Author: Dr. K

Movie Night: Doom

Dr. K5 Comments

Released: 21 October 2005
Director: Andrzej Bartkowiak
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Budget: $60 to 70 million
Stars: Karl Urban, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Rosamund Pike, Raz Adoti, Richard Brake, and Dexter Fletcher

The Plot:
In the year 2046, the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) sends a squad of marines – led by Sergeant Asher Mahonin/Sarge (The Rock) – to answer a distress call at their Mars facility, where an alien chromosome has transformed the inhabitants into bloodthirsty demons.

The Background:
The influence of Doom (id Software, 1993) cannot be understated. It popularised first-person shooters (FPS) with its online “Deathmatches”, controversial violence, and addictive acclaim. Followed by bigger, faster sequel within less than a year, Doom remained relevant through its many ports and some obscure ancillary media before the long-awaited release of Doom 3 (ibid, 2004), which reinvigorated the franchise with its claustrophobic atmosphere and bloody gameplay. Development of a live-action adaptation can be traced back to the mid-nineties, when Universal Pictures and Columbia TriStar vied for the rights, though real-world tragedies kept the film from being produced. After production stalled at Warner Bros., producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and John Wells returned to Universal and a script, heavily influenced by Doom 3, finally emerged, courtesy of screenwriter David Callaham, though many aspects were cut due to time and budgetary reasons. With director Andrzej Bartkowiak onboard, The Rock was offered the lead role after Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vin Diesel declined, only to gravitate towards the darker role of Sarge, and he and the other actors underwent two weeks of rigorous military training for the movie. The demonic creatures were created by Stan Winston Studios using a combination of practical effects and animatronics and CGI. Visual effects guru Jon Farhat also directed an extended first-person sequence, which was painstakingly edited to appear as one continuous shot and divided critics with its execution. Failing to make even $60 million at the box office, Doom was critically panned. Yet, while The Rock disowned the movie and Rosamund Pike expressed embarrassment at her unfamiliarity with the source material, Doom co-creator John Carmack enjoyed the film. Though few had anything good to say about Doom, the success of the 2016 reboot saw Universal produce a direct-to-DVD restart, one that did little to improve the franchise’s silver screen prospects.

The Review:
Unlike the videogame source material it’s based on, Doom follows not one half-crazed, nigh-superhuman space marine but a whole squad of trigger happy, overconfident soldiers seemingly influenced by Aliens (Cameron, 1986) but who occasionally come across as bland and one-dimensional as the troopers seen in Jason X (Isaac, 2001). The film opens with the Rapid Response Tactical Squad (RRTS) anticipating a well-deserved shore leave, only to be frustrated when their tight-ass commanding officer, simply known as “Sarge”, cancels their leave and orders them to gear up for a “game”. The UAC research facility Olduvai, based on Mars around the site of an ancient, fossilised remains, sends a distress call following a mysterious attack, a call Sarge is only too happy to answer. Stern and by the book, he absorbs his orders without question but also interprets them to suit his needs. While “extreme prejudice” is authorised, he’s fully prepared and committed to “search and destroy” despite first being ordered to contain and protect the UAC scientists and research data based in Olduvai. Still, at the start, Sarge is tough but fair; he’s sympathetic to his men being denied a break but demands nothing but professionalism from his soldiers. Therefore, he reprimands Gregory Schofield/Duke (Adoti) when he voices his frustrations the loudest and Duke responds by immediately reaffirming his loyalty to the corps, like a good soldier. Sarge is also proud to welcome Mark Dantalian/The Kid (Al Weaver) into the RRTS for his first mission. Though excited to finally be getting some action that isn’t cleaning floors, the Kid quickly becomes anxious and hesitates at facing the unknown, earning him not just ribbing from the likes of the lewd Dean Portman (Brake) but a dressing down from Sarge. However, while Sarge orders all his men to fall in line, he initially recommends that his point man, John Grimm/Reaper (Urban) take the leave and stay behind since he has history (both past and present) with Mars and the Olduvai facility, though Reaper naturally chooses to come along and “face his demons”.

Sarge leads his team to Mars, where Reaper’s forced to confront his past.

Specifically, these are events related to Reaper’s past. Ten years previously, he and his sister, Doctor Samantha Grimm (Pike), worked and learned alongside their parents on the dig site, only for them to witness their parents dying in a freak cave-in. Since then, Reaper has stayed away from Mars and grown apart from his sister, who followed in their father’s footsteps to become a genetic researcher. Sarge is sympathetic to this awkward situation in the first act or so and, though Reaper maintains his professionalism, it’s clear there are unresolved issues between him and Sam. For one thing, she doesn’t exactly approve of his dangerous and violent lifestyle; for another, he feels guilty at his estranged relationship with his non-identical twin sister. Sam has orders to download Doctor Todd Carmack’s (Russell) research data which, as far as she’s aware, isn’t anything troublesome or unethical. Instead, she believes they’ve been researching the mysterious humanoid remains found in the dig site, remains that speak to a Martian race that eliminated all diseases and gained superhuman strength through an additional fourth chromosome. As the bodies start piling up and monstrous demonic creatures start attacking the RRTS, Sam discovers Dr. Carmack was actually using C-24 in human experiments, creating the abominations that run riot throughout Olduvai. While Reaper shares her horror at these revelations, Sarge remains focused on their orders; he chews Reaper out for suggesting they destroy UAC property and refuses to believe that the infected masses can be cured of their condition. Indeed, the more the demons attack and the more men Sarge loses, the more the commander loses his grip on reality. At first, he’s seemingly willing to listen to reason and even has the civilians evacuated from the quarantine zone to Earth via the disturbing teleportation system (known as the Ark), but soon he’s ordering a mass purging to contain what he sees as an uncontrollable and violent outbreak. Sam’s the first to see the change in him, though Sarge’s own men and, soon, Reaper question his methods and orders. His obsession with killing all the scientists leads to him being dragged away by the demons, a fate he vehemently rejects, and being infected by C-24, which is naturally drawn towards the vile and wicked.

Despite some undesirable character quirks, the RRTS amount to glorified dead men walking.

The RRTS are a colourful bunch at times. Each one has their own gamer tag handler ID and a couple even have unique weapons; Roark Gannon/Destroyer (Deobia Oparei), Duke’s surrogate family, carries a massive chaingun, for example. This tells you everything you need to know about Destroyer; he’s the big muscle who seldom speaks and gets up close and personal with his foes. Duke is far more outspoken and much more likely to crack wise; he’s immediately smitten by Sam and puts the moves on her even as she’s dissecting a demonic corpse. Excited by her passion, he even braves a nanowall, a piece of technology which he greatly fears, and is distraught when Destroyer is found beaten to death by a Hell Knight (Brian Steele). Eric Fantom/Goat (Ben Daniels) is even more uptight than Sarge, rightly expressing disgust with Portman’s filthy mouth and imagination. He’s also devoutly religious, ritualistically scarring himself whenever he takes the Lord’s name in vain. This means he’s the first to identify the mutated creatures as demons, and his faith also drives him to bash his brains in after he’s infected and begins to transform into a demon. Katsuhiko Kumanosuke Takahashi/Mac (Yao Chin) doesn’t get much to do or say; he’s left in charge of Marcus Pinzerowski/Pinky (Fletcher) and then gets his head lopped off before he can do much of anything. Luckily, the repulsive Portman is on hand to carry the load; a vile, self-styled ladies’ man, Portman disgusts his team with his antics (even Sarge rolls his eyes at his demeanour). However, he’s also the first to outright question Sarge’s orders; despite them facing a clearly unprecedented situation, Sarge stubbornly refuses to call in reinforcements and the two almost come to blows. Portman then takes it upon himself to defy orders and call for help, though his abrasive personality keeps Pinky from alerting the team when he’s attacked and killed. Finally, there’s the Kid, who’s so shaken up by the bloody situation that he begs Portman to slip him some pills. Inexperienced and hesitant, the Kid struggles with his abandonment issues as much as he struggles with Sarge’s orders, eventually standing up to his commander and being summarily executed for daring to defy him.

It’s a shame the film relies so heavily on zombies as the demons look great.

Sam’s research reveals that C-24 (and, by extension, the demons) triggers specific changes in different people based on their genetic makeup. For some, it grants accelerated healing and superhuman strength; for others, it turns them into unholy, monstrous creatures somewhat similar to the demons from the videogames. This means there’s no portal to Hell and no true demonic invasion; Goat coins the creatures demons based on his religious beliefs and Grimm dubs Olduvai “Hell” simply because bad things always happen there. Still, Olduvai is haunted by ravenous, mindless zombies; many of the scientists, including Dr. Carmack, are found this way, with limbs missing or greedily feasting on their victims. Others undergo a more extreme metamorphosis, become analogous to Imps (Doug Jones) and Hell Knights. This is about where Doom ends with its monsters; there are no Cacodemons, Lost Souls, or Cyberdemons here. However, Pinky is apprehended by an Imp and summarily infected. Apparently, his treatment of Portman was enough to trigger a disturbing transformation into a handicapped, bullish demon that catches Reaper off-guard and gnaws on his leg. The overreliance on zombies is disappointing (we’re even denied armed zombies), doubly so because the Imps and Hell Knights are brought to life through some great practical effects. Thanks to some great use of lighting (parts of the film are fittingly as dark as Doom 3), there’s a constant sense of dread in Olduvai’s tight, claustrophobic corridors. When the monsters do appear, it’s in low lighting and quick cuts, with them manhandling even the brutish Destroyer, tearing off limbs, and splattering arterial blood across the walls. Since the RRTS are unprepared for such a threat, their numbers are whittled down across the first two acts. However, when Sam takes a chance and injects C-24 into Reaper to save his life from an errant ricochet, he easily puts down zombies, Imps, and Hell Knights alike in a sequence most akin to the videogames (specifically Doom 3) but which also seems oddly out of place and literal for a videogame adaptation.

The Nitty-Gritty:
The primary human element in Doom is the troubled relationship between Sam and Reaper. Though she sent birthday cards over the years, it appears they haven’t spoken since their parents died and their paths and personalities couldn’t be more different. Sam revels in scientific exploration, excited at the prospect of learning more about Mars’ long-dead natives and potentially curing diseases, while Reaper is the consummate soldier, following orders without question until he sees the heinous experiments performed by Dr. Carmack. This even drives him to turn on Sarge, a man he’s seen to have a very amicable relationship based on mutual respect. Indeed, it’s Reaper who chides Portman’s insubordination, making it all the more significant when he first raises his weapon against Sarge after the demented soldier kills the Kid in cold blood. The C-24 thing is a bit odd, and not very Doom. It’s much more like Resident Evil (Capcom/Various, 1996 to present), as is the overuse of zombies; ironically, the inclusion of more vaguely recognisable demon-like creatures actually makes Doom a more accurate Resident Evil adaptation than Pul W.S. Anderson’s dismal efforts. It’s odd that the film takes this scientific angle on the source material, especially considering the rest of the film borrows so heavily from Doom 3. Like, it’s still set on Mars, still has the teleporter, still uses the recognisable weapons (even if “Big Fuckin’ Gun” is just a nickname here), and mirrors the dark, claustrophobic horror of Doom 3. Hell, there’s even blood writing on the walls, a 3D map system, and the screens all look very similar to those in Doom 3. So, you have a lot of visuals and the basic plot lifted from the game, but draw the line at literally having demons invade from Hell? Maybe it was a censorship thing, but then Doom has a lot of curses and bloody action, so it’s just weird to get so close to the source material and pull away from what really made the games so unique.

Doom‘s faithful recreation of the source material extends a little too far to a dedicated FPS sequence.

On the plus side, as I mentioned, the demons do look great. You never really get a good look at them but, like Alien, this only adds to the allure and horror. By its very nature, the film’s more Aliens than Alien, placing heavily armed Marines and gunfights at the forefront, but the foreboding atmosphere and mounting dread occasionally recalls Alien. The Imps and Hell Knights are grotesque, monstrous abominations; they don’t throw fireballs and plasma blasts, but one is wielding a chainsaw at one point and they’re not afraid to tear limbs and head off. In this version of the story, the demons attack everything in sight but only infect those whose DNA marks them as wicked or “evil”. The RRTS are perfect targets in this regard as even the most virtuous of them are marked by their violent lives and high body counts. Even being a spiritual man doesn’t spare Goat, so naturally Reaper is hesitant to get shot up with C-24 lest he be transformed into a monster. Instead, it turns him into a super soldier and essentially gives him the Berserk, Quad Damage, and Invincibility power-ups from the games as he embarks on an action-packed search for Sam, blasting anything that gets in his way, parkouring around the tight corridors and shaking off any damage. This entire sequence is shot in a first-person perspective, a dramatic shift from the rest of the film, and it’s certainly a choice. I enjoy it as an action sequence; it’s definitely unique and helps the scene stand out, but I wonder if it’s maybe too literal an adaptation of the videogames. Like, an earlier scene established the RRTS all have “kill cams”, a system barely utilised unless it’s to suggest the team’s in danger. This FPS sequence could’ve been reworked to an over-the-shoulder perspective that switched to the kill cam whenever Reaper took a shot. Or maybe we could’ve seen Pinky watching the team killing zombies from the kill cam’s perspective just to prepare us for this shift. It reminds me of the shifting comic panels used in Hulk (Lee, 2003), a stylistic visual choice that’s memorable, for sure, but lands a little hollow considering it just makes me wish I was playing the game instead of watching Reaper.

Disappointingly, the film ends with a fist fight rather than pitting Reaper against a demon overlord.

So, yeah, Sam has a look at the demonic corpses and realises they’re the Olduvai staff, infected by the creatures and transformed based on their DNA. She surmises (correctly, it pans out) that some will be empowered by C-24, but her and Reaper’s pleas fall on deaf ears and Sarge orders Duke and the Kid to execute everyone to contain the outbreak. Sarge is dragged off during an attack that also leaves Reaper bleeding out from a bullet, but he’s saved and becomes superhuman thanks to Sam’s intervention. However, by the time they catch up to Sarge, his morals and mind warped by the C-24’s influence, he’s killed all the survivors; he even murders the Kid, chastising his remaining men for their insubordination and firmly setting Reaper against him. However, Sarge has armed himself with the BFG, a massive cannon that fires an acidic plasma burst, leading to an explosive shoot out between the two that sees them exhaust their rounds and resort to settling things mano-a-mano. Yes, the Doom adaptation doesn’t end with Reaper facing off against a Cyberdemon or the Spider Mastermind, but in a fist fight with the Rock. Luckily, Reaper is super strong at this point and the fight is pretty brutal, with some tight, fun choreography (Sarge pulls out some ridiculous, physics-defying throws and slams) but it’s still a bit disappointing. Sarge doesn’t even mutate all that much from the C-24; he just grows some fangs and gets funky eyes and roars a bit, adding to the disappointment. I mean, at least give him a demon arm with claws, maybe screw up half his face, have him sprout spikes…just, something other than being the Rock looking annoyed. Thanks to them both having accelerated healing, the fight’s stakes are further lowered as they can’t really hurt each other. In the end, Reaper sacrifices his hand, impaling it on a length of metal Sarge wraps around his fist, to toss his demonic commander through the Ark. Naturally, Reaper immediately heals from this wound and finishes off Sarge by tossing a simple grenade through the portal; he doesn’t even blast Sarge in the face with the BFG or anything remotely cool. Reaper than gathers up Sam and takes the elevator back up to the surface, apparently relieved at having literally slayed his demons, and the film doesn’t even have the balls or the courtesy to end on a cliff-hanger to show the Earth’s been overrun by demons (or killed Reaper’s rabbit).

The Summary:
I’ve always had a soft spot for Doom. I first watched it when I’d only really played the first game and I enjoyed it for what it was, impressed by the practical effects, the dark atmosphere, and the obvious influence of Aliens. The Rock is pretty good here, playing against type and giving us a surprisingly nuanced character. You’d naturally expect him to be the main protagonist and, though he’s harsh, he’s a fair commander for the most part. But then he slips further into madness, before being infected and becoming a spiteful, vindictive antagonist. As I remember, Doom was the first time I became aware of Karl Urban and he’s great here. He plays the tortured, morally conflicted Reaper really well, being the likeable but tough soldier who steps up against injustice even if it means defying his commander. The rest of the RRTS are decent supporting players; some are more one-dimensional than others and just there to make up the body count, making me wonder if a smaller team wouldn’t have been better. It’s not like there weren’t civilians and scientists to be slaughtered by demons, after all. Speaking of, the demons look great; they’re shot just right so you never really get a good look at them and they’re absolutely brutal when they appear. Sadly, they’re just not in it enough and the film spends too much time building up to all Hell breaking loose. Consequently, Doom flounders in the middle, losing what momentum and intrigue it has. It tries to claw it back with the FPS sequence, but I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t enjoy this as it is tonally odd with the rest of the film and, again, too literal an adaptation. Film is a completely different medium from videogames; no one pays to watch a movie to sit there and wish they were playing the game. It’s more miss than hit, as unique as it is, but the final fight between Reaper and Sarge is the most disappointing thing about Doom. Well, that and not committing to the Hell angle of the source material. Thus, Doom is a decent enough sci-fi action/horror with some fun moments but fails to live up to its potential and merely stands as a basic distillation of the videogames mixed with some liberal borrowing from other, better movies of the same ilk.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy Doom? Do you think it did the source material justice or were you put off by the more science-based angle? Were you surprised that the Rock turned out to be the bad guy? What did you think to the FPS sequence? Were you impressed by the practical demons or annoyed by the dark lighting? Would you like to see Hollywood take another crack at adapting Doom? Whatever you think about Doom, or videogame adaptations, share your opinion in the comments and go check out my other Doom content.

Game Corner: Doom 3 (Xbox Series X)

Dr. K2 Comments

Released: 4 August 2020 
Originally Released: 3 August 2004
Developer: id Software 
Also Available For: Nintendo Switch, Nvidia Shield, PC/Mac, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One

The Background:
Although the first-person shooter (FPS) genre existed before Doom (ibid, 1993), it was definitely popularised by the online “Deathmatches” featured in this heavily ported and much celebrated title. Despite its controversial violence and Satanic imagery, Doom was so popular that it was banned from workplaces, met with widespread critical acclaim. and followed by a sequel just ten months later. Bigger and faster than the original, Doom II (ibid, 1994) was equally successful despite being a glorified expansion and was followed by numerous expansion packs, but it would take ten years for gamers to get their hands on a third entry. This was partially due to concerns within id Software that the company was too reliant upon their existing franchises. However, the success of Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Various, 2001) saw development of Doom 3 begin in earnest. Pitched as a reboot of the franchise, Doom 3 was always planned to be a more story-focused title, one that took advantage of then-modern technology to bring the concept to life. This included utilising dynamic lighting to create ambiance and realistic shadows in the game’s environments and increasing the focus on interacting with said environments, This contributed to Doom 3’s critical success; the game became id Software’s best-selling title at the time and proved a big hit for its claustrophobic atmosphere and gore-infested combat, despite some repetitive gameplay loops. Eight months after its release, it was followed by the Resurrection of Evil expansion pack that added twelve new missions alongside new weapons and enemies and with positively received, with the additional Lost Mission campaign added when it was re-released in the BFG Edition (id Software, 2012). All of this additional content was also included alongside the game, its predecessors, and the 2016 reboot in the Slayers Collection, a nifty compilation release that I played for this review.

The Plot:
In the year 2145, the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) conducts groundbreaking teleportation research on their Mars facility under the direction of Doctor Malcolm Betruger. However, when their experiments open a portal to Hell and unleash a horde of demons throughout the facility, it’s up to one lone Marine to fend off the demonic forces and seal the Hellmouth. 

