Author: Dr. K

Game Corner [Brightest Day]: Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters (Xbox 360)

Dr. K1 Comment

Although February 2014 was dubbed “Green Lantern Day” (because, by the American calendar, the date read as “2814”, the space sector assigned to Earth in DC Comics), the significance of this date has passed over time. Instead, I’m choosing to celebrate the debut of perhaps the most popular iteration of the character, Hal Jordan, who first appeared in October 1959.

Released: 7 June 2011
Developer: Double Helix Games
Also Available For: Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3

The Background:
When Green Lantern first appeared in All-American Comics #16 in July 1940, it was as the superhero persona of of Alan Scott. However, in 1959, Julius Schwartz had writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane reinvent the character as space cop Hal Jordan, thereby creating what we now know as DC Comics’ resident intergalactic police force. After years of aborted attempts, Hal Jordan finally made his big-screen debut (alongside the Green Lantern Corps) in Green Lantern (Campbell, 2011), a critical and commercial failure that set back the formation of a DC cinematic universe a couple of years. However, one thing that came out of the movie was Green Lantern’s first (and, so far, only) solo videogame outing with this tie-in title, which was made by an amalgamated developer whose previous titles were also mostly videogame adaptations. Although featuring the likenesses and voices of many of the film’s stars and allowing players to utilise stereoscopic 3D during gameplay, Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters received mixed reviews; while some praised the various gameplay mechanics and the game’s presentation, others criticised the repetitive combat and lack of replayability. Since Green Lantern failed to produce a sequel, we’ve yet to see another solo videogame for the ring-slinger, which is a bit of a shame considering how much potential the character has in the near-limitless scope of the genre.

The Plot:
Before harnessing the green energy of willpower and creating the intergalactic peacekeepers known as Green Lanterns, the Guardians of the Universe employed androids called Manhunters. After being shut down for becoming too violent, the Manhunters suddenly return for revenge against their former masters, and Green Lantern’s Hal Jordan and Thaal Sinestro are just two of the emerald corpsmen dispatched to combat this threat.

Gameplay:
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is a third-person action/adventure game very much in the style of hack-and-slash brawlers like the God of War franchise (Various, 2005 to present). Players take on the role of Hal Jordan and fight their way through some pretty long and bland environments slashing about Manhunters with a variety of attacks generating by his Power Ring. If you have a friend, they can join the action at any time as Thaal Sinestro, though he’s basically just a skin and doesn’t have any unique dialogue or attacks and the camera becomes a bit restricted with two players on screen. Still, you have quite a few options available in terms of combat: X unleashes a fast attack with some sword swipes, Y delivers a strong attack that includes a fist and a hammer, B sees you grasping smaller enemies or objects with a claw, and the Right Bumper lets you blast ahead with a drill and chaining all of these together will allow you to pull off some basic combos to take out larger and multiple enemies pretty quickly.

Hal’s Power Ring affords him numerous options in combat and puzzle solving.

A allows you to jump but, unfortunately, you can’t fly unless you’re activating a Green Lantern logo to leap to a new area in a cutscene or dropped into one of the games shooting sections. You can evade, however, with the right stick and shield yourself from attacks with the Left Bumper. As you play through the story, you’ll unlock constructs to assign to the Left and Right Trigger; holding these down and pressing a button lets you pull off up to eight different Power Ring abilities that will drain your meter (though this refills over time and by collecting green orbs). Hal can blast enemies from afar with the Ring Blaster and Gatling Gun, smash them and activate pressure pads with the War Hammer, deploy and throw a Hover Mine to blow them up or destroy power cores, send them flying (and knock back projectiles) with the Baseball Bat, and swing around a couple of maces to devastate groups of enemies. Hal can also rapidly whip Manhunters, auto target and pummel them with the Rocket Punch, smash through enemy shields with the Piston Blitz, deliver targeted attacks to enemy weak points with the Missile Pack, and eventually dish out big damage with a Jet Fighter and a huge Mech Suit. The bigger and more powerful constructs will drain more of your Power Ring’s energy, but you can upgrade your Power Ring and your basic attacks by defeating enemies and smashing parts of the environment for Will Points (strangely still abbreviated to XP). The more XP you earn, the higher your level raises (up to a maximum of ten) and the more upgrades and additional constructs you’ll unlock, eventually allowing you to purchase Lantern’s Light to recharge your Power Ring with the directional pad at the risk of being left vulnerable. Finally, as you defeat enemies, you’ll build up your Ring Surge meter; once it’s full, press the Left and Right Bumper to activate a Ring Surge, which restores your health and Power Ring to full and powers up your attacks for a short time; the effectiveness of your Ring Surge can also be upgraded with XP.

QTEs, simple puzzles, and rail shooting sections add some variety.

The bulk of your gameplay revolves around combat; near endless, mindless combat against Manhunters of all shapes and sizes. The game is incredibly linear, with no need for a map or directions since it’s pretty clear where you need to go, though there are inevitably times when it’s easy to get a little turned around since environments became very samey very quickly. When you’re not smashing apart endless Manhunter drones, you’re given a handful of additional missions, such as destroying mines, leaping to Siege Towers and destroying them by smashing open their armoured cores, and destroying teleport gates to stop enemies spawning in. One mission has you taking out a bunch of lasers before they destroy the Central Power Battery, sometimes you’ll need to press A and rotate the left stick to open doors or spawn in a battery, and other times you’ll be dodging electrified walls and floors to progress. These latter elements get mixed up you play through the story, requiring you to grab a battery and get it to a power node before it explodes or smashing Hover Mines into spinning holes as the floor tries to fry you. Later in the game, yellow Fear Energy nodes and enemies drain your Ring Energy meter and limit your constructs, and Queen Aga’po helps you out on Zamaron by lowering crystal barriers, where you’ll also need to destroy Boost Crystals to stop the Zamarons being powered up. Generally, puzzles are pretty simple, requiring little more than clearing out enemies, grabbing something to plug in somewhere else, either to match symbols or to destroy an energy core, and you’ll only really get a taste of some variety in the handful of rail shooter sections. In these, you use X or Y to fire (with no limits and a rapid-fire option) and can lock onto enemies with LT to fire off energy-draining missiles or become a Jet Fighter with your Ring Surge, making for some fun shooting sections. Additionally, you’ll occasionally have to perform some quick-time events (QTEs) to finish off some of the bigger enemies and bosses, and you can lower the difficulty level after you die if the game becomes too tough.

Graphics and Sound:  
Technically speaking, Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters looks, sounds, and plays pretty decently; I experienced a bit of a delay when activating my Ring Surge (though this could’ve been my controller) but there wasn’t really any slowdown, which is good as things can get a bit hectic at times. Ryan Reynolds returns to voice and lend his likeness to Hal, playing him a little more straight-laced now that he’s a fully-fledged Green Lantern, and he (and the other Green Lanterns) matches his much-maligned movie appearance very well. His constructs all look big and fun and imaginative, though they are a bit restrictive; his basic attacks change appearance as you upgrade them, which is a nice touch, and the developers even made the bizarre decision to include a function where Hall becomes dizzy if you rapidly spin the control stick.

The game evokes the aesthetic of its movie counterpart, for better or worse.

Sadly, the game’s environments and music aren’t much to shout about; you visit Oa twice, at the start and end of the game, and both times it recreates the look of the movie but is little more than a bizarre alien landscape under attack from various Manhunters. Zamaron is a rocky, mushroom-strewn alien world that is more bland than interesting, though it does include canyons and crystal mines and temples and such. The only other area in the game is Biot, a massive mechanical factory and processing plant for the Manhunters that’s full of gears and pistons and consoles and such, but there’s very little to interact with in any of the game’s locations and few rewards or incentive to explore as there aren’t really any collectibles. The game’s cutscenes work well enough, with the suit and the movie’s aesthetic actually translating pretty well to the action figure presentation of this era of gaming, and I liked how the story was a sequel to the movie, though it’s weird how there was no expansion on Sinestro’s decision to switch to a Yellow Ring.

Enemies and Bosses:
The vast majority of the enemies you’ll face are Manhunters, disposable tin cans that fly or teleport in and attack in some large numbers. You’ve got regular drones, ones with shields or blasters, and annoying bastards on these hoverboards that allow them to zip around and bombard you with laser fire. Sometimes you’ll be attacked by mines and laser cannons or Manhunter ships, which can be destroyed by smashing back their projectiles, and larger Manhunter variants will rush at you and grab you in a bearhug, draining your Ring Energy and forcing you to mash A to escape. On Zamaron, you’ll battle some different enemies, mainly mind controlled Zamarons who attack with staffs and such, but you’ll also encounter Willhunters, which drain your Ring Energy, and Manhunters also exhibit this ability on Biot and later in the game.

Only Zamaron offers a reprieve from the endless Manhunter variants.

Bosses are primarily larger Manhunters, which then return as mini bosses or are strewn throughout shooting stages. The Ultra Manhunter is the best example of this; you’ll first battle it on Oa, where it stomps about firing lasers and shooting its fists at you but you can evade it, take advantage of the nearby Lantern power-up, and land some combos when it gets stuck on the ground. Ultra Manhunters reappear numerous times, often in twos and accompanied by a slew of other Manhunters; they later add a gravity bomb to their arsenal which sucks you in before exploding, but you can destroy these with your Hover Mines and you can put them down with a QTE after dealing enough damage and blast them to smithereens in the shooting sections. The Siphoner Manhunter, which bearhugs you, and the Willhunters are presented like mini bosses when you first encounter them but they quickly just become regular enemies. On Zamaron, you’ll battle Queen Aga’po after she’s corrupted by the Yellow Energy; she causes crystals to burst from the ground (which freeze you and enemies if you touch them) and sends her minions after you between attacks before attacking with her lance. After pursuing her in a shooter section and taking out another Ultra Manhunter, she sets the Zamaron Defender on you. This battle takes place on a 2.5D pane and sees you attacking its hands and the Willhunters it sends out, avoiding its swipes and the falling boulders, smashing back its projectiles and dodging its electrical barriers and shockwaves in easily the most annoying boss battle of the game so far (and you don’t even get the catharsis of finishing it yourself as Hal delivers the final blow in a cutscene).

After besting the Manhunters, you’ll face off against renegade Amon Sur.

Biot is full of Siphoners and Ultra Manhunters, Manhunters who exude Yellow Energy, and annoying reactor cores that you need to destroy with your Hover Mines. The mechanical hellhole culminates in a battle against the titanic Grandmaster, which is essentially an even bigger Ultra Manhunter and your Mech Suit comes in handy here, allowing you to go toe-to-toe with the armoured foe, who loves to blasts its fists at you and swing them around the arena to send you flying. Take it down and you get to battle the even bigger Highmaster afterwards, which is an even larger Ultra Manhunter that blasts out bigger versions of those gravity bombs and sends a massive laser beam from its hand to cut you down. The only way to damage this guy is to attack the glowing points on its knees, then run around behind it and awkwardly toss your Hover Mines into its knees so it drops to the floor, allowing you to attack the cockpit where Kilowog is being held captive. Repeat this three times, fending off the Manhunters and dodging its faster and more aggressive attacks, and you’ll progress to the final stage of the game. This sees you returning to Oa, where Amon Sur has become consumed by Yellow Energy and is leading a renewed Manhunter assault against the Guardians. You’ll need to dispatch his minions before engaging with him one-on-one, which sees Amon dashing at you with his scythe-like lance, conjuring skeletal hands, bombarding you with laser blasts, and protecting himself with an impenetrable shield. Deal enough damage and he also constructs a massive mech suit for himself, meaning the finale becomes a game of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots as you throw slow punches at him, guard against his attacks, and stomp the ground to break his guard, completely negating all of the combat and gameplay you’ve endured and mastered and having the final boss come down to a QTE with obnoxious timing.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
As you defeat enemies and smash pots and other parts of the environment, green, white, and blue orbs will refill your health and Ring Energy and grant you XP. Occasionally, you’ll find Lantern charge points in the environment which fully replenish your health and energy and allow you to pull off a Ring Surge, but that’s about it for in-game power-ups. New constructs are made available as the story progresses and as you level-up, which also unlocks upgrades for your attacks and Ring Meter so they become flashier, more powerful, and charge/last longer. You can assign Hal eight different constructs to use and can swap them out from the pause menu, but it’s best to keep a couple (like the War Hammer, Baseball Bat, and Hover Mine) in your arsenal since they’re useful for solving puzzles and defeating certain enemies. Other constructs, like the Jet Fighter and Mech Suit, may deal a lot of damage but they have a long charge time and drain more of your Ring Energy, though you can find and destroy coloured meteorites in each mission that will extend both of these meters.

Additional Features:
There are forty Achievements to earn in Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters, with eleven being awarded simply for clearing the game’s missions and story mode. You’ll also get Achievements for racking up high combos, acquiring and upgrading every construct and ability, defeating certain enemies with each construct, and fully expanding Hal’s health and energy. There are three difficulty levels for the game, with an additional Achievement awarded for beating it on the hardest setting, and two more for playing in co-op, making for some pretty simple to earn Achievements. Co-op mode is pretty good, though there’s a distinct lack of individuality to Sinestro, and you can replay any cleared mission from the main menu and even take advantage of a 3D functionality if you have one of those 3D TVs. Sadly, there really isn’t much to keep you playing; you can go back and look for things you’ve missed, but there are no collectibles, no concept art or gallery, and no skins to unlock, making for a pretty cheap and barebones experience.

The Summary:
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is a pretty decent hack-and-slash videogame; fans of the God of War franchise will be immediately familiar with the vast majority of the gameplay, but those who crave a little more depth to their games will be left wanting more from this tie-in title. The controls and combat are pretty good, but the stages are extremely restrictive and tediously drawn out, artificially extending the length of the game without really providing much visual variety. Combat quickly becomes tedious and you can easily mow through most enemies with the same button inputs or constructs without needing to mix things up and, while the rail shooting sections are fun, they’re few and far between and don’t really have a great deal of challenge to them. The enemies you battle get old very quickly, making things even more monotonous, and the few puzzles offered are ridiculously easy to solve and recycled over and over. Graphically, the game does a good job of emulating the style of the movie it’s based on and the story functions as a lacklustre follow-up to a mediocre film, but there’s very little replay value to be offered here. As a quick, cheap cash-in that rips off the gameplay of a more successful franchise, Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters does alright but there’s obviously better hack-and-slash titles out there and the only reason to really get this is if you see it cheap and you fancy adding some quick and easy Achievements to your gamer score. Overall, the game just lacks in imagination; Green Lantern is a character who can potentially do and conjure almost anything he desires but he feels needlessly handicapped here and the lack of skins, unlockables, or visual variety really drag this game down.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Have you ever played Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters? If so, what did you think to it? How do you feel the combat and constructs worked in the context of the game? What did you think to the plot and its status as a follow-up to the movie? Were you disappointed by the lack of variety in the enemies and locations? Which of the constructs was your favourite and were you a fan of Ryan Reynolds reprising the role? What did you think to the movie the game’s based on and would you like to see a new Green Lantern game in the future? Which Green Lantern character, villain, or story is your favourite and why? How are you celebrating this pseudo-Green Lantern day today? Whatever you think about Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters, and the Green Lantern comics books, feel free to leave a comment below.

Movie Night: Blade (1998)

Dr. K10 Comments

Released: 21 August 1998
Director: Stephen Norrington
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Budget: $45 million
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, N‘Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Kris Kristofferson, and Udo Kier

The Plot:
Blade (Snipes), a half-human, half-vampire dhampir born with all of the strengths of a vampire but none of their weaknesses (save the thirst for human blood), hunts vampires alongside his grouchy mentor and father-figure, Abraham Whistler (Kristofferson). Their mission is upended when Blade helps haematologist Doctor Karen Jenson (Wright) after she is bitten, and when sadistic upstart vampire Deacon Frost (Dorff) sets in motion a plot to usurp his elders and evoke the mythical “Blood God”.

The Background:
Eric Brooks/Blade began life as an extremely obscure, culturally problematic vampire hunter in the pages of The Tomb of Dracula, courtesy of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, after Marvel Comics were were finally allowed to publish stories involving vampires and other supernatural creatures. Development of a Blade movie can be traced back to 1992, when New World Pictures bought the rights to the character and rapper LL Cool J was initially attached to the role. Obviously, this never came to fruition and the rights eventually ended up with New Line Cinema, where the property caught the attention of writer David S. Goyer. After battling against the studio’s wishes to make a spoof film, and change Blade’s race, Goyer won out with his gritter, bloody, realistic reimagining of the character. Goyer’s revised ideas for Blade were reflected in his guest appearances on the nineties Spider-Man animated series where he was also a dhampir and accompanied by Whistler (Malcolm McDowell/Oliver Muirhead). Although actors Denzel Washington and Laurence Fishburne were considered for the role, Goyer pushed for Snipes, who had previously been attached to star in an unproduced Black Panther movie. Norrington’s first 140-minute cut was heavily trashed by test audiences, necessitating not just heavy reshoots but also an entirely new ending, but the final movie went on to be a huge success; it grossed over $131 million at the box office and was highly praised for its slick visual style, seedy depiction of vampire society, and unapologetic violence and gore. Though there were some reservations with the disparate genres at work in the film, the results spoke for themselves; not only was the comic book Blade altered to match his live-action counterpart, but Blade spawned two sequels of varying quality and an unfortunately short-lived TV show. Blade was also one of the first movies to really kick-start the surge in popularity for superhero properties in cinema, so it was only fitting when Marvel Studios reacquired the rights to bring the character back to the big screen with a reboot.

The Review:
Before Blade, I (like many) had never heard of Marvel’s most famous vampire hunter. Hell, I wasn’t even that familiar with Wesley Snipes, having seen him in Demolition Man (Brambilla, 1993) and very little else since my action movie dance card was firmly filled up with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s body of work. Still, like The Matrix (The Wachowski Brothers, 1999) and Armageddon (Bay, 1998), Blade was a  constant presence at sleepovers and birthdays, and probably the last good vampire film I watched until 30 Days of Night (Slade, 2007)). It didn’t help that the genre became oversaturated with lame-ass, love drunk teenage vampires and Blade and Matrix rip-offs like the God-awful Underworld franchise (Various, 2003 to 2017). Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the dark, gory, gritty, leather-and-guns aesthetic that these films popularised at the time, but crafting a good vampire film in this day and age seems like a lost art as filmmakers lean a little too heavily towards the camp and an excess of CGI. But still, Blade was (largely) immune to all of that, and barely even had the stigma of being a comic book movie (the film doesn’t even have the classic Marvel logo in the opening) since no-one really knew who he was; I’d seen him in Spider-Man and even I hardly remembered him, so in many ways this was the perfect “back door pilot” for the superhero movies we were about to see explode onto cinema screens. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t see R-rated superhero films take centre stage during this movement, but I still maintain that not every superhero property even needs to be full of gore and cuss words; but those who do deserve it, like Blade, should definitely veer more towards that and would do well to take a few notes from this classic horror/action film.

With all a vampire’s strengths but none of their weaknesses, Blade wages a relentless crusade.

Blade is the story of…well…Blade…a stoic and highly skilled vampire hunter who was born Eric Brooks. When his mother, Vanessa (Sanaa Lathan), was bitten by a vampire (later revealed to have been the big bad, Deacon Frost) while pregnant, Eric was born a “dhampir” (though the film prefers the term “Daywalker”), a human being with all the strengths of a vampire (heightened senses, superhuman strength, agility, and durability, and skin-piercing fangs) but with none of their weaknesses to sunlight or ultraviolet radiation (which burns and eventually explodes on contact), garlic, or silver. For all his fantastic abilities, though, Blade still ages like a normal human and is still hampered by perhaps the vampire’s most crippling affliction: “The Thirst” for human blood. While other vampires freely indulge their bloodlust, luring in unsuspecting prey and literally raving at underground bloodbaths, Blade relies upon a special serum, derived by his half-crippled mentor, Whistler, to keep the Thirst at bay. Blade takes this serum at least once a day and this is the first time (and one of the rare times) that we see him in an kind of vulnerable state; strapped to a chair, grasping Whistler’s hand for support, his body is wracked by seizures as the serum courses through his veins, leaving his hunger satiated and his body trembling. Aside from this, Blade is an absolute machine when out in the field; stone-faced and exuding menace and confidence, he thinks nothing of walking into a club filled to the brim with horny, blood-hungry vampires and even little of storming a hospital or Frost’s penthouse in the pursuit of his targets. Harbouring a deep-rooted hatred towards vampires since they killed his mother and cursed him with a life of violence and pain, Blade is relentless in his quest to kill every vampire that crosses his path, disrupt and destroy their entrenched hierarchy, and track down and kill Frost, which has earned him a reputation amongst the vampire community as a feared and formidable figure, the aforementioned Daywalker, who is effectively their bogeyman. However, Blade is deeply ashamed by himself; disgusted at his inhuman thirst for blood and sickened at what Frost did to his mother, he seeks solace in the only thing he knows: killing the monsters responsible for his existence to gain just a small sliver of his humanity back with each victory.

