Young Justice: Season One

The original Young Justice comic was the perfect source material for an animated series. It sadly never came to happen, but the Teen Titans cartoon was a good substitute. It still would have been nice to see Tim Drake’s Robin teamed up with Impulse and Superboy in an ongoing animated series.

A couple years ago an announcement was made for a Young Justice cartoon, featuring an Aqualad of color and a lack of overall humor. The latter was a deal breaker for YJ purists with the former being a deal breaker for DC purists. I was of course interested in the series, and it did not disappoint.

Fringe – “Everything in Its Right Place”

Unlike other TV shows, being able to have a conversation with yourself is a sign of having a strong grasp of reality on Fringe.

Fringe is a difficult show to start watching. Tuning in for new episodes is difficult due to the serialized nature of the show, but even starting from the beginning can be rough. Before it reaches its current state of brilliant science fiction, it starts in the muddled area of X-Files-esque science monster-of-the-week nonsense. Maybe that is unfair to say because I never really cared for X-Files. But Fringe did start in that area, especially since it resembled more of a knock-off than anything else.

Until the final episode of the first season introduces viewers to the Other Side, the parallel universe that resembles the point-of-view universe with tweaks. Zeppelins float in the sky, the statue of liberty is made of bronze, and cappuccinos never became popular. (A world lacking in Starbucks?!) Aside from offering a slightly askew world, the Other Side also presents alternate interpretations of the characters and the question of how they got there. We are reaching the end of the fourth season, and every character has been faced with what makes them different.

The Order of Star Wars

The “Machete Order” of Star Wars recently became an internet sensation, and I almost missed it. Not that it would have mattered much. I thought up the same order a couple of years ago and for mostly the same reasons: re-ordering the films centers the saga around Luke while also highlighting the importance of Darth Vader’s choices. Remember, by Return of the Jedi Vader serves as a warning of what Luke could become. Literally in the center of the context that is the original Star Wars trilogy, the prequel trilogy has a meaning that lifts it beyond our cynical view of its being a cash grab.

Torchwood: Miracle Day

It may have taken a few years, but Torchwood was finally continued in another high-concept series – this time in a joint British and American production. Children of Earth‘s concept was the desperation of humanity against an impossible to defeat alien threat that simply wanted to use their pre-pubescent children for drugs. Miracle Day, the latest effort, had an even more amazing concept – what would happen to the world if people stopped dying? It wasn’t a matter of invincibility, mind you. Even when decapitated or crushed, people stayed alive through what could only be described as a miracle. What does humanity do with a population that only increases in number? Vile things, it would seem.

There’s a lot to talk about with this particular series, but I’m going to try to streamline it. This is an approach I wish that BBC and Starz had taken with the series, which would have been brilliant at 5 episodes but seemed stretched thin at the 10 episodes they aired. Good storytelling with proper buildups would no doubt have a bit of slow movement in the middle of the series, but Miracle Day almost came to a crawl as the writers struggled to figure out how to slow down the pace that a proper Torchwood story should have. What made Children of Earth so effective was that it felt like a five hour movie, whether you saw it all at once or over the course of days. Miracle Day seemed less fluid and contiguous. I suspect it has everything to do with the arbitrary episode count.

But the series was brilliant nonetheless. I love the idea of exploring how humanity tries to deal with overpopulation (categorize and eliminate). I love the idea of taking the Torchwood team out of Wales, proving that their efforts really do affect the world. I love that they were taken away from the Torchwood tech, meaning that the solution to each problem did not depend on having the right miracle gadget. They played it smart, and I appreciate the series for that. The spirited performances also helped me to believe in the story and the new characters.

Bill Pullman did an amazing job as Oswald Danes, convicted pedo-rapist/murderer and first high-profile survivor through the miracle. I loved watching this complete slime rise in popularity despite how horrible everyone acknowledged he was, and I loved Captain Jack Harkness’ deconstruction of the man Oswald was hiding inside. His character arc was very subtle, but it was there. He basked in his glory until he realized that he was being recategorized as no longer living but rather as someone who should not be allowed to live. In helping to end the miracle, he found some level of redemption in the eyes of the viewers. Meanwhile, he proudly boasted he would likely go to hell when he was finally able to die, finally accepting his fate.

But what about the climax? To be honest, the payoff for the series was pretty damn disappointing. It should be a spoiler to say that some weird, two-opening creature that lives literally through the Earth was the cause of the miracle, but a lack of any sort of build-up or worthwhile explanation renders the spoiler pretty much null. It simply exists, and it proves Jack’s theory that the miracle was somehow caused by morphogenic field alteration. No, this isn’t made up sci-fi terminology. However, its application here is again stretched thin. The reversal of the morphogenic field needed to be explored further to be satisfactory. All the time they had was squandered.

I can’t help but think that I’m more intrigued by the concept of the series than anything else, and that helps me to acknowledge the poorer aspects but look past them for the rest. I’m not sure if any other show would take a chance on running a full concept through for a season. For any other show, this would have been a two-parter.