Gameplay:
Like its predecessors, Doom 3 is a third-person shooter in which you take control of an unnamed space marine and blast seven kinds of shit out of the hordes of Hell on a futuristic Mars facility. However, given the huge gap between Doom II and Doom 3, many things have changed, primarily the fact that you can now utilise two control sticks for a greater range of movement, bringing the Doom franchise more in-line with what we now consider to be a modern FPS. One holdover I am grateful for is that the Marine can hold multiple weapons at once. You can fire these with the Right Trigger, cycle through them with the Left and Right Bumper (or use the inventory menu, though this won’t pause the game so you’ll still be vulnerable), manually reload them with X (yes, weapons now need to be reloaded), and select certain weapons (your bare fists, grenades, and others) using the directional pad. The Marine can also duck if you press in the right stick, temporarily run by pressing in the left stick (there’s a stamina meter on the heads-up display (HUD) that automatically refills), jump with A, and interact with the environment and non-playable characters (NPCs) with Y. There are also options to switch to a “Southpaw” playstyle, swap the jump and interact functions, toggle aim assist (though I recommend having it on), and toggle whether you automatically switch to newly acquired weapons or not. 

Unlike the previous games, Doom 3 has a strong survival/horror element to it.

Doom 3’s biggest change to the series is its course correction towards survival/horror. 90% of the game’s environments are dark, moody, claustrophobic, and full of poor or malfunctioning lighting, meaning you’re heavily reliant upon your torch (or “flashlight”). In the original release of the game, you had to pick between using the flashlight or using a weapon, a bizarre and ridiculous system that’s thankfully corrected here, though the flashlight can’t be used indefinitely as it’s tied to a cool-down meter. You can whip it out with the Left Trigger to light up areas, which is essential to finding your way around Doom 3’s many horrific, wrecked, and samey environments, and you’ll need to keep an eye on the meter so you’re not left being attacked in the dark. Another new mechanic is the Marine’s occasional jaunts out onto the Mars surface. In these brief sections, you’ll run and hop around, blasting enemies and collecting air cannisters to keep from suffocating before you reach the next airlock. These sections help to break up the monotony of the game and connect the many large military complexes of the UAC facility, but they’re sadly not utilised as often as I’d like or in massively interesting ways. You’ll need to turn to the Dead Space franchise (Various, 2008 to present) for more in-depth space and zero gravity gameplay. Although Doom 3 eschews the classic Doom mechanics of searching for coloured keys or artifacts to open doors, you’ll still be searching for key cards and access codes to download to your Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) to access new areas. You can bring up the PDA using the ‘View’ button; from here, you can switch weapons and read e-mails and listen to audio logs that help flesh out the game’s lore, provide hints, or give you codes open storage lockers for ammo and resources. 

Hazardous and demonic elements are as commonplace as health and resources.

Unlike in previous Doom games, there’s no map system in Doom 3. This isn’t a massive issue as the game is fairly linear, but it can be difficult to find your way around as a lot of the areas look the same and it can get quite dark so it can be tricky to spot doors, vents, and stairways. There’s also no compass system, so you better pay attention when the story objectives pop-up onscreen and NPCs tell you where to go (especially as there’s no way to remind yourself of either of these). Luckily, one easy way to know that you’re going in the eight direction is if enemies appear before you. These either shamble or pounce from the darkness or hidden cubbyholes or literally teleport in in a flash of lightning and demonic chanting. Whichever campaign you choose to begin here, you’ll start with only your fists or a pistol and have to acquire new weapons along the way. Ammo is dropped by gun-toting zombies, found in lockers, on eviscerated bodies, and scattered all around the environment, as are Med Kits, various armour, and healing stations used to top up your health until they’re depleted. Saving is a manual process, as ever, and I recommend making regular saves once you’ve cleared out a room or stocked up on health and ammo as it doesn’t take much to whittle your health and armour down to nothing. Environmental hazards like fire, high (or endless) drops, and flaming Hellpits are commonplace, and it can be easy to miss a jump during the game’s tricky platforming sections and plummet to your death. You’ll also need to be on the lookout for ladders, teleportation devices or rips in the fabric of reality, and elevators to take you to new locations, laboratories, or even the depths of Hell itself. There’s some light puzzle-solving present in Doom 3 that usually, involves a series of fetch quests as NPCs send you after key cards, access codes, or various power cells to open up new areas. Other times, you’ll be powering up or down reactors, security measures, and other futuristic equipment to progress, extending bridges and activating and riding monorails and moving platforms to traverse the sprawling facility.  

There are some minor, repetitive puzzles here, and helpful Sentry Bots to assist you.

You’ll also be activating cranes and grabbers to clear out toxic waste, deactivating gun turrets, extinguishing fires, and can even use security cameras to check out areas you’re heading to. Sometimes, you’ll be forced to fight off waves of enemies while waiting for lifts or other machinery to power-up, but mostly you’ll be skulking around every corner expecting a demon to pounce in your face. Thankfully, you can use exploding and flammable barriers to even the odds and there are many times when you’re accompanied by (or, more accurately, have to follow) a spider-like Sentry Bot to a new area. These scuttling little robots will urge you onwards and rain fire upon any enemies that appear before them, which is super helpful. Unfortunately, they’re not indestructible or infallible, so you’ll still have to keep your wits about you and make an effort to cover them to increase your chances of survival. Although Doom 3 is nowhere near as confusing or maze-like as its predecessors, it walks a fine line between action-orientated gameplay and ominous exploration. Whenever you enter an area that seems quiet and invites exploration, be sure to keep your finger ready over the trigger as it’s normal for enemies to pop out or teleport in and ruin your day. These aspects come to a head whenever you venture into Hell, where resources are limited and enemies come thick and fast, or when you explore the more desolate areas of the facility where even the health stations have been rendered inoperable. There are three difficulty settings available at the start of the game, with a fourth unlocked through gameplay, so don’t be ashamed to dial the difficulty down if you’re having trouble as Doom 3 is quite a tough and harrowing experience that basically sees you fighting to survive from one room to the next thanks to enemies constantly appearing all around you. 

Graphics and Sound:
Compared to its predecessors, Doom 3 is a quantum leap ahead. It’s astounding to think that the Doom series missed out on the early, polygonal 3D graphics era but it really benefits the presentation of this game as the last time we played a Doom game, everything was cleverly designed 2D textures rather than 3D graphics. In this regard, the game looks amazing. Areas are dark, desolate, and constantly foreboding; bodies, blood, ominous messages, and even oozing tentacles litter many of the game’s environments, especially as you venture closure to Hell. Pentagrams, candles, runes, sacrifices, and bloodbaths are commonplace, as are jump scares from bodies or enemies falling from ceilings or bursting from vents. Occasionally, you’ll be beset by demonic visions; the screen turns red and hazy, the demonic chanting intensifies, and you’ll even endure some poltergeist activity as furniture and bodies and wildly tossed around. Mostly, you’ll be exploring claustrophobic, futuristic corridors in low lighting. Doors will jam, machinery sparks and stutters with static, and voices come over the speakers to either direct or taunt you or create an unsettling ambiance. Sometimes, the environment will collapse around you as you cause meltdowns and explosions. Other times, you’ll be warped through a Hellmouth to the Malebolge itself. Even relatively normal looking areas quickly turn to shit as demons teleport in, the power goes out, or Hell’s influence seeps in. 

While samey at times, the environments are beautifully (and gruesomely) presented.

Unfortunately, many of these areas are extremely repetitive. You’ll travel through so many laboratories, industrial areas, warehouses, and offices that it’s easy to get bored of the aesthetic. Sure, these are often shaken up by gore, bodies, or flickering lights but it’s still the same assets being recycled again and again, which doesn’t help make each area all that distinctive. Sometimes you’ll see space or the surface of Mars out of windows, which adds a lot of scope to the game, but it’s usually painfully obvious when the game is masking loading times behind elevators and airlocks and other such doors. Your trips onto the Mars surface really help to break up this monotony, as do your ventures into Hell, which is a desolate, volcanic wasteland full of elaborate gothic ruins, castles, and titanic demonic skeletons, but sadly these sections don’t appear that often or are mainly saved for the finale, respectively. I would’ve liked to see you doing more on the surface, maybe acquire a more permanent upgrade to allow you to survive the vacuum for longer. As it is all you really do is move across the rocks or gantries to an airlock, occasionally activating consoles and such. In Hell, you mainly just explore the shifting stone architecture and fend off waves of powerful demons. There are no keys or puzzles to solve, it’s just a fight for survival, and thus, the majority of the action takes place in the UAC facility. While there are some fun distractions and elements, like arcade machines, various stages of disrepair and slaughter, and elaborate sights like the teleports, industrial lasers, and the like, it all gets very old very quickly and I found myself rushing through and making mistakes as a result. 

There’s a lot of emphasis on story and ghastly demonic creatures.

Doom 3 uses the power of its new graphical engine to greatly expand upon the narrative aspects of the series. Serving as a gritty, overbearingly serious reboot, the tense gameplay is broken up by unskippable cutscenes and overblown conversations with NPCs who beg for your help or threaten your life. Even your character (who I hesitate to call the “Doomguy”) is quite chatty throughout the game, though he has lost a lot of the charm of his predecessor as he just looks like a generic Jarhead, something not helped by the lack of a traditional Doom HUD. It also doesn’t help that the human character models are painfully stiff; while the voice acting is suitably over the top, the characters have that same plastic, action-figure-like look to them that dogged many games during this time. Thankfully, the enemies make up for this; enemies from previous Doom games have been given a gruesome makeover, appearing bloodier and more horrific than ever. You’ll see blood and gouges formed in their skin from your bullets, bodies bursting into flames and disintegrating into skeletal dust upon defeat, and even exploding into bloody chunks if you use the right weapons. I enjoyed the parts when enemies would teleport in and burst from the shadows, as frustrating as these aspects were, and the overall look of the environments despite how samey they could get, though the game’s soundtrack leaves a lot to be desired. While I appreciate it relying on ambient noise and ominous sounds of enemies, I miss the hard-rock infused tunes of the previous games. 

Enemies and Bosses:
Many classic Doom enemies make a ghastly reappearance in Doom 3, now more terrifying and gruesome than ever. You’ve got regular cannon fodder such as slow moving, moaning zombies who swipe at you (either with their hands or wrenches) and try to bite you, flaming and emaciated variants, and gun-toting bastards who hide behind cover or riot shields and can whittle your health down from afar. Also on the smaller end of things, spider-like Ticks and Trites will scuttle down webs or out from vents to swarm you, fairy-like Cherubs buzz about in your face, and those damn Lost Souls and Forgotten Ones will fly right at you from out of nowhere. Once all Hell (literally) breaks loose, you’ll be bombarded will all manner of demonic forces. The standard Hell grunt are the Imps who pounce at you and toss fireballs at your face, quadrupedal two-headed Maggots who rush at you, and bat-like Wraiths who can teleport about the place. You’ll also contend with bulbous Cacodemons, chainsaw- and Gatling gun-wielding zombies, and a brutish Commando variant who charges at you with a tentacle-like arm. You’ll initially be introduced to many of the more monstrous enemies in the form of a sub-boss battle. Demons like the Pinkies and Vulgars are given short cutscenes and enclosed areas in which you fight them before they pop up at random and in the worst places.  

Larger, horrific demons offer the greatest challenge ad require more than just endless shooting.

The massive, dog-like Pinkies charge at you, biting and slobbering, and seem threatening at first until you blast them point-blank with a shotgun. Resurrection of Evil’s Vulgars can also be formidable until you use the Grabber to reflect their projectiles back at time. Additionally, you’ll often run into the screaming Revenants; these skeletal demons fire rockets and can make your day go downhill fast when they appear alongside more melee-based demons. Be sure to prioritise Arch-Viles; while they can’t heal enemies like before, they can summon flames and even Hell Knights, making them a real pain in the ass. Also, keep your distance whenever a Bruiser or Mancubus appears; these huge demons blast at you with their massive cannons so hang back and use your rocket launcher, strafe around them with your Plasma Gun or Chaingun, or utilise the “bullet time” features of the Artifact when playing Resurrection of Evil. There are four bosses to face in Doom 3, with six more appearing in Resurrection of Evil and two being recycled for The Lost Mission. The first is the spider-like Vagary who scuttles about, slashes you, and tosses objects with telekinesis, but she’s simple to take down if you strafe and unload with the Chaingun. You’ll battle two Vagary’s at the end of the game and another in The Lost Missions; in this latter fight, she can’t use her telekinesis but is accompanied by Cherubs, but the arena is much bigger, making this fight even easier. Before you visit Hell, you’ll have to face two Hell Knights at once in a very claustrophobic area; because of the tight quarters, it can be difficult strafing and dodging their stomps and fireballs, and especially dangerous if using explosive weapons, meaning later encounters with these enemies are usually much easier. To escape Hell the first time, you’ll have to defeat the Guardian of Hell, a large crocodilian-type beast who stomps about trying to bite you and rains fireballs. It’s blind, so it sends out “Seekers” to pinpoint your location and destroying these is the only way to expose the Guardian’s weak spot, a blue sphere over its head. When you battle it again in The Lost Mission, it is no longer blind, doesn’t use the Seekers, and can be damaged more conventionally but is also a lot tougher than before. 

The massive, aggressive final bosses will test your skills with the game’s mechanics,

Fittingly, the bosses really ramp up at the end game. Sabaoth (the Marine’s demonically transformed superior officer) attacks you in the Primary Server Bank, his legs mutated into tank-like treads and his torso sporting heavy armaments such as the BFG9000! Thankfully, your victory over the Guardian of Hell awards you with the Soul Cube, which is crucial for defeating Sabaoth and his successor, the Cyberdemon. Sabaoth also makes use of four pillars, electrifying them (and you, if you’re close by) but he’s also slow and predictable so you can use the Soul Cube to deal massive damage to him. Blast his BFG shots before they can hurt you (the closer to him the better), and unload with your Chaingun or Plasma Gun to end him. The semi-cybernetic, minotaur-like Cyberdemon is an entirely different beast. Fought around a Hellmouth and assisted by infinite lesser demons, this brute unloads with its arm-mounted rocket launcher and can only be harmed, and killed, by you charging up and unleashing the Soul Cube four times, making this a gruelling bout at times. When playing Resurrection of Evil, you’ll need to defeat four demonic Hunters to acquire new abilities for the Artifact: the Helltime Hunter blasts about in flaming bursts and tosses fireballs that you must reflect back with the Grabber as this is the only way to hurt it. The Berserk Hunter leaps at you with slashes and spits fireballs and can only be damaged by targeting the beating heart in its chest, and you’ll need to open up and destroy four power cores to disable the Invulnerability Hunter’s shield, avoiding its electrical shockwaves and attacks. Resurrection of Evil concludes with a final showdown with Dr. Betruger, now transformed into a demonic bat, in what was the toughest fight of the game for me. This bastard flies around, blasts flames across the ground, rains fireballs and flaming meteors, and is both fast, extremely difficult to hit, and incredibly durable. A lack of ammo and health items and a fatal drop add to the difficulty, though you can use the Artifact to get a better lock on with your BFG before the fight abruptly and anti-climatically ends in a cutscene. 

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
It pays to explore every room, nook, and cranny when playing Doom 3. Be sure to crouch through vents and under stairs and tables to search out Med-Kits, armour shards, and ammo and check every desk and body for PDAs and other resources. Computer terminals and e-mails (and handy online guides) will provide locker codes and access to resource caches, which are invaluable at times, and be sure to make strategic use of any healing stations dotted about the place. As you explore and play, many familiar Doom weapons will become available to you, including the standards pistol, the always enjoyable chainsaw, and my personal favourite, the shotgun. Automatic weapons like the Machine Gun, Chaingun, and Plasma Gun are great for unloading on enemies, but you must factor in charge up and reload time, so be sure to make use of cover or quiet spots to reload. 

Classic Doom weapons get an overhaul and are joined by some weird, hell-spawned armamants.

You can also utilise grenades, a handy-dandy rocket launcher, and the series staple, the ultra-powerful BFG9000, but take care as these can often explode in your face if you’re not careful! When playing Resurrection of Evil and The Lost Missions, you’ll also get to use the Super Shotgun, a far more powerful version that fires two shots at once but takes twice as long to reload, and the Grabber, a gun-like appendage that can snag objects (even enemy projectiles) and blast them at enemies. It’s a clunky bit of kit that’s sadly underutilised andz while I’m glad there aren’t loads of annoying physics-based puzzles that use it, it does feel like a superfluous inclusion, unlike Resurrection of Evil’s other new mechanic, the Artefact. This beating Hell Heart is charged using human souls and allows you to slow down time, strengthen your attacks with a brief “Beserek” mode, and temporarily become invincible. Similarly, in the main game, you can charge up the Soul Cube by defeating enemies; when unleashed, it passes through all objects and instantly kills most enemies, restoring your health in the process. Finally, various armours boost your resistance to attacks, ammo belts and backpacks boost your ammo and you can temporarily buff yourself with various one-use items. Adrenaline affords you infinite stamina, Beserker renders you invulnerable and triples your attack power, while you can also make yourself invisible and invulnerable in multiplayer.  

Additional Features:
There are forty-five Achievements up for grabs in Doom 3, with many of them earned simply by completing the main campaign. You’ll get an Achievement for defeating each boss, for example, and for finishing the game on each difficulty setting (these stack, too, so you can earn multiple Achievements in one playthrough if you’re good enough). You’ll also get Achievements for earning a high score on the arcade machine, having two demons fight each other, acquiring the BFG9000, finding hidden secrets, defeating certain enemies with certain weapons, and finishing the game in ten hours or less. Interestingly, considering Doom pioneered multiplayer Deathmatches, there are no Achievements tied to the game’s multiplayer component, which allows you and you friends to go head-to-head on various game maps in traditional Deathmatches, tournaments, last man standing, and team-based campaigns. Scattered throughout each campaign are PDAs and lockers, all of which need to be found and accessed for Achievements. There’s no level select or New Game+ feature here, though, so you’ll need to make multiple saves or have a guide handy if you want to avoid replaying entire sections. In addition to the main campaign, you can play the two DLC campaigns, Resurrection of Evil and The Lost Mission, right off the bat; both recycle enemies and environments from the main game but introduce new elements, such as the Grabber, Artifact, and Vulgars, in addition to concluding the main story by including a showdown with Dr. Betruger. 

The Summary:
I’d been putting off Doom 3 for a long time. I first played it in the BFG Edition on PlayStation 3 but was put off by the claustrophobic environments, low lighting, and tense, frustrating combat mechanics. These elements remain nagging concerns in Doom 3; I never felt like I could relax or really enjoy myself as enemies would pop up or swarm at a moment’s notice and drain my health and ammo, meaning I was constantly on edge and became aggravated at being forced to kill more and more demons as they kept teleporting in. However, as a fan of the series and survival/horror games, it’s true that this sense of constant dread, worry, and anticipation about what lurks behind every door and around every corridor really added to the horror vibe of the game, and was surely the intention. It’s just a very different gameplay experience to the more straight-forward nature of the original games and more horror-themed FPS titles, so I recognise that this is very much a “me” problem rather than a fault of the game, which wants you to always feel endangered. The game plays well; gunplay is satisfying, and the gruesome aesthetic is truly macabre. I just wish it was more prevalent; there are only so many futuristic hallways and laboratories I can skulk down before I get bored, so I would’ve liked to see more blood, more of Mars, and more Hell-based locations sprinkled throughout the game. Having said that, the environments look amazing; the lighting (or lack thereof) and graphics do the game justice here, it’s just a shame that doesn’t translate to the human character models. I’m glad the game wasn’t a confusing labyrinth, but I did get turned around a bit without a map or compass and because of the samey environments and I felt the constant fetch quests dragged the pacing down a bit. When you’re fully armed and engaged with the game’s horrific enemies, Doom 3 shines. I loved the sense of dread and how formidable the enemies were, and the scale of the bosses, I just think a better balance between survival/horror, action, and puzzle solving was needed. Ultimately, it’s a decent enough game; a little too much like a bland FPS at times thanks to the gritty, military aesthetic but easily the most graphically impressive Doom for its time. However, I can’t say that I will throw it on for a quick burst of action like I do the originals as this is a game that insists upon your time and energy. 