Grouchy hard-ass Whistler has devoted his life to training Blade and killing vampires.

Although Blade is somewhat cold and dismissive towards Whistler, who is a crotchety and jaded old man with a prominent limp and a tendency to smoke around flammable liquids, there’s a mutual respect and admiration between the two. When Blade was a boy, Whistler stumbled upon him on the streets and nearly killed him before realising what he was and has been teaching him everything he knows ever since. Whistler has even less love for vampires than the titular hunter; years ago, his wife and children were killed after taking in a drifter, who turned out to be a vampire, and he was forced to watch as they were tortured before his eyes. Quite how he survived this encounter isn’t elaborated, but he’s made it his mission to take them out one by one. Despite their contentious relationship, where Whistler is often admonishing Blade for his actions, there’s a father/son bond between the two; it’s obvious that they care about each other, and Whistler is clearly disturbed at the serum’s increasing ineffectiveness and concerned for Blade’s welfare out in the field. Unfortunately, age, injuries, and cancer have taken their toll on Whistler and he’s no longer able to be an active combatant, something you can tell is a source of great frustration for him. Despite this, he’s still a valuable ally and resource for Blade; his vast knowledge of vampire society and their inner workings allows Blade to pursue Deacon Frost, and Whistler furnishes Blade with all his weapons and his supped-up muscle car, and even makes a dramatic and amusing last-minute save later in the film (his “Catch you fucker’s at a bad time?!” and “Somebody get me a Goddamn wheelchair!” lines are some of the best in the film). For all his piss and vinegar, Whistler has a large heart; he truly cares for Blade and sympathises with Karen’s plight, and his whole mission is motivated by a desire to protect others from the vampire’s bloodlusts. However, while he has an indomitable fighting spirit, his best efforts to protect Karen and fend off Frost are for naught, leaving him beaten, bloodied, and bitten. Blade is left shell-shocked and refuses to finish off his father figure; it’s all he can do to clean Whistler’s wounds and, seeing his protégé’s struggle, Whistler demands that he walk away so he can finish the job himself, and Blade begrudgingly obeys, resuming his grim façade and fuelled by an even greater need to extract revenge on Frost.

Violently thrust into Blade’s world, haematologist Karen works to find a cure for vampirism.

When we first meet her, Karen is just an average overworked and underpaid haematologist trying to get through a nightshift while dismissing the advances of her colleague and former flame, Doctor Curtis Webb (Tim Guinee). She’s violently introduced to Blade’s gruesome world, however, when the charred corpse of Frost’s underling, Quinn (Logue), springs to life and violently attacks both her and Curtis. Although it’s admittedly a bit weird that Blade went to all the trouble of setting Quinn alight to send a message to Frost and then immediately came back to “finish [him] off”, thereby endangering innocents by letting Quinn live, it does mean that he crosses paths with the injured and infected Karen. In a rare moment of emotion, Blade sees a resemblance between Karen and his mother and chooses to take her to his lair rather than finish her off or leave her to turn. Karen thus becomes the audience surrogate; it’s through her interactions with Whistler and Blade that we learn about Blade’s origin, the rules of these vampires, and the lore behind the movie. At first, she’s naturally terrified; not only has she just been attacked by a ravenous, burned up corpse but this hulking motherfucker just threw her out a window and effectively kidnapped her, and her fear only worsens when she’s told that she has a high chance of becoming a vampire even after the treatment they give her. Determined to avoid this fate, and fascinated by their operation, Karen experiments with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), discovering that it not only has explosive results when mixed with vampire blood but could also hold the key to curing vampirism. Though this wouldn’t have any affect on Blade since he was born with his abilities, she’s confident that she can cure him with enough time but, ultimately, he requests that she synthesise a more effective serum for him. Since she was attacked, Karen becomes “marked” and thus remains at risk of vampire attacks; this comes to a head when she’s taken hostage by Frost, meaning she willingly allows Blade to drink her blood in order to restore his strength for the finale, but any romantic subplot between them is continually (and refreshingly) downplayed due to Blade’s intense focus on his never-ending mission (although the scene where he drinks her blood seems purposefully shot to evoke an intense love scene).

Upstart sadistic Frost wants nothing more than to rule over the humans and usurp his antiquated elders.

As different as Blade is from his comic book counterpart, Frost is equally a departure from the silver-haired, middle-aged man seen in the comics. Indeed, the movie version of Frost has more in common with David Powers (Kiefer Sutherland) from The Lost Boys (Schumacher, 1987), both aesthetically and in terms of his motivation. Frost is seen by his more composed elders as a disruptive and chaotic individual, one who regards vampires as the dominant species and humans as mere food and whosr antics draw unnecessary attention to their kind not just from Blade, the scourge of vampire society, but also from the humans they so tentatively live alongside. Frost’s mindset is an intriguing one; since he was “merely turned” into a vampire, and was thus once human, his hatred and resentment towards humanity seems to stem from an untampered, sadistic lust for power, bloodshed, and a superiority complex afforded by his superhuman abilities. Seeing the vampire high council as relics of a bygone era, Frost wants nothing more than to run free and rampant, unrestricted by antiquated rules and treaties, and has even found a way to operate in the sunlight using sun block (a ludicrous solution, but it makes for an intimidating confrontation between him and Blade and one of the first popular instances of “bullet time” in cinema). Frost is a twisted, arrogant punk who surrounds himself with a gaggle of likeminded cronies, all of whom revel in indulging their thirst for blood and anarchy, and this extends even as far as to threaten a young girl just to hold Blade at bay and to take the head of the vampire council, Gitano Dragonetti (Kier), rip his fangs out with pliers, and leave him to be annihilated by the rising sun. Despite his disrespect and frustration with the old ways, Frost devotes a great deal of his time, energy, and resources to translating the secret of the “Blood God”, La Magra, from the Book of Erebus (the “Vampire Bible”), discovering that sacrificing twelve “Pure Bloods” will summon the eldritch force and infuse him with its power. A cruel-hearted and vicious individual, Frost takes great pleasure in beating Whistler half to death and delights in torturing Blade not just with the knowledge that his mother is still alive (and a vampire now entirely loyal to Frost) but also by draining his blood to fuel his transformation into the Blood God. Imbued with a virtual immortality, Frost’s ambition more than exceeds his grasp, allowing him to effectively usurp his elders and ascend to a level of existence that threatens to spell the end of days for both humans and any vampires that don’t pledge undying fealty to him.

The Nitty-Gritty:
If there’s a downside to Blade, it’s that it suffers from the annoying trend of having its antagonists sit around in suits and in elaborate boardrooms and office buildings, lording their power and control over the city. However, this actually plays into Frost’s character; unlike the vampire high council and the likes of Gitano Dragonetti, Frost shuns the corporate ways of their society and prefers to indulge his whims, and this dispute leads to a great deal of antagonism between his upstart group and their elders. Indeed, vampire society in Blade is depicted as being firmly entrenched within what we recognise as the real world; they’ve infiltrated every level of society, from politics to law enforcement and real estate, and enjoy the wealth and privileges such influence brings, allowing them to carefully select their victims and modulate their base desires so as not to draw attention to themselves. In contrast to these Pure Bloods, Frost and his cronies are seen as petulant children; admonished for encouraging gatherings of similarly turned vampires and threatening the “treaty” they have with the human politicians (indicating an awareness of vampire society at a higher governmental level, but it’s ignored and/or tolerated to keep from sparking an all-out war that would cost humans their lives and vampires their lofty position). If you’ve ever watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 to 2003), you’ll be immediately familiar with vampire society in Blade: there’s the older Pure Bloods at the top of the food chain, those they’ve turned and inducted into their cabal (like Frost), but there are also more monstrous variants in their ranks. The morbidly obese Pearl (Eric Edwards), who’s been feeding on children while helping translate the Vampire Bible, is just one such example, but Curtis later pops up as a horrific zombie-like creature as a common by-product of being bitten. On the other side of the coin, the vampires frequently employ “Familiars”, regular humans like Krieger (Kevin Patrick Walls), a police officer who carries Frost’s tattoo and hopes to one day be turned for assisting his master.

Blade excels in its action-packed fight scenes, gritty presentation, and unapologetic gore.

One of the things I absolutely love about Blade is, like The Crow (Proyas, 1994) and The Matrix before it, the film has a heavy reliance upon bad-ass leather trench coats and kung-fu. Garbed head to toe in black and sporting a nifty armour vest, Blade cuts quite the intimidating figure; our introduction to him, standing bone dry amidst a literal bloodbath, couldn’t be more striking and watching him dismantle vampires left and right with ease and skill is always a joy thanks to Snipes’ slick movements and some incredibly well-shot and well-choreographed fight scenes. The action is easy to follow, even when in low or strobe lighting, and Blade oozes confidence and charisma every time he’s on screen even though the character is largely stoic and no-nonsense. Having said that, though, Blade’s grim demeanour does crack on more than one occasion; he gives himself a little fist pump after nailing Quinn to a wall, shares some banter with Whistler, expresses concern over Karen and appreciation towards his allies, but perhaps his most amusing attribute is that he often delivers cool, snappy one-liners (his outburst of “Motherfuckah, are you outta your damn mind?” when the cops shoot at him never fails to amuse and his “Some motherfuckahs are always tryin’ t’ice skate uphill” is exactly the right level of awesome and ridiculous). Blade is so proficient at killing vampires because his superhuman abilities are bolstered by some awesome weapons, courtesy of Whistler; he carries a variety of silver stakes to instantly turn vampires to charred ash, wields a modified MAC-11 for rapid fire like he’s fuckin’ Alex Murphy/RoboCop, blows vampire heads clean off with his shotgun and, of course, carries a titanium, silver-tinted sword that easily allows him to not only sever limbs and reduce even roomfuls of armed vampires to dust but also contains a security feature that means no one but him can hold it without losing a hand! Whistler even furnishes Karen with a compound of “vampire mace” to fend off any unwanted attention, and has put together quite the sexy muscle car for Blade to bomb around the city streets in.

Unfortunately, the film’s effects and finale are bogged down by some ugly CGI blood.

I mentioned Buffy the Vampire Slayer earlier and the comparison is more fitting that you might think; while the vampires don’t sport monstrous make-up like in the show and appear much sexier with their glistening fangs and gothic attire, they die in very much the same way. After being stabbed or sliced with silver, or exposed to sunlight, vampires quickly and violently burn to ash and cinders, an effect that is visually interesting if a little dated. For the most part, Blade does a great job of keeping everything nice and practical; Snipes excels in his fight scenes and shoot-outs, which are all nice and varied and have a great balance of fast-paced, hard-hitting action, explosions, and blood, and the sets are equally diverse, ranging from high-tech archives, the juxtaposition between Frost’s elaborate penthouse and Blade’s rundown lair in the industrial district, and the ancient stone of the Temple of Eternal Night. On the other hand, Pearl is little more than a disgusting mass of rubbery flesh, Frost’s Mac is strangely able to render a complete 3D recreation of the temple simply from translating the Vampire Bible, and, of course, there’s the final confrontation between Blade and Frost himself. After being restored by Karen’s blood (and receiving a power boost as a result) and cutting through Frost’s underlings, and even killing his mother (ultimately an underutilised plot point, I feel, that could’ve easily been dropped), Blade battles the empowered Frost one last time. This one is actually a challenge for Blade; not only is Frost able to match him blow for blow and sword swing for sword swing, but he’s functionally immortal thanks to the Blood God. Despite Frost’s henchwoman, Mercury (Arly Jover), killing one of the twelve Pure Bloods, the ceremony goes off without a hitch, imbuing Frost with the powers of the God (although it’s possible that Mercury’s actions caused him to be more of a demigod than a literal whirlwind of blood). When Blade does cut through Frost’s abdomen for a killing blow, the upstart vampire easily reconnects himself using probably the worst CGI blood effect you’ll ever see. Luckily, these poor blood effects are fleeting and don’t overpower the finale like in the first disastrous test footage, but they do rear their ugly head when Blade bests Frost by injecting him with his entire supply of EDTA, causing him to violently explode in an ugly, bloated mess. Although Frost is dead, this was merely a battle in an ongoing and never-ending war and the film ends with Blade more willing than ever to see his cause through to the conclusion (even ending up hunting vampires in Russia) rather than accept the vague promise of a cure.

The Summary:
It’s actually a little surprising to me how well Blade holds up today; the film has a slick, science-fiction edge to it that permeated subsequent comic book movies like the X-Men films (Various, 2000 to 2020) but it had something to it, a dark, gritty edge, that even now films in the same genre tend to either downplay or ignore. Although it’s undeniably comic book-y in its premise and execution, Blade eschews many of the clichés we’ve come to see from the genre; rather than being a by-the-numbers origin story or feature form-fitting costumes, Blade is primarily a horror/action film and, in this regard, it exceeds tremendously. Full of fast, exciting fight scenes, frenetic chase sequences, and action-packed shoot-outs, Blade is even a cut above other films in the action genre and may very well be the perfect marriage of all these disparate elements. Edgy, gory, and unapologetically aimed at a more mature audience, the film takes everything that worked in The Crow and expands upon it with its gothic, gruesome premise and proceeds the “wire-fu” craze popularised by The Matrix. I’ve never been a massive fan of Wesley Snipes; he’s undeniably cool and certainly has some skills, but it’s a little difficult for me to reconcile his personal life with his movies, which haven’t always been able to compete with his peers, but Blade was a great showcase of his physical abilities and easily his most iconic character for me since it allows him to be stoic, deeply emotional, and snarky in addition to tossing fools around like they were nothing. The depiction of vampire society as being a conflict of interests between the antiquated old guard and Frost’s arrogant upstarts echoed The Lost Boys and nicely challenged the cliché of all-powerful, corporate antagonists, and was a significant influence on the genre going forward. While some of the effects haven’t aged too well and the plot point of Blade’s mother still being alive didn’t really land for me, neither of these things really detract from how enjoyable Blade is. Although I actually prefer the more violent and action-packed sequel, there’s a definite appeal to how raw and uncompromising the original is, especially in its depiction of more horrific and gory moments, and it’s a great piece of dark, gritty vampire fiction for fans of the genre.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Are you fan of Blade? What did you think to it when it first came out and how do you think it holds up today? Were you a fan of the comic book character prior to this film and, if so, what did you think to the changes made to his powers and origin? What did you think to the performances, specifically Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff, and were you moved by Whistler’s death? Did you enjoy the film’s gore and action sequences, and what are your thoughts on the CGI used in the finale? Which vampire movie or story is your favourite, and which of the Blade films or comics do you enjoy? Whatever your thoughts on Blade, feel free to share them below.

Movie Night: Saw: Uncut Edition

Dr. K6 Comments

Released: 18 October 2005
Originally Released: 29 October 2004
Director: James Wan
Distributor: Lions Gate Films
Budget: $1 to 1.2 million
Stars: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Ken Leung, Michael Emerson, and Tobin Bell

The Plot:
Doctor Lawrence Gordon (Elwes) and voyeur Adam (Whannell) wake up in a dirty bathroom with their feet chain to pipes, the latest captives of the twisted and mysterious “Jigsaw” (Bell) who subjects his victims to deadly “games” to test their commitment to life. With his family at risk, Dr. Gordon has just hours to either kill Adam or use the rusty saw to cut through his foot and escape his fate!

The Background:
After finishing film school, Australian writer/director duo Leigh Whannell and James Wan were desperate to fund a film of their own. Inspired by the unprecedented success of the low-budget Blair Witch Project (Myrick and Sánchez, 1999), the two dreamed up the basic concept that would become Saw: two men chained up in a room with a dead body between them that played out like a mystery thriller. To raise the funds they required, Wan and Whannell shot a seven-minute short, with Whannell in the lead, depicting a man with a modified bear trap strapped to his head, which caught the eye of producer Gregg Hoffman. Hoffman loved the short and agreed to finance it, and give the two creative control and a percentage of the profits, through their production company, Twisted Pictures, and that same short was also enough to convince Cary Elwes to sign on, though a legal dispute saw this relationship deteriorate for the better part of five years. Once Danny Glover was signed on, Tobin Bell jumped at the chance to take part, especially considering the twist ending, and the crew set to work constructing the elaborate, dingy sets. The film was shot very quickly, with little time for rehearsals, which resulted in the Saw’s gritty presentation and rapid cuts, though Wan used this to his advantage to help bolster the editing process. The film’s gruesome death traps became not only a staple of the resulting franchise but helped popularise the “torture porn” sub-genre of horror cinema and caused a great deal of controversy amongst critics. Indeed, although Saw‘s eventual $103.9 million box office made it the most profitable horror film since Scream (Craven, 1996), reviews were mixed; many were put off by the frantic editing and gross-out content, while others praised Saw as a ground-breaking entry in the genre. Regardless, Saw‘s strong opening weekend saw a sequel approved and Saw quickly spiraled into a dense and popular (if divisive) horror franchise, with six sequels released annually between 2005 and 2010 alongside videogames, comic books, other merchandise, and later sequels.

The Review:
I vividly remember the hype for Saw; it was one of the few times I actually visited a film’s website and participated in the viral marketing campaign, which was especially surprising considering that I wasn’t a massive fan of the overly bleak and dreary Seven (Fincher, 1995), which mainly impressed me because of its gruesome kills and twist ending. However, Saw was both heavily advertised as being grittier and nastier than Seven and the trailers had hooked me on the premise alone, so I was all for it and I’m very happy to say that I saw all the Saw movies at the cinema when they first released and became a huge fan of the franchise, despite them getting more and more over the top. The first Saw, though, is decidedly low key; most of the film takes place in one location, a dingy bathroom with a dead body in the middle of it, and focuses on the plight of its two main characters, two men who couldn’t be more different and who find themselves stuck together, chained to pipes, with their only options being death or murder. Of the two, Adam is the first to awaken; after narrowly avoiding drowning, he’s flustered, confused, and aghast to find himself trapped in the dilapidated room alongside Dr. Gordon while the doctor is much calmer and more pragmatic about their situation, at least from the off.

Dr. Gordon and Adam are trapped in a room where the only way out is death or blood!

After their initial introductions and trying to get their heads around what’s happening, the two find they each have a microcassette on their person and, with a great deal of difficulty, Adam retrieves the tape player from the suicide victim whose brains are splattered across the bathroom floor. Playing the tapes reveals that the two are the latest victims of a sadistic killer labelled Jigsaw by the tabloids; he challenges Dr. Gordon to a simple game: kill Adam by six o’clock or else his wife and daughter, Alison and Diana (Monica Potter and Makenzie Vega, respectively) will die. Jigsaw also subtly gives the two the option of suicide or even using the hacksaws Adam later finds in the funky water of the toilet cistern to cut through their feet since the chains are too strong. While Adam continues to be horrified by the situation, Dr. Gordon is more than familiar with Jigsaw since he was once a prime suspect in the police investigation into the killer, but his knowledge of Jigsaw fails to alleviate Adam’s anxiety or the mistrust between the two, which only escalates as the film progresses since Adam is a terrible liar (something amazingly conveyed by Whannell’s atrocious acting!) Luckily, Dr. Gordon was cleared of any suspicion, but he witnessed first-hand the lengths Jigsaw goes to test his victims after hearing the testimony of the only known survivor of his games, former drug addict Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith). When Dr. Gordon receives a call from Alison, who’s being held at gunpoint by Jigsaw’s desperate accomplice, Zep Hindle (Emerson), warning him not to trust Adam, a series of flashbacks reveal that Adam was hired to follow Dr. Gordon and photograph his movements, and that Dr. Gordon has been less than faithful in his marriage, which was already strained by his long hours and neglectful tendancies. Once they stop playing coy with each other, Dr. Gordon and Adam actually work quite well to figure out that they’re being watched and come up with ways of trying to get around Jigsaw’s games; unfortunately, their attempts to fool Jigsaw are squandered not just by Adam’s unconvincing attempt to play dead but also because Jigsaw has seemingly prepared for every eventuality and shocks the two with an electrical current running through the pipes they’re chained to.