So would I recommend Miracle Day? Probably. I would sooner recommend Children of Earth, as that is truly mind blowing and heartbreaking. Miracle Day felt like it was almost but not quite the same. Maybe if they get another chance, if the ratings didn’t drop too much, they can build upon this and make a much better series. They already put in sequel hooks, after all. Still, more Torchwood is never a bad thing in my book.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which has a horribly wordy title, is a surprisingly good summer movie. It does everything right, including taking some heavy risks by making us sympathetic to the ape cause. Granted, the alternative was cheering for big business and American consumerism. Few movies push leading characters who aren’t human – especially ones who spend over half the movie without a human counterpart sitting around to remind us that we’re supposed to like them. This was awesome.

One of the major problems I had with this film, though, was how ape intelligence had to be portrayed in human terms. The signing, the writing, and the puzzle solving aren’t necessarily so bad – it’s the speaking. Only four words were spoken by an ape through the entire film, but that was more than enough. Speaking English does not mean a creature is intelligent. You’ve all met people who speak fluent English whom you cannot believe have more rights than monkeys. But the audience is led to believe that the apes have finally transcended because one learns how to speak.

Question for people who know a bit more about animal physiology than I do: Do chimps have the same vocal structure as we do? Would it physically be possible for them to speak English?

Aside from that, Apes was a really good film that makes up for Tim Burton’s failure from a decade ago. The ending was brilliant as well. It’s not so much that the apes grew intelligent and overthrew the humans. It’s that the humans simultaneously developed a deadly (to them) airborne virus along with a virus that advances brain development in apes. We’re led to believe at the end of the film that the contagion has gone worldwide. The apes didn’t so much overthrow their rulers as they did simply inherit the Earth.

Go see this movie. One especially amazing thing is that the named apes in the film are provided more solid characterization and development than most movies starring humans these days. That’s a feat that should be rewarded.

The New Ultimate Spider-Man! Someone’s listening!

Have you heard about the new Spider-Man featured in Marvel’s Ultimate line of comic books? If you haven’t yet, I’m impressed. It was reported by various news outlets before issue 4 of Ultimate Fallout hit the newsstands. In fact, that’s a bit unfair to readers who want to be surprised with each issue. It’s just continually interesting that the happenings of Marvel comics are regularly reported in the news. DC fanboys weep because Time Magazine will never report on the fact that Sinestro is now a member of the Green Lantern Corps. and Hal Jordan has been kicked-out for pushing his ring to attack and kill a rogue Guardian.

This isn’t about me bashing on DC, though. (I love their characters, I swear!) This is about my somehow continued coverage of the “Death of Spider-Man” and Ultimate Fallout storylines. I didn’t expect the new Spider-Man to be introduced so soon, although nothing has been revealed about him in the comics except for this:

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon

Remember when Optimus Prime was a pacifist who was only fighting to defend the humans? No, you're right. Optimus Prime is blood thirsty warrior.

Transformers 3: All Your Cash are Belong to Us has been hailed as the best of the Michael Bay Transformers series, and people have been offering that praise with their tongues in their cheeks. When the other entries have been so soundly dismissed, that statement is meaningless. What people don’t give the Bayformers credit for doing is making the Transformers franchise relevant again. There is a positive involved in all of this, and Michael Bay shouldn’t be held in contempt for reinvigorating the robots and driving toy sales for not just the movie figures but all sales lines.

I’m not telling you that any of the movies are worth seeing. I’m just saying that Bay did something good for Hasbro and the Transformers in general. In my mind, Dark of the Moon is the cherry on top of the trilogy because it means the series is over.

One Reason to be Glad the Live-Action Akira Movie is Dead

 

 

 

 

One Reason to be Glad the Live-Action Akira Movie is Dead.

I’m not going to get into the habit of copying and pasting my responses to other sites’ articles, but I thought it would be fun to reiterate something I’ve said previously. Hopefully this is more succinct.

I'm not coming hard on the bike. I used to have a Kaneda figurine that came with said bike. Of course, since I think I donated or dumped it, I guess I don't care that much...

The linked article explains that the live-action Akira adaptation is done and over with. There’s a quoted excerpt from one of the designers on the project who was tasked with remaking the motorcycle that fans of the film love so much. (Never mind the reduced role of said bike in the original manga…) The article’s author says that not seeing the bike remade is a good thing. The comment thread follows with comments celebrating the death of the movie and discussion of not touching the bike. So I chimed in.

Another Sucker Punch

Steampunk is what happens when goths discover the color brown.

Because I enjoyed Sucker Punch so much when I saw it in the theatre, I jumped at the opportunity to purchase the DVD. Unfortunately, the DVD edition lacks the extended cut provided on the Blu-Ray release. (No, I don’t have a Blu-Ray player yet; I’ll be holding off until the players are relatively cheap and I’m forced to make the leap forward. Or if someone just buys me one.) I cannot comment on the full version of the film, but I can comment again on the theatrical cut.

Green Lantern’s light

My sequel pitch: Call the next one "Green Lantern Corps", and then live up to that name. Total space opera with as few Earth elements as possible.

Green Lantern was a good movie. Despite what the critics say, it was a fun movie with steady performances. It is far from the best movie ever made or the best superhero movie…or even the best movie consisting of approximately 60% CGI. In fact, the movie reeks of having been an idea that Warner Bros. had to put out because there were no other DC movies slated to come out during Marvel’s big summer. When they realized that they were up against fine quality productions, they delayed the release of Green Lantern to increase the effects budget. But despite this, the movie was enjoyable. I saw the light of willpower.