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy Doom 3? Did you think it was toomuch of a departure from the original games? Did you find the environments too repetitive? What did you think to the new looks for the demons and the new weapons? Were you glad that the gamewas changed to allow simultaneous use of the flashlight? Which boss was your favourite to fight, and would you have referred to see more of Hell? Whatever your thoughts on Doom 3, or FPS games in general, drop a comment below or let me know on my social media.

Back Issues: Doom

Dr. K1 Comment

Story Title: Untitled (or, perhaps, simply “Doom” or “Kneed Deep on the Dead!”
Published: May 1996
Writers: Steve Behling and Michael Stewart
Artist: Tom Grindberg

The Background:
First-person shooters (FPS) existed before Doom (id Software, 1996) but, thanks to having been ported to every console and format available, the genre was basically defined by Doom, which inspired a craze of copycats and popularised online “Deathmatches”. The brainchild of id co-founder and lead programmer John Carmack, Doom’s deathmatches were so popular that it caused servers to crash and it was installed on more computers than Windows 95! Doom’s success inspired both controversy and sequels, but also some ancillary media. Of course, there was the critically-mauled live-action adaptation, but there was also a one-shot comic book created a part of a 1996 giveaway. An obscure piece of merchandise that was as gory and over-the-top as its source material, Doom was a true collector’s item for fans of the game that fetches a high price for those unlucky enough to have missed out winning a copy.

The Review:
The Doom one-shot comic book doesn’t waste any time getting to the advertised “scenes of graphic violence”, beginning with the unnamed Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) marine (henceforth referred to as the “Doomguy”) in the midst of a Berserker rage. Doomguy’s bloodlust is so overpowering that even his inner monologue reads like a man half-addled by insanity. Enraged and empowered, he believes himself to be invincible, untouchable, and effortlessly rips a roomful of Imps, zombies, and other assorted demons to shreds with his bare hands. Driven to a gibbering madness, the Doomguy screams at his felled foes, clutching a severed spinal cord, and eagerly kicks a door down in search of his next victim. Despite coming face-to-face with a mammoth Cyberdemon, the Doomguy launches into a full-frontal attack, determined to “rip and tear” the horned demon’s guts out, only for his punch to have no effect. The Berserker rage quickly leaves him, returning his thoughts and speech bubbles to normal and turning him to more rational ideas, such as fleeing for his life in such of “a gun […] a big gun”. Running head-first into a roomful of gun-packing zombies, the Doomguy grabs a convenient nearby chainsaw and gets to slicing, severing their heads with one swipe and taking a double-barrelled shotgun for himself. Faced with a pitch-black room and fresh out of torches (or “flashlights”), the Doomguy fires off a few shots to light his way before finding a light switch and revealing his errant shots have blown holes in a fresh crop of demonic nasties. Poking around in their corpses, the Doomguy is elated to upgrade his arsenal to a hefty chaingun, which he readily turns on an Imp that catches him from behind with a burst of flame.

Despite his maniac rage, the Doomguy desperately seeks a big gun to destroy the demons.

Suitably emboldened, the Doomguy guns down more Imps and zombies, daring any and all challengers to try their luck against him. Even when he’s tackled to a sewer full of radioactive ooze by a slobbering Pinky, the Doomguy is ceaseless in his slaughter, tearing through the bullish demon with round after round and leaving it little more than two dripping halves. Covered in radioactive goop, the Doomguy takes a moment to decry humanity’s inability to safely dispose of such dangerous materials and our predication for poisoning future generations with our reckless ways….then notices his gun’s out of ammo and realises the environment is the least of his concerns. Taking a convenient teleporter, the Doomguy materialises right in front of a couple of Cacodemons. Luckily, a plasma rifle is lying right there, allowing him to fry the grinning spheres and flee into a storage room full of barrels of toxic waste. When he’s blindsided by an invisible Spectre, the Doomguy lights up the barrels, blowing the demon to pieces, before finally spotting his goal: the Big Fucking Gun (BFG). All that stands in his way is a slaughter of bloodthirsty demons currently engaging in in-fighting. However, the Doomguy simply shrugs his way through the fracas and tearfully claims his prize, strolling over to the Cybderdemon and taking it out with one shot from the massive cannon. Having proven his superiority over the demonic masses, the Doomguy stands victorious and prepares to head to Earth and take out the rest of the invading creatures, his resolve boosted by the knowledge that “righteous” power in the hands of a “strong man with the biggest, baddest gun in the world” can restore order to chaos.

The Summary:
Doom is a very brief and shallow reading experience. In many respects, it’s the perfect adaptation of the source material, which honestly had the simplest plot you could ask for. Rather than wasting time establishing the setting, the plot, or even delving into the Doomoguy’s life before things literally went to Hell, Doom just drops us right into the middle of the action and barely lets up across its scant page count. Driven into an insane bloodlust by the Berserker rage, the Doomguy’s thought and comments dwell on nothing other than his physical superiority and his lust for demon blood. How did he get in this state? What does the Berserker power-up look like in this context? Who knows…and who cares? All that matters is that the Doomguy is powerful enough to render skin and muscle from bone…until the power fades and leaves him desperately seeking the biggest gun he can find. Though his thoughts are no longer clouded by the Berserker rage, the Doomguy is no less crazed. When he’s not stealing other hero’s catchphrases, he’s flip-flopping between childishly simple comments and strangely eloquent mediations on the nature of humanity, the struggle of good against evil, and our destructive nature, especially regarding our environment. These polarising character changes paint the Doomguy as either out of his mind or suffering from a personality disorder and there’s little compassion or nuance to the Doomguy beyond these conflicting moments. He offers no explanation of what’s happened or how, doesn’t seem to care that his fellow marines are either being slaughtered or have been turned into zombies. He is simply a ravenous, crazed lunatic giving a taste of what the first two Doom games have to offer players.

A brief, bloody story that offers a tease of the mayhem available to players.

In this regard, Doom works quite effectively. You get a sense of what one of the most iconic power-ups does to a player, see the chainsaw and double-barrelled shotgun in action, and witness the Doomguy retrieving bigger, better guns from corpses or the environment. The battle for the BFG is a simple affair for the Doomguy, one that effectively brings the story and any further conflict to a close due to the gun’s awesome power (here sadly represented as merely a streak of energy that shreds holes in the Cyberdemon). Similarly, Doom showcases some of the game’s most common and memorable enemies and even gives hints on how to defeat them. The Doomguy is surprised by an Imp, which pops up out of nowhere and tosses a fireball just like in the games. A Pinky tackles him out the blue and he expresses brief concerns about the dangers of toxic waste, two things that can sap your health in seconds in the game. A Spectre also blind-sides him and the Doomguy demonstrates the effectiveness of using explosive barrels as an assist and, most notably, he showcases the intelligence of fleeing from an unwinnable fight until you have a more powerful weapon. In fact, the only gameplay mechanics Doom doesn’t delve into are the collection of keys and maze-like structure of the games, but the bare basics of the Doom experience are on offer, however briefly. While I didn’t really care for the Doomguy’s characterisation (an omniscient narrator talking us through things would have been better than the traditionally mute avatar gnashing his insanity all over the pages), the depiction of blood and gore satiate my needs as a Doom fan. It’s not an especially deep or complex story, but Doom does an effective job of advertising the first two videogames, though you’re not missing much if you’ve never flicked through its obscure pages.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Were you lucky enough to snag a copy of Doom? What did you think to the Doomguy’s characterisation? Did you enjoy the gore and monster selection on offer? Do you prefer it when the Doomguy is mute? Would you like to see more Doom comics be published? Whatever your thoughts on Doom, drop a comment below and go seek out my other Doom reviews.

Movie Night [Bat-Month]: The Dark Knight

Dr. K5 Comments

In the decades since his first dramatic appearance in the pages of Detective Comics, Bruce Wayne/Batman has become a mainstream, worldwide, pop culture icon. The brainchild of writer Bob Kane, Batman was brought to life by artist Bill Finger and has been a popular staple of DC Comics and countless movies, videogames, and cartoons over the years. “Batman Day” fell on 21 September this year so I’ve been spending every Saturday celebrating comic’s grim and broody vigilante.

Released: 18 July 2008
Director: Christopher Nolan
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $185 million
Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine

The Plot:
After his dramatic debut as “The Batman”, billionaire vigilante Bruce Wayne (Bale) is cracking down on organised crime within Gotham City. However, his mettle is tested by the clown-faced anarchistic “The Joker” (Ledger), who seeks to disrupt social order and corrupt upstanding district attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart).

The Background:
After Joel Schumacher effectively killed the live-action Batman franchise with his dismally received camp adventures, Warner Bros.’ desperate attempts to get a new movie finally paid dividends when visionary writer/director Christopher Nolan, writer David S. Goyer, and star Christian Bale explored Batman’s origins in the highly regarded reboot Batman Begins (Nolan, 2005). Despite teasing the Joker at the finale, Nolan was initially unsure if a sequel would be greenlit but worked closely with Goyer and his brother, Christopher Nolan, to develop a suitable follow-up once Warner Bros. prioritised a sequel. The filmmakers took inspiration from seminal Batman stories like The Long Halloween (Loeb, et al, 1996 to 1997) and some of cinema’s most memorable movie villains to bring their versions of the Joker and Harvey Dent to life. Despite Jack Nicholson’s memorable performance as the character, Nolan confidently cast against type after being impressed by Heath Ledger, who mentally and physically threw himself into the role. In keeping with his preference for practical effects, Nolan signed off on the construction of a fully-working Batcycle, redesigned the Batsuit to be more flexible, blew up a building for real, and flipped an 18-wheeler truck using a massive piston! Sadly, the editing process proved particularly difficult after Ledger unexpectedly died from an accidental overdose; the film was summarily dedicated to him. Following an aggressive viral marketing campaign, The Dark Knight enjoyed a record-setting $1 billion+ box office and was met with widespread critical acclaim. It is widely considered one of the best and most influential comic book movies ever made, praised for its performances and socially relevant narrative, with many praising Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker which won him a posthumous Oscar. Immediately regarding as the best Batman movie of all time and recognised as setting a new standard for comic book movies, The Dark Knight’s success more than justified the production of a third and final (and far more divisive) entry some four years later.

The Review:
After the disaster that was Batman & Robin (Schumacher, 1997), I think it’s safe to say that everyone thought Batman’s feature film career was dead in the water. For me, that’s why Batman Begins was such an exciting and enjoyable experience. Finally, after decades of Batman being either a goof or a psychopath, we got a live-action film that really nailed the heart and drive of the character. The extended and in-depth exploration of Bruce’s psyche, determination, and training to become “more than just a man” really put him at the forefront of the piece and allowed the most accurate depiction of the Dark Knight ever seen in cinema at that point as Bale deftly shifted between numerous subtle personas. With Batman Begins’ conclusion masterfully teasing the Joker, expectations were high for the sequel, but reactions to Ledger’s casting were mixed at the time due to his reputation as a “pretty boy”. To address this, Nolan opens his film with an intense and engaging bank heist, filmed entirely in IMAX, in which the mysterious Joker showcases his hands-on, manipulative abilities by arranging for his clown-faced goons to knock off a mob bank and off each other once their specific tasks are completely, allowing him to easily slip away in the chaos. It’s been about a year or so since the last film and Batman now appears at crime scenes to liaise with Lieutenant James “Jim” Gordon (Oldman), much to the chagrin of cops like rookie detective Anna Ramirez (Monique Gabriela Curnen) because of his vigilante status and the corruption that continues to infest the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD). However, neither Batman or Gordon initially place much stock in the Joker’s continued threat since their focus is solely on taking down the last vestiges of organised crime in the city, represented by mob bosses Salvatore “Sal” Maroni (Eric Roberts), Gambol (Michael Jai White), and “The Chechen” (Ritchie Coster), a decision that’s entirely logical bit which comes back to bite them in due time.

Batman’s war on crime is thrown into chaos by the maniacal Joker.

Bruce has been extremely busy in the time between films. Although he’s forced to operate out of a penthouse and highly equipped bunker in the city as he waits for Wayne Manor to be rebuilt, he’s established quite the reputation both in and out of his cowl. As Bruce Wayne, he’s the bored, party-going philanthropist who’s just as likely to abscond with a bunch of actresses to an isolated yacht as he is to fall asleep in board meetings. Although Bruce is seen by many as an aloof, reckless, and embarrassing billionaire, this persona effectively keeps anyone from questioning his nightly jaunts and he’s still savvy enough to fund and promote any programs or individuals who are committed to bringing Gotham City back to glory, such as Harvey Dent. As Batman, Bruce’s reputation is even stronger; criminals are now so afraid of the Dark Knight that they think twice about being on the streets when the Bat-Signal is in the sky and mobsters hold their meetings during the daytime. Although the Batman is still something of an urban legend, many in the city have been inspired to dress up as him and take the law into their own hands, something Bruce is disturbed to see since it results in a bunch of out of shape blokes with itchy trigger fingers wearing “hockey pads”. Still, Batman’s presence has had a positive impact on the city. He and Gordon collude to tackle the city’s mob, eventually entering a shaky alliance with Dent to apprehend mob banker Lau (Chin Hau) and make mass arrests, and Batman even detains Doctor Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) in during the opening, finally taking the maniac’s drugs off the streets. However, night after night fighting crime and getting into fist, fire, and dog fights takes a toll on Bruce. His faithful butler and father figure, Alfred Pennyworth (Caine), continues to offer wry commentary and deep concern for his master’s welfare but Bruce is determined to clean up the streets and make the city safe before even considering giving up his crusade.

The loss of Rachel takes a heavy toll on Gotham’s “White Night” and drives him to murder.

However, Batman’s positive impact, the arrest of hundreds of mobsters, and the public’s approval of Dent give Bruce pause to reconsider his path. Since the last film, Bruce has been keeping a close eye on childhood friend and crush (and assistant district attorney) Rachel Dawes (Gyllenhaal), who works closely with Dent to prosecute the criminals and the corrupt. Thanks to Gyllenhaal being a far superior actress to her predecessor, Rachel has much more gusto this time around. She exudes a confidence and determination that was lacking in Katie Holmes’ performance and allows her to not only appear effective when interrogating Lau but also sees her fighting back against the Joker when he targets her at Bruce’s fundraiser for Dent. Although Bruce is clearly rattled by how close Dent and Rachel have become (the two are shown to be in a relationship) and somewhat condescending towards Dent’s marketing campaign, he’s as impressed by the D.A.’s conviction as the rest of the city. Dent is a square-jawed patriot who makes a buzz in the court room with his no-nonsense approach towards criminals and inspires the wealthy and the destitute alike with his commitment to justice. Dent is also an avid supporter of the Batman and determined to do whatever it takes to keep the city streets clean, even if just for six months, but he’s not as squeaky-clean as everyone believes. Gordon is sceptical of Dent due to his past in Internal Affairs, while Dent is highly critical of the corruption within the GCPD, but the two form an efficient trio alongside the Batman when they agree to pool their resources to bring Lau back from Hong Kong. Dent proves to be a surprisingly complex man. He believes so strongly in the iconography of the Batman and in not giving in to the Joker’s demands, no matter how many lives are at stake, that he publicly outs himself as the Dark Knight to keep the myth alive but also proves that he’s not above threatening criminals at gunpoint, showcasing an unexpectedly erratic side to his character. This is only exacerbated when Dent and Rachel are targeted by the Joker and Batman is forced to choose which one to save. Naturally, he picks Rachel but both he and Dent are horrified to learn that this was a double-cross that leaves Dent hideously scarred and despondent, his faith in both justice and the caped vigilante shattered and replaced by a cruel devotion to “chance”.

Bruce’s allies believe in the Batman and play a hands-on role in aiding and advising him.

As before, Bruce is supported in all things by Alfred, who acts as a field surgeon, conscience, and advisor to his duties both in and out of the Batsuit. We learn a little bit more about Alfred in this film through his entertaining exchanges with Bruce, in which the two share a banter that is both amusing and heart-warming. Alfred spent some time in the Peace Corps in Burma, indicating he’s seen combat and has a military background, and his insight into chaotic aberrations such as the Joker are almost on par with Bruce’s years of training to learn the criminal mind. Initially, Bruce dismisses Alfred’s insight, however, refusing to believe that the Joker is anything more than a thug with a gimmick, but is forced to admit that he’s underestimated his foe when the Joker pushes him to breaking point with his killing spree. Interestingly, Alfred actually encourages Bruce not to give in to the Joker’s demands, to “endure” the slings and arrows so as to maintain the Batman’s incorruptible persona, and also secretly shields Bruce from the knowledge that Rachel ultimately chose Harvey over him to spare his surrogate son further pain. As before, Bruce is provided with new toys and even a sleek new suit by Wayne Enterprises Chief Executive Officer Lucius Fox (Freeman), who now exhibits a working knowledge of Bruce’s dual identity despite both never outright saying it. Fox plays a pivotal role not just in helping Bruce apprehend Lau but also in throwing off the suspicions of Coleman Reese (Joshua Harto) when his number crunching exposes Batman’s identity, and in the creation of a fantastical device that allows Batman to pinpoint the Joker’s location by hacking every cell phone in the city. Though Fox threatens to resign if the device isn’t destroyed because of the dangerous invasion of privacy it offers, his loyalty is rewarded when Batman rigs the machine to self-destruct once the Joker has been located. Finally, we have Gordon, who publicly disavows any knowledge of Batman but regularly colludes with him to fight the mob. Gordon’s role is also crucial to the film as he is seemingly killed protecting mayor Anthony Garci (Néstor Carbonell), only for this to be revealed as an elaborate plan by him and Batman to capture the Joker, a gamble that sees Gordon promoted to police commissioner after the Harlequin of Hate assassinates commissioner Gillian Loeb (Colin McFarlane). Although horrified by the Joker’s murderous antics, Gordon’s riding quite the high when he, Dent, and Batman finally get their hands on the city’s mob, but his hubris comes back to bite him when Dent specifically targets him as failing to protect Rachel since Gordon’s forced to work with corrupted cops and a wayward vigilante.

Ledger delivers a star-making performance as the chaotic and unhinged Joker.