After his partner’s death, Detective Tapp is driven to near insanity by his pursuit of Jigsaw.

When the film isn’t following the two captives, either directly in the room or via video feed being observed by Zepp, it’s flashing back to show glimpses of their lives before they were captured; Adam’s are mainly focused on him stalking Dr. Gordon and being abducted by a pig-masked figure, but Dr. Gordon’s show his tumultuous homelife and busy day-to-day working as an oncologist to terminal cancer patients like John Kramer (Bell). This is where he meets Detective David Tapp (Glover) and his partner, Detective Steven Sing (Leung), the cops investigating Jigsaw. Having met with nothing but dead ends and the horrific leftovers of Jigsaw’s victims, save for Amanda’s harrowing story, Tapp believes they’ve finally found their man when one of Dr. Gordon’s penlights is found at Jigsaw’s latest twisted game. Although they’re unable to connect him to the killer in any meaningful way, careful analysis of the tape Jigsaw left for Amanda allows them to deduce his possible location and they’re so gung-ho about catching Jigsaw that they immediately investigate without back-up or a proper search warrant. There, they find a disused warehouse full of traps, Jigsaw’s now-iconic proxy (a puppet named Billy), little models of Jigsaw’s games, and Jeff (Ned Bellamy) strapped to a chair. Although they get the drop on the hooded Jigsaw, they’re left scrambling to keep Jeff from being killed by the drills closing in on his head, which is enough of a distraction for Jigsaw to violently slice Tapp across the throat! When Sing pursues, he accidentally triggers a shotgun trap and is brutally killed, leaving the scarred and traumatised Tapp to descend into near madness. Convinced that Dr. Gordon was their man, Tapp shuts himself away and devotes himself to tracking Lawrence’s every movement, employing Adam to keep tabs on him to try and catch him in the act, but doesn’t hesitate at a chance for revenge when he spots Zepp struggling with Alison in the Gordon home.

While Zepp holds Dr. Gordon’s family captive, the true mastermind lurks in the shadows.

Throughout the film, the true identity of Jigsaw is kept a tantalising mystery. When he appears, it’s either via a pre-recorded message (either on a tape recorder or speaking through Billy), under a hood or disturbing pig mask, or simply as an eye since he likes to get up close and personal with each of his victims. The few times we do see Jigsaw in person, he’s characterised as a methodical and eerily intelligent man, one who speaks in riddles and half-truths and challenges everyone, whether they’re his victims or his potential prosecutors, to both think their way out of situations and consider their perspective on life. He openly criticises Adam for living the life of a voyeur, as well as Dr. Gordon’s lack of appreciation for his family, and is seen to be a patient and fastidious man who painstakingly plans out each game to account for every eventuality. However, for much of the film, we’re led to believe that Jigsaw is Zep, a lowly orderly from Dr. Gordon’s hospital; this twist comes fairly early on, when Dr. Gordon recognises him from the various disturbing Polaroids left in his wallet, and from there Zepp is seen unobscured as he toys with Alison and Diana. Yet, while Zepp is clearly seen to be unhinged and dangerous, since he shoots and kills Tapp during their struggle, there’s an ongoing sense that there’s something not quite right; for one thing, Zepp doesn’t sound anything like Jigsaw and he is also constantly showcasing an emotional paranoia about “rules” and the situation that doesn’t fit with Jigsaw’s more patient demeanour. Indeed, despite his tendency to slice a jigsaw piece out of each of his victims (hence the name), Jigsaw openly describes his abject disgust at those who waste their lives and the sickness eating inside of him, thus perfectly laying the seeds for the film’s dramatic finale where it’s proven that Zepp was just another victim of Jigsaw’s depraved games.

The Nitty-Gritty:
If there’s one theme in Saw, it’s of trust. Dr. Gordon and Adam almost instantly distrust each other not just because of their strange situation or Adam clearly trying to cover up his knowledge of Dr. Gordon’s identity and life, but also because of the class divide between them. Adam is a desperate mercenary, of sorts; he lives in squalor job to job, caring little for who pays him or why they want people followed or the lives of the person he’s photographing. In comparison, Dr. Gordon lives very comfortably; he has a nice house, a nice office, and takes his life for granted so much that he’s happy to rest on his laurels and even consider a fling with Carla (Alexandra Chun), one of his interns (though, ironically, he put a stop to the liaison before it could properly get underway right before he was abducted, showing that he was already planning to turn his life around and try harder with his family). There’s a discord between Dr. Gordon and Alison, to the point where she treats him very coldly since she believes he’s lying about his happiness, and Sing’s unwavering trust in Tapp is arguably what leads to his death since he doesn’t stop to question his partner in raiding Jigsaw’s warehouse. This leads me to the second most prominent theme in Saw: obsession. After his injury and Sing’s death, Tapp becomes obsessed with proving Dr. Gordon’s guilt, to the point where he’s fired, divorced, and turns to alcohol and isolation. Tapp’s so consumed by grief and obsession that he’s suffered a mental breakdown and has become obsessed with “closing [the] case”, and it’s this obsession that drives him not just to intervene when Zepp tries to kill Alison and Diana but also to pursue him to the bathroom, where he’s shot and killed in a brief struggle with the manic orderly.

Jigsaw forces his victims to endure life-or-death games to test their survival instincts.

Of course, one of the main selling points of Saw are the gruesome traps Jigsaw sets for his victims and the violent ways in which they die. Shot using a frenetic camera and fast edits and bolstered by a dingy, almost low-rent lighting, the traps are presented in a way that invites the audience to experience the fear and panic felt by their victims, who are all subjected to torturous tests that reflect their sin, vices, or crimes. The first trap we see finds Paul (Mike Butters) wrapped up in razor wire after bleeding to death in an attempt to escape; Paul was chosen for the simple crime of cutting himself despite being perfectly healthy and sane, so Jigsaw wanted to test if he was truly suicidal or just wanted attention. Next, Tapp and Sing investigate the immolated corpse of Mark (Paul Gutrecht), a man who had claimed to be sick but was always out and about; to test his “illness”, Jigsaw injected him with a slow-acting poison, doused him in flammable jelly, and challenged him to navigate a field of broken glass to find the combination to the safe containing the antidote using only a candle to light his way. Easily the most iconic trap of the film (and, quite possibly, the entire franchise) is the reverse bear trap that Amanda found strapped around her head after she refused to stop wasting her life on drugs. Amanda’s only hope of survival lay in the stomach of Donnie Greco (Oren Koules) and, though reviled and hesitant, Amanda had no choice but to disembowel him to get a key out of his stomach. Considering how iconic the reverse bear trap became, it’s interesting that we don’t actually see what it’s capable of beyond a brief demonstration on a mannequin; a later Saw film would rectify this and the franchise returned to the trap again and again but in its original incarnation, the threat and sheer dread evoked by the bear trap was terrifying enough! While there’s a fair amount of blood in Saw, the first film is decidedly more reserved than its more over-the-top successors; it’s more about the atmosphere and sense of desperation here, making Saw more of a gore-thriller than a straight-up “torture porn” movie, though this Uncut Edition of the film does add a few extra frames of gore, blood, and panic to the mix despite actually running shorter than the theatrical version. Later films would up the ante on not just the traps but in exploring Jigsaw’s entire twisted philosophy, but it’s quite bitter and simplistic in Saw: he hates those who don’t appreciate life and wants to punish them for it so they can justify their existence through extreme measures and bloodshed. Crucially, there’s a distinction made that Jigsaw isn’t some psychotic murderer; technically, he hasn’t killed anyone, but his depraved methods make him a top priority for the likes of Tapp and Sing. The hints towards him being an enigmatic, almost cult-like figure are sown here, however; not only does his reputation proceed him, but Amanda asserts that Jigsaw “helped [her]” with his test, despite the fact that it’s clearly left her an emotional wreck.

Dr. Gordon resorts to extreme measure to escape but the true Jigsaw was hiding in plain sight!

Jigsaw’s traps may be a highlight but there’s a definite sense that these gruesome games were simply a test of his greater designs for those who don’t appreciate life. I say this because it definitely seems like he abducted the likes of Paul, Mark, and Jeff and simply placed them in a life-or-death situation, but he concocts an elaborate, multi-staged plan with all these different elements (Zepp, a kidnapping, planting evidence, even luminous paint and alternative ways to kill Adam) for Dr. Gordon’s test. Dr. Gordon’s calm demeanour degenerates as his situation becomes more and more desperate; hearing Alison’s voice and learning of Zepp’s involvement only exacerbates his emotional state and he’s pushed to the brink when his time runs out and he hears what appears to be the agonising death of his wife and child. His logic and reasoning evaporate and are consumed by an obsessive, desperate need to save their lives at any cost so, much to Adam’s abject horror, Dr. Gordon wraps a makeshift tourniquet around his ankle and gets sawing! Even this sequence, as harrowing and uncomfortable as it is, is nowhere near as gory as it could be or what we’d see in later films as Saw wisely keeps the focus on Dr. Gordon’s crazed expression and Adam’s horrified reaction. Finally free from his shackle, Dr. Gordon shoots Adam but is unable to kill or even oppose Zepp when he comes to finish them off for failing to complete the game in time. Luckily, Dr. Gordon only wounded Adam, who springs to life in a maniacal rage and beats Zepp to death using the toilet tank lid! Bleeding to death and barely clinging to life, Dr. Gordon drags himself off to get help though, sadly, this version of the film strangely omits Dr. Gordon’s final line to Adam (“I wouldn’t lie to you”) that I always felt was a lovely way to show how far their relationship had progressed. Injured and in shock, Adam is stunned when he roots around in Zepp’s pockets for the key only to find he possessed a tape of his own (it’s not clear what Zepp’s crime was but he was coerced into helping the true Jigsaw enact his plan on pain of death), which leads to easily one of the best twist endings in all of cinema, one perfectly bolstered by Charlie Clouser’s iconic “Hello Zepp” score. After playing the tape, Adam is astonished when the corpse in the middle of the room comes to life and rips some of the fake blood from his head to reveal himself as Dr. Gorodn’s patient! Kramer then tells Adam that the key was in the bathtub all along (if you re-watch the opening, you see it get sucked down the drain) but, when Adam tries to shoot him with Zepp’s gun, Kramer incapacitates him with an electric shock via remote control and dramatically slams the bathroom door shut with a simple stern declaration: “Game over!”

The Summary:
As much as I’ve enjoyed seeing the Saw franchise evolve and delve deeper into Jigsaw’s twisted sense of morality, methods, and justification for his horrendous actions, it’s hard, even now, to deny the appeal and almost timeless quality of the original film. Saw has a very gritty, urban feel to it; the entire film is awash in bleak, stark colours, moody lighting, and rusted, dirty tools and environments that give the whole thing an edge and an atmosphere that not only set the standard for the franchise, but which subsequent films have attempted to emulate and surpass, for better or worse. The central premise of Saw is really strong (just two guys trapped in a room with a horrifying choice to make), but I also enjoyed following the cops trying to bring Jigsaw in; Danny Glover gives the strongest performance of any of the protagonists, but Cary Elwes hold his own as well, despite this accent slipping a few times, to deliver a nuanced and tragically relatable portrayal of a successful, pragmatic man driven to the edge. The traps are, of course, a highlight of the film not just for their depravity but for how simple and effective they are; there’s a definite sense that Jigsaw cobbled all this together by hand and through meticulous planning that gets a little muddled in later films once the traps become outlandish and more nightmarish. Even more appealing is the twisted logic behind the traps, that they’re designed to punish those within with a fitting crime to test their commitment to and appreciation of life, and the suggestion that this all comes from a man whose life is coming to an end. Later films would obviously expand on this but it’s all here in the subtext and things like that, and all the little clues and background details, make Saw a classic horror/thriller even before you get to the shocker of an ending!

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

What did you think to Saw? Did you enjoy its frantic, gritty presentation or were you put off by the quick edits and gruesome content? Which of the traps was your favourite and do you think you’d be able to survive if placed in one? Were you shocked by the ending or did you suspect there was more to that corpse? Which of the Saw films is your favourite and what do you think to Jigsaw’s mentality? Whatever your thoughts on Saw, feel free to share them below and check out my other Saw content across the site!

Back Issues: The Tomb of Dracula #10

Dr. K2 Comments

Story Title: “His Name Is… Blade!”
Published: 17 April 1973 (cover date: July 1973)
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: Gene Colan

The Background:
Eric Brooks/Blade was the creation of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan; inspired by numerous black actors and sporting a 1970s “Blaxploitation” appearance, Blade was only able to come about after comic creators were finally allowed to publish stories involving vampires and other supernatural creatures. One of the first ways Marvel took advantage of this was with the Tomb of Dracula series, in which vampire hunters like Blade would battle against the titular Count and other supernatural creatures. Although heavily inspired by classic Hammer Horror films, The Tomb of Dracula initially struggled with its creative direction as different writers and artists came and went from the book, until Wolfman and Colan joined the publication and turned things around with their close collaboration. Initially a jive talking, very human vampire hunter, Blade was little more than a bit-player in the grand Marvel tapestry, although he did have associations with groups like the Nightstalkers and the Midnight Sons. Despite this, the rights to the character were bought by New World Pictures in 1992, and the later success and popularity of Blade (Norrington, 1998) saw the character transformed into a stoic, bad-ass dhampir to match his live-action counterpart, and the character has gone on to be an integral part of many supernatural and horror stories within Marvel Comics due to this surge of interest.

The Review:
“His Name Is…Blade!” opens on the dark, quiet docks in what I assume is London (or, at least, somewhere in England judging by the dialogue of the characters) where two youths are planning to stow away aboard a ship and elope to the United States when they’re suddenly attacked by three bloodthirsty vampires! These fanged, bat-like creatures exhibit many of the common tropes we associated with nosferatu: they can freely shift between a bat and a humanoid appearance, have monstrous faces, and are driven to suck the blood from their prey. In this case, however, the three aren’t there to feed; instead, they seek to turn the terrified youths into two more of Dracula’s cursed minions, implying a level of mysticism and possession from the process of being bitten. Although their victims haven’t the strength or hope of fighting off their attacks, these dark intentions are interrupted by the arrival of Blade – the Vampire Killer! Now, this isn’t the trenchcoat-clad, armour-wearing, sword-wielding half-human bad-ass you may be familiar with from the movie. Instead, Blade is garbed in a garish green coat similar to an Army jacket, an outrageous yellow visor, sports a maroon bandolier filled with stakes, and is rocking a suitably stereotypical afro hairdo. To say he cuts an intimidating figure would be a lie, frankly; instead, he just looks like a hobo with a vision problem, and yet his reputation as a vampire slayer proceeds him and the vampires state that Dracula has given them orders to kill him. Blade strikes with a speed, precision, and brutal efficiency that comes not from sporting the physical strength of his hated foe but from years of hunting and killing vampires, easily staking two of his foes with a specially carved teak-bladed knife with minimal effort. The third vampire, startled by the vampire killer’s proficiency, tries to flee in his man-bat form, only for Blade to leap onto him and end his vile undead life.

While Blade mercilessly hunts vampires, Dracula attacks a luxury cruise ship.

Upon death, the vampires slowly return to their human form, betraying this particular victim as a youth unwittingly transformed against his will; Blade cares little for this, however, and simply coldly remarks that the only good vampire is a dead vampire. His callous attitude earns him the ire of Quincy Harker, a wheelchair-bound old man and one of the world’s foremost experts on vampires. Harker admonishes Blade’s lack of vision; his crusade to simply slaughter every vampire he comes across is interfering with the bigger picture of tracking down and executing Dracula, thus making his undead minions “easy prey”. Blade, however, is unimpressed; he gives Harker the brush off and vows to continue hunting vampires without the old man’s aid, throwing some jive his way for good measure because…you know, the seventies! The story then jumps over to the ocean liner Michele where wealthy socialite Gabriel Trulaine is throwing a lavish party for his similarly decadent friends and absolutely wows his guests by having the Count Dracula himself unveiled as a special attraction for the soiree. Although Dracula (or “Vlad” as he insists Gabriel’s beautiful companion calls him) downplays the stories and rumours of his gruesome ways, assuring the awestruck guests that vampirism is a “disease” like “blood poisoning” and not the affliction popularised in the media, it’s all merely a ruse to gain power over, and favour with, the wealthy and influential and thus extend his reach into industrial, politics, and society. He’s easily able to charm Gabriel’s bimbo with a few choice words and feed upon her blood, before swatting the Michele’s captain and seizing control of the vessel. Dracula then reveals the true extent of his awesome power, which allows him to turn to smoke and control the wills of others; when one of the guests tries to fight back, Dracula simply laughs in the face of his pistol and tosses him overboard before turning on the others and preparing to work his evil magic.

Despite his superior strength, Dracula simply abandons the fight at the first inconvenience.

Fortunately, Blade intercepts the vessel; considering Harker made such a song and dance about Blade’s actions costing them another lead on Dracula, it’s a bit odd and completely unexplained how he was able to track the Michele, but he easily boards the craft and prepares to battle with Dracula. Amusingly, Gabriel’s guests do a lot of the work for him; Dracula demands that they submit to his requests willingly lest he turn them into the living dead and one devote Christian amongst them leads the charge against the Lord of Vampires, stunning him with a Holy Cross and allowing the others to pin him down. Of course, Dracula’s not so easily bested, evaporating into mist and easily escaping harm, but he flies into a rage when Blade arrives as the Count wishes to avenge the vampires lost at the slayer’s hands. Naturally, Dracula is the physically superior of the two, but Blade is tenacious and full of spunk and only enrages the Vampire King with his mocking quips. Still, as wily and nimble as Blade is, Dracula’s shape-shifting abilities and superhuman strength soon see him gain the upper hand; however, right as he’s about to bite into Blade’s neck, Gabriel’s woman, entranced by Dracula’s bite, interrupts him. This is apparently enough to wreck Dracula’s entire plan and he decides to just fly away in his bat form and leave them all to die from the explosives he had the captain place on the ship, despite the fact he could easily massacre them all with his superior strength. With only seconds left, Blade forces everyone off the Michele and into the cold waters below and is left drifting in the sea with Dracula’s mocking laughter in his ears and the promise of a further confrontation later down the line.

The Summary:
Well, this was…certainly something. I’ve never read The Tomb of Dracula or anything with either him or Blade in it before (not even Stoker’s original novel), so I went into this without any real expectations and still came out of it quite disappointed. The art work is pretty good, at times; Blade and Dracula fare the best out of anyone, with the Lord of Vampires appearing just like he does in all the classic Dracula films and popular depictions, though I can’t say I care for Blade’s appearance here one bit. I don’t really get it; like, what’s with the weird goggles? Why’s his jacket so plain and dull? Later, he dons a wetsuit of sorts to board the Michele, which is a far better look, but he quickly changes into his shitty jacket and glasses and I just don’t really get how he was supposed to look cool or interesting in the slightest in this getup. The other vampires we see come off pretty well; I liked how they shifted from bats to man-bats to monstrous humans and to mist and such, though there’s an understandable lack of blood and the vampires are disappointingly easy to kill, dying from a simply stab from Blade’s special knife that isn’t even in their hearts half the time.

It’s hard to believe Blade became such a sensation after this awfully weak debut story.

The dialogue leaves a lot to be desired, too. This is yet another instance where the story is dated by the misconceptions and stereotypes of the time, with Blade talking in hip jive slang and acting like he just walked off the set of Shaft (Parks, 1971) and Dracula endlessly monologuing and referring to himself in the third person, as was the style of many Marvel villains. This is an odd choice considering he has an underling present, Clifford Graves, to converse with, but Graves is merely a pawn of the Lord of Vampires, one for Dracula to chastise at every opportunity and leave for dead at the story’s end. I’m not sure I really get the premise of The Tomb of Dracula; were readers really just following a sadistic and bloodthirsty vampire on a serious of adventures as he preyed on the innocent and lusted for power? Seems an odd concept to me, one without much legs, and I can’t say that I’m interested in reading other stories from the comic after this one. Hell, I’m not even interested in Blade all that much after this; there’s some intrigue introduced here, with Harker despairing of Blade’s methods (despite how effective he is at killing vampires) and the suggestion that he’s this rogue element in the vampire slaying community, but he just looks and sounds and acts so corny and ridiculous that it’s hard to take him seriously. He’s tenacious, I’ll give him that, and dedicated to killing all vampires without hesitation or remorse, and exhibits some physical prowess, but it’s a pretty weak debut story, if you ask me. Dracula’s plot to manipulate the wealthy and the powerful was completely nonsensical (why didn’t he just turn them with his powers? Why go through all that charade? Why’d he fuckin’ leave when he could’ve killed them all?!) and hardly inspires me to see what else he got up to, and overall I have to say that I’m glad that the movies changed Blade’s character so much if this is what we had to deal with.

