Story Title: “In the Claws of Doctor Robotnik” Published: October 1994 Writer: Smoldo Artist: Mister B
The Background: It didn’t take long at all for SEGA’s supersonic mascot to achieve an unprecedented level of mainstream success; Sonic basically single-handedly allowed SEGA to usurp Nintendo’s position at the top of the videogame industry and the company almost immediately set about capitalising on the Blue Blur’s popularity with a slew of videogames and merchandise such as cartoons and comic books. While the most notable Sonic comic books were the long-running series published first by Archie Comics and then by IDW and the United Kingdom’s Sonic the Comic (StC), there have been a number of lesser known Sonic books, comics, and mangareleased over the years but one of the most intriguing for me has always been the two Sonic Adventurescomics published only in France by Sirène in 1994 to promote the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (SEGA Technical Institute, 1994). The series only ran for two issues, with one being the full-length comic book I’m talking about today and the other being more of a character/game guide to Sonic 3. As a lifelong fan of the Astérix series (Various, 1959 to present), I was immediately drawn to the expressive and vibrant art style of “Dans Les Griffes De Robotnik” but what really makes this comic stand out is how obscure it is. I’ve never been able to find a copy only but, thankfully, a fan translation by Sonknuck and Manic Man is readily available to read online. Like a lot of Sonic media outside of Japan at the time, Sonic Adventures pulls much of its lore from the now defunct Mobius and Doctor Ovi Kintobor storyline, depicts Doctor Eggman (or “Robotnik” as he was widely known then) as his Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993 to 1996) counterpart, and features an interesting twist on Sonic 3 & Knuckles’ story that omits Knuckles the Echidna altogether, includes Amy Rose, and actually has some similarities to later narrative elements introduced in Sonic Adventure(Sonic Team, 1998).
The Review: “In the Claws of Doctor Robotnik” begins in the skies of Mobius, specifically on board Doctor Robotnik’s airship. Robotnik, whose design is ripped directly from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, basks in his victory and own magnificence when his Penguinators present him with Sonic bound in chains. Although initially musing on why Sonic was doing wandering about the “Marble Temple” on Angel Island, he is driven into a rage when Sonic taunts him by briefly referring to Robotnik’s origin as the kindly Professor Kintobor.
Sonic makes a desperate escape from Robotnik’s air ship.
Robotnik’s mood lightens once more, however, when the Penginators present him with a bag full of Chaos Emeralds (which Sonic had been carrying on him) and the mad scientist boastfully proclaims himself to be the “king of the world!” Robotnik’s victory is extremely short-lived, though; Sonic breaks free on his chains, punches the Chaos Emeralds from Robotnik’s grasp, and leaps out of the airship to plummet back to the planet alongside the legendary gems. Luckily, Sonic had spotted his friend, Miles “Tails” Prower, skulking about outside the ship and the two-tailed fox is able to save Sonic just in the nick of time.
After fending off the local wildlife, Sonic and Tails retreat from Robotnik’s all-out attack.
The two land in an “unexplored [region]” of Mobius; although Robotnik immediately leads his Badniks down in pursuit, Sonic’s primary concern is shaking himself loose from the jaws of ordinary piranhas using the same technique players used in Hydrocity Zone. Unlike his videogame counterpart (but similar to Sonic’s depictions in cartoons at the time), Sonic has no problem swimming once he shakes off the critters but he and Tails are soon forced to make a desperate retreat when Robotnik and his Badniks bombard the area with fire (similar to Angel Island Zone; Robotnik’s craft even somewhat resembles his contraption from the finale of that Zone).
Sonic and Tails are swept away to an ancient city populated by savage echidnas!
With RhinoBots literally raining down around them (on cute little parachutes, no less), Sonic and Tails are driven down a waterfall (Tails having, apparently, forgotten how to fly despite flying in the panels leading up to this plummet). Luckily for them, they find a cache of Golden Rings at the bottom of the river; Sonic, however, decides that discretion is the better part of valour and allows the river to carry them away from danger rather than use the Rings for a power boost. Instead, though, the river leads to another waterfall and the two are dumped into a hidden echidna society that bares a resemblance to the one seen in Sonic Adventurethat is too uncanny to just be a coincidence. The echidna “savages” (whom Sonic describes as being “fools [that] are descents of Mobius’ first race” and all of which look exactly like Knuckles despite him being entirely absent from the story) attack the two with spears in an attempt to kill them, leading to Sonic destroying their wooden boats with his patented Spin Attack and a “knuckle sandwich”.
Robotnik holds the feisty Amy hostage while Sonic and Tails are condemned to death by Princess Alucion.
Meanwhile, Robotnik has captured Amy Rose (whose hair, much like in StC, has been erroneously stylised into a high sweep because of that one piece of Sonic the Hedgehog CD(SEGA, 1993) artwork) and plans to use her as leverage against Sonic. While Amy was characterised as a meek, lovesick damsel in distress in Sonic CD, here she’s a snarky, defiant tomboy who openly mocks Robotnik at every opportunity. Back at the ruins, the echidnas have captured Sonic and Tails (mainly because the two are more used to smashing robots and didn’t want to hurt the savages). They are taken to Princess Alucion, the ruler of the echidna tribe, who has the long-lost Grey Emerald imbedded in her crown. Alucion showcases the grandeur of “the antique city of the first people” and then prepares to push them down a tube so that they can be roasted alive inside a volcano that somewhat resembles the one from Lava Reef Zone.
Once again, Robotnik seems to have claimed total victory in the finale.
Fortunately, Robotnik attacks at exactly the right moment; Sonic and Tails dive down the tube, taking Alucion with them, to avoid Robotnik’s missile attack and, while the mad doctor believes them to be dead, Sonic revels in the twisting, turning slide that carries them to their doom. When a Penguinator shows Robotnik that his prey has survived, he moves to intercept them and, in to process, kidnaps Princess Alucion. Tails saves Sonic from a dip in molten lava (again, right at the last second) and, despite the obvious trap, rushes to save Amy when she is flown past tied up to a bunch of Jawz Badniks. Amy berates Sonic’s plan, since the two are left suspended over the volcano, and Robotnik swoops in to cut the rope and send them plunging to the burning crater (taking a picture for prosperity).
After clearing the Special Stage, Sonic assumes a powered-up form to battle Robotnik.
When Robotnik moves to retrieve the Grey Emerald from Alucion, she bites him and dives after Sonic and Amy while Tails is left wailing in despair and vows that everyone will know of their bravery and courage. His lamentations are premature, however, as the volcano is home to a Big Ring, which transports Sonic and Amy to a Blue Sphere Special Stage. Thanks to his super speed, Sonic easily bests the challenge and Alucion praises his achievement and awards him with the seven “magical emeralds, the golden armour, and the power to be transported wherever [he] wants”. While Tails is regaling their friends in Green Hill Zone with the tale of Sonic’s end, Sonic and Amy miraculously materialise before them. Tails is elated to see his friends and awestruck to see Sonic transformed by the “golden armour” into a glowing, super-powered form and the comic ends with Super Sonic promising the Robotnik’s problems are just starting.
The Summary: “In the Claws of Doctor Robotnik” is one of the best of Sonic’s obscure comic tales; similar to Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic (Unknown, 1991), the comic is full of some truly gorgeous artwork that reminds me of the Astérix comics and contains many of the gameplay mechanics and hazards from the source material. While Sonic is sporting his much-maligned Mohawk design, I seriously cannot get enough to the artwork here; characters are cartoony and exaggerated, similar to in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, but also full of snark and attitude, exactly like Sonic should be.
The comic is full of humour but also suffers a bit from the translation.
Of course, being that it’s a fan translation, there are some oddities to be found in the comic; referring to Super Sonic as the “golden armour” sticks out the most but there are a number of odd grammatical errors and inclusions to be found as well. Still, Sonknuck does a pretty good job at adapting the original French text for an English-speaking audience and the story is peppered with all kinds of quirky comedy and phrases; Sonic loves to exclaim “Darn and blast!” and there’s some amusing sayings such as “I haven’t seen the movie” and “No need to send me post cards!” Other translations don’t land quite so well, however, and I would love to see this comic officially translated and released some time.
A fun piece of obscure Sonic media with some excellent artwork and humour.
Still, “In the Claws of Doctor Robotnik” is a lot of fun; it appears to read like this quirky amalgamation of the Western Sonic lore and as a prelude to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, though obviously the Mobius story doesn’t really align with that presented in the videogames. The imagery used, though, is fascinating; it’s amazing how closely the echidna civilisation seen in Sonic Adventure resembles what we see in the comic and it was fun seeing mechanics from the videogames crop up. Obscurity and nostalgia also play a large part in my appreciation for “In the Claws of Doctor Robotnik” but that doesn’t change the fact that you should try and seek this one out online and give it a read sometime.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Fantastic
Have you ever read “In the Claws of Doctor Robotnik”? If so, what did you think of it? Haveyou read the original French comic and, if so, how does this translation measure up? Did you enjoy the art style and quirky humour in the comic or do you prefer the Archie and IDW comics? What did you think to the original characters and would you like to see this comically officially translated and more widely available some day? How are you celebrating the anniversary of Sonic 3’s release today? Whatever your thoughts, please feel free to share them and your memories of Sonic 3 & Knuckles below.
Back in February 1974, Spider-Man/Peter Parker faced a new enemy in the form of Frank Castle, the Punisher, a veteran of the Vietnam War turned bloodthirsty vigilante. The Punisher separated himself from other, traditional costumed heroes by his willingness to kill and uncompromising, suicidal one-man war on crime and what better way to celebrate the debut of this nuanced and complex character by dedicating every Tuesday of this month shining a spotlight on Marvel’s most notorious anti-hero?
Released: 25 April 1991 Director: Mark Goldblatt Distributor: New World International Budget: $9 million Stars: Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett Jr., Nancy Everhard, Barry Otto, Jeroen Krabbé, and Kim Miyori
The Plot: After his family are killed by a mafia-planted car bomb intended for him, former ex-Marine Frank Castle (Lundgren) has taken to a life of vigilantism as “The Punisher”; killing criminals and mobsters with special skull-engraved knives and operating from the sewers, he has become New York’s most wanted man. However, when crime boss Gianni Franco (Krabbé) comes out of retirement and butts heads with Lady Tanaka (Miyori) of the Yakuza, the Punisher is the only man capable of stopping all-out war in the streets.
The Background: Having made an impressive debut in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #129, the Punisher quickly became one of Marvel’s most popular anti-heroes thanks to his tragic backstory and unwavering commitment to the eradication of crime. This, in turn, led to him appearing in videogames, cartoons, and a surprising amount of live-action adaptations of the source material. The first of these was produced in 1989 at the end of the action movie renaissance of the 1980s; muscle-bound stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone had redefined the criteria for the action genre but Dolph Lundgren was no slouch in that department either. The Swedish strongman made quite a name for himself in his own right, even if he was often overshadowed by Schwarzenegger, and adapting the Punisher character into the trappings of an eighties action film made perfect sense at the time. Sadly, the bizarre decision was made to not have Lundgren don the character’s iconic skull shirt and The Punisher was denied a widespread theatrical release in favour of being released straight to video. While most reviews agreed that the film was unimpressive, to say the least, and criticised its presentation and content, others praised Lundgren’s performance and the dark and gritty nature of the movie, though it would be nearly fifteen years before the character would receive another live-action adaptation.
The Review: The Punisher opens with a depressingly low budget title sequence that’s like something out of a sixties James Bond film; rather than getting you pumped up for a high-octane action film, it’s more like the opening to a bog standard television cop show from the seventies, despite the brief shots of the Punisher gearing up or randomly unloading his machine gun. In many ways, this sets up the tone for the film but, at the same time, misrepresents The Punisher; while it’s not quite the same over-the-top spectacle as the likes of Commando (Lester, 1985) orRambo III(MacDonald, 1988), it’s a decent enough representation of its genre that is, perhaps, unfairly overlooked against its other, more popular counterparts.
After five years killing mobsters, the Punisher goes public to enact his revenge.
Frank’s tragic background is initially reduced to a brief news report (we later get a proper flashback that shows it but, again, this is more of a snippet rather than an extended sequence) that informs us that the man responsible for the death of Frank’s family, Dino Moretti (Bryan Marshall), has been acquitted for the charges. Moretti arrogantly laughs off concerns about the Punisher seeking retribution against him, despite the fact that Frank has become a notorious underworld vigilante and has at least 125 kills to his name. As you might expect, Moretti’s arrogance is misplaced and Frank not only murders his armed bodyguards one by one but also blows up the mobster’s stately home in a very public display.
While there’s not much for Leary to do, Berkowitzhas an emotional connection to the Punisher.
The Punisher is a hot news item; though they are unaware of his true identity, reporters are desperate to cover him and milk his violent actions but the police, and the mayor, would prefer to downplay his actions. After the Punisher appears to die in the explosion at Moretti’s house, the official line is that he is dead but his former partner, Detective Jake Berkowitz (Gossett Jr.), refuses to let the subject lie. Although he has no interest in working with a partner, and has become quite jaded since Frank’s apparent death in a mob hit, Berkowitz is convinced to work with Detective Samantha Leary (Everhard) when she shares his suspicion that Frank is the Punisher. Leary uses what is sold to us as a state-of-the-art computer algorithm to pinpoint the Punisher’s location, which is pretty much her sole contribution to the film other than being a very basic audience surrogate. Berkowitz, however, is a constant highlight of the film; his relatable, no-nonsense attitude stands out amidst a few mediocre performances, with his escape from Mafia custody stands out as a notably amusing sequence. His emotionally-charged reunion with Frank is another standout moment; Berkowitz desperately tries tor each Frank, screaming and manhandling him and clearly heartbroken at the state Frank has found himself in, while Frank remains impassive and unapologetic for his actions.
Already weakened from the Punisher’s actions, Franco wages all-out war with the Yakuza.
The traditional, mostly Italian-American world of organised crime is shaken up by the arrival of the Yakuza. Led by Lady Tanaka, the Yakuza strikes with silent, surgical precision and effectiveness and are easily able to consolidate a stranglehold on the criminal underworld thanks to the Punisher thinning out the competition. Their presence, and the Punisher’s actions, force former kingpin Gianni Franco (Krabbé), a well-dressed and eloquent mobster, out of retirement; to sway him and the remaining Mafia family members into agreeing to a lop-sided alliance with her, Lady Tanaka arranges to have the mobster’s children kidnapped. Tanaka is portrayed as a cold, calculating, merciless foe who willingly slaughtered her own brother and employs any means necessary to get her way while still being confident and cultured and exuding a quiet menace and authority. This is in stark contrast to the hot-headed Mafia Dons, who are driven to the point of desperation by recent events and find themselves easily outmatched at every turn by both the Punisher and the Yakuza.
Frank is convinced to expand his focus from vengeance to rescuing the kids.
One of the kids taken by Tanaka is Franco’s son, Tommy (Brian Rooney), who, unlike the other hostages, is completely unaware of his father’s criminal activities. Having successfully culled much of the Mafia’s numbers in the five years since he became the Punisher, Frank is content to let the remnants fight and kill themselves and has no interest in saving the children or getting involved in the brewing war between the Mafia and the Yakuza. However, he is swayed into action after a guilt-trip from one of his few allies, “Shake” (Otto), a former stage actor turned vagrant who informs Frank of underworld activities and gives him leads in exchange for alcohol.
The Nitty-Gritty: When talking about the big action stars of the eighties, I can’t help but feel like Dolph Lundgren often gets overlooked; this isn’t massively surprising in a lot of ways as he was largely overshadowed by the bigger and more charismatic Arnold Schwarzenegger and lacked the big-hit franchises associated with Arnold or Sylvester Stallone. Still, he was a pretty decent choice to portray the Punisher at the time despite never wearing the iconic skull-branded outfit of his comic book counterpart. Lundgren’s strained narration also peppers the film as he laments his lot in life and God’s apparent refusal to do anything to protect the innocent and punish the guilty and he throws himself into the action and fight scenes and exudes just the right level of stoicism, vulnerability, conviction, and capability that are so crucial to the Punisher’s characterisation (he even tosses in a bit of snark here and there when faced with agonising torture).
While not as bombastic as its peers, The Punisher still contains a decent amount of action.
As such, Lundgren’s portrayal of the Punisher is as a weary, disassociated man who has lived a life of such extreme violence and hardship that he has become numb to anything and everything around him. While you could argue that Lundgren simply comes across as bored, he excels in the film’s many action scenes, which are surprisingly varied, exciting, and full of gratuitous eighties-style gun fights, a ridiculous amount of explosions, blood squibs, and even some sword-based combat. Here, the Punisher is in his element and has a purpose but, when not in combat, he is a morose and sombre figure to be pitied, which is perfectly in keeping with the Punisher’s character. Best of all, unlike other eighties action heroes, the Punisher is not infallible; he gets hurt, feels pain, and regularly has to perform extreme surgery on himself to stem his wounds.
The Punisher remains a complex and layered character.
Again, this speaks to the Punisher’s roots as an anti-hero; he does good things by association but doesn’t head out into the night expecting to be heralded a hero. Instead, he is completely focused on the brutal eradication or organised crime; he walks (or rides) head-first into gun fights and rooms and crowds of armed opponents with no fear and protected only by his heavy arsenal and his force of will. When captured and tortured by Lady Tanaka, Frank refuses to give in to the pain and expertly breaks free of his bonds to save Shake when he is subjected to the same torture and, when Berkowitz’s life is threatened by Franco, he agrees to an alliance with the remnants of the Mafia, which was a great way to emphasise the character’s adaptability and loyalty to his few allies.
Though lacking the iconic skull, Lundgren embodies the spirit of the character admirably.
The Punisher’s softer side also gets some play when he successfully rescues the kids from their captivity; it seems to be a constant truth that Frank’s hardened exterior cracks somewhat when kids are involved, which is understandable given that he was a father at one time, and it goes a long way to showing that there is still some humanity left in the character. Furthermore, Frank’s suicidal tendencies are also a notable factor in the film; as I mentioned, he makes very little effort to protect himself from damage (he literally refuses body armour for the finale) and walks into firefights without a second’s hesitation and is haunted by nightmares of his family’s murder but this attitude is made heart-wrenchingly explicit at the film’s conclusion. After entering into a frosty alliance with Franco, the Punisher wages all-out war against Lady Tanaka to rescue Tommy; this results in the once efficient Yakuza being reduced to little more than cannon fodder, Lady Tanaka receiving a skull-branded knife to the head, and Frank murdering Franco before Tommy’s eyes. When Tommy holds Frank at gunpoint, Frank submits to his mercy, welcoming death but when the boy chooses not to pull the trigger, Frank briefly comforts him before warning Tommy not to follow in his father’s footsteps lest he have to punish the boy in the future and returns to his never-ending war against the guilty.
