adaptation

Movie Night: The Running Man (1987)

Dr. K1 Comment

Released: 13 November 1987
Director: Paul Michael Glaser
Distributor: Tri-Star Pictures
Budget: $27 million
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Marvin J. McIntyre, Erland Van Lidth, Jesse Ventura, and Richard Dawson

The Plot:
Following worldwide economic collapse, the United States has become a totalitarian police state whose populace is pacified by Damon Killian’s (Dawson) The Running Man, a game show where criminals fight for their lives from sadistic maniacs. After escaping prison following a frame-up, Ben Richards (Schwarzenegger) is forced to compete in the game and, in the process, assist a resistance movement in revealing the horrible truth behind The Running Man.

The Background:
By 1982, Stephen King has established himself as the undisputed king of the horror novel; Carrie (King, 1974) became be a runaway success, especially after the accompanying adaptation, The Shining (ibid, 1977) became his first hardback bestseller, and The Stand (ibid, 1978), as epic as it was, proved to merely be a precursor to King’s sprawling Dark Tower series (ibid, 1982 to 2012). King also wrote a under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, both to publish more books per year and to test whether his success had been a fluke or not, and The Running Man began life as a Bachman book. The story, a dystopian thriller in a world where the economy has collapsed, was first published in 1982 and King claimed to have written it in just a week! Producer George Linder became obsessed with the book and its premise and was easily able to acquire the film rights since it wasn’t yet public knowledge that Bachman was King’s alias. After the success of The Terminator (Cameron, 1984), Arnold Schwarzenegger shot to superstardom as the premier action star in Hollywood, and screenwriter Steven DeSouza tweaked the script to accommodate the Austrian Oak, who in reality had very little in common with is literary counterpart. He also greatly expanded upon the game show aspects of the novel, but the film’s production was troubled by directors constantly dropping from the project and Schwarzenegger disapproved of Paul Michael Glaser’s filming style. With a $38.1 million box office, The Running Man was a modest financial success; reviews were somewhat mixed, with Dawson’s performance, the film’s satire, and Arnold’s range and physicality drawing praise despite the mindlessness of the action. A life-long favourite of mine, The Running Man recently gained additional exposure thanks to its accurate predictions of the future and the 2025 remake but, since today is Arnold’s birthday, this is the perfect time to revisit this fantastic, action-packed sci-fi classic.

The Review:
It’s hard for me to say, since I don’t really remember all that well, but The Running Man may very well have been my first exposure to Stephen King; at the very least, it was one of my first, and it came at exactly the right time in my life since I was already a big fan of Schwarzenegger’s work from the late eighties to early nineties. The film takes places in the far-off future of around 2018 where the world has become a dystopian police state following a massive economic collapse. Censorship runs rampant and the people are controlled by the media and their governments; generally, they’re satiated by an influx of violent media, such as the life-or-death game show The Running Man, but riots and pockets of resistance continue to spring up, so the government employs more “direct methods” to quell the uprising. Ben Richards begins the film as the part of the system; he starts off as a helicopter pilot for the police force sent in alongside a group of armed officers to investigate a food riot in Bakersfield, California. Richards is aghast when his superior officers order him to open fire on the unarmed crowd and refuses to comply; for his moral stance against gunning down woman and children, he is not only overpowered and knocked out by his comrades but also framed for the ensuring slaughter, earning him infamy as “The Butcher of Bakersfield” and a stint in the Wilshire Detention Zone.

After being framed for a massacre, Richards is forced into fighting for his life on The Running Man.

After eighteen months in a harsh labour camp, his life in the hands of the government that betrayed him thanks to the explosive collar clipped around his neck, Richards has grown into a jaded man who has no time for politics or the steadily declining shithole that the world is becoming. All he cares about now is getting out and reuniting with his brother so he can flee the country, and he joins forces with William Laughlin (Kotto) and Harold Weiss (McIntyre) to stage a brawl and overthrow the armed guards long enough to deactivate the controlling mechanism for their collars and allow a mass escape. Richards remains aligned with the two, who are associates of the Resistance, long enough to have his collar removed but has no interest in getting caught up in resistance leader Mic’s (Mick Fleetwood) efforts to highjack the ICS network satellite and broadcast the true extent of the government’s deception to the unsuspecting masses. Richards is a man of action who has been burned once too often by those who only talk of changing the world; believing that no-one is willing to act on their words, he’s ready to walk away from the world but finds himself targeted by Killian, the charismatic host of The Running Man, who is so inspired by Richards’ physicality and notoriety that he employs every means at his disposal to intercept Richards as he’s trying to flee to Hawaii with the feisty Amber Mendez (Alonso), a composer for the network who Richards was forced to take hostage to keep such an arrest from happening. Initially defiant, Richards is coerced into taking part on the show when Kilian threatens to have Weiss and Laughlin take his place, only to be double-crossed when his friends are dumped into the wreckage of Los Angeles, which comprises the game zone, but his defiance is only fuelled by his desire to fight his way out of the situation and make Killian pay for his part in defaming and endangering him and his buddies.

The feisty Amber ends up competing as well when she learns that the media has been lying to the masses.

After his escape, Richards heads to the city to meet up with his brother, only to find that Edward’s apartment is now owned by Amber after he was taken away for “re-education”. Like Richards, Amber begins the film as an employee of the system; she has had some success composing songs for the ICS network, but is also hiding a few secrets of her own as she has music from the censor list and black-market clothing in her apartment. Richards uses this knowledge to effectively blackmail her into accompanying him to Hawaii, but he also requires her to go with him since, without his brother to help him, he needs her money and travel pass in order to get out of the country. Despite Richards’ massive stature and the ease at which he overpowers her, Amber is a spirited and bold young woman in her own right; she goes along with Richards’ plan, throwing insults and taunts his way wherever possible, and takes the first chance she gets to hit him in the dick and alert airport security to his presence. Like the rest of the ignorant masses, Amber fully believes that Richards is a dangerous and psychotic killer, but her opinion of him (and ICS) changes when she sees that the specifics of his arrest at the airport have been greatly exaggerated to include him having assaulted and killed airport personnel. Her suspicions raised, Amber snoops around the ICS offices and finds that the original unedited video record of the Bakersfield Massacre, but is caught in the act and thrown into the game zone after Killian besmirches her on air with scathing accusations. Although she’s absolutely in over her head, and little more than a screaming, complaining wreck when in the game zone, Amber remains an entertaining character; she constantly winds Richards up with her babbling and naïvety and actually ends up proving quite useful when Weiss has her memorise the uplink code so that Mic can hack into the network satellite. Furthermore, she’s instrumental in Richards’ name being cleared in the finale, and even learns to take care of herself, rather than constantly being saved by Richards, by the time the bulbous Dynamo (Van Lidth) tries to sexually assault her during the film’s climatic firefight.

Much to his chagrin, Richards’ allies are fixated on exposing the government.

While Richards has little interest in politics or fighting against the system, the same can’t be said of Weiss and Laughlin; Laughlin, a former schoolteacher, despairs for the state of the country’s youth as ICS run their propaganda twenty-four hours a day and brainwash them into signing up to serve as part of the violent polices state that oppresses free speech and art. Laughlin’s anger at ICS, and this situation, makes him quite a volatile character; he and Richards start a fight to distract the guards in the labour camp at the start of the film and he explodes with rage when Eddie Vatowski/Buzzsaw (Gus Rethwisch) attacks Richards out in the game zone. This despite the fact that Laughlin was somewhat suspicious of Richards; while Weiss is adamant that their musclebound ally has been framed by the government, Laughlin isn’t so sure since Richards was once a part of the same system he’s fighting against and isn’t “one of [them]” (as in, he’s not a member of the Resistance). Still, Laughlin is fiercely loyal to both his cause and his friend, which ultimately proves to be his undoing as he puts himself in harm’s way to keep Richards from being skewered by Buzzsaw’s chainsaw and ends up dead as a result. Deeply touched by his friend’s sacrifice, this is the turning point for Richards, who vows to bring the uplink code to Mic, despite his scepticism, to honour his friend. Sadly, Weiss doesn’t fare all that well either; the less physically capable of the three, he’s easily manhandled by Professor Subzero (Professor Toru Tanaka) and constantly at risk since he’s unable to simply fight his way through with brute force. Weiss remains fixated on finding the network uplink out in the game zone which, coupled with his weaker physical stature, leads to him being electrocuted to death by Dynamo. Luckily for him, he’s able to teach Amber to memorise the uplink code before he dies, which she then gives to Mic so that the Resistance can finally hack into the ICS network. Although he’s critical of Mic’s Resistance, not just because of the extent of ICS’s influence but also Mic’s use of kids like Stevie (Dweezil Zappa) in his makeshift army, Richards relishes the chance to arm up and lead them in storming The Running Man studio to broadcast the truth of ICS’s malevolent nature and end Killian’s disruptive influence over the audience.

Killian is a charismatic game show host who casually manipulates lives and the media for his ratings.

Speaking of Killian, this guy is one slimy, charismatic, and underhanded individual. Played with absolute relish by career game show host Richard Dawson, Killian is a cold-hearted showman who delights in the adulation of his rowdy audience and is focused only on increasing The Running Man’s ratings by any means necessary. Since The Running Man is “the number one show in the whole, wide world” and the most direct means by which the government can influence and control the masses, Killian wields an incredible amount of power and regularly flouts his influence by manipulating the justice department (or going directly to the President of the United States’ agent) to find viable candidates for his show and thus increase his ratings. Unimpressed with the physical stature and uncharismatic screen appeal of the potential candidates on offer, Killian uses all of his resources and influence to get approval to put Richards on the show, and then goes the extra mile by threatening his friends to force him to undergo the horrific and invasive medical treatments necessary before dumping them all into the game zone. While the protagonists desperately fight for survival out in the desolate wasteland, Killian shines as the captivating host of the show; he engages with his audience (especially his “number one fan”, Agnes McArdle (Dona Hardy)) with a flirtatious and magnetic banter, encouraging them to pick their favourite Stalker to chase after the contestants and awarding them their prizes for participating. However, Killian becomes increasingly frustrated not just by Richards’ continued victories over the Stalkers but also by his increasing popularity, which sees the masses cheering and betting on him rather than favouring the Stalkers. Luckily for Killian, he has a crack media team on hand to not only doctor video footage to incriminate his contestants but also to stage Amber and Richards’ deaths using a very early representation of CGI facial mapping after Richards vehemently turns down Killian’s offer to become a Stalker himself.

The violent and sadistic Stalkers are worshipped by the masses and famed for their brutal kills.

The Stalkers make up the primary physical threat faced by our main characters; essentially a gaggle of bloodthirsty wrestlers kept under ICS’s payroll with the specific purpose killing contestants in the most gruesome ways to pop a higher rating. Cheered and idolised by the masses, the Stalkers are more than celebrities; they’re heroes, each of which have their own dedicated fanbase and odds of winning based on their experiences on the game show, and the audience is stunned into silence to see them being offed one at a time by Richards, especially as a Stalker has never been killed before. Although Captain Freedom (Ventura) is technically the first Stalker introduced, he’s basically been reduced to being a mascot for the network, and is insulted when Killian denies him the “code of the gladiators” for his eventual fight against Richards. Consequently, Captain Freedom is denied actually participating in the show as much as he is his time to host his workout show or share his insights during the broadcast, which leaves him resentful of his employers. The first Stalker to actually enter the fray is Professor Subzero, a huge Japanese sumo wrestler who attacks our heroes with a razor-sharp hockey stick and meets his ends when Richards garrottes him with a piece of barbed wire. Buzzsaw and Dynamo enter the game as a tag team of sorts, with the chainsaw wielding Buzzsaw having the most impact of all of the antagonists thanks not just to the sadistic pleasure he derives from slicing his prey with his chainsaws but also because he kills Laughlin and is subsequently executed by Richards by having his beloved chainsaw cut through his groin. Not that Dynamo is any slouch either; he murders Weiss and makes an immediate impression with his ludicrous light-up outfit, operatic singing, and little armoured car that he tries to run down Richards with. Initially, Richards spares Dynamo’s life after he’s left helpless beneath the wreckage of his vehicle, but he is later electrocuted to death by Amber after he tries to assault her, bringing his perverse designs to an end. Finally, Killian sends in Fireball (Jim Brown) to immolate Richards and Amber but, despite the benefits afforded to him by his jetpack, his fireproof suit, and his trusty flamethrower, Fireball is easily dispatched by Richards using a road flare after a brief, tense game of cat and mouse.

The Nitty-Gritty:
I’d just like to take a moment to praise the stellar work by composer Harold Faltermeyer; The Running Man’s gloriously over the top action, satirical cynicism, and dystopian world are only bolstered by a thumping synthetic beat that hits perfectly during every punch, kill, or contemplative scene. Even now, the bombastic main melody will often pop into my head and it’s just a really fun, energetic score that gets the blood pumping every time it kicks in. Considering it was made in the late-eighties, The Running Man is a startlingly accurate portrayal of modern society; not only do we have voice-activated conveniences at home that control our lights and appliances, but we have absolutely become blinded to the conflicts and politics of the wider world in favour of consuming media, and governments make no bones about using said media to control us in both subtle and explicit ways. Obviously, The Running Man favours the more explicit path for the purposes of entertainment; the prison Richards finds himself in is an absolute hellhole where the inmates are worked to death, watched over by armed, masked stormtroopers, and unable to leave lest their heads be blown off by explosive collars! Furthermore, the government is more than willing to employ lethal force to quell food riots and spin the situation in their favour by pinning such incidents on patsies like Richards. The United States government has a controlling interest in The Running Man television show, using it as a backdoor solution to eliminate political insurgents, and even those who manage to beat the game are executed offscreen but presented as heroic victors to help boost the ratings.

Schwarzenegger is never short of a cutting quip to taunt his dismembered opponents in this film.

The Running Man is filled with examples of black humour, from Killian’s laughably bad adverts for Cadre Cola (“It Hits the Spot!”) to lethal game shows like Climbing for Dollars and the price of a Coca-Cola having shot to $6, The Running Man is indicative of a biting satire regarding consumerism and media consumption that was so crucial to sci-fi classics at the time. Of course, a great deal of the film’s humour also comes from Schwarzenegger; while the Austrian Oak falters somewhat here and there with his line delivery in this one, The Running Man is chock full of some of his most amusing one-liners and character moments, from stabbing his court appointed attorney (Kenneth Lerner) in the back with a pen after he rattles off all kinds of nonsense legal mumbo-jumbo, his vow that “[he’ll] be back” to Killian (whose reply, “Only in a rerun”, isn’t to be sniffed at either) and his many quips while interacting with and after dispatching each of the Stalkers (“Hey, Christmas Tree!”, “He had to split”, and “What a hot-head!” spring instantly to mind). For me, though, the standout moment comes when Richards, enraged at the loss of his friends, turns down Killian’s request to sign up as a Stalker and promises to “ram [his fist] into [Killian’s] stomach and break [his] Goddamn spine!” Alongside Schwarzenegger’s trademark wit, we have a decent variety of action and fight scenes on offer thanks to the different Stalkers; Professor Subzero attacks the group in an enclosed ice rink, Buzzsaw and Dynamo strike out in the wasteland, and Fireball chases Richards and Amber through an abandoned building. More often that not, Richards can’t simply rely on throwing punches at his opponents as they’re pretty huge guys in their own right, heavily armed, and some wear protective armour or ride motorcycles, meaning he has to think up some creative ways to subdue them and finish them off, such as ripping out Fireball’s fuel line and tossing a flare at him and overpowering Buzzsaw to drive his chainsaw up into his crotch!

Richards storms the studio, gives Killian some karma, and becomes the unlikely face of a revolution.

Interestingly, one of the film’s more brutal fight sequences doesn’t technically involve Richards; thanks to Killian’s aide, Tony (Kurt Fuller), using digital trickery, Captain Freedom fights and kills two stand-ins to stage Amber and Richards’ deaths in order to quell the support the latter is gaining from the viewing public. Thankfully, Mic intercepts the two before Killian can have them hunted down and killed off-camera and Richards volunteers to lead the Resistance in storming The Running Man broadcast, ensuring that the film culminates in a massive firefight between the Resistance and the ICS armed guards. Thanks to being caught off-guard, the guards are picked off by Richards and the others, who help get the majority of the panicked audience to safety, and Richards is left alone with Killian after his mistreated head of security, Sven (Sven Thorsen), leaves him in the lurch. Clearly not a physical match for Richards, Killian falls back on his silver tongue and desperately pleads with the grim-faced former cop for mercy since Killian is simply trying to appease the masses with violent entertainment. However, his appeals fall on deaf ears and Richards seals him up in one of the rocket-powered pods that so violently deposits contestants into the game zone and sends the deceiving game show host careening to a fiery death. By this point, however, the truth of the Bakersfield Massacre has been revealed and Richards has won over the viewing audience for being a “bad motherfucker”, meaning that Killian’s death is celebrated across the city. With the head of the snake effectively removed, The Running Man (and the large television screen in the city centre) goes off air for, presumably, the first time ever and the film ends with a definite sense that the people have not only found a new hero to idolise in Richards but will no longer allow themselves to be so absolutely controlled by the media and the oppressive government.

The Summary:
I haven’t read The Running Man, so I really can’t comment on the film’s fidelity to Stephen King’s original text, but I do have to say that I’ve always wanted to give it a read based on my affection for this adaptation. I might be blinded by nostalgia and my love for Arnold Schwarzenegger films, but I absolutely love The Running Man. It’s not completely flawless thanks to some spotty line delivery and most of the action taking place in a pretty bland, dark location, but I think it holds up surprisingly well even after all this time. It helps that it’s not an overly elaborate sci-fi tale, so there are no flying cars or complicated special effects here; it’s simply a darker, somewhat realistic representation of a possible future society that has been oppressed by an overbearing government following near-total economic collapse. The film shines in its excess of machismo; Schwarzenegger is at his most quippy here, overpowering and outmatching his beefy opponents with pun after pun and filling out his skin-tight spandex outfit wonderfully. The Stalkers might be soulless, sadistic modern-day gladiators, but they stand out thanks to being visually distinct and each having their own unique, vicious ways of attacking the contestants. Of course, the real star of the show is Richard Dawson as Killian, the two-faced game show host who is jovial and engaging in front of the cameras and a cold-hearted tyrant backstage, which makes him an impeccable mastermind for Schwarzenegger to go up against. The Running Man continues to be culturally relevant as time goes on thanks to modern day technology not being a million miles away from what’s seen in the film, and our continued obsession with meaningless gameshows, media, and increasingly violent entertainment. For me, this makes The Running Man a clever satire amidst a top-notch sci-fit action film that means it only takes on more meaning, and gets more entertaining, as you get older and appreciate all the different layers at work in what many probably write off as just another mindless Schwarzenegger flick.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

What do you think to The Running Man? How do you think the film holds up to others in the same genre and what would you rank it against Arnold’s other films? Have you read the original book and, if so, how do you think the film holds up as an adaptation? What did you think to Schwarzenegger’s many quips? Which of the Stalkers was your favourite? Are you surprised at how accurate The Running Man was at predicting the progression of society? Were you a fan of Richard Dawson’s performance? How are you celebrating Schwarzenegger’s birthday today and what is your favourite Schwarzenegger film? Whatever you think, go ahead and leave your thoughts below.

