawn to it by the awakened Mother Box. But why didn’t Apokolips already know where they were? And Superman’s death is the call that wakes the mother boxes to draw Steppenwolf to Earth, but why didn’t they call out prior to his arrival? I think a good explanation would have been if Abin Sur, the Green Lantern protector of Earth was around up until Supes arrival and died sometime after Supes appearance and Hal Jordan or John Stewart, whoever took up the ring next, was off world on Oa being trained during Steppenwolf’s attack. But this is not addressed. And yes, I know it would have made the movie longer, but I am all for that.

This next part plays so much differently and better than in Josstice League. Bruce’s whole plan in Josstice League revolves around bringing Clark back from the dead. It is a confusing idea, because why would Bruce think this was even possible. And of course it leads to cliche conflict with Diana and the rest of the team. Here is plays out a little more rational, to me at least. They kind of discover through the analysis of Cyborg’s Mother Box, or maybe the realization of what it is capable of, based on what it did for Cyborg. It restored him. So it stands to reason it may be able to do the same for Supes.

Next we have a touching scene with “Martha” reaching out to Lois to coax her back into the world. This was a good scene, but the reveal at the end is odd. Martha is shown to be Martian Manhunter. This just leads to perplexing issues about what happens later. Eventually Lois will mention Martha’s visit to Martha, and Martha will have no idea what Lois is talking about. And it wasn’t necessary for this to be Martian Manhunter in this scene. Add to that the fact that Lois knows Martian Manhunters other alter ego, General Swanwick from Man of Steel. So why didn’t he just go to her as Swanwick. Sure the connection would not have been as strong, but still would have been a lot less confusing and problematic later on.

The graveyard scene is one of those things that may have been better as a audience assumption thing. Not sure I needed to see them dig up Clark’s body. But it did give us the great Cyborg line “She’s 5000 years old. EVERY guy is a younger guy.” Ha, good stuff. There is also some good self reflection moments here. Barry telling Cyborg about Superman inspiring him. Diana and Arhur finding out they are more similar than they may have thought.

We get another wonderful Bruce and Alfred moment. These scenes make me really bummed we never got a proper stand along Ben Affleck Batman film with Jeremy Irons as Alfred. But Bruce reinforces his change in perspective, telling Alfred he is operating on faith. A welcome change from him operating on flawed fear and dark logic of BvS (“If there is even a 1% chance, we have to take that as an absolute certainty!” Um. What?).

Supes resurrection takes place very similarly to how it did in Josstice League from what I can remember. It is a fine way to do it. They don’t go through the contrivance of why Barry has to touch the box as it hits the water with Supes body. They just play it that way, and it allows for the audience to get a peak at Flash’s time manipulation powers, which will come into play later.

The Mother Boxes give Cyborg a vision of the future. Some pretty iconic imagery here, of the Justice League dead or dying. We also get what might be our only live action shot of Darkseid using his iconic omega beams. It is amazing, and almost cruel in that we will probably never get to see them again.

Superman comes back. He fights the Justice League. It is a great look at just how powerful Superman is. And how much the League needs him. A friend mentioned they didn’t like Lois randomly showing up. I felt that was fine. Sure, it is a little convenient, but she was visiting his memorial one last time. If she sees a figure hovering over the site of her soulmates ship, she is probably going to investigate what is going on. He pointed out that Lois was part of Bat’s plans in Josstice League, which made Batman seem smarter. And while this is true, in this version, it was not Batman’s plan all along to restore Superman, so it stands to reason he might not have thought to have Lois waiting in the wings. Plus it always struck me as odd that in Josstice League, Bruce had to go to Lois at some point and say “Yeah, so I am going to go try and raise your boyfriend from the grave, and I need you to chill with my butler in case I need you.”