And then there’s the Joker, played with an unnerving, scene-stealing performance by the late Heath Ledger. Unlike in Batman (Burton, 1989) where the Joker was provided with a hefty original backstory, this Joker is a complete enigma. A self-styled “agent of chaos” who proudly showcases both his gruesome facial scars and boasts that he’s simply “a dog chasing cars”, the Joker is as manipulative and psychotic as he is unpredictable and hypocritical. With no identification or fingerprints, the Joker is like a ghost. When he’s introduced, it’s like he’s been conjured by the city itself to challenge Batman’s presence and there’s no definitive explanation for who he is and why he does what he does. Indeed, much like popular depictions of his comic book counterpart, the Joker himself offers conflicting versions of his origin, scars, and motivations. The film suggests he’s been “rippin’ off mob bosses” for some time, he’s shown to have an intense hatred towards city officials and authority figures, and he even openly mocks the city’s mob bosses, threatening and murdering them with a gleeful menace. Although he favours knives over guns since they’re “more personal”, he’s proficient with firearms and, especially, explosives, hinting at a military background but, in true Joker fashion, his origins are completely irrelevant as he “just wants to watch the world burn”. Initially, the Joker encourages the mob to pay him to kill the Batman so they can run rampant over the city but he becomes infatuated by the Dark Knight’s incorruptible nature and refusal to kill. Thus, his motivation switches to opposing Batman’s ideology by corrupting the city’s “White Knight”, Harvey Dent, and breaking the will of the city by exposing their heroes as flawed human beings, demanding that the Batman publicly unmask and forcing both criminals and civilians to make life or death choices to test their mortality. In combat, the Joker is wild, dangerous, and apparently suicidal. He laughs manically in life-threatening situations, practically begs Batman to run him down, and is more than willing to die if it means forcing Batman to breaking point. Although his greatest strength is his unhinged imagination (he absolutely does have a plan, despite his claims, and carries them out with an almost supernatural foresight), the Joker gets the best of even the Batman thanks to appropriating mobsters for his own use and surprising Batman with his tenacity. But his true goal isn’t to simply fight Batman to the death but to instead cripple Gotham City by proving that anyone can turn to psychotic madness after one bad day, necessitating extreme actions from both Batman and Gordon to ensure that Dent’s reputation remains untarnished.

The Nitty-Gritty:
The Dark Knight represents how ingrained Batman’s iconography has become not just in the fictional world, but in ours. Just the fact that we got a Batman movie that omitted the character’s name entirely shows how synonymous this description is with the character, and it takes on a double meaning here since Batman is depicted (and, by the end, explicitly referred to) as a “Dark Knight”, a necessary evil to keep Gotham in check, since a “White Knight” has little chance of surviving the crime and corruption that infests the city. Indeed, Bruce is actively considering hanging up the cape and cowl when he sees how effective and unanimously beloved Dent is. Dent is the hero Gotham deserves without a masked persona, giving Bruce a sliver of hope that he can make good on his promise to be with Rachel once the city no longer needs Batman, but he vastly underestimates the destructive influence of the Joker, who perfectly encapsulates Gordon’s previous concerns about “escalation” through his unique brand of anarchy. The Joker is depicted as a man even Bruce “doesn’t understand”, someone beyond reason, intimidation, and bribery, and we see this when he shows no fear when interrogated by Batman and simply cackles with glee when the Dark Knight unloads on him since the Joker always has an ace up his sleeve (both literally and figuratively). Thus, the film very much focuses on the “battle for Gotham’s soul”, with the Joker shifting his motivation towards opposing and destroying not just the city officials and authority figures, but Batman himself since he’s the ultimate symbol of incorruptibility, to the point where he and his allies allow five people to die rather than reveal his identity because the Batman has become such an iconic force for justice within the city.

Some impressive practical effects and stunts make the film instantly memorable.

Speaking of Gotham, we’re shown a much different side of the city this time around. We’re firmly topside amongst the towering, glistening skyscrapers rather than in the dingy alleys of the Narrows, which is thematically relevant since the Joker is targeting the upper-class façade of the city but does rob it of a lot of its bleak, gothic identity. The Dark Knight also continues Batman’s crusade not against the street-level crime that killed his parents, but organised crime. He, Gordon, and Dent believe cutting the head off the proverbial snake will kill the body, and this is reflected after their big arrest that sees the lower-level scum facing at least six months in jail, giving the city breathing time to recover. However, this has the knock-on effect of reducing Batman’s street-level crimefighting to near zero since he’s more focused on nailing the likes of Maroni and the Joker and less on stopping random muggings and such. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because, sadly, there’s little to no improvement in the fight scenes here. Nolan again opts for a close quarters, frenetic depiction of Batman’s fighting that does paint him as a brutal and efficient animal but robs us of seeing what he’s truly capable of. On the plus side, The Dark Knight explores Bruce’s detective skills; while it’s a bit confusing how he recreates fingerprints from bullet casings and he’s constantly one step behind the Joker, I liked how he colluded with Gordon and Dent to apprehend the mob and he’s given some fancy new toys to help him in these endeavours. The most prominent remains the tank-like Tumbler but, when this is destroyed by the Joker, Batman spends the remainder of the film blasting through the city streets on the sleek, bad-ass “Batpod”, a motorcycle-like vehicle that performs all kinds of unlikely turns and tricks with its near-spherical wheels, When extraditing Lau from his office building, Batman makes impressive use of his cape to soar through the skyline and then uses a “skyhook” to yank himself and his quarry out of there, just one of many impressive practical effects utilised in the film, with two more being the Joker’s insane truck flip and the fully practical, full-scale hospital explosion.

While I don’t like the new Batsuit, the Joker and Two-Face look especially impressive.

As mentioned, Batman gets a new suit this time around once he realises that he’s “carrying too much weight” and needs more flexibility. Sadly, I’m not a fan of the new suit; it allows full head movement and is less bulky, sure, but the Bat-symbol is too small, it’s unnecessarily “busy”, and just seems incredibly impractical to put on. It’s also far less durable; separation of the plates means Batman’s more vulnerable, which levels the playing field in his fight with the Joker, and the whole suit just looks too plastic-y and ugly for me. On the plus side, the Joker looks amazing; this might be my favourite depiction of the Joker and he looks ripped right out of a Lee Bermejo comic. While he still sports a permanent grin thanks to his facial scares, his clown make-up is haphazard and intimidating, specifically applied to resemble “war paint” and even degrades to reflect his insanity. His suit is also absolutely perfect, and I love how it’s filled with “knives and lint” and little booby traps, like grenades and such. The Joker also assumes various disguises, included dressing up as one of his own henchmen in a callback to the 1960s TV show, masquerading as a police offer at Commissioner Loeb’s funeral, and, most disturbingly of all, dressing up as a nurse to have a heart to heart with Dent! This is where the film really surprised me; obviously I half-expected Dent to become Two-Face (or “Harvey Two-Face” as films insist on labelling him…) but I never expected Nolan to go so comic-accurate with the depiction of Dent’s burns. Two-Face is absolutely gruesome to behold and the perfect example of how CGI can be used sparingly to enhance practical effects. You can see tendons, muscle, and charred flesh as Dent talks and he really does look like the comic come to life, almost to a fault as I find it difficult to believe that he’s talking so coherently and functioning so efficiently despite refusing pain medication. Similarly, I think we could’ve had a few more scenes exploring Dent’s dark side and his “lucky coin” before his scarring. His descent into vengeance and anarchy seems purely motivated by grief, perceived betrayal, and anger at having “lost everything” rather than having always had a dark side deep within him. Sure, there’s one scene where this is hinted at but it’s not what it seems; Dent never leaves anything up to chance since his coin is double-sided, meaning the odds are always in his favour. Accordingly, he was never actually going to hurt anyone, though this is twisted when he goes on a killing spree as Two-Face as he shoots his enemies dead based on the flip of that same coin.  

Crushed by Rachel and Dent’s deaths, Batman sacrifices his reputation to keep hope alive in Gotham.

Another element that doesn’t sit right with me is how everyone (and I do mean everyone) is aware of Batman’s code against killing. Maroni and the Joker challenge him on his “one rule” and Batman openly champions it at every turn, severely diminishing his threat somewhat and presenting a familiarity with him that irks me for some reason. A huge part of the Joker’s final plan is predicated on the notion that even “civilised people” will kill to survive. He even rigs the game in his favour to prove this point and is so determined to tarnish the Batman’s heroic visage that he plummets to his death with a maniacal laugh. However, Batman saves him at the last second and the two have an unnerving conversation about their duality and intertwined fates. This is made doubly uncomfortable not just because of Bale’s strained Bat-voice but knowing that they would never tangle again due to Ledger’s untimely death, and part of me wonders if it might’ve been better to insert an edit that shows the Joker willing die after giving his speech. When I first saw The Dark Knight in the cinema, I was so engrossed in the Batman’s fight against the Joker that I completely forgot about Two-Face and, as much as I enjoy the entire film and the finale, I wonder if it might’ve been better to incorporate Two-Face’s actions into the third film and cap things off here. Regardless, both Dent and Bruce are devastated when Rachel is brutally murdered by the Joker. This helps tip Dent over the edge and to kill those who’ve wronged him, but he forces Gordon to choose which of his family should be killed to teach him a lesson in pain and loss. When Batman arrives to confront Two-Face, both he and Gordon desperately try to appeal to Dent’s better nature and fail. Disillusioned and broken, Two-Face disregards Gordon’s pleas and prepares to kill his son (Nathan Gamble), forcing Batman to tackle him to his death. Glossing over the fact that Batman just killed a man (I guess, technically, it was the fall), Batman decides to heed Alfred’s advice and maintain Dent’s reputation by assuming responsibility for Two-Face’s murders. Though reluctant, Gordon realises that it’s the only way to keep people from losing faith in the justice system and begrudgingly agrees to paint Batman as a murderer, ending the movie with Batman a wanted fugitive who willing endures any punishment, mental, spiritual, or physical to ensure peace in Gotham.

The Summary:
I absolutely loved Batman Begins when it first came out. It was the dark, gritty, comic-accurate Batman I’d been hoping for for years and I was really excited to see where Bale and Nolan took the character in the sequel. To say that The Dark Knight exceeded expectations would be an understatement. The film is an absolute masterpiece not just of comic book cinema, but of the thriller genre. Bale continues to deftly embody the conflicting personalities and introspective drive and determination that fuels Batman’s crusade, and his Batman continues to be the definitive version of the character for me, despite the dodgy fight scenes and my dislike for the new suit. At its core, The Dark Knight works as an intense thriller depicting the fundamental conflict between justice and anarchy, logic and sanity, and truly elevated the genre to a new level by taking elaborate and colourful concepts like a clown-themed terrorist and a guy with half his faced burned off and treating them seriously. Naturally, Heath Ledger steals the show here; we may never see a better performance of the Joker and you can see that he’s as lost in the role as Bale is as Batman. Ledger’s manic energy and subtle touches really create a feeling of dread, mystery, and unpredictability to the villain, and it remains a tragedy that he didn’t live on to have more dramatic roles like this. Add to that the impressive practical effects, sweeping cinematic score and visuals, and the engaging discussion regarding Batman and his influence on the city and its criminal element and you have, for my money, one of the finest Batman movies ever put to cinema. The film masterfully pulls from some of Batman, Joker, and Two-Face’s most iconic and engaging stories to present an emotional and gripping tale of adversity for the Dark Knight. The film absolutely set the standard for both Batman and comic book movies going forward and, while the third film might have stumbled in concluding the story so wonderfully established here, it doesn’t diminish the timeless appeal of The Dark Knight in the slightest.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

Did you enjoy The Dark Knight? Where would you rank it against the other Batman movies? What did you think to Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker? Were you a fan of the new Batsuit or do you also find it a bit too busy? What did you think to the effects and stunt work used in the film? Were you also surprised by how gruesome Two-Face’s scars were? Did you agree that Bruce had to maintain his identity, or do you think you should’ve come forward sooner? How did you celebrate Batman Day this year and what is your favourite Batman movie? Whatever your thoughts The Dark Knight, or Batman in general, share them below or leave a comment on my social media.

Back Issues [Venom Day]: The Amazing Spider-Man #346/347

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To celebrate the release of Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Serkis, 2021), Sony Pictures declared September 27 “Venom Day”, a fitting date to shine the spotlight on one of my favourite anti-heroes, who made their first full debut in May 1988 and have gone on to become one of Marvel’s most iconic characters.

Writer: David Michelinie – Artist: Erik Larsen

Story Title: “Elliptical Pursuit”
Published: 12 February 1991 (cover-date: April 1991)

Story Title: “The Boneyard Hop!”
Published: 12 March 1991 (cover-date: May 1991)

The Background:
Back in 1982, Jim Shooter, then editor-in-chief for Marvel Comics, purchased Randy Schueller’s illustration of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in a slick black outfit for a cool $200. It was writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz who made the costume a living organism and Spidey’s new duds appeared without explanation in The Amazing Spider-Man #252, with it later revealed that he picked up the suit in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8. Over the next year or so, Spidey revelled in the costume’s unique ability to form both clothing and organic webbing but was horrified when Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic revealed it was a living symbiote. Spidey summarily rid himself of the symbiote using a cacophony of church bells and switched to a cloth version, before eventually returning to his classic outfit. A mysterious assailant attacked and stalking Peter throughout 1988 it was revealed that the symbiote had bonded with disgruntled reporter Eddie Brock. Spider-Man’s dark doppelgänger was an immediate favourite of mine and many readers, eventually jumping to different hosts, with his sadistic, even more dangerous offspring, Cletus Kasady/Carnage, being teased in these issues.

The Review:
Although Venom’s second big appearance occurred in a two-part story in issues 346 and 346 of The Amazing Spider-Man, similar to their original first appearance, the character featured in a cameo in issue 345. Since it’s actually a pretty big cameo, I’ll quickly cover it before delving into the main story. “Gun from the Heart!” (Michelinie, et al, 1991) sees Spider-Man on the trail of noble, but misguided and violent, vigilante Elias Wirtham/Cardiac, with the added bonus of being promised $5000 by Silvija Sablinova/Silver Sable for apprehending him. The main reason this issue is important is two-fold: first, it shows Eddie Brock escaping from Ryker’s Island when his symbiote comes to bond with him once more. Second, it introduces readers to Brock’s cellmate, demented serial killer Cletus Kasady, who is unknowingly bonded with a small drop of the symbiote and would go on to become the sadistic Carnage. While Spider-Man fails to apprehend Cardiac in the main plot, the issue ends with Venom being reborn and swearing to avenge themselves against the wall-crawler. This perfectly sets us up for “Elliptical Pursuit”, which immediately re-establishes Venom’s warped moral code when they chastise fellow former reporter Sly Fenster for selling confidential files on the downlow before expressing regret when their webbing accidentally suffocates the corrupt reporter. The story then jumps over to Grand Central Station, where Peter’s wife, Mary-Jane Watson-Parker/M. J., is unimpressed at being spirited away to her sister’s. Having heard about Brock’s escape and the symbiote’s breakout from the Baxter Building, and fearing for M. J.’s safety, Peter convinces her to leave lest Venom targets the bombshell redhead like last time.

Venom returns with a vengeance, constantly blindsiding Spidey with their superior strength.

Despite knowing M. J’s safe, Peter’s thoughts dwell on Venom’s threat. Unwilling to put any of his allies in danger, even his former lover and part-time vigilante Felicia Hardy/The Black Cat, Peter resolves to face Venom alone, reasoning that it’s his responsibility since he technically created the creature and their hatred of him. He’s so lost in thought that he forgets that Venom doesn’t trigger his spider-sense and is caught off-guard when Brock accosts him at a coffee shop. Brock calmly convinces Peter to take a walk, expositing how his “other” survived an earlier confrontation with the cancer-inducing Styx and happy to settle their business down a back alley. However, they’re jumped by a mugger, who’s summarily dispatched (non-lethally this time) by Brock, though Peter uses the distraction to flee to a hotel for the night. A seemingly random phone call from Professor Evan Swann inspires Peter to swing on over to Empire State University and check out their cryogenics lab, hoping to find a weapon that can neutralise Venom similar to how extreme heat and sound defeated them before. Once again forgetting his reliance on his spider-sense, Spider-Man is blindsided mid-swing by Venom, who gleefully lays in a beating on the web-slinger. Experience and agility allow Spidey to create some distance, though Venom easily closes it by hurling a girder. With Venom distracted keeping innocent lives safe when their fight causes damage to the Bronx Zoo, Spider-Man goes on the offensive, giving Venom a taste of their own medicine and angering the unstable symbiotic pairing. However, Venom regains the advantage by using their uncanny ability to assume other forms, tricking Spider-Man into entering the cryogenic chamber, where the extreme cold forces the troubled superhero to blackout and be left at Venom’s mercy.

Overpowered, Spidey outwits his foe by faking his death.

In the next issue, Spider-Man slowly dethaws and awakens on a sweltering beach, confused to find himself trapped on a deserted island with (and courtesy of) his most lethal foe. Not willing to allow for any distractions or let innocent bystanders get in the way of their combat, Venom proposes a fight to the death to settle their grudge and relishes chasing his foe through the dense foliage. Though terrified by the creature’s threat, Peter desperately forces himself to adapt to and out-think his foe but is again blindsided by a clever sneak attack when Venom renders themselves invisible and attacks from a stream, nearly drowning Spidey before he fights his way free using a nearby tree branch. Venom’s abilities constantly give them the edge even when Spidey calls upon the Eagle Scout training his former bully-turned friend Eugene “Flash” Thompson tried to teach him and lay traps for his foe. Venom’s ability to blend into their surroundings forces Spidey to rely on his speed and agility instead. Even when Venom is caught in Spidey’s snare trap, the creature easily overpowers him but, when Venom hurls a truck at his hated enemy, he unwittingly causes Spidey to stumble upon an abandoned mine full of gas. After using the mine to escape Venom, Spidey tries to swim to a boat on the horizon, only to end up tangled in Venom’s living webbing. Tackling his way out of the situation with a desperate lunge, Peter stumbles upon some macabre shallow graves and finally realises that their conflict will only end with his death. Spidey thus lures Venom into the jungle with a flaming torch and goads them into hurling another truck, this time resulting in a spectacular explosion that leaves Spider-Man nothing but a shredded skeleton. Overjoyed at having finally defeated their foe, Venom resolves to live out the rest of their existence in peace on the island, blissfully unaware that they’ve been fooled by an obvious trick. Having dressed a skeleton in his costume, Peter faked his death and swam out another passing boat, breathing a sigh of relief knowing that Venom’s menace has forever been put to bed.

The Summary:
After a dramatic and horrifying first appearance, it was pretty exciting to see Venom return, more unhinged and psychotic than ever. What I love about Eddie Brock is that he’s convinced himself that everyone, especially Spider-Man, is to blame for his lot in life. He takes no personal responsibility for the actions that led to his downfall and has convinced himself that he’s on a righteous, God-given mission to protect the innocent and destroy Spider-Man. This twisted ethical code means he’s vehemently against the killing of innocents and will even be distracted from his vendetta to protect them, but also leads to him both knowingly and unknowingly using lethal force to get what he wants. Similarly, he’s not above threatening Peter’s loved ones, which is exactly why Peter sends M. J. away and refuses Felicia’s help since he doesn’t want to be distracted by protecting them or burdened by putting them in danger. Indeed, Peter acknowledges that others have aided him against Venom before and he’s now put himself in greater danger by going solo. This is exacerbated by just how dependent Spidey is on his spider-sense; normally, he can swing around mulling over his personal dramas and always rely on his spider-sense to warn him of danger. But Venom doesn’t trigger it, so they constantly gets the jump on Spider-Man, almost to the point of parody in just these two issues as Peter seemingly never learns to adapt to this, forgets about it, or cannot find a way to compensate for the loss of his spider-sense.

A brutal conflict ultimately results in Venom finding solace in believing they’ve killed their enemy.