Screen Time: Secret Invasion

Dr. K3 Comments

Air Date: 21 June 2023 to 29 July 2023
Director: Ali Selim
Network: Disney+
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Don Cheadle, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, and Cobie Smulders

The Background:
January 1962 saw legendary duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduce the Skrulls to Marvel Comics readers. This race of warmongering shape-shifters have long hounded Marvel’s heroes but are perhaps best known not just for their long-standing conflict against the Kree but also the divisive Secret Invasion story arc (Bendis, et al, 2008 to 2009), an eight-issue story accompanied by multiple tie-ins and spin-offs that detailed a lengthy and aggressive infiltration of Earth’s mightiest heroes, Following their live-action debut in Captain Marvel (Boden, 2019), the Skrulls have appeared sporadically throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but took centre stage in this series, which MCU head honcho Kevin Feige claimed would impact future MCU productions. The series was also produced as a means to explore the potential of Nick Fury (Jackson), a character mainly utilised in a supporting or administrative role, and evoke the atmosphere of classic Cold War/espionage thrillers (rather than load the narratives with superpowered imposters) by playing into the paranoia and distrust of the original storyline. Although Secret Invasion received heavy backlash for utilising AI for its opening title sequence, the series was praised for its darker, more mature direction; the tension and drama evoked through the narrative was equally praised, as was Jackson’s performance, though some found Secret Invasion to be a dull and tedious affair.

The Plot:
Nick Fury, former director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) returns to Earth to investigate and intercept a faction of shape-shifting Skrulls who have infiltrated all aspects of human life and society.

The Review:
Secret Invasion is a six-part miniseries that takes its title from the action-packed Marvel event of the same name. In many ways, the plot of this series is what I originally envisioned would permeate the MCU when Captain Marvel’s first trailer dropped. Before the movie recast the Skrulls as sympathetic refugees, I imagined we’d see an extended plot concerning their infiltration of human society throughout Marvel’s movies, however that didn’t actually happen. On the one hand, I was glad of this as plots like that annoy me for how cliché they are but, on the other hand, it’s resulted in this miniseries that takes that basic concept and significantly downplays its scope to deliver what’s actually more of a character inspection of Nick Fury than a significant shake-up of the MCU status quo. At first, though, it seems like this isn’t the case; the opening sequence of the series sees recurring MCU side character Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) pursued and killed by Talos (Mendelsohn), revealing him to have been a Skrull in disguise, and this same episode ends with frequent Avenger ally Maria Hill (Smulders) dead and Fury himself publicly blamed for her murder thanks to the actions of Skrull revolutionary Gravik (Ben-Adir). However, although Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes/War Machine (Cheadle) co-stars, now working as an advisor to the United States President Ritson (Dermot Mulroney), he’s the only Avenger-level inclusion in Secret Invasion, which reframes the paranoia and subterfuge of the source material into less of a colourful classic of bombastic superheroes and more of a political thriller in the same vein as Captain America: The Winter Solder (Russo and Russo, 2014) and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Skogland, 2021). In fact, this last comparison is startlingly apt as much of Gravik’s plot to wipe out humanity and the motivations of his Skrull loyalists is reminiscent of Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman) and her Flag Smashers; the show even has a similar visual style and focus on grounded and practical explosions, again keeping things gritty and intriguing but perhaps at the cost of being a visually engaging, unique, or exciting narrative.

Nick Fury takes centre stage, showcasing a more nuance and vulnerable side to his character.

Fury returns to Earth after being absent for some time; he’s spent what’s said to be years out in deep space aboard the S.A.B.E.R. space station, working with Skrulls to establish an outer space defence network for the Earth. However, what he’s really been doing is hiding; ever since returning from the Blip, Fury is noted to have changed. His age is constantly brought up, and even he admits that the years he spent gone have caused him to lose more than a step or two; his appearance is dishevelled for most of the series, meaning it’s a thematic celebration when he visits one of his many gravesites and retrieves his iconic eye patch and coat, and much of the series focuses on exploring Fury in a way we’ve never seen before. Far from the influential spy of spies, Fury is recontextualised as a simple agent who got lucky; Talos tears into Fury, telling him that he owes his entire career to the information and assistance offered to him by the many Skrulls who agreed to act as his eyes and ears in return for a safe haven and we get to see a far more nuanced and vulnerable side to Fury. Specifically, flashbacks and de-aging effects show him in his younger days, forging an alliance with Talos and the Skrulls and even falling in love with the Skrull Varra (Charlayne Woodard), who takes the form and life of Priscilla and eventually marries him. Feeling a deep sense of obligation and respect towards the Skrulls, Fury promised to find them a new home in return for acting as his personal spy network, but was unable to deliver on this promise, infuriating Gravik and many of his followers, and therefore Fury has a personal stake in outing the Skrull infiltration since he’s largely responsible for their antagonism towards humans. Fury and Talos were united in their belief that the Skrulls would be accepted by humanity if they were willing to compromise; if they defended the Earth and kept their true selves hidden, they would be safe and able to thrive, but many came to resent having to hide themselves and joined Gravik in scheming to wipe out humankind. While Fury’s main concern is safeguarding the world, he maintains the belief that Skrulls and humans can co-exist throughout the series and constantly pleads with Gravik to end his vendetta despite how personal he makes their conflict. Ultimately, it’s a much deeper characterisation of Fury; we see him more relaxed, less authoritative, incredibly vulnerable, and relying on a handful of trusted allies to curb Gravik’s threat before it’s too late, while exploring how utterly broken he was following the Blip and his inability to prevent such a disaster.

Talos sacrifices everything to campaign for human/Skrull relations, which inspires G’iah.

One of the best aspects of Secret Invasion is the relationship between Talos and Fury; since their first adventure, the two became close friends and were united in their love of humanity and the belief that the Skrulls need to work together with humans to be accepted and safe. Unfortunately, there’s a bit of resentment between them in Fury’s absence; Talos is frustrated that Fury refuses to open up to him about his near-death experience and feels slighted that Fury would use his people to his own ends, but they maintain a begrudging mutual respect since they both know they need each other to oppose Gravik. Talos is grieving the loss of his wife, Soren (Sharon Blynn), at Gravik’s hands, his ousting from the Skrull council in favour of Gravik’s more fanatical ways, and the fracturing of his relationship with his daughter, G’iah (Clarke), who’s signed up to Gravik’s cause both to spite her father and because she resents having to hide away. Talos’s motivations in stopping Gravik are thus as multifaceted as Fury’s; his personal vendetta against Gravik sees him explode in a violent and uncharacteristic rage on more than one occasion and he’s left heartbroken and frustrated when G’iah continues to give him the cold shoulder even after she learns the truth about Gravik and his plan and decides to work against him from the inside. Talos is convinced that the Skrulls will be accepted by humanity if they prove themselves through heroic deeds, so much so that he teams up with Fury to defend President Ritson from Gravik’s attack and ends up fatally wounded as a result. Although the series initially makes it a bit unclear, this sees Talos killed before he can reconcile with G’iah and leaves Fury devastated; on the plus side, G’iah connects with Priscilla, who performs a traditional (if sadly intimate) funeral for her father and his death is enough to push G’iah into fully standing against Gravik, if only to get revenge. Spirited and forthright, G’iah is also young, brash, and quite bratty; she joins with Gravik mainly out of spite and continues to subscribe to the belief that the Skrulls deserve their own home rather than to hide amongst people who hate and fear them. However, the sheer magnitude of Gravik’s plot is enough to shake her faith in his deals, especially as he becomes more unstable; to that end, she’s forced to expose herself to Gravik’s “Super-Skrull” machine to grant herself additional superpowers to both survive his reprisals and confront him in the final.

Gravik feels slighted by Fury and, alongside his followers, is determined to destroy humanity.

Though also young and headstrong, Gravik is equally passionate and violent in his beliefs; recruited into Fury and Talos’s cause from a young age, Gravik initially carried out his orders without hesitation, killing in the name of Fury and his people in the firm belief that Fury would find them a home. However, as the years passed, the guilt and the blood on his hands mounted up, and Fury became increasingly absent, meaning bitterness and resentment took root in Gravik and turned him against all humans, but especially Fury, whom he sees as the embodiment of humankind and against whom much of his aggression is targeted. Gravik goes to great lengths to mess with Fury, having his followers impersonate people close to Fury and even assuming his form to frame him for Hill’s murder, all to show the world that this legendary figure is a fallible, untrustworthy, broken-down old man. As much as he desires power, granted to him by both the Skrull Council and Doctor Rosa Dalton’s (Katie Finneran) work in constructing his Super-Skrull machine, Gravik wishes to break Fury’s spirit, have him witness both his greatest failure and the death of his people, and then kill him for going back on his word. To facilitate this, Gravik has placed his followers in key roles within the world’s superpowers and is stoking the flames of conflict between the United States and Russia from a glorified refugee camp dubbed “New Skrullos” and sitting in a deeply irradiated area of Russia, where his people are safe from reprisals and live simple lives as farmers or take more active roles as soldiers. However, Gravik’s desire for revenge sees him place the settlement right in the line of fire and willing to sacrifice (or out-right execute) his own people to achieve victory, something many of his followers are unable to speak out against thanks to his ruthlessness and being imbued with various superpowers from his experiments. Undeniably, Gravik’s chief agent in encouraging President Ritson to strike back against Russia is Rhodey, who’s revealed to be a Skrull in disguise; an arrogant, pompous sellout, Rhodey continually dismisses Fury’s claims of a Skrull invasion and takes great pleasure in both firing him and labelling him a criminal and constantly gets in Ritson’s ear about the Russian/Skrull threat against the United States, bringing the world on the brink of annihilation simply through choice words and evidence supplied by Gravik himself. Naturally, this doesn’t end well for Rhodes; like many of the rebellious Skrulls loyal to Gravik’s cause, he’s ultimately killed to prevent this catastrophe, but Gravik’s followers are more than willing to give up their lives if it means dying as their true selves rather than pretending to be something they’re not.

The Summary:
Oddly, Secret Invasion’s episodes get shorter as the series progresses, starting at around an hour and going as short as just over half an hour, indicating to me that there wasn’t as much story as other Marvel shows. Episode two was the longest at nearly an hour, while most episodes (including the finale) were less than forty minutes. Indeed, I wonder if this could’ve been a two-hour streaming film or cut down to four episodes if some of the padding, like Priscilla, was omitted. Priscilla definitely adds new layers to Fury’s character; there was never a hint that he was married or had much of a personal life before, but here we get to see his secluded home, his loving and equal relationship with Priscilla, and see him as more of a man, all masks cast aside. Naturally, their relationship isn’t perfect; Priscilla also notes a change in Fury and has even been somewhat swayed to Gravik’s cause in her husband’s absence, ultimately causing their relationship to fall apart until they reconcile in the finale. Again, this allows for a looser, less uptight characterisation for Fury but it somewhat bogs down the series; I wonder if expanding on his relationship with Hill might’ve been a better option, or perhaps spending more time developing his past with MI6 agent Sonia Falsworth (Coleman), an unnervingly polite and yet surprisingly devious ally of his who is happy to blatantly torture and murder Skrulls to get information on Gravik’s plot. Even saying that makes me wonder what the point of Falsworth really was when the show could’ve easily slotted Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) into this role to explore her vaguely defined relationship with Fury and offer to help G’iah in the finale for her own unscrupulous ends.

Themes of trust, race, and political intrigue are rife in this gritty, if small-scale, thriller.

Still, I did enjoy Fury’s characterisation here; his interactions with Talos, in particular, Priscilla, G’iah, and even Gravik show a man who’s been worn down by secrets, conflict, and bigotry and is striving to find a way for humanity to co-exist with extraterrestrial beings in a mutually beneficial way, even if it means compromises on both sides. He openly plays the race card when talking with Rhodey in an attempt to convince him to believe him, reinstate him, and take the Skrull threat seriously only to be met with hostility, and likens the Skrull’s displacement to the same persecution his people went through in the past (and even today). This adds an extra layer onto his motivations for helping the Skrulls as he feels a kinship to them, but he couldn’t help but use their unique shape-shifting powers to his benefit to ensure global security. As Talos mentions, this makes Fury quite the hypocrite since he had no problem exploiting the Skrulls for a “good” reason, making him thematically similar to Gravik, who exploits them for a “bad” reason. Rather than have the Skrull campaign against the Earth be religiously motivated and their people impersonate key superhero figures, Gravik and his followers are entrenched within the world’s governments and want to destroy humanity to claim the Earth for themselves. With a million displaced Skrulls hiding on Earth, many have every right to fear for their lives and to resent having to hide themselves, which sees those loyal to Gravik branding Talos as weak and a traitor, sentiments largely echoed by G’iah until she reluctantly comes to see how extreme Gravik’s plot has become. While Secret Invasion is built around the fundamental question of trust, there are very few Skrull reveals that surprised me or made me care; I think everyone assumed Rhodey would be a Skrull, though I wasn’t expecting Ross to be one until he showed up in the first episode, and everyone else who’s shown to be a Skrull is a new character for the show to avoid messing up the status quo, which is predictably restored in the finale when the real Rhodey and Ross are rescued by G’iah since the Skrulls conveniently need to keep their hosts alive to better maintain their façade and leech off their memories, experiences, and personalities.

Ultimately, Gravik’s plan is foiled but the Skrull presence is perceived as a nationwide threat.

On the one hand, I do like that Secret Invasion opted for a more grounded, gritty thriller story; it would be unrealistic to expect some of the MCU’s biggest names to appear and be revealed as Skrulls and the intimate nature of the narrative helps to make things more personal and raw. Car chases, explosions, and fire fights feel more visceral and real as, mostly, the series has two feet firmly on the ground if you ignore the sparing use of shape-shifting aliens. When the Skrulls do utilise their powers, or more fantastical elements like Extremis or that holographic-mask technology are employed, it’s treated as a big deal since, for the most part, we’re just following two old blokes trying to coerce or beat information out of people. However, a lot of this is done away with in the last episode; by then, G’iah has already gained additional powers from Gravik’s machine and Gravik himself uses the “Harvest” to gain the powers of all the Avengers and multiple of superpowered and alien entities to become a Super-Skrull. This means the ending comes down to a big ol’ fist fight between G’iah and Gravik and Fury and Falsworth exposing Rhodey’s true nature to the baffled and horrified President Ritson. One is an overly elaborate CGI punch-up that ends in anti-climactic fashion and the other is tense showdown that ends with the Rhodey-Skull dead because of his own hubris and President Ritson so rattled by the Skrull invasion that he openly declares war against all Skrulls, leading to a brief montage of trigger-happy bigots gunning down suspected Skrulls whether they’re innocent or not. This leads Fury and Priscilla (who reassumes her Skrull name and form) to return to S.A.B.E.R. to negotiate a peace treaty with the Kree and Falsworth offering G’iah the resources to fight back against Ritson’s campaign, essentially ending the series where it started with Fury off-world, Skrulls in hiding, and tensions high within the world’s governments. Sadly though, as much as I liked the peek into Fury’s private life and seeing him take centre stage, Secret Invasion felt like a mixed bag to me. Although Gravik’s plot is to kickstart World War Three, the stakes never felt very high and it was difficult to care when characters died as they were either expendable, had outlived their usefulness (Hill), were revealed to still be alive (Ross and Rhodey), or their deaths were strangely rushed to the point where I’m sure they’ll be revealed to be fake later (Talos). The relationship and banter between Fury and Talos was great, I enjoyed Gravik’s impassioned speeches and maniacal bent, and it’ll be interesting to see where Super-Skrull G’iah factors into the MCU going forward but this felt like a series you could easily skip over without missing anything and I’ll be surprised if it actually has any lasting impact on the MCU since it goes to such lengths to restore the status quo by the end.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

What did you think to Secret Invasion? How do you think it compares to the source material and Marvel’s other Disney+ shows? What did you think to the deeper dive into Nick Fury’s characterisation and personal life? Did you enjoy his relationship with Talos and kinship with the Skrulls? What did you think to Talos and G’iah’s resentment towards him? Were you impressed with Gravik and his plan or did you find it a bit too derivative? What did you think to what few Skrull reveals we got, and would you have preferred to see this narrative stretched out throughout the MCU rather than rushed in a miniseries? Whatever you think about Secret Invasion, feel free to drop a comment below or share your thoughts on my social media pages and don’t forget to check out my other MCU reviews across the site!

Screen Time: Inhumans

Dr. K3 Comments

Air Date: 29 September 2017 to 10 November 2017
UK Network: Sky One
Original Network: ABC
Stars: Anson Mount, Serinda Swan, Iwan Rheon, Isabelle Cornish, Ken Leung, Eme Ikwuakor, and Ellen Woglom

The Background:
In 1965, the legendary duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby expanded upon their earlier work with the X-Men with an entire race of superpowered beings, the Inhumans, initially antagonists to Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four. Brought about as a result of of Kree experimentation with “Terrigen Mist”, the incredible and often monstrous Inhumans have been at the forefront of some of Marvel’s most contentious storylines but gained a new level of infamy when the publishers unsuccessfully and bizarrely tried to have them replace the far more popular and mainstream X-Men. Development of a live-action Inhumans adaptation can be traced back to 2011 and Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) mastermind Kevin Feige initially planned for the team to feature in a big-screen movie that would expand the scope of the MCU in new directions. The first seeds of this were planted in the spin-off television show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013 to 2020) but, while the planned movie was soon removed from Marvel’s line-up, Feige remained hopeful that the property would come to life in some form or another. This eventually came to pass in shape of an eight-episode series headed by showrunner Scott Buck, who immediately set about stripping the Inhumans of many of their more recognisable traits and making unpopular decisions regarding the tone and direction of the show. With the first two episodes airing in cinemas courtesy of IMAX, Inhumans sought to tell a more grounded family drama but was notable for both being the first television show to include an entirely CGI character and altering the character’s costumes into something far more sterile and ruining the presentation and characterisation of Inhuman Queen, Medusa (Swan). The $3.5 million IMAX gross of the debut episodes was considered a failure, but this was nothing compared to the critical mauling the series received from reviews; critics slammed the show’s execution, its lack of exciting action, and its overall presentation, though Anson Mount’s performance as Blackagar Boltagon/Black Bolt was generally praised. The failure of the show led to plans for a second season being scrapped and the Inhumans quietly disappeared from the MCU until fairly recently, and rumours of a reboot for the concept continue to circulate online.

The Plot:
Having fled persecution on Earth, a group of Inhumans founded the secret settlement of Attilan on the Moon under the rule of the Inhuman Royal Family. Jealous and slighted at having never developed the same fantastic powers as his peers, Maximus (Rheon) leads an uprising that sees the Inhuman leader, Blackagar Boltagon/Black Bolt (Mount), and his Royal Family trapped on Earth and desperately fighting to return to Attilan to put a stop to Maximus’s power-hungry schemes.