Another side note. Henry Cavill is the perfect Superman. I love Christopher Reeve's Superman. He was who I grew up with, and will always have special place in my heart. But Henry has the acting ability to pull off the iconic role, along with the physical presence to make you believe this is a god walking among us. He looks like he stepped off the pages of a comic. If Warner Bros. does not have him play the character again in his own film, something is very, very wrong with the entertainment industry.

Victor’s dad sacrifices himself to allow Victor to trace the box, as Victor looks on helpless. The tragedy continues to pile up for Cyborg, and this makes his resolve and perseverance all the more impressive. Great acting from Ray. Death scenes can always be too much, or not enough. He finds the right tone here.

Lois guides Clark as he readjusts back to the land of the living. The acting in the movie is so good. The story of Lois and Clark and Martha is so well done and has so much weight when you account for the fact that their arcs started all the way back in Man of Steel. The League makes a plan to stop Steppenwolf. Martha shows up to see her son alive and well. Zack, you’re gonna have to cut it out, the tissues are almost gone.

The League prepares to go. Bruce tells Diana about his vision of the dark future. Cyborg gets the flying troop carrier working. Interesting idea that Vic and “talk” to machines, not just control them. He says that she (the ship) wanted to fly. Then we get one of my favorite sequences in the whole movie. As the rest of the team loads into the ship, Bruce tells Alfred that “He’ll be here,” referring to Superman. Alfred asks how he knows, and Bruce just replies “Faith Alfred! Faith.” Such a good line and scene. This Bruce isn’t devoid of emotion and hope. He is a more well rounded person than the soulless rage machine that wanted to hunt down and kill Superman for very sketchy reasons through the first half of BvS.

Jumping ahead just a bit, Steppenwolf starts the Unity now that he has all three Mother Boxes. But then we get maybe my favorite part of the whole film. Superman, reborn, and taking flight again for the first time in his new suit. The call back to Clark’s first flight in Man of Steel brings up all the feels, and they make it even better by reconciling the one issue I had with Man of Steel. Jonathan Kent’s reluctance to let Clark be who he was meant to be. His lack of moral fortitude when it comes to Clark doing the “right” thing, was always hard to reconcile. I understand why he did it. In that movie, Jonathan was scared. Scared for his son. He knew what the world was like, and knew how it could descend upon his family and take his son away if anyone ever found out what he could do. And so he did his best to keep him safe, including answering difficult questions as honestly as he could. “What was I supposed to do? Let them die?” “Maybe.” Having been a fan of Superman as long as I have been alive, the one think that I know about Superman is that he always does what is right. And this strong, unwavering moral compass comes from his mother and father. So having Jonathan present anything short of that strong moral guidepost for Clark was jarring. And then we get this scene. Jonathan provides dualing voice over narration with Jor El. They both impart their son with one last message of love. Letting him know that he is the person they always knew he could and would be. Jor El encourages Kal to love the world the way he and Kal’s mom loved him. And Jonathan lets Clark know that he needs to be who he was meant to be. Jonathan’s words play almost apologetic to me, letting Clark know, any reservations Clark may have had about who he was and was supposed to be, those were not his faults, but Jonathan’s. The worries he may have been saddle with, because of the fears of a father trying to keep his child safe, are not his to carry. It is time for Clark to be the hero he was supposed to be. And with a final word “Fly.” Clark takes off, completing the character arc that was started back in Man of Steel.

I don’t have a ton to say about the final battle. It is spectacular. It is exciting and engrossing. It isn’t saddled with odd Russian families that force the action to stop or slow down to save. Which makes sense, as Steppenwolf chose this area because of its remoteness and radiation. I loved every second of it. Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Aquaman get some great powerhouse moments, giving Steppenwolf all he can handle for the most part. Batman doesn’t come off as overpowered, or unrealistic for a human going up against other worldly creatures, but he still is able to make key contributions to the fight. And Superman showing up is a stand up and cheer moment. One I could only imagine would have gotten a round of applause in the theater, had it happened in that setting. And then Superman using his abilities to the fullest is just awesome. Superspeed, heat vision, super strength, FREEZE BREATH! Just awesome. And yet, it still appears they were just a fraction too late, as a parademon gets a lucky hit on The Flash, and he is unable to get Vic the boost he needs to separate the Mother Boxes. Until, we get one of the coolest visual scenes in a movie jam packed with cool visual scenes. Barry reverses time, step by step as he propels himself back through time to get to Vic and give him the chance he needs to save the day. Vic faces off against the Mother Boxes and shows them and the audience that he is secure in who he is, a great message for so many people struggling with identity and their place in the world today. Great ending.

