Aquaman – Review

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I love being an Amazon Prime member and was rewarded with a very special perk this week, getting to see Aquaman, five days early! Director James Wan, known for his horror films, as well as the very successful Furious 7 has taken on the titanic challenge of bringing to life the superhero that’s been the butt of every joke possible. The question on everyone’s mind has been, “Can he take that hero that talks to fish and make him cool?”. The answer, you’re darn right he can.

Wan has created the most comic book, comic book movie ever. Everything about Aquaman is fantastical and completely out of this world which he embraces with loving arms. Instead of shying away from the weird, Wan just goes for it in a way that’s always a sight to behold.  It’s Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, Godzilla and Star Wars, all in one.

The movie rides comfortably on Jason Momoa’s shoulders. His swagger is absolutely what this movie needs, but it’s his ability to find the small moments that makes you believe. Amber Heard as Mera is awesome. Her powers look incredible and you’ll be left wanting more. Patrick Wilson and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II serve up delicious turns as villains, yet Black Manta steals the show. The rest of the cast is great, Nicole Kidman, Temuera Morrison, Willem Dafoe, Dolph Lundgren all bring just the right amount to the roles, adding the weight and gravitas needed.

The effects are excellent. The imagination on display is incredible. The movie is helped by it taking place in a world you don’t know what it should look like so what fills the screen is beautifully breathtaking in scope and scale. It’s fun, vibrant and exactly the kind of thing we love about going to the movies, being awed.

There’s more to say, but with the movie not out for another week, no spoilers, suffice to say, it’s the perfect movie for the family this holiday season! 4 1/2 out of 5 stars for the sheer, uncompromising audacity and joy of it all.

 

Justice League – Review

Listen to The 602 Club review and the Cinema Stories review!

In 2013 Zack Snyder, DC Comics and Warner Brothers started a journey to bring the characters of the comics to screen in a way they had not been seen before. Backed by Christopher Nolan as an executive producer, they began with Man of Steel. Superman’s origin was retold for the first time since 1978, asking the question, “What would it actually be like to actually have this being on our world?”. The saga continued with Batman v Superman, introducing us to a Batman on the edge becoming the villain and an appearance by the enigma known as Wonder Woman. In the end they save the world but lose one of their own. Although Snyder did not direct Wonder Woman, he helped write the story which bookends in the present, to tie into the culmination of all this set up in Justice League.

The Story

The plot of the movie is simple, after the death of Superman, Mother Boxes leftover from a failed invasion by Steppenwolf begin ringing. They sound that the earth is vulnerable and it’s time for Steppenwolf to return to finish what he started. Bruce Wayne has run into the Parademons, scouts for the invasion to come and begins actively recruiting the meta-humans revealed in Batman v Superman to stop what is coming.

Light Shines in the Darkness (Spoilers)

There is a real beauty to the simplicity of the story and it’s themes. Each one of these characters is hiding in some way. Diana’s always been there for the world when it needed her, but she shut herself off from being that inspiration, light and from true human connection after the loss of Steve. Victor Stone (Cyborg) feels lost in the ones and zeros he is now constantly bombarded with since one of the Mother Boxes gave him the ability to be forever connected to all things digital. Barry Allen is socially awkward, living and working with only one goal, to find a way to prove is father innocent of his mother’s murder. Arthur Curry embraces neither the sea or the land, unsure of who he is and still stinging from the perceived abandonment of his mother.

Lastly there is Bruce. He’s hidden so long behind the pain of his parents death, it’s made him, in his own words, less human. He’s hid behind the cowl, which almost completely consumed him. It took Clark to show him the way. Superman’s sacrifice awakens something in Bruce and he begins to slowly reflect the light that Clark had shone so brightly, to others. He shines that light on Arthur and Barry who join the team. He challenges Diana to remember who she is and what she was meant to be and in turn she’s able to nurture that light in Victor.

Coming together, the realize they are not enough. They work to bring Superman back to life with the help of a Mother Box, knowing that he’s truly the world’s only hope. Clark does not take well to being brought back to life until Lois shows up. It’s a touching scene as he’s flown them back to the farm, and they talk in the dawn’s early light. Hope and light are back and in the end he returns to help the team save earth. What makes this so poignant is that it feels like the fulfillment of Jor-El’s prophecy to Clark all the way back in Man of Steel,

You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.

The world we live in has been darker of late. Justice League reminds us that it is only together that we can dive back the darkness. Not through the lock-step unity that Steppenwolf would bring, but through the individual gifts that we’ve been given, working in harmony with one another for the greater good, the sacrificial good.

Characters

This is the best thing about the film. Each one of these characters comes off the screen kind of perfectly. Ezra Miller as Flash distinguishes himself nicely from the one on television. He’s young, inexperience and unsure of his abilities. Cyborg played by Ray Fisher is understated and yet it’s perfect for the role. He’s a young man struggling to find the gift in the tragedy that’s befallen him. Jason Momoa is excellent as the guff man of the ocean who’s just trying to find some meaning in life.