The Review:
Inhumans came out at a weird time in Marvel history; at this time, Marvel Comics made a conscious effort to downplay the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, splitting up and neutering both groups to try and scupper 20th Century Fox’s film franchises to force a deal where those characters could appear in the MCU. The Inhumans thus became very prominent in Marvel Comics, a decision that was met with considerable backlash not because the characters are bad, per se, but more because they were trying to replace two of Marvel’s most popular and iconic teams and they weren’t as compelling as either. I was confused by this decision, but then I’ve never been a die-hard fan of the Inhumans; for me, they’ve cropped up in numerous Fantastic Four comics and that’s about it. I’ve not read much, if any, of their adventures but I was intrigued at the announcement that they’d be getting a movie, and the attempt to incorporate the Inhumans into the MCU in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., something subtly alluded to in Inhumans as many, even random humans, are aware of the Inhumans thanks to their recent appearances after the water supply was contaminated by Terrigen Mist. Accordingly, Inhumans are actively hunted by some when they appear, mainly out of fear but also to cut them open and understand their strange powers. This perceived fear and distrust of Inhumans is made explicit right from the first scene of the show, in which a recently transformed girl (Nicola Peltz) is chased by armed soldiers and unceremoniously killed as she flees. Inhuman fishman Triton (Mike Moh) arrives to offer her safety and sanctuary in Attilan, only to fail to save her and be presumed dead, and his death is a major inciting incident in the narrative of the show.

A stoic ruler who must contain his destructive powers, Black Bolt learns to view his relationships differently.

Triton was sent to Earth on the orders of his king, the stoic and perpetually silent Black Bolt, specifically to help Earth-born Inhumans as they are remnants of those left behind after their society fled to the Moon. In a show full of questionable performances and decisions, Anson Mount is one of the highlights; while he only wears a vaguely comic-accurate costume on a couple of occasions (including a crappy little leather-like crown), he conveys a great deal of emotion and character despite being rendered silent due to the destructive nature of his voice. Black Bolt is widely believed, and continuously stated, to be the most powerful and dangerous of all the Inhumans; even the feared living weapon Mordis (Bridger Zadina) pales in comparison as the slightest whisper from Black Bolt could destroy all of Attilan. Consequently, Black Bolt is a man of intense focus; as a child, young Black Bolt (Lofton Shaw) had no interest in being king, much to the chagrin of his morally dubious parents, King Agon (Michael Buie) and Queen Rynda Boltagon (Tanya Clarke). Black Bolt was overcome with grief and feared by his people after accidentally vaporising his parents and it was only the affection of young Medusalith Amaquelin-Boltagon/Medusa (Victoria Isabella Piemonte) that gave him the motivation to master his powers within a specifically constructed chamber. Bonded in their mutual grief, as Medusa had also lost her parents, the two eventually married and became much revered rulers of Attilan, with Black Bolt gaining a reputation for safeguarding his people through a strict policy of secrecy to shield them from Earthly eyes. Due to the nature of his powers, Black Bolt communicates through stern looks, body language, a version of sign language, and relies on the adult Medusa (Swan) as an interpreter. The series is strangely reliant on this, and other characters translating Black Bolt’s “words”; I would’ve liked to see subtitles being used to avoid this as it can be a bit awkward when characters repeat what he’s signed back to him just for our benefit. Black Bolt’s sign language is also entirely unique; few others can understand his “words”, so he’s shit out of luck when his eventual arrival in downtown Honolulu causes a stir and leads to his imprisonment. Despite the fact that he could easily escape prison at any time with his voice, Black Bolt largely co-operates with his incarceration, a fact made even stranger given how quick he was to lash out when the cops tried to subdue him. Black Bolt is an Inhuman of many layers; he secretly colluded to fake Triton’s death in order to force Maximus’s hand and is openly criticised by Locus (Sumire Matsubara) for perpetuating Attilan’s caste system, which sees those with useful, beautiful powers living in luxury and everyone else being forced to toil in the Terrigen mines.

Though rude and utterly unlikeable, Medusa eventually campaigns for positive change for the Inhumans.

Indeed, despite her loyalty to Black Bolt and her love of Attilan, Medusa eventually comes to speak out against the system. When we first meet her, Medusa is the alluring right-hand woman of the king who is traumatised when Maximus kicks off his coup d’état by shaving her hair and forcing her and the rest of the royal family to flee to Oahu. Though a strong and forthright woman who’s more than capable of defending herself, Medusa’s authority is openly criticised by Maximus, with whom she has a tumultuous relationship. We’re told on many occasions that the two used to be close friends, to the point where Medusa unsuccessfully attempts to talk him into halting Attilan’s destruction in the finale, though we’re never given much insight into their past so it almost feels like it was shoe-horned in since Black Bolt can’t speak. Similarly, surprisingly little time is spent dwelling on Medusa’s relationship with her younger sister, Princess Crystal Amaquelin (Cornish); there’s a brief flashback showing Medusa comforting young Crystal (Leila Bootsma) and that Medusa’s always had responsibilities and someone to care about, and she’s later unexpectedly cool with Crystal’s friendship with young farmer Dave (Chad Buchanan). However, Medusa’s screen time is largely spent debating and contrasting with enthusiastic Louise Fisher (Woglom), a scientist from the Callisto Aerospace Control Center who teams up with Medusa after tracking the Inhumans’ arrival. While all of the Inhumans are strangely baffled by Earth, Medusa initially cares only about reuniting with Black Bolt and making Maximus pay; this leads to her having little regard for Earth customs and sees her demanding money from an ATM machine simply because of her royal status in much the same way as Black Bolt simply strolled out of a clothing shop without paying. Though used for comedic effect, this makes her seem stupid and rude; it doesn’t make sense for any of them to be this confused since we saw the Inhumans monitoring Earth, yet she just openly steals from people and is overly rude and aggressive towards Louise. Medusa forces Louise to co-operate by holding a gun on her, is constantly ungrateful and impatient and even ditches Louise once she manages to pinpoint Black Bolt’s location. They have many heated discussions about Attilan’s caste system, a system Medusa’s own parents spoke out against and were killed for trying to change; she thus initially finds idealism to be overrated but comes to be changed through her time with Louise and Locus’s eventual death, which sees her going from wanting Maximus dead to literally begging Black Bolt to set a better example. Upon learning of Black Bolt’s deception and his secret war bunker, Medusa chastises him for keeping her in the dark; her time on Earth makes her realise that she wants to have a greater say in Attilan society as his equal, not just his interpreter, though it’ll take more than a brief bit of despair over her shaved locks and her awkward attempts to learn humility to make me sympathise with such an unlikeable character.

With Karnak’s powers on the fritz, Gorgon’s more blundering nature comes in handy.

While Black Bolt blunders his way around and Medusa begrudgingly finds herself relying on Louise for help, their cousins, Karnak Mander-Azur (Leung) and Gorgon Pentragon (Ikwuakor), end up mixed up in their own side adventures. While we rarely see Black Bolt’s power and Medusa’s is forcibly stripped from her, Karnak’s unique ability to “see the flaw” in anything and predict outcomes so accurately that it’s almost as if he can see the future is a central point of his narrative as this character who always sees what’s coming takes an unforeseen tumble and hits his head, throwing his powers out of whack and making him doubt himself and his usefulness. Conversely, Gorgon is the meat-headed captain of the royal guard; his childish nature and preference to go charging head-first into any situation are a constant aggravation to Karnak and see him almost drown upon arriving on Earth and forced not only to rely on a group of surfers – including Holo (Ty Quiamboa), Makani (Kala Alexander), and Pablo (Albert Ueligitone) – for aid but also learn the value of foresight and planning, two things he normally relies on Karnak for. While this alliance is short-lived as Gorgon doesn’t want to be responsible for the deaths of his newfound friends, Karnak is irrevocably changed by his unreliable powers and the influence of Jen (Jamie Gray Hyder), a kindly Earth woman who treats his wounds and teaches him to relax. The kindest of the three cannabis farmers who initially take Karnak hostage, Jen finds Karnak alluring; she’s captivated by his tattoos and stories of Gorgon and the Moon and their relationship quickly develops into a romance. Her influence has a profound effect on him, changing him from being dismissive of sexual encounters to being appreciative of them and infusing his cold, analytical nature with a sense of compassion. While this astounds his fellow Inhumans, it also leads Karnak to making uncharacteristically rash decisions; when Gorgon is killed defending the group, Karnak openly defies Black Bolt and Medus (and strict Attilan law) to put his friend through a second Terrigenesis, a purely selfish act reunite him with his aggravating cousin and which results in Gorgon being restored to life but sporadically overcome with a mindless rage.

Crystal, like the other Inhumans, is changed by her time on Earth and encounters with humans both good and bad.

Although Crystal is the youngest of the Inhumans and rarely uses her elemental powers, she serves an important use as she’s able to have her gigantic pet dog Lockjaw instantly teleport people around. There’s a brief subplot where she’s held hostage by Maximus, who subtly threatens Lockjaw and her family unless she agrees to spread his influence across Attilan, but she easily fools him and flees to Oahu with Lockjaw to reunite with Medusa, only to end up falling in with Dave after he accidentally injures Lockjaw with his quad bike. Interestingly, when with Dave, Crystal takes on characteristics of a sheltered and spoiled princess, one who’s used to getting her way and has never been touched by a human; their relationship fulfils a dual role of teaching her not to be so uptight and showcasing that not all humans are as dangerous as she has been taught. Naturally, because they’re both young and attractive, they also end up smooching and Crystal ends the series wishing to live a normal life with this bland, if kind-hearted, young man, a decision Medusa is happy to support since she too comes to regard humans more favourably. In fact, the Inhumans find a surprising number of allies on Oahu; Gorgon just happens to fall in with a bunch of former soldiers who are not only aware of Inhumans but willingly put their lives on the line to aid him, but the standout is obviously Louise. Having lived her whole life dreaming of visiting the Moon so she can scatter her father’s ashes there, she’s captivated by Medusa and the Inhuman race but quickly comes to question their caste system and treatment of their enemies. Of course, not every human is so willing to aid them; Reno (Michael Trotter) is immediately suspicious of Karnak and tries to kill him out of jealousy, a crusade picked up by Tua (Mark Medeiros) after he murders Reno for his disloyalty. Then there’s Doctor Evan Declan (Henry Ian Cusick), a scientist conducting extensive Inhuman research on Maximus’s payroll, though he’s unaware of the truth behind his benefactor. Dr. Declan is a curious character; he aids Black Bolt, facilitating his escape from prison alongside fellow Inhuman Sammy (Olo Alailima) and agrees to help him in exchange for some blood tests. While he’s clearly been experimenting on Inhumans, he doesn’t make any aggressive moves towards them and is instead fascinated by the different physiology; his research is vital to Maximus, who plots to use it to undergo Terrigenesis for a second time and gift himself powers, and Dr. Declan seems happy to help both sides simply out of sheer scientific curiosity, which results in him being killed during Gorgon’s rampage.

Maximus has a forked tongue but leaves the dirty work to his loyal flunkies.

Though he’s firmly pigeon-holed as the antagonist of the series, Maximus is actually something of a revolutionary; carrying a lifetime of resentment towards his brother and father, Maximus is unique among the Inhumans in that Terrigenesis rendered him a mere human and he was only spared a lifetime in the mines because of his royal blood. Maximus openly and routinely criticises Black Bolt’s decisions; he fully believes that the humans will inevitably one day discover them and destroy them once they do and challenges the caste system, earning himself a small but vocal following of Inhumans wishing to rise above their allotted stations. Sporting a silver tongue and prone to elaborate monologues, Maximus seeks to twist every situation in his favour, against the ruling class, or into a veiled threat; he subtly suggests that the royal family have caused death and chaos and fled, assumes the throne in their absence, and sets about abolishing the caste system and conscripting the miners into becoming soldiers to hunt down and kill his family. While he’s no fighter, having failed to learn even basic self-defence from Gorgon, Maximus is an accomplished manipulator and politician; however, his doubters are everywhere, not just because he’s a lowly human but also because he threatens to change Inhuman society in ways that would be disruptive to the genetic council. Because of the threats, disloyalty, and political minefield of his coup, Maximus frequently manipulates Bronaja (Ari Dalbert) into sharing his prophetic visions of the future; while these can be vague, they’re enough for him to intercept a rebellion, kill insurgents and betrayers, and stay one step ahead on most occasions. When he needs more direct action, Maximus employs the services of Auran (Sonya Balmores), a cold-hearted assassin capable of regenerating, to first kill and then capture his family so that he can make better use of Dr. Declan’s research. Although fiercely loyal to Maximus, Auran comes to realise her mortality and turn away from his cause as the series progresses and is at constant odds with Mordis, an Inhuman who emits destructive energy blasts from his face. Mordis’s snarky attitude and rivalry with Auran actually lends the series some much-needed appeal and he’s a surprisingly interesting character; like Black Bolt, he has vast destructive potential, but he was simply locked up and forgotten about because he wasn’t of royal blood and would rather dramatically kill himself than be locked up again. Although Maximus states is plot is based around changing Attilan’s archaic society and allowing them to begin a new life on Earth, by force if necessary, it’s really just a cover for his selfish desire for the throne and to become Inhuman; this obsession not only saw him manipulate young Black Bolt into killing their parents but also endangers the entire city. Ultimately, though he proved to be an unstable and unfit ruler, Maximus does see his dream achieved; the Inhumans migrate to Earth to start over as equals, but Maximus doesn’t get to be a part of this as he’s sealed away in a bunker by his brother and left to rule over the remnants of Attilan alone on the Moon.

The Summary:  
I will say that one thing Inhumans has going for it is its Earth setting; setting the series in and around Hawaii offers a unique visual setting unlike anything seen in the MCU at the time but, in many ways, I think it might’ve been better to just set the show on Earth, with the Inhumans scattered around the globe, and do flashbacks showing their time in Attilan and have the finale take place there because, for a hidden, technologically advanced city on the Moon, Attilan is a massive disappointment. Attilan lacks the grandiose architecture and fantastical visuals of Asgard or Wakanda; everything is made of cold, grey stone, resulting in a lacklustre and cheap presentation akin to old sci-fi television serials. While this may have been a conscious choice, or dictated by the budget, it comes across as lifeless and uninspiring compared to Jack Kirby’s original artwork. I may not always be the biggest fan of his complex and colourful machinery and environments, but a least they popped on the page and impressed; nothing about Attilan impresses and it screams low budget, minimalist, and low quality, three things the MCU was and still is definitely not known for. This extends to the Terrigen Mist ceremony (which, like Attilan, is disappointingly barebones and small-scale), Callisto’s dull warehouse interiors, and the stark emptiness of Attilan’s unimpressive throne room, dining room, courtyard, and bunker. While Maximus notes that the city is small and crammed with too many people, even the streets resemble a backlot or claustrophobic set rather than a thriving cityscape and there’s little appealing or alien about Attilan. Similarly, the costume design and effects are more miss than hit; while Medusa’s hair and wig aren’t great (especially when animated) and her purple dress does her no favours, Black Bolt’s attire looks pretty good, if a bit of a half-hearted attempt to reproduce his comic book outfit. Though Karnak has simple facial tattoos, Triton has some decent enough prosthetics going on, but Gorgon’s hooves mysteriously appear and disappear with no explanation and Crystal barely showcases any of her powers. Lockjaw looks pretty good, considering he’s a massive slobbering bulldog; yes, he obviously looks quite cartoonish, and the teleport effect isn’t great, but I think that’s to be expected of such a ludicrous character and CGI effect.

Sadly, the visuals, effects, and costumes all fail to impress and just come across as cheap.

The show’s action sequences also fail to impress; thanks to the Inhumans spending most of the show scattered across Hawaii and unable to use their powers for one reason or another, we’re denied any grandiose or mind blowing spectacles and are left to rely on car chases, simple fistfights, and shootouts more often than not. Black Bolt, Medusa, and Karnark showcase a blunt efficiency in their movements, easily overpowering and besting multiple armed foes either with their hands or their hair, but these pale in comparison to action sequences seen in the likes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is really saying something. Much of the heavy lifting is performed, fittingly, by Gorgon and Auran; Gorgon favours a ground-trembling foot stomp and tossing foes around with his brute strength, which is in stark contrast to Auran’s swifter, more precise fighting style and I enjoyed seeing them clash but these fights were always in boring environments and over far too quickly. Karnak’s action scenes are the most visually interesting and have so much potential; we see him engaging with foes in hypothetical scenarios and learning the most efficient way of dispatching his enemies, but his powers are on the fritz for the entire show, so we rarely get to see this or are simply treated to him being knocked out from behind. The show makes a big deal about the destructive nature of Black Bolt’s voice but we never really get to see this in action; there’s a ludicrous scene of him accidentally atomising his parents, he sends a police car flying which is strangely treating like a huge deal in a world where literal Gods walk amongst us, and he ultimately buries Maximus with a simple whisper but his powers are never showcased to the fullest extent, meaning all that build up was for nothing. Mordis offers some consolation for this, frequently blasting away with his energy beams, but we’re even denied the spectacle of a huge explosion during his and Gorgon’s death scene and, similarly, whatever potential there was in Medusa’s hair or Crystal’s elemental powers is undone simply because the plot and budget demand it, meaning these superhuman characters are more likely to hold people at gunpoint, something hardly befitting their colourful nature.

The focus on human/Inhuman relations and the budget sadly overshadows the family drama.

There’s a general theme of the Inhumans being out of their element and learning new things about themselves and humanity, but it really doesn’t make much sense; we literally see the Inhumans observing Earth and yet, when they arrive, they have no concept of money, our society, no respect for our laws, and little understanding of humans beyond them being dangerous. This results in Black Bolt looking like a complete moron when he wanders about the city and is spirited from place to place; he’s silent and alien in nature but he’s not an idiot and it’s really jarring to see him, Medusa, and Crystal suddenly act like entitled assholes when that wasn’t the case on Attilan. We never even got much of a sense that they were anything but beloved and respected monarchs; we see them freely walking among the people and going out of their way to safeguard the city, and it’s only later that we’re told about the caste system and how awful Attilan can be for those with less desirable or attractive gifts. Since he’s been genetically transformed into a lowly human and his only gift is his forked tongue and unquenchable pursuit of power and adoration, Maximus seeks to change this system, to give the lower caste a chance to shine and take what they want by force. However, perhaps again due to the budget, we see very little of this and most of Maximus’s time is spent trying to win over the genetic council before he just kills them all, being overly reliant on Bronaja’s sketchy visions, and flip-flopping on whether he wants his family dead or alive. Despite being a silent role, Mount does a good job here, but I feel like he’s not in it as much as he could be; instead, Medusa seems to have a larger role and she’s a pretty awful character, and Crystal’s performance is probably the weakest of all involved. Karnak had some interesting development but it’s robbed of a lot of its potential as we never get to see his powers (or any of their powers) showcased in a visually interesting way; we’re just told stuff about them and then they’re forced to adapt to their new situation. Maximus was clearly the standout in terms of intrigue and acting; however, while there’s a central conflict between Black Bolt and Maximus, this really should have been given more focus. While Iwan Rheon is certainly giving it his all and is almost Shakespearian in his performance, Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki Laufeyson (Tom Hiddleston) they are not. They should be akin to these two, but the production and budget just doesn’t allow it, and they share very little screen time together so we’re mainly informed of their animosity and relationship through other characters, flashbacks, and their individual moments.

Whatever potential the show had was undone by a lacklustre presentation and low budget.