My Rating:

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Terrible

What did you think to Blade’s debut story? Did the character interest you at the time or, like me, were you introduced to him through the movies? Did you ever read The Tomb of Dracula books and, if so, what did you think to them? What are some of your favourite Blade moments from the comics? Have you ever read Stoker’s novel, and what are some of your favourite vampire stories? No matter what you think, good or bad, feel free to share your thoughts below and be sure to check out my review of Blade’s game-changing movie!

Movie Night [Global James Bond Day]: The Man with the Golden Gun

Dr. K2 Comments

To celebrate the release of Dr. No (Young, 1962), the first in the long-running series of James Bond movies (Various, 1962 to present), October 5th is officially recognised as “Global James Bond Day”. Today, this franchise stands as the longest-running franchise ever and the character is one of the most recognised and popular movie icons of all time.

Released: 19 December 1974
Director: Guy Hamilton
Distributor: United Artists
Budget: $7 million
Stars: Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Hervé Villechaize, Soon-Taik Oh, Richard Loo, and Maud Adams

The Plot:
Sophisticated super spy James Bond/007 (Moore) may have met his match in Francisco Scaramanga (Lee), a world-renowned assassin whose weapon of choice is a distinctive gold pistol. When Scaramanga seizes the priceless Solex Agitator energy convertor, Bond must recover the device and confront the trained killer in a heart-stopping duel to the death!

The Background:
James Bond, Agent 007 of MI6, was the creation of writer Ian Fleming in 1953 and was heavily inspired by his time and experiences as a navy intelligence officer. James Bond was most famously brought to life by Sean Connery, who kick-started an unparalleled cinematic franchise. However, after five films as the super spy, Connery began to tire of the role; after being lured back for a whopping $1.25 million and other perks, Connery walked away from Bond (…for a time…) and, while still finishing up with The Saint (1962 to 1969), suave Roger Moore took over and immediately set about making it his own so as not to imitate Connery’s iconic performance, eventually becoming a softer and more gentle Bond. Moore’s Bond debut, Live and Let Die (Hamilton, 1973) was a commercial success, though garnered mixed reviews, and famed Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman finally set about making a big-screen adaptation of Fleming’s 1965 novel, a polarising tale that set Bond against a notorious assassin. It was writer Tom Mankiewicz who altered Scaramanga’s character into a dark mirror of Bond himself, and the adaptation ended up being very different from the source material after taking inspiration from the 1973 energy crisis. Christopher Lee, Fleming’s step-cousin, finally got his chance to play a Bond villain and received high praise for his performance, though he struggled a bit with the Golden Gun prop device. The film was shot in numerous locations around Hong Kong, with the nearby Ko Khao Phing Kan islands housing Scaramanga’s suitably elaborate and bizarre lair. The Man with the Golden Gun was notable for its car stunts, one of which made it into the Guinness Book of Records; the barrel roll was caught in one take and saw a stunt driver guide an AMC Hornet over a specially-constructed ramp for the shot, which was mired only by an unfortunate slide whistle sound effect. Although The Man with the Golden Gun grossed over $97 million at the box office, notably less than its predecessor and coming in as the fourth-lowest-grossing film in the series. Reviews were mixed upon release, with critics questioning the script and redundancy of the film, regarding it as an uninspiring entry, despite Lee’s performance, and the film very nearly ended the franchise right then and there. It didn’t, of course; Moore’s Bond was back three years later with The Spy Who Loved Me (Gilbert, 1977), which got the franchise back on track and has been regarded as one of the best Bond movies ever.

The Review:
It was very interesting in preparing for this review to find out that The Man with the Golden Gun wasn’t very successful or well liked upon release, and that it’s since garnered a legacy as one of the worst Bond films ever made. When I first started getting into James Bond, Roger Moore was my main doorway into the classic films; Pierce Brosnan was the Bond of my generation and I’d struggled to get into the Sean Connery films for some time, but Moore’s films were far more appealing to me as they were more fun and quirky and far less dry and dull like a lot of Connery’s films. Consequently, I always had a fondness for The Man with the Golden Gun; granted, much of this was because there was a mystique surrounding the title character thanks to his trademark weapon being such a game-breaking inclusion in the classic GoldenEye 007 (Rare, 1997) but this game was my primary gateway into the franchise so anything that was included in it became a fascination for me. The film opens not with a crazy action sequence or with James Bond on a mission, but on Scaramanga’s opulent island getaway near Red China. Here, surly gangster Rodney (Marc Lawrence) shows up to kill Scaramanga and claim a hefty bounty from his pint-sized butler, Nick Nack (Villechaize). Naturally, he’s unsuccessful, but this establishes many aspects of the titular assassin that come into play later in the film: he’s a skilled gunman and survivor who delights in engaging in live competition against other killers, his island is a veritable funhouse full of animatronic distractions used to disorientate both him and his foe, he’s a crack shot with his trademark weapon, easily scoring a headshot even under low lighting, and he seems to regard James Bond as the ultimate opponent since he has a life-sized dummy of the super spy in his house of tricks.

The bullish Bond appears to have met his match in renowned assassin Scaramanga.

Scaramanga holds a unique distinction amongst other Bond villains in that he’s only the second one to have not only the film but also the title song named after him. Everything you need to know about this sadistic marksman is related in Lulu’s awkward, if catchy, opening song; he’s a world-famous assassin who’s so proficient that he can afford to charge $1 million for a hit. With few morals, he’ll take any contract as long as the client pays this fee, and he likes to engage in “love” before completing his assignment, and only requires one bullet to claim his bounty. However, there’s actually a surprising amount of depth and quirkiness to Scaramanga; as a child, he worked in the circus training animals, and was so enraged when his best friend, a performing elephant, was killed by a stage hand that he immediately took his revenge and found that he enjoyed killing even more than animals. Consequently, while he basks in the opulence of his fully-automated and luxurious island abode, Scaramanga takes a perverse pleasure in every kill and thrives on testing his skills against other, equally worthy opponents. Though he’s notorious enough that even James Bond and MI6 are aware of him, few have actually seen Scaramanga’s face and lived to tell of it; he’s readily identifiable, however, by his recognisable third nipple, a curious physical quirk that allows Bond to impersonate Scaramanga. Although he comes across as a cool, calculating, and even charismatic man, charming women and clients alike with his eloquence and wealth, Scaramanga is a ruthless and abusive man; Andrea Anders (Adams) lives in constant fear of him, to the point where she risks her life and offers her body just to get Bond to free her from his grasp, and even Nick Nack appears to covet Scaramanga’s wealth and power. Bond also gives a quick rundown of the titular assassin’s life history; of course, during his time, Bond films loved to have 007 do this, so this isn’t exactly anything new and actually helps establish the a reputation Scaramanga has. Despite his constant despair over Bond’s childish antics, M (Bernard Lee) is thus understandably perturbed when one of Scaramanga’s golden bullets arrives baring not only Bond’s number but also Scaramanga’s fingerprints, resulting in one of my favourite exchanges in the film where M gruffly rattles off the list of potential suspects who would happily pay $1 million to kill Bond. Recognising the threat, M forces Bond to take a sabbatical, but surreptitiously gives him carte blanche to investigate the threat. Luckily for Bond, his concerns about the “energy crisis” and the mysterious Solex Agitator align with his efforts to track down Scaramanga, which is made easier by Scaramanga having assassinated a fellow 00 Agent in Beirut but also because Bond is approached by Andrea, the woman behind the golden 007 bullet, who offers him anything he desires to kill her abuser.

Bond is aided, and opposed, by a variety of cartoonish supporting characters.

As much as I enjoy the quirkier side of Bond as embodied by Moore, it’s true that he’s not quite in that role here; Bond is unduly rude and dismissive of Mary Goodnight (Ekland), threatens to shoot a man in the groin, tosses a little boy into water, and smacks Andrea around before seducing her in the same brutally manipulative style of his predecessor. Still, Moore’s suave charm is more than evident (he easily seduces a belly dancer (Carmen du Sautoy) in possession of one of Scaramanga’s bullets) and to be fair, it’s implied that Bond is more than familiar with Goodnight and doesn’t regard her as much of an agent (and why would he? She’s easily one of the more scatter-brained Bond Girls so I’m not surprised that Bond is exasperated by her). Bond walks into every situation with an effortless confidence; even when attacked by larger men, or highly-trained karate students, his resolve doesn’t falter and he finds a way to fight, shoot, or run from the problem with trademark physics-defying deftness. A far cry from later, more independent and capable Bond Girls, Goodnight is little more than an inconvenience; she has some local knowledge, but mostly just gets in the way and ends up taken hostage. Although she has one flash of brilliance when she superbly knocks down Bond’s charms, she’s only too eager to hop into bed with him and is incensed when he literally stuffs her into a wardrobe to screw Andrea to get closer to Scaramanga, meaning she’s one of the few Bond Girls who’s immediately besotted by Bond and desires him, whereas most of her counterparts at least need a bit of convincing first. Goodnight is juxtaposed by the alluring Andrea, a desperate victim of Scaramanga’s lusts and control who puts her life on the line getting his finger prints on the bullet and note sent to MI6 all so Bond can slap her about and bully her into revealing Scaramanga’s location. However, this is nothing compared to Scaramanga; we never see or learn exactly what he does to Andrea, aside from a brief scene of her clearly disgusted by him, but it’s clear that she has nothing but hatred for the cold-blooded assassin, who has no compunction about putting killing her for her betrayal. While in Hong Kong, Bond works with local agent Lieutenant Hip (Oh) who, wouldn’t you know it, is not only proficient in martial arts but even has nieces who are similarly trained, allowing the movie to clumsily capitalise on the recent popularity of kung-fu movies like Enter the Dragon (Clouse, 1973). Sadly, Q’s (Desmond Llewelyn) role is disappointingly small and little more than a cameo and armaments expert Colthorpe (James Cossins) steals lines and screen time away from the recurring quartermaster, and the secondary villains aren’t much to shout about either. Scaramanga takes a contract from Thai industrialist Hai Fat (Richard Loo), whom he promptly kills (for free, despite Lulu’s assertions to the contrary…) so he can assume control of his business and claim the coveted Solex Agitator for himself, and his reportedly perverted, diminutive henchman Nick Nack is little (no pun intended…) more than a cackling nuisance who Bond easily dispatches, despite wishing to take his employer’s vast estate for himself by arranging (or, at least, co-operating) in his death.

The Nitty-Gritty:
As with any James Bond film, it’s always worth discussing the title sequence and song. Sadly, The Man with the Golden Gun doesn’t impress in this department; James Bond films of this era were decidedly simple and lacklustre compared to the more elaborate title sequences that would come later, but this is a mess of glittering lights, dancing bodies, and primarily focuses on the titular weapon being held and waved in our faces just in case you forget what Scaramanga is known for. Earlier, I described Lulu’s song as “awkward”; it’s a catchy tune and definitely sticks in the head, but there’s some weird lines like “If-you-want-to-get-rid-of-some-one, the-man-with-the-golden-gun-n-n…willgetitdone!”, which would flow a lot better if “want to” was substituted with “wanna”. While Bond films tend to be quite formulaic, especially in this era, they’re often salvaged by their exotic locations, gadgets, and colourful villains and The Man with the Golden Gun excels in this latter aspect. Christopher Lee brings a charismatic menace, largely carrying the film and stealing every scene with his magnetic performance and alluring delivery, switching between affable and menacing with a natural ease. It’s a shame, then, that the film is lumbered with a far less interesting side plot regarding the Solex Agitator; Q stresses that the device is integral to solving the world’s energy crisis but it’s not clear how it works and even Scaramanga isn’t all that interested in the specifics. I guess the film wouldn’t have been as interesting without some kind of world-threatening crisis in the background, but it might’ve benefitted from making Scaramanga’s endgame a little more explicit as he’s far more focused on killing and testing his unmatched marksmanship against the world’s greatest super spy.

Scaramanga is positioned as Bond’s dark mirror and feels a kinship towards the famous super spy.

A prominent theme throughout the film is the idea of both Scaramanga and Bond being world-renowned killers; Scaramanga views Bond as the only man worthy of testing his skills against, and even gun and munitions manufacturer Lazar (Marne Maitland) is in awe of Bond’s reputation as a marksman. I have some issues with this (after all, it can hardly be conducive for a spy for all and sundry to know their name and repute), but it fits perfectly with Bond’s ego and arrogance (he always openly introduces himself as “Bond, James Bond”, gives out his number, and usually always identifies himself as working for the British government so it’s natural that the underworld is aware of him). This ties directly into Scaramanga’s belief that he and Bond are cut from the same cloth; while treating Bond to his lavish hospitality, Scaramanga goads 007 by suggesting they each get a thrill out of killing, though Bond vehemently disagrees. It’s a fascinating dichotomy, one that is probably an ill fit for Moore’s Bond, who seems nonchalant about killing half the time (always pausing to straighten his tie and deliver a pithy one-liner) and regretful the rest, with only a handful of instances where he was more brutal in his methods (none of which are here, where Bond’s body count is noticeably low). When it’s revealed that Scaramanga hasn’t been contracted to kill Bond, cracks noticeably appear in this plot thread; Scaramanga states that he “doesn’t have anything against” Bond when they finally meet, and yet has a life-size dummy of him in his funhouse and, later, delivers a menacing diatribe about how alike they are, and even M admits that things would be easier if Scaramanga were gunning for Bond as it would be less of a crisis compared to the disappearance of the Solex Agitator, which promises to end the energy crisis by making fossil fuels redundant.

While the fights aren’t great, the sets are fun and the famous car roll remains an impressive stunt.

The Man with the Golden Gun is surprisingly light on Bond gadgets; Bond doesn’t get a fancy car or even some wearable tech. In fact, the only thing Q fits him with is an artificial third nipple so he can impersonate Scaramanga, a ruse that fails since Hai Fat has a working relationship with the renowned assassin, and the only impressive gadget is the titular golden gun, a custom-built, single-shot pistol assembled from four seemingly innocuous golden objects. Still, that’s not to say that The Man with the Golden Gun doesn’t have its fair share of stunts and exciting chase sequences; Bond flees from Hai Fat’s martial arts academy (after being inexplicably left behind by Hip) on a motorised sampan for some wacky hijinks, Scaramanga escapes in an AMC Matador that bizarrely transforms into a plane, but of course the most memorable stunt is Bond’s incredible barrel roll in an AMC Hornet that’s sadly undermined not just by the aforementioned slide whistle effect but also the blustering commentary provided by the cartoonish Sherriff J. W. Pepper (Clifton James). Bond’s fight scenes are as ungainly as ever from this time in the franchise, with Moore’s Bond specialising in improvisation and underhanded tactics such as using nearby objects, attacking the groin, and disregarding kung-fu’s code of honour. Bond succeeds in every physical encounter simply because the script says he must, meaning he can hold his own against two sumo wrestlers and even punch out Hai Fats top student, Chula (Chan Yiu Lam), and unfortunately he’s not really given a physical challenge to test himself against beyond enduring Scaramanga’s funhouse. As is also a Bond tradition, The Man with the Golden Gun visits some exotic locations, primarily Hong Kong and Thailand; Bond reconvenes with his superiors on the wreckage of the RMS Queen Elizabeth, giving us a fun slanted set, fights and speeds away through rural Bangkok, and has a tense encounter with Scaramanga at a Muay Thai boxing match, but the most impressive set is, naturally, Scaramanga’s island home.

Bond outsmarts Scaramanga, ending his threat, and finally gives Goodnight some attention.

Although she ends up as little more than a piece of eye candy as Scaramanga’s hostage, Goodnight allows Bond to pinpoint Scaramanga’s location thanks to the homing device she placed in his vehicle, leading 007 to Scaramanga’s vast, elaborate estate. In addition to his elaborate funhouse, Scaramanga’s lair houses a sophisticated solar power planet facility that, luckily for the charming assassin, is all fully automated (he has one inept guard, Kra (Sonny Caldinez)). Interestingly, it’s Bond, rather than Scaramanga, who explains what the facility is capable of since Scaramanga doesn’t understand the Solex Agitator. Indeed, he’s more interested in using focused solar energy to power his destructive laser cannon, and he’s largely content to use Hai Fat’s business to give himself the monopoly in solar energy, which he can then outsource or sell to others (or take bribes from fossil fuel manufacturers). Rather than concern himself with the particulars of all this science and business, Scaramanga’s absolutely giddy at finally testing himself against the legendary James Bond. Despite putting himself at a disadvantage since his golden gun only fires one bullet, Scaramanga has the natural advantage since they’re on his home turf and both he and Nick Nack delight in watching Bond stumble around, wasting his ammo on the same distractions that were so helpfully shown in the opening sequence. Ultimately, however, Scaramanga meets his match when Bond uses his life-sized dummy to catch the wealthy murderer by surprise with a single shot from his Walther PPK, finally ending Scaramanga’s threat. Quite conveniently, Goodnight knocked Kra into a vat of liquid helium, causing the facility (and the entire island) to go into meltdown. Of course, Bond retrieves the Solex Agitator (despite Goodnight’s bumbling) and escapes, and even fends off one final attack from Nick Nack before finally getting it on with Goodnight ahead of the credits.

The Summary:
It’s hard for me to be negative about The Man with the Golden Gun as it was one of the first Roger Moore James Bond film I ever saw and I’ve always had a soft spot for it, primarily because of how alluring and enigmatic the titular assassin is. Christopher Lee always brought his A-game to every role, especially villainous ones, and he plays Francisco Scaramanga with such delicious relish that it’s hard to deny that he’s the best part of the film and seems to be enjoying himself. Roger Moore, as ever, remains one of the most fun and charismatic Bonds; although he’s got a little too much of Sean Connery’s blunt edge here, and is quite the bully towards Mary Goodnight, he effortlessly charms, fights, and overcomes every situation, no matter how unlikely the odds or how physically outmatched he is, and I’ve always been a fan of his suave delivery and unflinching confidence in the role. While the film is undeniably bogged down by some cartoonish supporting characters and perplexing side plots, The Man with the Golden Gun is the first movie to present us with a dark reflection of 007 in Scaramanga, a sadistic assassin whose skills with a pistol are more than a match for Bond’s own, and I would’ve loved to see the idea of Bond’s occasionally ruthless and cold-blooded ways being explored in a dark opposite in one of Daniel Craig’s movies since his Bond had more of an edge than Moore’s. Still, it makes for one of the best and most memorable Bond villains; the climactic showdown between the two is a tense and engaging shoot out, despite Goodnight’s pratfalls, and I enjoyed seeing Bond on the back foot for a change and having to adapt to his surroundings to win rather than simply overpowering or outshooting his rival because the script says so. Honestly, I’m not sure why people rate this one so low; it’s not perfect, of course, and has its flaws, but all Bond films do. It’s maybe not the best of Roger Moore’s outings as the famous spy, but it’s still one of my favourites of his and I find the positives far outweigh the negatives thanks to Christopher Lee’s captivating presence and performance, the thematic parallels between Scaramanga and Bond, and the lavish locations on offer.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Are you a fan of The Man with the Golden Gun? Where does it rank against the other James Bond films for you? What did you think to the thematic parallel between Bond and Scaramanga? Did you enjoy Christopher Lee’s performance and where does Scaramanga rank in your list of favourite Bond villains? What did you think to Goodnight and Bond’s bullish ways? Which Bond actor, film, story, villain, or moment is your favourite? How are you celebrating Global James Bond Day today? Whatever you think about The Man with the Golden Gun, or James Bond in general, feel free to leave a comment below.