Since Venom is bigger, stronger, and completely out of their mind, Spider-Man is forced to stay on the move and rely on his experience and agility. Time and again, this puts him on the back foot; even when he does reach the university labs, he’s easily fooled by Venom’s camouflage ability and rendered unconscious. I loved the island setting for their final confrontation, which essentially put them on even ground since there were no innocents to worry about or tall structures to swing from, but Venom had the advantage because of their familiarity with the island and their unique abilities. Luckily for Spidey, Venom likes to toy with their prey and relishes the chase, giving Peter multiple opportunities to think up plans to subdue and ultimately trick his psychotic foe. Essentially, these two issues are a prolonged chase and fight sequence; Erik Larsen is one of the quintessential Venom artists, closely emulating Todd McFarlane’s style and giving Venom their gruesome teeth and tongue, so the action is always kinetic and visually striking. It’s not enough to tide over the story, though; the sub-plots regarding Felica and M. J.’s worries about Peter, his beloved Aunt May’s romantic life, and the loose thread regarding Cardiac help break up the pace but distract from the main appeal of the stories. It would’ve been nice to see Venom do more to torment Peter, especially in the first issue. They work great as a creepy stalker and that aspect is only briefly touched upon before the two are trading blows between the city skyscrapers. Similarly, the island battle quickly becomes repetitive as Spidey goes on the run, gets blindsided, and goes on the run…only to be blindsided again. These issues seem to have been produced to put Venom’s threat to bed; they’ are content and happy believing they’ve killed Spider-Man. Michelinie even leaves a tease that a version of the symbiote will live on through Kasady, making me wonder if this was supposed to Venom’s last appearance. As is, it’s a decent enough sequel to Venom’s first appearance, most notable for being the first appearance of Kasady, that indirectly leads to one of Spider-Man’s most violent and tedious crossover events later down the line.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

What did you think to Venom’s big return? Did you ever think Cletus Kasady would become one of Spider-Man’s most notorious rogues? What did you think to Venom’s characterisation as a self-righteous psychopath? Did you find the conflict tedious in Venom’s repeated blindsiding of Spidey? What is your favourite Venom story and how are you celebrating Venom’s dramatic debut? Whatever your thoughts on Venom, share them down below and be sure to check out my other Venom and Spider-Man content.

Movie Night [Bat-Month]: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

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In the decades since his first dramatic appearance in the pages of Detective Comics, Bruce Wayne/Batman has become a mainstream, worldwide, pop culture icon. The brainchild of writer Bob Kane, Batman was brought to life by artist Bill Finger and has been a popular staple of DC Comics and countless movies, videogames, and cartoons over the years. So, as today is “Batman Day”, I figured this was a perfect excuse to spend every Saturday celebrating comic’s grim and broody vigilante.

Released: 25 December 1993
Director: Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Budget: $6 million
Stars: Kevin Conroy, Dana Delany, Hart Bochner, Bob Hastings, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and Mark Hamill

The Plot:
Early into his crimefighting career as the Batman, Bruce Wayne (Conroy) finds mobsters being slain by a mysterious and vicious, Grim Reaper-esque vigilante “The Phantasm” (Stacy Keach). In trying to uncover the Phantasm’s identity, Batman reconnects with his lost love, Andrea Beaumont (Delany), and uncovers a terrible connection between the two.

The Background:
Artist Bob Kane may have dreamed up the idea of a new masked crimefighter to capitalise on the success of Clark Kent/Superman’s debut, but it was the long-suppressed efforts of artist Bill Finger that the “Bat-Man” became such an iconic figure. Decades later, the likes of Dennis O’Neil sought to correct the Batman’s image following the gloriously camp (and incredibly popular) 1960s television show, but the release and relative success of Batman (Burton, 1989) and Batman Returns (ibid, 1992) saw renewed interest in the character. Consequently, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Eric Radomski spearheaded a new animated series influenced by both films that became one of the most beloved and influential cartoons of its era. Batman: The Animated Series aired eighty-five episodes between September 1992 and 1995 before being succeeded by twenty-four episodes of The New Batman Adventures (known as The Adventures of Batman & Robin in the United Kingdom) between 1997 and 1999, but its initial success convinced Warner Bros. to task Alan Burnett with writing a full-length animated feature. Heavily influenced by Batman: Year Two (Barr, et al, 1987), the film was set to feature a Grim Reaper-like counterpart to Batman while also acting as something of an origin story for both the Dark Knight and his long-standing nemesis, the Joker. Filming was completed within eight months, and Warner Bros. made the last-minute decision to release it theatrically. Although this negatively impacted its box office return, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm made up for this in home media sales and is widely regarded as one of the best superhero films ever made. Critics praised the presentation and score, the slick animation, and its mature themes, and it remains one of the quintessential adaptations of the character for many Batman fans.

The Review:
I watched Batman: The Animated Series as a kid, alongside a host of other popular cartoons at the time, but my memories aren’t massively clear. This is a general statement of my childhood in this regard, and I think it’s because I usually slept in at the weekends and didn’t get up until after a lot of the big cartoons had already been on, then I’d spend the rest of my time eating, playing videogames, or watching the same video cassettes over and over. Still, Batman: The Animated Series definitely made an impression on me. It was dark, surprisingly violent, and probably the most readily available incarnation of Batman since it didn’t involve buying any books or comics, so it was massively exciting when this animated feature aired on television for the first time or you saw the VHS available for purchase. The film begins in present day Gotham City, where Batman has established himself as a nocturnal vigilante but is still early enough in his career to large be considered an urban myth. As a result, Chuckie Sol (Dick Miller) has no qualms about conducting his business in the dead of night, which naturally means his money laundering deal is interrupted by the Batman. Although Chuckie slips away with his counterfeit money, he’s intercepted by a mysterious, Grim Reaper-like figure we now know as the Phantasm and so intimidated by the spectre that he drives out of the parking lot to a violent death.

The mystery of the Phantasm puts Batman in the frame, but their true identity may surprise you!

Thanks to the Phantasm, and the testimony of bystanders, Batman is fingered for Chuckie Sol’s death and councilman Arthur Reeves (Bochner) wastes no time publicly declaring Batman a violent vigilante who needs to be brought to justice. When Commissioner Jim Gordon (Hastings) remains adamant that sensationalist claims that Batman has snapped and gone on a killing spree are against Batman’s very nature and washes his hands of the entire debacle, Reeves personally leads numerous unsuccessful attempts to apprehend the Dark Knight. Batman is more concerned with analysing a piece of Chuckie’s windshield, which is stained by chemical residue from the Phantasm’s smoke, and investigating the graveyard where Buzz Bronski (John P. Ryan) was killed. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm does a wonderful job of depicting Batman’s detective skills and it’s a nice change of pace from all the thrilling action, chase, and fight sequences to follow his investigation into the murders. Additionally, there are two pressing mysteries in the feature: the identity of the titular Phantasm and the connection between the mobsters left dead in their wake. Of course, these end up overlapping but there’s a decent attempt to throw some red herrings our way. Reeves, Andrea’s father Carl (Keach), and Andrea are all potential suspects but it’s the latter who turns out to be behind the cloak and hand-scythe of the Phantasm. There’s an argument to be made that this isn’t too surprising given we’ve never heard of Andrea before this film, but the stature and physicality of the Phantasm definitely helps to keep this a dramatic reveal at the finale. Unlike the Batman, the Phantasm isn’t above killing; Andrea utilises theatricality to equal Batman, appearing to appear and disappear in a cloud of smoke, brandishes a dangerous scythe-like gauntlet, and is garbed in a heavy-duty armoured suit that makes her more than a match for Batman’s skills and gadgets when they inevitably come to blows.

Kevin Conroy delivers another stellar performance as Bruce is torn between his vow and his heart.

While Michael Keaton may have set the bar for live-action portrayals of Batman, make no mistake that Kevin Conroy remains the standard for depictions of Batman. Any actor looking to take on the iconic role must depict his three dominant personas: Public (Bruce Wayne, socialite and playboy), Private (Bruce Wayne, brooding and melancholy), and Vigilante (the grim and stoic Batman) and Conroy perfectly nails all three of these. When Bruce is attending functions and banquets, he’s a suave and smooth-talking ladies’ man known for being extremely generous with his family’s wealth, hands-on with charities and opportunities from growth and employment in Gotham, and for stringing along a seemingly endless parade of bimbos and lusty women. At home, in both the solitude of Wayne Manor and the sanctity of the Batcave, this public mask slips, allowing Bruce to confide in his faithful butler and father-figure, Alfred Pennywoth (Zimbalist Jr.), and is the closest he gets to being truly honest with anyone. And, of course, under cover of night, he stalks the criminal underworld as a theatrical vigilante, and Conroy expertly depicts the differences in each of these personas and situations with subtle changes to his tone, line delivery, and inflections that really went a long way to making this version of Batman one of the most well-realised, complex, and layered interpretations of the character. This really comes to the forefront here thanks to repeated flashbacks to an earlier time in Bruce’s life where he struggled with how to make good on the vow he made to avenge his parents’ death by tackling the criminal scum that took their lives. At this point, he’s still an angry, directionless young man whose vigilante debut goes sideways because, while he has the physical means to overpower even armed crooks, he’s at a disadvantage because he’s seen as just a man, rather than a force of darkness and justice (as he puts it: “They weren’t afraid of me!”) While brooding at their gravestone, he crosses paths with the beautiful Andrea Beaumont. Though she comes across as dismissive and aloof, she’s actually intrigued and somewhat taken by him since he has all this wealth and privilege but always seems so melancholy. As she’s also lost someone, her beloved mother, the two bond over their shared grief and, when she comes to visit him, she impresses him with her combat prowess and the two begin a whirlwind romance.

As if the mysterious and brutal Phantasm wasn’t enough, the Joker shows up to steal the show!

Bruce is so taken by Andrea that he questions his vow and contemplates a life of happiness as a benevolent entrepreneur with her by his side. He is therefore devastated when she suddenly rejects his proposal and leaves the city, forever setting him on a path of grim vigilantism. When Andrea returns to Gotham some years later, in the present day of the story, Bruce is a fundamentally changed man. A chance encounter between her and Batman accidentally reveals his true identity to her, and she greets the Batman with a cutting hostility when he’s forced to question her as part of his investigation into the recent killings (delivering a biting jibe about how he’s controlled by his parents). Buzz Bronski, a mob associate of Chuckie’s, is the Phantasm’s next target; his henchmen see him chased by the cloaked figure and crushed to death under a gravestone and mistake the “Angel of Death” for Batman, which causes a media sensation. Startled by the murders of his associates, the decrepit Sal Valestra/The Wheezer (Abe Vigoda) fears for his safety and turns to the Joker (Hamill) for protection. As if touching upon Batman’s origins wasn’t enough, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm thus provides a glimpse into the background of the typically mysterious Clown Prince of Crime. Although not named as such here, the Joker was once Jack Napier like in Batman, but we also learn that he was once a chauffeur and assassin for the mob before taking his dive into disfiguring acid. While I appreciate the effort to flesh out the Joker’s backstory a little, and the film does a decent jump of bringing him in late into the runtime, I can’t help but feel like the Joker’s inclusion was a little forced and unnecessary. It’s as though the filmmakers didn’t quite trust the intriguing mystery of the Phantasm, the glimpse into Bruce’s past, or the narrative of Batman being hunted by the police and felt they had to shoehorn the Joker in to make things more exciting.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Of course, I’d be doing Batman: Mask of the Phantasm a disservice if I didn’t mention the absolutely haunting score from the late, great Shirley Walker. Having collaborated with composer Danny Elfman for Batman, Walker was the perfect choice to evoke the same melancholic, gothic undertones of Burton’s blockbuster reinvention of the character, and she’s at her absolute best here. The sweeping, operatic score really gives Gotham City an ominous, looming character, punctuates the action, and makes the more poignant moments of the film all the more heart-breaking and that’s all thanks to Walker’s absolutely iconic and memorable orchestral number. The animation must also be praised; thanks to an emphasis on shadows and darkness, Batman moves like a slick, otherworldly figure and comes across as fearsome, intimidating, and efficient all at once. Nowhere is the use of lighting more impressive than in scenes in the Batcave, where deep, never-ending shadows and darkness are at their most prominent, and this all really adds to the stark contrast between the inky black of night and the brighter, dull pastels of the few day time scenes.

The feature provides a tantalising glimpse into Bruce’s motivation to become the Dark Knight.

One thing that helped Batman: Mask of the Phantasm stand out as an animated feature was how surprisingly adult it was. Batman: The Animated Series always expertly towed the line with the censors by depicting guns and bullets rather than laser pistols, and the feature film gets away with even more to depict people smoking, modern-day pistols rather than Tommy guns, a bit of blood when Batman takes a beating, and an unexpectedly high body count for a “kid’s film” thanks to the murderous Phantasm. A central aspect of the film is the exploration into the motivation and tragedy that pushed Bruce into assuming the Batman guise. Despite travelling the world and gaining the physical and deductive skills to be a crimefighting detective, Bruce is torn between seeing his vow to the fullest extent and using his wealth to benefit the city while living a happy life with Andrea. Alfred naturally pushes him towards the latter, and Andrea even believes that his parents “sent [her]” as a sign that he can go back on his vow. Unfortunately, fate intervenes. Right after she accepts Bruce’s proposal, Carl Beaumont forces Andrea to leave the city after his dealings with the mob threaten both of their lives and, rather than explain the situation to her love, Andrea left him heart-broken and rejected. With his one last chance of a happy, normal life denied him, Bruce returns to his vow and, in a hauntingly impactful scene, embraces the cape and cowl of the Batman, losing himself to the darkness of his never-ending crusade and shocking even Alfred with his monstrous transformation.

The climatic finale sees Batman engage with the Joker, and seemingly lose his one true love forever.

Batman takes his investigation up a notch after figuring out that the Joker is involved, and the cackling madman quickly takes a perverse pleasure in hunting down the one responsible for killing his old buddies. This involves murdering Valestra and wiring to explode, reducing Reeves to a hysterical mess with his laughing gas, and trying to off the Batman with ludicrous contraptions cobbled together from the abandoned world’s fair that the Joker’s taken as his hideout. Oddly enough, once Andrea’s true identity is revealed, the Joker actually holds his own in a fight with her thanks to his acid-spitting flower and turning the fair’s animatronics and rides into death traps. Andrea, however, is driven by a murderous bloodlust. Since the Joker was responsible for killing her father, she has no problem fighting dirty, kicking him in the nuts and tracing him across the hazardous amusement park in a bid to have her revenge. Naturally, Batman makes a dramatic save and chases down his most persistent nemesis, leading to a somewhat ludicrous conclusion where Batman battles a jetpack-wearing-Joker through the skies of a dilapidated amusement park wired to explode. Determined to see the Joker pay, Andrea ignores Batman’s pleas to leave and seemingly perishes along with the Clown Prince of Crime as the world’s fair is dramatically engulfed by explosions, leaving Batman not only heart-broken but guilt-ridden at his failure to save his former flame. In the darkness of the Batcave, he finds solace in Alfred’s reassuring words and Andrea’s pendant, giving him hope that she’s still alive. Hardened by the experience, he returns to the night as the Batman, grim avenger of injustice, while Andrea sails off to an unknown future with only her own heartbreak for company.

The Summary:
It’s hard to get much better than Batman: Mask of the Phantasm for pure, unadulterated Batman action. In many ways it, like the cartoon it spun out from, is one of the most striking, influential, and unapologetically faithful renditions of DC’s Dark Knight ever put to screen and perfectly captures the dark, gothic melancholy of the titular vigilante, his city, and his never-ending crusade against crime. This was one of the rare, few glimpses into a time of Bruce’s life where he was struggling to make the transition from angry, vengeful young man to grim avenger of the night and it’s absolutely tragic to see how close he came to abandoning his crusade for true love and was forced to fully commit to his dark alter ego once fate set him on that path. One of the things I absolutely love about Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is that it’s not afraid to show Batman’s more cerebral side. The mystery of the Phantasm and the killings is as crucial to the narrative as the romance between Bruce and Andrea, and is far more of a focus than the handful of fantastically realised and slickly animated fight and chase sequences. Batman also feels fallible and human while still being a fearsome and intimidating figure. He easily outmatches street level scum but can be hurt by the likes of the Phantasm and the Joker thanks to their skills and/or gadgets. As I’m also a big fan of Batman: Year Two, the Phantasm struck me as a brilliant foil for Batman. As cold and stoic as the Dark Knight, Andrea’s gruesome, cloaked persona is a dangerous and ruthless foe out for blood and nothing more, but more than a match for the Caped Crusader thanks to gadgets, theatricality, and a degree and physical ability. While I find the finale a bit over the top thanks to the focus shifting towards the Joker, you can’t deny that Mark Hamill steals the show at every turn with his maniacal performance, delivering every line with a sadistic glee that makes the Clown Prince of Crime a joy to watch. Honestly, if you know anyone who isn’t sure if they want to get into Batman or who wants to learn more about Batman, I would absolutely recommend you point them towards Batman: Mask of the Phantasm as you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better representation of everything that makes the Dark Knight such an enigmatic and alluring character.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

Are you a fan of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm? Where would you rank it against other Batman films, live-action or otherwise? What did you think to the Phantasm, their depiction, and the reveal of their identity? Were you a fan of the Joker’s inclusion or, like me, did it kind of overshadow the rest of the plot for you? Did you enjoy Batman: The Animated Series growing up? What are some of your favourite episodes, and where would you rank Kevin Conroy’s performance? What was your first experience of Batman and how are you celebrating his debut this month? Feel free to share your thoughts on Batman: Mask of the Phantasm down below, or leave a comment on my social media, and be sure to check back in for more Batman content in the near future!

Screen Time & Knuckles: Sonic Underground & Knuckles

Dr. K3 Comments

With the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1994), gamers were introduced to Knuckles the Echidna. This mischievous, dreadlocked antagonist was created by Takashi Yuda and his debut was made all the more impressive by virtue of the fact that Sonic 3 was too big to fit on one cartridge. This meant that Knuckles was the first of Sonic’s supporting characters to co-star in a main series videogame when Sonic & Knuckles (ibid) was released on this very day in 1994.

Episode Title: “Friend or Foe?”
Air Date: 28 February 1999

Episode Title: “Flying Fortress”
Air Date: 31 March 1999

Episode Title: “No Hedgehog is an Island”
Air Date: 7 April 1999

Episode Title: “New Echidna in Town”
Air Date: 13 April 1999

Directors: Marc Boreal, François Hemmen, and Daniel Sarriet
US Network: BKN Kids II – UK Network: Channel 4

Stars: Jaleel White, Brian Drummond, Garry Chalk, Maurice LaMarche, and Peter Wilds

The Background:
After Sonic the Hedgehog blasted onto the videogame scene with Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Team, 1991), SEGA’s aggressive marketing campaign paid off dividends. Sonic’s popularity exploded after the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992) and, suddenly, Sonic was everywhere, including two concurrent cartoons courtesy of DIC. While Adventure of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993; 1996) is generally criticised for its slapstick comedy, its darker counterpart, Sonic the Hedgehog (widely known as “SatAM”) is regarded as one of the defining cartoons of the nineties for its darker tone and mature themes. Although the cartoon inspired the original Archie Sonic comics, fans were left confused and disappointed when SatAM ended on an unresolved cliff-hanger. When the time came for SEGA to promote their up-coming Dreamcast, a new Sonic cartoon was commissioned, one that oddly took many visual inspirations from SatAM but told an entirely original story, one that owned more to Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983 to 1990) than its fan-favourite predecessor. Although Jaleel White returned to voice Sonic and his new siblings and writer Ben Hurst had some influence on the show, Sonic Underground became notorious for its musical interludes and struggled to find an audience thanks to the episodes being aired out of order. While the concept had even less to do with the source material than its predecessor (Sonic’s sidekick, Miles “Tails” Prower is nowhere to be found) and is widely regarded as one of the worst Sonic adaptations, Sonic Underground featured the debut of Knuckles the Echidna in Western animation and there was a sadly cancelled attempt to publish an epilogue to the much-maligned cartoon in 2013.

The Plot:
Whilst searching Planet Mobius for their mother, siblings, rebels, and rock stars Sonic, Manic, and Sonia (all voiced by White) cross paths with the distrustful and hot-headed Knuckles (Drummond). However, when the dastardly Doctor Robotnik (Chalk) manipulates Knuckles into providing him with a legendary Chaos Emerald, these four conflicting personalities must set aside their differences to oppose the doctor’s latest evil scheme.