Oh, and Steppenwolf gets shish kabobed and beheaded on his way back to Apokolips while Darkseid, Dessaad and Granny Goodness look on via boom tube. Again, the imagery is astounding. You can reference my previous paragraph about the brutal nature of Zack’s characters for the rest.

And then we get our Epilogue. AKA “Leave them wanting more”. Some wonderful wrap up moments. Bruce and Clark at the Kent farm (“I bought the bank” such a great line), showing the world’s finest dynamic that I prefer in my Batman and Superman. And incredible Lex and Deathstroke scene that may be the cruelest tease of all, knowing we will never get to see that awesome Bruce and Deathstroke showdown. And a return to the Knightmare future, and a great back and forth between Affleck’s Batman and Leto’s Joker. I will say, Batman saying he was going to f’ing kill the Joker was a little jarring, but, again, I am getting used to this being Zack’s version of the characters, and not as much of the classical versions I prefer. Also, why is Harley Quinn’s death the thing that finally pushes Bruce to decide to kill the Joker? That aside, this post apocalyptic (apokoliptic?) worlds are always fun, and I really want the full movie featuring this world and the heroes fighting to fix things. And finally one last visit to Bruce. Martian Manhunter let’s Bruce know it isn’t over. And we are left knowing WB has probably robbed us of any completion of this story.

I can’t express how much I love this movie. There are some parts that don’t work storywise, as well as I wish they would. There is some character stuff (aka the brutality) that I could do without. But in spite of the little quibbles here and there, I still find myself incredibly invested in the film. It is epic. It is a visual masterpiece. It is virtually everything you could want from a comic book movie. It feels like a giant comic book story. It is long, to be sure, but it never felt that long to me. It actually blew by. I can’t wait to watch it again. And again, and again. Thank you to Zack and all the fans out there that pushed to #releasethesnydercut and had - Faith.

Monday, February 4, 2019

Injustice 2, Vol. 1 by Tom Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An excellent follow up to the original Injustice comic series and game. Works wonderfully with the story of the second video game for fans that pick it up because of the tie-in, but is also a stellar read for those that are following the story from the original Injustice series.

Tom Taylor once again shows that he understands what makes these characters work, and finds the essence of the heroes. He also really enjoys the freedom to play around with the evil side of the characters and creates some really terrifying hero-turned-villains. He also has one of the coolest ideas ever for stopping Superman that seems inspired by Identity Crisis.

The art work is handled by a stable of artists, and while that sometimes can be jarring in a single volume, each artist's visual style is close enough to that of the others that the book has a very coherent and similar feel. It is done so well, that I did not even realize that different artists were handling the work until I went to write this review. It is a testament to how well the story draws (pun intended) you in and how well the artists create a consistent visual identity.

View all my reviews

Friday, June 17, 2016

Superman #1 (2016)

Superman has always been either a hit or miss comic for me. I have either LOVED the books, or been so disinterested in them that I have stopped reading them all together. The later has been true of the books for the past few years, with the exception of Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr.'s run. Even then, the character I was reading was the New 52 version of Superman that looked close to the Superman I knew, but still felt off somehow.

This week we get the release of Superman #1, DC Rebirth's self titled Superman series. It is from Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason and company. Tomasi and Gleason are responsible for one of the best New 52 series, Batman and Robin. Issue 18 of that series may have been the single best issue of the whole New 52 run, featuring Batman dealing with the loss of his son, Damian. To say I expected a quality issue would be an understatement.