This is a problem faced by the entire show. The Inhumans is a concept that has the potential to be as visually interesting and grandiose as the X-Men, Thor, and the Eternals; Attilan should have been as memorable and impactful as Asgard or Wakanda but, instead, it’s just a series of dull sets. Nothing in Attilan is interesting to look at; they have fancy communicator devices but they don’t incorporate visuals or holograms so they’re useless whenever anyone calls Black Bolt, which is weird as we clearly see the do have this technology. They’re protected by an invisible shield and yet idiots like Gorgon go out and steal flags and smash rovers; they can teleport anywhere they like but only if Lockjaw is at full strength or living wall Eldrac (Moses Goods) feels like cooperating. They’re supposed to be this advanced civilisation, yet the Terrigensis chambers look like shit and they’re more likely to use guns than their powers, and their society is more primitive and backwards than ours since it’s based completely around having impressive and wonderful powers; anything else and you’re in the mines, meaning Maximus is completely right in his pursuit and our “heroes” look pretty awful. Thankfully, Maximus is an unlikeable asshole in all the right ways, so I never found myself rooting for him; but then I wasn’t rooting for the royal family, either. Instead, I was just bored. Inhumans should have been a movie, there’s no question about that; afforded a bigger budget and a two-hour runtime, we could have had something at least more pleasing to look at, if not actually enjoyable. As is, though, it comes across as being cheaper and more half-hearted than an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; arguably, the Inhumans were realised far better there and maybe Inhumans would’ve worked better if some its plots and characters had been woven into Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and then spun-off into a ninety-minute feature or something. Instead, what we’re left with is what basically amounts to a contractual obligation; there’s some good performances here, and I’m glad Anson Mount revisited his role later (even if he was still treated like a joke), but it’s hard to care about Inhumans when even Marvel Studios clearly didn’t give a crap about it. There’s a reason this is buried away on Disney+ and was never released on home media and you’re better off just skipping this one and watching Eternals (Zhao, 2021) instead, which really is saying a lot.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

What did you think to Inhumans? Do you agree that it’s one of the most disappointing ventures in the MCU or did you actually enjoy it? What did you think to Anson Mount and Iwan Rheon’s performances? Were you disappointed by the poor visuals, costumes, and action sequences? What did you think to the themes of the Inhumans finding humility and the depiction of their society? Are you a fan of the characters and, if so, what did you think to the show as an adaptation? How did you react to Marvel’s attempts to increase the exposure of the Inhumans at the time? Would you like to see the Inhumans return to the MCU or do you think it’s better to just ignore them? Whatever your thoughts, drop a comment below or let me know on my social media.

Movie Night: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Dr. K1 Comment

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: 2 June 2023
Director: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson
Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing
Budget: $100 million
Stars: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Jason Schwartzman, Jake Johnson, Daniel Kaluuya, and Brian Tyree Henry

The Plot:
Miles Morales/Spider-Man (Moore) is at a crossroads in life when his multi-dimensional friend and crush Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Steinfeld) re-appears, now part of a sprawling society of Spider-People led by Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Isaac). However, Miles is forced to pick between his world and his family when Doctor Jonathan Ohnn/The Spot (Schwartzman) threatens both, bringing him into conflict with the Spider-Society.

The Background:
Back in 2011, writer Brian Michael Bendis made the bold decision to kill off Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man (2000 to 2011) and replace him with a younger character, Miles Morales, an African American youth of Puerto Rican descent. Though this caused much controversy at the time. Miles quickly became a popular character and branched out into cartoons, videogames, and even the mainstream Marvel continuity (“Earth-616”). After the poor reception of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Webb, 2014) saw Spider-Man incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Sony pushed forward with Spider-Man-adacent films separate from the MCU, including the visually spectacular Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Persichetti, Ramsey, and Rothman, 2018), a Miles-centric story that became a critical and commercial success. Production of a sequel began immedately after the release of the first film and the plan was always to expand upon the multiverse concept in the sequel, which would necessitate splitting the sequel into two parts. The film greatly built upon the concept of multiple Spider-People, writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were encouraged by infamous Spider-Man producer Avi Arad to include the Spot as an antagonist, and different art and animation styles were painstakingly incorporated to make each character unique. After being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse opened to a massive $563.1 million worldwide gross and universal praise; critics loved the visuals and action-packed adventure and the road seems clear for subsequent sequels and spin-offs.

The Review:
It’s probably not too surprising to say that I really enjoyed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. While I don’t always agree or like that a street level superhero like Spider-Man is so often at the epicentre of massive multiversal stories, it was a breath of fresh air as both a superhero and animated film. The visual storytelling on offer was nothing short of spectacular and I think it went a long way to cementing in the minds of the mainstream audience that there is more than one Spider-Man out there. That groundwork is taken to the nth dimension in the highly anticipated sequel, which picks up with Miles just over a year after the last movie and finds him a little older, a lot more confident with his spider powers and unique abilities (such as his electrical “venom sting” and camouflage ability), and generally pretty beloved by the citizens of New York City. He has a working relationship with his father, soon-to-be Captain Jefferson Morales (Henry), who remains ignorant of his son’s dual identity, and has made a name for himself as the heroic friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. Unfortunately, as is often the case for Spider-Man, this success doesn’t translate to every aspect of his life; despite his high grades, his absence from school has been noted and he’s under pressure to take his first tentative steps into adulthood, something made all the more difficult for him not just because of his responsibilities as Spider-Man but his guilt about lying to his parents about his extracurricular activities and the smothering he receives from his doting mother, Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Vélez), who struggles as much as Jefferson with how quickly Miles is growing and the fear of losing him to the wider world.

Miles and Gwen reconnect, only for him to realise the multiverse harbours great hardship.

Because of this, Miles feels very alone; while his roommate (and only friend), Ganke Lee (Peter Sohn) knows his secret identity, he’s mainly just a cameo and refuses to be Miles’ “guy in the chair” and, since Miles doesn’t dare reveal himself to his parents, he’s left pining for Gwen and internalising a lot of his issues, particularly his grief for his beloved uncle, Aaron Davis/The Prowler (Mahershala Ali),. His only true freedoms come from his artwork and his web-slinging; Spider-Man offers Miles a freedom unlike anything else and allows his confident, snarky attitude to rise to the forefront, but this ends up biting him the ass when he treats newly turned supervillain the Spot like an afterthought, causing the former physicist to exponentially increase his power to avenge himself on Spider-Man. Miles initially thinks very little to the Spot, especially when Gwen suddenly reappears in his life; the film’s opening delves much deeper into Gwen’s own tragic backstory, which saw her isolate herself from others after the death of her best friend, Peter Parker (Jack Quaid), after he’d transformed himself into a lizard-man. Since her father, Captain George Stacy (Shea Whigham) blames Spider-Woman for Peter’s death, Gwen is similarly unable to properly open up to her dad and, when he first meets Spider-Man 2099 and the enigmatic Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), she’s granted an opportunity to leave her world behind rather than face her pain. Although it’s fairly clear that Gwen has missed Miles as much as he has her, she remains guarded; her duties to the Spider-Society dictate that she has to keep her distance from Miles, but she can’t help reconnecting with him since he’s the only friend she has in the entire multiverse, despite all the new allies she’s made. Her affection for him drives her to hide the Spider-Society’s true purpose from him since he’s destined to rise through horrible tragedy, yet she can’t help but admire his enthusiasm and desire to do the right thing, saving everyone whenever possible, even in the face of overwhelming odds.

Miles’s disregard of the Spot is nothing compared to the wrath of the ruthless Spider-Man 2099.

This is just one of many reasons why Miles follows Gwen through an interdimensional portal to Earth-50101, where they encounter the free-spirited and confident Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India (Karan Soni). Joined by Gwen’s fellow Spider-Society member, the anarchist and anti-authoritarian Hobart “Hobie” Brown/Spider-Punk (Kaluuya), the four team up to tackle the Spot once more after he escapes, realises the vast potential of his organic dimensional portals, and seeks to add to his power by absorbing energy from particle accelerators across the multiverse. While the Spot might be a deranged, deluded villain who struggles with his often-unpredictable powers, his confidence and mania grow alongside his powers, transforming him into a nightmarish creature capable of ripping entire timelines to shreds. A strange bond links him to Miles, allowing the young Spider-Man to see glimpses of the future and act accordingly; however, this is the catalyst that brings him under the scrutiny of Spider-Man 2099 since Miles interfered with a “canon event”, a life-altering moment in Pavitr’s destiny that was fated to make him a greater hero. The consequence of altering this sees Pavitr’s world threatened by a raging black hole, something Spider-Man 2099 has witnessed happen first-hand after he innocently replaced a version of himself and was forced to watch his surrogate family and timelines vaporise before his eyes as a result. Thanks to his connection to the Spot, Miles realises that his father’s death is set to be his canon event and his natural instinct is to save him, only to be imprisoned and threatened by Spider-Man 2099 and the majority of the Spider-Society since they cannot allow one life to threaten the delicate tapestry of the titular Spider-Verse. A stoic, aggressive, and driven individual, Spider-Man 2099 is absolutely relentless in his pursuit of Miles; he has no compunction about ordering the entire Spider-Society to pursue him when he escapes and tries to break him, mentally and physically, rather than allow him to risk his entire world. His ruthless pursuit casts Spider-Man 2099 as much of a villain as the Spot; though he maintains that he’s doing what’s necessary to keep the multiverse stable, his actions have caused great personal tragedy for countless Spider-People, though many of his followers (including Miles’ mentor, Peter B. Parker (Johnson), and Gwen) are strangely onboard with Miguel’s methods since it’s deemed necessary to birth greater heroes.

The Nitty-Gritty:
This questionable morality is as much at the heart of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as its ruminations of life, responsibility, and adulthood. The film is surprisingly complex in its portrayal of Miles’ relationship to his parents; both feel they’re losing him since he’s becoming a young adult and are frustrated by his obvious lies, and Miles equally is torn between wanting to share himself with them and the fear that they won’t understand. Gwen witnessed this rejection first-hand when her father initially reacted in horror at finding out Spider-Woman was his daughter and was inspired by Miles to return to her father and reconcile with him since she’s tired of running from her path and feeling alone and is struggling with her actions since joining the Spider-Society. Both Miles and Gwen feel alone and like they have no one to confide in, but only Miles feels ostracised from everyone; his friends, family, and even the wider Spider-Verse since Gwen is cagey about their recruitment specifics, and he seems to be the only Spider-Man not part of the team. This is because he hasn’t had his canon event yet, but the film’s a little iffy on that: here, it seems to be the death of a police captain that spurs the Spider-People on, yet Miles lashes out at the various Spider-People for letting down the teachings of their uncles and both Miles and Gwen already suffered tragic losses that you’d think would be catalyst enough for their growth as heroes. I do think that the reveal of the Spider-Society’s true purpose should’ve been handled differently as it’s weird to me that so many Peter Parkers were willing to let even one person die, no matter the stakes, and I wonder if it would’ve been better to reveal that Spider-Man 2099 had been deceiving all of them.

The film’s stunning visuals allow each Spdier-Person to stand out amidst various bizarre universes.

As intense and thought-provoking as the character interactions and themes of the movie are, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse excels in its visuals. The film takes the unique frame rate and cartoonish, comic book-stylings of the first movie and ups the ante to make every Spider-Person feel unique. Gwen’s world is rendered very differently from Miles’s, being mostly pastels and having an almost brushstroke effect; Spider-Punk animates jerkily, like a living piece of Sex Pistols artwork, and the attention to detail in the animation, background details, and little things like thought boxes and sound effects popping up onscreen really add to the exhilarating, pop art appeal of the film. There are some gorgeous shots here, too, such as when Miles and Gwen sit upside down and gaze upon the inverted city, rain and night effects are used for fantastic dramatic detail, and I especially enjoyed how 2099 was brought to life as a sprawling, high-tech utopia above ground and a dark, depressing, neon-spawned underbelly below. This translates into the web-slinging, which is easily the best we’ve ever seen from a Spider-Man movie since the action is only limited to the animator’s imagination. All the Spider-People web-sling and fight differently, with the pregnant Jessica Drew doing her best Akira (Otomo, 1988) on her motorcycle and spewing webs from her fingertips, Spider-Punk leaping into battle with a guitar, and Pavitr incorporating a little wooden accessory into his webbing. For me, the standout in this regard was Spider-Man 2099; as morally reprehensible and ruthless as he appears, his fighting style and web-slinging are a force to be reckoned with. Utilising energy webs and sporting both talons, fangs, and bladed appendages alongside his bad-ass suit, Spider-Man 2099 is more feral than the other Spider-People and carves a swath of destruction in his pursuit of and attack upon Miles. Although clearly outmatched, Miles manages to elude and survive even Spider-Man 2099 thanks to being an “anomaly”; the spider that bit him wasn’t even from his Earth, making him unpredictable (and, for Miguel, potentially dangerous) and accounting for his ability to fend off multiple, more experienced Spider-People and exercise a moral integrity that’s sadly abandoned many of his counterparts.

An exhilarating cliff-hanger sees Miles’ attempts to save his dad, and his world, in jeopardy.

This all comes to a head when Miles frantically uses Spider-Man 2099’s elaborate, spider-based machine to return home, desperate to save his father’s life and keep his world from being consumed by the Spot’s wrath, only to find that he’s been deposited on the wrong Earth. This is quite the twist for both Miles and Gwen, who followed him to try and help, and doubly so since Miles actually found the courage to reveal his dual identity to his mother, only to be stunned to find that his uncle is alive and well in this world, which lacks a Spider-Man since its spider bit him instead. Here, Miles finds himself strung up and held at the mercy of his uncle and his Earth-42 counterpart (Jharrel Jerome), a bad kid who has taken up the mantle of the Prowler. With Spider-Man 2099 and his lieutenants scouring the multiverse to find Miles and keep him from saving his father’s life, Gwen reconciles with her father and recruits her own band of Spider-People to help Miles and end the film on a massive and exhilarating cliff-hanger. I can’t say that I saw this twist ending coming at all; the film is so enjoyable to watch that I would’ve happily sat through another hour of it, and things were really ramping up at the end so it’s exciting to imagine where the next part will go and seeing Miles reunite with his friends from the first movie. The entire film is stuffed with cameos from Spider-People from all across the multiverse, including live-action cameos from the likes of Andrew Garfield and Donald Glover (as an alternative version of the Prowler), persistent voice cameos from J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson (proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that J.K. just is Jonah in every dimension), and references to both past and current versions of Spider-Man (the recent multiverse shenanigans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are mentioned at one point). It never feels glorified or out of place, to be fair, and it’s fun spotting and following some of these background Spider-People, though again I do find it odd that so many subscribe to Spider-Man 2099’s logic. There was a point where Miguel is seen injecting himself with something, and Miles points out how he’s more like a vampire than a spider, so I wonder if this’ll factor into the next film, perhaps revealing that Miguel is actually his brother, Gabriel, or someone like Morlun. There’s also the threat of the Spot to wrap up, too; I liked how he was driven to prove himself, just like Mils, but went to destructive extremes and I’m sure that’ll result in a spectacular final showdown involving more than a few Spider-People!

The Summary:
I was blown away by Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. I expected it to be a visual treat but it overdelivered in this regard; I loved how all the Spider-People looked and felt very different, even if just in small ways, to really emphasise that all these different versions are just as valid and “real” as the other. You could spend hours going through every frame looking for cameos and little details, like frames of animation and visual quirks, and still not catalogue everything on offer here; at times it’s almost underwhelming, but it results in easily the best visually impressive Spider-Man action we’ve ever seen in cinema. At then, alongside all that, there’s a really heartfelt and relatable story of a kid trying to find his place in the world, somewhere to belong, and mature into adulthood. I really felt for both Miles and Gwen here and enjoyed how they had such a strong connection together, and it was harrowing seeing him being excluded from even her world because of things he wasn’t yet experienced enough to understand. I loved how Spider-Man 2099 was so tortured by his mistakes that he’s hell-bent on ensuring that no other worlds die because of a Spider-Person’s selfishness; it made his motivations very understandable and contributed to his manic aggression, but also made for a compelling antagonistic character. The Spot may be a joke, but he becomes a force to be reckoned with throughout the movie and I’m excited to see how he’ll be brought down and the further clash of webs and ideals between the various Spider-People. While I took issue with so many Peters and Peter proxies signing up to Miguel’s harsh philosophy, it doesn’t take away from how stunning this movie is as a piece of art. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has raised the bar not just for Spider-Man movies, but for the animation genre itself and, while I would still like to step away from multiverse shenanigans in Spider-Man movies, it’s hard to deny how incredible impressive and well-executed this film is.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

Did you enjoy Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? What did you think of the different animation styles of the various Spider-People? Which of the alternative Spider-Man was your favourite? What did you think to Miles’ struggles? Do you agree with Spider-Man 2099 or do you think that the other Spider-People are betraying the core concepts of their characters? What other Spider-People would you like to see in the next film? Whatever your opinions on Across the Spider-Verse, go ahead and drop them in the comments and be sure to check out my other Spider-Man content across the site!

Movie Night: The Flash

Dr. K3 Comments

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: 4 November 2022
Director: Andy Muschietti
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $200 to 220 million
Stars: Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Keaton, and Ben Affleck

The Plot:
After realising the true extent of his superspeed, Barry Allen/The Flash (Miller) travels back in time to prevent the death of his mother, Nora (Maribel Verdú), and ends up breaking the timeline and teaming up with an alternative version of Bruce Wayne/Batman (Keaton) in order to set things right.

The Background:
After the Marvel Cinematic Universe became an unstoppable juggernaut, Warner Bros. scrambled to craft their own cinematic universe with Man of Steel (Snyder, 2013); despite the presence of acclaimed superstar Ben Affleck and reaping a hefty box office, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (ibid, 2016) divided many and Warner Bros. got cold feet regarding Snyder’s vision for the DCEU. This resulted in two different versions of the big Justice League movie but, even though the future of DC’s live-action universe is questionable and a planned team-up between the Flash and Victor Stone/Cyborg (Ray Fisher) fell apart, development of a solo Flash movie continued onwards. Of course, the Scarlet Speedster is no stranger to adaptation, having been brought to life in numerous cartoons and live-action portrayals, most notably by John Wesley Shipp, Michael Rosenbaum, and Grant Gustin, and the character has often been at the epicentre of reality-bending “Crisis” events, but I don’t think anyone expected the Flash’s first solo feature to feature multiverse shenanigans. However, after taking the reins of the film, director Andy Muschietti set about not just returning Keaton to his iconic role, but also bringing back Ben Affleck to finish up his Batman tenure and introducing a version of Supergirl (Calle) to the DCEU. The aim was to both introduce the multiverse to the DCEU and streamline the continuity to address the negative criticism aimed at Warner’s prior efforts and, although the production was mired by an unfortunate on-location accident, COVID-19 delays, and Ezra Miller’s bizarre behaviour. In thw end, The Flash made $271.3 million at the box office and wasmet with generally positive reviews; most of these focused on Keaton’s return as Batman and the balance of emotion and humour, though the special effects and messy narrative drew some criticism and the future of the speedster was thrown into question when James Gunn came onboard and announced plans to reboot the DCEU.

The Review:
The Flash is one of the last holdouts of the DCEU as it existed for about ten years. It’s a film that has been so much development strife that I’m surprised it even got made and has always been something of an anomaly. On the one hand, producing solo movies for DC characters after their big team up is certainly one way to catch up to and separate themselves from the MCU, as is producing darker, grittier movies but that didn’t exactly last long, did it? I was actually onboard with the idea of each DCEU solo film featuring a team up between two of their characters to help speed things up, but my faith in The Flash was tainted by three very specific things. The first was Ezra Miller, who I’ve never really enjoyed in the role as he acts more like Bart Allen/Impulse than the more methodical Barry; the second was the decision to prey on nostalgia by bringing back Michael Keaton rather than actually try to solve the DCEU’s bonkers multiverse by resetting into Robert Pattinson’s new world; and the third was the bizarre decision to have the Flash’s first solo outing be an adaptation of Flashpoint (Johns, et al, 2011), a universe-altering event that not only ushered in one of the worst DC runs of all time for me but also painted Barry as a selfish and misguided man who broke the multiverse for the worst. I’ve talked about this a few times, but I don’t necessarily hate the idea of the multiverse, I just think it’s the sort of thing you should build up to, not rush into before we’ve had a chance to connect with the existing characters, and some of these issues are certainly present in The Flash.