The Review:
I watched all of Sonic’s cartoons when I was a kid. I distinctly remember watching Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog every weekend, usually recording episodes for prosperity, and enjoying Sonic’s slapstick antics so much that I was shocked and confused when the entire tone and cast of the show suddenly changed. Sonic was no longer ridiculing Dr. Robotnik (Long John Baldry) and his minions and was instead the point man in an outnumbered resistance movement against a far darker, semi-cybernetic dictator much like in Sonic the Comic (1993 to 2002). I adapted to the new format and found myself enjoying Sonic’s dark escapades, only to be left further confused when SatAM ended on a massive cliff-hanger that teased a larger role for Dr. Robotnik’s long-suffering nephew, Snively (Charlie Adler) and a mysterious, red-eyed figure who I hoped would be Metal Sonic or even Knuckles! Sadly, we never got to see this ending resolved, even in the comics, and I was forced to adapt once again to an all-new Sonic cartoon, one that looked very similar to SatAM but was widely different and made the bold and frankly bizarre choice to lumber Sonic with two siblings. Why Tails and Amy Rose weren’t used in these roles I’ll never know but I was still a Sonic fan so I tried to give it a go, but to be fair I was about fourteen in 1999 so I was starting to veer away from cartoons like this.

After some initial antagonism, Knuckles and Sonic team up to safeguard the Chaos Emerald.

Although “Flying Fortress”, “No Hedgehog is an Island”, and “New Echidna in Town” make up a three-episode story arc revolving around Knuckles and the Chaos Emerald, they were broadcast out of order and the character actually made his first appearance in the standalone story “Friend or Foe?” Following the surprisingly catchy opening theme song (one of the few highlights of the cartoon), the episode finds Sonic, Sonia, and Manic travelling to the “dreaded” Floating Island in search of their long-lost mother, Queen Aleena Hedgehog (Gail Webster, and running afoul of boobytraps laid across the island by its mysterious echidna guardian. As ever, Dr. Robotnik is lumbered with two bungling minions: sleazy-but-cunning wolf Sleet (LaMarche) and the block-headed Dingo (Wilds), who transforms into different forms at the touch of Sleet’s remote controller. The two are ordered to the Floating Island to poison Knuckles’ mind against the hedgehogs, distracting him so they can steal the Chaos Emerald and send the island (and their enemies) plummeting to the ground. Thanks to a hilariously bad holographic fake, Knuckles is easily tricked and takes off to confront the three hedgehogs right as they learn from one of the island’s “sacred pools” that their mother was (and possibly still is) there. Despite Sonia’s best attempts to keep the peace, a sluggish and awkward scuffle breaks out between Knuckles and Sonic, which ends with the Sonia and Manic exploring the island’s underground caverns (in a close approximation of the Hidden Palace Zone) and learning of Knuckles’ deception. Although Sonic talks sense into Knuckles, they’re too late to stop Sleet and Dingo from stealing the Chaos Emerald and endangering the island. Luckily, Dingo is distracted by his lust for Sonia and the baddies are forced to flee without the emerald while the three fend off a contingent of SWATbots. In the aftermath, the siblings make amends with Knuckles, who reveals that he knows Queen Aleena and that she left a message indicating that he would become a pivotal ally in their crusade.

The siblings recruit Knuckles to help defeat the flying fortress, only for Sleet and Dingo to steal its Chaos Emerald.

A few episodes later, the siblings are relaxing at the beach when they’re attacked by Dr. Robotnik’s spherical “Fortress of Altitude” (almost a downgraded version of the Death Egg or the Egg Carrier), a flying fortress capable of bombarding his foes and shrugging off the laser blasts from their magic weapons thanks not only to being comprised of “Mobibindum” but also being powered by a Chaos Emerald, which atomises everything it touches. After fending off Dr. Robotnik’s SWATbots and evading the flying fortress, the siblings seek out Knuckles’ help. Initially reluctant to leave the Floating Island, Knuckles is convinced by their awful song (“No One is and Island”), though his resolve falters when the astral spirt of his great-grandfather, Athair (LaMarche), warns that this will result in a greater calamity. After easily fooling Dr. Robotnik with a decoy, Knuckles and the others slip aboard the flying fortress, avoid the ship’s defences, and burrow their way to the Chaos Emerald thanks to Knuckles’ super strength. However, after being callously dismissed by Dr. Robotnik, Sleet and Dingo claim the Chaos Emerald for themselves to both stand on their own and to try and prove their worth to their master. This causes the fortress to fall from the sky and into the sea below. Crippled by hydrophobia and unable to swim, Sonic relies on his family and friend to help get him to safety, but Sleet is stunned when usually thick-headed Dingo swipes the gem for himself! However, Dingo accidentally drops the Chaos Emerald, shattering it and unleashing a wave of unbridled Chaos Energy across the land that causes storms, earthquakes, and threatens the entire planet.

The heroes forge unlikely alliances to save the planet from being torn apart by Chaos Energy.

After his despair is lifted by another of the band’s terrible songs (“Learn to Overcome”), Knuckles leads them to his great-grandfather, who gifts them a special canister to house the shattered pieces and reveals that the only way to save the world is to ally with Dr. Robotnik. Naturally, Sonic and his siblings are aghast at this, but Knuckles is reluctant to defy his elder, especially with the fate of the world at stake. With the planet literally shaking apart from the rising Chaos Energy, the siblings race to find Knuckles and find another way to solve their problem, only to find that he’s been coerced into capturing them on Dr. Robotnik’s orders in exchange for the tyrant’s help in saving the world. Regretfully, Knuckles betrays his friends, only to be immediately double-crossed when Dr. Robotnik reneges on his promise not to roboticize the hedgehogs. Angered by this, a remorseful Knuckles fights back and frees his friends from their sticky bonds and joins them in searching for the Chaos Emerald, but they’re too late to keep Sleet from finding it and containing it in Dingo. This results in Dingo absorbing a full dose of Chaos Energy and transforming into a mindless, clay-like beast that threatens friend and foe alike. In what could arguably be described as a very loose adaptation of Sonic Adventure (Sonic Team, 1998), Dingo goes on a rampage that not only causes a series of volcanic eruptions but also destroys Manic’s magic drum set before heading to nearby Robotropolis, forcing Sonic to manipulate Dr. Robotnik’s ego to help subdue the beast. Toppled by the band’s music (“The Mobius Stomp”) and Dr. Robotnik’s special glue, Dingo spits out the Chaos Emerald, reverting to normal and saving the world and earning him his master’s ire. Knuckles then delivers the reassembled Chaos Emerald to Athair. Although the old echidna charges him with safeguarding the gem on the Floating Island, but the band promises that Knuckles will always have a place with them whether near or far.

The Summary:
Although the show has little in common with SatAM, Sonic Underground’s Sonic remains the same boastful, reckless speedster. In place of Princess Sally Acorn (Kath Soucie), Sonia acts as the voice of reason and intelligence in the trio, chastising Sonic’s irresponsible nature and emphasising diplomacy over impulsiveness wherever possible. Manic is characterised as a laid-back surfer dude who’s not as reckless as Sonic but still isn’t as attentive as Sonia. However, while Sonia might be the smartest of the bunch, she’s from an entirely different world to both. Sonic was raised to be a Freedom Fighter by his beloved Uncle Chuck (LaMarche) and has been fighting Dr. Robotnik for as long as he can remember, Manic is a streetwise thief, and Sonia comes from a life of privilege and luxury. All three were united by a common enemy when Dr. Robotnik roboticized the only family they ever knew and wield magic medallions that transform into music instruments that act as weapons, but Sonic Underground continuously emphasised their strength as a unit more than any previous Sonic cartoon. While Sonic possesses incredible speed, he’s impulsive and also crippled by hydrophobia. Sonia might have some fancy martial arts moves but she’s often too easily trusting of wealthy folk, who are often in Dr. Robotnik’s pocket. And Manic generally gets himself into trouble since he can’t help but half-inch when the temptation arises.

Though tough and wily, Knuckles is easily duped and fiercely loyal to this duties as the island’s guardian.

Of the three Sonic cartoons that aired in the nineties, Sonic Underground is somehow the most bizarre. Its tone is all over the place, lacking the ominous menace of SatAM but also veering more towards comedy like Adventures. Despite still being lighting fast and capable of bending physics, Sonic is surprisingly weak here. Perhaps because of the need desire emphasise themes of teamwork and friendship, Sonic is not only hampered by recklessness but shows fear when confronted by large groups of SWATbots, sluggishly fumbles through his initial fight with Knuckles, and succumbs to an uncharacteristic panic when left floundering in the ocean. Although the Floating Island is common knowledge in Sonic Underground and easily accessible, it’s far more accurate compared to the small mass seen in SatAM. It’s large, with a variety of different environments and wildlife on its soil, and Knuckles is later seen using a radar and communications system, and anti-aircraft cannons to fend off intruders. Knuckles’ reputation proceeds him to the point where even Sleet is aware of how tough he is and his skill at laying traps, and he makes an immediate impression by capturing the two dolts and roasting them over a spit for the local wildlife! However, as fleet-footed and super strong as he is, and despite showcasing a distrustful and snarky attitude, Knuckles is easily duped by Slate and Dingo and, like every character here, suffers from atrociously bad animation, appearing pudgy and disproportionate every time he moves. Knuckles’ go-to move is to spin his arms like a buzzsaw to rapidly burrow through surfaces. Just doing this is enough to knock Sonic on his ass and impress Manic, and Knuckles proves durable enough to withstand Sonic’s patented “Triple Spin Attack” and wily enough to use his knowledge of the island against his foe. Knuckles takes his role of guarding the Floating Island very seriously, to the point where he’s isolated himself from the rest of the world, but he’s equal loyal to his newfound friends and defies his instincts, and the will of his great-grandfather to aid them even though he’s extremely uncomfortable with leaving his island unguarded.

As if Dr. Robotnik wasn’t bad enough, the siblings must content with Knuckles and a rampaging Dingo.

There are some benefits to this for Knuckles; namely, that he spends more time socialising with his friends and bonding with Sonia, with whom he develops a mutual attraction. However, there are major drawbacks, too. Most notably, Knuckles is naïve and easily fooled; not only does he fall for Sleet and Dingo’s lies about the hedgehogs, he trusts his great-grandfather’s word so blindly that he willingly allies with Dr. Robotnik despite knowing full well of the semi-cybernetic dictator’s malicious nature. While he looks just like SatAM’s Dr. Robotnik (save for sporting two robotic arms) and even resides in a similar citadel in the heart of Robotropolis, this Dr. Robotnik lacks the gravelly, mechanical voice, employs wildly different SWATbots, and often spares the aristocracy the indignation of roboticization in return for hefty bribes. Although Dr. Robotnik appears to be at his most dangerous when he launches his Fortress of Altitude, the airship is as disproportionate and inconsistent as everything else on the show. The Mobibindum apparently makes it super heavy and tough, yet both Sonic and Knuckles smash through its structure without issue and a simple drop in the ocean is enough to trash the fortress and leave it literally blowing up in the dictator’s face. Even when Mobius is being torn apart around him, Dr. Robotnik finds a way to turn things in his favour. He’s willing to see the world destroyed if it means being rid of Sonic and strong-arms Knuckles into doing his bidding so that he can have the final victory of his hated enemies. Honestly, there are only a few episodes of Sonic Underground that are worth watching and these four are a handful of them. The animation and voice acting is atrocious (it’s insane that Jaleel White voices all three siblings), with Knuckles sadly getting the worst of both, but it was nice to finally see him in a Western Sonic cartoon. It’s not enough to salvage the series but it certainly makes these episodes more enjoyable. If only it had been an actual continuation of SatAM, it could’ve been even better.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Were you a fan of Sonic Underground? What did you think of the four Knuckles-centric episodes? Were you disappointed that we never got a continuation of SatAM? Which of Sonic’s siblings was your favourite and what did you think to the use of rock music in the show? Are you celebrating Knuckles’ big day today? Whatever you think about Sonic Underground, and especially Knuckles, leave a comment down below or let me know by commenting on my social media.

Movie Night: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Dr. K1 Comment

Released: 6 September 2024
Director: Tim Burton
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Budget: $100 million
Stars: Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Willem Dafoe, and Monica Bellucci

The Plot:
Thirty-six years after Beetlejuice (Burton, 1988), Lydia Deetz (Ryder) and her stepmother, Delia (O’Hara), return to Winter River. However, when Lydia’s rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid (Ortega), is spirited to the afterlife, Lydia must summon Beetlejuice (Keaton) to rescue her.

The Background:
In 1988, gothic auteur Tim Burton brought audiences Beetlejuice. Initially a much darker concept with a deadly titular character, the film was a surprise hit that cemented Burton as a director. A commercial and critical success, Beetlejuice was followed by videogame tie-ins, a lauded cartoon, and even a well-received Broadway musical, but a sequel struggled to emerge over the next thirty years. A sequel was fast-tracked at the time and multiple scripts were developed, two of the most notable being Beetlejuice causing havoc in Paris in search of love and following the Deetzes to Hawaii. Talks started again in 2011, star Winona Ryder was confident about a sequel in 2013, and it almost got off the ground in 2016 before being shelved in 2019. A few years later, Burton and Ryder revisited the concept and production finally got underway with a new story, one that kept the spirit of the first film while expanding the lore into new, bizarre realms. New star Jenna Ortega developed a close bond with Ryder during filming, and Keaton insisted that Beetlejuice’s screentime be as limited as before so as not to overload the narrative. While Burton sought to utilise practical effects wherever possible to retain the B-movie feel of the first film, Father Time and various controversies kept some actors from returning for the sequel. After a few additional delays, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice finally released to widespread acclaim. With a box office of over $330million, reviews praised it as a visual return to form for Burton. Michael Keaton and Jenna Ortega were also praised for their performances, though some criticised the pacing and disparate plot threads and Burton remained characteristically aloof about the chances of a third entry.

The Review:
After a nice recreation of the first film’s overheard shot of Winter River, Connecticut and stirring work (as always) by composer Danny Elfman, we catch up with Lydia, who now works as a psychic medium, investigating haunted houses and discussing the supernatural on a television show. It turns out that her ability to see ghosts never went away; it just became stronger. This means she sees ghosts constantly (though unfortunately not as often as I’d like), though this ability has been exploited by her manager/partner, the flamboyant Rory (Justin Theroux). An overly dramatic narcissist who’s more concerned with keeping Lydia on the air, and him in a position of wealth and power, than her wellbeing or bonding with her daughter, Rory is basically the Otho Fenlock (Glenn Shadix) of the film. It’s difficult to see the attraction as Lydia, Astrid, and even her stepmother find Rory repulsive and two-faced. However, the film reveals that Lydia was previously married to free spirited explorer Richard (Santiago Cabrera), who encouraged and fostered Astrid’s adventurous side, but ended up dying during a trip to South America. Devastated by the loss, Lydia latched onto Rory during grief counselling, and he took advantage right away, moulding her into a television personality he could continue to leech from. Richard’s death drove a wedge between Lydia and Astrid. The teen resented her mother for avoiding the subject and believes she’s a fraud since the only ghost she cannot communicate with is her late father, leading to Astrid barely talking to her mother. Naturally, given the massive time gap, Lydia is very different now; far from a rebellious goth girl, she’s become a troubled mother who’s clearly uncomfortable in her relationship but trapped with no way out. Although Delia is still as overbearing as ever (even more so considering her bizarre art has actually taken off), the two are much closer now that they’re older. Lydia has grown to understand how difficult it was for Delia to deal with an unruly teenager and Delia is far more supportive of Lydia, disapproving of Rory and even reaching out to Astrid to give her mother a break.

Lydia’s forced to turn to Beetlejuice to rescue her estranged daughter from the afterlife.

The three are brought together when Delia bluntly breaks the news that Lydia’s father, Charles (Unknown/Jeffery Jones), has died. And not just died: he survived a plane crash and was eaten by a shark! The sudden, ridiculous nature of his death is constantly returned to throughout the film; there’s an elaborate funeral, Delia tries to capitalise on her grief by turning it into art, and we follow Charles’ beheaded, blood-sprouting corpse as it wanders through the bureaucratic afterlife. Delia’s grief is painted as comical and exaggerated; it’s clear she truly loved him, foibles and all, but her reaction (photographing her agony and sculpting an elaborate and distasteful shark-themed headstone) is as strange as her art. Lydia is saddened but seemingly nonplussed; it doesn’t help that Rory hijacks the wake to surprise her with a proposal, or that Astrid continues to lash out at her. But what’s really bothering Lydia are the constantly visions she has of Beetlejuice. These cause her to react in horror when Astrid discovers one of Beetlejuice’s flyers, compounding the issues between them and causing Astrid to flee from the house. Distracted, she loses control of her bike and crashes into Jeremy Frazier (Arthur Conti), a teenage boy whom she’s immediately smitten by. Against Lydia’s wishes to leave the house out of fear of Beetlejuice, Astrid is allowed to hang out with Jeremy on Halloween night. However, this strangely alluring boy turns out to be a ghost, one who woos Astrid into journeying with him to the afterlife to exploit a loophole in the Handbook for the Recently Deceased that will restore his life. However, Astrid finds out too late that Jeremy wasn’t killed in an accidental fall; he murdered his family and died when the police came for him. He thus tricks Astrid into agreeing to swap her life for his, giving Lydia no choice but to summon Beetlejuice to rescue her.

While Beetlejuice shines and Wolf is entertaining, Delores seems like an afterthought.

Beetlejuice has expanded his bio-exorcism operation, employing an office full of voodoo-cursed mutes to handle his calls while he over his lost love, Lydia. When his ex-wife, soul-sucking witch Delores (Bellucci), literally pulls herself back together and trawls the underworld in search for him, reducing her victims to little more than rolled up deadflesh, Beetlejuice is caught up in the investigation. Headed by former actor turned cliché, hardboiled detective Wolf Jackson (Dafoe), the ghost cops are constantly one step behind Delores and Beetlejuice resorts to barricading his office and dressing his main underling, Bob (Nick Kellington), as a decoy. Luckily, Rory’s reckless calling of his name reunites Beetlejuice with Lydia and her desperation to save Astrid gives him a new opportunity to escape his undead drudgery. Out of options, Lydia agrees to marry him and he willingly brings her to the afterlife, though this act turns Wolf against him since it’s a violation of a sacred law, stacking the deck against the two. Unlike in the first film, Beetlejuice has only two main forms here: either his signature white and black suit or as a couple’s therapist. Michael Keaton easily slips back into the role and carries not just the first, middling half but the entire film. He taps into the same zany, macabre energy that made the first film so memorable and which is sadly lacking from this long-awaited sequel. Monica Belluci casts an alluring and intimidated figure, but Delores just wanders about sucking up souls and barely poses a threat in the finale. It’s Willem Dafoe who steals the show as a B-movie actor-turned-detective; I loved the running gag of his assistant, Janet (Georgina Beedle), constantly handing him coffee, his exposed skull, his over-the-top mannerisms, and his advice to “keep it real” at all times. Unfortunately, neither he nor Delores think to simply call Beetlejuice’s name three times when searching for him. At first, I thought this was maybe because that didn’t work in the afterlife, but Delia summons him when she unexpectedly ends up there, so that was a bit weird. Jeremy is also taken care of without much fanfare. His relationship and betrayal of Astrid seemed like it would be a focal point of the film, but instead it just gets swept under a rug like so many other plot points in this lacklustre sequel.