Wrestling Recap: Kane vs. Jericho (Armageddon ’00)

Dr. KLeave a comment

The Date: 10 December 2000
The Venue: Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center; Birmingham, Alabama
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Referee: Theodore Long
The Stakes: Last Man Standing match to conclude rivalry

The Build-Up:
On October 5th, 1997 (the day after my twelfth birthday, which sadly clashes with Global James Bond Day), Glenn Jacobs made his dramatic debut as Kane, the scarred, monstrous younger half-brother of the Undertaker. Following this, Kane ran wild throughout the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as a monstrous “tweener” who attacked bad guys (“heels”) and good guys (“faces”) alike, primarily brawling with his brother and being embroiled in WWF Chairman Vince McMahon’s vendetta against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Although Kane always received his fair share of cheers for the amount of ass he kicked, he cemented his status as a face after suffering a betrayal at the hands of his friend and tag team partner, X-Pac, which led to him firmly setting his sights on the WWF Championship, held by Triple H, after returning from an injury in mid-2000. However, while a team up with his brother was teased, Kane would turn on the Undertaker, don a bad-ass new vest attire, and embark on a renewed path of destruction, bolstered by his newfound ability to vocalise his hatred of the world and all things beautiful. Eventually, this led to him crossing paths with “Y2J” Chris Jericho, a high-flying former WWF Intercontinental Champion who earned the Big Red Machine’s rage after accidentally splashing him with hot coffee in a backstage segment. Despite swiftly enacting revenge on Jericho, and coming out on top in their last two pay-per-view bouts, Kane’s anger at Jericho only exacerbated when Y2J cost him the WWF Hardcore Championship and attacking him with a steel chair the month before. Having found a fury awoken inside himself, and frustrated with Kane’s constant attacks, Jericho went to then-WWF Commissioner Mick Foley and out-right demanded one last match with the Big Red Machine here, a Last Man Standing match, to finally put their differences aside once and for all.

The Match:
Of course, Armageddon 2000 was also the night of the infamous six-man Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship. That match, and this one, would (in storyline) cast a great deal of controversy onto Commissioner Mick Foley, since Vince McMahon wasn’t pleased that Foley had sanctioned eight of his top stars to compete in dangerous and potentially career shortening matches. However, both the video package and J.R. and The King emphasise that Jericho not only wanted this match, he literally begged for it; pushed to the edge by Kane’s constant assault, Jericho was eager to put an end to the Big Red Machine and had become increasingly violent, attacking Kane with repeated steel chair shots in the build-up to this match, and the story heading in was that Y2J was the plucky underdog and Kane was the unstoppable monster, and that something naturally had to give in this Last Man Standing match. This match also came when both men were, arguably, at the peak of their careers; Jericho was still riding a wave of popularity and early success following his memorable debut, and Kane was absolute hench as fuck at this time, sporting probably my favourite look of his and apparently reinvigorated by his recent main event push. Fittingly, given the intensity of this feud so far (which, despite quickly escalating into Kane wanting to disfigure Jericho’s face, we’re constantly reminded all started over a hot cup of coffee), the two begin the match by brawling on the entrance ramp. With no disqualifications or count outs in effect, both men were free to do whatever they wanted in order to pummel the other until they were physically unable to answer the referee’s ten count, and Kane immediately took full advantage of that to batter Jericho out to the backstage area where (after a brief, awkward period of dead air) he tried to end Jericho’s life by hurling an equipment box at his head!

Chris Jericho was constantly on the back foot thanks to Kane’s raw power.

Luckily, Jericho dodged out of the way (and similarly avoided having his head caved in from a massive shovel shot) and (after the two take pot shots at Mideon, who randomly wandered into the fight), Jericho threw sawdust in Kane’s eyes and slipped out of a running powerslam to send the Big Red Machine into the ring post. Jericho quickly followed up by slamming Kane’s face into the steel steps and then rolling him into the ring, where (oddly, considering the stipulation) the majority of the main action took place. Constantly on the defensive thanks to Kane’s sheer size and strength, Jericho pressed his advantage by knocking his opponent down with a back elbow off the top rope, countering a back body drop, and even clotheslining Kane out of the ring. However, Kane, nimble as a cat, did that awesome spot where he landed on his feet and then caught Jericho in mid-air, clamping down on a bearhug and running Y2J spine-first into the ring post before finally dumping him on the thin outside padding with a running powerslam. Kane then gave Jericho a receipt for smashing his face into the steel steps, and then continued to work Jericho over in the ring, focusing on the spine with stomps, backbreakers, and shoulder thrusts into the corner. Despite the brutal assault, Jericho not only refused to stay down but also scrambled and clawed his way back into the fight, desperate to mount a comeback; Kane easily shut him down with a huge one-arm toss and then applied that awesome choke hold where he held his opponent by the throat and stretched him across his back. While J.R. rightly pointed out that submissions are irrelevant, Kane’s strategy was clearly to punish Jericho and to choke him out so he couldn’t make it to his feet. This led to the first ten-count of the match; Kane stalked the ring, stunned that Jericho managed to beat the count, and the crowd was suitably worked into a frenzy as they cheered for Y2J to get back into the fight. However, when he tried to do so with a back spinning heel kick, Kane snatched him out of the air (almost dropping him) and slammed him to the mat and had his Lionsault rudely interrupted when Kane got his knees up and then fell victim to Kane’s mental top-rope diving clothesline.

Chris Jericho enduring Kane’s assault and ultimately overcame him using his feisty wiles.

After milking the ten count, Kane continued overwhelming Jericho with huge haymakers and, when Jericho defiantly got to his feet and asked for more, Kane delivered an absolutely massive One-Handed Chokeslam and was driven to a frenzy when Jericho somehow staggered to his feet as the referee counted to nine. Incensed at Jericho’s tenacity, Kane snatched a steel chair from ring side, rammed it into Jericho’s ribs, smashed it over his spine, and signalled his intention to put an end to Jericho’s insolence with a Tombstone Piledriver to the chair. However, Jericho escaped and blasted Kane with a low blow before felling him with a DDT. Seizing the chair for himself, Jericho finally turned the tide with a sickening shot right to Kane’s unprotected head; he with a flying forearm, a top rope missile dropkick, a bulldog, and then finally hit the Lionsault onto Kane after laying the chair across Kane’s abdomen (which, naturally, hurt Jericho just as much as Kane). However, Kane did his trademark zombie sit-up at the count of nine and then shut Jericho down with a big boot to the face and military pressed Y2J out of the ring. The two brawled back up the ramp towards the cars and stage decorations surrounding the entrance; there, Jericho was (eventually) able to cause Kane to crash onto (but not quite through) a nearby table with a facebuster. Hurt and desperate from Kane’s brutal and relentless assault, Jericho resorted to utilising his surroundings to his advantage; as Kane staggered to his feet, Jericho caused a wall of barrels to come crashing down onto his opponent, effectively burying and pinning him down and ensuring that the Big Red Machine couldn’t answer the ten count. Although Kane’s gloved hand popped out from between the barrels (and he could have easily just crawled out the other side), Jericho kicked it away and was declared the winner, finally overcoming his monstrous opponent and putting an end to their rivalry.

The Aftermath:
I was well into this feud at the time; I’d only been into wrestling for just over a year by this point but Kane had firmly become my favourite wrestler and I loved seeing him absolutely manhandle Jericho in this rivalry. The actual match wasn’t really anything that great; it was a fairly standard big man vs. little man match that was designed to put over Kane’s immense strength and Jericho’s tenacity, but it did this very well and I think the two worked pretty well together. Despite the fact that Jericho had been on the losing end of their matches and most of their segments prior to Armageddon 2000, this match marked the end of their heated rivalry. Over the next few weeks, both men went their separate ways, with Jericho restarting his epic rivalry with Chris Benoit over the Intercontinental Championship and Kane switching back to being a fan favourite soon after. This feud, and match, also marked Kane’s detour into the Hardcore division, which led to a pretty entertaining triple threat match for the belt at WrestleMania X-Seven following Kane’s mammoth performance at that year’s Royal Rumble. This wouldn’t be the last time Chris Jericho and Kane crossed paths; the two would battle one on one a couple of times in random, throwaway matches and often face off for the Tag Team Championships, but they would never again enter into a prolonged feud with each other. Instead, each man pursued their own individual World Championship goals but, despite competing in Elimination Chamber and Money in the Bank ladder matches, never went head to head for the company’s top prize.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think to the bout between Kane and Chris Jericho at Armageddon 2000? How would you rate it compared to their other bouts and what did you think to their feud in general? Were you a fan of the ending to this match? What did you think to Kane’s look and presentation during this time? How are you celebrating Kane’s debut this year, what are some of your favourite matches and moments from Kane’s long and complex career, and what dream match would you have liked to see him involved in? Whatever your thoughts about the Big Red Machine, leave a comment below.

Game Corner: Doom II (Xbox Series X)

Dr. K4 Comments

Released: 26 July 2019
Originally Released: 10 October 1994
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Original Developer: id Software
Also Available For: Android/iOS, Game Boy Advance, MS-DOS, Nintendo Switch, PC/PC-98Mac, PlayStation, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, SEGA Saturn, Tapwave Zodiac, Xbox 360, Xbox One

The Background:
Although the first-person shooter (FPS) genre existed before Doom (ibid, 1993), it was largely defined by this heavily ported and much celebrated title, which popularised online “Deathmatches” and improved upon mechanics established by its forefather, Wolfenstein 3D (id Software, 1992). id co-founder and lead programmer John Carmack created the game alongside designer John Romero and lead artist Adrian Carmack; after a troubled development, Doom proved immensely popular (despite its controversial violence and Satanic imagery), so much so that it was banned from workplaces and met with widespread critical acclaim. As if Doom’s many ports weren’t enough, a sequel was released just ten months later; many of Doom II’s levels were designed by Sandy Petersen, and they proved far bigger than those of the first game. Additionally, Doom II was much faster and more focused on action, with more enemies appearing onscreen at any one time, and the developers even included one of gaming’s most notorious Easter Eggs when they hid an image of Romero’s decapitated head behind the game’s final boss, the “Icon of Sin”. Like its predecessor, Doom II was an incredibly successful title upon release; critics lauded the game for refining everything that worked in the first, featuring far better map designs, even if it was essentially a glorified expansion of the original. Speaking of which, Doom II was accompanied by two expansion packs, the “Master Levels” and “No Rest for the Living”, which added additional maps and challenges to the game, and also received its fair share of ports over the years. More recently, Romero created an entirely new level for the game in a bid to raise money for Ukraine following Russia’s abhorrent invasion.

The Plot:
After a secret Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) teleportation experiment opened a portal to Hell, a lone marine (popularly known as the “Doomguy”) was able to stave off the invading demons. His victory is short lived, however, as the forces of Hell begin invading Earth and he’s forced to venture into the bowels of the underworld to save what’s left of humanity.

Gameplay:
Like its predecessor, and as you’re no doubt aware, Doom II is a first-person shooter. Unlike other FPS games, Doom II retains the exact same control scheme, mechanics, and limitations of the first game, meaning there’s no jumping or awkward first-person platforming required, no strafing options, no quick turn, auto healing, or cover-based mechanics, and you still can’t aim the crosshair anywhere except left and right. As before, this isn’t really an issue, however, as the crosshair will change from yellow to read when you’re in range of a viable target, no matter how high or low there are, and this version of auto-aiming is great for picking enemies off from a distance or while safely on the high ground. If you want to make things harder on yourself, or clean up the heads-up display (HUD), you can turn the crosshair off from the options menu, which also allows you to activate or deactivate the auto-run function (I recommend leaving it on, especially as Doom II is much faster and more action-packed than the last game). Otherwise, everything’s exactly the same as it was in Doom: you still don’t need to worry about reload times (with the exception of the game’s one new weapon, the Super Shotgun), and you can still carry multiple weapons at once, the Right Trigger fires your current weapon, the Right and Left Bumpers or directional pad cycle through your arsenal, Y brings up a basic wireframe map (which is still incredibly confusing but better than nothing), and A allows you to open doors or activate switches. There are five difficulty settings to choose from, all of which change the aggressiveness and number of enemies in a level, and you’re able to select any level you wish right from the start but you’ll only pop those Achievements if you play through each level in turn.  Unlike the last game, Doom II isn’t divided into individual story chapters in quite the same way; there’s no longer a central hub to worry about and the game’s different arenas are separated by story text, which is actually in your benefit as you’ll now keep your current health, armour, weapons, and ammo between chapters and only lose everything if you die in a level this time around. You can once again keep track of all these in the HUD, which also indicates when you’ve collected the coloured key cards or skulls you need to open certain doors, activate certain lifts, or remove certain pillars and blockades to progress.

Hell comes to Earth, necessitating a trip into the Nether to battle the hordes of demons head on!

You still don’t have to worry about doing any swimming, but poison, lava, crushing traps, and teleporters continue to be prominent stage hazards. Thankfully, enemies can still attack and kill each other, which is extremely useful and fun, and there’s still a lot of explosive barrels around to help take out larger groups of enemies. The bulk of your time will be spent exploring Doom II’s far bigger and more complex levels; areas are much more likely to take on a maze-like quality and it’s easy to get turned around since everything looks the same and it’s often not clear what switches have activated. You’ll need to make use of rising platforms, elevators, and extremely narrow pathways (usually over poison or lava pits) to progress, and traps and areas are often activated by you walking to a certain spot, which can make things confusing when you don’t go where you’re supposed to. Another big improvement in Doom II that’ll quickly become obvious to you is just how many enemies can now swarm the screen. Picking up keys or skulls or entering certain areas often triggers the spawning of dozens of imps and demons, and many enemies are now capable of teleporting in and around the immediate area to really get under your skin. Enemies will pop out from behind hidden walls or cages, and you’ll often encounter a far greater variety in far greater numbers than was ever possible in the first game. Since a lot of Doom II takes place on an Earth overrun with the hordes of Hell, you’ll find a few maps infused with urban trappings like buildings and libraries alongside the usual gothic castles and Satanic dungeons; this adds a decent amount of visual variety to the game, but also makes navigating a bit of a chore as it’s easy to just run around in circles with no idea of where you’re supposed to go. This time around, the game asks you to take running “jumps” to cross gaps or tiny platforms and crates to reach keys, and you’ll often go out of your way to grab a coloured key only for it to open a door to a virtual dead end. You’ll need to look for switches, some of which open secret areas but only for a short time, but some doors and switches need to be shot to activate and it’s not always clear when this is the case. Teleport puzzles, areas filled with explosive barrels, traversing dark corridors, and crossing lava and poison bodies are commonplace tasks the game throws at you, and you’ll find your exits soon change from doors and switches to holes that lead deeper and deeper into Hell.

Graphics and Sound:
Graphically, Doom II isn’t really doing anything new that wasn’t seen in Doom; the game runs faster, certainly, has bigger and more complicated level layouts for sure, and is capable of rendering way more enemies at once (with former sub-bosses regularly cropping up at the worst possible times). Like its predecessor, Doom II makes great use of lighting to create a tense, horrifying atmosphere; some areas are in pitch blackness, others are partially lit by flickering lights or candles (with these light sources doubling as arrows pointing the way), but many are fully lit, showcasing the advanced technology of UAC’s outposts and facilities. The Satanic imagery and demonic influence is stronger than ever since you venture deeper into Hell, resulting in eviscerated corpses hanging from hooked chains or splattered across the walls, beating hearts on alters, pentagrams and demon skulls painted everywhere, and even rivers and waterfalls of blood, poison, and lava amongst crooked trees and an ashen Hellscape. Sadly, other areas aren’t quite as impressive; the urban environments are very bland and simple, with exteriors appearing like something out of Minecraft (Mojang Studios, 2011). Doom II is at its best when rendering interior environments, especially when the walls are pulsating with flesh and viscera but, even then, you’ll come across these weird glitchy blue and red blocks and platforms that just look ugly.

Doom II‘s levels are much bigger, there’s a reload animation, and even some Wolfenstein 3D levels!

The soundtrack, while suitably foreboding and a fantastic expansion on the original game, is also more of the same; like everything in the game, it’s been supped a little but is, essentially, the same kind of thing you experienced from Doom. Similarly, enemies and objects continue to be comprised of 2D sprites to continue that diorama-like presentation of the first game, and still howl and snort from the darkness to keep the adrenaline pumping at all times. While the game gives the illusion of having far bigger areas, especially in urban environments, many of the assets are recycled from the first game and, due to the claustrophobic and similar nature of the game’s many levels, it’s easy to get lost since everything in a UAC facility, Hellscape, or urban environment looks the same. Darkened areas, hidden passageways, and twisting pathways only add to the game’s increasing maze-like layouts, though the gothic, Satanic dungeons and sheer number and variety of enemies make the game far more action-orientated as you’re often beset by huge lumbering demons while frantically searching for the next door or key. The HUD continues to be one of the game’s most entertaining features as a pixelated representation of Doomguy reacts when hurt or picking up power-ups, though the game’s story is still told entirely through text. Considering how simple Doom’s story is, it never fails to surprise me just how much text is spewed at the player between chapters and you’re not really missing much at all if you simply skip past these interludes.

Enemies and Bosses:
Those who have played the original Doom will be more than familiar with the vast majority of Doom II’s demonic enemies as everything you encountered in the first game makes a return here, with some of the larger and more formidable demons appearing as regular enemies across Doom II’s levels. Pistol and shotgun-toting zombie marines are plentiful, as are fireball-tossing Imps, monstrous Pinkies (which can also be invisible), bulbous Cacodemons, and the ever-annoying Lost Souls, flaming skulls that fly right in your face with a hideous screech! The hulking Barons of Hell and mechanically-enhanced Spiderdemons frequently crop up as regular enemies, often guarding keys or exits but also randomly tossed into wide open and enclosed areas or behind doors when you least expect it, and you’ll even find a more formidable version of the Cacodemon, the “Pain Elemental”, which spits and spews Lost Souls at you!

Some grotesque new enemies appear but you’ll only have to content with one monstrous boss this time.

It’s a good job these tougher enemies are so prominent as Doom II is disappointingly short on actual boss battles; instead, you’ll usually have to fight past some of these bigger, tougher enemies to reach the chapter’s exit and progress to the next, but there’s only really one actual boss battle in the whole game. To make up for this, Doom II does feature some new enemies: rotund grunts packing chainguns are commonplace, as are Hell Knights (weaker versions of the Baron of Hell), and you’ll often jump out of your skin when the armour-clad, skeletal Revenants scream from afar and fire missiles right at your face! The Mancubus is equally grotesque; this hideous, semi-cybernetic blob plods about blasting its arm-mounted flamethrowers at you, and you’ll also have to contend with the Arachnotrons (smaller, faster versions of the Spiderdemon) and the tall, eviscerated Arch-viles, which can heal nearby enemies and engulf you in flames. If you manage to find the game’s secret exits, you’ll also get to battle enemies from Wolfenstein 3D but the only boss in the entire game is the Icon of Sin, a titanic biomechanical demonic goat head set into a wall of flesh and wires. The Icon of Sin constantly spawns every enemy in the game to protect itself, meaning the arena quickly becomes awash with projectiles, roars, and danger, and the only way to damage and kill it is to fight your way to a switch to activate a central column. Ride this up, making liberal use of the invulnerability power-ups to protect yourself, and desperately fire rockets at the Icon of Sin’s small brain port to try and cause splash damage to the hidden sprite of John Romero’s severed head while monsters scream, fire, and backwards words erupt all around you in this thrilling, if a bit frustrating, boss encounter.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
You might’ve guessed by now but everything that you had access to in the last game returns here; you start off with just a crappy pistol and your bare fists, but soon you’re nabbing my weapon of choice, the shotgun, a rapid-fire chaingun, a rocket launcher and plasma cannon, and you’ll of course find the iconic BFG-9000 to wipe out enemies on one burst of green energy. The only new weapon in the game is the Super Shotgun, a double-barrelled shotgun that uses twice the ammo, has twice the kick-back, and is the only weapon with an onscreen reloaded animation. Still, for close encounters, it’s tough to find much better than this bad boy. You’ll find stimpacks and medikits to restore your health, armours to increase your resistance to attack (and bonus jars and armour to take both beyond the 100% cap), special suits to let you safely walk over lava and poison for a limited time, the odd light amplification visors to light up dark areas, and the computer area map to uncover the entire map. As before, you can also pick up temporary power-ups like the Berserk, Invulnerability, Partial Invisibility (which never seems to work as enemies always attacked me regardless), Supercharge, and the one new power-up, the Megasphere (which maxes your health and armour to 200%) to cut through the hoards of enemies you’ll encounter at the cost of severely reducing your visibility with a glaring change of colour palette.