Socially awkward Barry is astonished when his selfishness beaks the timeline.

The tone of the movie is established right off the bat as we catch up with Barry, still a forensic scientist and still as neurotic as ever. In a way, I understand Ezra’s portrayal of Barry as a constantly agitated, awkward social recluse; for him, even mundane tasks take too long and he’s constantly jittery thanks to the Speed Force, which allows him to run superhumanly fast, even up walls and in defiance of gravity, and to vibrate his molecules so he can pass through solid objects. However, Barry was clearly more than a little maladjusted before he got his powers; flashbacks tohis childhood show young Barry (Ian Loh) obsessing over numbers and quandaries and struggling to focus on one task at a time. Barry’s social skills haven’t improved all that much since his time with the Justice League; he talks rapidly and about absolute nonsense, goes off on tangents, and generally seems incredibly uncomfortable in social situations, even more so when gorgeous reporter Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) tries to approach him and his immediate assumption is that she’s looking for an exclusive comment regarding his wrongly imprisoned father, Henry (Ron Livingston). Barry’s been tormented by his mother’s death and championing his father’s innocence since he was a kid, and it’s heavily implied that a lot of his neurosis is due to losing his mother to a random murder, to the point where he’s constantly driven to use any means necessary to prove his father’s innocence and haunted by his grief. Thus, when he realises (or remembers, depending on your perspective; both appear valid here) that he can effectively time travel using the Speed Force, Barry can’t help but use his abilities to save his mother despite Bruce Wayne/Batman’s (Ben Affleck) warning that meddling with time, even in minor ways, could be disastrous.

Barry’s time travel shenanigans see him confronting the worst of himself to make things right.

At first, Barry is elated to see that one small change sees him having a happy childhood with both his parents; however, after a demonic figure knocks him out of the Speed Force, he accidentally winds up in 2013 rather than the present day. Again, this is fine at first as he reconnects with his parents, but he’s soon forced to tackle his younger, even more obnoxious and aggravating self and realises that he’s altered time in such a way that Young Barry won’t get his powers unless he intervenes. This is a great way to show the Flash’s origin in a unique way, but it predictably results in Barry losing his powers because of Young Barry’s stupidity and then having to desperately try and train his younger self to realise the scope of his super speed when General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his forces have come seeking Kal-El (Henry Cavill) and Barry learns that his actions have somehow robbed the world of metahumans. Barry’s interactions with Young Barry teach him some valuable lessons about how annoying he can be; his younger self is ridiculously excitable even before he starts flashing about with reckless abandon and takes his life and happiness for granted, which frustrates Barry almost as much as seeing how his selfishness has “broken” the timeline. Young Barry is confused by the entire situation and mainly stoked to suddenly have awesome powers and be hanging around the Batcave; he’s like a kid with a new toy when he borrows the Flash suit and learns that he’s destined to be a superhero, but he hasn’t had to deal with loss like his older, alternate self and so treats the missions as more of a game. Over the course of the movie, the gravity of the situation eventually sinks in; the Barrys have a relationship akin to squabbling siblings, which is quite endearing when they’re not being annoying or aggravating characters, and Young Barry’s eventual determination to both prove himself and prevent his newfound friends from dying serves as a crucial wake-up call for Barry to realise that he needs to let go of his past and his pain in order to save the entire multiverse.

The undo the damage he’s caused, Barry turns to an older, alternate version of Batman.

Although the Justice League are absent from Barry’s meddling, he’s relieved to learn that Bruce Wayne and the Batman still exist, so he coerces Young Barry into travelling to Wayne Manor to recruit Bruce’s help in locating Superman, the only one powerful enough to oppose Zod. Barry’s stunned to find the manor once again in disarray and Bruce an elderly recluse, and even more shocked to see he’s an entirely different person! This Bruce is conveniently as clued in on multiverse theory as Barry’s Bruce and explains (using pasta as a metaphor) how Barry’s actions have caused changes all throughout time as time isn’t linear and instead intersects at multiple points. Though intrigued by Barry’s story, Bruce refuses to actively help; his Gotham City has become one of the safest places in the world and outgrew the need for a Batman, which apparently was enough for him to give up his crusade both in and out of the suit. However, he can’t help but listen in as Barry uses the Batcomputer to locate Superman and, inspired by Barry’s dedication to saving a world that isn’t even his, he decides to suit up and help out. Though older and jaded, Batman is no less capable; he has a wealth of gadgets on hand to help them break into the Russian facility where Superman’s pod is being held and is surprisingly a far more capable fighter in his twilight years than at his peak. Keaton was a selling point of the film (and for many, I’m sure) and, while I was annoyed that we went backwards rather than forwards with the character, it’s a blast to see him back in the suit and assuming a proactive mentor role. Keaton definitely steals the show (thanks in no small part to his upgraded suit (despite the poor cowl), assortment of other suits, and snippets of Danny Elfman’s theme) and Batman finds his passion again in aiding Barry’s quest, to the point where he’s willing to sacrifice his life to save the world.

The traumatised Supergirl ends up being the best shot at opposing General Zod’s mad ambitions.

Barry’s goal for much of the film is to find Superman. He’s convinced that Superman will be able to defeat Zod as before, thus saving the world and allowing him to live in a timeline with both his parents. Like him running to Batman, much of this can be attributed to displacement; he screwed up and knows it, and his kneejerk reaction is to “fix” it like he tried to with Nora. However, when he finds that it’s not Superman but an emaciated Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Calle), he doesn’t hesitate to help her and, despite her having every reason to hate humanity after they made her suffer in a cage for years, she’s compelled to aid him after witnessing Zod slaughter humans without mercy. Kara is instrumental in helping Barry regain his powers when Bruce’s makeshift device fails on him, finally restoring Barry to full power, and she’s driven into a rage when she learns that Zod intercepted her infant cousin’s pod and killed him in his relentless quest to restore Krypton to prominence. As much as I enjoyed seeing Michael Keaton back in action, I went into The Flash equally as excited for Supergirl; Sasha looks gorgeous in the suit and plays the role (essentially substituting for Superman from Flashpoint) really well. She’s suffered greatly not just at the hands of humanity but in losing her world and initially has no interest in helping Barry; like Bruce, she’s inspired by him and his selfless nature and desire to undo his mistake and throws herself into the battle against Zod, and she proves to be the catalyst for an emotional showdown between the two Barry’s. Surprisingly, The Flash doesn’t really have a main antagonist; on paper, it’s Zod and the Kryptonian threat but really the main villain is time and Barry himself. Stopping Zod is seen as the primary goal to course correct this new timeline, and he proves to be as ruthless as ever as he cuts down anyone in his way, including the fledgling Supergirl, and proves such an insurmountable threat that Young Barry becomes obsessed with reversing time again and again to find a way to stop him and save Batman and Supergirl from falling in battle.

The Nitty-Gritty:
A principal theme in The Flash is of dealing with loss; it’d be difficult for anyone, much less the socially awkward Barry, to come to terms with the traumatic loss of their mother and subsequent imprisonment of their father, and dealing with this loss and the frustrating lack of evidence in favour of his father is very much at the heart of Barry’s motivations not just as a superhero, but in this film. This, as much as anything, is perhaps why he relates so closely to Bruce; while he resents being a glorified janitor for the Justice League, he connects with Bruce over their shared pain but is far too reckless and impulsive to heed his advice regarding meddling with time. However, Barry is switched on enough to recognise when he’s screwed up but it takes him much of the movie to realise that he can’t just “fix” things as easily as he would like, and he literally comes face to face with his neurotic obsession with undoing the bad when Young Barry realises the potential of the Speed Force. Although both are driven to do good things, Young Barry is inexperienced and less adjusted compared to his counterpart, and Barry’s hardly setting a high standard for responsibility here as it is! Still, the entire reason the alternate Bruce and Supergirl agree to aid Barry is by seeing that he has a drive towards protecting others, despite his flaws as a character.

While some effects are a bit dodgy, The Flash is visually impressive, especially the costumes.

I think a major issue with The Flash is the same thing that was present in his previous appearances; there’s nothing new happening here for the character. His plight about Nora and Henry has been expertly tackled in The Flash (2014 to 2023), as was the Flashpoint story, parallel worlds, and alternate characters. I understand that many audiences might not have watched the show so these aspects would be new to them, but the presentation of Nora’s death isn’t as compelling as in the comics or TV show since it isn’t attributed to a dark mirror of the Flash. Similarly, Iris may as well not even be in the film since she doesn’t really do anything and is basically a glorified cameo, as cute as she is and despite the potential she has for a future relationship with Barry. On the flip side, the presentation of the Flash’s powers is generally quite visually exciting; sure, we’ve seen the super slow-motion speed scenes before but never with a character saving a bunch of babies plummeting from a collapsing hospital. I quite like how destructive Barry’s speed and lightning can be; he now sports a sleek, comic accurate suit that glows when he channels the Speed Force and monitors his “energy” (basically a recurring gag where he stuffs himself full of carbs to refuel) and Barry has far better control over his speed, but Young Barry still has the wild, destructive blue lightning and is constantly getting into scrapes as his clothes burn up. Similarly impressive are the new Batsuits and Bat-gadgets and Supergirl’s eye-watering suit; Keaton’s Batman also flies and fights with a grace never seen before, and I was impressed by good his and Affleck’s stunt doubles performed in their new suits. I also enjoyed the depiction of the Speed Force and time travel; we get a bit of spaghetti-fication as Barry travels faster than light and, within his bubble, he can view multiple timelines at once and engage with them as he likes, though Ezra continues to have a weird weightlessness to him and the strangest running stance I’ve ever seen.

With the sake of his friends, and the multiverse, at stake, Barry makes the ultimate sacrifice.

Devoid of his powers, Barry has no choice but to rely on Batman and his exasperating younger self for much of the middle film. Young Barry proves a poor student but, to be fair, he has a lot of pressure suddenly thrust upon him and lacks the years of training Barry has (which we get a glimpse of with another flashback that shows the proto-Flash was also in Metropolis when Zod invaded). Given how dire Zod’s threat is, Barry risks his life being struck by lightning once more to regain his powers and his substitute Justice League fly into battle against the Kryptonians. However, even with Supergirl and Batman’s amazing Bat-toys, it’s an unwinnable battle; no matter how hard Young Barry tries, he can’t prevent Batman and Supergirl being killed in the battle and his obsession with trying to prevent it horrifies Barry when he sees the damage it causes both to Young Barry and the multiverse. Within the Speed Force, Barry sees a bevvy of cameos (including deepfakes of Christopher Reeve, Helen Slater, and Nicolas Cage and archival footage of Adam West and George Reeves but, oddly, no cameo from Grant Gustin) as worlds and timelines collide and are destroyed by his increasingly manic double. Young Barry’s obsession then takes physical form when the demonic entity reappears and is revealed to be an older version of Young Barry, one who’s spent untold years desperately trying to find a way to succeed and has become so corrupted by this notion that he doesn’t care about the damage he’s causing. Finally learning that he needs to let go and restore the timeline, Barry resolves to undo his actions, thus dooming his mother; although Young Barry is aghast by this, he’s so disgusted by dark doppelgänger that he sacrifices his life to save Barry, thus erasing himself and the Dark Flash. After a heartfelt, incognito goodbye to his mother, Barry resets time but, apparently having learnt nothing about temporal causality, can’t himself from making another minor change. This is enough to see Henry acquitted for his crimes and apparently restores the world to normal…if you don’t count Bruce Wayne being changed once more, this time into George Clooney and ending the movie on a hefty sigh rather than truly restarting or rebooting the DCEU as I expected.

The Summary:
I was sceptical about The Flash. I’m not a fan of Ezra Miller or his portrayal of the character, I feel it came out way past the point where it could’ve actually been meaningful, I definitely was miffed that it was skipped right to Flashpoint rather than focusing on the Flash’s rogues, and I questioned the heavy reliance on Michael Keaton’s return as Batman. I grew up with Keaton; he was an excellent Batman and set a standard for others to follow but bringing him in just seemed like such a blatant trick to get people to see this film that I was sure it would be terrible. Thankfully, despite these issues being the case, that wasn’t true, and I enjoyed it more than I expected. Barry is, however, a fundamentally awful and often unlikeable character because of how whiny, awkward, and ungainly he is; I did like seeing him interact with his younger self and realising how obnoxious he can be, and the character arc of him learning to let go of the past was executed well, even if it was very derivative. The film suffers a bit from some wonky special effects (the deepfakes were especially unnerving) but mostly delivers some fun visuals with the Flash’s powers and I loved the practical suits used in the film. It was awesome giving Keaton one last crack at the character, but I can’t help but feel like The Flash missed an opportunity to properly re-align the DCU. Instead, the message here, again, is that the multiverse exists, and everything is canon as it’s all connected, which is fine, but I honestly prefer the focus to be on one singular continuity. Still, The Flash was quite fun and had some thrilling action scenes, especially those involving the Bat-actors’ stunt doubles. The primary themes of the film landed well, too, even if Barry just seems like a selfish, petulant child most of the time, and I was glad (and surprised) to find that it just about managed to hold its head above water amidst all the clarified cameos and references.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy The Flash? Were you disappointed that it skipped to Flashpoint or were you simply won over by the cameos? Do you enjoy Ezra Miller’s portrayal of the character and what did you think to the relationship between Barry and Young Barry? Were you excited to see Michael Keaton return or did you think it was weird how the only character who changed faces was Bruce Wayne? Who’s your favourite version of the Flash and where do you see the DCEU going next? Whatever your thoughts, please leave a comment below or on my social media.

Mini Game Corner: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game (Mega Drive)

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This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: November 1992
Developer: Tiertex Design Studios
Also Available For: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, DOS, Game Boy, Game Gear, MSX, Master System, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), ZX Spectrum

A Brief Background:
In 1981, legendary director Steven Spielberg joined forces with George Lucas and Harrison Ford to bring the first Indiana Jones film to cinema screens; inspired by both old serial films and the James Bond franchise, the three crafted an action/adventure film that was so critically and commercially successful that it kicked off one of cinema’s most beloved franchises, helped launch Harrison Ford to superstardom, and fundamentally changed the cinema rating system. Naturally, given the franchise’s success, the Indiana Jones films and character have been adapted into books, comics, and videogames; the first Indiana Jones videogame was a simple 8-bit adventure for the Atari but it was the third film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Spielberg, 1989) that received the most love back in the day, with three titles released across multiple platforms between 1989 and 1991. This particular game was the more action-orientated version and was met with divisive reviews that praised the presentation but criticised the content, combat, and difficulty of the game.

First Impressions:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game (boy, is that ever a mouthful!) is a 2D, sidescrolling action/adventure game in which players assume the role of the titular archaeologist and adventurer. The controls couldn’t be simpler; by default, you press A to punch, B to attack or swing with your whip, and C to jump, but you can customise these inputs as you desire. Indy can also duck and crawl through tunnels, attacking as he goes, climb up and down ropes (lashing out with his whip to take out enemies), and can swing from certain objects simply by whipping near them. Although Indy doesn’t seem to utilise his pistol, his whip can be used to take out enemies from afar, but the more you use it, the weaker it becomes, as indicated by the whip icons decreasing with each button press. Luckily, you can replenish this by finding whip pick-ups in suitcases and you can still use the whip even after exhausting your supply. Indy’s mission is to travel across a number of levels (referred to as “Scenes”) from the movie, exploring hazardous environments and reaching the exit before the timer runs out. Players can pick between “Easy” and “Hard” difficulty modes and are given two lives and two credits on Easy mode, which you’ll quickly realise is nowhere near enough to help you get through his unforgiving title. Literally everything around you is out to get you; Indy will even lose health if he jumps and hits his head on the ceiling, to say nothing of the falling stalactites, boulders, and armed enemies looking to quickly drain his health and leave him little more than his trademark hat.

Don’t be fooled by the graphics or your love of the franchise: this game is absolutely merciless!

Gameplay is given a little bit of variety thanks to the gimmicks found in each Scene; you’ll get to jump in a minecart in the caves, for example, but will need quick reactions to hop from one cart to another, and to a rope, to avoid plummeting to your death. The second Scene sees you running across train carriages jumping over telegraph poles, ducking through tunnels, and avoiding giraffe heads and snake pits as you desperately try to progress without falling. You can also grab flaming torches to light up dark areas, but you’ll need to watch out for spikes that instantly kill you, bursts of flame from the ceiling, and make precarious jumps up a castle wall in rain-swept Venice. Enemies are all largely generic and look the same in each Scene and can punch and shoot at you, though they’re easily defeated in a few hits. Unfortunately, Indy’s punch is pathetically short and you’re more likely to take damage engaging with them, so it’s best to just avoid combat or use your whip wherever possible, though none of that will save you from the game’s many instant death traps or the fact that you take damage from jumping! Water, snake pits, train tracks, and skeletons will instantly kill Indy, meaning there is very little margin for error, and you’ll not only have to deal with some merciless knockback but often need split second reactions to dodge damaging (or instant death) traps after besting each Scene’s boss. Indy can find goblets to replenish his health and sand timers to increase the time, but you’re constantly walking on eggshells as so much can either hurt you or out-right kill you that it makes playing the game a frustrating chore and Indy, one of cinema’s toughest action heroes, weak as a kitten.

My Progression:
Technically, I couldn’t even get past the first Scene; I inched my way onwards only to fall victim either to accumulated damage or an instant death trap, made all the worse by how large and unforgiving Indy’s hit box is. Thus, I used the one and only cheat for the game, which is a level select code; this not only lets you pick the Scene to start on, but the starting point as well (the game is filled with hidden checkpoints), which is very handy for seeing later areas of the game or battling bosses. I fought the first three bosses, the first being a strongman with a huge piece of wood that he swings at you to knock you to the instant death water and smashes on the ground to cause rocks to fall on you, the second being a bulbous fire-breather whose flames you need to quickly duck or jump over while frantically whipping him, and the third a Native American who shoots high and low arrows at you, but I shut the game off shortly after besting this boss.

I was really hoping for a challenging, but fun, action/adventure title and instead what I got was a torturous and ridiculously difficult title that no doubt had many kids pulling their hair out back in the day. When you struggle, or can’t, get past the first level, to me that’s the sign of a bad game and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game reeks of being cobbled together to cash-in on the movie by having kids rent it over and over just to get past the first damn level! It’s a shame as there’s a lot to like here. Graphically, the game looks really well; Indy doesn’t really have an idle animation, but he looks and controls pretty well, and games environments are all nicely detailed. The sound is pretty good too, with a decent rendition of the iconic Indiana Jones theme, but the game is just too difficult to really enjoy. It’s a shame as I’m a big fan of the franchise and was hoping this would be a decent little action platformer, but it kicked my ass the moment I pressed the jump button under a low ceiling and Indy is just way too fragile for the game to be as enjoyable as I would like. But maybe I just suck. Maybe you’ve beaten this game multiple times, or really enjoy it. Or maybe you prefer a different Indiana Jones videogame. Whatever your thoughts or experiences on the subject, sign up to share them below or leave a comment on my social media.