The issue picks up with Superman from the pre-New 52 laying the New 52 Superman to rest along side his parents (picking up directly from the Superman Rebirth issue). Superman had been waiting for New 52 Superman to come back to life following his demise at the end of his series. Clark seems to accept that even though he was able to come back to life, New 52 Superman doesn't appear to have the same luck. In tribute to his fallen doppelganger, he adopts his costume. With a simple justifiable explanation, Tomasi keeps the updated (sans red underwear) Superman costume in continuity. While I grew up with the red underwear costume, the change never bothered me, so this is a nice tribute and a way for DC to continue with this costume, even as they return to a previous version of the character.

The story continues with Clark and Lois adjusting to life on their farm, an attempt to keep their lives under the radar as they are displaced residents of an alternate universe. They do so in an attempt to keep their son Jonathan, who is developing superpowers like his father, a secret. The banter and glimpse of the Kent family life is pitch perfect. It brought a smile to my face seeing Lois and Clark adjust to their new roles as mom and dad.

(Side note: Having not read the Superman titles for a number of years, I am not quite sure when Lois and Clark had their son, how long he has been around and how they made their way to this New 52 version of the DCU. Even without this knowledge, the book is easy to pick up and understand. Sure, I still wonder about all those things, but they are not essential to the story at this point. The comic can easily be picked up by any new reader.)

As I mentioned, the young Jonathan is developing powers along the lines of his superhero father which leads to an interesting development that I was initially uncomfortable with. Lois and Clark impress upon their young son the need to keep his powers hidden. The rationale for this is not really explored/explained, however I am assuming this the standard reasoning that the government, super villains or other nefarious forces may come calling, were they to find out about the young superpowered child. After chores with his father, the young boy scampers off with is pet cat "Goldie." As they run through a field, Goldie is attacked by a hawk, eagle or some other bird of prey. The cat is picked up and carried away by the bird. Jonathan becomes scared and his heat vision activates as he screams for the bird to leave the cat alone. The blast of heat vision hits the two animals, killing them both. This is somewhat shocking, and my initial reaction was one of disappointment. I felt like having the boy kill not only the bird, but his pet cat too was a dark turn and maybe one that was not necessary. The more I thought about it, I can see where the creators are going with this. The boy has no control, I assume the blast of heat vision was unintentional, however there were still consequences. I can see this being an event that plays heavily in the young man's development into a responsible superpowered individual. In addition, the daughter of the Kent's new neighbors witnesses this event, exposing the secret the family has been trying to keep. I am willing to write this off as a tragic accident and see where the writers take it. Knowing their deftness at dealing with loss, I fully expect this to not be something that is just swept under the rug and forgotten about. Despite Jonathan's attempt to hide it from his parents.

The story continues with the neighbor girl visiting the Kent's home for the first time, and clearly scaring/worring Jonathan. Jonathan had not told his parents about what happened. Lois even asks the girl if she has seen the now missing cat. After the girl leaves, Jonathan's emotional distress boils over and he lashes out at his parents verbally. Clark responds in as an even keeled disciplinarian and sends his son to his room. This scene is another wonderful example of Tomasi's grasp of the character. And Gleason's art just enhances this. Clark is the kind of father you would expect the "greatest superhero ever" to be. Stern, but also caring.

Finally, as young Jonathan stares out into the night sky, tears in his eyes as he can no longer hide the pain of the day's events, Batman and Wonder Woman show up. Superman meets them on the lawn and they proceed to question The Man of Steel about his son. After a short discussion, Superman goes to his son's room and tells him to come with him. Where they are going, and why are a cliffhanger we are left with until the next issue. One imagines it is time for this young boy of steel to meet the other heroes of the world. If this is the case, it will be interesting to see how Tomasi and Gleason deal with the events of this issue and not allow them to get lost while shifting the focus to a more expansive world.