Additional Features:
There are nineteen Achievements to earn in Doom II, with three of these popping after successfully completing each themed chapter of the game and others being awarded for killing one of every enemy, getting one hundred chainsaw kills, killing yourself and an enemy with a rocket, or discovering first one and then all the secret levels. These secret levels are accessed through some elaborate means within specific levels of the game, which have you finding a secret exit and being transported to levels from Doom’s forefather, Wolfenstein 3D, which is a fun little inclusion. You’ll also get an Achievement for finishing every level on “Nightmare” difficulty in co-operative mode, and for killing your teammate in co-op, which makes a return here and can be a fun experience even with the odd split-screen presentation. Also returning is the famed deathmatch mode, which allows you and a bunch of friends to battle for supremacy on a variety of maps and with some customisable gameplay options. This version of Doom II also includes the twenty fan-created “Master Levels” add-on, which add a number of unique and creative additional levels to the game. These are accessed from a level select menu and are played in turn, meaning your weapons, health, and armour reset to the default at the start of each one and they can be very challenging as the layouts are much more complex and required liberal use of a guide on my part.

The Summary:
I found Doom II to present something of a quandary; on the one hand, it’s undeniably bigger and better than the original in every way, with more diverse levels and an impressive number of enemies swarming the screen at any one time. On the other hand, it offers very little improvements over Doom apart from being faster, bigger, and a more action-packed. One new weapon and one new power-up is kind of a disappointment, and the shift towards urban environments swarming with demons helps to mix up the sci-fi and Hell-based aesthetic but these levels are objectively some of the worst and most annoying in the game. The new enemies are a great addition, however, upping the ante considerably and making for an even more gory and twisted experience but the lack of big, engaging boss battles is a major drawback for me. Considering how many ports and revisions Doom got, it’s surprising how safe this sequel is; the game is more like another glorified expansion pack to Doom, offering a bunch of new maps to wade through and some new enemies to encounter and very little else. Adding a couple of extra new weapons and power-ups and maybe some new gameplay mechanics might’ve helped tip this one further up the pecking order in my eyes, but it looks, plays, and feels far too much like Doom to really rate much higher than the first game. On the plus side, the sheer size and action offered by Doom II make it technically more appealing than the first game and I’d absolutely recommend that you own this one if you could only own one of the classic Doom titles, but that’s simply because of how much faster it is and the impressive number and variety of enemies on show. Basically, Doom II is Doom plus one, if that makes sense; it’s everything you know and love from the first game, with some very minor new additions to spice things up, but maybe plays things a little too safe and therefore comes across as another expansion pack for the trend-setting original rather than being able to truly stand on its own merits.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Doom II? How would you rate it compared to the original? What did you think to the new levels offered by the game and the larger numbers of enemies? Were you also disappointed by the lack of new weapons and power-ups? Do you have fond memories of playing deathmatches on this one or did you put more time into the original Doom? What did you think to the secret Wolfenstein 3D levels and the final battle against the Icon of Sin? Whatever your thoughts on Doom II, or FPS games in general, drop a comment below.

Game Corner [Bat-Month]: Batman Begins (PlayStation 2)

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” fell on 16 September this year and I figured this was a perfect excuse to spend every Saturday celebrating comic’s grim and broody vigilante.

Released: 14 June 2005
Developer: Eurocom
Also Available For: Game Boy Advance, GameCube, and Xbox

The Background:
There was a time when it every cinema release had to be accompanied by a videogame adaptation; big-budget movies were generally always accompanied by a hastily created videogame tie-in that often failed to capture the spirit of their source material. A popular staple of DC Comics since his debut, Batman has appeared in numerous videogames, with his first pixelated adventure being an isometric adventure game released in 1986. Over the years, Batman has been in more than a few duds but achieved critical and commercial success with Rocksteady’s Arkham franchise (ibid/Various, 2009 to present). Before that, though, Batman came to numerous platforms in this tie-in to Batman Begins (Nolan, 2005), Christopher Nolan’s dark and gritty exploration of the character’s origin. This version of the game was developed by Eurocom and published by EA Games, featured many of the film’s actors reprising their roles, and had a heavy emphasis on stealth-based gameplay. In a precursor to the Arkham games, Batman could stalk and intimidate his foes to unnerve them, utilise fighting styles and finishing moves pulled directly from the movie, and had access to a wide variety of gadgets to subdue foes and solve puzzles. The game also featured a counter system to its combat, saw Batman to interrogate foes for information, and allowed Batman to blast through the Gotham streets in the tank-like Tumbler. All of these aspects would later be refined in the Arkham games and, perhaps as a result of being rushed to coincide with the release of the film, Batman Begins was met with generally average reviews; critics praised the voice work, combat, and fidelity to the source material while also criticising it for being a short, unsatisfying, and cheap cash grab designed solely to leech off the success of the source material.

The Plot:
After his beloved parents were murdered before his eyes when he was a child, wealthy philanthropist Bruce Wayne travelled the world training to turn fear against the corrupt and unjust as “The Batman”. However, his skills are put to the test when Gotham City is threatened not only by organised crime, but also a biological attack orchestrated by a prominent figure from his training days.

Gameplay:
Batman Begins is a third-person action/adventure game with a primary focus on combat but which also includes rudimentary puzzles and a janky stealth mechanic. You’re placed into the gravelly-voiced cape and cowl of the Batman as presented in the movie, dropped into a variety of often claustrophobic and restrictive environments within Gotham City, and given context-sensitive access to a handful of the Batman’s gadgets to take out a gaggle of nameless, faceless thugs, corrupt cops, and progress through levels. The game has three difficulty settings (Easy, Normal, and “Challenging”) but is pretty tough even on the easiest setting thanks to an unreliable camera and some clunky controls. The Batman has a few combat options available to him: Square allows you to punch and Triangle lets you kick and you can string these together into slow, awkward combos to attack enemies. Unfortunately, the Batman moves and fights like he’s underwater most of the time, making for some sluggish combat; R2 allows you to block (and roll away from, or more often into, attacks when used in conjunction with the left stick) and you will sometimes get a prompt to press Square to counter attacks. Although enemies can block your attacks, you can break their guard with Circle and, when their health has been sufficiently whittled down, you can press Circle for a “Final Attack” to knock them out for good. When surrounded by enemies, you can use Circle to kick them all flying to give yourself room to breathe and you can even hit jumping attacks using X and Square or Triangle.

Pummel foes to take them out as stealthy as a ninja using Batman’s limited repetoire.

Batman can perform a hop and a double jump and will hang from ledges or slink around narrow platforms when against a wall; he can take cover, crouching to avoid enemies, but it can be strangely difficult to avoid snapping to cover when you don’t need to. Tapping R1 tosses his patented Batarangs but these are used to interact with switches, cut cables, drop ladders and other handholds, and general open up new ways to stun enemies or progress through levels rather than being offensively as in later Batman videogames. You’ll also acquire a few limited weapons, like gas bombs and flashbangs, and gadgets to hack into terminals, which you can cycle through with the directional pad and activate with L1, and Batman can also use his grapple in certain situations to zip up out of sight. Pressing L3 drops Batman into a crouch that helps him to sneak up on enemies to take them down, and stealth can often be as important as direct combat as Batman gets absolutely annihilated by gunfire. As such, you’ll want to avoid search lights and make use of your limited, but somewhat useful, radar system to see where enemies are and which direction they’re facing. Often, you’ll need to interact with the environment in some way to scare armed foes into dropping their guns; this might mean dropping pipes, collapsing statues and walkways, and causing explosions but it’s absolutely necessary to take guns out of the equation. As you do this and take enemies out, the remainder will become increasingly terrified, making them easier to beat and take out with Circle. Some enemies need to be interrogated for more information; you can grab them with Square and are prompted to hit Square multiple times to get the information you want, usually a door code or a key, before finishing them off with Circle.

Blast through the streets in the Tumbler or tackle the same puzzles over and over.

Batman can make use of vents to sneak around, climb up chain link walls, and clamber across pipes and wires to reach new areas; eventually, you’ll also be able to make use of his cape to glide short distances and, in many cases, you can simply avoid or go around enemies rather than being forced to take them all out. There are a lot of doors in Batman Begins; you’ll forever be opening doors, activating switches to get into elevators, and finding ways of accessing new doors, sometimes by use of a lockpicking mini game (which never gets any harder or changes in any way) or by entering codes that you must get from enemies (you can’t access the keypad until you interrogate them, so a walkthrough and your memory are no good here). A couple of times, the tedious gameplay is broken up by racing sections where you control the Tumbler and barrel through the city streets smashing enemy vehicles off the road like in the Burnout games (Criterion Games/EA UK, 2001 to 2018). Here, you use Square to brake and reverse, hold X to accelerate, press Circle to jump (something I never actually found a use for…), change your perspective with Triangle and look behind with L1, and hold R1 to boost when the gauge is full. L2 fires the Tumbler’s weapons, but these are only used once to bring down a truck and you have to wait for them to charge up and lock on, but the worst thing about these sections are the time limits and the armour system. As you collide with oncoming traffic, walls, or obstacles, the Tumbler’s armour is depleted; there’s no way to refill it and, once it’s gone, the mission ends and you need to restart from the last checkpoint…with the armour returned to the state it was in at that time, meaning it’s very easy to struggle with the last sections of these parts if you’re in a state where one hit will cause your death!

The game can get quite tedious and aggravating through its repetitive gameplay.

Generally, there’s not a whole hell of a lot to Batman Begins but, while the idea and concept of a good game is here, the execution falls flat in a lot of places. Batman is incredibly fragile, his health being drained through combat, gunfire, and falling into the void, and it can only be replenished by using medical kits found sporadically throughout the environments. Checkpoints are plentiful, thankfully, but you must manually save each one if you want to continue from that point after quitting the game, which is just atrocious programming. Overall, Batman is very stiff and clunky; the camera tries to make combat more dynamic by sweeping into an almost 2.5D perspective and automatically targeting enemies, but it can be difficult to land hits and fighting enemies just isn’t as satisfying as it could be. The general gameplay isn’t much better, with levels dragging on and on and on (you spend so much time in Arkham Asylum!) and looking very bland and lifeless thanks to the game’s muddy visuals, and you’ll be doing the same puzzles over and over. Sure, sometimes you need to sneak around enemies entirely; other times, you need to hack into cranes or magnets to progress; one time, you have to find and use an explosive canister to collapse a water tower and hack into security cameras to highlight laser traps and boobytrapped floor tiles. Sometimes, the room is filled with smoke or toxic gas and you need to break a window to keep from suffocating; other times, you’ll interact with the environment to find hidden passageways and keys, and you can sometimes lure enemies out to separate them and sweep them from a higher vantage point but it’s all very rinse and repeat and the game suffers from a stuttering performance, frustratingly repetitive mechanics, and enemies who will riddle you with bullets if they catch so much as a glimpse at you!

Graphics and Sound:
I mentioned the game’s muddy graphics earlier and it’s true; the game is washed in a coppery, muddy filter that looks especially ugly. Batman isn’t exactly known for his bright colours and such, but this game definitely needed to think a little further outside the box than stale grey and brown aesthetics. It’s hard to really knock that, though, as the game actually does a pretty good job of emulating the visual style of Christopher Nolan’s film, but it makes already drab and boring environments all the more tedious to go through. Environments are largely taken from the movie and include Arkham Asylum (whose exterior takes more inspiration from the gothic trappings of the comics books), sewers, the snow swept mountains where Bruce trained with the League of Shadows, and even a recreation of the burning Wayne Manor. This was probably my favourite level of the game as it expanded this sequence with ninjas for you to fight, robbed you of Batman’s cape and attire, and saw you avoiding the fires to rescue Lucius Fox and Alfred Pennyworth from the blaze. When in Arkham Asylum, you’ll not only sneak past guards and chase after Doctor Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow to rescue Rachel Dawes, but also have to get past the corrupt cops who surround the place, meaning you have to make use of pipes, gantries, and fire escapes to avoid being shot at.

Though muddy and ugly, the game does a good job of recreating the look of the movie.

When Rā’s al Ghūl attacks the city, there’s a pretty good, if all-too-brief, level where you’re gliding and clambering about underneath one of the Gotham bridges and then running along the monorail tracks to intercept his train, and I was actually impressed with the second Tumbler sequence, which sees you blasting through the streets of Gotham and out to the rural areas to get Rachel to safety. Naturally, as it’s a PlayStation 2 title, the in-game graphics are a bit sketchy at times; Batman looks pretty good, though his cape often suffers from clipping issues, but the enemies are all recycled character models that fail to make an impression. Cutscenes not rendered with the in-game graphics are comprised of a series of disjointed clips from the movie (I suspect actually more from the trailers and TV spots) to deliver a truncated version of the film’s plot. This is disappointing, and incredibly lazy, but the game is bolstered by all of the film’s cast (except Gary Oldman) returning to voice their characters. Hearing Christian Bale and Michael Caine converse over the radio as Batman and Alfred is a lot of fun, and the dialogue offers Bale some opportunities to be a little more loquacious, and their presence helps to elevate the game by the tiniest sliver. Sadly, the same can’t be said about the soundtrack, which utilises an uninspired soundalike to Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s movie score, though I did enjoy the banter and enemy chatter that litters the game, especially when you’re terrifying your foes.

Enemies and Bosses:
The Batman has a disappointingly limited pool of baddies to pummel in this drab tie-in game; after the first mission, you’ll basically have encountered every enemy in the game as the only thing that really changes is their appearance. You’ve got thugs, cops, and ninjas who attack using their fists, can block your attacks, and wield weapons such as knives, crowbars, and swords, none of which really factor all that much into the combat. You can sometimes face a few enemies at once but never more than about five, really, and some will simply run away or cower in fear at your presence. The most troublesome enemies are those armed with guns as they can cut you to ribbons in seconds; you need to isolate and disarm these enemies using the Fear system, which often involves simply crouching out of sight and sneaking up behind them as much as it does electrifying floors and such. You can make use of Batman’s fibreoptic cable to see through doors and get an idea of the layout of armed foes but be careful as enemies often come through doors and have very itchy trigger fingers!

The lack of bosses and enemy variety really drags the game’s minor appeal right down.

Unlike many videogame tie-ins, Batman Begins opts not to expand on the film’s story with additional comic book villains or act as a prequel, midquel, or sequel and instead adheres strictly to a truncated version of the movie’s plot. The result is a game not only padded by ridiculously long and repetitive levels, but a serious lack of boss battles and the disappointing absence of any villains not featured in the film. While Carmine Falcone and the Scarecrow are primary targets of the Batman’s crusade, you never get to fight them; instead, you have to take out Falcone’s goons and then commandeer a giant magnet to suspend his car in mid-air over the docks and you simply chase down the Scarecrow so that Rachel cane taser him in a cutscene. The first thing you’ll encounter that even resembles a boss is the truck you eventually have to bring down with the Tumbler’s missiles and this is more a timed challenge than a one-on-one fight and you won’t even encounter bigger, tougher enemies or anything like that. Victor Zsasz/Mister Zsasz crops up a few times but, rather than being a boss, he is simply another glorified thug and you never even fight him. You do have to contend with Arkham’s crazed inmates, who have been driven into a frenzy by the Scarecrow’s fear gas, but they’re really not any different from any other enemy besides wearing straightjackets. In the later stages of the game, you’ll have to face off against Rā’s al Ghūl a couple of times; first, he sets fire to Wayne Manor and sends waves of his ninjas at you before you fight him in an unwinnable battle, then you face him again on the pretty fun speeding train section. He escapes the initial fight and then returns with a sword and is accompanied by ninjas but fighting Rā’s is no different to fighting any other foe; he’s even susceptible to your gas bombs and such, so it’s a pretty anticlimactic way to end an already unimpressive game.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
There’s really not the much on offer here. Unlike other Batman games, the Batman’s arsenal is quite limited in Batman Begins; you can toss Batarangs and use his grapnel gun but only when the game says you can and never against enemies or in attack combos. The only way to use his gas bombs and flashbangs and other gadgets is to find and open military crates and these gadgets really don’t add all that much to the combat experience; I mostly relied on Circle to take foes down quickly. Batman can also use his Electro-Hack device to hack certain consoles, requiring you to align four rows of zeros in a short and annoying mini game, and a similar device to hack security cameras by mashing Circle to reveal laser traps and such. I guess it makes sense that Batman isn’t overloaded with gadgets as he wasn’t in the film or at this time in his crimefighting career, but it’s pretty poor to see how few of his toys and abilities you have access to.

Additional Features:
As mentioned, there are two other difficulty settings you can attempt; the game comes with six save slots so you can easily have multiple save files if you want but, after you clear the game, there’s no level select so you have to start all over from the beginning. There’s also a disappointing lack of collectibles in the game…in fact, there aren’t any at all! There are no comic books or statues or gadgets to collect to unlock stuff here; instead, you unlock stuff simply by completing the game and its individual missions and you don’t even have to play on the harder difficulty settings to unlock everything. Once you beat the game, you’ll unlock three additional Batsuits, which is quite cool, and will have unlocked character models and bios to view in the interactable “Gallery of Fear” (of course modelled after Arkham Asylum). There are also interviews, trailers, and movie footage to watch and you can replay the Tumbler sections in full or in a time attack mode if you can stand the weird armour mechanic.

The Summary:
It’s fascinating playing Batman Begins after experiencing the Arkham series; the basic, fundamental mechanics that would be so masterfully refined in the Arkham games are here but nowhere near as enjoyable and very much limited by the hardware and time crunch that no doubt dogged this game’s development. I can see how Batman Begins might have impressed at the time; with the combat and gameplay options available, this was easily the most faithful videogame rendition of Batman seen by that point, but it can’t be denied that your options are painfully limited and the game suffers from all the same pratfalls as the very worst of videogame tie-ins. A terrible camera, clunky controls, and needlessly long and bland levels are only the tip of the iceberg; there are no collectibles, no level-up system, no incentive to play through again and very little motivation to play through at all thanks to the sluggish combat and frankly appalling save system that can cost you an entire level’s worth of progress if you don’t manually save. While the game is bolstered by the voice cast and does a pretty good job of creating the aesthetic of Nolan’s film, it’s hampered by a serious lack of visual variety, too few and too frustrating Tumbler sections, and an inexcusable lack of boss encounters. The Fear system was a lot of fun, and it was interesting finding new ways to use the environment to terrify and disarm enemies, but it also led to some of the game’s more annoying sections as there’s little margin for error if you’re spotted. In the end, this game stumbled so the Arkham series could run and you’re better off skipping this in favour of Rcoksteady’s far more refined videogames which truly captured what it meant to be the Batman.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

What did you think to the videogame tie-in to Batman Begins? Were you a fan of the Fear system and the combat and stealth options available to you or did you find the gameplay mechanics needlessly frustrating? What did you think to its recreation of the movie’s plot and aesthetics? Which of Batman’s gadgets and the game’s missions was your favourite ? Were you put off by the lack of boss battles? What did you think to the Tumbler sections? How did you celebrate Batman Day this year and what is your favourite Batman videogame? Whatever your thoughts on Batman Begins, or Batman in general, please leave a comment below and stick around for more Batman and comic book content in the future!

Back Issues [Venom Day]: Ultimate Venom

Dr. K1 Comment

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 1998 and have gone on to become one of Marvel’s most iconic characters.

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis – Artist: Mark Bagley

Story Title: “Origins”
Published: February 2003

Story Title: “Today”
Published: April 2003

Story Title: “Inheritance”
Published: March 2003

Story Title: “Still”
Published: May 2003

Story Title: “Legacy”
Published: March 2003

Story Title: “Father’s Pride”
Published: May 2003

The Background:
In 1982, Marvel Comics’ editor-in-chief Jim Shooter purchased Randy Schueller’s illustration of a black-suited Spider-Man for a mere $200; writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz then conceived of the costume being a living organism Spidey would acquire in the “Secret Wars” event. After he shed the parasitic symbiote, it bonded with disgraced reporter Eddie Brock and Spidey was tormented by Venom, a twisted double who proved so popular that additional symbiotes and storylines spun out of the character’s lore. First proposed by lawyer Bill Jemas, Ultimate Marvel was a secondary imprint of Marvel Comics that ran alongside the main comic line (known as “Marvel-616”) but told their most popular characters’ stories from a fresh, modern perspective to entice new readers and fans of the live-action adaptations of the time. The imprint was spearheaded by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man series, which featured a far younger Peter Parker who encountered many of his most notorious villains while still in high school. The series proved incredibly popular, and even survived the eventual destruction of its universe in the form of Miles Morales, and offered a far different, more scientific incarnation of Venom to its universe. The six-issue “Venom” story arc proved so successful that developers Treyarch revisited and expanded upon it for their moderately successful Ultimate Spider-Man videogame (ibid, 2005), which included this version of Venom as a playable character!