Movie Night [Superman Month]: Man of Steel

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In 2013, DC Comics declared the 12th of June as “Superman Day”, a day for fans of the Man of Steel the world over to celebrate Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, the superpowered virtue of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” who is widely regarded as the first ever costumed superhero. This year, I expanded Superman Day to “Superman Month“ and have been spending every Monday of June celebrating the Man of Steel.

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: 14 June 2013
Director: Zack Snyder
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $255 to 258 million
Stars: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue, and Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner

The Plot:
Just before the planet Krypton is destroyed, scientist Jor-El (Crowe) sends his young son to Earth. Raised by a kindly couple, Clark Kent (Cavill) hides his superhuman powers from the world but, when he discovers the truth of his alien heritage, he finally assumes the mantle of Earth’s greatest protector, Superman, just in time to defend his adopted home world from the maniacal General Zod (Shannon), a Kryptonian warrior seeking to terraform Earth into a new Krypton!

The Background:
For Superman’s big-screen feature back in 1978, producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind and Pierre Spengler initially convinced Warner Bros. to produce a two-part film, a decision which led to both financial and creative issues as director Richard Donner frequently clashed with the producers. Still, Superman (Donner, 1978) was a critical and commercial success and, despite all the behind the scenes drama, Superman II (Lester, 1980) was equally successful, but things quickly took a nose dive, despite Christopher Reeve’s iconic portrayal of the character, and Superman was absent from cinema screens for nearly twenty years. After numerous abortive and attempts to bring the Man of Steel back, director Bryan Singer attempt to recapture the magic of Richard Donner’s original film with Superman Returns (Singer, 2006) but, despite making $391.1 million at the box office, the film was maligned by critics and derailed plans for a sequel. Two years later, Warner Bros turned to notable Superman writers like Grant Morrison and Mark Waid to consider options for a reboot and, after settling a lawsuit, brought in writer David S. Goyer and director/producer Christopher Nolan to collaborate on a new Superman movie following their success with the Dark Knight trilogy (Nolan, 2005 to 2012). After Nolan won the studio over with his pitch to completely reboot the franchise in a similarly grounded way, director Zack Snyder was brought in to helm the project, and he immediately set about redesigning the character’s iconic costume with a slick, modern aesthetic that owed a lot to his Kryptonian heritage. British actor Henry Cavill finally won the chance to take on the role after having lost out to it before and underwent rigorous physical training to prepare for the role, while veteran actors Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe were cast to portray Superman’s two fathers who would raise the ethical and moral quandaries faced by the character. Weta Digital, MPC, and Double Negative created the film’s extensive visual effects, which were bolstered by documentary-style filmmaking techniques, infused Krypton with a whole new liquid geometry and alien landscape, and aimed to bring a real physical weight to the flying and fight scenes. Man of Steel was a massive success at the box office, where it made nearly $670 million, but reviews were somewhat mixed; while the action and performances were praised, critics questioned Superman’s characterisation, the widespread death and destruction, the Superman’s execution of General Zod. Regardless, Man of Steel was the start to the rocky and needlessly complicated DC Extended Universe (DCEU); it was followed by the divisive (to say the least) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Snyder, 2016) and a Justice League team-up that was fraught with its own issues, and both fans and Cavill were left salivating for another solo film for the titular superhero.

The Review:
Those who’ve read my reviews of the Richard Donner/Christopher Reeve films, and Superman Returns, will know that my relationship with those movies is a contentious one. While Reeve was undoubtably iconic in the role, and the first two films not only helped establish Superman in the eyes of the general audience but influenced comic books and their adaptations for decades, I also grew up reading the Post-Crisis version of Superman as written by John Byrne and firmly believed that the character had significantly changed since his wacky Pre-Crisis days. In the comics I read, Clark Kent wasn’t some bumbling reporter, Lois Lane wasn’t an obsessed stalker, and Superman was a relatable and at times vulnerable character; he got married, died and came back, and, crucially, had a humanity at the heart of his character and was far less God-like than in the sixties and seventies. Consequently, I was quite excited to see a new version of the character brought to the big screen, with a revised origin and no ties to the films that had come before it. I believe this is the route Warner Bros. should have taken with Superman Returns and, if they had, the nature of the DCEU could be quite different today. I was doubly excited since the studio not only had Christopher Nolan onboard as a producer but brought in Zack Snyder, who had impressed me with his visuals and brutal action-orientated storytelling in 300 (Snyder, 2006) and Watchmen (ibid, 2009), and even roped in Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe in pivotal roles.

Amidst a chaotic opening, Jor-El is able to spirit his infant son to safety before Krypton is destroyed.

As is tradition at this point, Man of Steel opens on Krypton, a world decidedly different from what we’ve seen onscreen and in the comics before. While many interpretations of Krypton like to draw upon Donner’s cold, crystalline wasteland, Man of Steel presents a vast alien world whose technology is based around a sort of fluid nanotech, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence. The landscape is also much more alive and vibrant, with massive creatures roaming the ground and the skies, other planets dominating the horizon, and a tint of copper red/orange applied to the world, whose architecture is a curious mixture of almost Aztec-like structures and advanced anti-gravity technology. In this version of events, Krypton is quite the lackadaisical race; having grown weary of colonising other worlds, they’ve allowed themselves to become somewhat stagnant on their home world. Their society is comprised of genetically engineered individuals pre-programmed into specific roles, such as warriors, scientists, and politicians, and thus the infant Kal-El is the first natural birth in centauries. However, their hubris remains as steadfast as ever and they ignore Jor-El’s warnings that the planet’s core is quickly destabilising after (presumably) decades of mining it following an energy crisis. Realising the planet is doomed, Jor-El pleads with the Kryptonian Council to allow him access to the “Codex”, a complete record of their society and genetic history, in order to ensure that a new generation of Kryptonians survives the calamity, but his demands are quickly interrupted by a coup d’état led by General Zod, who disposes the council and causes the planet to erupt in all-out war despite the looming danger. Consequently, Man of Steel has an extremely chaotic opening where we’re bombarded with information and explosive visuals; Kal-El is born, Krypton is said to be close to destruction, war breaks out!, Kal-El is imbued with the vaguely-defined Codex and rocketed to safety, Zod kills Jor-El before his insurrection is quashed and is banished to the Phantom Zone alongside his cohorts, and then the planet explodes all within the first twenty minutes! While this is clearly important to give us a glimpse of Kryptonian society and the sacrifices his parents made, and absolutely a narrative device used in Superman media time and time again, I can’t help but feel like the opening could have been trimmed down a little and scattered throughout the film, especially as Jor-El’s holographic interface later gives Clark the rundown on these events, and Zod also relates things from his perspective, meaning we essentially learn the same information twice.

Having struggled with his powers, and guilt over his father’s death, Clark with his place in the world.

This bombastic and visual cacophony then gives way to a much more nuanced, grounded, and undeniably Nolan-influenced portion of the film where we jump ahead some thirty years to find the now grown-up Kal-El travelling Earth as Clark Kent and trying to get a better understanding of himself and the nature of humanity in order to figure out how best to utilise the fantastic abilities afforded him by our yellow sun. This narrative device makes far better use of the film’s run time to parallel Clark’s journey as an adult with his childhood growing up in Smallville, Kansas, where young Clark (Cooper Timberline and Dylan Sprayberry) was initially overwhelmed with his developing abilities, which cause him pain, discomfort, and fear and are framed very much as an allegory for puberty. Clark’s superhearing and x-ray vision are depicted as being harrowing for the young boy, who has a full-blown panic before his kindly adopted mother, Martha Kent (Diane Lane), helps him to focus himself, to block out the noise and the visions that plague him, and to master his abilities. As he grows older, he comes to resent having to hold himself back and to hide his powers, which very much sets up an ongoing moral conflict within the film. Indeed, his adopted father, Jonathan Kent (Costner), even suggests that he should have let a busload of his classmates drown rather than risk revealing himself since he’s of the firm belief that the world isn’t ready to accept the truth of what he is. However, Jonathan and Jor-El both believe that Clark, and his gifts, have world-changing implications; his presence will inspire both fear and hope, reverence and hostility, as humankind realises that they’re not alone in the universe and that their world has been forever changed. Jonathan recognises that this is not only a huge burden but will result in Clark being viewed as something other than human, whether for good or ill, and just wants his son to be prepared to either face up to this great destiny or to walk away from it without regret. Clark’s fear and confusion eventually turn into resentment and adolescent rage as he grows older and becomes tired of having to hide himself and lashes out at Jonathan without thinking, only to have to watch, helplessly, as his adopted father is swept away by a tornado since he was forbidden to act and expose himself before he was ready. While this death is overly dramatic and lacks the subtle nuance of Jonathan succumbing to a simple heart attack thus teaching Clark that even he cannot stop nature, it does result in him being so guilt-ridden that he travels the world to try and find himself and learn how best to honour his father.

Lois is integral to Clark’s decision to reveal himself as Superman and is at the forefront of the chaos.

By the time he’s an adult, Clark has experienced much of the conflicting nature of humanity; there are bullies and assholes but also those who will go out of their way to save others, proving that humankind has a spark of decency buried deep beneath the conflict. When he discovers the Kryptonian scout ship and meets the holographic representation of his birth father, Clark learns of his true heritage and the reason for his existence and finally discovers the means to reconcile the conflict within him. Donning an absolutely glorious alien suit and flowing cape, and inspired by both his fathers, Clark finds he has only begun to realise the true extent of his abilities as he defies Earth’s gravity, clearly basking in the feelings of liberation brought not only from flying through the air but from finally accepting his birthright. Clark is shown to have always had a strong relationship with Martha, who only ever showed him love and affection and tried to help him to focus his abilities. While both her and Jonathan loved him unconditionally, their methods at helping him through his adolescence and his burgeoning powers differed somewhat, as she was perfectly happy to just let him grow up, fully confident that he’d make the right decisions, whereas Jonathan continually went out of his way to stress that Clark is there for a reason and has a greater destiny. After Jonathan’s death, Clark’s bond with Martha grows even stronger, partially due to his guilt but also because she’s all that he has left and he flies into a rage when her life is threatened by Zod and his cronies later in the film. Of course, intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Adams) remains a central influence in Clark’s decision to embrace his destiny and put his powers to good use; depicted as a strong-willed, curious, and empathetic woman, Lois is a fearless reporter who doesn’t hesitate to put herself in harm’s way, or the most extreme environments, in order to get a good story. When she learns that a centuries-old Kryptonian scout ship has been located in the Canadian Arctic, she doesn’t hesitate to head out there, immediately establish herself as a woman of some fortitude before the somewhat disapproving Colonel Nathan Hardy/Guardian (Meloni), and even brave the frigid environment to get up close and personal with the ship. After she’s attacked by the Kryptonian security droids and Clark saves her life, she throws herself into trying to track down her mysterious saviour, much to the chagrin of her editor, Perry White (Lawrence Fishburne), and is intrigued by the many and varied reports of a superpowered do-gooder helping others before disappearing.

Strong supporting characters flesh out the world and ask new questions about Superman’s presence.

In a fantastic change of pace, Lois experiences Clark’s abilities and is privy to his identity right away, doing away with the need for him to assume the guise of a bumbling fool. Lois not only gives him the name Superman (in a roundabout way), but also plays an important role as an audience surrogate as she uses her reputation as a celebrated reporter to accompany and talk to him after he surrenders himself to the distrustful Lieutenant General Calvin Swanwick (Harry Lennix) and even goes with him to Zod’s ship after Superman willingly agrees to give himself up to spare his world. Cavill and Adams have a real tangible onscreen chemistry and Lois very much acts as a mediator between Clark’s somewhat sheltered upbringing, the awe that his presence (and unparalleled physicality) inspires, the suspicion of Swanwick and some others, and the demands of Zod. General Zod announces his arrival by broadcasting an ominous message across all media platforms and in all languages to deliver Clark with an ultimatum, thereby giving him another moral quandary over whether to surrender himself to the Kryptonians or to humanity, neither of which are particularly trustworthy. Zod isn’t alone in his mission, of course. He’s joined by a number of Kryptonian followers, the most prominent of which are Faora-Ul (Traue) and an unnamed towering brute who ransack Smallville to draw Superman out for a conflict. Much like Ursa (Sarah Douglas), Faora-Ul is absolutely devoted to General Zod and follows his every order without question. Interestingly, she sparks up a rivalry (and, apparently, a mutual attraction and respect) with Colonel Hardy during the conflict between the military and the Kryptonians that eventually drives them to go out in a burst of glory during the finale. Perry White also has quite a prominent role here; not only does he bust Lois’s balls over daring to suggest the Daily Planet print a story about aliens, but he’s also less than impressed that she protects Superman’s identity and actually takes an active role in helping his staff (and others) during the cataclysmic finale. Lieutenant General Swanwick takes the lead in the military’s investigation of Superman; legitimately concerned and thrown off by the revelation that an alien has been living amongst them for thirty-three years, he treats Superman with a great deal of apprehension since he has such incredible power but acts independently of anyone’s interests, to say nothing of those of the United States government.

Zod is a cruel and malicious warrior who is dedicated to ensuring the survival of the Kryptonian race.

I do think that the film would have benefitted from a slight restructuring to allow for a time jump between Clark discovering his suit and Zod’s arrival; Clark is Superman for barely a day before the Kryptonians arrive to cause havoc, meaning his first real test is right in the deep end against a bunch of fanatical warriors and I think it would have benefitted the film (and the sequel) to have had a bit of a montage that showed him performing superheroic feats across the world and lay the seeds for the hope and fear his presence inspired in people. Kryptonian society is a little different to what we saw in the old films; genetic engineering is the norm, so everyone has a predefined role; while Clark, as the first natural-born Kryptonian in centuries, is the exception to this rule, General Zod is a warrior through and through whose desire to ensure Krypton’s survival drives him to extreme and devastating actions that he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. Having spent a great deal of time in exile and spurred by the perceived betrayal of his fellow Kryptonians, Zod is an interesting dichotomy; he’s both one-dimensional and multi-dimensional since he is fixated on ensuring Krypton’s survival and yet he’s genuinely hurt when Jor-El refuses to join forces with him in meeting this goal, and at being forced to fight against his old friend. Rather than being a criminal and a conqueror simply for personal glory, Zod seeks to terraform Earth and extract the Codex from Clark in order to rebuild Kryptonian society and is disgusted that Clark shares the same compassion and weakness as his father. As much as I was glad to see that Man of Steel avoided using typical Superman villains and devices like Lex Luthor and Kryptonite, I was a little disappointed that Zod was used as the main antagonist; Michael Shannon is amazing in the role, don’t get me wrong, exuding an intelligence and a malice that help him be as distinct from Terence Stamp’s memorable rendition of the character as Cavill is from Reeve, but I do think the film could’ve been largely the same, and actually somewhat superior, if Zod had been replaced with Brainiac. By taking influences from Superman: The Animated Series (1996 to 2000) and elements of the Eradicator and Zod’s fanatical fixation on rebuilding Kryptonian society, Brainiac could have helped the film stand out even more from its predecessors, and Michael Shannon could have brought the same calculating intensity to that role as he does to Zod, but I very much enjoyed how Zod was such a devious, manipulative, and brutal foe here.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Man of Steel owes more than a little to Nolan’s grounded and gritty take on Bruce Wayne/Batman in the Dark Knight trilogy; like those films, Man of Steel is a very serious and thought-provoking deconstruction of easily the most iconic superhero in all of comicdom. The film is front-loaded with themes regarding destiny, nature/nurture, and realising oneself in a world that’s not as black and white as we’d like. More than ever, Superman and General Zod are presented as thematic opposites; while Zod is pained to have killed his friend and is acting only in the interest of preserving his long-dead society, Superman is determined to safeguard his world and others but has struggled for his entire life with finding the means to do so. Both Jor-El and Jonathan see him as a world-changing symbol of hope and the capacity to achieve something greater, and he even wears his family crest (the symbol of hope) as Superman, but a prevailing concern throughout the film (which later turns out to be true) is that humanity will stumble, to say the least, in their efforts to keep pace with him. As ever, Superman is accompanied by strong religious themes; one of Jonathan’s many worries about him exposing himself is how it will change humanity’s perception of their beliefs in both scientific and religious teachings, when Zod arrives Clark communes with a priest (Coburn Goss) before surrendering himself (fitting, considering his dialogue with Jor-El clearly evokes a conversation with the Creator), and of course Superman adopts the image of the crucifix before dashing off to rescue Lois’s escape pod.

Superman, his enemies, the tech, and the entire film shines thanks to a strong visual identity.

One of the benefits of bringing in Zack Snyder is his strengths as a visual storyteller; Man of Steel is beautifully shot, utilising a subdued colour scheme that gives the film a very tangible, grounded aesthetic. Shots of Krypton, and Superman, are given a suitably grandiose sheen, making for some of the most impressive flying sequences in a Superman film yet and ensuring that Superman makes a lasting impact every time he’s onscreen. Snyder is far from a subtle storyteller, however, though, here, his tendencies are clearly tempered by Nolan’s more measured and intellectual approach. Still, Snyder’s propensity towards spectacle and engaging visuals results in some harrowing sequences; one of the standouts is a dream-like confrontation between Superman and Zod where the Man of Steel sinks beneath the skeletal remains of billions of murdered humans. Superman’s powers are somewhat subdued here, potentially to maintain the grounded tone of the film; Superman exhibits superhearing, vision, and strength but he and the other Kryptonians primarily rely on their heat vision, superspeed, and flight rather than freezing breath. Thanks to fully utilising modern technology, Man of Steel has the best flying sequences of any Superman movie, taking the lessons learned in Superman Returns and cranking them up to eleven. Snyder loves him some dramatic camera zoom; it’s a little overused but actually makes it feel as though the camera is tracking the action and flying in real-time. Of course, I have to gush about Cavill’s super-suit; yes, debates will rage seemingly for all eternity about whether he should have trunks or not but this is, for me, the best Superman costume we’ve ever seen in live-action. The symbol is alien, and yet familiar, and the texture work is sublime. His cape is nice and long and flowing, making for some dramatic shots as it billows out behind him, and the colour grading allows it to be both colourful and realistic without being overly comic book-y. While the Kryptonian suits are all CGI, you’d never know it since they never appear to be fake; I love how they’re all garbed in this functional dark armour, which is a brilliant thematic and visual parallel between their dark designs for Earth and Superman’s heroism. Krypton and its technology are far more alien than is the norm, comprised of squid-like robotic aides, a sort of nanotechnology used for communication, and a life-like holographic projection of Jor-El that guides Superman and helps Lois. When Superman arrives on the Kryptonian ship and learns about his society, there’s a distinct visual contrast between himself and the world he knows on Earth and this unknown alien society, which is similar to ours but fundamentally different and far more advanced in so many ways.

Metropolis is wrecked by the destructive conflict in scenes analogous to a disaster movie.