The issue continues DC's streak of successfully reintroducing characters in their Rebirth world and focusing on the characterization and the qualities that have made the characters timeless. The selection of Tomasi and Gleason as the creators to tell this story is so obvious after their success portraying Bruce Wayne and Damien Wayne's relationship in Batman & Robin, but sometimes obvious is what is best. This is certainly the case with the new Superman series.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Batman v Superman Trailer #1 Thoughts

So Zack Snyder just tweeted out the first trailer for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Apparently the leaked Latin American trailer was for real, and this is our first official look at the movie in action. I am glad WB and DC took this step. Marvel had to do the same thing with Avengers: Age of Ultron when their trailer leaked ahead of its premier during Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I think this is smart. Give people a clean look at the movie. The way you intend it to look, not a subpar version. Took WB and DC a little longer than Marvel to come to this decision, but they got there.

The trailer itself is excellent, in my opinion. It clearly continues the tone of Man of Steel, and the movie appears to have a dark tone about it. Which I like. I get bogged down in the grim and gritty as much as the next fanboy (or girl), but at least WB is not just making Marvel movies with DC characters. They are trying to do their own thing, and for me, it works. Don’t know that it will garner the universal appeal of the Marvel movies which seem to be a little more light hearted, but for what WB is trying to do, it works for me.

The trailer itself makes the movie look like it is almost a direct adaptation of the seminal Batman comic The Dark Knight Returns. Which is something fans have known for a long time (ever since the movie was announced at Comic-Con 2 years ago). The trailer opens with a bunch of “talking heads” commenting on Superman’s place in our world. This is clearly inspired by the ongoing panels of “talking heads” in The Dark Knight Returns. And then you have the central conflict of Batman and Superman at odds, with Bruce even telling Kal that he will “bleed.” While the movie is subtitled Dawn of Justice, a reference to the emergence of the Justice League, there is no mention of the other major characters debuting in the movie, even Wonder Woman. I really wonder how they will work in so many debuts into a movie that seems very focused (so far) on the conflict between Bats and Supes.

I really don’t like speculating on the movies story or plot, but I have to wonder if the voice over when Ben Afflec’s Bruce is first shown, about a “fever,” has something to do with the villain and a malevolent force that is, for lack of a better word, infecting the population to turn on Superman.

I love what they did with Batman’s voice. I think it is clear, although I have been wrong before, that Bruce is using some sort of voice modulator to alter his voice. His lines to Superman come off as almost mechanical, which works for a character that is methodic and focused. Henry Cavil looks like he may be even more buff for this go around than he was in Man of Steel. The shot of him catching or picking up a large object (a satellite? Debris from a battle?) is impressive. His arms are enormous. The new Batmobile gets a short reveal, and appears to be VERY Tumbler-esque. This made me happy. A case if it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it.

So all in all, I really enjoy the trailer. Unfortunately for WB, they debuted it a little more than 24 hours after the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. And maybe I am not gushing over BvS, because of how incredible the new Star Wars trailer was. But the Star Wars trailer also has nostalgia on its side. While I would give BvS a solid 8 out of 10 for its new trailer, Star Wars easily gets an 11 out of 10. I wonder if I would not be more enamored with the BvS trailer, had my expectation level for trailers not been shattered by Star Wars.

If you haven't seen the new Star Wars trailer, check it out below. I will try and post my thoughts on it in the near future.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Green Lantern Movie Trailer

The new (and first) trailer for DC's Green Lantern movie has been released. I have mixed reactions to it. First off, I really love most of the space stuff and mythology included in the trailer. Kilowog, Sinestro and the other various Corps members look incredible. Abin Sur, wow. I can't wait for those scenes on Oa.