The Review:
I think it’s only fair to start by saying that I was never really a big fan of Ultimate Spider-Man, or the other Ultimate comics; the art work was amazing, and I admired how writers like Bendis were able to capture natural, relatable dialogue and how the comics adopted a dynamic, real-world aesthetic. But, for me, the comics were a little too dark, a little bit extreme at times, and rushed through some of Marvel’s biggest storylines and burned themselves out too quickly as a result. The Ultimate Spider-Man comics were especially difficult for me to get into since Bendis packs so much dialogue onto the page, sometimes having a single splash page of a character talking and a good 80% of the background being dominated by a huge speech bubble. Either that or he’d have characters barely able to string sentences together, which, again, is very realistic and indicative of real-life conversations but can make reading the comics a bit of a chore as relatively simple storylines are dragged out across multiple issues simply for the sake of drama. However, having said all that, Mark Bagley is one of my favourite Spider-Man artists, so I absolutely had to seek out the “Venom” story arc to see him working on the character again and he definitely made this younger, far more flawed Spider-Man all the more impressive and dynamic with his explosive and visually engaging art.

Following a painful break up, Peter reconnects with a childhood friend.

Anyway, the “Venom” arc comes at a time of great upheaval in Peter Parker’s life; already struggling with high school and the guilt of indirectly causing his beloved Uncle Ben’s death, Peter is burdened by his part in the death of heroic police captain George Stacy and has recently been dumped by his long-term friend and on-and-off girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson, since she can’t handle the pressure of worrying about his web-slinging activities (Peter’s duel identity wasn’t the best kept secret in the Ultimate comics). Peter is left devastated and wallowing in self-pity, doubt, and anger at having screwed up with M. J. While struggling with his tumultuous and self-deprecating emotions in his Aunt May’s attic, he stumbles across a box of photographs of his long-dead father, scientist Richard Parker, and a VHS tape depicting him as a small boy with his parents, his Aunt May and Uncle Ben (depicted as more of a free-spirited hippy in Ultimate Spider-Man), and the Brocks, family friends of the Parkers. Eddie Brock Snr was Richard’s partner on the “Venom Project”, while Eddie Brock Jnr was Peter’s best friend as a child; his memory jogged of his long-lost friend, Peter decides to reconnect with Eddie, who also lost his parents in the same plane crash that killed Richard and Mary Parker, and easily tracks him down thanks to the internet. Awestruck by the bustling Empire City University, Peter meets with Eddie, who’s in a bioengineering program at the university but struggling to live up to his father’s legacy thanks to the workload and the expense of university life.

In a bid to complete his father’s work, Peter finds himself garbed in a protoplasmic suit.

When Peter shares the news of his recent break up, Eddie is a little dismissive, but he’s absolutely right when he says that high school drama is nothing compared to the struggles of the bigger, wider world and he encourages Peter to not let it ruin the best years of his life. Touched by Peter sharing a copy of the video tape, Eddie takes him to a high-tech lab where he’s been working on their “inheritance”, a beaker full of black goo that represents their fathers’ life’s work. Thanks to help from Doctor Curtis Conners, Eddie has pieced together that Richard and Eddie Snr were working on a protoplasmic suit that could (theoretically) cure any disease while simultaneously enhancing the wearer’s natural physical strengths. To fund their research, Richard and Eddie Snr turned to Trask Industries, though this meant that anything they discovered or created would no longer be theirs, and Eddie theorises that they were killed when they tried to keep their project from being perverted into a weapon of war. Eddie’s sample is all that’s left, a small quantity that their fathers worked on in secret, one that was created using Richard’s own DNA and which Eddie fully believes could change the world for the better. Stunned by these revelations, Peter rekindles his friendship with Eddie, who picks him and his house mate and friend, Gwen Stacy, up after school, much to the chagrin of the conflicted M. J., who clearly still has feelings for and cares about Peter. Reviewing his father’s notes and video diaries, Peter snaps when he sees just how distraught his father was at having his research stolen or perverted and resolves to finish his father’s work by breaking into the lab as Spider-Man and taking a sample of the goo to run his own tests. However, a small drop of the liquid splatters onto his hand and a startling, agonising transformation occurs that sees Spidey engulfed by the writhing goo, encased in a monstrous cocoon of sorts, and finally emerging in a sleek, form-fitting black costume.

Peter’s elation soon turns to horror when the suit transforms into a hulking monster!

Spider-Man tests out his new duds by first rescuing a shallow, self-obsessed pop star after she’s held hostage by armed forces in her own limo and then making short work of Herman Schultz/The Shocker. The suit not only greatly amplifies Spidey’s already superhuman strength and speed but allows him to instantly heal from point-blank gun shots and fire black webbing from his fingertips and Peter revels in the power and euphoria offered by his father’s incredible invention. However, things quickly take a turn for the worst when he confronts an armed robber who shoots and kills an innocent man in front of his wife and child; overwhelmed by memories of Uncle Ben’s death, Spidey transforms into a hulking, salivating, monster that hungers for blood and drives him into a mindless rage! Peter’s sense returns in time to spare the man’s life and, horrified by the suit’s grotesque appearance and overwhelming appetite, he flees into the rainswept night, desperately trying to remove it. Luckily, his wild thrashing sees him collide with a set of power lines, which burn the suit off his body and leave him dramatically lying (butt-naked) on the grave of his dead uncle and parents. While all of this is going on, Gwen and Eddie were raving at a reggae concert; afterwards, he tries to put the moves on her and is slighted when she rightly refuses his advances since she’s only fifteen. Any further exploration of Eddie’s inappropriate lusts for the younger girl are quickly dashed when he turns on the news and sees Spider-Man’s fancy new black costume; racing back to the lab, he’s stunned to find Peter there but enraged to find that his young friend is planning to destroy their fathers’ legacy since it’s uncontrollable and dangerous.

Turns out Eddie’s a bit of a creep, and a selfish, jealous dick on top of it!

Eddie’s anger is only exacerbated when Peter reveals that he’s Spider-Man and goes on a lengthy tirade about power, responsibility, and his experiences with just a small sample of the suit. Devastated to learn that his father’s legacy is a volatile and potentially life-threatening substance, Eddie reluctantly allows Peter to take the remainder of the goo and destroy it, apparently convinced of his friend’s sincerity by the little white lie Peter tells that nobody else knows about his secret identity. However, as Gwen so astutely puts it, Eddie is a “bad guy” deep down and, soon after Peter leave, he mutters a bunch of insults at Peter, disgusted by the belief that he’s a Mutant, and willingly exposes himself to a separate sample of the protoplasm he secretly had locked away. Potentially because he lacks Peter’s spider-strength, the transformation is far more unstable and gruesome for Eddie; suffering from extreme cold and overwhelmed with an insatiable hunger, Eddie is bombarded with cruel and negative emotions, and the sheer panic at the realisation that the suit is feeding on him! By focusing on his anger and pain, Eddie is able to force the suit under some measure of control, but he quickly loses his focus when guards show up and transforms into a slobbering, clawed beast that devours people whole! Tormented by nightmarish memories, Peter finally snaps and visits M. J. and the two have a heart to heart in which he tells her that he loves her, but they far from reconcile despite her obviously still having feelings for him. Because of her intimate knowledge of Peter and his abilities as Spider-Man, she’s the only one who notices when he’s distracted by this spider-sense, which alerts him to the presence of the suit on the school grounds; chastising himself for not making sure the suit was completely destroyed, and theorising that it has some kind of “biological memory”, he races out to control it in his street clothes, completely unaware of Eddie’s fate.

Peter is left distraught when Eddie attacks him and appears to die.

Indeed, when Eddie is revealed to be within the thrashing, monstrous suit, Peter is both shocked and appalled that his old friend would willingly subject himself to the suit’s influence. Unlike the mainstream version of Venom, Ultimate Venom is a volatile and almost mindless beast; a pulsating, brutish monster with teeth and spikes dotted throughout its body and whip-like tentacles, it oddly lacks the spider symbol so associated with the character (despite this appearing on the issue’s covers and Spider-Man having it when he wore the suit…and it randomly appearing in one panel…) and is constantly consuming Eddie’s body, feasting upon and fostering his rage and dark emotions to sustain itself. Lashing out in a jealous and embittered rage, Eddie attacks Peter, easily swatting him aside and half-choking him with his tendrils, all while Peter desperately tries to talk sense into his half-crazed friend. Realising that Eddie is out of control and that the suit is simply mimicking his spider abilities and driving him into a murderous fury, Peter leads Ultimate Venom away from the school grounds, lamenting the friends and loved ones he’s lost to “this super hero crap” and wondering whether the suit drove Eddie crazy or if he was always like that deep down. Regardless, they clash on a rooftop, quickly plummeting through some power lines and to the streets below. With Eddie stunned, the suit tries to overtake Peter once more, with Eddie’s distorted rambling claiming that the suit has to kill Peter in order to be whole since Eddie isn’t strong enough to sustain it. The timely arrival of New York’s finest see both peppered with gun fire, which drives Ultimate Venom back towards a live power line and, in a flash of light, apparently incinerates both the suit and Eddie before Peter’s eyes in suitably anti-climatic fashion. Naturally, Peter is also fired upon and, wracked with guilt and pain, he retreats home and ends the story exactly where he started: distraught and in utter anguish at having lost another friend and ruined his life even more thanks to his duel identity.

The Summary:
So, yeah, Ultimate Venom does suffer from some of those negatives that I find off-putting about the Ultimate Spider-Man comics; there’s a lot of dialogue, much of it rambling and disconnected, with at least one page being Peter babbling on and on to Eddie, which really isn’t all that interesting to see or read since we already know everything he’s saying and it just seems like padding. Any time Richard and Eddie Snr are discussing their work, you can expect a whole bunch of speech bubbles to be dotted all over the pages and panels, and there are a few instances where characters are completely static and art work is repeated between panels with the characters just saying different things. It’s a weird one for me as, like I say, I do appreciate and admire the way Bendis captures real, natural, often haphazard character dialogue but sometimes it’s a bit much. One thing that both works for and against the Ultimate comics is how cinematic they often are; panels and events are presented very much like a movie, showing rather than telling in some instances, and then snapping back to a massive exposition dump, with dynamic and exciting action sequences and visuals to help keep things interesting. On the plus side, Ultimate Spider-Man is arguably, subjectively, easier to read than some of the comics from the sixties and seventies since they’re not bogged down with outdated dialogue and such (though there is some of that here, particularly in Gwen’s dialogue) and the presentation is far more energetic, but I can understand why some people don’t really care of these comics as they’re very angsty, teen drama like a high school show.

Peter is definitely full of angst, which sadly limits his Spidey action.

Anyway, that aside, there’s a decent amount to like here; the art, especially, is incredible. Mark Bagley did some of his best work on Ultimate Spider-Man and really makes this younger, more troubled teenaged Spider-Man visually distinct from his mainstream counterpart not just in his haircut but in the physical depiction of Spidey as this gangly, inhuman superhero. Unfortunately, Bagley seems to struggle a bit with faces; a lot of the characters look the same, facially, and there’s a noticeable lack of Spider-Man in this arc. He only suits up a couple of times, and he’s only in the black suit for one issue! This is what I mean by Ultimate Spider-Man rushing through things; 616-Peter had the black suit for four years before its true nature was revealed and, at that point, he was in his early twenties. Here, Peter’s still in high school and has already had impactful encounters with some of his most memorable villains, and he’s in the suit for what seems like only a few hours before it tries to consume him, and he frantically rids himself of it. I’ve read a lot of mainstream Spider-Man stories and Peter is absolutely known for being riddled with guilt, pressure, and angst but his Ultimate counterpart is far more dramatic and melancholy; he’s driven into a self-deprecating, morose depression after M. J. dumps him (which I can totally relate to) and has been pushed to the edge by recent events, which cause him to recklessly experiment with the goo and thus almost be killed when the suit goes mental on him. Realising that he’s made a serious mistake and heartbroken to find that his father’s life’s work is volatile and dangerous, Peter immediately backpedals and tries to make everything right by destroying his dad’s research, which means exposing himself to Eddie and desperately trying to convince his childhood friend to go along with this despite how difficult the truth is to hear.

Eddie’s a bit of a weirdo, but Ultimate Venom is nothing more than a mindless beast.

Eddie himself is quite different here. A scientist rather than a discredited reporter, he’s a slender hipster who seems to have really valued his friendship with Peter and who is absolutely fixated on completing his father’s research so that his legacy can live on. There are some red flags raised when it comes to Eddie from the moment Peter meets him at his dorm room, which is a bit of a mess for one thing and shared with another student who has nothing good to say about Eddie. The exact depths of his depravity aren’t revealed until later, however, when he flirts with Gwen and tries to kiss her, then spitefully calls her a tease and dismisses her after she understandably rejects him. Although Peter defends his friend and believes that he’s a good person deep down, this incident is enough to convince Gwen otherwise, and it turns out she’s absolutely right as he’s a bit of a depraved, disturbed young man; bigoted towards Mutants (like most of the Ultimate universe) and ridiculing Peter’s naïvety, Eddie maliciously exposes himself to the goo simply to both prove Peter wrong and to assume the power he described for himself. Instantly, however, Eddie is consumed and driven to madness by this extremely removed version of Venom; little more than a voracious, cancer-like substance, Ultimate Venom is more an amplifier of emotions and abilities than it is a symbiotic life form and simply drives Eddie to confront and devour Peter in order to sustain its unstable and monstrous form out of an innate need for self-preservation rather than any kind of twisted vendetta. This results in a creature that is more of a hulking, primeval brute rather than a sadistic villain looking to make Peter’s life a living hell, though there are some similarities in that Ultimate Venom has apparently copied Spider-Man’s abilities. Ultimately, however, it’s more like a protoplasmic clone of Peter, one spewing teeth and tentacles and going on insatiable rampage, spouting nonsensical accusations and threats but being a far less interesting and layered character in its own right since it’s just a parasitic lifeform that overtakes Eddie.  

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Have you read Ultimate Spider-Man’s “Venom” arc? What did you think to this new depiction of Venom? Were you a fan of the changes made to Eddie’s character and his more disturbing nature? Were you also disappointed that Peter’s time in the black suit was cut so dramatically short and that he didn’t fight Ultimate Venom as Spider-Man? Did you enjoy the Ultimate comics, specifically Ultimate Spider-Man and, if so, what were some of your favourite moments from those comics? What is your favourite Venom story and how are you celebrating Venom Day today? Whatever your thoughts on Venom, feel free to leave them below.

Movie Night [Bat-Month]: Batman Begins

Dr. K8 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 16 September this year and I figured this was a perfect excuse to spend every Saturday celebrating comic’s grim and broody vigilante.

Released: 15 June 2005
Director: Christopher Nolan
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $150 million
Stars: Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman

The Plot:
As a child, young Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis) developed a crippling fear of bats and witnessed his beloved parents murdered before his eyes in a random street mugging. Carrying his guilt and anger into adulthood, Bruce (Bale) travels the world to learn the tools to turn fear against the corrupt and unjust. Upon returning to Gotham City, Bruce poses as a wealthy playboy by day and takes to the city’s corrupt and desolate streets by night as “The Batman”, but finds his crusade marred when the ghosts of his past threaten the city he loves so dearly.

The Background:
In the eighties, DC Comics subjected Batman to a long period of alteration after he had been transformed from a ruthless vigilante into a colourful, camp, family friendly figure in the the sixties. This change directly influenced Batman’s return to the big screen, wherein noted auteur Tim Burton transformed “Mr. Mom” Michael Keaton into a brooding, tortured vigilante. Batman (Burton, 1989) was a huge success but parents and McDonald’s weren’t too thrilled by the disturbing sequel, which led to Joel Schumacher dramatically reinventing the franchise into two lighter, camper movies that resulted in a dismal box office, scathing critical reception, and effectively killed the franchise for some time. During that time, Warner Bros. desperately attempted to get a new movie off the ground but things didn’t get moving until they brought in visionary writer/director Christopher Nolan to helm a dark, gritty reboot. Working alongside writer David S. Goyer, Nolan sought to explore the origins and psychological motivation behind the character within a grounded, realistic context, and the two were heavily influenced by notable Batman stories like “The Man Who Falls” (O’Neil, et al, 1989) and Batman: Year One (Miller, et al, 1987). To achieve his goal, Nolan emphasised Bruce’s relationship and fear of bats, altering his origin and shedding some light on a vague aspect of the Dark Knight’s years in training to turn his fear against criminals.

After Batman & Robin bombed, Nolan crafted a grim and gritty reboot.

Numerous actors were considered for the title role before Nolan cast noted method actor Christian Bale, who packed on 220lbs of muscle following a dramatic weight loss for The Machinist (Anderson, 2004), eventually trimming down to 190lbs and training in Wing Chun Kung Fu to present the most physically capable Batman yet. Cillian Murphy, who lost out on the lead role, was cast as Doctor Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow and purposely downplayed the character’s more theatrical comic book appearance to focus on his obsession with mind manipulation. The film also marked a turning point in superhero movies with serious actors like Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Liam Neeson lending a dramatic credibility to the production. This was further bolstered by Nolan’s remarkable attention to detail, practical sets and effects, and infusing Batman’s gadgets with a real-world believability. The new Batmobile, dubbed “The Tumbler”, was designed and built by production designer Nathan Crowley; the final vehicle could reach speeds of 100 miles per hour and had an actual jet engine fixed to the rear. The new Batsuit was created by costumer designer Lindy Hemming and made from molded cream latex sections and finished off with a cape inspired by parachute nylon and a cowl that gave Bale a better range of head movement. Upon release, Batman Begins was a massive success; with a worldwide gross of over $373 million, the film became the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2005 in the United States and was accompanied by an incredibly popular critical reception. Reviews praised the film’s portrayal of Bruce’s motivations, the dark tone, and focus on story and psychology rather than special effects; however, while Bale’s performance in the duel role was praised, the romantic sub-plot and fight sequences drew some criticism. Still, the critical and commercial success was more than enough to kick-start a whole new Batman franchise; the film was accompanied by a videogame tie-in, an animated spin-off, and one of the most celebrated Batman movies ever made a few years later.

The Review:
Interestingly enough, considering all the hatred Batman & Robin gets, I actually remember thinking it was the best Batman movie ever when I first saw it as a kid. I don’t really remember why, but I suspect it was a combination of factors: It was the first Batman movie I saw at the cinema, it was big and loud and colourful, it had new villains and Dick Grayson/Robin (Chris O’Donnell) in it, and there was a lot of hype surrounding it so it was kind of exciting as a young lad. Obviously, however, it was an absolute dumpster fire from start to finish and made the grave mistake of harkening back to an era of Batman many fans would rather forget. So, to say that my anticipation was high for the far darker, more serious Batman Begins would be an understatement. Terrible title aside, I was captivated by the trailers, which presented a far more suitable atmosphere and take on my favourite DC Comics character, and I remember being so enamoured by the cast (these were big-time, serious, high-quality actors, after all!) that I went out of my way to familiarise myself with Christian Bale’s previous body of work, discovering some of my favourite movies in the process and instantly becoming a fan of his commitment and work ethic. Batman Begins immediately separates itself from its predecessors (and many other superhero films from the time) by forgoing a traditional title sequence and daring to tackle the source material with a grounded, realistic take that would set the standard for many superhero films to come.

Haunted by his traumatic childhood, Bruce embarks on a worldwide quest to study the criminal mind.