Superman ultimately embraces aspects of both worlds by donning a Kryptonian suit and his father’s crest and using his powers to benefit his adopted world while also being mindful of his adopted father’s fears that society will never fully trust, or embrace, him due to how different he is. Thanks to having lived on Earth for his entire life, Clark has fully mastered all of the sensory bombardment that comes from his powers, however he’s still learning and is untested in operating in public. Onboard Zod’s ship, Superman is rendered powerless and as vulnerable as they are when exposed to Earth’s atmosphere, which initially causes them crippling pain. However, the Kryptonians are born and bred warriors, trained to master their senses and their environment, so quickly adapt to the atmosphere and the powers that come with it; they’re also far more adept at fighting than Clark, and not only outnumber him but have devastating terraforming technology at their disposal, meaning Superman faces a very real and formidable physical threat throughout the film. This results in Man of Steel being almost the exact opposite of Superman Returns, and its other predecessors, as it features more action, fight scenes, and depictions of gratuitous destruction than you could ever hope for…and it’s pretty freakin’ glorious! Even Jor-El gets in on the action, donning both the Superman suit and Kryptonian armour, blasting at Zod’s forces, flying through the battle that rages in Krypton’s sky, and even going toe-to-toe with Zod himself to help establish that Superman’s fighting spirit and defiance is potentially inherited from his father. The action is intense and brutal, with a huge area of Metropolis and Smallville being destroyed as Superman ploughs his opponents through buildings and Zod’s World Engine machine devastating the city with its energy cannon. This Superman is an extremely emotional and reactive character who flies into a rage and is determined to tackle his enemies using brute force, meaning untold collateral damage in the process that received a lot of backlash but is clearly evoking the imagery of cataclysmic events such as 9/11 to show how these God-like beings pose a real danger to the world. While I can’t deny that Snyder definitely went way overboard with the destruction caused during the finale (Metropolis literally looks like it’s been entirely wiped out at one point, and Superman sends Zod’s ship crashing right into the heart of the city, which absolutely killed thousands of people), Clark’s just become Superman and is being threatened by a formidable force who won’t listen to reason, so he’s not as experienced as his predecessor or comic book counterpart. Plus, I think it’s important to remember that Superman does make an effort, wherever possible, to save lives; hell, the entire reason Colonel Hardy learns to trust Superman is because he saved his life, and he pushes himself to the absolute limit to destroy the World Engine in the Indian Ocean, thus saving the entire world from destruction.

Superman takes drastic action to end Zod’s threat and settles into his new life as an unassuming reporter.

With his ship downed, his World Engine destroyed thanks to Superman and Hardy’s sacrifice, and his followers all dead, General Zod is left utterly devastated; he’s lost his world, the last remnants of his people, and his entire reason for living (nay, being) has been brought to ruins all because Superman, the son of his former friend and hated enemy, chose his adopted world over his birth planet. Fuelled by his rage, and his commitment to ensuring the greater good of his people, Zod flies into a brutal and merciless assault, resulting in a vicious battle between him and Superman through the remains of Metropolis. Thanks to the benefits of modern day effects, this fight isn’t restricted in the same way as the finale of Superman II was, allowing Superman and Zod to plough through buildings, tear through walls, smash through a Wayne Enterprises satellite in the upper atmosphere, and finally gives us the violent and exciting airborne fist fight we’ve wanted from a Superman film since seeing The Matrix Revolutions (Wachowski Brothers, 2003). Although the battle has already cost the lives of God-knows how many, Superman is ultimately faced with an impossible decision; trapped in a headlock, General Zod refuses to ever stop his destructive vendetta and threatens to immolate a nearby family with his heat vision, leaving Superman no choice but to break the fanatical Kryptonian’s neck to end his threat once and for all. Again, this sparked a great deal of controversy and I can fully understand that, but it’s not as if Superman hasn’t killed Zod before (he did it in Superman II (twice, actually) and famously did executed him the comics, too) and I would much rather have Superman forced to make that decision and then learn to deal with it rather than just sweep it under the rug because he’s supposed to “be better”. In the aftermath, Superman maintains that Swanwick will just have to trust that he’s there to help and isn’t a threat to humanity (something that, sadly, is a focal point of the sequel) and, in a move that I was genuinely surprised to see, goes to work with Lois at the Daily Planet. Considering how fast and loose Man of Steel played Superman’s identity, I was almost sure that Snyder would avoid using this trope but it is tradition, after all, and the film ends with the hope that the world will change for the better following Superman’s arrival (which, again, would be dashed in the sequel…)

The Summary:
After years of Superman being pigeon-holed into this outdated Silver Age characterisation as a God-like being forever embodied by Christopher Reeve, Man of Steel was a real breath of fresh air for the character and really changed the perception and portrayal of the character in interesting ways. I’ve said it before but playing Superman is no mean feat because Reeve cast a very long, dark shadow and comparisons will always be made between him and every actor to take on the tights and cape, but Cavill really brought a physicality and charisma that hadn’t been seen for some time. It helps that he’s an absolute beefcake, but his suit is incredible, and I enjoyed the deeper insight into his relationship with humanity and the burden of living up to the responsibility of his incredible powers. It’s maybe a bit too grounded and gritty and dour for a Superman film, especially as he’s meant to be a paragon of truth, justice, and the American Way, but I think it did a great job of introducing a new version of Superman to a new generation of audiences. The visual presentation and explosive action is an absolute spectacle; there’s a real sense of danger and consequence when Superman throws hands with his Kryptonian foes that may not be the most subtlest approach to take when it comes to disastrous events but absolutely makes for the most action-packed Superman film yet. Man of Steel is only bolstered by strong performances across the board; there’s a fantastic chemistry between Lois and Clark, Zod is a malicious and spiteful despot, and even the supporting actors all do a wonderful job of grounding this world and setting the stage for the coming DCEU. It’s a shame that so many people couldn’t get past the wanton destruction and more controversial aspects as there’s a lot to like here, and even more of a shame that Snyder (and Warner Bros.) squandered all the potential of this world with the follow-up by presenting Superman as a contentious figure and then killing him. While I have grown to despise die-hard Snyder fans and their antagonistic behaviour, I still really enjoy Man of Steel and am incredible happy with how it all came together to deliver a Superman much more in line with what I wanted to see onscreen.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Man of Steel? What did you think to Henry Cavill’s performance as Superman and how do you think he compares to other live-action Superman? Did you enjoy the new interpretation of Krypton? What did you think to the extended discussion regarding Clark’s powers and place in the world? Did you enjoy the way the film handled his secret identity and the new suit? What did you think to this version of General Zod? Were you put off by the destruction and Zod’s execution or did you enjoy the more violent aspects of the film? What is your favourite Superman story, character, or piece of media? How did you celebrate Superman Day this month? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to share them below or leave a comment on my social media.

Mini Game Corner: Indy – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game (Master System)

Dr. K3 Comments

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: February 1992
Developer: Tiertex Design Studios
Also Available For: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, DOS, Game Boy, Game Gear, MSX, Mega Drive, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), ZX Spectrum

A Brief Background:
1981 saw legendary director Steven Spielberg join forces with George Lucas and Harrison Ford to bring the first Indiana Jones film to cinema screens; inspired by the serial films of yesteryear and the James Bond franchise, the three crafted an action/adventure film that was so critically and commercially lauded that it marked the beginning of one of cinema’s most beloved franchises, propelled Harrison Ford to superstardom, and fundamentally changed the cinema rating system. Since the franchise was so successful, Indiana Jones has been adapted into books, comics, and videogames, with the first being an 8-bit adventure for the Atari. It was the third film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Spielberg, 1989), that received the most love back in the day, however, as three titles were released across numerous platforms between 1989 and 1991. This particular game was the technically inferior version of its 16-bt counterpart that scored rather well at the time thanks to its colourful graphics and gameplay, but was also criticised for its difficulty and collision detection.

First Impressions:
Indy – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game (yep, somehow the developers found a way to make the title even longer!) is a 2D, sidescrolling action/adventure game that puts you in control of the famous archaeologist and adventurer. Since the Master System only uses two buttons, you wouldn’t believe how simple the controls are in this version: Button 1 allows you to punch, crack your whip, and swing while Button 2 allows you to jump. These buttons can’t be switched around, but Indy can duck down to avoid incoming bullets and punches and attacks from below, and climb up and down ropes simply by jumping to them. It doesn’t appear that Indy can use a gun of his own this time around, and his whip is limited significantly here; you need to pick up a whip icon to even use it, and you only get a few swings before you lose it until you get the next power-up. As in the bigger 16-bit title, Indy must journey through six levels (referred to as “Scenes”) that recreate environments and situations from the movie, but there are no difficulty settings here; instead, you start with six lives and three credits and face a super tight time limit to clear each Scene, gaining additional time by picking up hourglasses and aiming to accrue a high score and some precious extra lives. As in the Mega Drive game, Indy has a daunting uphill battle ahead of him as he’s practically made of glass; not only does he take fall damage, but hitting the ceiling will drain his health, and he’ll crumble to his knees in seconds from dodgy hit detection and instant death hazards such as water.

Don’t let the impressive visuals fool you, this game is tough as balls!

While the game recreates the train scene from the film and eventually sees you scaling a castle and airship as in the film, you’re unlikely to see this as it’s more than a chore to progress any further the first few screens of the first Scene. While the game delivers a fair attempt at recreating the iconic Indiana Jones theme for the title screen, levels are completely silent save for the sounds of attacks and your continuous death, though the graphics are surprisingly impressive. Sprites aren’t exactly the most expressive but they’re colourful and quite detailed; Indy grabs his hat when he jumps, wooden platforms crumble beneath his feet, and the environments contain a decent amount of detail for a Master System title. The first Scene is primarily based around traversing the caves using ropes; you’ll need to hop to them (avoiding hitting your head, of course) and shimmy down, avoiding gun fire, and then precariously jump across lethal water to progress. As in the Mega Drive version, there are a number of hidden checkpoints in the Scenes, and you’ll even restart from these after continuing after losing all of your lives, but the constant injury you’ll take form everything around you and the ludicrously tight timer make just playing the game one of the most difficult experiences I’ve ever had the misfortune of suffering through.

My Progression:
While I couldn’t get past the first Scene in the Mega Drive game, I was at least able to give it a decent shot; here, though, there was absolutely no hope. Indy’s six lives will disappear in a blink of an eye and, before you know it, you’ll be staring at the game over screen again and again having made little progression. There aren’t even any cheat codes to help you jump ahead to other Scenes, either, so I have absolutely no idea how anyone is ever supposed to see anything other than the first Scene as the game absolutely bricks you right out the gate. Looking ahead at the game (which can apparently be beaten in about ten minutes…), it seems like you’ll face a lot of the same challenges as in the 16-bit title, including avoiding Native Americans on a circus train, fireballs and skeleton pits, even trickier jumping and swinging up the caste’s stone walls, and be faced with avoiding buzz saws and bottomless pits in a pseudo-isometric rendition of the Temple of the Sun. Although you’ll collect artefacts from the movie, there are absolutely no bosses to contend with this time around, making for an extremely frustrating and lacklustre experience, I would imagine.

After the struggle I went through with the Mega Drive version of this game, I didn’t exactly expect much from Indy – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game; I guess part of me was hoping that it would be easier, since it would obviously be a scaled down version of its 16-bit counterpart, and it certainly offers a lot less than that version of the game but ramps up the difficulty to a ridiculous degree. The longplay I watched to get a sense of the rest of the game made it look so easy but this really was a kick in the balls to play, and I imagine would have really disappointed kids who rented (or, heaven forbid, bought) it back in the day. Indy is so fragile that the game may as well have one-hit kills, the sound is basically non-existent, and all the impressive visuals in the world can’t make up for the fact that this game is basically unplayable and not enjoyable in the slightest. I’m curious, though: what did you think to this version of the game? Did you prefer it to the Mega Drive version? What’s your favourite Indiana Jones videogame? Whatever your thoughts or experiences on these games, share them below or leave a comment on my social media.

Game Corner: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Arcade)

Dr. K1 Comment

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: August 1985
Developer: Atari Games
Also Available For: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum

The Background:
In 1981, director Steven Spielberg joined forces with George Lucas and Harrison Ford to bring Indiana Jones to life in Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981), a critical and financial success that launched one of cinema’s most beloved franchises and expediated Ford’s rise to superstardom. The movies soon led to a wealth of multimedia merchandise, including toys, comic, a spin-off television series, and videogames, beginning with an extremely basic 8-bit adventure for the Atari. Although Spielberg’s sequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (ibid, 1984) made slightly less than its predecessor at the box office and attracted controversy for its performances, potentially insensitive cultural depictions, and its darker aspects, it too was accompanied by a videogame. Thanks to a graphically superior version being released in arcades, Temple of Doom was allegedly the first Atari System 1 game to include digitised speech, voice clips, and even John Williams’ iconic music. Seen as a marked improvement over its predecessor, Temple of Doom was also reportedly the fourth-most-successful upright arcade unit of August 1985 in Japan and has been noted as being one of the best videogame adaptations of a movie at that time.

The Plot:Archaeologist and adventure-seeker Doctor Henry Jones Jr., better known as “Indiana Jones” (or simply “Indy”), infiltrates a Thuggee cult to free the children they’ve kidnapped as slaves, recover the mystical Sankara Stones, and defeat the cult’s leader, Mola Ram.

The Review:
Anyone who actually makes a habit of reading my reviews will notice that this review is laid out a little differently from my usual ones and there’s a very good reason for that: there’s honestly not enough to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to warrant a more extensive analysis. Considering the accolades it apparently received at the time, I was left very disappointed by the barebones presentation and mechanics offered by the game, which is a simple 2D adventure that takes place entirely in the lava-and-ladder-infested caves of the Thugee cult. Players, obviously, take control of Indy, in an extreme basic control scheme that allows him to whip in multiple directions, including diagonally, but unable to jump. Indy’s whip will only stun the Thugee enemies who relentlessly pursue him, however; to actually kill them, you’ll need to whip an explosive barrel or knock them to their deaths. Luckily, the snakes and weirdo, dinosaur-like bats can be killed but this is a small consolation considering how many enemies swarm you at any one time.

Whip, swing, and explore to reescue the children from their cages.

Upon starting the game, you’re presented with a pretty decent piece of sprite art depicting Indy and one of the game’s handful of voice samples from the film, which are muffled and painfully basic. From there, you select to play with either three or seven lives (which you’d ever pick less is beyond me) and pick from the Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulty setting and are tasked with rescuing several captured children from cages scattered all around the looping screens. Here, you’ll need to run up ladders, avoid slipping from platforms, swing over gaps using your whip, and try not to fall into lava as you rescue the kids and allow access to the minecart that acts as the level’s exit. Unfortunately, Indy is not only extremely limited in his abilities, being unable to jump, duck, punch, or shoot, but he’s extremely fragile, too. One touch from an enemy or spikes will do him in and, while he can drop from small heights, a high plummet will also kill him and the game’s clunky, slippery controls make it very easy to fall to your death and end up being asked to enter your initials on the high score table. Luckily, you’ll be granted an extra life after accumulating a set number of points and the only time you’ll face a time limit is when picking your difficulty setting; however, the amount of kids you need to rescue, and the hazards and enemies you’ll face, increase with each playthrough and it doesn’t matter how many credits you have, once you get a game over you’re done, so I recommend playing on an emulator to make liberal use of save states.

Even if you somehow best the minecarts and acquire the stones, you still have to face Mola Ram…

Gameplay is broken up a bit by two other sections; after reaching the minecart, you’ll race along a track just like in the film, leaning this way and that to avoid dead ends, and using your whip to dispatch enemies or set off explosives. At this, these sections are quite fun but, by the end, they feature such fast-paced, winding, and hazard-filled tracks that I have no idea how you’re supposed to legitimately get past them. After each of these, you’ll need to snag one of the three Sankara Stones from Mola Ram’s volcanic altar. You’ll need to quickly cross a wooden bridge, avoiding the trapdoor that leads to the lava, or swing across from the far ends of the room while fending off Thugee enemies. Once you have all three and conquered one final, vertically inclined cave section with ten children to rescue and more enemies than you can shake a stick at, you’ll reach the wooden bridge from the finale of the film for a final confrontation with Mola Ram. Mola Ram randomly appears during the game’s other stages, teleporting in and sending a flaming heart that is very difficult to hit and follows you around incessantly, and he represents the game’s most frustrating challenge here. Thugee will constantly spawn in from behind as you clunkily cross the bridge, forcing you to quickly whip them to the deaths and then turn the other way to smack Mola Ram’s projectiles out of the air, which requires split second timing and more luck than this game sees fit to gift you. If you somehow do get close enough, a cutscene will play showing Indy collapsing the bridge and you’ll get to play through a bonus round in the cave section where you run, climb, and slide about whipping golden statues for extra points until your lives are exhausted.

The Summary:
I was excited to play Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; I love old arcade games, and even got to play it in the wild at an arcade place a short drive from where I live. Technically, the game’s presentation is pretty good; sprites are large and colourful, if a bit crude and repetitive, and the handful of environments certainly are faithful to the movie. If you were a fan of anything other than the temple scenes, minecart chase, and the final, though, and characters other than Indy, Mola Ram, and random Thugee cultists, you’re shit out of luck as the entire game is built around these few individuals and locales. The classic Indiana Jones music is barely included, playing only as a celebratory jingle, and the voice samples, while cute, aren’t really worth praising. The main issue with the game is its crippling, unforgiving difficulty; this is another rare arcade game where credits mean nothing, a clearly conscious decision to account for the game’s limitations and short length. Indy is depressingly fragile, crumbling from the lightest touch, and the weird, quasi-isometric perspective our untimely death makes it far too easy to slip from platforms to your untimely death. It’s a shame as Indiana Jones could easily have worked as a fun, mindless run-and-gun (or run-and-whip) adventure, with thrilling minecart chases and button mashing sequences sprinkled throughout. Instead, the developers went for the cheapest, easiest route to force kids to waste their hard-earned pocket money trying to shift Indy’s useless ass around the cave and make blind, near impossible decisions in the minecart, making for a frustrating experience that looks far more appealing than it actually is.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Have you ever played the arcade version of so Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? If so, what did you think to it and were you also put off by its unrelenting difficulty? Were you impressed by the visuals and the voice samples? What did you think to Indy’s limitations and vulnerability? Did you enjoy the minecart and Sankara Stone sections and were you ever able to best Mola Ram? Which Indiana Jones videogame is your favourite and why? Whatever your thoughts on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and classic arcade games, feel free to share them in the comments or on my social media.

Movie Night [Superman Month]: Superman Returns

Dr. K7 Comments

In 2013, DC Comics declared the 12th of June as “Superman Day”, a day for fans of the Man of Steel the world over to celebrate Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, the superpowered virtue of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” who is widely regarded as the first ever costumed superhero. This year, I’m spending every Monday of June celebrating the Man of Steel as I expand Superman Day to “Superman Month“.

This review has been supported by Chiara Cooper.
If you’d like to support the site, you can do so at my Ko-Fi page.

Released: 28 June 2006
Director: Bryan Singer
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $270 million
Stars: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Parker Posey, Tristan Lake Leabu, James Marsden, and Kevin Spacey

The Plot:
Returning to Earth after five years in deep space investigating the remains of his home planet, Krypton, Clark Kent/Superman (Routh) returns to find former flame Lois Lane (Bosworth) married and with a young son. However, as he struggles to acclimatise to a world that may no longer need him, criminal mastermind Lex Luthor (Spacey) steals Kryptonian technology and enacts a diabolical plot avenge himself on the Man of Steel.

The Background:
Those that have read my reviews will know that my opinions of the four live-action Superman feature films produced between 1978 and 1987 are somewhat dismissive. There are elements from each of them that I enjoy, and obviously I enjoy Christopher Reeve’s iconic portrayal of the title character, but overall I feel they haven’t really aged well at all and often hold back reinterpretations of the character. After Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (Furie, 1987) turned out to be a dismal financial and critical failure, Superman was persona non grata from cinema screens for nearly twenty years. Oh, sure, he had a few live-action and animated shows to tide him over and some pretty big comic book events in the intervening years but Warner Bros. struggled to get a new feature film off the ground. After attempts by the likes of writer/director Kevin Smith and Tim Burton failed to materialise and cost the studio millions in production costs, director Bryan Singer conceived of and pitched the general idea of Superman Returns during filming of X2: X-Men 2/X-Men United (Singer, 2003). Wishing to recapture the magic of Richard Donner’s original film, Singer cast relative unknown Brandon Routh in the title role because of his many similarities to the late Christopher Reeve, acquired permission to repurpose Marlon Brando’s footage from the first two Superman movies, and envisioned the film as a continuation of Donner’s films. Superman Returns was supposed to be a pretty big deal for DC Comics, Warner Bros. and Superman in general but, while the film’s $391.1 million gross meant that it was a financial success, the film was met with mixed reviews and even Bryan Singer later expressed regret with the direction and marketing of the film. Although it was followed by a videogame tie-in, this response sank plans for a sequel and Superman wouldn’t return to cinema screens for another seven years, though Routh did return to the role as an aged version of Superman in “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two” (Belsey, 2019).

The Review:
Superhero cinema was in an interesting place in the early 2000s; the X-Men (Singer; Ratner, 2000 to 2006) and Spider-Man (Raimi, 2002 to 2007) trilogies were proving to be big box office hits, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a mere pipedream at that point despite the growing influx of adaptations produced year after year. While Marvel adaptations were undoubtably popular and successful, and had proven that the genre could be critically and commercial successful, it was Batman Begins (Nolan, 2005) that arguably turned the most heads when it came to bringing prestige to the genre. Ignoring its camp, cartoony predecessor in favour of a dark, serious take on the character and bolstered by a reputable cast, Batman Begins took the source material seriously and so anticipation was quite high when Superman Returns was announced as the character had similarly stagnated since his last ridiculous onscreen appearance. In a move I found surprising considering I grew up with the Post-Crisis John Byrne version of the Man of Steel, who was (initially) quite different from his more ludicrous Golden and Silver Age counterpart, Superman Returns opted not to reboot the character like in Batman Begins, but to position itself as a continuation of Richard Donner’s films, one that ignored (or presumably ignored) all of the sequels after the first film save for some tenuous links to Superman II (Lester, 1980) and sought to bring Christopher Reeves’ iconic version of the Man of Steel into a post-9/11 world following a lengthy absence.

Superman returns from a five year absence to find the world has moved on without him.

This, for me, meant that the film started on rocky ground right from the off; as much as I enjoyed Donner’s original version of Superman, I never understood the decision to resurrect that character rather than reboot it from scratch. After all, it’s not as if Batman Begins was a prequel to Batman (Burton, 1989) so it just seemed like a shameless cash-in on the iconography and success of Donner’s influential first film. The film’s premise is that, after becoming the world’s foremost superpowered protector and opposing the mad schemes of Lex Luthor, Superman abandoned the world to its own devices when astronomers discovered Krypton’s remains many light-years away. Even in a repurposed Kryptonian spacecraft, the trip there and back takes Superman five years and, obviously, results only in Superman finding the shattered remains of his home world. So, right away there’s a lot of questions here: why did Superman feel compelled to go and see this when he knew from the words of his long-dead father, Jor-El (Marlon Brando), that Krypton was destroyed? What was he hoping to gain from this? There’s a sense that he wanted closure but…why? He seemed perfectly happy to accept that Krypton was dead and that the Earth was his true home, so suddenly taking off like that really doesn’t make any sense at all, especially considering Superman and Superman II made such a big deal about his attachments and importance to humanity. When Superman returns, the world has largely moved on without him; not only that, Lex Luthor has spent the intervening years showing elderly Gertrude Vanderworth (Noel Neill) “pleasures that [she’s] never felt” in order to con her out of her vast wealth and return himself to a position of power and prominence. Clark’s own elderly mother, Martha Kent (Eva Marie Saint) is still alive, however, and has been covering for his lengthy absence by sending regular letters and postcards to his Daily Planet colleagues while maintaining his old childhood farm home in Smallville and stockpiling newspapers and reports so he can catch up on what he missed.

Clark is stunned to find Lois has settled down with a family and feels a resentment towards Superman.

Superman’s absence had two very important side effects for both his personal life and the entire world; first was that intrepid reporter Lois Lane won a Pulitzer Prize for her article “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman” and has established a family of her own with fiancé Richard White (Marsden) and son Jason (Leabu) and the second is that Luthor was even able to get out of prison in the first place. Thanks to his disregard for due process and missing a vital court appearance, Superman was indirectly responsible for Luthor being remanded into Gertrude’s custody and released back into the civilised world, and his abandonment of his duties and responsibilities is only part of the reason why Lois acts so cold towards him. She learned to live without him, as did the rest of the world but, while everyone else applauds his long-awaited return, she is resentful of him because she feels he abandoned her as much as anything (or anyone) else. Richard is the pilot nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White (the masterful, and completely wasted Frank Langella) and his characterisation seems to boil down to him being a nice guy who’s supportive of his wife, loves his child, and is jealous of Superman and Lois’s obvious fascination with him. Otherwise, he’s just kind of there and only really comes into prominence when questioning Lois’s previous relationship with Superman and in the climax, when his convenient piloting skills help rescue Superman for his big finale, and I can’t help but feel like Marsden made a mistake abandoning his role as Scott Summers/Cyclops in the X-Men films for such an inconsequential role. As for Lois, she’s noticeably different from the Margot Kidder version in many ways, but no less daring and inquisitive; she continually puts herself right at the forefront of big stories, even if it means she’s placed in mortal danger, and has her world (and her heart) turned upside down when Superman returns. As ever, she barely even registers that Clark is back and is instead constantly distracted by Superman, to the point where she confronts him directly. Thankfully, the two don’t end up going for a long, awkward flight with a cheesy song this time around, and she warms towards him after learning of his reasons for leaving.

Despite his personal drama, Clark continues his façade as a bungling reporter and saving lives as Superman.

Upon returning to Earth, Clark immediately jumps back into his old life; he returns to work at the Daily Planet and continues putting on the act of a good-natured, bungling reporter to contrast with the confidant and heroic Superman. Considering he was a relative unknown, and such a fresh-faced young actor at the time, Brandon Routh does a masterful job of not only resembling the late, great Christopher Reeves but adopting many of the same mannerisms he showcased as both Clark and Superman. He certainly looks the part, and fills out the suit well, and I buy that he’s a slight variation of this character, but there’s something a little off about him. It’s possibly because Routh was given the monumental task of being the first big-screen Superman in twenty years and also emulating Reeves’ performance; any actor has big shoes to fill when taking on Superman, but only Routh had to literally be Reeves’ version of the character. Consequently, comparisons between the two are not only inevitable but actively encouraged by the film’s presentation as a sequel to Donner’s film, which I feel unfairly reflects on Routh’s performance here. He gives it a good shot and certainly embodies many of the moral and physical ideals of the character, but he was lumbered not just was continuing Reeves’ performance but also a diabolical script that called for him to morosely stalk his former flame and cast him in an uncomfortable light as an unreliable, overly sombre, and disappointingly stoic Superman. Routh has few moments to showcase the character’s friendlier, more trusting characteristics and this is a shame as he had a wonderful smile and exudes charisma in these moments, but Superman is so weighed down with doubts and regrets and drama that it really sucks all the life and fun out of the character (and the film). Even Clark’s bungling nature can’t really salvage these moments, again mainly because his comic book counterpart had also evolved quite a great deal since the seventies. Instead, what we’re left with is a throwback to an outdated version of the character and a sullen version of the Man of Steel who’s so distracted by his personal issues that he doesn’t realise Luthor is a threat until it’s almost too late, which is odd considering that the film makes a big deal of showing that Superman is deeply affected by the planet’s cries for a saviour and yet he somehow doesn’t pick up on Luthor’s latest plot.

Luthor flips between cold, calculating menace to unhinged mania seemingly at random.

Luthor’s grand plan this time around is, essentially, similar to that of his predecessor; namely, the acquisition of profit from real estate. Quite why this continued to be a concern for the self-professed greatest criminal mind ever to walk to Earth is beyond me, but this Luthor is noticeably more bitter and twisted than Gene Hackman’s take on the character. Finally sporting his trademark bald head and wielding Gertrude’s vast wealth, Luthor sets himself up on her fancy yacht and surrounds himself with idiotic underlings simply because he was forced to make questionable allies to survive his time in prison. Thanks to the events of Superman II, Luthor directs his crew to the Fortress of Solitude and refamiliarises himself with Jor-El and Krypton’s technology; specifically, Luthor learns of the Kryptonian crystals’ ability to expand and create landmasses, which he plans to use to create a whole new continent in the Northern Atlantic Ocean that will supplant the mainland United States, killing millions of people in the process. Aided by Kitty Kowalski (Posey), who’s essentially exactly the same character as Eve Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine), Luthor is only too eager to avenge himself on the Man of Steel when he makes his dramatic return to the spotlight and has Kitty distract Superman so that he (as in Luthor) can reacquire the chunk of Kryptonite he used in the first film in order to make his new landmass fatal to his hated enemy. While Hackman gloriously ate up the scenery in the previous films, Spacey absolutely devours it here with a wild and manic performance that shifts from cold, calculating menace to unhinged hysteria at the flip of a coin. It’s uncomfortable to praise any Kevin Spacey performance these days but he really was a pretty fantastic Lex Luthor; while I would much rather see either the mad scientist or corrupt businessman version of the character, Luthor is an enigmatic and cold-hearted villain who relishes the opportunity to bring Superman to his knees and bring about the deaths of countless innocents simply to fuel his ego and lust for power.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Perhaps the most prominent thematic inclusion here is the question of whether or not the world even needs a Superman; the world has continued on without him, and even gotten used to his absence, and both Clark and even Lois question whether he even has a place there anymore. Although Lois’s career was boosted by her anti-Superman article, Superman returns to action, saving people and solving problems the world over, because all he can hear is a world crying out for a saviour. I’m really not sure why this is such a recurring theme in Superman movies; Zack Snyder wasted a huge chunk of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (ibid, 2016) asking similar questions and it really bothers me for some reason. I haven’t read every single Superman comic book or story ever made but I’ve rarely ever come across this plot point in the source material and, while it raises interesting questions regarding the need for a God-like superhero, I can’t help but feel like it drags the already dull plot down quite a bit. Furthermore, it personally doesn’t sit well with me that the film is so closely tied to Donner’s original film; Superman’s supposed to have been gone for five years, from approximately 1980, but everyone seems younger than they were before, and the only character who even remotely seems to evoke their counterpart is Superman. As much as I enjoy Donner’s iconography, tying them together was a big mistake in my book; Superman had changed so much in the comics by this point that this felt like a massive step back and seemed way too “safe” of an option. The film wisely reuses John Williams’ iconic score, but not often enough; it’s most prominently heard in the opening credits (which are a direct homage to the original film) and Superman’s handful of action scenes. Even dusting off unused footage of Marlon Brando doesn’t help matters as the film’s weirdly stuck in the past and yet also supposed to be set in the then-modern day, which results in a confused presentation as it’s unclear which version of Superman II Superman Returns is set after, and it even confusingly seems to suggest that it’s a only direct sequel to the first film!

Superman Returns is full of heavy themes but paints Superman in an uncomfortable light.

Of course, the film is also rife with themes of responsibility and parenthood. Superman is, sadly, framed very poorly here; not only did he abandon his adopted home world on a whim, he never considered the legal fallout of Luthor’s arrest and thus was absent for a critical moment in his adjudication. Even worse is the fact that Superman is characterised almost like an obsessed stalker; he uses his super hearing to eavesdrop on Lois’s conversations both at work and in the office, his super vision to watch her at home as she makes a poor effort of hiding her emotions at Superman’s return, and he generally comes across as being unable to let go of the past. Lois hides her desire for Superman behind a mask of contempt and self-reliance; she defies Perry’s order to cover Superman in favour of the blackout caused by Luthor’s experiments but continually circles back to her feelings of abandonment by her long-time crush. Even distracting herself with her sickly child doesn’t help as she’s clearly as besotted with the Man of Steel as ever, just weighed down with her responsibilities as a mother and her career. Clark is stunned to find that Lois has settled down and had a child, and unethically uses his powers to gain insight into her emotional state, which is as uncomfortable as it sounds. Still burdened by Jor-El’s decree that he be a beacon of hope for all of humanity rather than devote himself to any one person, Superman is nonetheless overjoyed to find that Jason is his son. Unfortunately, this revelation is painfully telegraphed despite the boy’s asthma and fragility, and just serves to make Superman look even worse since the implication is that he had a one night stand with Lois and then took off and left her to raise his illegitimate child alone, forcing her to turn to another man in the process. I’m not massively against the idea of Superman being a father; it’s now been the status quo in DC Comics for some time and the film takes the time to have Superman recontextualise Jor-El’s words about the son becoming the father in a heartfelt moment but, sadly, there really isn’t all that much time spent exploring what being a father means to Superman, which could have been much more interesting than watching him spy on his ex from afar.

The suit is as divisive as the lack of action as Superman is left struggling to find his way in the world.

One area where the film excels, and surprisingly still holds up, are the special effects; the Fortress of Solitude is particularly striking here and scenes of Superman flying and showcasing his physical strength are slick and presented as a visual spectacle, which is only fitting. I’m a little torn on the suit, though; overall, it looks good, appearing to be a modern take on the classic outfit, but the colour palette is very subdued and dark. The symbol is way too small; the cape fits weird and is too thick and leathery and lacks the symbol on the back (a common occurrence in modern Superman films), and it somehow looks plainer than Reeves’. And yet, Routh fills it out wonderfully with his toned physique and the film definitely aims to make every shot of him a piece of art, even including a marvellous homage to the iconic cover of Action Comics #1. As awesome as Superman’s calm confrontation with a maniacal gunman is, the plane rescue is the film’s big, memorable action piece; as others have said, it’s great how Superman has to deal with the physics of the crisis, slowing and guiding the plane to a safe landing, but sadly the film doesn’t ever even try to top this. Superman barely uses any of his additional powers; he only uses his heat vision and super breath once, and he doesn’t even throw a punch! I get that Donner’s Superman wasn’t exactly an action-packed spectacle, but times have changed since then; Superman Returns came out after The Matrix Revolutions (Wachowski Brothers, 2003), which gave a tantalising glimpse into what a new Superman might be like with its epic final fight scene that pitted two superpowered characters against each other in the skies. Sadly, Superman Returns opts not to include a superpowered foe for Superman or any kind of physical danger; instead, it’s firmly focused on exploring the drama of his return, the interpersonal conflict of his character, and his struggles to find his place in a world that has moved on from him, none of which is particularly interesting or even fitting for the character.

Superman musters the strength to stop Luthor’s plot, recovers from death, and returns to duty.

All of this distracts Superman’s focus for the majority of the film, as does solving problems both big and small all over the world. Despite being knocked sideways by Superman’s return, Lois continues to follow her hunch on the blackout, which leads her directly to Lex Luthor and at ground zero for his latest maniacal scheme. Reunited, and with a showdown with his old foe impending, Luthor descends into complete lunacy because of his unwavering arrogance at being able to outthink the Man of Steel. Not only has Luthor kept a shard of Kryptonite for himself, he’s infused his alien landmass with the substance, thus rendering Superman weakened for this inevitable confrontation. In a surprisingly harrowing scene, Luthor’s henchman brutalise Superman and Luthor vindictively stabs him, critically injuring the Man of Steel and requiring Lois and Richard’s aid to pull him from danger. However, despite his injuries, Superman bathes in the healing energies of the sun to muster the strength to lift the entire Kryptonian landmass from the ocean and fling it into space. Quite how he was able to do this is also beyond me; even after being boosted by the yellow sunlight, he’s still handling what amounts to pure Kryptonite, the very substance which just moments earlier had left him helpless to fend off Luthor’s attack. To be fair, the effort is draining for Superman; here, Singer abandons all subtlety and absolutely wallops audiences over the head with the Christ allegory as Superman not only literally falls to Earth in a crucifix pose but also dies to save us and rises some time later. I get that the “Death of Superman” (Jurgens, et al, 1992 to 1993) was a monumental story for the character but, again, I really don’t get this obsession with “killing” off the character, which was a recurring suggestion in the many unproduced drafts before this film and, again, resurfaced in Batman v Superman, where it was equally rushed and unwarranted. Here, Superman just gets better after a few days in hospital, finally takes the moral high ground and leaves Lois and her family the hell alone while promising that Jason will continue his legacy and the legacy of Krypton, and does his trademark lap of the planet before vanishing from cinema screens for another seven years.

The Summary:
Even now, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s hard to regard Superman Returns as anything other than a massive disappointment and missed opportunity. Warner Bros. had the perfect opportunity to reboot the character, or otherwise reintroduce him, to a fresh new audience eager to jump on the next big-budget superhero film but instead pandered to an aged and dated version of the character simply to cash-in on nostalgia for Christopher Reeves’ influential portrayal and to piggyback off the success of Richard Donner’s original film. Admittedly, a lot of my dislike for this film comes from my desire to move away from such outdated representations of the Man of Steel and to do something new and more akin to his Post-Crisis characterisation, and my general dislike for much of the themes and presentation of those original films. Batman got a clean slate a few years prior so it’s astounding to me that Superman didn’t get the same treatment; even more mind-boggling is the suggestion that Brandon Routh and Christian Bale would’ve crossed paths in a potential crossover movie, which would’ve just been insane to imagine as you’d be effectively pitting the same Superman who reversed time against the most grounded and realistic Batman we’d seen at that point in time. Ultimately, it’s a real shame as there’s a lot to like in Superman Returns; the film is shot beautifully, challenges Superman in interesting ways, and features some great performances. Routh was placed in an unenviable position and delivered a pretty decent performance as the Man of Steel, but I think maybe it was a little too much too soon for him; he definitely commanded the role much better when he returned to it years later, though, so I like to think he might’ve been even more impressive if Superman Returns had gotten a sequel. Sadly, though, there’s just not enough here to really sustain things; Superman’s characterisation is uncomfortably off and the film just drags all the way through. Lex Luthor showcases some maniacal cruelty when he finally gets to put a beating on Superman, but this disturbing scene really belongs in a better film and Superman Returns ends up being a big missed opportunity to have the world’s greatest superhero return to the big screen in a meaningful way in favour of simply cashing in on the nostalgia for a film that was incredibly influential, yes, but an outdated representation of the character by this point.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Are you a fan of Superman Returns? What did you think to Brandon Routh’s portrayal of the character and his efforts to evoke Christopher Reeve? Were you also disappointed that the film was a continuation of Donner’s effort or did you enjoy the links to the classic Superman films? What did you think to Lex Luthor’s plot and the focus on interpersonal drama rather than action? What is your favourite Superman story, character, or piece of media? How are you celebrating Superman Day today? Whatever your thoughts on Superman Returns, feel free to share them below and be sure to check out my other Superman content.