Ben Affleck’s Batman has grown tremendously since Batman v Superman, making good on his promise to not fail Clark in death. Affleck portrays the older Batman trying to learn how to play well with others perfectly. Gal Gadot, what more can be said about how good she is as Wonder Woman? She play’s the progression from who she is at the end of Batman v Superman and in light of the revelations of Wonder Woman so well. Henry Cavill as Superman is a vision. Superman has arrived in all the glory that we’ve been waiting to see from the beginning of Man of Steel. His arc has brought him fully to becoming the icon of truth and justice we all love. Each one of these characters make me want more of each of them. You’re left longing for each of them to be given their next solo outing as well as their next team mission.

The Movie

This movie is by no means perfect. It does feel rushed at only 2 hours. There is a lot happening and it does seem like a bit more time with the stories of the villain, Victor, Barry and Arthur could have helped the audience connect even more with the story. The villain is one note, but it does leave us with more time to focus on the heroes and their journeys to becoming a team. There are places where you wish the effects team had more time with the CGI to refine it and make it better. The best comparison that I can make would be the DC animated films that have come out over the last few years or some of your favorite episodes of Justice League United, if you liked those, you’ll like this. Overall, what wins you over is the team, their dynamic and the charisma they bring to each moment. Justice League is rated 4 out of 5 resurrections.

Captain America: Civil War – Review

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After the events of The Avengers, The Winter Soldier, Age of Ultron and the beginning of Civil War itself, the Avengers team find themselves under fire for their unchecked use of power and civilian casualties. As the team divides amongst itself on the best way to solve this problem, a malevolent force works to tear them apart from the inside out. Civil War is a great superhero movie that asks big questions and still has the heart of the first two Captain America movies. It is a worthy successor to the series.

The Truth is Not Relative

The most powerful scene in the movie comes at Peggy Carter’s funeral. Her niece Sharon Carter gives the eulogy and recounts a conversation she had with her aunt. Peggy told Sharon, “Compromise where you can. Where you can’t, don’t. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say ‘No, YOU move’.” Rarely has a comic book movie been more resonant to the times in which we live. The world is upside down and it’s screaming at us that wrong is right every single day. Peggy Carter’s message is a clarion call to us, we must plant ourselves in the truth, like a tree and not be shaken. It’s a clear picture of Psalm 1,

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1 ESV)

Steve Rogers is a wonderful model for this. His morality and virtue are not shaped my popular opinion or politics, but by something much more foundational and unchanging, knowing that there is right and wrong and that they are not something to be compromised.

Freedom to Choose 

There is also another side to the coin. Captain America sees the inherent danger of taking choice away from the Avengers and making them pawns of a political body. He is fearful that they will be asked to stay out of situations they should be in and forced to act in ways they ought not because of prevailing political sentiment. There is a good correlation with the Jedi in the prequels, that allowed themselves to become agents of a government and not what is right. In the end the Jedi became compromised, realizing too late that they’ve been in service to the wrong master all along.

The choice to do what is right cannot be left to a committee and popular opinion, Steve knows this and willingly lives out that principle. In fact, this is the very reason Steve is fighting for Bucky. Bucky is someone who has had choice forcibly removed, enslaved to the will of an evil organization and been made to do terrible things. He is a microcosm of the question facing the Avengers team. Captain America shows his quality once again as he interposes himself between Iron Man and the Winter Soldier, protecting both: Tony from acting on revenge and Bucky from something that is not his fault.

Conclusion

Captain America: Civil War is a fantastic movie and honestly the Avengers movie we all hoped Age of Ultron would be. While I do have some minor quibbles, I feel Spider-man is shoehorned into the film and would have rather had his time devoted to other characters like Agent 13 or Black Panther, it does not detract too much from the enjoyment of the film. This is rated four shields out of five.

Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The Force Awakens this week and in an effort to get ready for it The 602 Club has been covering the films and ancillary materials. If you want to be fully ready, check out each episode! All episode cards are linked, so just click the card or find them all in iTunes in the special Star Wars Feed.

Films:

Books:

  

Article:

Avengers: Age of Ultron – Review

In 2012 Marvel did something with it’s heroes that had not yet been seen from either of the two major comic companies, it put its biggest superhero team on screen, together. It had one of the biggest opening weekends in box office history and is now considered a classic. The question became, “Can you ever top this?” The Age of Ultron is now upon us and as the sequel to The Avengers, it has very big shoes to fill. Luckily it does have some intriguing themes.

Mad Scientists

There is an interesting conversation that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner have about being mad scientists. Tony is already responsible for creating the Ultron program that has run amuck after he tried to bring it to artificial life. Tony believes that merging the construct that Ultron was creating for himself with Jarvis, he will be able to create Ultron’s doom.

It raises some very interesting questions. As Tony and Bruce work, they are meddling in things they don’t completely understand, their motive is pure but their methods are flawed. They are taking terrible risks. The alien technology they are trying to use has barely been studied and the consequences of their actions has already created one “Murder-bot”. You’d think they would have seen The Terminator and Skynet and learned something. Tony willing does not tell the rest of the team about his creative activities feeling there is no time to discuss it in committee. He also does not want to be told yet again that he should not be meddling in things he doesn’t understand. Tony and Bruce have not seemed to consider that just because one can do a thing does not mean one should.

These men want peace. They want to proactively protect the world. Captain America reminds Stark that every single time someone has acted preemptively, innocent people have ended up in the crosshairs. There must be responsibly in creation and Tony cannot see the line of how his will to protect could actually create the world’s greatest weapon. There is often a good chance that one will become the thing they hate if they are not careful. Ultron is very much a mirror for Iron Man, it is one of the strongest themes in the film, the hubris of thinking you can control everything through technological creation. History shows us that humanity is it’s own worst enemy, creating it’s own doom from which we desperately need salvation.

Why We Fight

This is really well done in the movie. The ideas of why these heroes do what they do. They are on the side of life and will do whatever it takes to protect it. That means that they do fight to kill and take out the threat. Vision reminds the heroes that even though Ultron is a unique creature, its aim is total annihilation of the world, therefore there is only one choice. Honestly it’s the best reason I’ve seen in a comic book movie for taking out the villain for good. As a hero you are protecting life by making sure the destruction planned by the bad guys can never happen again. Now of course there are people the heroes will go up against where these measures will not be needed, but something like Ultron or Zod, these are treats that have to be eliminated.

The Movie 

While the movie has some good themes, it feels extremely busy with not enough narrative focus. It is as if it’s trying to serve too many masters. the film is trying to finish the second phase of the Marvel franchise, set up the third phase, as well as tell a compelling story. There is so little explanation for the things happening on screen and if you blink you’ll miss the small amount that was there. From the enhanced twins, to Thor’s sight bath, so much is glossed over and never fully fleshed out; partly because it’s feels like it’s just set up for the next action scene. The action is good and there is a moment near the end of the movie that looks like splash pages from Avengers comics which is a lot of fun. Yet, it’s nothing revolutionary and it might just be because theirs so much action to digest that it begins to wash over you like a raging waterfall.

There are new characters in the movie, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Vision. Vision and Scarlet Witch are the two most interesting, with Vision stealing some scenes from the likes of Thor. Quicksilver, who’s character was seen in Days of Future Past (albeit with a different actor) and who’s scene was the stand out in that film gets nothing like that here. It’s as if they realized there was not topping that so why bother trying.

The rest of the main characters play off each other with ease. It’s a well oiled machine at this point. Unfortunately there are some things that get short shrift, like the romance between The Hulk and Black Widow. This really deserves it’s own movie as does Black Widow herself. The humor and banter, a Joss Whedon trademark are well represented with Captain America’s line about Iron Man watching his language getting huge laughs. It was also nice to see Hawkeye get something more to do than be mind-controlled. Renner gives some of the best lines in the film, bringing a humanity and levity to the craziness. He seems to be speaking as much to the audience as Scarlet Witch when he talks about a flying city, evil robots and he’s got a bow and arrow and how none of this makes any sense. It’s a nice wink to us in the seats.

Conclusion

This is a competent Marvel movie. All the actors and action are good, it’s the story that bogs down the film with the weight of all that’s it’s trying to accomplish that left me underwhelmed. It feels formulaic, as the plot is much the same as the original Avengers – team ends up fighting amongst itself, gets beat down, gets a pep talk from Fury, saves the day. One of the pitfalls of Marvel’s cinematic universe is that there is not always enough distinction between the films. I one of the things that made Winter Solider so good, it continued on the Captain America story while feeling fresh and new. Here’s hoping that Anthony and Joe Russo can bring that same sensibility from their work with Cap to Avengers: Infinity War part one and two. Age of Ultron is rated 3 out of 5 Captain America shields.

The 602 Club 16: There’s A Comic For That

Comics.

On April 18, 1938 the world of publishing changed forever with the release of Action Comics #1 featuring the first superhero, Superman and in May of 1939 Batman was introduced to the world in Detective Comics #27. Since then, the proliferation of comics as been astounding. Leading to a world where comic book characters are everywhere, in film, on TV and ever conceivable type of merchandise. Yet many have never read the comics these icons come from.

In this episode of The 602 Club host Matthew Rushing is joined by Jose Munoz and Norman Lao to talk about the medium. We discuss what lead us to pick up our first comic, what we read monthly and why, our favorites and our recommendations as well as the pros and cons to continuity. Listen Here

The 602 Club 5: All My Skyes

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In 2008, Iron Man came sauntering on to our movie screens and the Marvel cinematic universe was born. Flash forward to the fall of 2013 and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. hit television screens promising big-time Marvel action in your living room each week.

In this episode of The 602 Club, host Matthew Rushing is joined by Darren Moser and Norman Lao to talk about Marvel and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Together we discuss the continuity the show shares with the films and the problems that causes, as well as the benefits. Darren shows the world why the panel should be writing for television as they dig into the characters and, lastly, we wonder if Agent Carter should have been on the show all along.

Superman’s History in Infographs

Celebrating the release of Man of Steel last week, here are some fun looks as Superman throughout the years.

Courtesy of Newsarama.com and HalloweenCostumes.com

The second most recognizable in the world; the evolution of an icon.