More than any other Batman film before or since, Batman Begins delves deeply into Bruce’s psychology, motivations, and training. When we first meet Bruce, he’s a prisoner in a squalid Bhutan hellhole where he’s forced to fight just to eat the slop they serve. Thankfully, he’s more than capable of fending off larger (and multiple) opponents with a brutal and precise (if frenetically shot) fighting style that leaves his attackers injured and humbled (but, crucially, alive). Tormented by nightmares of bats, Bruce is haunted by memories of his childhood, which are related through clever flashbacks to keep the first hour or so of the movie constantly switching between the adult, rage-filled Bruce and his younger self (played by both Gus Lewis and Bale with a slightly different haircut). As a boy, young Bruce fell down a well on the Wayne Estate and was attacked by a swarm of bats and left traumatised by a crippling fear of them, despite the best efforts of his beloved father, Doctor Thomas Wayne (Linus Roache), to help him recognise that the bats were simply acting out of fear. Sadly, Bruce’s terror is so bad that he urges his parents to leave a performance of Arrigo Boito’s Mefistofele (an opera filled with bats), leaving him distraught by survivor’s guilt when they are shot by desperate mugger Joe Chill (Richard Brake). Heartbroken at the loss of his wealthy, loving parents, Bruce is left in the care of doting butler Alfred Pennyworth (Caine) and, as he grows, his guilt turns to anger and a burning desire for revenge, and a resentment towards his great family name. As a young adult, Bruce finally gets the chance at revenge when Chill agrees to testify against powerful crime boss Carmine Falcone (Wilkinson) in exchange for early parole; however, as Bruce moves to shoot Chill, the mugger is gunned down by one of Falcone’s agents, robbing him of the pleasure of taking the man’s life while also allowing him to watch Chill die.

Though a catalyst for his life-changing journey, there’s little chemistry between Rachel and Bruce.

It’s only due to the intervention of his childhood friend and love interest, assistant district attorney Rachel Dawes (Holmes), that Bruce realises how selfish and misguided he’s been. In an awkward scene, she repeatedly slaps him and tells him his father would be ashamed of him wallowing in his own pain while Gotham descends into desperation and anarchy. The slum-like “Narrows”, especially, have become a breeding ground for thugs like Joe Chill, and mobsters like Falcone are able to stay virtually untouchable thanks to them corrupting the police department and judicial system. She emphasises that his parents put their wealth to good use, providing jobs and a cheap city-wide transportation system and desperately trying to counteract the rise in crime, and that his desire to kill one lowly mugger just to make himself feel better sickens her. Stunned by Rachel’s outburst, and finding no solace in Chill’s death, Bruce attempts to confront Falcone and finds that the mobster is not only unimpressed but connected enough to do anything, even shoot someone as well-know as Bruce dead, without any repercussions. This drives Bruce to throw away his gun in a fit of disgust and hop on the next boat out of Gotham to travel the world, without any of his resources or finances, on a mission to not only train his body in multiple martial arts but also to understand the criminal mind. When he returns seven years later, Gotham has only gotten worse; despite this, Rachel is still fighting an endless sea of corruption but is disappointed to see that her close friend is more concerned with buying sports cars, dating supermodels, and throwing his wealth around on selfish endeavours than trying to fix the city. Although reinvigorated by the intervention of the mysterious Batman, who finally gives her means to take down Falcone, Rachel is fascinated by the masked vigilante and stunned to find that it’s Bruce beneath the mask, finally putting his anger and skill to the greater good.

Rā’s is determined to destroy Gotham in order to eradicate its cesspool of crime and corruption.

Bruce accomplishes this thanks to the tutelage of the enigmatic Ducard (Neeson), the head trainer of the League of Shadows, a shadowy organisation of ninjas and highly trained mercenaries who have battled crime and corruption for generations. Recruited by Ducard while wallowing in prison, Bruce is subjected to a highly powerful toxic that brings his worst fears to life and, through physical and mental training, learns to confront his worst fear and master it, to turn his rage and guilt into a powerful force that can be used to fight criminals rather than consume him. A wise and driven tutor, Ducard comes to see Bruce as his greatest student and spends seven years honing him into the perfect instrument through which his master, Rā’s al Ghūl (Ken Watanabe), can stamp out the injustice that has infested Gotham by destroying the city as they have done to countless corrupt civilisations in the past. Unfortunately for the two, Bruce maintains an unfaltering moral belief in the sanctity of life and judicial system, and therefore adamantly refuses to become their executioner. His rejection of the League’s murderous ways leads to the temple going up in flames and Rā’s being killed in the chaos, though Bruce saves Ducard’s life and finally returns to Gotham to begin his mission to save the city using the lessons he learned from the League. However, it turns out that Ducard was the true mastermind behind the League (a revelation that falls a little flat since Neeson looks exactly like Rā’s al Ghūl anyway); through the use of his decoy and theatricality, he has been able to fabricate the notion that “Rā’s al Ghū” is a supernatural, immortal force and thus catches Bruce completely off-guard when he gate-crashes his birthday party with his goons, burns Wayne Manor to the ground, and prepares to destroy the city not through economics or all-out invasion but through perverting an experimental Wayne Enterprises microwave emitter. Far from a colourful, insane villain, Rā’s al Ghūl is a measured, manipulative, and eloquent man driven by tragedy and with an innate desire to stamp out crime by any means necessary. This includes executing petty criminals and murders, deposing entire governmental bodies, and destroying cities that have become mired in corruption, and his mastery of numerous martial arts, willingness to take lives, and to go to any lengths to achieve his goals places him as Batman’s dark opposite.

Bruce is provided moral, tech, and field support from his allies who all want to see Gotham cleaned up.

Upon returning to Gotham, Bruce quickly establishes himself as a carefree playboy; he feigns interest in his family’s company only to gain access to the Research and Development department, where former board member Lucius Fox (Freeman) immediately deduces that his employer’s many requests for armoured outfits, lightweight fabrics, and prototype gadgets is for more than just spelunking. Quite how Fox is able to guess that Bruce is secretly cobbling together a vigilante persona for himself is beyond me, and it’s never said out loud so Fox can have plausible deniability, but it’s a good job that he is aware of it as it gives Bruce access to everything he needs to craft a horrifying symbol to strike terror into the hearts of criminals everywhere. His inspiration for this is his own dread, the bat, and he soon makes an immediate impression upon both Falcone and jaded, but incorruptible, Sergeant Jim Gordon (Oldman) when he leaves Falcone beaten and tied to a searchlight. While police commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (Colin McFarlane) is appalled at vigilante running around on his streets, Gordon is intrigued by the Batman and their interests soon align not only because Gordon showed Bruce compassion as a child but also because he’s one of the few honest cops in the city and is therefore vital to Batman’s goal of usurping the organised crime that is choking the life from the city. Though weary from the corruption within the police department, Gordon believes that Batman is trying to help and his tip-off about his amoral partner, Detective Arnold Flass (Mark Boone Jnr.), is a vital clue to uncovering Dr. Crane’s designs for the city. Gordon’s gut instinct about the mysterious vigilante leads to him directly aiding the Batman on at least two occasions, with the first being when he helps get the fear-addled Rachel to safety during a breakout at Arkham Asylum in scenes directly inspired by Batman: Year One, before being the only cop brave enough to enter the chaotic Narrows during the finale. Although Alfred despairs over Bruce’s recklessness and for throwing all his time and effort into his monstrous persona, he nevertheless willingly assists the driven orphan in building his Batsuit and reconfiguring a vast cavern beneath Wayne Manor into a suitable headquarters. These three allies are thus instrumental not just in Bruce becoming Batman, but in guiding his quest to become an incorruptible symbol into fruition. Alfred’s loyalty, Fox’s tech, and Gordon’s field support all allow Bruce to find an outlet for his pain and to not only fight crime but also save the city from descending into total chaos from Rā’s al Ghūl’s plot.

With Falcone deposed, Dr. Crane is free to indulge himself as the horrifying Scarecrow.

This scheme is only made possible thanks to the research and assistance of Dr. Crane, the slimy and vindictive chief administrator at Arkham Asylum. Thanks to being on Falcone’s payroll, Dr. Crane is well compensated for his expert testimonies, which have helped Falcone’s thugs escape extended jail sentences on the grounds that they’re mentally unstable. However, Dr. Crane actually has a more powerful and influential employer, Rā’s al Ghūl himself, who has been funding his research into the League’s psychotropic drug. This aligned perfectly with Dr. Crane’s fascination of the mind’s power over the body, how fear and intense emotions can override logic and reason and drive people to do incredible (and insane) things, and allowed him to not only weaponise the drug, but lace Gotham’s water supply with it and turn it into a fear-inducing gas he can blast in people’s faces from a wrist-mounted device. With his subject induced into a panic, they’re left helpless as Dr. Crane dons a tattered burlap mask and terrorises even the most hardened individuals (from Falcone to Batman) as “The Scarecrow”. Cillian Murphy excels in this role, exuding a disquieting menace and slick, unsettling demeanour; his condescending public face slips as he delights in torturing others as the Scarecrow but, while his fear toxin effectively drives all of the Narrows into a violent frenzy, he remains a purely psychologic threat rather than a physical one and, rather than Batman taking him down, he’s dispatched by a taser to the face from Rachel. Unfortunately, Batman doesn’t actually target the kind of street thugs who killed his parents; instead, he immediately targets Falcone to disrupt the stranglehold organised crime has on Gotham, and his mission is to clean up the streets and bring hope to the people not by picking off random punks but by tackling the source of the problem, free from the red tape and corruption and diplomacy that has swamped the city. Since this corruption has seeped into the police department, Batman also faces opposition from Gotham’s cops; with him barrelling around the city streets (and across rooftops!) in his supped-up tank, he attracts the police’s undue attention and is labelled by Loeb as a public menace, though by the end of the film has established himself as a heroic figure rather than just a symbol of terror, especially to the downtrodden citizens.

The Nitty-Gritty:
If there’s a drawback to Batman Begins, it’s the score. Don’t get me wrong, I eventually came to really enjoy Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s work on Nolan’s films, and the score definitely established a dark, brooding mood to the rebooted Batman but, much like how Clark Kent/Superman is forever associated with John Williams’ iconic theme, it’s hard to watch a Batman movie without Danny Elfman’s absolutely perfect work. Still, this is a minor issue, and the score is soon embedded in your brain and getting you pumped for Batman’s big chase through the city or pulling at your heart strings when young Bruce is breaking down in tears in Alfred’s arms. The amount of time the movie spends with Bruce’s childhood, and his training, goes a long way to actually making this feel like a Batman movie. As good as its predecessors were, the previous Batman films all felt like Batman was more of a supporting player in his own movie as his villains took centre stage, but that absolutely isn’t the case here. While the death of the Waynes has been done to death at this point, the sudden brutality of it and the impact it has on young Bruce is absolutely tragic here. You can see how this carefree, curious little boy was rendered a terrified, hollow shell of himself and his fear and guilt twist into a burning desire for revenge as he grows. Seeing Bruce willing to kill Chill to try and heal that wound is a powerful scene, one that forever cements not just his refusal to use guns but also his unwillingness to kill, and he actively goes out of his way to save lives wherever possible (though there is some collateral damage along the way, and he does bend this rule for the finale, which clouds this philosophy somewhat).

While I’m a fan of the realistic slant, and Batman looks fearsome, I didn’t care for the tank-like Tumbler.

In terms of visual presentation and atmosphere, this was the best Batman and Gotham City had looked for quite some time. Eschewing the horrific gothic claustrophobia and bright, neon excess of the previous films, Batman Begins opts for a dank, gritty urban landscape that is comprised of numerous different layers. From the more respectable courthouse and upper-class areas to the seedy, dishevelled streets of the Narrows, Gotham feels like a living, breathing, physical space that packs its inhabitants in close quarters and breeds tension and anarchy through harsh living conditions from its poorest civilians. The wealthy and the corrupt live in far greater luxury, with Wayne Enterprise’s establishments and stately home being the most impressive and opulent, and the film is bolstered by a tangible realism, with minimal CGI employed throughout. This approach is best seen in the Batsuit; while the suit can look a bit grey and puffy in promotional pictures, it’s perfectly lit in the film to give Batman a menacing, fearsome look, especially when seeped in shadows or he’s hunched over railings. There’s a particularly stunning panoramic shot of him standing atop a towering structure, watching over the city, and the range of movement offered by the suit is worlds beyond anything we’d seen from the more obviously moulded rubber suits. While I prefer the texture and appearance of a leathery cape, the fabric one works extremely well, especially when draped over the suit and when electrified to allow Batman to effortlessly glide through the Gotham skies. While this Batman relied a little too heavily on his gliding for my liking, this does make for some dynamic shots and he utilises a gas-powered grapnel gun that looks and feels very realistic. It’s great seeing Bruce and Alfred tinkering away in the Batcave, making bat-shaped shurikens, spraying his gear, and testing out his equipment, which helps to show that Bruce isn’t entirely dependent on Fox. However, as fantastic as the Tumbler is, I’m still not really a fan; the Batmobile should be sleek, elegant, and terrifying, not a literal mini tank capable of blasting through solid concrete, ploughing through cars like they were cardboard, or flying across rooftops in the exact opposite of stealth. Alfred’s right; it’s a wonder no-one was killed, and it never fails to amuse me that the Tumbler’s idea of “stealth” is to simply turn all its lights off.

Bale is the quintessential Batman for me, expertly balancing Bruce’s different personas.

A serious point of contention in Nolan’s Batman movies, but especially this one, was the depiction of combat. Nolan does narrative pacing and introspective character development extremely well, but it’s clear that he’s not much of a fight choreographer. Batman’s first appearance is frenetic and obscured, full of rushed jump cuts and incoherent action, which actually works when you view the scene from the perspective of his terrified foes but this leeway can’t be afforded to other fight scenes in the film, which are filmed a little too close quarters for my liking and don’t really show off the brutal efficiency of Batman’s power and skill. On the plus side, Bale makes for a fantastic Batman; even now, he is the best embodiment of the complex duality of the character and he perfectly balances Bruce’s three metaphorical masks (public carefree playboy, private stoic trauma victim, and the intensity that is Batman) with subtle changes to his demeanour, body language, and voice. Bale’s Bat-voice has also caused some debate, but it’s pretty spot on here; his Batman speaks with a growling whisper, which escalates into a gravelly bark when he’s intimidating foes, but it works best when he’s not taxing his vocal chords to their limits. More than any actor before him, Bale also captures the physicality of Batman; he’s tall, well-built, and incredibly believable as a toned, highly trained individual capable of downing terrified mobsters with a sharp strike to the face and absolutely lives the role in a way the his predecessors could only dream of. It’s a shame, then, that he’s lumbered with such a disappointing love interest. Katie Holmes is cute but there’s just no chemistry between her and Bale, despite their best efforts. It doesn’t help that Rachel’s an entirely original character, but she’s so dull and uninspiring that it’s hard to really care when she’s in danger. Holmes does a commendable job of selling Rachel’s utter panic after she’s gassed by Scarecrow, but Bale carries this sequence with his intense desperation to get Rachel to safety and administer a serum to counteract the fear toxin. There’s a quiet moment between Batman and Rachel in the Batcave where he reassures her and keeps up his stoic façade, only to slip his cowl off after she passes out that hints towards what could’ve been a loving relationship between the two but, as I say, Holmes just isn’t capable of pulling it off and Nolan made the right decision to recast her with the far more capable Maggie Gyllenhaal in the sequel. Still, the scene prior to this, and one earlier in the film where Scarecrow blasted fear gas in Batman’s face really showcases what the fear toxin is capable of. The victim is so manic with uncontrollable terror that the world warps and twists into a nightmarish hellscape around them, to say nothing of how Batman appears to those affected! Rendered a salivating, monstrous man-bat, it’s no surprise that Dr. Crane is driven half out of his mind when subjected to his own toxin.

With Gordon’s help, Batman condemns Rā’s to death and they forge a partnership to clean up Gotham.

This leads me to talking about the microwave emitter, probably the most comic book-y element in the film (well…beyond the psycho dressed as a bat, of course). This machine vaporises a city’s water supply, which effectively allows Rā’s al Ghūl to cover most of the city (and all of the Narrows) in Scarecrow’s fear toxin. Would this actually vaporise the water in the human body? Did nobody boil water in all the time Dr. Crane was lacing the water supply? Well, maybe, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask to suspend your disbelief regarding this plot point, though I do have to admit that the frantic statements of Gotham’s panicked public servants was a step too far during the Tumbler chase and the climatic finale. So, as mentioned, Ducard is revealed to be the true Rā’s al Ghūl; he delivers an ominous threat to Bruce at his birthday party, forcing Bruce to ingeniously (and amusingly) feign being drunk and insult his guests so they won’t be harmed, and loads the microwave emitter onto Dr. Wayne’s train to quickly reduce all the water along the path to Wayne Tower into a panic-inducing fear gas. Inoculated against the gas, and with Fox working on mass producing the serum to counter its effects, Batman goes to confront his former mentor. Thanks to Gordon, who uses the Tumbler to scupper the train in another amusing little sub-plot, the train is derailed before it can vaporise the entire city’s water supply, but the Narrows descend into all-out chaos as a result of the gas. Before the train crashes in dramatic fashion thanks to some highly detailed miniatures, Batman chooses to confront Rā’s al Ghūl face-to-face on the out of control transport. Despite Rā’s al Ghūl trying to slow him down with his pawns and taunting him with his inability to “mind [his] surroundings” or take lives, Batman is finally able to best his one-time friend thanks to the advantages offered by his Batsuit. Unable to stop the train (and never actually planning on doing so), Batman is in prime position to end Rā’s al Ghūl’s life but, rather than kill him, he simply refuses to save him and glides to safety right before it goes up in flames, taking the draconian despot with it. Considering Bruce made such a show about not wanting to kill anyone, this does seem contradictory; surely refusing to save a life and leaving a man to die is the same as killing them, after all? I do think it might’ve worked a little better if Batman had tried to save Rā’s al Ghūl and his foe had instead stabbed him, or kicked him away, only to find out too late that Batman had jammed the controls and he was doomed to die. In any case, Gotham is saved (for the most part); Bruce resolves to rebuild Wayne Manor and takes full control of his family business, placing Fox in charge of the company’s day-to-day running, in a bid to aid the city’s redevelopment and underprivileged just as his father did before him. Although Bruce indicated his true identity to Rachel, she asserts that they can’t be together since “Bruce Wayne” is now a mask assumed by his true persona, Batman, symbol of fear and hope to the city. However, although he refuses to accept any thanks for his help, Batman ends the film having established a working relationship with the newly promoted Lieutenant Gordon, who calls for his input using a specially-made signal atop police headquarters regarding a theatrical villain who may require their future attention…

The Summary:
I kind of feel like a lot of people have forgotten how good Batman Begins was (and still is) since the sequel was such a massive hit and pretty much overshadowed the first film in Nolan’s trilogy, and that’s a shame as it really is a top-notch Batman movie. This was the dark, gritty, serious take on the character that long-term Batman fans so desperately needed; it treated the source material with the utmost respect and translated it into a realistic setting to offer a deep dive into Bruce Wayne’s tragedy, psychology, and motivations behind donning the iconic Batsuit. Bolstered by some superb actors and performances, Batman Begins showed that superhero films weren’t just for kids and that celebrated actors could be brought in to elevate the genre into a whole new stratosphere. Christian Bale was, and remains for me, the quintessential Batman; be absolutely embodied every aspect of the character I enjoy, from his physical commitment to the role to his expert portrayal of Bruce’s different, complex personalities and tumultuous emotions, and he’s let down only by his leading lady and some poorly shot fight sequences. Still, even Katie Holmes’ awkward performance and the mundane action scenes don’t detract from the broody, melancholic atmosphere Nolan so expertly crafted. His focus on realism and delivering a layered character study on the World’s Greatest Detective was the shot in the arm Batman really needed at this time, and I loved that the film dared to focus on less mainstream villains like the Scarecrow and Rā’s al Ghūl and to show a new side to Batman’s origin and early years. Sure, The Dark Knight (Nolan, 2008) took everything that worked here (and some of the things that didn’t) and improved and expanded upon them to craft one of the finest superhero movies we’ve ever seen, but don’t let that cloud how awesome Batman Begins was as a subdued, gritty, engaging action thriller that sheds new light on Batman and introduces audiences to one of the best onscreen portrayals of the character ever seen.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Batman Begins? How do you feel it holds up compared to its sequels and other Batman movies? Did you enjoy Christian Bale’s performance and the inclusion of such acting heavy weights as Liam Neeson and Michael Caine? What did you think to Nolan’s realistic take on Batman, his fight scenes, and his suit? Were you a fan of the Tumbler, and what did you think to the romance between Bruce and Rachel? What’s your opinion on Rā’s al Ghūl’s ultimate fate and what do you think to Batman’s No-Kill rule? How did you celebrate Batman Day this year and what is your favourite Batman movie? Whatever your thoughts on Batman Begins, or Batman in general, share them below or leave a comment on my social media.