I am not a huge fan of Blake Lively's first spoken dialogue. I heard another blog refer to it as robotic... and yes, it so is. I have never seen Gossip Girl, but I loved Blake in The Town and after seeing that movie I had high hopes for her in this. But that "This test today, it's important," wow, just bad. And actually, now that I think about it, it may be worse than I feared. It may be that the writing is just bad. Who speaks like that? Maybe Yoda, but not any real people. "This coffee I'm drinking, it's hot." Just odd. But there is a scene later in the trailer where she is reassuring Hal and says "You have the ability to overcome fear," and it comes off as much more natural and well done. So let's hope that first bit of dialogue was just an unfortunate misstep.

Ryan Reynolds looks great. But to me, much more like Kyle Rayner than Hal Jordan. That scene in the alley way brought back memories of Ganthet giving Kyle the ring for the first time and made me wonder if they were trying to work in some of Kyle's origin into the movie. I am 99% sure they are not, it is just a coincidence. Reynolds voice work and facial expressions are just spot on, he can play the serious, driven hero just as well as he can pull off the lighthearted quippy banter. I am sure he will be terrific in the role. And what a coup for Warner Bros. and DC. The trailer hits with the opening of the second to last Harry Potter movie and also the same week Reynolds is named People's sexist man alive.

The other thing that kind of scares me, is Hal's costume. At times it seems... for lack of a better word... off. The mask does not work. Not sure what they need to do to fix it, but clearly something. It looks like he has green paint on his face. They need to add some weight or substance to it. Add some effect to make it clear it is generated by the ring and is in fact a construct. The scene at the end with him changing into the costume, it is also odd. It seems like they digitally made the costume and his body like millimeters too small. I can't point to anything specific, his body just looks slightly unnatural. But in other scenes, like where he is saving the child, it looks fine... good even.

Finally, the flying. I am not a big fan of the jittery flying that is on display in one of the last shots of the trailer. There is no air in space, he is not experiencing turbulence. I am hoping this is just a way to establish is newness with the ring and over time he will become more experienced and therefore steady as he flies, but I am not a fan so far. Other shots, like Salaak lifting off and turning around are just spectacular. BTW, one other thought I had about the shaky flying was that maybe it was done to add a visual clue that he was flying or even flying fast since the character does not have a cape. But really, there are other ways of giving visual clues that a character is flying fast in space, just look at all the space/sci-fi movies that are out there. Rarely do you see space ships tossing and turning, other effects are used to give the illusion of speed, and they work much better.

So that is it. My initial thoughts on the new trailer. Like it, and as I put on Facebook, color me a green shade of optimistic ;-) If you have not seen it, here is it. Enjoy! (Oh, and to really enjoy it, make it full screen and upscale it to 720p :-) )

Monday, September 13, 2010

Licensing vs. Purchasing

*I started writing this... wow... over two months ago. But I think it is still important, so I am just now finishing it up and actually posting it.* - November 19, 2010

I was downright shocked to see the following article over at gamespot.com today:

Court ruling could affect pre-owned game sales

Basically the article sites a US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said a consumer who had purchased a sealed copy of Autocad (computer software) could not resell the item on eBay because he did not own the software that was contained within. As a matter of fact, according to the ruling, the guy that purchased the software did not own anything! See the Autocad software came with a EULA (End User License Agreement). This document (piece of legal trickery) states that the original purchaser of the "software" did not actual purchase the software, but a license to the software and that license is non-transferable. I am not sure of all the legalities behind this and I hope to god it gets overturned upon further appeal, but for me, it raises a bigger question... When did consumers start giving up the right to own the things we purchase?

If this ruling is allowed to stand, it opens the door for all manufactures to put EULAs in all products. Basically if you purchase anything that has a EULA, you are not purchasing the actual product, but just a license to that product. So if you buy a car, you don't actually buy the car, you just are buying a license from the manufacturer to drive the car, but you can't sell the car because technically, the car still belongs to the manufacturer. If you buy a shirt, and the manufacturer puts an EULA on the collar, you can't hand the shirt down to a sibling or donate it to Goodwill because, YOU DON'T OWN THE SHIRT, you only own a license to wear the shirt, the manufacturer actually owns the shirt.