The Nitty-Gritty:
At its core, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice seems to be discussing the nature of grief. Lydia’s loss drove her to accept an unhealthy relationship in a moment of weakness and has effectively trapped her. That same loss caused Astrid to lose all respect for her mother, and grief similarly drives Delia to exaggerated forms of expression, like draping the house in a mourning shroud. This comes back to (literally) bite her when she’s fatally attacked by two asps she bought for a bizarre tribute to her husband, landing her in the afterlife, much to her chagrin. This was a very strange and uncomfortable moment, as was the Claymation sequence depicting Charles’ unnecessarily violent death. Like, I get it: Jeffery Jones did terrible things, but this just seemed unnecessarily spiteful and over the top. Similarly, death is apparently a subject we should be laughing at, according to this film, and can be played for a gag. That wasn’t really the case in the first one, where Adam and Barbara Maitland (Adam Baldwin and Geena Davis) died in a senseless manner, but it wasn’t played for laughs. Considering how violently Jeremy killed his parents and the continued twisted depiction of the souls stuck waiting for help in the afterlife, this choice just feels odd to me. The surreal nature of death continues when Richard spots Astrid in the afterlife and helps her and Lydia escape: he’s depicted as a half-eaten corpse with wriggling piranha still munching on him. Like, it’s kind of funny, I guess, but it makes these scenes more uncomfortable to watch than entertaining as beloved figures in these character’s lives are made into an undead mockery.

While the practical effects are great, the film is oddly disjointed and many parts don’t land.

In the time between the two movies, it’s fair to say that Tim Burton has heavily leaned into his reputation as a quirky, gothic filmmaker and lost some of the grindhouse charm that made his early films so visually alluring. I give Beetlejuice Beetlejuice props for continuing to use practical effects, puppets, and filmmaking techniques wherever possible. It brings the strange afterlife to un-life in a very tangible way; oddly, however, the sandworms look worse here than before and seem more CGI than stop-motion. Still, we do get to explore more of the underworld that the last film, revealing that the dead take on various jobs after passing on (including cops and dry cleaners) and returning to the joke of them having to wade through red tape to get help. Beetlejuice has essentially franchised his services, presumably keeping him busy between films, but rather than actually see any of that, we’re left with dry scenes of him bossing about his employees. Keaton carries these moments, but I didn’t wait over thirty years to see Beetlejuice messing around behind a desk. He’s more himself when confronting Lydia and Rory, literally spilling his guts at one point, but this scene also repeats gags and moments from the first film, with him sewing Lydia’s mouth shut and terrifying Rory with a demonic visage. His character is expanded upon through some exposition into his past life as a graverobber and his relationship with Delores, but it’s a very odd sequence that goes on a bit too long and does little to make Delores an interesting character. Her look is great, as is her reassembling scene, but the only real threatening moment she has is when she sucks up poor old Bob. There was a great moment where Beetlejuice blows a hole into the afterlife and his employees escape into the real world. I thought this had a lot of potential to up the stakes but, instead, Wolf offhandedly mentions that they closed the breach, killing that plot thread. Then there were gags that just outlived their welcome. Like, Lydia rushes to stop Astrid being taken to “the great beyond” by the “Soul Train”. And that’s exactly what you think it is; the joke lands and you can imagine what that means. But no, we need not one but two extended sequences where the undead jive about to soul music and Burton hammers home that he’s making a pun about Blaxploitation.

Important plot threads fizzle out and the film ends up being a shameless rehash.

Lydia’s venture into the afterlife sees her reunite with Richard and rescue Astrid; however, it’s Beetlejuice who facilitates this as he surprisingly keeps his word and intercepts Jeremy, sending him to Hell before he can escape to the real world. The realisation that her mother was right all along, and getting some closure in seeing her father again, mends the bridges between Astrid and Lydia. However, Lydia begrudgingly agrees to marry Rory regardless since she’s still stuck in that co-dependent relationship. Luckily, her agreement with Beetlejuice solves that problem as he shows up to stake his claim to her hand, leading to one of the best moments of the film where he forces the influencers Rory invited to the wedding to be sucked into the phones they gawk at so often. As per the contract, neither Lydia or Astrid can speak Beetlejuice’s name, meaning he’s free to enchant everyone present into an extended sequence where they all mime and dance to Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park”. Like the “Soul Train” nonsense, this bit just went on way too long; rather than recapture the magic of the similar scene from the first film, it hijacks the finale and derails the pacing. Perhaps if Wolf and Delores’ scenes had happened earlier, making them a part of the proceedings, it might’ve worked better, but it felt like it was never going to end, and the joke wore itself out very quickly. Wolf’s easily subdued by Beetlejuice’s immeasurable powers, though he falters when Delores comes barging in for revenge, a desire I get but it also feels like he would want revenge on her more since she tricked and poisoned him. Anyway, it doesn’t matter as he distracts her with Rory and Astrid just draws a portal to Saturn’s moon to summon a sandworm to devour Delores and Rory (a strangely harsh comeuppance) and rehash the first film’s ending. Though briefly sad to say goodbye to Delia, Lydia’s emboldened by her renewed relationship with Astrid and being free from Rory’s leeching influence; she confidently banishes Beetlejuice once more and quits her job to spend more time with Astrid. However, the film ends with a really shocking nightmare sequence where Lydia dreams of Astrid violently giving birth to a baby Beetlejuice and still being haunted by her memories of the cackling demon in a sequence atmospherically at odds with the rest of the movie, but which might’ve helped spice up the second act if it had been shuffled in there.

The Summary:
I was cautiously optimistic heading into Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. While my relationship with legacy sequels is more miss than hit and I resented how long it took for the film to be made, I was attracted by my love for the first movie, Michael Keaton’s energetic performance, and by how cute Jenna Ortega is. These elements are the strongest parts of the film; Keaton carries the entire movie, salvaging even the strangest sequences and being the most enjoyable part. It feels like Beetlejuice is more of a focal point this time with all the different, halfhearted plot threads revolving around him in some way, but he’s strangely handicapped in ways he wasn’t before, robbing him of any monstrous transformations. Jenna Ortega does a great job as the hurt, resentful Astrid and I enjoyed her budding romance with Jeremy. It was obvious he was going to be a ghost but I didn’t expect him to be a psychopath, but then this plot gets dropped and forgotten about. The whole Delores sub-plot felt wasted to me, too; it added unnecessary backstory to Beetlejuice and didn’t factor into the finale. Characters like Jeremy, Delores, and Wolf (as enjoyed as he was) actually detracted from Beetlejuice’s presence. Like, maybe the film would’ve worked better if Beetlejuice had masqueraded as Jeremy, luring Astrid to the other side to bait in Lydia. Beetlejuice’s threat could’ve then replaced Delores wandering about and Wolf’s pursuit of him, tying into his visions haunting Lydia and making Beetlejuice a vicious, spiteful (and, crucially, sole) antagonist. I wasn’t impressed with how far the film went to bury Charles’ character; Burton beat us over the head with this to the point where it was awkward, not amusing. In fact, the whole movie is uncomfortable in a lot of ways, lacking a lot of nuance and subtlety and viewing like a bad parody of the first film. Jokes and sequences that worked so effectively last time and dug up and puppeted around gratuitously for no reason. The nostalgia was already there with the returning actors and atmosphere, but it felt like everyone was trying too hard to recapture lightning in a bottle and there were too many cooks in the kitchen offering ideas and gags. In the end, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice just wasn’t worth the wait; the visuals and some performances are there, but the execution was lacking and it seemed to go out of its way to not live up to its potential.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Were you also disappointed by Beetlejuice Beetlejuice? Did you find the tone and jokes to be oddly disjointed? What did you think to Michael Keaton’s return to form? Were you also disappointed to so many of the plot threads fizzled out? What did you think to the expanded depiction of the afterlife? Would you like to see another Beetlejuice film? Feel free to share your thoughts on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in the comments below.

Back Issues [Bat-Month]: Detective Comics #66/68

Dr. K1 Comment

In the decades since his first dramatic appearance in the pages of Detective Comics, Bruce Wayne/Batman has become a mainstream, worldwide, pop culture icon. The brainchild of writer Bob Kane, Batman was brought to life by artist Bill Finger and has been a popular staple of DC Comics and countless movies, videogames, and cartoons over the years. “Batman Day” falls on 21 September this year and I figured this was a perfect excuse to spend every Saturday celebrating comic’s grim and broody vigilante.

Writer: Bill Finger – Artist: Bob Kane

Story Title: “The Crimes of Two-Face”
Published: August 1942

Story Title: “The Man Who Led a Double Life”
Published: October 1942

The Background:
Following the huge success of Clark Kent/Superman, National Comics Publications had Bob Kane create another masked crimefighter to add to their repertoire. Thanks to the long-suppressed influence of artist Bill Finger, the “Bat-Man” soon became not only one of DC Comics’ most popular characters but also a mainstream cultural icon. In the years that followed, the Batman battled numerous costumed supervillains, but perhaps none are more tragic then former district attorney-turned-criminal Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Originally debuting in this two-part story as Harvey “Apollo” Kent, Two-Face was heavily inspired by the 1925 adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera (Leroux, 1909) and the 1931 adaptation of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Stevenson, 1886), both tales of a tortured soul, often gruesomely depicted or disfigured, who struggled with the duality of good and evil. Subsequent Two-Face stories have offered further insight into his tragic and abusive childhood, as well as further emphasising his complex relationship with Bruce Wayne, and the character is often a rival or litmus test for Batman’s different Robins. Widely regarded as one of Batman’s best villains, Two-Face has appeared as a prominent foe outside of the comics, from his renowned appearances in the acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series (1992 to 1999), Tommy Lee Jones’s bombastic portrayal in Batman Forever (Schumacher, 1995), and Aaron Eckhart’s understated turn in The Dark Knight (Nolan, 2008).

The Review:
This two-part story begins by introducing us to Harvey Kent, the dashing and famous district attorney beloved by the press and nicknamed “Apollo” for his courageous stance against organised crime, such as mob boss Sal “Boss” Moroni. Kent is the lead prosecutor in the case against Moroni and wastes no time in calling the Batman to take the stand as a key witness in Moroni’s trial. Amazingly, the testimony of a masked vigilante is seen as perfectly acceptable and admissible as evidence. Batman relates how Moroni shot “Bookie” Benson while escaping from a fight and Kent produces his most damning piece of evidence: Moroni’s lucky, two-headed silver dollar with his fingerprints on it! Moroni’s so incensed by Kent’s bravado that he tosses a vial of acid right at the district attorney! Although Batman intercepts the throw, Kent is hit with a concentrated splash of vitriol on one side of his face, leaving him wrapped in bandages for an entire month. When the time comes to reveal the extent of the damage, Kent is horrified to find that the left side of his face is “scarred and hideous”. He’s even more despondent to find that his only hope, a “European specialist” Batman knows of, is currently imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. The Batman simply peaces out after that, advising Kent to face his fiancée, Gilda, sooner rather than later, but Kent is distraught to find his gruesome visage frightens not only children, but also his beloved Gilda. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he flies into a rage, defacing a sculpture of his former chiselled features and terrifying her almost as much as his monstrous scarring.

After being hideously scarred, Two-Face embarks on a bizarre crime spree across the city.

Tormented, driven to the brink of madness, Kent ponders this dichotomy of his explicit duality. He focuses his rage on Moroni’s silver dollar, defacing one side of it and lashing out at the cruelty of fate. Deciding that all life hinges on the flip of a coin, Kent projects his duality onto the now-scarred dollar. He resolves to decide his immediate future on a coin toss, promising to wait for Batman’s specialist to be freed if the unmarked side comes up or embark on a criminal career if the scarred side comes up. Of course, the scarred side wins and Kent rebrands himself “Two-Face”, adopting a suit to match his split face and putting his knowledge as district attorney to use in his crimes. Since everything he does is decided by this bizarre coin, one day he and his goons might rob a bank for illicit gain, but the next day he might donate his stolen money to charity! This causes public opinion of him to be fittingly divided, with some branding him a thief and a murderer and others a philanthropist and saviour. Even his goons are confused by Two-Face’s unpredictable nature, but they’re excited when the bad side wins and they undertake an elaborate scheme to rob the Brown Bond Company messenger that sees them hijack a double decker bus to rob the bondsman. As luck would have it, Batman and Robin happen to spot the mugging taking place and swoop in to intervene. Apparently well aware that Kent is Two-Face, Batman tries to talk him out of his life of crime but is stunned when his former friend pulls a gun on him and orders his men to toss him off the roof of the bus!

When Batman confronts Two-Face, the tragic villain is left clueless when his coin fails him.

Although this doesn’t come to pass thanks to Robin accidentally causing the thug driving the bus to be killed, Batman is incapacitated in the fracas and the Dynamic Duo are left to die on the out of control vehicle, though Robin manages to get to the handbrake in time. Back at his thematically appropriate lair (one side is clean and pristine and the other is a shambles), Two-Face chastises himself for his actions. Believing that he’s killed his good friend, Two-Face almost regains his sanity before lashing out at the mirror and murdering his other goon after blaming him for causing the shambles on the bus. Two-Face then steps his game up by targeting the double-feature movie house, since he’s now committed to basing his crimes on the number two, but remains unaware that Batman and Robin survived the bus crash. Upon investigating the dead body of Two-Face’s goon, the Dynamic Duo happen to find a map stuck to the sole of his shoe by a piece of gum! This leads them to the Bijou Theatre, Two-Face’s next target, where Two-Face takes over the projection booth and demands that the audience hand over their loot. While Robin takes out the goons in the projection booth, Batman swoops onto the stage for a brief fight with Two-Face while his pre-recorded message looms and rants in the background. Somehow (it’s really not too clear), Two-Face slips away, but the Batman easily tracks him back to his lair by simply…y’know, following him after Two-Face made the error of driving down a one-way street and attracting police attention. Refusing to go down without a fight, Two-Face again threatens to shoot Batman, but the Dark Knight pleads with him to come along quietly. Batman promises to testify on his behalf to argue temporary insanity and to do everything he can to see Kent gets a light sentence until that specialist can fix his face, but Two-Face is unable to make a decision without flipping his beloved coin. Unfortunately for the tragic villain, cruel fate strikes again and the coin ends up standing on edge, leaving Two-Face conflicted and incapable of deciding whether he should give up his life of crime or kill Batman and continue down his dark path.

Two-Face slips away, continues his unique crimes, and even bests Batman in a fight.

The story continued, fittingly two issues later, in “The Man Who Led a Double Life”, which picks up right where the first story ended and sees Two-Face pocketing his coin, resolving to let fate decide what he does with his life. Unfortunately, a trigger-happy cop bursts in and guns down Two-Face, believing he’s about to shoot Batman, but the bullet strikes the coin in Two-Face’s breast pocket, allowing him to survive and make a hasty retreat by leaping out of the window! Since the bullet hit the scarred side of the coin, Two-Face believes this is fate’s way of telling him to commit himself to his criminal career. His first act is to rob the doubles tennis match (during the daytime, since the coin landed good side up) and donate the cash to charity. Next, he and his goons kidnap matchstick mogul Henry Logan, whose entire home is apparently made out of matchsticks, but Batman and Robin are stunned to find it was actually the cantankerous tycoon’s double who was taken since Kent knew about Logan’s doppelganger from his time as district attorney. Batman and Robin are disgusted by Logan’s indifference towards his double’s fate and his selfishness, but the reclusive hobbyist agrees to pay Two-Face’s $200,000 ransom. However, when Logan and his wife arrive at the disused barn to make the transfer, Two-Face is enraged to find he’s been tricked and that it’s Batman and Robin in disguise! Batman and Robin easily overpower Two-Face and his mooks. Although one of the goons buries Robin under a pile of hay, Batman continues hammering Two-Face after the scarred villain tries escaping on a motorcycle. Laughably, Batman is felled when Two-Face tosses his coin at his forehead; however, Batman is spared since Two-Face “[is] not a killer yet” (despite it being said that he was in the first story) and still has some compassion for his former friend.

Two-Face’s attempt to return to his wife, and succeed at crime, are thwarted by the Batman.

When Batman and Robin return the double to Logan, they find the tycoon to be as grating as ever, so Robin teaches him a lesson by dropping a lit match into his shoe, something the Batman simply laughs about despite the fact that the house place could’ve gone up in flames! Anyway, after spotting a loved-up couple in the street, Two-Face decides to pay a visit to his lost love, Gilda. Gilda is elated when the fully restored Harvey Kent surprises her at home, but he ensures she doesn’t get too close to his face. Over a candlelit dinner, he promises to come back to her and forgo his criminal ways if she waits for him, but is incensed when her happiness turns to horror after the heat from the candles melts the wax make-up covering his hideous scars. Gilda is driven to tears by the revelation that Kent has completely lost himself to wickedness and insanity, but Two-Face flies into a rage when Batman bursts in since he assumes she was colluding with the Dark Knight. Once again, Two-Face escapes through a window and he avenges his misfortune on the mask and make-up factory that cost him his love. Two-Face and his goons beat up the proprietors and torch the place, leaving the mask-maker destitute and his son swearing revenge. The story then leads us to believe that, despite Dick’s warnings, Bruce uses make-up to infiltrate Two-Face’s gang as “Getaway” George when the coin flips in his favour. Two-Face’s next target is the double-header baseball game between the city’s fire and police departments, in which honorary police officers Batman and Robin are publicly seen participating. Two-Face brazenly steals the $50,000 takings and even takes the mayor hostage at gunpoint after Robin beats up his minions. When Two-Face gets back to his lair and finds the cops waiting, he assumes that “Getaway” is Batman in disguise and is stunned when the real Dark Knight barges in to deliver a swift uppercut. It turns out that “Getaway” was the mask-maker’s son working in cahoots with Batman, and Two-Face bitterly comments on the irony of being double-crossed by one of his own gang in the end.

The Summary:
Two-Face’s links to Jekyll and Hyde aren’t simply thematic, they’re explicit. Hell, the first dialogue box on the opening page of “The Crimes of Two-Face” not only refers to Two-Face as “a twentieth-century Jekyll-Hyde” but even shows the disfigured criminal reading a copy of the book! I may be committing a literary sin here, but I haven’t actually read that book so I can only speak to the widely regarded themes of duality and man vs. monster that are at work in the text, but “The Crimes of Two-Face” definitely goes out of its way to draw parallels between Kent’s fate and that classic piece of gothic literature. They are, however, really only skin deep. Sure, we only see Kent for a few panels before he’s hideously scarred, but there’s no indication in either story that he was anything but a model citizen and champion of justice. More than once, he and Batman refer to each other as old friends and Two-Face is noticeably conflicted about the Dark Knight, more so than his criminal career, it seems. Indeed, it’s quite jarring when Kent just suddenly decides he has only two options: wait to be fixed or turn to crime, but it’s pretty well conveyed that his ghastly condition has caused him to snap. Batman refers to him suffering from temporary insanity, the text boxes allude to his rage, and Gilda’s reaction to his outburst all point towards this, but it’s still quite the sudden turn from model civil servant to notorious bank robber. One thing I did enjoy was that the reveal of Two-Face’s horrific visage is kept hidden to start with, so we only see it when he reluctantly reveals himself to Gilda, which builds a sense of anticipation about what he looks like. It’s a shame that he’s depicted with a literal line running down the middle of his face, but I can forgive that given the simplistic art of the time.

Despite Two-Face’s obvious gimmick, there’s little detective work involved in stopping him.

We’re well into Batman’s time as a much brighter, kid-friendly character here. He’s appearing in broad daylight, working alongside the police, and even taking to the witness stand and playing baseball, for God’s sake! Now fully deputised members of the police department, Batman and Robin are seen as assets rather than vigilantes and are specifically brought in by Police Commissioner James “Jim” Gordon to help with the Henry Logan kidnapping case. More importantly, the Batman had a close working relationship with Harvey Kent that sees him repeatedly appeal to his better half in “The Crimes of Two-Face”. Sadly, we never get to actually see the extent of their friendship. It’s simply said and inferred by their dialogue, and neither story explores Bruce’s reaction to his friend’s condition or delves into how conflicted he feels about Two-Face. Instead, Batman tries to out-think the tragic villain, occasionally begs him to listen to reason, and settles for socking him in the jaw when he refuses to come quietly. By the end, Batman views Two-Face as just another colourful supervillain and there’s no indication that he wants to try to help or rehabilitate his former friend; he just wants him locked up. As a villain, Two-Face is both visually interesting, surprisingly tragic, unpredictably volatile, and incredibly restrictive. Since he dictates his actions on a coin flip, his crimes can either be horribly violent or unnervingly charitable, casting him almost as an anti-villain since he’ll help those in need with ill-gotten gains and even kill his own men if they violate his rules. This makes the coin his most obvious Achilles’ heel, but it’s at least tied to his dual and conflicting nature. His obsession with the number two is far more of a crutch and I’m surprised that more wasn’t made of it. Once again, Batman and Robin do very little detective work here (they happen upon that map and Batman simply guesses that Kent would return to Gilda) so there’s no depictions of them trying to figure out Two-Face’s next scheme or running around the city looking for obscure references to the number two. It’s simply them reacting whenever Two-Face strikes or stumbling upon a lead.

Two-Face is a tragic and visually interesting character even in his more basic debut story.

Still, while Two-Face’s complex nature, volatile personality, and relationship with Batman is only touched upon or inferred in “The Crimes of Two-Face” and “The Man Who Led a Double Life”, both stories were surprisingly fun and unique tales. It’s not often that Batman’s villains had such a tragic twist to them back then and the references to Two-Face using his knowledge as district attorney for evil only add to the cruel twist of fate dealt to this once handsome and honourable man. I enjoyed Two-Face’s lamentations, which were suitably Phantom-esque, and his whole gimmick, including the split suit and lair. Despite seeing it as a handicap, I’ve always liked the double-headed coin aspect of the character and I enjoyed how quickly he became fixated on the coin’s decisions and how he was rendered panic-stricken and impotent when the coin landed on its side. I think “The Man Who Led a Double Life” would’ve been served better if it had begun with a babbling and broken Two-Face being taken into custody and seeing doctors try to salvage his mind and face until he inevitably returned to his evil ways, but that was kind of toyed with when he desperately resorted to a wax facsimile to reconnect with Gilda. Overall, the two tales didn’t exactly blow my socks off and there are definitely better Two-Face origin stories and tragic tales out there, but they were entertaining enough. Two-Face is an elaborate criminal with a unique, if narratively exhausting, gimmick and has (and continues to have) a tragic appeal to him that’s prominently introduced here, even with the lacklustre depiction of Kent’s time before his scarring.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Have you ever read the two-part debut of Two-Face? If so, what did you think to it, which of the two was your favourite, and where would you rank Two-Face in Batman’s villain hierarchy? Would you have liked to see more backstory given to Harvey Kent? What did you think to his coin, obsession with the number two, and the depiction of his volatile duality? Did you enjoy Batman’s time as a brighter, friendlier character or do you prefer the brooding, grim Dark Knight? What are some of your favourite Two-Face stories and which interpretation of Two-Face is your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on Two-Face, share them below or on my social media, and be sure to check out my other Batman content!

Movie Night [Friday the 13th]: Friday the 13th: A New Beginning

Dr. K7 Comments

Long considered to be an unlucky day due to superstitions involving the number thirteen and religious connotations, Friday the 13th is perhaps equally as well-known as the title for a long-running series of slasher movies. Naturally, this is clearly the best opportunity to take a look at the Friday the 13th (Various, 1980 to 2009) horror series and to commemorate this unlucky and dreaded date.

Released: 22 March 1985
Director: Danny Steinmann
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $2.2 million
Stars: John Shepherd, Melanie Kinnaman, Shavar Ross, Carol Locatell, Tiffany Helm, Dick Wieand, and Tom Morga

The Plot:
Several years after murdering hockey-masked psychopath Jason Voorhees, a grown-up Tommy Jarvis (Shepherd) is interned at a halfway house for recuperation. However, when Jason (Morga) seemingly returns and a fresh batch of bodies start piling up, Tommy must face his demons head-on once more.

The Background:
Following John Carpenter’s Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) and the birth of the “slasher” genre, Friday the 13th (Cunningham, 1980) was a surprising box office success and this led to equally financially successful sequels. However, just as producer/director Sean S. Cunningham distanced himself from the franchise, so too did Paramount executives become embarrassed by their shlock franchise. Thus, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (Zito, 1984) was developed to bring the series to a definitive end…before it proved to be a commercial success widely regarded as one of the best in the franchise. Consequently, a fifth entry followed only a year after the “Final Chapter”, one that was unusually deceptive in both it methodology and approach. Both stars John Shepherd and Dick Wieand were disappointed to find they’d been duped into a new Friday film and even the director was disgusted by how much footage was excised by the ratings board. Although child actor Corey Feldman could only return for a cameo, the film seemed to be setting Tommy up as the new killer of the franchise but A New Beginning’s disastrous critical reception and audience backlash saw Jason return for real in the very next film. As if being one of the lowest-grossing Friday films of the time with its $22 million box office wasn’t bad enough, A New Beginning is widely cited as one of the worst entries in the franchise.

The Review:
Jason may very well be one of the most, if not the most, prolific killers in all of horror cinema. His reputation as an unstoppable, merciless masked killer is well deserved not just because of his brutality but also because he categorically refuses to stay dead, even when film studios try to do him in! Branding The Final Chapter as the last-ever Friday the 13th was a bold claim, especially as the film ended with the pretty explicit suggestion that killing Jason had a negative effect on young Tommy. The film’s final, haunting shot suggested that Tommy would take over as the franchise’s killer and, honestly, I almost wish we’d seen that happen, at least for one or two movies. Not content with this blatant misdirection, A New Beginning opens with the suggestion that Jason is far from dead. In an opening that’s basically foreshadowing the next, far superior movie, young Tommy watches on, terrified and helpless, as Jason (here played by John Hock) rises from his grave in a zombie-like state to begin his killing spree anew. Sadly, we’d have to wait another year for this to come to pass and this promising opening is quickly revealed to simply be a vivid nightmare of the now grown-up Tommy. Yes, rather than following the traumatised youngster as he deals with the fallout of his actions and a newfound bloodlust rising within him, A New Beginning jumps ahead to find Tommy as the most mid-twenties-looking seventeen-year-old you’ll ever see in cinema but no less disturbed by his encounter with, and recurring visions of, Jason several years prior.

Traumatised by his childhood, Tommy is a deeply disturbed and haunted young man.

Now a disturbed, withdrawn youth, Tommy has bounced around numerous psychiatric hospitals and been subjected to every treatment and drug available short of electroshock therapy. Regardless of how poorly his treatments have taken, he’s been transferred to Pinehurst Halfway House, run by kindly Doctor Matt Letter (Richard Young) and his assistant, Pam Roberts (Kinnaman), in the hopes that he can be reacclimated back into society. Tommy is a very different character here; no longer the chirpy, enthusiastic, curious little boy, he’s sullen and moody and highly aggressive, carrying a nasty-looking flick knife and carrying a seething rage beneath his brooding exterior. Tommy is seen to be massively unstable, liable to flip on a dime and send Eddie Kelso (John Robert Dixon) hurtling through a table and mercilessly pummel anyone who touches him or riles him up with a sudden aggressive outburst. Yet, at the same time, Tommy still has some of his sentimental and playful side. He still carries a photo of his family and is still proud of his homemade masks, but he’s constantly on edge and triggered into violence by the slightest hint of hostility towards him. A New Beginning features two Jasons for the price of one; thanks to his childhood trauma, Tommy hallucinates and has nightmares of Jason, clad more or less in the same attire as he died in, despite it being explicitly stated that Jason was cremated after his death (a plot point later abandoned). The second Jason, though familiar, is noticeably different; not only is he dressed in different clothes, but his hockey mask also features prominent blue triangles rather than red and he’s very much real compared to the ghost that haunts Tommy. This Jason is just as brutal and superpowered as the last, easily manhandling his victims, crushing their bones, and surviving horrific injuries, lending credence to Tommy’s fears that Jason has returned from the grave.

Pinehurst shelters some eclectic, if one-dimensional and comically disturbed, kids.

In a change of pace from previous (and most other) Friday the 13th films, A New Beginning includes a gaggle of eclectic teenage misfits rather than horny camp counsellors, though Pinehurst’s residents are no less promiscuous and cliché. Functioning as an extremely lenient halfway house where the residents are free to do whatever they want thanks to the “honour system”, Pinehurst shelters Eddie and his lover Tina McCarthy (Debi Sue Voorhees), insecure stutterer Jake Patterson (Jerry Pavlon), goth Violet Moraine (Helm), blank slate Robin Brown (Juliette Cummins), compulsive eater Joey Burns (Dominick Brascia), and the violent and unstable Vic Faden (Mark Venturini). As you’d expect, the film wastes little time in establishing each character’s one defining trait and makes very little effort to expand them beyond that before they’re unceremoniously offed. Jake is humiliated when Robin mocks his affections and his corpse ends up in her bed, but she’s immediately killed before properly processing her remorse and grief. Indeed, all we really know about Robin is that she’s into films and a natural with kids. At least Violet has a unique look, her love for music, and her tendency to snap at people…but she’s knifed in the gut before she can do anything other than showcase her slick dance moves. Arguably, the most prominent members of the group are two who are barely even in the film. A loud and child-like teen, Joey desperately tries to be useful and make friends with everyone, only to constantly make a fool of himself. When he tries this with Vic (who really shouldn’t have had access to an axe), he ends up chopped to pieces, horrifying his fellow residents and leaving everyone shellshocked, particularly Tommy and oddly disturbed paramedic Roy Burns (Wiead). With Tommy’s sister, Trish (Kimberly Beck), reduced to a simple photograph, we’re left relying on Pam as our main girl. Of everyone in Pinehurst, Tommy is most receptive to Pam’s influence and persuasion, potentially because he reminds her of his sister or perhaps because of confusing sexual feelings towards her, but she has no idea what he’s seen or of the horrors Jason is capable of since she’s used to just dealing with unruly kids.

Charismatic and likeable, if zany, side characters steal the show and deserved more screen time.

In place of the smart-mouthed, resourceful young Tommy, we have standout character Reggie “The Reckless” Winter (Ross), son of Pinehurst’s grandfatherly cook, George (Vernon Washington). Reggie’s a lot like Tommy was as a child; he enjoys pranks and going where he’s not meant to and cheekily acting like he’s twice his age, especially with the ladies. As memorable and entertaining as Reggie is, he’s got nothing on his older, rockstar brother “Demon” (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.) In a film stuffed with aggravating and forgettable characters, Demon is a breath of fresh air. From his pimped-out van, his smooth tongue, and his meme-worthy singing voice to his devotion to his little brother and his energetic charisma, it’s a real shame when Demon gets skewered while on the crapper. While Matt’s heart’s in the right place, Pinehurst has ruffled a few feathers with the townsfolk, specifically loudmouth hic Ethel Hubbard (Locatell) and her simpleton son Junior (Ron Sloan). Ethel’s outspoken and aggressive not just to Matt and his residents, but even the ineffectual Sheriff Cal Tucker (Marco St. John) and her own son, who she berates constantly, and isn’t afraid to threaten Matt’s horny and disruptive residents with violence when they trespass on her property. As aggravating as Ethel and Junior are, they definitely make the most of their roles; Ethel excels as a suspicious and infuriated redneck, barking colourful swears and treating everyone like dirt, even her simpleton son. Other notable and strangely fun side characters include greasers Pete Linley (Corey Parker) and Vinnie Manalo (Anthony Barrile), who are murdered while experiencing car trouble but make a bizarre impression with their banter and Vinnie’s amusing singsong about his broken-down car! However, this is merely the appetiser for what Demon has in store for us! A charismatic mixture of Prince and Michael Jackson, Demon woos his girlfriend, Anita (Jere Fields), with an infectious melody of “Ooh, baby!” but even his charm has kinks in it. He exhibits uncharacteristic anger when Anita winds him up and ends up struggling with his bowels after eating one too many enchiladas.

The Nitty-Gritty:
I think a good way to describe A New Beginning would be to simply sum it up as a waste of potential. I firmly believe there was a good idea buried in here somewhere; I can’t say if it would’ve been any better or worse if it had taken more cues from Halloween and reframed Tommy as the franchise’s new killer, but it certainly might have been more interesting than this awkward game of whodunnit. Revenge has always been a prominent theme in the Friday the 13th franchise and it’s alive and well here. Like Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) before him, Roy is driven to madness by a murderous lust for revenge but he’s clearly more unhinged (or the writing just wasn’t as good) since he slaughters his victims seemingly at random rather than targeting those actually responsible. In many ways, A New Beginning mirrors the first film; there, it was pretty damn obvious Pamela was the killer since she showed up at the last minute when everyone was dead, and it’s also pretty obvious that this Lou Ferrigno lookalike is our man since Roy hogs the camera and interjects himself into conversations that are nothing to do with him whenever he’s onscreen. It’s actually very comical; this nobody, who you could easily forget, just randomly pops up and may as well have a big sign over his head saying KILLER. Yet, rather than focus on his grief and descent into madness and appropriation of Jason’s legacy, the film focuses on running the genre’s cliches into the ground with nonsensical padding and zany side characters. The likes of Ethel and Junior and the wacky Pinehurst residents really drag the runtime and make this one of the most boring and tedious entries when really we should be focusing on whether Jason is really back, if Tommy is unknowingly possessed by or acting out the kills, or who the real culprit is but there’s precious few red herrings offered to us throughout.

Although possibly the horniest Friday yet, the film’s gore is butchered by censoring.

Of course, Friday the 13th is a franchise known for three things: Jason, gore, and sex…and A New Beginning certainly has its fair share of the latter. Without a doubt, this may well be the horniest film in the franchise; everyone’s either catcalling, leering, or out-right drooling over each other, especially the girls. Randomly, the film detours from the main plot to up the boobs and body count with waitress Lana Ardsley (Rebecca Wood) and moustachioed ladies’ man Billy Macauley’s (Bob DeSimone) sordid antics. However, while Lana flashes her tits with glee, she’s got nothing on Tina, who basically puts on a softcore porn in the woods with Eddie. While the killing starts when Tommy’s nightmare Jason makes short work of two foolhardy grave robbers (Todd Bryant and Curtis Conaway), this is sadly a double-edged sword as A New Beginning includes several gruesome kills but, thanks to meddling censoring, many are decidedly toothless. However, in some cases this actually works quite effectively; Joey’s hacked-up body is only briefly seen but there’s enough gore and astonished, horrified reactions to tell that Vic really did a number on the lad, and a quick shot of Pete being force-fed a flare is suitably wince-inducing. Unfortunately, Vinnie and Anita’s throat slashes leave a lot to be desired, as does Roy’s axe attack on Billy and Lana, and Roy’s offing of the random drifter (Sonny Shields) is so sudden that you’d miss it if you looked away for half a second. From here, it’s all a bit hit and miss; as gory as Tina’s gouged-up eyes are, I have to believe that she was originally decapitated by those shears, and Eddie is simply crushed to death by a belt across the face. There’s some tension as Roy toys with Demon and a surprisingly explicit shot of him being impaled, and I was more than grateful when Junior’s obnoxious wailing was literally cut off at the neck and Ethel got her head split open, but it’s all so toothless and fleeting and random.

Roy makes for an uninspired reveal, ruining the potential of placing Tommy as our new killer.

Interestingly, it’s Reggie who ends up finding all the dismembered bodies in the final act. Since Tommy’s missing and the bodies are all in his room, Reggie and Trish assume that he’s gone on a killing spree and flee from the masked psychopath into the storm-swept night. “Jason” pursues the two with superhuman persistence, again echoing the finales of the previous films, before being run down by Reggie in a tractor! However, when they stupidly stop to inspect the body, the wounded “Jason” springs to life and corners them in the barn, where Pam briefly fends him off with a chainsaw before Tommy makes a dramatic entrance. “Jason” seems as captivated by Tommy as Tommy is horrified by “Jason”. Thanks to his traumatic childhood and crippling hallucinations, Tommy hesitates and is nearly killed, but strikes a piercing wound with his knife. This lures “Jason” to the barn’s upper level, where Reggie, Pam, and Tommy fight “Jason” once more and drop him onto a bed of spikes below where they get a look at his unmasked face and are stunned to find that it was meek, unassuming Roy all along! However, it’s a little difficult to really get all that invested in Roy’s motivations. It’s mentioned that Joey is an orphan, whose father “took off” when he was little, severely undercutting my emotional investment in Roy’s killing spree. Sheriff Tucker delivers some stilted exposition about Roy’s character and motivations, speculating that he was driven to murder after abandoning his son as much as grief over his brutal murder. It’s pretty obvious that he’s more than just a forgettable side character by the glare he shoots Matt and down the camera after Joey is killed, but it’s easy to forget about him amidst the sex, kills, and Tommy’s apparent descent into madness. Speaking of which, despite facing and conquering his demon once more, Tommy continues to be tormented by nightmares; he envisions himself killing Pam, then Jason standing over his bed ominously. Although Tommy seems to force the apparition to disappear once and for all, the film ends with the suggestion that Jason’s spirit has taken root in Tommy’s body. He dons Roy’s mask (no idea why it was in Tommy’s hospital room) and prepares to kill Pam, with even the iconic “Ki ki ki, ma ma ma” subtly altered to suggest Tommy will be the killer going forward.

The Summary:
Although it tries to play with the formula of the franchise, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning ends up playing things far too safe. The whole reason Jason was killed off in the first place was because of how repetitive and derivative the films were becoming, and changing the setting to a halfway house does little to alter that. Instead, the film goes out of its way to avoid featuring or expanding on the Pinehurst kids and needlessly drags out the runtime with a bunch of random kills that aren’t even fun to watch since the gore is so horrendously butchered. The potential to try something new is here but lost behind a thinly veiled attempt to remake the first film, hit all the cliché expectations of the genre, and pretend like Jason is still alive when he clearly isn’t. In another life, with a stronger script, A New Beginning would’ve taken place mostly in Pinehurst and seen the residents and staff picked off one by one, with Tommy being positioned as the killer only to reveal that it’s actually Roy. At least that would’ve made more sense than Roy targeting random civilians rather than those actually (well, partially) responsible for Joey’s death. Though, ideally, Roy would’ve been dropped entirely (or existed only as a red herring) and Tommy would’ve been positioned as the franchise’s new killer, now horribly traumatised from his experiences and driven to murder, we were sadly left with this mess of a plot. Ultimately, considering the next film basically pretends like this one didn’t happen, you’re best off skipping A New Beginning. It adds nothing to the franchise and stands out as a failed attempt to try something different mired in an insistence on repeating the same tired slasher formula.

My Rating:

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Terrible

What did you think to Friday the 13th: A New Beginning? How do you feel it holds up against its predecessors and its many sequels? Did you guess that Roy was the killer, and if not how did you miss the blatant foreshadowing peppered throughout? Were you disappointed that Tommy didn’t become the new killer and what did you think to his characterisation? Which of the kills was your favourite? What did you think to all the wacky side characters? Which of the Friday the 13th movies is your favourite? Do you consider Friday the 13th to be unlucky? Are you watching a Friday the 13th movie today? Whatever your thoughts on Friday the 13th (the movie, franchise, and day), go ahead and leave them down below or drop a comment on my social media and be sure to check in again for more horror content in the near future!