The Summary: The Punisher is quite a brisk and inoffensive little action movie. It might not really measure up to some of its competition, and there are definitely better eighties action films out there, but you could do a lot worse than this. For me, the Punisher is a ridiculously easy character to adapt compared to his other more colourful and fantastical superhero counterparts; you simply get a rugged actor who can portray the character’s complex emotions, give him a gun and some knives, and put a lot of bodies in his path and, in that respect, The Punisher succeeds very well. Sure, other iterations of the character has done a better job of handling the character’s pathos and complex ideology and attitude but those aspects are still present in The Punisher. Frank Castle isn’t just some muscled up meathead who care barely string two words together and the film tries its best to explore the character’s fading humanity and mental instability; obviously, the typical bombastic eighties action mostly drowns a lot of these elements out but, again, that’s a good thing because who doesn’t like a bit of over-the-top eighties action? I’d even go as far as to say that it doesn’t really matter that Lundgren doesn’t wear the skull-shirt since he does a pretty good job of embodying the character regardless and, while it might be the worst of the three Punisher movies and lacking the star power of Commando and Rambo III, The Punisher is worth your time if you’re a fan of the character and the genre.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Have you ever seen The Punisher? If so, what did you think of it? Were you disappointed that Dolph Lundgren didn’t wear the skull-shirt or were you not really all that bothered? What did you think to the film’s action scenes and gratuitous violence? Were you a fan of Lundgren’s casting; if not, which eighties star would you have cast in the role? What did you think to the film’s portrayal of the Punisher and the overall plot and where would you rank this film against others in the genre and the other Punisher adaptations? What is your favourite eighties action movie? Which Punisher videogame, story, or adaptation is your favourite? How are you celebrating the Punisher’s debut this month? Whatever you think about The Punisher, feel free to write a comment below and be sure to check out my other Punisher content!
January sees the celebration of two notable dates in science-fiction history, with January 2 christened “National Science Fiction Day” to coincide with the birth date of the world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and HAL 9000, the sophisticated artificial intelligence of Arthur C. Clarke’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), being created on 12 January. Accordingly, I’m spending every Sunday of January celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.
Released: 17 July 2015 Director: Peyton Reed Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Budget: $130 to 169.3 million Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Abby Ryder Fortson, and Michael Douglas
The Plot: Petty thief Scott Lang (Rudd) struggles to adapt after being released from prison. Determined to prove himself to his young daughter, Cassie (Fortson), he turns to stealing once more and unwittingly nabs Doctor Hank Pym’s (Douglas) Ant-Man suit. Gifted with an opportunity to turn his life around, Scott trains with Pym and his stern daughter, Hope van Dyne (Lilly), to master the suit’s ability to shrink and control ants in order to keep the conniving Doctor Darren Cross (Stoll) from perverting Pym’s life’s work into a weapon.
The Background: When comic book readers were first introduced to Hank Pym/Ant-Man, he wasn’t quite the garishly-costumed Avenger would later help form the Avengers; instead, he was merely a scientist featured in the pages of Tales to Astonish #27. The creation of the legendary duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character was re-envisioned as a superhero eight issues later and would go on to be a consistent, if unstable, character in the pages of Marvel Comics. Crucially, however, Pym wasn’t the only character to take up the mantle of Ant-Man; one of Pym’s most notable successors was Scott Lang, a reformed criminal created by David Michelinie, Bob Layton, and John Byrne, who took over the role in 1979. Both Hank Pym and Scott Lang had featured in Marvel cartoons and videogames since their debut, but development of a live-action film can be traced back to the 1980s, when development was scuppered by a similar concept, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (Johnston, 1989). The project finally started gaining traction in the early-2000s when Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish wrote a film treatment focusing on the Scott Lang version of the character for Artisan Entertainment, who held the film rights at the time. Over the next ten years, the film was continually showcased and teased; the character was bumped from the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and eventually slotted in to debut in Phase Three. Sadly, Wright eventually left the project in 2014, right after both casting and the script had been finalised, due to “creative differences” between himself and Marvel Studios. Peyton Reed soon succeeded Wright as the director and worked closely with star Paul Rudd (who underwent a physical transformation for the role) and writer Adam McKay to rework and expand upon Wright’s script. Double Negative and Industrial Light & Magic handled the film’s shrinking effects, with star Corey Stoll sporting a motion capture suit to bring the villainous Yellowjacket to life. Finally, after being in development for over ten years, Ant-Man released to a massive $519.3 million worldwide gross; the reviews were equally impressive, with critics praising the film’s family dynamic, performances, and the unique blend of humour and action that set it apart from other MCU films. The film performed so well that a sequel was produced in 2018, and a third instalment is due for release later this year, and only served to further bolster Rudd’s undeniable charm and charisma.
The Review: Ant-Man is one of those Marvel superheroes that I’ve never really had strong feelings about one way or another. Like many, I mostly know the character as being an emotionally and psychologically unstable individual who occasionally abuses his wife and has inferiority complexes, though I primarily associate the character with one of the Avengers’ greatest villains, Ultron. Consequently, while Ant-Man and the Wasp were instrumental in the formation of the Avengers in the comics, I can’t say that I was too disappointed to see the character miss out on the big screen debut of Marvel’s premier superhero team. However, by the time Ant-Man was produced, the MCU was really ramping up its scope; the Avengers had formed, we’d seen Gods and bleeding-edge technology and even space adventures and, while Ant-Man probably would have fit in nicely during the MCU’s first phase (although it probably would have been deemed too derivative), it was actually a surprising breath of fresh air to come back down to “ground level”, so to speak, before really getting balls deep into the Infinity Saga.
Years after Hank quit S.H.I.E.L.D., ex-con Scott tries his best to set a good example and rebuild his life.
Ant-Man opens up in 1989 and by showcasing just how far de-aging technology has come as Hank Pym (digitally restored to match the time period) angrily confronts Howard Stark (John Slattery), Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell made up to look noticeably older), and Mitchell Carson (Martin Donovan) after discovering the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division’s (S.H.I.E.L.D.) attempts to replicate his Hank Particle technology. While Peggy is shocked at the revelation, Howard tries to impress upon Hank that his research could be put to far better, greater use than simply fuelling his efforts as Ant-Man. Already annoyed at being reduced to a glorified errand boy, Hank is pushed to the edge when Carson mocks his anger and brings up his late-wife, Janet, leading to Hank lashing out, breaking Carson’s nose, and quitting S.H.I.E.L.D. Although Howard pleads with Hank to reconsider, Hank storms out, making an enemy of Carson in the process and establishing a few key plot points for the movie: Hank doesn’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D., seems a little unstable, and is highly protective of his research. The film then jumps ahead to then-present day to introduce us to Scott Lang right as he’s being released from prison; a former VistaCorp systems engineer, Scott is a veritable genius, holding a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering but is reduced to working a menial job at Baskins-Robbins in his desperate attempt to stay on the straight and narrow and set a good example for his young daughter, Cassie (Fortson). It’s crucial to note that that Scott wasn’t arrested for anything violent or threatening (indeed, he states that he hates violence); instead, he hacked into VistaCorp’s security system and redistributed misbegotten funds to their victims before exposing their misdeeds online, painting him as a sympathetic, almost Robin Hood-like figure right from the outset as he strives to do good deeds and has a clear moral compass but isn’t exactly the best at making responsible decisions. Although Scott has a strained relationship with his ex-wife, Maggie (Judy Greer), and her new fiancé, cop Jim Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), he is extremely close to Hope, who is always excited to see him. He’s desperate to make up for lost time but faces nothing but an uphill battle to show that he’s changed and can be a responsible adult.
Luis’s enthusiasm is offset by Hanks’ cantankerous nature and Darren’s lust for power.
After his release, Scott is taken in by his former cellmate and best friend, Luis (Michael Peña), an enthusiastic, supportive, and incredibly friendly and optimistic former con who initially tries to coax Scott back into his former life. Luis is one of many highlights in Ant-Man; in many ways a predecessor to the colourful characters and banter we’d see in Thor: Ragnarok(Waititi, 2017), Luis just exudes likeability and friendliness. Peña’s delivery and fast-talking cadence also provide one of the film’s most hilarious moments where Luis rapidly breaks down the particulars of a big-time score, which is fantastically realised with Peña’s voice playing over a number of other ancillary characters as he enthusiastically tells Scott how he came by this information. Luis sets Scott up at an apartment and introduces him to Dave (Tip “T.I.” Harris) and Kurt (David Dastmalchian), both of whom are only too eager to assist with Scott’s heist into a rich old man’s house and make that big score. Scott doesn’t return to his cat burglar ways lightly, but believes he has no choice if he ever hopes to set himself up with an apartment, pay his child maintenance fees, and see his daughter again. In the interim years after the opening, Hank Pym has done pretty well for himself; he set up his own company, Hank Technologies, and is clearly quite wealthy from the research and technology developed there. However, he has slowly become more and more of a recluse and been pushed further away from his company; his protégé, Darren Cross, is in the final stages of assuming full control of Hank Technologies, renaming it Cross Technologies, and fully replicating the Hank Particle technology. Fascinated by Hank’s past as the shrunken secret agent superhero Ant-Man, Darren has developed a suit, the “Yellowjacket”, to reproduce the technology and sell it as a peacekeeping weapon for geo-political and military applications. Hank is frustrated by all of this, especially Darren’s insistence on reproducing the Ant-Man technology, but handicapped by his ability to do anything about it; prolonged exposure to the Hank Particles has left Hank physically unable to suit up again because of the risk of further (and permanent) damage to his mind and body but he is equally adamant that his estranged daughter, Hope, not take up the mantle because of the risk not only to her but also his lingering guilt and fear after losing his wife to that same technology.
Darren is not just on the cusp of having everything he lusts for, but also completely going off the rails.
Although Darren is frustrated at his inability to shrink organic material, both Hank and Hope know that it’s only a matter of time before he cracks the secret and begins manufacturing weaponised Ant-Man technology. Although Hank is reluctant to risk losing Hope, he’s more than happy to recruit Scott to his cause, having identified him as the perfect expendable candidate for their operation thanks to his intellect and skills as a cat burglar. I always found Hank’s reasoning here very interesting, and somewhat hypocritical; he won’t risk losing Hope so he brings in Scott, positioning him to a point where the former thief has little choice but to agree to become Ant-Man, but Scott has quite a lot to lose as well so it just goes to show that Hank, for all his morals and ethics, doesn’t necessarily have the most clean-cut of motivations. Anyway, Scott is initially disheartened to learn that all his efforts have resulted in only an old motorcycle suit and a funky helmet but, upon slipping into the outfit out of sheer curiosity, he is both excited and horrified to discover that it enables him to shrink down to near-microscopic proportions at the push of a button! Scott is naturally freaked out and attempts to return the suit, only to be arrested in the process and perfectly placed for Hank to exposit a truncated version of his life story and his troubles with Darren Cross. For a stereotypical, suit-wearing antagonist, Darren actually has a few things going for him that help him to break free of the corporate bad-guy trope I loathe so much. Of course he’s a smooth-talking, slick weasel and a sharp businessman, but he’s also a manipulative and sadistic asshole; he took full advantage of Hank’s trust and faith to gain a majority interest in Hank Technologies, leeched every bit of information and brilliance from his mentor he possibly could to advance his own career and self-interests, and has no qualms about killing those who get in his way using perverted Hank Particles to reduce them to a gooey residue. He’s a highly intelligent, and highly unstable, antagonist who oozes charm but also menace; you’re never really sure what he’s thinking and you can almost see the urge to lash out and go full crazy bubbling beneath the surface. In many ways, he’s a dark opposite for both Scott and Hank since he’s kind of like what Scott could have become if he’d gone down that path while also being on the verge of a full-on meltdown like Hank seems to be half the time. Both Darren and Scott also have eyes on Hope, but Darren’s lack of mortality and lust for power are what separate him from his rival.
Hope resents her father keeping things from her and stopping her from suiting up.
Hope and Hank have a strained relationship, to say the least; she resents her father for keeping the truth about what happened to her mother from her, and for picking Scott over her, however they come together when they realise how dangerously close Darren is to perfecting and weaponising the Ant-Man technology. Still, Hope is very abrasive to both Scott and her father, referring to him as “Hank” or “Dr. Pym” for much of the film and constantly annoyed at Scott’s ignorance. Familiar with both Darren’s research and personality, as well as the particulars of Hank’s technology, to say nothing of the company’s security measures and systems, Hope is also Scott’s physical superior in every way; she sees Scott as a bungling, naïve fool who’s in over his head and is greatly frustrated at her father’s apparent lack of trust in her. To be fair, Hank distrusts almost everyone; he resents both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the flamboyant nature of the Avengers, and sees this job as being more about subterfuge then barging in all guns blazing. Hank is also tortured at the loss of his wife, who joined him for his pint-sized adventures as the Wasp and was lost to him after she was forced to reduce herself down beyond the limits of the suit and got lost in the “Quantum Realm” as a result. Scott’s influence on the two is palpable; by sharing with Hope that Hank clearly loves her and doesn’t want to risk losing her, he not only learns the trick to communicating with Hank’s ants but also helps mend the rift between father and daughter, finally revealing the truth about her mother’s death and her father’s inability to cope with the grief of his greatest failure. Consequently, all three are forced to set aside their differences, and self-doubts, in order to redeem each other and keep Darren from potentially threatening the world for the next generation.
The Nitty-Gritty: One thing that sets Ant-Man apart from other films in the MCU, particularly at the time it was made, was its strong emphasis towards humour; humour has always been a big part of the MCU, but Ant-Man is basically part-comedy and shines all the brighter for it. Paul Rudd impresses in the title role with his incredible screen charisma, likeability, and comedic timing and the film features not just the traditional snark and biting wit of the MCU but also some truly amusing gags relating to Baskin-Robbins (they always find out) and Titanic (Cameron, 1997), but also excellent use of sight gags and editing (the film consistently cuts away from the drama of Scott’s shrunken adventures to see him barely having an impact on the real world). Ant-Man also separates itself from other MCU movies by being as much a heist movie as it is a superhero affair; Scott and his crew undergo a great deal of preparation and planning before breaking into Hank’s house, which involves acquiring uniforms, cutting power lines, and communicating from a nondescript van. Once Scott is inside the house, we get to see just how capable and adaptable he is; he’s slick and agile, easily able to slip inside with barely a whisper, and cobbles together unique solutions to break into Hank’s antique vault using only household items. Whilst being trained in combat by Hope and the particulars to the suit by Hank, Scott lends his skills to planning the assault on Pym Technologies, which involves studying the layouts and the security systems and the defences surrounding the Yellowjacket suit. This requires a highly co-ordinated attack on all fronts, using every resource at their disposal, including not just Scott’s crew (much to Hank’s chagrin) and also an infiltrating into the Avengers compound. This leads to a brief scuffle between Ant-Man and Sam Wilson/The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) that is the first true test of Scott’s newfound abilities, and additional opportunities for Luis and Scott’s amusing cohorts to shine with their hilarious shenanigans.
The suits look fantastic thanks to both excellent practical and digital effects.
Ant-Man absolutely excels in its visuals and presentation. The Ant-Man suit itself is a thing a beauty; fittingly drawing its influences from Scott Lang’s comic book adventures and more modern interpretations of the character, it’s not a mechanised suit of armour or made up of fancy nanotech and wis, instead, a very tangible and almost rudimentary costume that resembles a motorcycle outfit. It looks advanced, but not so advanced that it’s impossible to believe a genius like Hank Pym could have made it at home and with limited resources, and I love how it seems so functional and practical. The helmet is especially impressive, especially in this first outing for the character; rather then peeling back like nanotech, it flips up and is a largely practical prop, all of which works wonders for bringing this frankly ridiculous character to life. Darren’s Yellowjacket outfit is functionally similar, but noticeably different; for starters, it was brought to life using digital effects but I sure as hell couldn’t really tell that when watching the film. Yellowjacket has always been a bit of an absurd character, costume, and concept for me but the film presents the character as very menacing and technologically superior to Ant-Man in everyway. While it’s admittedly very “safe” for the film to wheel out the dark doppelgänger trope again, Yellowjacket can not only shrink and grow himself and other objects but he can also fly and sports stinger-like blasters on his back; this, coupled with the characters’ distinctive red and yellow colour schemes, really makes it much easier to distinguish the two in their climatic fight scene.
Ant-Man’s unique ability to shrink makes for some fun and innovative action sequences and visuals.
Naturally, Ant-Man’s most unique selling point is the character’s ability to shrink down to a near-microscopic level; this effect is rendered using digital technology and directly attributed to the suit and the Pym Particles, meaning that Scott must stay in the suit and the helmet at all times to stay alive when shrunken. Although minuscule in size, Scott retains his full-size strength and weight, effectively making him superhuman when he’s shrunk. However, the dangers surrounding him are many and varied; normal, everyday things such as a person entering a room, rats, and water are life-threatening hazards and the effect is, quite naturally, very disorientating for Scott for much of the first half of the film. Thanks to a lengthy (and amusing) montage sequence, Scott slowly learns to master the suit, which enables him to shrunk and grow in a fraction of a second to pass through the smallest openings, strike with near-superhuman speed, strength, and swiftness, and enlarge or reduce everyday objects to be used as weapons in combat. As versatile as the suit is, perhaps the greatest benefit of the suit is the ability to control ants using electromagnetic waves. Hank is obviously the absolute master of this; he controls flying ants to spirit Scott across the city, commands “Bullet Ants” to keep him subdued, and even directs drones to communicate and pass sugar cubes. While Hank is very clinical about this ability, preferring to number the ants rather than name them and grow attached to them, Scott is much more appreciative of their help and bonds with them like one would a pet. He names his flying ant “Anthony” and is devastated when it is killed near the finale, but also learns through his training of the particular differences and practical applications of each of the different types of ants at his disposal: “Crazy Ants” can conduct electricity to fry electronics, Bullet Ants deliver an excruciating sting, “Carpenter Ants” allow him to fly about at high speeds, and “Fire Ants” not only bite but also form bridges and pathways. By the finale, Scott has fully mastered the suit and the ants, and is able to shrink and grow in the blink of an eye to dodge bullets and take down entire groups of highly trained, armed men, leading to some of the MCU’s most unique action sequences as everyday locations are rendered exciting and action-packed thanks to Scott’s diminutive stature.
Yellowjacket is defeated, Ant-Man returns from the Quantum Realm, and Hope finally earns her wings.
A particularly frosty confrontation between Hank and Darren sets Cross off and sees him beefing up security, leading to an escalation in Hank’s plans. Although he despairs of Scott’s friends, Hank begrudgingly accepts their help in causing distractions and infiltrating Pym Technology. While Ant-Man and his ants fry the servers and cause chaos to the security systems, Hank puts himself in considerable danger as Darren negotiates the selling of the Yellowjacket technology to Carson and his Hydra associates, and the two finally reveal their true faces as hated enemies. Although Hank is wounded in the fracas, the timely intervention of Hope allows Scott to escape when he’s captured; Hope’s pleas to Darren fall on deaf ears and, pushed to the edge by the destruction of his company, he dons the Yellowjacket suit for himself and fully embraces his hatred and lust for power. This leads to some fun and incredibly unique fight scenes as Ant-Man and Yellowjacket battle not just on a damaged helicopter but also in a suitcase, bouncing about between packets of sweets, keys, and a mobile phone, and Ant-Man bats Yellowjacket into a fly zapper with a table tennis pad. Darren’s knowledge of Scott’s identity leads to him targeting Cassie, escalating their conflict significantly and leading to my favourite fight sequence of the film where Ant-Man and Yellowjacket duke it out on a toy train set and across Cassie’s bedroom, leading not just to an enlarged ant being set loose upon the city but a gigantic Thomas the Tank Engine crashing out into the street! Yellowjacket’s titanium armour proves too tough for Ant-Man and, with his daughter at risk, Scott has no choice but to risk going sub-atomic in order to disrupt Darren’s suit and reduce him down into a twisted nothingness. Adrift in the Quantum Realm, Scott is disorientated and bombarded with bizarre visuals but holds on to his memories and love for Cassie and uses those emotions to force himself back to consciousness, repairing his regulator and returning to the real world. His heroic actions and self-sacrifice earn him not just his daughter’s adulation but Paxton’s respect, finally allowing him to be a part of Cassie’s life once more or for them to build a family unit. His return also gives Hank the hope that he might be able to retrieve his wife one day, and finally sees Scott and Hope act on their mutual attraction for each other. The film concludes with Luis (eventually) relating that the Falcon is actively seeking out Ant-Man for help with a much bigger problem that affects not just the superhero community, but the entire world, and Hank finally gifting Hope with her own Wasp suit for the next go-around.
The Summary: I wasn’t expecting much when I went into Ant-Man; the MCU was growing and starting to veer away towards the cosmic and outlandish and it seemed like their days of doing more grounded, more human heroes were all but done but Ant-Man definitely set a precedent for diverse storytelling that the MCU continues to stick to. It’s amazing to me that even after expanding their scope towards Gods and the depths of space and hinting towards larger cosmic threats the MCU is still masterfully able to snap back to ground level with a character like Ant-Man, and Scott Lang was such a breath of fresh air for the franchise. Paul Rudd is so immediately likeable, and he brought a real comical, heartfelt performance to Scott Lang, and it’s largely thanks to him that I found myself actually caring about Ant-Man for the first time in…I think forever. The comedy and gags on offer were absolutely top notch, with Luis being an obvious highlight, but I also really enjoyed Michael Douglas’s performance; he played a world weary, cranky, slightly unstable former superhero-come-mentor perfectly and brought so much presence to every scene he was in. He, like all of the actors in this, also seemed to be having a great time with the film, which doesn’t take itself too seriously and perfectly incorporates elements of a heist movie to give it a unique flavour. While we see incredible cosmic visuals and escalating threats quite often in the MCU, Ant-Man’s shrinking sequences are still really impressive; I love how our senses are changed alongside Scott’s when he’s smaller and how everyday things we take for granted suddenly become a life-threatening obstacle for Ant-Man. It’s fun seeing Scott learn about the suit and what he can do, and seeing him bond with the different ants and work alongside his crew, and while I think Ant-Man probably would have been better placed in the MCU’s first phase, it was a much-needed palette-cleanser at the time and remains one of the most entertaining and unique entries in the MCU.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Did you enjoy Ant-Man? How did you think it compared to other films in the MCU? What did you think to the emphasis on comedy and heist elements and on Scott’s status as a struggling ex-con and father? Did you enjoy the film’s unique action sequences and shrinking effects? Were you disappointed that Yellowjacket ended up just being a dark mirror of Ant-Man or did you think Darren’s character stood out enough to justify it? Were you a fan of Ant-Man prior to this film and, if so, which iteration of the character was your favourite? Whatever you think about Ant-Man, sign up to drop a comment below or leave a comment on my social media, check back in next week as Sci-Fi Sunday continues.
January sees the celebration of two notable dates in science-fiction history, with January 2 christened “National Science Fiction Day” to coincide with the birth date of the world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and HAL 9000, the sophisticated artificial intelligence of Arthur C. Clarke’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), being created on 12 January. Accordingly, I have decided to spend every Sunday of January celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.
Released: 6 March 1992 Director: Brett Leonard Distributor: New Line Cinema Budget: $10 million Stars: Jeff Fahey, Pierce Brosnan, Mark Bringelson, and Austin O’Brien
The Plot: Intellectually challenged Job Smith (Fahey) works as a lawnmower man, he is regularly abused and mistreated by townsfolk. However, when Doctor Lawrence Angelo’s (Brosnan) research into using psychoactive drugs and virtual reality to improve the intelligence of chimps dramatically increase’s Job’s intelligence, the once childlike Job transforms into a hyper intelligent being whose sanity soon begins to suffer as a result.
The Background: The Lawnmower Man began life as a short story by my favourite author, Stephen King. First published in 1975, “The Lawnmower Man” told the storyof a strange lawnmower man who was actually a satyr of the Greek God, Pan, and driven to kill a client in His name by telekinetically controlling a lawnmower. Quite howthis translated into a cautionary tale about the potential dangers of virtual reality is beyond me but, regardless, this concept of digital worlds and the potential danger of technology was a popular one in the realms of science-fiction and clearly had a strong influenceon the writing and production of this very loose adaptation. King was so incensed at the changes made to his original story that he sued to have his name removedfrom the film’s title and marketing, and the film received mostly mixed reviews, with the film’s special effects being a noteworthy highlight. The Lawnmower Man’s $32.1 million domestic box office made the film a moderate success, which justified the release of a far worse sequel about four years later and the release of a much longer and more intricate “Director’s Cut” on home media that I’ll be looking at today.
The Review: Like something out of a 1950s sci-fi film, The Lawnmower Man opens with a piece of blurb warning about the dangers of virtual reality; the potential of this technology (and computers in general), which was seen as so new and limitless at the time, to be the source of both enlightenment and corruption, were rife back in the day and these themes permeate throughout The Lawnmower Man. Immediately, we’re shown the scary potential of virtual reality as Dr. Angelo’s research has been used, in conjunction with various drugs and stimulants, to turn an ordinary chimp into a deadly engine for war…largely against his wishes.
The Director’s Cut features a much longer opening following the chimp’s escape from V.S.I.
This sequence, largely framed as a dream sequence in the theatrical cut, is expanded upon significantly here in the Director’s Cut as we follow the chimp as he uses his increased intelligence to escape from captivity, acquire a gun, and shoot his way out of the Virtual Space Industries (V.S.I.) facility (which is under the administration of the mysterious and malevolent governmental body known as “The Shop”, a semi-recurring agency in King’s works). In the theatrical cut, the chimp is killed curing the escape but, here, he makes it all the way to the nearby town thanks to the guidance of his V.R. headset; it’s while seeking sanctuary that the chimp meets Job, the titular simple-minded lawnmower man who mistakes him for the comic book superhero “Cyboman”. This introduces us to Job a lot sooner than in the theatrical cut, showcases both his kind, naïve nature and his childlike demeanour, and recontextualises the introduction of his father-figure, Father Francis McKeen (Jeremy Slate), who is directly responsible for the Shop’s mercenaries finding and killing the chimp, which leaves Job distraught and Angelo incensed.
Angelo sees in Job the chance to use his research for something other than war.
A pacifist by nature, Angelo is frustrated by the Shop’s constant interference and insistence of twisting his research into a tool for war; he believes in the potential of virtual reality to improve the minds of men towards a higher calling, one far greater than conflict and death. Excited at how far the chimp came in its cognitive development and discouraged at his death, Angelo is driven to distraction by the potential of his research to help countless people just like Job. Even after taking a hiatus from work, Angelo refuses to focus on anything other than his work, which causes his relationship with his wife, Caroline Angelo (Colleen Coffey), to suffer. In the theatrical cut, she out-right leaves him part-way through the film but, here she acts far more aloof and instead goes out on the town with her friends, leaving Angelo in the basement with his work, his audio journal, and a bottle of Scotch.
Virtual reality transforms Job from a simpleton into a confident savant.
Angelo sees vast potential in Job to realise the full potential of virtual reality; skipping over the V.S.I. “aggression therapy” and concentrating purely on virtual reality and stimulating concoctions, he convinces Job to agree to a series of sessions where, over time, his mental capacity is dramatically increased. Beginning as a simple, child-like man who man in the town take advantage of (including Father McKeen, who regularly beats, berates, and mistreats Job) with little understanding about personal hygiene or reasoning, Job is a hardworking lawnmower man with a natural gift for fixing mechanical things but, thanks to Angelo’s experiments, he becomes an excitable and incredibly capable individual. He is soon able to surpass his young friend, Peter Parkette (O’Brien), at Angelo’s V.R. games, outgrows comic books, and seeks to feed his growing intellect with knowledge and input of all sorts, which transforms his mind and body into a far more competent and capable form.
While some treat Job terribly, others are incredibly loving and supportive towards him.
While Job runs afoul of the local town bully, the aggressive Jake Simpson (John Laughlin) and is regularly abused by McKeen for the smallest transgressions, Job actually has a couple of close friends who genuinely care about his well-being. Angelo likes him, for a start, and then there’s Peter, with whom Job shares a love of comic books and videogames. He’s also treated like a surrogate son by McKeen’s brother, Terry (Geoffrey Lewis), a local handyman and groundskeeper who employs Job and is one swig of booze away from becoming a full-blown alcoholic. In a nice twist, even as Job’s changes begin to negatively affect and overwhelm him, he never forgets those who have been kind to him and actively seeks out to punish those who have wronged him and others when he begins to develop awesome powers.
The malevolent Shop pay for their desire to exploit Job’s abilities.
The core of the film is Job’s descent under the weight of his newfound abilities but this only really comes about because of the intervention of Angelo’s supervisor at V.S.I., Sebastian Timms (Bringelson); although Timms begins the film as a straight-laced, corporate ass-kisser who, unlike Angelo, doesn’t have a problem with bowing to the whims of the Shop, he soon becomes a real cypher and sends the plot spiralling into destruction and tragedy. Eager to impress the authoritative Director (Dean Norris), Timms swaps out Angelo’s formula for the original “Project 5” samples so that they can see what the effect will be on a human being. The result is unprecedented to all, but especially Angelo, who comes to realise, with mounting horror, that Job has developed awesome, unstable abilities and suffered a psychotic break that devastates V.S.I.’s employees and leaves Timms to a truly horrific fate.
The Nitty-Gritty: I’ve always been a fan of The Lawnmower Man and I was excited to watch the extended Director’s Cut when I bought the DVD. Unfortunately, though, much of the additional material kind of bogs the film down, especially the extended sequence with the chimp which only bloats the opening. I was surprised to see the natural of Angelo and Caroline’s relationship issues change but there were some nice new additions, too, such as Angelo having more interactions with Peter’s mother, Carla (Rosalee Mayeux), him asking Father McKeen for permission to take Job away from his duties at the church and with Terry to run his V.R. experiments, and some slightly longer scenes at V.S.I. showing Angelo trying to calm Job’s growing thirst for knowledge and input and Job experimenting with the limits of his powers to cause lesions to form on his skin. Another significant addition is Job using his psychic powers to manipulate Caroline into conflict against the Shop’s agents, thus causing her death, something which is entirely absent in the theatrical cut and goes a long way to show just how far gone Job is at that point.
Job’s new abilities allow him to wreck terrible revenge on those who have wronged him.
While The Lawnmower Man is only partially based on King’s original story, some of his traditional tropes still show up in full force; thankfully, there are no writers here but a couple of abusive, aggressive assholes show up in full force. There’s Jake, who I mentioned before, who routinely mocks and mistreats Job for his childlike demeanour and is angered into a fury when local hardbody Marnie Burke (Jenny Wright) takes a shine to Job after he begins to show more confidence and physical appeal. There’s also Peter’s father, Harold (Ray Lykins), who regularly yells at and beats his wife and child. Both of these reprehensible individuals fall victim to Job’s wrath when he begins to exact his revenge upon those who have wronged him; it’s not entirely clear what Job does to Jake (though it seems to be implied that he made Jake a simpleton like he (as in Job) used to be) but he rips Harold to shreds with his lawnmower and daunting psychic powers in perhaps the only part of the film that is similar to the original story.
As Job’s intelligence increases, so does his mania and his mental abilities.
The Project 5 formulas are noted several times by Angelo to heighten a subject’s aggression, but they have an entirely unexpected additional effect on Jon; he gets splitting headaches and begins to pick up on the thoughts of those around him before developing telekinesis. His mind absorbs information and input “like a clean, hungry sponge”, allowing him to surpass Angelo’s intelligence at a rate that leaves Angelo speechless in fear. As these changes begin to take hold, Job suffers a serious of worrying seizures and struggles to adapt to his newfound abilities but soon suffers a psychotic break and comes to see himself as accessing powers and abilities lost to mankind generations ago; all but forcing Angelo to continue his experiments, Job begins to grow more and more unstable, turning to violence and hurting Marnie, reducing her to a gibbering wreck, as he begins to lose control of his abilities and sanity.
As his powers grow in cyberspace, Job is able to influence the real world.
Impressed with a demonstration of Job’s abilities, the Director orders him to be brought in to the Shop for further testing and study; angered at Timms’ betrayal and scared half to death at Job’s increasing instability and growing God complex, Angelo is unable to protect Job from the Shop’s mercenaries, which sees him projecting a digital version of himself into the real world and reduced them to pixelated atoms! Job’s wrath is only increased when an errant shot leaves Terry dead and, having dispatched all of V.S.I.’s security with a swarm of pixelated bees, he enters the facility unimpeded to put his insane plan into motion.
Job transforms himself into Cyber Christ, a being of pure digital energy!
Having come to regard himself as the bridge between reality and virtual reality, Job plans to upload his very consciousness into the virtual world, becoming a “Cyber Christ” in the process, and spread his influence across the entire world. Although Angelo believes all of this to be a psychotic delusion, Job is able to complete his plan, transforming himself into a being of pure energy and Angelo is forced to try, one last time, to appeal to the last remnants of Job’s humanity in cyberspace. Having trapped Job behind a computer virus, and threatening him with death from bombs he placed around the facility, Angelo is ultimately no match for Job’s awesome powers but, when he realises that Peter and Carla are also in danger, Job allows Angelo to leave before they all die in the explosion.
Fahey is fantastic in the film, masterfully portraying Job’s descent into psychotic mania.
Although it appears as though Job perished in the blast, he is finally able to crack Angelo’s lock and escapes at the very last minute, with the final shot of the film being his “birth cry” as very telephone around the world rings in union, ending the film on a semi-ambiguous note that, sadly, the sequel dropped the ball on following up on. Still, The Lawnmower Man continues to impress me; its effects and realisation of virtual reality and cyberspace may be wildly outdated and based in pure fantasy but I think they hold up pretty well and are indicative of the technology and fears/speculation of the time. What also bolsters the film, for me, are some captivating performances from both Brosnan and Fahey; beginning as a wise mentor whose admiration of Job’s progress soon turns to fear for his sanity, Angelo is an admirable idealist whose wishes to use V.R. for the betterment of mankind result only in destruction. Similarly, Fahey does a fantastic job portraying Job’s childlike innocence, his pain and confusion at his growing psychic powers, his thirst for knowledge, and his descent into both stoic, unnerving menace and aggressive, unstable insanity.
An under-rated sci-fi film that explores a fantastically horrific side of V.R.
Fahey delivers some truly awesome and memorable lines here, such as his gibbering, terrifying statement of “I saw God! I touched God!”, his later stoic declaration of him becoming “Cyber Christ”, and his eventual declaration when he has fulfilled this objective of “I am God here!” (not to discount Brosnan’s moving whisper of “”Oh, dear God…” when he realises how far off the deep end Job has gone), all of which tie into the additional themes regarding faith and religion. Such notions, which originally were used to keep Job in check and under threat of reprisal for his transgressions, quickly become redundant as Job begins to experiment with his abilities; free of all fear and boundaries, he sets Father McKeen ablaze, easily manipulates the minds of others, and soon transforms from a meek, mentally challenged man into a monstrous being both in and out of virtual reality.
The Summary: I don’t see The Lawnmower Man talked about enough when the subject of sci-fi films comes up. Sure, it’s maybe not aged too well and is absolutely nothing like the story it’s based on but so what? Total Recall (Verhoeven, 1990) is nothing like the short story it’s based on and that didn’t hurt it; obviously, it’s not a fair comparison and Total Recall is a much better film but my point is that debates about fidelity to the source material are often meaningless when the result is an enjoyable piece of media. By gearing the story into a cautionary tale regarding the unknown dangers and potential of technology ad virtual reality, The Lawnmower Man presents a truly unique twist on the concept of V.R. as a gateway into the untapped potential of the human mind. The effects are still pretty impressive for the time; it helps that the V.R. sequences are all entirely computer-generated rather than splicing humans into cyberspace and, for me, they hold up pretty well and tie into the overall plot of Job transforming into this digital tyrant. Some solid performances only bolster the film’s appeal for me and, while the Director’s Cut actually causes the runtime to drag a bit more compared to some others, I can never get enough of a good thing. For having a truly interesting premise and execution, some stellar performances by Brosnan and Fahey, and some chilling sequences involving Job’s wrath, The Lawnmower Man is an unfairly under-rated gem of a science-fiction romp and I highly recommend it to fans of the genre who are looking for something a little different.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Have you ever seen The Lawnmower Man? If so, what did you think to it and do you enjoy this longer cut of the film? What did you think to the film’s premise and the performances, particularly Brosnan and Fahey? Did you enjoy the film’s depiction of virtual reality and cyberspace or do you feel it’s a little too dated? Have you ever read the original story and, if so, would you have preferred that the film was closer to the source material? What is your favourite Stephen King adaptation and how are you celebrating National Science-Fiction Day today? Whatever your thoughts on The Lawnmower Man, or sci-fi in general, be sure to leave a comment below.
Released: 17 December 2021 Director: Jon Watts Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing Budget: $200 million Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, and Benedict Cumberbatch
The Plot: After having his secret identity publicly outed, Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Holland) finds himself branded a murderer and requests Doctor Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) cast a spell to make everyone forget his identity. However, when the spell is corrupted, reality is fractured and Peter is beset by foes from across the multiverse seeking to avenge themselves against Spider-Man, no matter what world he’s from!
The Background: Following the massive success of the original Spider-Man trilogy (Raimi, 2000 to 2007) and the largely mediocre reception of the poorly-timed reboot films, Marvel Studios were finally able to achieve the impossible when they reached an agreement to include a new version of the iconic web-slinger in their interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Tom Holland took on the role of a young, fresh-faced take on the character and debuted in spectacular fashion in Captain America: Civil War(Russo and Russo, 2016) before spinning off (no pun intended) into the incredibly successfulSpider-Man: Homecoming (Watts, 2017). Spider-Man: Far From Home’s (ibid, 2019) impressive $1.132 million box office proved that the MCU could sustain the success it had amassed even after the cataclysmic events of Avengers: Endgame(Russo and Russo, 2019) but development of a third outing for the character was initially stalled when financial disputes threatened to see the character once again pulled from Marvel’s control. After these issues were resolved, and following a delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, production finally got underway in late-2020 and, almost immediately, rumours began circulating regarding the possible return of actors from the previous Spider-Man franchises. These were only exacerbated when Benedict Cumberbatch was confirmed to reprise his role as Dr. Strange, a character who was already scheduled to have his own multiversal adventure, and when the long-awaited trailer was finally released following a leak, confirming that Alfred Molina would be returning as Doctor Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus thanks to digital de-aging. Finally, after months of speculation and wild fan rumours, the film’s final trailers confirmed that this story would tackle Spider-Man’s varied cinematic multiverse and the film received an official release date. Thanks to bringing together elements from across Spider-Man’s cinematic legacy, Spider-Man: No Way Home was met by unanimous praise; critics lauded the performances and heart of the film, in addition to atmosphere and chemistry between the actors, and the film made a mammoth $1.916 billion at the box office.
The Review: I feel it’s only fair to emphasise here that I simply cannot find the language to talk about this film without using spoilers. If the title and various warnings aren’t enough for you, then this text should be: here be spoilers, and I’m not planning on holding back as I feel the movie deserves to be discussed in detail and the only way to do that is to talk about spoilers. Also, I was initially torn when it came to this film; the build up to it saw some really toxic opinions and members of the fandom rear their ugly heads, and the marketing has been a bit all over the place. Sony showed a surprising amount of restraint with their trailers, and maybe held them off a little too long, but it definitely built up a great deal of hype and intrigue surrounding it and it felt good to be excited and curious about a movie for a change. Having said that, though…be better, people, come on. If you have a favourite Spider-Man, that’s great, but don’t rag on people for having a different opinion. Spider-Man is really lucky as he has had so many adaptations and so much representation, so many live-action portrayals, and all of them have been extremely accurate to the source material and exciting outings in their own right, so maybe just be thankful that the web-head gets so much love and is so popular rather than being ungrateful or attacking others for their opinions?
Jameson’s smear campaign spells personal trouble for Spider-Man and his friends.
Spider-Man: No Way Home picks up immediately where Spider-Man: Far From Home left off, with blustering, loud-mouthing online personality J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons) gleefully broadcasting edited footage sent to him by Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) that not only implicates Peter as a murderer but also outs his secret identity to the entire world. Naturally, this sends New York City into a bit of an uproar and, pretty much immediately, both Spider-Man and his new girlfriend Michelle Jones-Watson/M. J. (Zendaya) are swamped by a mob that is split between worshipping and condemning Spider-Man, paparazzi looking to get a sound bite, and cops seeking to question Peter’s involvement in Beck’s death. Despite his best efforts to escape the chaos, and to break the news to his beloved Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and his begrudging friend and handler, Harold “Happy” Hogan (Jon Favreau), Peter and his friends and family are soon apprehended by the Department of Damage Control (DODC), which has now extended its scope into being a federal agency responsible for such matters. Although M. J. and May remain tight-lipped on the matter, Peter’s bungling but loyal friend Ned Leeds (Batalon) and Peter himself don’t exactly help his case, and Peter is left overwhelmed by the barrage of accusations and the public’s awareness of his true identity. Any legal ramifications concerning these matters are quickly swept under the table, however; although Happy and May recently ended their fling (much to Happy’s dismay), the Parkers are given sanctuary at Happy’s secure apartment and an especially good blind lawyer is able to ensure that the charges against Peter are dropped. However, public opinion remains divided; since the world considers Mysterio a hero, many people condemn Spider-Man (which isn’t helped by Jameson’s continuing smear campaign against Peter) and Peter is treated with both awe, fear, and adulation by his fellow pupils. Thankfully, he has M. J. and Ned there to support him through it; despite the revelation uprooting their lives and thrusting them into the spotlight as well, they remain his loyal and understanding companions, which is always sweet to see. While Peter appreciates this, and could probably have adjusted to the major changes in his life with their support, his guilt and shame are magnified when neither her, Ned, or M. J. are able to successfully get into college.
Peter turns to Dr. Strange for help, but muddles the spell and causes reality to fracture as a result.
Because of the media storm and controversy surrounding Peter, no college wants to risk being associated with any of them, and Peter is guilt-ridden at having cost his loved ones the chance of realising their dreams. Yet, even though this has happened, M. J. and Ned still take it on the chin and remain optimistic (or, at least, put on a brave face, in M. J.’s case) and neither of them blame Peter for this, but it does little to alleviate his guilt. Desperate for a solution, Peter seeks out the council of Dr. Strange (who, it is amusingly revealed, is no longer the Sorcerer Supreme thanks to being snapped away for five years; Wong (Benedict Wong) has assumed the position instead, which could potentially be explored to greater humourous effect in Strange’s upcoming movie). Although Wong cautions against it, Dr. Strange offers to cast a complicated and dangerous spell that will erase the knowledge of Peter’s secret identity from everyone in the world; however, Peter starts to panic mid-way through the spell and requests that May, M. J., Ned, and Happy be exempt from the erasure, which causes Strange to lose control of the spell and contain it within a jewel least it wreak havoc upon the world…and the multiverse. The relationship between Dr. Strange and Peter is notably different to what we saw between Peter and Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr); Strange isn’t a mentor to Peter, he’s more like a work associate, and he’s willing to help the kid out because of his efforts at restoring half the population, but he’s easily frustrated by Peter’s naivety and ignorance, especially when it comes to the world of magic, and angered that Peter risked tampering with the fabric of reality before properly exploring all of the real-world options available to him or learning to adapt to the changes in his life.
Molina makes a triumphant return as the crazed Doc Ock, who’s intrigued by the MCU.
Determined to make up for this, Peter tracks down a college professor to plead M. J. and Ned’s case, only to suddenly be attacked by a face very familiar to us but completely alien to him as Dr. Octopus attacks the Queensboro Bridge in a confused rage, ranting at Peter and demanding to know what happened to his “machine”. Though confused by the villain’s sudden appearance, Spider-Man holds his own in impressive fashion thanks to the advanced technology and gadgets built into his Iron Spider costume, saving lives while fending off Doc Ock’s mechanical arms; his genius mind addled by the corrupting influence of his mechanical tentacles, Doc Ock is intrigued by the Iron Spider’s nanotechnology but startled to find a very different face behind the mask. His confusion soon turns to manic frustration when Peter is able to use the suit’s nanotech to take control of Doc Ock’s arms and render him helpless, and Octavius’s rage is only incensed further when he suddenly finds himself a prisoner in a dark catacomb beneath Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. Although dismissive of the idea of magic and vehemently rejecting the idea that he needs help or to be fixed, Doc Ock is intrigued to see the evidence of a multiverse surrounding him; not only has he met the MCU version of Peter and M. J., but he shares his prison with Doctor Curt Connors/The Lizard (Rhys Ifans), a monstrous creature Dr. Strange was able to subdue offscreen and who is very clearly from another reality. Ock’s curiosity is only piqued further when he and Peter catch a fleeting glimpse of another Spider-foe Octavius knows all-too-well, Doctor Norman Osbourn/The Green Goblin (Dafoe), before being imprisoned.
Peter finds a number of monstrous, and maniacal, villains have crossed over into the MCU.
Angered at the incursions that have slipped into their world because of Peter’s ignorance, Dr. Strange demands that he and his friends “Scooby-Doo this shit!” and round up the visitors so they can be sent home; he grants Peter a magically-charged gadget that allows him to shoot a web that instantly teleports the villains to the prison, and Peter is forced to turn his suit inside-out after it gets ruined by paint thrown by a mob. Although he initially heads out to track down the Green Goblin, Peter instead finds Max Dillon/Electro (Foxx), who draws power from electricity lines to regain his physical form and alter the nature of his powers. Disorientated at having being violently ripped from his reality, Electro lashes out in anger, and Peter is only saved by the timely intervention of Flint Marko/The Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church), who helps Peter subdue and capture Electro. However, upon realising that he’s trapped on another world, the Sandman also grows antagonistic and winds up confined as a result, and Peter learns from each of them the nature of their personalities, their worlds, and their fates: Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and Electro are all fated to die in battle with Spider-Man, and returning them home would seal that fate, and that’s something Peter cannot, in good conscience, allow.
The Green Goblin quickly re-establishes himself as Peter’s greatest threat.
This brings him into conflict with Dr. Strange, who is determined to activate the jewel and send the visitors back home regardless since he’s weighing the fate and stability of the entire multiverse rather than the lives of a few villains. When Peter tries to take the jewel from him, a bit of a scuffle ensues in which we see Peter is able to control his body even while forced into his astral force thanks to this spider-sense, and his knowledge of geometry also allows him to figure out the mirror dimensions, web up Strange, and leave him stranded there while he works to cure the villains. While he has good intentions, and his friends and family support his efforts, and he is even able to convince the villains to trust him to help keep them alive, Peter underestimates the depths of Norman’s psychosis. Rendered a meek, bewildered scientist who is lost and in pain, Norman willingly works alongside Peter to help fix Doc Ock, returning the tentacled menace to his more good-natured self, but Norman’s dark half, the Green Goblin, soon resurfaces to throw Peter’s entire plan out the window. I got a real kick out of seeing Norman and Otto being familiar with each other, and the Lizard and Electro also having a familiarity with each other, it really helped to flesh out their respective worlds and deliver exposition regarding the characters to those who might not be familiar with them. While it’s disappointing that the Sandman was rendered entirely in his sand form for 90% of the movie, and the Lizard was basically a non-factor (there’s even a moment where he is simply confined to a van and forgotten about until the film’s big climax needs to happen), both Doc Ock and the Green Goblin play significant roles in the story. The Goblin wraps the remains of his God-awful suit in a tatter cloak and Dafoe’s demented facial expressions get to shine trough as he operates entirely unmasked throughout the film; he’s also far more vicious and deadly than ever before, cackling in Peter’s face and taunting him at every turn. While all of these returning actors slipped back into their roles perfectly (and even got a chance at redemption, in Electro’s case), Dafoe steals the show ones again as a maniacal and vicious villain who simply wants to cause Peter pain, no matter which Peter it is!
The Nitty-Gritty : When I first heard that Tom Holland’s third solo movie was going to delve into the multiverse, I have to admit that I was disappointed and annoyed; I enjoyed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Persichetti, Ramsey, and Rothman, 2018) but even with that film I questioned the logic of confusing matters with multidimensional shenanigans. The MCU definitely seems to be gearing towards exploring the multiverse, but I expected this to be confined to Dr. Strange’s solo films and worried that bringing in faces from the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb films would just be pandering and confusing. Not only that, but I’m of the firm belief that every role can be recast: Dafoe, Simmons, and Molina were all fantastic in their previous iterations but who’s to say that another actor wouldn’t be just as good, if not better? I expected this third Spider-Man movie would be the perfect excuse to finally bring the Sinister Six to life using the villains already established in the MCU: Adrian Toomes/The Vulture (Michael Keaton), Herman Schultz/The Shocker (Bokeem Woodbine), Mac Gargan/The Scorpion (Michael Mando), and even Mysterio (he was the master of illusions, after all) could all have returned and joined forces with two new villains (ideally an all-new Doc Ock) to collect a bounty on Spider-Man. Hell, I was more excited at the prospect of Charlie Cox returning as Matt Murdock/Daredevil or Spider-Man being forced to go on the run and teaming up with the Netflix Defenders than complicating things with multiverse hijinks, and I still maintain that it makes zero sense to have Eddie Brock/Venom (Tom Hardy) exist in a separate universe when it would have been far simpler to have him be based in San Francisco but still exist in the MCU (like how other MCU heroes and movies take place in different cities but those characters don’t have to be transported through time and space to interact).
Spider-Man butts heads with Dr. Strange regarding how to deal with the villains.
And yet….man, was it a thrill to see Alfred Molina return in the role! Bringing back these iconic actors in their most famous villain roles might be unapologetic fan service but it was fan service executed almost to perfection. I say “almost” as we were one villain short from an iteration of the Sinister Six; Eddie doesn’t show up into the mid-credits scene and he is teleported back where he came from without having any impact on the movie (though he does leave a part of himself behind…) and there was no secret sixth villain added to the roster. However, that’s not to say that the five villains we did get were disappointing…far from it! Since the MCU is different to where he came from, Electro is able to not only reconstitute his body, but also alters his powers; the addition of an Arc Reactor only pushes his powers even further, allowing him to resemble his traditional comic book appearance far closer than in his original iteration. The Sandman may be in sand form for the majority of the film, but he remains an emotionally conflicted character; at first, he helps Peter, and even tries to talk sense into some of the villains, but the idea of being kept from his home world and his daughter pushes him against the web-slinger out of pure self-preservation. This motivation is the driving force behind many of the villains, as they have either accepted their monstrous new powers or have no wish to be sent away to die. In the case of Doc Ock and the Lizard, this is due to technology or mutation clouding their judgement; when Peter repairs the inhibitor chip on Ock’s neck, he becomes much more agreeable and even helps Peter to hold off the villains in the finale, and when the Lizard ingests the cure and returns to his human form, he returns to his more docile personality.
Peter is devastated by loss and pushed to the edge by the Green Goblin.
The same is also true of the Green Goblin, however Norman’s psychosis is far more manipulative, calculating, and violent. He has no desire to return home to meet his end and absolutely brutalises Peter to keep him from trying to cure him; the Goblin quickly re-establishes himself as Peter’s most dangerous and notorious foe not only by swaying the other villains into turning on Peter, but delivering a massive beatdown on him that leaves him helpless to keep his Aunt May from harm. Although Peter manages to shield May from the Goblin’s pumpkin bomb, the glider blindsides her and leaves her with a fatal wound, and she tragically dies in his arms, leaving him heartbroken and with her final words of encouragement ringing in his ears: “With great power, there must also come great responsibility.” May’s death devastates Peter, and drives him into a quest for revenge against the Goblin; no longer merely satisfied to cure or help the villains, he wishes nothing less than the Goblin’s death at his hands, and it’s a true moment of despair for the young Avenger. No Way Home really puts Peter through the wringer, pushing his morals and optimistic outlook to breaking point, and really burdens him with the guilt of having indirectly caused his mother-figure’s death by trying to help the villains rather than allowing them to return home and potentially die as fated.
Spider-Man gets some unexpected help to fend off the combined threat of these multiversal villains.
Desperate to find Peter and give their support, M. J. and Ned mess about with one of Dr. Strange’s sling-rings and discover the presence of two more familiar faces who slipped through the dimensional barriers and are determined to help and let me tell you…I have never seen a cinema explode into rapturous applause before but my screening blew the roof off when Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire made their long-awaited, and long-rumoured, return to their famous roles. Both arrived due to Strange’s spell and have been trying to track down MCU-Peter, and both have arrived from later in their careers, finally giving us a coda to their stories: Webb-Peter reveals that he struggled to cope after failing to save Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and almost lost himself to his rage at one point, and that he has thrown himself into his duties as Spider-Man to cope. Raimi-Peter is noticeably older, but still in good shape, and, though haunted by his failures and losses, maintains that he and M. J. (Kirsten Dunst) found a way to carry on). The scenes with the three Peters are an obvious highlight and they share some fantastic line sand banter together; Webb-Peter is elated to have found “brothers” and they work together to synthesise cures for the villains based on their previous experiences and scientific acumen. They also share stories of their adventures and powers, with Webb-Peter and MCU-Peter both being astounded (and a little disturbed) by Raimi-Peter’s organic webbing, Raimi-Peter extending a much-needed pep talk to Webb-Peter, and both Webb- and Raimi-Peter being impressed by MCU-Peter’s space adventures. Seeing them work together, offering MCU-Peter support and understanding, is fantastic as Webb-Peter delivers an emotional soliloquy about his failures (and gets to make amends for it by catching M. J. in a truly emotional moment) and Raimi-Peter relates the messages passed on to him by his beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), and MCU-Peter is even able to help them get past being solo heroes and work together using his experiences of teamwork as an Avenger.
The multiversal breach rages out of control, leading to Peter making a selfless sacrifice…
With three Spider-Man working together, the Lizard, the Sandman, and Electro are all subdued and returned to their human forms, presumably alleviating them of their madness and violent tendencies, in a mind-blowing final confrontation around the Statue of Liberty (which is being refurbished to hold Captain America’s shield aloft). Despite the best efforts of his alternative counterparts, though, MCU-Peter is driven into a rage and attacks the Green Goblin mercilessly and even prepares to deliver a fatal blow with his own glider, only for Raimi-Peter to intervene (and get stabbed in the back for his efforts). Ultimately, MCU-Peter delivers a cure, rather than a kill, to his newest foe and Norman is left an emotional and remorseful wreck, though this pales in comparison to the threat unleashed by one of his pumpkin bombs as Strange’s spell is blown free and miscellaneous, vaguely-defined villains and intruders from all across the multiverse threaten to converge on the MCU. Dr. Strange struggles to contain the spell and, determined to make amends for his previous mistake, MCU-Peter decides to make the ultimate sacrifice and has Strange cast a new spell that will make everyone, everywhere, forget all about Peter Parker. He thanks his counterparts for their help and bids an emotional farewell to M. J. and Ned, promising to find them and rekindle their friendship/relationship after the spell is cast, but hesitates upon seeing how happy and better off M. J. and Ned are without him in their lives. Ultimately, Peter chooses to leave them be and fashions a new, 100% comic accurate costume for himself using his counterparts’ suits as inspiration and finally gets his big, triumphant final swing as he begins a new life safe in the knowledge that no one knows his true identity any more…and that he’s not alone in the vast, dangerous multiverse.
The Summary: After viewing that first trailer and seeing Doc Ock show up once again, my mind was pretty much blown when it came to this movie. It raised so many questions, many of them being concerns that Tom’s third solo outing would get overwhelmed or bogged down by multiverse shenanigans and blatant fan service. Subsequent trailers helped shed a bit more light on the film, and I began to calm down a bit and predict that these returning characters wouldn’t be as integral to the narrative as many were making out. This turned out to be true, to a degree; the villains are definitely a big part of the film, but Spider-Man: No Way Home still does a fantastic job of focusing on Peter, his relationships, his growth, and his identity crisis. Could we have seen a grittier, more grounded film that dealt with him being on the run and learning to adapt to his tumultuous new public life? For sure, yes, and I would also argue that many of these villains could have been recast and reimagined as MCU characters and it would have worked just as well, but again there is such a thrill to be had at seeing these actors return to their iconic roles and, in many cases, reinvigorate their characters with the benefit of hindsight. I loved that Peter’s focus was on others the entire time; his selflessness is a driving force of his character, and every decision he makes is to try and benefit either his friends or family or to save lives. This is motivated by his guilt, of course, as they would only be in danger because of him, and he remains a flawed character trying to make amends for his mistakes, which is the quintessential essence of Spider-Man for me. More than any other Spider-Man, MCU-Peter tries to help even the most villainous characters rather than condemn them to death, it was truly heart-breaking to see him o devastated by Aunt May’s death that he was willing to cross that line. Of course, the undisputable highlight is seeing Tom Holland share the screen with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield; while it’s painfully obvious that all three actors weren’t on set or in the studio at the same time for every shot (whether due to Covid or scheduling), it’s still a blast to see them interacting, hearing those iconic themes, and seeing them in action. Once I accepted that No Way Home was going to be a multiverse adventure, my hope was that the film would go all-out to deliver on its potential…and I’m happy to say that it went above and beyond! Action-packed, emotional, and amusing throughout, Spider-Man: No Way Home may very well be in the top-tier of Spider-Man adventures and I am very excited to see where Peter’s journey takes him now that his status quo has been so dramatically changed.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Fantastic
Have you seen Spider-Man: No Way Home? Were you excited at the idea of iconic Spider-Man villains making their return or do you think that the multiverse stuff should stay in the Dr. Strange movies? What did you think to the way the film handled the public’s knowledge of Spider-Man’s identity and would you have preferred to see this explored a little more in-depth? Which of the returning villains was your favourite, and how excited were you to see Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield return (and Charlie Cox finally be incorporated into the movies)? Were you disappointed that we came so close to the Sinister Six and that Venom didn’t have a role in the film? Where do you see the MCU-Spider-Man’s story going from here? Whatever your thoughts on Spider-Man: No Way Home, leave a comment below.
Released: 24 November 2021 Director: Johannes Roberts Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing Budget: $25 million Stars: Kaya Scodelario, Avan Jogia, Donal Logue, Robbie Amell, Hannah John-Kamen, Tom Hopper, and Neal McDonough
The Plot: In the year 1998, the grim post-industrial town of Raccoon City has just lost its biggest employer, the Umbrella Corporation. While college student Claire Redfield (Scodelario) believes Umbrella has polluted the town’s water, her estranged brother Chris (Amell) and his team investigate a nearby mansion and find the area swarming with flesh-eating zombies! Claire is forced to team up with rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy (Jogia) to survive and unravel the mystery behind the outbreak and of her traumatic childhood.
The Background: Resident Evil (Capcom, 1996) began life as a seminal “survival-horror” title for Sony’s burgeoning PlayStation that emphasised atmospheric horror and conserving resources. Although the original title suffered a bit from the PlayStation’s blocky and clunky graphics and mechanics and dodgy, B-movie voice acting, the game was a best-seller for the PlayStation and bolstered by a number of sequels. Resident Evil 2(ibid, 1998) improved on many of these mechanics and, alongside, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (ibid, 1999), established much of the lore and groundwork before the fourth game forever changed up the formula for a new generation of gamers. The franchise’s success inevitably led to discussions of a live-action adaptation, which initially had legendary zombie horror maestro George A. Romeroattached to direct before Constantin Film placed Paul W. S. Anderson in charge of the film series, which eventually included six live-action films. The movies, which were more of an action/horror genre, starred Anderson’s wife, Mila Jovovich and, despite earning a mostly negative reception, became the most successful and profitable live-action adaptation of a videogame series, though I can safely say that I was left disappointed by their lack of fidelity to the source material. After Anderson’s series concluded, Constantin Films began developing a much-needed reboot, and director James Wan initially expressed interest in the project before dropping out to direct Mortal Kombat (Wan, 2021) and being replaced by Johannes Roberts. Roberts aimed to return to the same dark, foreboding, and fun horror of the original videogames and the capture the traditional spirit of the source material by returning to the original locations, time period, and heavily featuring the popular videogame characters. Initial reactions, however, we less than encouraging, with many criticising the film’s B-movie feel; this was only exacerbated when Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City released and criticised for its lack of substance and character development. The film was praised for its fidelity to the source material and references for long-time fans, however, and grossed $42 million worldwide; additionally, both the director and star Robbie Amell have expressed interest in returning for a sequel and tackling some of the later games in the long-running franchise.
The Review: I feel like I need to preface this review with the revelation that, while I am a big fan of the Resident Evil videogames, I am not a fan of Paul W. S. Anderson’s live-action franchise. I spent a year of my PhD researching the history of zombie cinema, watching and studying and delving into Anderson’s movies, and I came out the other end absolutely loathing them. The only one I even remotely enjoy is Resident Evil: Apocalypse (Witt, 2004), and that’s purely because it’s the closest adaptation of my favourite games in the series (Resident Evil 2 and 3: Nemesis). I absolutely despise Alice (Jovovich), hated how Anderson ignored, cherry-picked, or diluted the source material and its iconic characters, and was actually a little insulted by how continuity was continuously thrown out of the window with the next movie purely for the same of slapping together a new plot. To me, Anderson’s films, while successful, are not Resident Evil; they do a decent job of adapting a different elements of the source material and zombie troupes but the result is this incomprehensible mish-mash of ideas that have been done much better elsewhere and with the Resident Evil title slapped on it purely to make money. And, make no mistake, they did make money and were popular enough to become their own independent franchise from the source material, but I longed for something a bit more faithful to the games I grew up with so I was excited at the prospect of a new Resident Evil adaptation that not only featured the iconic characters in starring roles but also revisited the events of the videogames…even if it was lumbered with a ridiculous title.
Chris and Claire’s fractured relationship is a central story of the film.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City opens with Chris and Claire as young children (Daxton Grey Gujral and Lauren Bill) at the Raccoon City Orphanage; there they, and many other children, are cared for by the Umbrella Corporation and scientist Doctor William Birkin (McDonough). While this scene does go on a little longer than you might expect, it establishes a few key elements that crop up throughout the film; first and foremost, that Chris and Claire’s relationship is an important part of the story, the mystery surrounding what Birkin and Umbrella are doing with these children, and the existence of the malformed Lisa Trevor (Marina Mazepa). Lisa watches and visits Claire, scaring her but also arousing her suspicions, but Chris never sees the young Trevor and despairs of Claire’s stories. The story then jumps ahead a few years to 1998 to find Claire all grown up and journeying to the veritable ghost town of Raccoon City to reunite with her brother, who has joined the Raccoon City Police Department’s (RPD) special operations team, Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) and all but given up on her younger sister. Their relationship is strained, to say the least, since Claire ran away from the orphanage and left Chris alone; with no one else to turn to, he came to see Birkin as a father-figure and grew up a loyal representative of Umbrella and dedicated law enforcement officer, so he’s less than thrilled when Claire breaks into his house spouting conspiracy theories about Umbrella poisoning Raccoon City’s water supply.
Leon is oddly characterised as a bumbling fool who often makes an ass of himself.
Raccoon City has declined over the years after the Umbrella Corporation randomly pulled themselves out of the area, leave only a handful of staff and those too poor to leave behind to fend for themselves. As a result, the RPD is a bit under-staffed and has little choice but to accept the unlikeliest of recruits, such as rookie Leon. A young, fresh-faced, inexperienced cop, Leon is a recent transfer to the RPD thanks to the grace of his father, who ensured that he continued on with his law enforcement career after an embarrassing mishap where he shot his partner in the ass. Consequently, Leon is constantly berated, talked down to, and the butt (no pun intended) of other character’s jokes and frustrations…and he certainly deserves this treatment. A lackadaisical kid who’s in way over his head just manning the front desk, Leon fumbles with police protocol almost as much as with his firearm; he has no idea how to handle a shotgun, is easily disarmed by desperate conspiracy theorist Ben Bertolucci (Josh Cruddas), and is constantly just getting in people’s way and asking questions rather than actually being a pro-active and resourceful character. He’s kind of here as the film’s comic relief, though he doesn’t actually make any jokes, and his character arc is a very slow burn from being an awkward and unreliable rookie to building his confidence towards being more useful and capable, but it’s not handled too well.
The S.T.A.R.S. team are a tight-knit group, but Wesker has secretly got his own agenda.
RPD police chief Brain Irons (Logue) has little time for Leon’s antics, and is frustrated by a spate of mysterious attacks and killing across town. Reports of a chewed-up body at the old Spenser Mansion raise his ire further and, when Bravo team fails to report in from their investigation, he sends in Chris and the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team to find out what happened. Alpha team is also made up of jock commander Albert Wesker (Hopper), trigger happy bad-ass Jill Valentine (John-Kamen), expendable nobody Richard Aiken (Chad Rook), and pilot Brad Vickers (Nathan Dales); they are an overconfident, militant bunch who have a friendly camaraderie that include splaying pranks on hapless colleagues like Leon and some sexual chemistry between Jill and Wesker. They travel to the mansion for a side story that is basically a condensed adaptation of the original Resident Evil and involves them exploring the dark, elaborate mansion with only their torches and a whole mess of submachine gun ammo on hand. Upon being dispatched, however, Wesker receives a mysterious page and is led to a PalmPilot that contains a map of the mansion, which is all part of a pre-arranged agreement with an unknown third party to led him to Birkin’s research and score him a big payday at the cost of betraying his teammates.
Though a loyal family man, Birkin’s research leads to a horrifying outbreak of zombies and monsters.
With Chris busying fending off the recently reanimated dead at the Spenser Mansion, Claire is forced to team up with Irons and Leon inside the police station for the Resident Evil 2 aspect of the film; the RPD is as beautifully true to the source material as the mansion, but it quickly becomes apparent that they can’t hold out against the increasing zombie horde. Irons leads them to the orphanage, which contains a secret passage to the mansion, and Claire is forced to face a traumatic experience from her childhood where Birkin tried to ship her off the mansion for experimentation with the mysterious T-Virus. Claire managed to escape, and has been trying to uncover the truth about Umbrella ever since; although a Licker shreds up Irons, Leon and Claire are aided by the grown-up Lisa Trevor and meet up with Chris right as he’s in the middle of being overwhelmed by zombies. Thanks to Wesker’s knowledge, the survivors are led to a secret passage in the mansion, which leads to a confrontation between Wesker and Birkin. A creepy, clinical scientist, Birkin is given layers of humanity through his devoted (and naïve) wife, Annette Birkin (Janet Porter), and innocent young daughter, Sherry (Holly De Barros); unlike his paranoid, self-absorbed, and malevolent videogame counterpart, Birkin is a loving father and equally concerned with getting his family to safety as he is preserving his research into the G-Virus. His desire to protect both leads him to pulling a gun on Wesker and getting riddled with bullets, and his desperate plea to Annette to inject him with the G-Virus so he can survive his wounds.
The Nitty-Gritty: Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City owes a lot to the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes in terms of its visual presentation; the cinematography is dark, gritty, rain-swept and gory just like in those games and the representations of familiar areas like the mansion and RPD are ripped right out of the high definition remakes of Capcom’s classics. The fidelity to the source material is so strong here; the orphanage and S.T.A.R.S. office is exactly like in Resident Evil 2, Chris, Leon, and Claire are all decked out in game-accurate outfits, even the Arklay mountains match up with the videogames. A surprising amount of time is spent with the trucker (Pat Thornton), who has only a brief role in Resident Evil 2 but, here, plays a pivotal role in bringing Claire to Raccoon City and expositing some background on the city, and the film is punctuated by both eighties horror tropes such as constantly onscreen reminders of what time it is (since the city is on a countdown to destruction) and onscreen text that recalls the opening of the original Resident Evil. The film’s title font is event exactly the same as the classic titles, and many of the shots and events are pulled right from the videogames; Vickers crashes his helicopter into the mansion, similar to a chopper smashing into the RPD, Chris’s first encounter with a zombie is almost exactly like in Resident Evil, and stormtrooper-like members of Umbrella Security Service even appear in a cameo role.
Some characters suffer from the writing and differ considerably from their videogame counterparts.
Unlike Paul W. S. Anderson’s films, the focus of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is squarely on adaptations of the videogame characters, however long-term fans of the videogames may be a little disappointed with how some characters are represented. He clear standout is Claire; she’s a little more capable and has a bit of a chip on her shoulder compared to her videogame counterpart, but is a strong, bad-ass central character here and more than able to wield a shotgun, pick locks, and beat zombie dogs to death with melee weapons. Chris also fares pretty well; he’s much more the unprepared cop rather than a boulder-punching bad-ass and, while he doesn’t have as much nuance as Claire, he’s got just enough personality to not just be some meathead or stoic military brat. Unfortunately, my favourite character in the franchise, Leon, gets well and truly shafted here; never have I ever seen the character portrayed as such a bumbling klutz and it’s truly baffling that the film can be so true to the videogames in so many ways and bungle one of the most capable and popular characters so completely. It seems the writer/director decided to really overemphasise Leon’s rookie status and portray him as an incompetent fool who as no idea what’s happening, trips over his own feet, and constantly needs his ass pulling out of the fire. He does grow as the film progresses, but sadly not completely; thanks to Claire giving him a kick up the ass, he becomes more useful and even gets to deliver the coup de grâce to the film’s big-bad with a rocket launcher, but he definitely survives more due to the assistance of others and in spite of his incompetent nature.
While Birkin is surprising layered, Wesker is very different from his usual cold, calculating persona.
Another character who suffers quite a bit is Wesker; this isn’t the cold, calculating, manipulative puppet master you know from the videogames and is, instead, a bit of a cock-sure douche who Jill fawns over with doe eyes, banters with his teammates, and betrays his team for money rather than because he’s working for (or directly against) Umbrella. For much of the film, Wesker is actually surprisingly likeable; he leads his team efficiently, clearly cares for them, and even when he reveals his true intentions, he is remorseful. When he confronts Birkin, he repeatedly gives the doctor the chance to hand over the G-Virus samples peacefully and is distraught when he is forced to gun down Birkin and Annette. The implication is that his mysterious benefactors have some kind of sway over him and are forcing him to go down a dark path, or that the money is too good to turn down, and he expresses his regret and even apologises to Jill and Chris and directs them to the exit after being shot to death by Jill. Jill is also a little different to her videogame counterpart, and previous live-action portrayals; as mentioned, she’s quick to pull her gun and has eyes for Wesker, ignoring Chris’s clear attraction to her in favour of her commander, but luckily this aspect isn’t dwelled on too much (there’s no actual romance between her and Wesker, no kiss or anything, but she is clearly hurt by his betrayal as more than just a teammate). Birkin is noticeably altered as well in a way that makes him a touch more sympathetic, but not completely absolved of all evil as Claire stumbles across evidence that he has been experimenting on children as part of what he calls “God’s work” and developed the virus that is responsible for the city’s horrific events.
Zombies aren’t too commonplace in the film, but grotesque monsters are still a constant threat.
While Anderson’s previous efforts did include their fair share of zombie action, zombies were pretty much relegated to cannon fodder and annoyances to move his characters along and insert an action scene here and there. In Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, zombies are actually few and far between; thanks to Raccoon City being all-but deserted, we don’t really get any sweeping, dramatic shots of an army of the living dead. The zombies we do get are quite different to the usual depiction as well; they’re fast, as is to be expected, and much more vocal and animalistic than the traditional Resident Evil shambling hordes. They do attack in a ravenous fury, however, and relentlessly pursue fresh meat; they overwhelm Richard, chewing him up in an instant, though Chris is somehow able to fend a whole gaggle of them off with only a lighter as a light source. In the orphanage, Irons, Claire, and Leon are attacked by a Resident Evil movie staple, the Licker. As in Anderson’s films, the Licker is merely a more ferocious inconvenience; it reduces Irons to bloody ribbons but is easily subdued by Lisa Trevor, who is recast from a tortured monstrosity to a sympathetic tragedy of Birkin’s experiments. Also included are the infected crows and zombified dogs, but the depiction of the T-Virus is also a little different; according to Ben, the entire town was slowly exposed to the virus over a long period of time, and Umbrella even issued shots to its staff and the RPD officers to stave off their infection (though it’s not really clear as to why they would do this), and the focus is less on depicting the motivations behind developing the virus and more on the impact it has on the survivors.
Birkin undergoes a grotesque mutation that forces Leon to finally step up.
After Wesker and Birkin kill each other, Chris, Claire, Leon, and Jill follow Wesker’s directions to an underground train to will take them (and Sherry) to safety. However, exposure to the G-Virus causes Birkin to undergo a horrific mutation; his right arm becomes a monstrous claw-like appendage and disgusting tumour-like eyes glisten out from his skin. Driven by an animalistic urge, he hunts the survivors, attacking Chris and taunting him (an addition I can get behind as it retains McDonough’s visage and deliver), and reunited the estranged siblings as Claire comes to his aid. Wounds only exacerbate the G-Virus, however, mutating Birkin into a grotesque monstrosity that franchise fans will recognise as “G”; it attacks the train, sporting Birkin’s wailing, agonised face on its torso, and threatens to eviscerate all of the survivors. They are saved by the unlikeliest of heroes as Leon blasts the monstrous Birkin in the face with a rocket launcher (dangerously close to Claire and Chris, but they survive thanks to Plot Armour) and the survivors manage to escape Raccoon City right as it collapses in on itself and is erased from the face of the Earth. In the aftermath, Umbrella believes that they have contained the outbreak and eliminated any witnesses, unaware of the five survivors, and Wesker suddenly wakes up in a body bag in a mysterious facility. There, the mysterious Ada Wong (Lily Gao), provides him with sunglasses to ease his newfound sensitivity to light and forcibly drafted into an unknown fate. I applaud the confidence in the film’s ability to get a sequel, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it does get on in some way, shape, or form but I do think it might have been better to have this scene take place after the credits rather than mid-way through them.
The Summary: I went into Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City with pretty low expectations; I was excited by how faithful to the first two games it seemed from the trailers and images, but wasn’t impressed with the odd title and heard that it wasn’t that great. Specifically, I heard all about the assassination of Leon’s character and Wesker’s odd characterisation, and criticisms about it being little more than a dumb B-level monster movie. While I was displeased with Leon’s characterisation, and surprised at the take on Wesker, I would still say that Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is better than every single one of Paul W. S. Anderson’s previous live-action adaptations put together. It’s so true to the games (which were B-level monster movies at heart) that I’m genuinely surprised to see Anderson listed as a producer since he seemed determined to ignore everything but the most popular aspects of the source material. While the film still has a focus more on action rather than survival, the characters, locations, and atmosphere are so perfectly in-tune with the classic Resident Evil videogames that it easily compensates for any misgivings I may have about some of the characterisations. If the film does get a sequel, I’d like to see these issues addressed as part of a larger story and character arc, but I was very entertained by Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City’s back-to-basics approach. For me, Resident Evil works best when it’s a gory, horrifying battle for survival against zombies and other monsters and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City definitely meets these criteria. I’d even go as far as to say that, despite some missteps with Leon and Wesker, this is the live-action Resident Evil movie fans have been waited for since Capcom first considered producing an adaptation and that there’s enough here fans of the videogames, and of gory action/horror films, to really sink their teeth into.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Have you seen Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City? How do you think it compares to the previous live-action films and the videogames it is based on? Which character was your favourite, and what did you think to Leon and Wesker’s characterisation? Did you enjoy the B-movie trappings of the film or did you prefer Paul W. S. Anderson’s more bombastic approach? Would you like to see a sequel to the film or were you disappointed by it? Which Resident Evil videogame is your favourite? I’d love to hear your thoughts on Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, so sign up to leave a comment below or leave a comment on my social media.
Released: 3 March 2017 Director: James Mangold Distributor: 20th Century Fox Budget: $97 to 127 million Stars: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen, and Richard E. Grant
The Plot: It’s 2029 and Mutants are all but extinct. Jaded, world-weary, and suffering from Adamantium poisoning due to his weakened healing factor, James Howlett/Logan (Jackman) has been trying to keep the increasingly-dementia-ridden Professor Charles Xavier (Stewart) out of harm’s way but his already tumultuous life is thrown one last curveball when they are forced into protecting Laura/X-23 (Keen) from a group of mercenaries seeking to retrieve her and genetically engineer Mutants as potential soldiers.
The Background: By 2017, 20th Century Fox had more than profited from their various X-Men movies and spin-offs, which had raked in over $1,800,000,000 at the box office. Although The Wolverine(ibid, 2013) received mixed reviews upon release, a sequel was still put into development thanks, in no small part, to the film’s worldwide gross of over $300 million and Hugh Jackman’s popularity and commitment to the role. Rather than produce a direct continuation of the last film, and on keeping with the loose continuity of Fox’s X-Men franchise, this new film drew inspiration from movies like The Wrestler (Aronofsky, 2008) and Unforgiven (Eastwood, 1992) as well as storylines such as “Old Man Logan” (Millar, et al, 2008 to 2009). Purposely developed to be the conclusion to Jackman’s time in the role, the film took the surprisingly simple title of Logan and was produced as an R-rated film in order to make Jackman’s last outing the most violent yet. Afforded a much smaller budget than its predecessors, Logan went on to be an unprecedented critical and commercial success, earning over $600 million at the box office and drawing ravereviews across the board for its bleak tone, violence, and emotionally affecting end to the character’s extraordinary popularity. Though potential follow-ups were thrown into uncertainty when Disney purchased the 20th Century Fox, regaining the rights to the X-Men franchise, among others, in the process, Jackman has, so far, remained adamant that Logan would be his last go-around in the role.
The Review: Set in the far future of 2029, Logan (who has, somehow, regained all of, if not most of, his memories and now openly refers to himself as “James Howlett” and is even (mysteriously) carrying an Adamantium bullet from X-Men Origins: Wolverine(Hood, 2009) that he plans to use to kill himself with at some point) is now a dishevelled, world-weary, broken down limo driver who is succumbing to Adamantium poisoning and his weakened healing factor, which allows him to drink himself into a stupor but also results in a prominent limp and a visible amount of pain and discomfort. Completely done with the X-Men, Mutants, and pretty much everything in life, he has no time for anything or anyone, much less the assholes trying to steal the tyres off his limo. He doesn’t want to fight anymore and just wants to be left alone but is incredibly irritable and quick to anger because of everything he’s been through and brutally skewers, slices, and dices the thieves when they push him too far; though he is hurt in the process, he’s more annoyed that they damaged his limo.
Logan and Xavier have a rocky, dysfunctional father-son relationship.
Logan has no time or patience at the best of times but least of all of those who call him “Wolverine”, proposition him, or oppose him; he dismisses Gabriela Lopez’s (Elizabeth Rodriguez) pleas for help until she promises him a big bundle of cash and is angrily dismissive of the semi-cybernetic Donald Pierce (Holbrook). He just wants to be left alone and has no interest in helping or fighting anyone so, when Laura ends up in his care, he is extremely annoyed at being dragged out of his hole and Xavier’s insistence that they help and protect her. Logan is working as a limo driver to save up the money to buy a yacht and disappear from civilisation forever with the decrepit and increasingly irascible Xavier; Xavier now suffers from bouts of dementia, which results in mood swings, a fractured perception of time and reality, an overall grouchy demeanour and spite-filled outbursts, and, worse of all, awful seizures which cause incredible pain to those in his vicinity. He has a tumultuous relationship with Logan, resembling a petulant child at times, but also trying to stress the importance of Laura’s existence and safety and is still trying to teach him to be a better man.
Xavier’s seizures make him a very real danger to those around him.
Logan, of course, is the only one able to endure Xavier’s abuse and is doing everything he can to keep Xavier safe, and others safe from him, and to administer his medication to him. He sticks by the Professor out of a begrudging love and loyalty, seeing him as a father-figure, but isn’t happy about what he’s become, the world they live in, or the life he leads. It’s very heavily hinted that the Professor killed all of the X-Men during one of his seizures, which is haunting Logan and causing him incredible grief and pain since he, presumably, witnessed it and he has to live with the knowledge of it. We see a sample of Xavier’s seizures early on and Caliban (Merchant) complains about how they’re getting worse but we don’t really see their true, devastating effects until later in the film when Xavier lapses into a violent episode as Peirce’s men are coming for him and Laura. The effect is an intense, crippling version of Xavier’s “freeze ability” first seen in X-Men 2 (Singer, 2003), rendering all within his vicinity helpless and wracked with pain. This results in one of the film’s standout moments as Logan, struggling against the effects of Xavier’s mind the way a man struggles against the tide, rams his claws into Peirce’s men with a violent ruthlessness. Even after Logan delivers Xavier’s medicine and stops the seizure, though, it has lasting effects as those who suffered from it lie in agony or struggle to regain their composure.
Pierce is full of the kind of egotism that only youth can bring.
Caliban isn’t really given a lot of backstory or focus but Merchant does a decent job with the limited time he has; it’s nice to see new Mutants/characters involved in the franchise but, beyond acting as Logan’s conscience and trying make him realise the hopelessness and gravity of their situation, he doesn’t really have much else to do except get used and abused by Pierce, add to Logan’s grief, be ignored, and sacrifice himself in an unsuccessful attempt to kill Pierce (though he does take some of the other Reavers out with him). Pierce, though, is a charismatic, arrogant antagonist; he’s full of the kind of egotism that only youth can bring and attempts to coerce Logan into co-operating before leading a raid on his Mexican hideout. Though persistent, he’s clearly in over his head but determined to see his mission through; still, at least he’s not another guy-in-a-suit villain. In the end, he meets his need not at Logan’s hands but at the hands of a new batch of young Mutants, his commitment to the mission turning out to be his downfall, though he does last a little longer than his employer, Doctor Zander Rice (Grant).
Rice is, honestly, a waste of Grant’s talents and simply there to be the film’s “mastermind”.
Personally, I feel the inclusion of Rice is a little unnecessary; it’s a bit of a waste of Grant’s talents and stature as an actor and I almost feel like it would have worked better if he had showed up for the finale in a quick cameo rather than being peppered throughout the film simply to deliver exposition. Rice is basically a substitute for Colonel William Stryker (Brian Cox); a scientist who is experimenting on, and fascinated by, Mutants. The difference, though, is that Price unwittingly caused the extinction/suppression of Mutants through his research and is now working to genetically engineer a new generation of Mutants by splicing the genes of the older generation, such as the X-Men and, of course, Logan. Price is a slimy, manipulative individual; pragmatic and logical but also entirely convinced that his way is just and yet, at the same time, marvels at X-24’s (Jackman) efficiency and savagery. His villain is the kind of hypocritical kind who believes he was only trying to help humanity and, having accidentally effectively wiped Mutants out, is now trying to rebuild Mutants according to his design.
Laura is the breakout character, being both an innocent child and a whirling ball of savage fury.
Of course, Laura is the standout character; initially little more than a scared, unassuming little girl, she is a whirlwind of feral fury and naïve innocence. The two combined are a dangerous combination, making her unpredictable and violent at the best of times, though easily appeased by childish wants and desires (cereal with too much milk, X-Men comics, kiddy rides, snacks, funky sunglasses, fiddling with everything she sees and the like). When her life is in danger, or those around her are threatened, she reacts with a primal, savage fury, attacking and killing on instinct, and is every bit the animal that Logan has fought against all these years. As the film progresses, Laura opens up more, speaking first in angry Spanish and then in angry English; her and Logan begrudgingly bond, forming a dysfunctional family dynamic alongside Xavier, and her safety becomes his final mission and reason for living over the course of the film. Having buried his oldest friend and mentor, Logan is vulnerable and grieving and, in that moment, comes to see Laura as a true person, his daughter, rather than simply a liability or mission.
The Nitty-Gritty: Of course, what separates Logan from its predecessors is its excessive violence, gore, and profanity (which Jackman secured by selflessly taking a pay cut); Logan is covered in scars and bruises, his claws sever limbs and skewer his prey without mercy and in extremely brutal fashion. Irritable and grouchy, Logan is quick to a fiery temper and has no time for decorum or mercy this time around and this is reflected in the way he mercilessly dismembers those who get in his way, as though losing the X-Men finally removed the last vestiges of his humanity and he’s been left with its tattered remnants.
Despite his rage, Logan is crippled by chronic pain and a lifetime of injuries and fatigue.
This is clearly the most vulnerable and distraught we’ve ever seen Logan; perhaps the closest parallel was when he was living like a hermit at the beginning of The Wolverine. Here, though, he’s lost absolutely everything and is suffering inside and out; we saw him struggling with a dodgy healing factor in The Wolverine but it’s far worse here as not only does he struggle to heal, or heal properly, but all his old wounds are resurfacing and he is slowly dying from, and being crippled by, Adamantium poisoning. He suffers from a persistent cough, is clearly in constant pain, and is now forced to wear glasses to read, watch phone screens, and to see properly. Despite this, Logan continues to fight with a savage fury when pushed; he fights through the pain, uses it even, which results in a number of visceral, brutal action scenes but also allows the film to explore Logan’s humanity in a way we haven’t seen before. Ultimately he succeeds in this but in a thematic way since Laura uses the bullet to blow X-24’s head off.
Xavier meets a gruesome end after a rare, and tragic, moment of clarity.
Xavier is a broken-down shell of his former self; frail and weak and far from his usual eloquent sense. Prone to bouts of profanity and cruel spite, Xavier is a shadow of the man he used to be and is entirely dependant upon, and resentful of, Logan and Caliban. Of course, Xavier’s condition makes it difficult to separate fact from fiction; his outbursts and vindictiveness could be due to his dementia since he perks up once Laura comes into their lives. Xavier is transformed by the conformation of a new breed of Mutants, determined to protect Laura and get her to the rest of her kind, and becomes more of a kindly old grandfather. This make sit all the more tragic when, in a moment of clarity and sanity, he is brutally murdered by X-24 and dies believing that Logan, his last remaining student and friend, killed him.
In death, Logan finally finds the peace he has long desired and ensures that his legacy will live on.
Logan is deeply affected by Xavier’s death; he is horrified at the thought that his mentor and father-figure died thinking he had turned on him and uses that anger as motivation in his fight against Pierce, Rice, and X-24 but he is hopelessly outmatched by his younger, stronger clone. All the determination, rage, and will in the world don’t really help Logan in a one-on-one fight and he is forced to use whatever means he can, including both taking Rice’s serum and sacrificing his own life, to end X-24’s threat. In the end, Logan is able to deliver Laura to her fellow new Mutants and dies to protect her; in the process, he finds the peace he has long desired in that his legacy gets to live on and he finally gave his life for something worthwhile, a chance for a new generation of Mutants to live free in the world. It’s a poignant scene, one that is a fitting farewell for Jackman and his iconic role, though a part of me would have preferred to see Liev Schreiber return as Victor Creed rather than a clone of Logan.
X-24 emobides Logan’s darker, animalistic side of Logan and exists as his dark mirror.
However, X-24 has obvious thematic reasons to exist; superficially, he represents everything Logan has fought to not be over the years, being little more than a savage animal forced to blindly and unquestioningly follow orders. Additionally, he is the younger, stronger version of Logan (with none of the age, scars, blemishes, or pain that Logan carries) meaning that, in fighting X-24, Logan is literally and figuratively fighting against himself, his past, and the most savage parts of his nature. Again, though, I do feel like Creed could have fulfilled this in exactly the same way (X-24 even resembles Creed in many ways) but I guess it’s more explicit this way and keeps the filmmakers from referencing one of the more unfavourably-received X-Men films. Still, I’m glad, and actually kind of surprised, that the filmmakers decided to not keep X-24 around in an attempt to leave the door open for Jackman’s return and the film definitely seems to be setting Laura up to be the next Wolverine.
As great as the film is, there are some questionable moments to nitpick.
There are some things that bother me about the film, however; first and foremost is, obviously, its sketchy continuity. Apparently, this film takes place in the “Good Future” seen at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past(Singer, 2014), which is fine but a little depressing that, no matter which timeline you follow, the X-Men are doomed to suffer and die. Second, there’s the massive lull the film takes with Logan, Xavier, and Laura stop to help a family on the highway and end up getting close to them; it works, again in a thematic sense, to remind Logan of what it means to be happy and have a family but it does kind of slow the film down and it’s a pretty cheap way to up the body count, add to Logan’s grief and rage, and to sell X-24 as a relentless killer. Add to that Gabriella’s incredibly well edited phone video, which stretches plausibility not only through its professional construction but also through her ability to record all of that footage without being spotted. Finally, there’s the vague explanation of what happened to the X-Men and the other Mutants; I can appreciate the subtle ways the film hints at its story and what has happened but, considering how wildly different the world is since we last saw the X-Men and Wolverine, a little more consistency and exposition would have gone a long way, instead, we’re left with a lot of questions and unresolved plot points; it definitely feels like they were setting up for a spin-off involving and, arguably, I feel like The New Mutants (Boone, 2020) should have explored her and the other new breed of Mutants to help expand upon this premise and the success of the film but it is what it is and for an emotional last chapter for Jackman and Logan it excels in every regard.
The Summary: While the X-Men films have always been big, action-packed features full of special effects and increasingly elaborate action scenes, Wolverine’s solo efforts have always strived to have a slightly different flavour; even X-Men Origins: Wolverine dabbled in being a war movie and trying to tell a more intimate, focused story amidst its bombastic action. However, this becomes undeniably explicit in Logan, which is, essential, as much road trip film and a Western as it is in an intense character study; heavily influenced by Sergio Leone’s “Spaghetti Westerns” (1964 to 1966) and classic Westerns like Shane (Stevens, 1953), Logan is the exploration of a tortured, jaded loner just trying to exist in a world that has long past him by but who is forced back into prominence by the hands of fate. Logan is a very different kind of comic book/superhero movie; it’s not full of bombastic action or overly-choreographed set pieces and is, instead, a much more subdued exploration of the longevity, suffering, and mortality of the man we know as Wolverine. However, when the action and fights do happen, they’re fast, brutal, and viciously intense and, perhaps, the best way to describe Logan: intense. It’s a far cry from the loud, frenetic action of other X-Men films, especially X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and is all the better for it, finally unleashing the animalistic nature of Wolverine and showing just how dangerous and violent he can be while also being, essentially, a character study, or deconstruction, of Logan and allowing him both the chance to be the ferocious character he has battled against all this time and give him the send-off he deserves.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Fantastic
What did you think of Logan? How do you feel it compares to the other X-Men and Wolverine movies? What are your thoughts on the presentation of a broken down, dying Logan and the introduction of X-23? Were there any parts of the film that disappointed you? Would you have liked to see Liev Schreiber return? Do you think Hugh Jackman will ever be tempted to return to the character in some way, shape, or form or do you feel it’s best to pass the role on to someone else; if so, who, and do you want Laura to assume Wolverine’s mantle? Whatever your thoughts, please leave a comment below.
Released: July 2013 Director: James Mangold Distributor: 20th Century Fox Budget: $100 to 132 million Stars: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Haruhiko Yamanouchi, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Will Yun Lee, and Famke Janssen
The Plot: Haunted by memories of Jean Grey (Jansssen), Logan/Wolverine (Jackman) is called back to Japan by the dying wish of an old friend, Ichirō Yashida (Yamanouchi), who offers to end Logan’s immortality. However, when Yashida dies, his granddaughter, Mariko (Okamoto) is targeted by assassins, and Logan’s healing factor is compromised, Logan is begrudgingly forced to protect her and uncover a conspiracy with Yashida’s vast corporation.
The Background: 20th Century Fox had vastly profited from their X-Men movies, the first three of which earned them over $600 million. Though X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Hood, 2009) was met with mixed reviews, the film grossed over $300 million against a $150 million budget and Hugh Jackman’s popularity as the character all-but ensured that some kind of sequel would be put into production. After deciding to draw upon elements from Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s work on the character’s time in Japan, famed director Darren Aronofsky was brought on to direct; Aronofsky was responsible not only for the film’s blunt and unimaginative title but also restructuring the film as a standalone spin-off rather than a straight-up sequel to X-Men Origins. By 2011, however, Aronofsky had exited the project due to vast amount of overseas shooting the film would require and James Mangold was brought in as a replacement. Produced on a smaller budget than X-Men Origins, The Wolverine had a somewhat shaky box office; it’s currently the seventh-highest grossing film in the franchise, earning less in worldwide revenue than the much-maligned X-Men: The Last Stand(Ratner, 2006) but still more than the much-lauded X-Men 2 (Singer, 2003). Critically, however, the film fared far better than its predecessor, with the general consensus being that it was a far more accurate portrayal of the character. Personally, I have to admit that I missed the more recognisable X-characters of the previous film and the chance to shed more light on Wolverine’s complex and storied history but I did appreciate the film’s more brutal nature and grittier, more focused direction.
The Review: In keeping with the theme of the previous X-Men movies, The Wolverine opens with a particularly gruelling and thrilling scene that sets the tone for the film to follow. In this case, we find Logan being held in an armour-plated well as a prison of war in Nagaski mere moments before the fateful atomic bomb is about to drop. Understandably panicked by the incoming wall of fiery death, young Japanese soldier Ichirō Yashida (Ken Wamamura) is too afraid to commit ritual seppuku but, having seen how Yashida risked his life to free prisons and give them a chance to escape, and fully aware of what’s to come, Logan manages to escape from his prison and shield Yashida from harm at the bottom of the well.
Memories of Jean haunt Logan’s dreams.
Surprisingly, rather than continue this narrative and fill in a large missing chunk from Wolverine’s early life, the film then jumps ahead to a few years after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. Although Wolverine has not only recovered his missing memories, this is both a blessing and a curse as not only is he now (conveniently for this film’s plot) haunted by memories of Nagasaki, he’s also haunted by dreams of Jean Grey (Janssen). In them, he and Jean are happy and content in the afterlife; however, this perfect illusion is continually shattered by the brutal remind of how he skewered the love of his life and his desire to be with her in death. It seems that, despite appearing content and well-adjusted at the end of The Last Stand, Logan was unable to cope with what he did to another man’s wife that he decided, after minimal interactions with, that he loved and walked away not only from the X-Men but also the name of the Wolverine, vowing never to kill or endanger others again.
Thanks to Viper, Logan spends most of the movie with his healing factor on the fritz.
However, Logan is soon approached by Yukio (Fukushima), a Mutant with limited pre-cognitive powers who tracks him down to not only offer him Yashida’s blade but also accompany Logan to Tokyo so that Yashida can pass along his thanks before he succumbs to the caner that is eating away at his body. Initially resistant, Logan is eventually convinced to tag along for one day and is horrified to find that Yashida is offering to somehow remove his superhuman healing factor so that others can benefit from it and he can finally live out a normal, mortal life. While in Japan, Logan has a tense introduction to Yashida’s son, Shingen (Sanada) and granddaughter, Mariko (Okamoto), but is nevertheless adamant about heading back home as soon as possible. However, while tormented by his nightmares, Logan is attacked by Yashida’s doctor, Viper (Khodchenkova), and wakes to find Yashida has died in the night. Receiving a frosty reception at the funeral, Logan is immediately alerted to things not being quite right and is thrust into action once more when Yakuza thugs open fire and attempt to kidnap Mariko. In the fracas, Logan receives a few gunshots (included a blast from a shotgun and point-blank range) and is confused, and shocked, to find that his healing factor is mysteriously dulled. This does little to keep him down, though, and he is able to largely shrug off gunfire long enough to get Mariko to relative safety. As a result, a large portion of The Wolverine focuses on Logan’s damaged healing factor causing him both here and there and questions regarding his perceived immortality as he both tries to reconcile his past actions and get to the bottom of a conspiracy within Yashida’s vast organisation.
Logan’s complex, volatile character is finally explored in some depth.
As you might expect, Hugh Jackman is the unmistakable star of the show once more; now a far more tortured, broken man than we’ve seen before, this is a Logan who is visibly tired of the death and heartbreak that seems to follow him at every turn. Initially content to hide away from the world, he is forced back to Japan out of little more than the last vestiges of honour within him but is quick to do the right thing and defend Mariko when it appears her fiancé and father want her dead. Rather than being the cool, charismatic loner we’ve seen before, however, this Logan is a cynical, grouchy ex-soldier who just wants to be left alone and is desperately trying to suppress his violent urges. Honestly, it’s the version of Logan we should have gotten in X-Men Origins: Wolverine; world-weary and wanting death but not quite ready for it, he slowly comes to realise this his animalistic nature can be used for good and eventually comes to reclaim his title of the Wolverine.
Japan, and Japanese culture and traditions, plays a big role in the film’s plot and visual identity.
Compared to every other X-Men movie that came before it, The Wolverine is a much grittier, more focused affair; the story centres entirely on Logan and his inner emotional turmoil and his reluctance to get involved in the convoluted drama and conspiracy that has infected Yashida’s company. The Japanese setting works wonderfully to visually separate it from the other films as well and much of the film is focused on Japanese traditions and mysticism; Logan is like a vagrant stranger in his world, constantly referred to as a rōnin (a “samurai without a master”) or a gaijin (a derogatory Japanese word for an outsider or foreigner), who doesn’t fit and is not welcome. The simple, open countryside’s and urban landscapes of Tokyo give the film a visual identity that is truly unique; this isn’t another bombastic X-Men movie taking place in a large, familiar urban space or a grey-coloured military lab and it really adds to the film’s appeal at aesthetic.
Mariko and Yukio both help to bring Logan back into the fightin different ways.
It also helps that a large portion of the film includes subtitles; Japanese characters routinely speak to each other, and Logan, in their native tongue, adding a coat of legitimacy to its setting. All too often, foreign characters simply speak in English all the time and having them speak in Japanese helps to add to the other-worldliness of the setting and empathise with Logan, who doesn’t understand a word of Japanese. Logan’s newfound vulnerability is also clearly meant to help us empathise with him as it means he struggles to recover from injuries and is in near-constant pain, a step slower than usual, and actually has to struggle to succeed rather than simply charging head-first into battle. Of course, he’s not alone in his fight but rather than sharing screen time with other colourful, fan favourite Mutants, Logan spends most of his time associating with Yukio and growing closer to Mariko. The moment she is introduced, Yukio is portrayed as a bad-ass character in here own right; her pre-cognitive abilities work in conjunction with her athleticism and skill with a blade to make her a formidable opponent and ally. Mariko, on the other hand, is much more of a damsel in distress; initially, Logan sees her as little more than a pampered, self-entitled princess but she’s soon revealed to be oppressed by the desires of her father, fiancé, and her devotion to maintaining the honour of her family. She’s a damaged, conflicted character but is also able to put up a bit of a fight when needed so she isn’t just some screaming, helpless trophy to be fought over.
The Nitty-Gritty: Up until now, we’ve seen glimpses of Logan’s vicious nature but The Wolverine goes above and beyond in portraying just how brutal and savage Wolverine can be. Initially reluctant to fight, much less kill, when Logan unsheathes his claws to fight, it’s with a fast, ruthless ferocity; every blow is designed to either kill or maim and you truly get the sense of an animal being unleashed in full force. For the majority of the film, Logan is chopping apart nameless, faceless Yakuza goons; he faces a new test in the form of Viper, a seductive, snake-like Mutant who is able to use her toxins to dull his senses and her medical expertise to suppress his healing factor. While the two don’t really come to blows (the honour of dispatching her is left to Yukio), Logan is able to match swords with Shingen, who has garbed himself in the ceremonial armour of the Silver Samurai. It’s in this fight that Logan regains his sense of identity and honour but it’s merely the beginning of the end for the film.
Logan is forced to operate on himself to restore his full abilities.
The decision to dull Logan’s healing factor didn’t sit right with me at the time as I was more interested in seeing a nigh-invincible Wolverine cutting down foes and being emotionally vulnerable rather than physically but it actually does work quite well in the film. That is until the revelation that it’s not some toxic or Mutant suppressant keeping his powers dulled but a weird little spider robot thing attached to his heart. Quite how that works is beyond me but it makes for a tense scene where Logan, having already been told by Yukio that he would die holding his heart in his hand, is forced to cut himself open and remove the device. It’s been suggested that Yukio’s vision actually foreshadowed Logan’s eventual, dramatic death in Logan(Mangold, 2017) but I don’t actually agree with that; Yukio specifically says that he saw Logan lying on the operating table with his lifeless heart in his hand but Logan is clearly impaled on a tree in a forest holding the very-much-alive hand of his “daughter” in Logan so I think this is a bit of a stretch, to say the least.
The actual Silver Samurai seems to conflict with the film’s more grounded, gritty tone.
After spending most of its runtime being almost the exact opposite of X-Men Origins (gritty and introspective, brutal and reflective rather than loud and bombastic), The Wolverine ends with a massive, knock-down brawl between Logan and a huge mech suit of armour. This true Silver Samurai is not only made from the same indestructible Adamantium that coast Logan’s bones but also wields two gigantic blades that are able to cut off Logan’s claws! Revealed to be Yashida, who faked his death and orchestrated everything just to forcibly extract Logan’s healing ability from the marrow of his bone claws, this finale is notably at odds with the tone of the rest of the film but is, nevertheless, quite the exciting end to the film. You really get the sense at Logan is in actual danger thanks to the Silver Samurai’s ability to actually hurt him, which is good for raising the stakes for the finale, but I wasn’t a fan of how Wolverine leaves the film with his entire Adamantium skeleton intact exact for his claws. The bone claws are a fun addition to his character and backstory but are pretty lame by themselves and I would have liked to see him just dip them into some Adamantium to recoat them or something.
Xavier and Magneto turn up alive and fully powered, hinted at a greater threat to come…
Simultaneously, though, I wasn’t a fan of how the next film simply gave him back the Adamantium claws without any explanation. Speaking of which, The Wolverine’s mid-credits sequence sees the inexplicable return of the fully repowered Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who seek to recruit Wolverine to face an impending threat. A tantalising scene that raises a lot of interesting questions, this scene, and all the character development and story potential of The Wolverine’s finale, would be either swept away or forgotten completely in subsequent films. What happened to Yukio, for example, who ends the film as Logan’s self-appointed bodyguard? What happened in the two years between the final scene and the mid-credits scene? Why did Fox cut a scene in which Logan receives his traditional costume? Well…okay, I can kind of understand that last one but, thanks to the mess Fox made of the X-Men timeline and their complete disregarding of continuity, The Wolverine ends up being this really good, really engaging partially standalone story that exists in a weird bubble where it’s not really canon, but kind of is, but nothing that happens in it factors into Logan’s next appearances in any way.
The Summary: Ever since Wolverine’s introduction in the first X-Men movie, I was waiting for a movie, and a depiction of the character, like The Wolverine. Far darker, grittier, and more brutal than his previous depictions, this is the first X-Men film to truly delve into the meat of the character’s complexities. As much as I enjoy, and apologise for, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, there’s no denying that The Wolverine, despite its bland title and tonally contradictory finale, surpasses its predecessor in every way. The oriental setting really adds to the film, as does Jackman’s bulkier (and yet more streamlined) look. Showing Logan as being constantly torn by his actions, haunted by his memories, and struggling with the dichotomy of being a weary immortal soldier who is tired of life but not quite ready die is a fascinating dive into the character’s nuances and psyche. Punctuated by fight scenes that cast a wider light on just how vicious the character can be and let down only by the fact that subsequent sequels failed to really expand upon where The Wolverine leaves the character, The Wolverine is easily one of the best X-Men movies, perhaps surpassed only by the even bleaker and grittier Logan.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
What did you think about The Wolverine? Do you find that it’s a far better portrayal of the character compared to X-Men Origins: Wolverine or do you, perhaps, feel that it’s a bit over-rated? How did you feel about Wolverine’s healing factor being suppressed and the inclusion of the Silver Samurai? Which Wolverine story arc from the comics was your favourite? How would you like to see Wolverine re-introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Whatever your thoughts about Wolverine and the X-Men, feel free to leave a comment below.
Released: April 2009 Director: Gavin Hood Distributor: 20th Century Fox Budget: $150 million Stars: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins, Taylor Kitsch, Daniel Henney, Will.i.am, and Ryan Reynolds
The Plot: Mutant brothers James Howlett (Jackman) and Victor Creed (Schreiber) are drafted to Major William Stryker’s (Huston) Team X. However, when his murderous sibling goes wild, Logan volunteers for a radical procedure to make him indestructible.
The Background: 20th Century Fox had vastly profited from their acquisition of the X-Men movie rights from Marvel Comics. Under their banner, the first three X-Men movies (Various, 2000 to 2006) had made over $600 million and, soon after X-Men: The Last Stand(Ratner, 2006) brought the trilogy to an end, development began on a series of spin-offs focusing on solo X-Men. Chief among these was, of course, the character of Wolverine; the role had catapulted the relatively-unknown Australian actor Hugh Jackman to superstardom and was the natural choice for a spin-off given how popular the character and his rich recently-uncovered backstory was. Collaborating on the script in order to craft a more interpersonal story, Jackman and director Gavin Hood aimed to explore the duelling nature of Wolverine’s animalistic character. Popular X-Men characters like Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Reynolds) and Demy LeBeau/Gambit (Kitsch) were incorporated into the script, which sought to explore the complex relationship between Logan, Victor, and Stryker based on both their characterisations in the comics and the world Bryan Singer had establish in his first two X-Men movies. Sadly, much like X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Origins Wolverine received mixed to average reviews upon release; despite earning more than double its budget at the box office, X-Men Origins is largely regarded unfavourably by the majority of fans and critics alike. Personally, I always enjoyed the film, which was far more in the vein of X-Men 2 (Singer, 2003) than the third film; I liked that it introduced new and interesting Mutants and feel that it gets a bad reputation despite being an unashamedly enjoyable popcorn action film.
The Review: When X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released, the details of Wolverine’s early years had already been published in Marvel Comics some eight years prior; still, the revelation that James Howlett (Troye Sivan) had began life as a sickly boy in the 1800s was still relatively fresh for many readers who were more used to seeing Logan hooked into machinery and brainwashed into being a merciless killer as Weapon X. Unfortunately, as interesting as it would be to delve into Howlett’s early years and the details of his friendship with the young Victor Creed (Michael-James Olsen), X-Men Origins has no time for that as, within the first five minutes or so, young James has seen his father murdered, unsheathed his bone claws for the first time, killed his father’s murderer only to discover that his victim was actually his real father, and gone on the run with his similarly-powered half-brother. Sadly, this manic pacing is a theme for X-Men Origins; it’s all quick cuts and revelation after revelation in 1845 and then, as the film’s opening credits roll, we see James and Victor (now Jackman and Schreiber, respectively) taking part in every major war over the next hundred years or so. The montage, easily one of the more impressive parts of the film and which arguably should have made up the bulk of the movie’s runtime, does a great job of showing how James grows increasingly jaded with their mercenary lifestyle and how Victor grows equally bloodthirsty over time.
Logan eventually becomes disillusioned with Team X’s increasingly violent methods.
Eventually, the two are put before a firing squad after Victor kills his commanding officer. Obviously, this doesn’t actually kill the two so they are immediately recruited by Stryker, who drafts them into Team X, a group of highly skilled Mutants under his command. James and Victor go on what is implied to be many missions but, thanks to the film’s breakneck pace actually seems more like one mission, alongside such notable Mutants as Wade Wilson, Fred Dux (Kevin Durand), John Wraith (will.i.am), Agent Zero (Henney), and Chris Bradley (Dominic Monaghan). Unfortunately, Victor’s bloodlust can no longer be controlled and, when Stryker orders the team to slaughter innocent sin order to get his hands on a mysterious mineral, James walks away from the team.
Jackman is unquestionably the star of this film, shining at every turn.
Taking the name Logan (why this name is never explained), James spends the next six years making a modest living as a lumberjack in Canada alongside his lover, Kayla Silverfox (Collins). However, after Stryker shows up to warn Logan that their old team mates are being slaughtered, Kayla is killed by Victor and, overcome with grief and rage, Logan willingly volunteers to have Adamantium surgically grated to his skeleton to give him the tools to enact his revenge against his half-brother. Once again, the star of the show here is Hugh Jackman; now at his most toned and muscular and fully at ease with the role of Wolverine, Jackman’s charisma and animal magnetism help X-Men Origins to stay engaging even in its most head-scratching moments. Jackman does a fantastic job of conveying the myriad of emotions Logan goes through, from his more tender, vulnerable moments to his raw, animalistic brutality. Unfortunately, much is made throughout the film (and in the first three X-Men movies) of Wolverine’s animal side; Stryker (Brian Cox) hinted that, in his past, Wolverine wasn’t a very nice person and X-Men Origins also hints that he did some terrible things during the many wars he fought in…but we never see this. Sure, he’s a tortured character because of his traumatic memories of war and is a formidable beast when enraged but, for the most part, he’s the same honourable, good-natured person we’ve seen in the original trilogy. It would have been far more engaging and interesting to really delve into Wolverine’s time as a cold-blooded killer who slowly grows to become disillusioned with that life compared to Victor, who relishes in killing and giving in to his animal nature.
Schreiber is clearly relishing this role and is more than a match for Jackman.
Speaking of Victor, Schreiber was an inspired choice to bring the character to life. Like many comics, X-Men Origins hints very strongly that Victor and Sabretooth (Tyler Mane) are the same character but never fully lands on one side of the fence or the other; certainly, Schreiber’s loquacious nature and cold, calculated charisma separate him from mane’s more bestial portrayal but, in any case, Victor is a fantastic parallel to Logan. Sadistic and heartless, he kills for the fun of it and simply wishes to prove that he’s better than his half-brother, which he does at every turn. It’s surprising, then, when it is revealed that Victor wouldn’t be able to survive the Adamantium bonding process; perhaps this was a lie on Stryker’s part, though, as Victor is consistently shown to be Logan’s better at every turn save for that line and one brief scuffle between them before the finale.
As good as an actor as Huston is, Stryker’s motives and logic are all over the place in X-Men Origins.
After making an impact in X-Men 2 and considering the importance his character has on Wolverine’s early years, it’s only nature that Stryker plays a big role in this film as the puppet master. Yet, while Huston is a great actor and brings a certain scenery-chewing relish to the role, he’s physically nothing like Brian Cox so it’s a bit weird to me that they chose to cast him. Add to that the fact that Stryker’s plan is needlessly convoluted and bone-headed (he tricks Logan into joining Team X, allows him to leave, has one of his agents (spoiler: it’s Kayla) shack up with him, then fakes her death, pretends like Victor isn’t under his control when we know he clearly is, is somehow able to convince Logan to become indestructible and then, when Logan escapes the Weapon X facility, Stryker’s first order (to a guy whose only power is “expert marksmanship”) is to kill their now invincible creation!) and you have a villain who is charismatic enough to fulfil his role as the master manipulator but flawed in his onscreen execution.
Gambit’s role is brief but surprisingly enjoyable and important to the plot.
Such flaws are evident throughout X-Men Origins, I’m afraid to say; the film’s wonky pacing and questionable plot see characters either being tricked or used with ridiculous ease (you’d think Wolverine, of all people, would be able to tell that Kayla’s death was faked, surely) or simply stumble upon the information they need or into the location where the information they need is. The scene where Logan interrogates Dux (now transformed in the Blob) is a great example; it’s a fun scene, one of my favourites, but Dux isn’t able to tell Logan everything he knows so, of course, he sends him to New Orleans to track down another Mutant, Gambit, who knows Stryker’s exact location. Honestly, Gambit has a far bigger and more prominent role in the film than I originally believed; slightly bigger than a cameo but not quite a co-star, he exists to guide Wolverine to what ends up being a pretty obvious location for his final showdown but, while Kitsch is pretty enjoyable in the role, it’s hard to look past his elaborate superhuman acrobatics. I guess you can make the argument that his Mutant ability to super-charge kinetic energy allows him to perform superhuman leaps and bounds but that doesn’t really help explain how Zero goes flying all over the place all the time. Yet…I find myself enjoying these action and fight sequences. They’re loud and over the top but what’s wrong with that? The scene where Wolverine tries to out-race Zero’s helicopter on a motorcycle is pretty awesome, as is his dramatic takedown of said helicopter (which sees him clinging onto it as it crash lands) and the obvious trailer shot of Logan dramatically walking away from the explosion, as cliché as it is, hits all the right spots for me as an action movie fan. Wolverine’s fight scenes are equally enjoyable; similar to Logan’s fight scenes from X-Men 2, Logan fights with a vicious, brutal intensity where the animal side of him everyone likes to talk about so much really comes to the forefront.
The Nitty-Gritty: As much as I enjoy X-Men Origins, however, it’s tough to look past the film’s narrative flaws. As a prequel to X-Men(Singer, 2000), though, the film does line up fairly well (far better than the quadrilogy of “prequels” that were to follow), it’s just a shame that the filmmakers were in such a rush to cram everything into this one movie. This could easily have been restructured to show Logan’s early childhood and time during the war and then his time with Team X, leading to a falling out and with Victor over their methods. The second film could have then shown Wolverine transformed into Weapon X as we saw in the otherwise-disappointing X-Men: Apocalypse (Singer, 2016), with that film and that procedure being responsible for his memory loss, than then the third and final movie could have just been The Wolverine(Mangold, 2013) or even Logan (ibid, 2017). Instead, we rush through all of Wolverine’s greatest hits at a breakneck pace all to get to a point that somewhat awkwardly leads into the start of the first X-Men.
Logan’s ultimate fate is a bit rushed and messy but still somewhat affecting in its bleak execution.
Despite that, however, I still find the scene where Stryker blasts Wolverine in the head with a few Adamantium bullets quite heartbreaking. It’s a messy way to go about his memory loss considering having his healing factor be responsible is a far more cerebral and interesting explanation but it’s still tragic to see him awaken surrounded by death and destruction with no idea who he is or where he is. The implication of this ending, and the final act of the film, is that Logan spent the next fifteen-or-so years relying solely on his instincts, which is kind of ironic considering there was probably some evidence left behind on Three Mile Island to explain his origins. Sadly, however, the X-Men films never filled in the gap between this one and X-Men (at least, not fully, as the films go out of their way to ignore or retcon this entire film) so we never really know what he got up to or what happened to Victor (unless he really did devolve into a mindless, semi-mute brute).
Reynolds was perfectly cast but dealt a bad hand here. Luckily, it wouldn’t be his last time in the role.
Of course, you can’t talk about X-Men Origins without addressing the elephant in the room: Deadpool. Reynolds was perfectly cast as Wade Wilson back in the day and it’s clear from the post-credit sequence that Fox were planning a spin-off for the character all along but, yes, it is disappointing to see the character chopped up and butchered into a weird amalgamation of recognisable Mutant powers as Weapon XI (Scott Adkins) rather than the fast-talking, unkillable “Merc With a Mouth” we all know and love. It’s weird watching this film back now as they could just as easily have had a more traditional Deadpool be Logan and Victor’s final opponent; lose the Adamantium blades and the optic blasts and just have him be a super-healing, super-skilled soldier who is loyal to Stryker. Or, better yet, simply imply that wade was killed and have Victor, now a feral animal, be the film’s final “boss” and then do a post-credits scene that shows Wade alive and well and working as a mercenary. Luckily for Reynolds, and for us all, Deadpool would eventually get his spin-off and it was absolutely brilliant but, thanks to the convoluted mess that the X-Men franchise has become, those films sit in a weird bubble of continuity where everything and nothing is canon at the same time.
X-Men Origins uses its cameos to fill some gaps in the franchise’s once-stable timeline.
Speaking of canon, this film obviously concludes with what was, to me (at the time, anyway), a pretty shocking cameo by Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who arrives on Three Mile Island to rescue Stryker’s Mutant prisoners. Sure, the de-aging affects aren’t as good as in X-Men: The Last Stand but this was a very welcome cameo for me and helped to fill a gap in what was, at the time, a straight forward timeline. While I also applaud the way the film attempts to place a little bit more spotlight on Scott Summers/Cyclops (Tim Pocock) and even goes out of its way to show that he never sees or hears Wolverine so as not to create a continuity error, once again the character is somewhat shafted by his ham-fisted inclusion; I liked that Stryker sent Victor specifically to hunt Cyclops down, as though his powers were fundamental to Weapon XI, but the fact that Cyclops is already wearing ruby-tinted sunglasses to keep his powers in check is a little odd as I always assumed this was a solution provided by Xavier. Still, it’s fun to him and a few other recognisable Mutants in little cameos and that the film allows for other popular or B-list X-characters to be included without Wolverine sucking all of the spotlight away from the traditional X-Men thanks to Jackman’s screen presence, charisma, and popularity.
The Summary: I don’t know what it is about X-Men Origins: Wolverine but…I still really like it. yes, the plot is nonsensical and all over the place, rushing through some story beats that could be a movie all by themselves and lingering on others that are far less interesting and yes it does do a disservice to Deadpool and raise a lot of questions that subsequent X-Men movies and spin-offs largely ignore. But it’s just so much fun! Maybe it’s because I grew up with loud, bombastic action movies but I find this film immensely enjoyable in a lot of ways. It’s fun when it needs to be, bad-ass when necessary, and even touching at times. It’s over the top and mindless action, yes, but what’s wrong with that? Honestly, it irks me that the franchise went out of its way to ignore or retcon this film as it cost us Schreiber returning to the series and caused continuity to be thrown out of the window. Maybe Wolverine deserved better than a big, dumb action movie but sometimes big, dumb fun is just big, dumb, and fun and that’s okay.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
What did you think about X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Do you think it deserves the reputation it gets or do you, like me, find it to be an enjoyable entry in the franchise? How did you feel about the way the film treated Deadpool and the relationship between Logan and Victor? How would you like to see Wolverine re-introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? How are you celebrating the month of Wolverine’s debut? Whatever your thoughts about Wolverine and the X-Men, feel free to leave a comment below.
Released: 5 November 2021 Director: Chloé Zhao Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Budget: $200 million Stars: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Bill Skarsgård, and Kit Harington.
The Plot: Over 7,000 years ago, the God-like Celestials charged their superpowered, immortal creations, the Eternals, with defending the fledgling planet Earth from their evil counterparts, the Deviants. After destroying the Deviants, the Eternals lived among humanity and went their separate ways; however, when the Deviants re-emerge following the return of half the world’s population, reunite to protect humanity from this monstrous threat.
The Background: Jeez, okay…this is a tough one for me. So, after the legendary Jack Kirby left Marvel Comics in 1970, he created a race of cosmic, God-like beings called the New Gods and intended to tell a finite story with his creations before the comic book was cancelled. When he then returned to Marvel, he developed a startling similar concept initially titled “The Celestials” before being legally advised to change the title. Although The Eternals was cancelled, Kirby’s plotlines were later resolved in other Marvel publications and the characters and their mythology played a pivotal role in the wider Marvel universe. Although I am mildly aware of the Celestials and Thanos’ status as a Deviant, however, I can’t say that I have ever encountered the Eternals in all my years of reading comics so I was intrigued when the team was announced as being part of the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which director Chloé Zhao aimed to further expand the scope of the MCU. Featuring a diverse cast of characters and story spanning several centuries, MCU maestro Kevin Feige was eager to delve further into the MCU’s cosmic history and introduce a new ensemble of characters to their ever-growing series of interconnected films. Although Eternals was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the visual effects team continued to work remotely and the film was finally released to largely mixed reviews. After being review-bombed by bigots, critics praised the visuals of the film while also questioning the pace and characterisation; others questioned Marvel’s attempts to branch out from their usual formula while praising the deconstruction of the superhero genre, though Eternals’ worldwide gross of over $171 million would point to it being a relative financial success.
The Review: So, as I mentioned, I had no expectations for Eternals; I know absolutely nothing about the characters and have never encountered this group in all my years of reading comics, but I often find that this actually helps with my perception of a movie (I wasn’t really familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy and I loved those films). Still, it seems like we’re only really getting this movie because Inhumans (Various, 2017) failed to impress as there was a time when Marvel where really pushing the Inhumans to the forefront of their comics. In fact, I believe the Inhumans are tangentially related to the Eternals in the comics, but it definitely seems like Marvel Studios are abandoning tackling the Inhumans and have turned to the Eternals in their stead. Introducing the Eternals means expanding the cosmic scale of the MCU beyond even the scope of the Thor movies (Various, 2011 to present) as these characters, and their creators, came into existence before even the Infinity Stones were created, meaning that they’re not just akin to Gods but also responsible for inspiring humanity’s evolution, innovation, and mythology.
The film doesn’t spend much time dwelling on the romantic drama between these characters.
Even more than the Guardians of the Galaxy films (Gunn, 2014 to present), Eternals is an ensemble film and, more so than any other MCU movie so far, the film’s characters are a tight-knit group of superhuman character. Before Eternals, the MCU’s teams have been a mishmash of egos and personalities who struggled to get along, but the Eternals are more like a family of God-like beings who are initially heartbroken when they go their separate ways. Sersi (Chan) is the closest thing we have to a main character; an empathetic Eternal who’s able to transmutate matter upon physical contact and who has a strong connection with humanity. For centuries, Sersei was engaged in a romantic relationship with Ikarus (Madden), the most powerful of the Eternals; while all of the Eternals exhibit superhuman strength and durability, Ikarus can fly and fire lasers from his eyes and yet, despite his great power, he isn’t chosen to lead the team: the honour falls to the conflicted Sersei. Left heartbroken after their relationship ended with little explanation, Sersei has been living as museum curator and dating Dane Whitman (Harrington), who actually barely appears in the film; I expected Dane to be the audience surrogate but he only really bookends the film and we simply learn what’s happening alongside the Eternals as they reunite. This means that their isn’t really a love triangle between Sersei, Dane, and Ikarus, though a mild one does exist thanks to the presence of Sprite (McHugh), an Eternal cursed to remain a child and who can conjure illusions at will, who carries a torch for Ikarus.
The Eternals have gone their separate ways and lived amongst us in secret for centuries.
When the Deviants suddenly appear, Sersei, Dane, and Sprite are saved by Ikarus and, since the Eternals were charged with destroying these monstrous beings, they quickly realise that they need to reunite with their comrades. Naturally, they seek out their spiritual leader Ajak (Hayek), who not only has the ability to heal their injuries but can also commune with their creator, the titanic Celestial Arishem (David Kaye), and communicates His will to the team. However, they discover Ajak dead, slaughtered by the Deviants, and this responsibility passes to Sersei and, in the process, she learns a terrible truth about the Eternals’ origins and the true nature of their mission on Earth. This only spurs her to reunite with her follow Eternals, which leads them to India, where they find Kingo (Nanjiani) revelling in fame as a popular Bollywood star. Easily one of the most entertaining characters in the film, Kingo can fire bolts of cosmic energy from his fingers and brings along his valet, Karun (Harish Patel), to document the trip and, in the process, provide not only an audience surrogate but another highlight of the film. As powerful as Ikarus is, he is matched perhaps only by Gilgamesh (Lee) and Thena (Jolie), who retired to Australia hundreds of years ago after the battle-hungry Thena began to suffer from the “Mahd Wy’ry”, a condition that causes her to remember her past conflicts and drives her into a mindless aggression against her fellow Eternals. While Thena is able to conjure weapons from thin air and lives for battle, Gilgamesh turns his cosmic powers into his hands to boost his physical strength ever further. This comes in handy when the group braves Druig’s (Keoghan) sanctuary and defend it from Deviants; able to manipulate the minds of others at will, Druig was the first of the group to question their mission and Arishem’s decree that they not interfere in human conflicts unless Deviants are involved, and chose to separate himself not just from his fellow Eternals, but the wider world itself in order to protect generations of people. While Druig is initially sceptical, he’s soon convinced to rejoin his comrades by the scale of the threat they face and after being reunited with Makkari (Ridloff), an Eternal with superhuman speed and who can only communicate through sign language.
Easily Marvel’s most diverse movie yet, though the main antagonists were largely forgettable.
At this point, you’ve probably noticed that Eternals is packed full of diversity and representation; each character looks and sounds different and Marvel are definitely widening the scope of their fictional world with this team. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the depiction of Phastos (Henry) as not only being openly gay, but in a same-sex relationship and raising a young boy, giving us the MCU’s first male-on-male kiss. Like Druig, Phastos is initially reluctant to reunite with his fellow Eternals; a master builder, he lost faith in humanity after his technological innovations eventually led to the creation of nuclear weapons and further conflict. However, his love for his family and desire to protect them spur him forward and the group is finally reunited…only to find that the Deviants have changed significantly over the years. Amongst their number stands an alpha, Kro (Skarsgård), who starts off as the largest and most intimidating of his monstrous brethren and eventually evolves into a sentient, humanoid form after absorbing the powers and lifeforce of a few of the Eternals. This gives him the ability to speak, heal his wounds, wield similar cosmic energy as the Eternals, and alter his fellow Deviants into far more grotesque and versatile forms. This means the Deviants can fly, attack with razor-sharp claws, and chomp down on their prey; they’re also incredibly durable and aggressive, but actually don’t appear all that much in the film. Kro, especially, doesn’t reach his humanoid form for some time and then vanishes for a huge hunk of the movie, only reappearing very briefly in the finale, as the Deviant threat is soon usurped by another, far more personal and dangerous menace.
The Nitty-Gritty: It actually kind of sickens me to see so many bigots and haters dump on this film just because it features a lot of diversity; sure, there’s quite a lot packed in here all at once but we live in a world where diversity is the norm. just look around your office, or school, or local supermarket; everyone looks and sounds different, so why shouldn’t that be the case in superhero movies? Eternals was, in many ways, a great way to highlight diversity in the MCU for the first time and, since I’m unfamiliar with these characters, I really don’t care if this means their gender, skin colour, or sexual orientation has changed. Take Kingo, a recognisably Indian and very spiritual Eternal; he’s easily a stand-out character in the film thanks to his egotistical attitude and him revelling in his celebrity status, and Karun helps to add a real heart to the film since he is in awe of the Eternals. Then there’s Makkari, the MCU’s first deaf character, who exhibits a fantastic sense of enthusiasm and personality through her sign language, and the fact that all of the characters have distinct and interesting accents to help them standout from the rest of the MCU. Eternals is also a visually impressive movie; it’s clear that the MCU is definitely going for more visually distinct and experimental films in Phase Four and Eternals is probably the most beautiful MCU movie to date. The film constantly jumps to different eras and moments in human history, and different locations across the globe, as well as bombarding the viewer with some surreal cosmic imagery and some incredible costume design for the titular group.
While the film is incredibly visually appealing, its hampered by a bloated cast and some redundancies.
The Eternals’ powers and technology are equally intriguing; there’s a real Stargate (Emmerich, 1994) vibe to the presentation of their ship and influence upon humanity, and their cosmic powers are augmented by distinct, gold-laced CGI that’s comprised of suitably Kirby-esque swirls and patterns. Their costumes, though sadly absent for a great deal of the film, are equally impressive; unlike any other costumes in the MCU, the Eternals are garbed in a form-fitting, regal attire that is sleek, sexy, and colourful while still appearing comfortable and practical. Everything looks great until Kro takes on his human form; then the CGI takes a noticeable hit and he appears extremely out of place and cheap-looking, which is a shame as the Deviants didn’t look too bad for the most part (even though they were just big, generic monster-things). Thankfully, the film excels in the depiction of the Celestials and when fleshing out the cosmic history of the MCU; we’ve seen hints to this before, and even some brief scenes of Celestials here and there, but Eternals goes all-in with depicting these God-like beings in full and basically positioning them as being responsible for life on Earth and countless other worlds and integral elements of the wider cosmic balance. It has to be said, though, that the film does suffer from being a bit bloated; there are ten main characters, each of whom only exhibit the one power, and while the cast is very charismatic and does a pretty good job of standing out and making the most of their screen time, it definitely feels like six or maybe eight characters would have been more manageable. Like, Makkari was fine but probably could have been removed completely, and Gilgamesh could probably have been cut as well, and Ajak’s personality traits probably could have been merged into Thena to give her a bit more to do beyond just going crazy here and there.
Kro’s effects are a bit of a letdown and there’s a lot of exposition to sit through here.
Similarly, there are some other areas where Eternals also fails to hit its mark; although there is a great deal of action and the trademark MCU snark in the film, there’s noticeably far les than in other MCU movies. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; not every movie, even if it’s a superhero movie, needs to be full-on mindless action all the time, but there isn’t really anything on show here to separate this from other MCU movies where we’ve seen similar powers and abilities done far better. Eternals is, however, a much more deliberate and meditative entry in the MCU; the debates between the Eternals regarding whether to weigh the lives of one world against countless others in the vast cosmos is intriguing, and the Eternals are quite a complex group of characters; created to do Arishem’s bidding, they follow Arishem’s word without question and regard Him with the reverence we reserve for our Gods. Over time, some of them question Arishem’s design for them and the world, while others remain steadfastly loyal to the will of Arishem to a fault, which infuses the film’s narrative with a fascinating religious undercurrent. However, Eternals falls into a trap that plagues many movies that need to explain a lot of lore; it’s the first MCU film to feature opening text explaining the background of the Eternals, but then Sersei relates some of it to Dane, and the others bring Kaurn up to speed, and then there’s a long piece of exposition between Arishem and Sersei that she then tells the others about. For me, that’s a lot of redundant exposition; I feel it might have been better to veer more towards a more visual and implied narrative and then spread the exposition out a bit, but I also suspect that the opening text was added in just to make sure audiences understand what’s going on.
The Eternals are rocked to learn the truth behind their origins and mission.
I suppose it’s not too surprising that the Deviants and Kro fail to make much of an impression as antagonists in the film as their threat is completely overshadowed by Ikarus. Initially a devout follower of Arishem, Ajak grows to truly care for the Earth and sees the vast potential of humanity after they reversed the effects of the Snap, which leads her to planning to oppose Arishem’s true design for the Eternals. It turns out that they’re not there to protect the world, but are actually there to help foster the planet’s population to feed a young Celestial, Tiamut, who’s growing in the centre of the Earth and will destroy the world upon awakening. Ikarus is so devoted to Arishem that he allows Ajak to be killed by deviants and then actively fights against his friends and family, and even his beloved Sersei, to bring their mission to an end so that their memories can be erased and they can be sent to another world, as has happened over and over throughout the ages. It has to be said, though, that there are some flaws in this twist; it turns out that the Eternals are basically akin to robots, creations of the Celestials that are programmed “not to evolve” (even though they clearly do, emotionally at least), so why wouldn’t the Celestials just recall them after the Deviants are wiped out and only dispatch them when the creatures return? It also seems extremely unlikely that the Eternals wouldn’t have rebelled against their master’s grand plans in the past, so a bit strange that Arishem wouldn’t do a more thorough job of wiping their memories. The emergence of the Deviants is also more of a coincidence than anything else, and Tiamut’s awakening has only been hastened by the Snap, and Kro’s potential as a character and an antagonist is completely stunted by Ikarus’ mid-way heel turn and I almost feel like it might’ve been better to have him and Sprite teaming up from the start and have the Deviants the Eternals face be mere illusions. Regardless, Sersei and the others are determined to save the world and spare Tiamut’s life so that thousands of lives can be created by His powers; initially, they plan to do this by creating the “Uni-Mind” and vastly augmenting Druig’s power to put Tiamut to sleep. However, Ikarus’ fanatical devotion to awakening the Celestial leads Sersei with no choice but to turn the emerging Celestial to marble, freezing it in place, and Ikarus is so remorseful for his actions that he willingly commits suicide by flying into the centre of the sun. In the aftermath, Druig, Thena, and Makkari head out into the galaxy to find the other Eternals and inform them of the truth, while Arishem dramatically arrives to abduct Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo and judge whether humanity is worthy of saving and Dane is so rattled by the experience that he prepares to take up the cursed sword of his ancestors…
The Summary: As I said, I went into Eternals with little no expectations; I saw the trailers and imagined that it would be a visually stunning and atmospheric entry in the MCU, and it definitely is that. Marvel are clearly taking some chances in Phase Four and experimenting with more diversity, variety, and unexpected directions going forward; it’s fascinating to see them go all-in with some of Marvel and Jack Kirby’s more surreal cosmic aspects and really opens the franchise up to an endless number of possibilities. This is juxtaposed by the same grounded, realistic approach to the subject matter that we saw in the likes of Thor (Branagh, 2011) that helps to introduce these wild concepts by framing them against real-world events, technology, and mythology to show how this fictional world has been influenced by these demigods. When the action does kick in, it’s pretty impressive and I like how each of the Eternals looks, sounds, and feels distinct and exhibits unique powers that make them formidable in their own right but almost unstoppable when their united against their monstrous enemies. However, Eternals is far more interested in world-building, moral discussions, and character analysis in a bid to present something of a deconstruction of the typical superhero movie. This may or may not land for you; for me, it did for the most part, but I felt the exposition could have been paced out better and the film would have benefitted from a little less hand-holding and veering more towards abstract visuals, but there’s no denying that it did an exceptional job of bringing a fresh group of sexy and powerful characters into the MCU which I imagine will have a significant impact on the franchise going forward.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Have you seen Eternals? If so, what did you think to it and where would you rank it against the other films in the MCU? Which of the characters was your favourite? What did you think to the diversity and variety on offer in the film? Do you like seeing the cosmic scope of the MCU or do you prefer their more grounded and relatable stories? Are you familiar with the Eternals and, if so, how do you think the film worked as an adaptation? Whatever you thought about Eternals, sign up to leave a reply down below or drop a comment on my social media.
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