I might be taking things to an extreme with the above examples, but I really don't think so. For all the griping that the entertainment industry does about pirated materials and how much money they are losing, they themselves are engaging in a systematic process to completely take away consumer rights. They are trying to screw consumers, just as much, if not more, than they claim to be getting screwed by the consumers.

I understand the need for software companies to protect their intellectual property. At the same time, certain developers and certain companies seem to be taking greed to a whole new level.

Taking this idea of EULAs back to the video game market (the article above that prompted this post was housed on a video game site), by allowing video game developers and publishers to insert EULAs into their products, they are effectively killing the second hand gaming market. Developers have already started inserting advertisements and product placement into games. And games themselves are the most costly of all entertainment media, with the SRP of all new XBOX 360 and PS3 games being $59.99 (compared to I believe $29.99 or $34.99 for new Blu Ray movies). An argument can be made that games provide more hours of entertainment with game playthrough times ranging from 10 hours on the low end to 100 plus hours on the high end. But an argument can also be made that with the additional features stuffed on to many Blu Ray and DVDs, the gap in entertainment between the two is not that big, if it even exists at all. So you are still looking at games being one of the highest costing forms of entertainment on the market. In addition, game developers are increasing profits with in game ads and product placements, as well as cashing in on various licensing deals to have their properties appear on soda cans and pillow cases. Are we to honestly believe that they are so cash strapped, that they need to kill the second game market so that everyone has to buy a game new?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

My Rant from Facebook circa 1/28/10

At the risk of sounding like a fuddy duddy, I have to question the statistics behind the recent "93% of people won't copy and past this as their status" posts that I have been seeing recently. I am pretty sure I saw the exact same statistic is attributed to about 4 posts I have seen in the past week. Is the likelihood ...of any post being re-posted always 7% regardless of the topic?

I guess I just don't like the whole guilt trip aspect of these types of posts, so I have to be sarcastic and question them. If you would like me to make my status something about a cause you believe in, please just ask me to, I probably would not have a problem with it, unless I vehemently oppose the cause. But please don't try and make me feel bad because I am not one of the elite 7% that re-posts something.

And I apoplogize to anyone that thinks I am bashing thier posts, I really don't mean to, I am trying to express my frustration with what I percieve as the guilt trip aspect of the posts. I am Catholic, I have enough guilt ;-)

I know all my friends that have posted these are just helping to raise awareness of a issue they feel strongly about, and I think that is a very good and important thing.

Anyway, the original posts are good ideas and concepts, and I should just shut up. So I will.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The New Batman (and Robin... and Red Robin)

So the launch of the new Batman line of comics is under way, with Batman & Robin, Batman, and Red Robin having been released. I could not be happier with the titles so far. Batman and Robin continues Grant Morrison's highly enjoyable, if a little odd, run on the characters. He is doing a great job of keeping things light to fit the tone of the new dark knight, but also creepy and odd to fit the tone of a Batman title. The first post-Battle for the Cowl issue of Batman is a terrific look at how Bruce Wayne's death has affected those closest to him, and how Dick Grayson went about creating his version of Batman. I can say with no embarrassment that I got very choked up when Alfred and Dick were discussing what the loss of Bruce meant to both of them. If I had any qualms with the issue, it would be the lack of a reaction from both Tim and Damien. It may have been felt that Tim's reaction would be covered in Red Robin, and it was. However, Judd Winick has a terrific ability to capture the emotional voice of the characters and I would have really enjoyed seeing his take on Tim's reaction. And then there is Damien. A character that has been portrayed as emotionally detached. Even with this detachment, I find it hard to believe he has not had a "coming to terms" reaction to his father's death or any reaction at all for that matter. And finally, Red Robin. This is an interesting title, that follows Tim as he searches for Bruce (whom he believes, correctly, is not actually dead).

There is more to this post, but I will have to finish later. The work day is almost over.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Just a quick laugh

Funniest thing I have seen today: