movie night

Movie Night: No Time to Die

Dr. K1 Comment

Released: 30 September 2021
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Distributor: United Artists Releasing / Universal Pictures
Budget: $250 to 301 million
Stars: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes, Jeffrey Wright, and Christoph Waltz

The Plot:
Five years after the capture of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Waltz), super spy James Bond/007 (Craig) has retired from active service to be with his love, Doctor Madeleine Swan (Seydoux). However, when he his old friend Felix Leiter (Wright) asks him to investigate a missing scientist, Bond is brought violently back into the world of betrayal and terrorism when he is pitted against terrorist Lyutsifer Safin (Malek).

The Background:
James Bond, the charming and sophisticated MI6 agent with a license to kill, is the creation of former navy intelligence officer-turned-writer Ian Fleming. As beloved as his 007 novels were, the character was forever immortalised through the late, great Sean Connery, who would be just one of many actors to portray the superspy in perhaps the most successful cinematic franchise of all time. In 2005, amidst much unwarranted controversy, Daniel Craig assumed the iconic role for a gritty, modern reboot of the long-running franchise; Casino Royale (Campbell, 2006) was a massive critical and commercial success and effectively revitalised the series after it had become stagnated. Much to the chagrin of Craig, who became increasingly disillusioned with the role, more successes soon followed, with Skyfall (Mendes, 2012) surpassing Casino Royale’s achievements and Spectre (ibid, 2015) earning rave reviews. Development of the twenty-fifth Bond film began in 2016, with director Danny Boyle initially attached to the project before he bowed out over script concerns. Cary Joji Fukunaga came onboard in 2018 and the film’s title was announced in 2019 but the jury was out over whether Craig would reprise his role. Although Craig eventually signed on to No Time to Die, he stated that the film would be his last go-around as 007 and the script was tailoured to reflect this sentiment. As with al of Craig’s Bond movies, No Time to Die was set to feature a sequential narrative from the previous films and included a number of returning cast and characters; like all great Bond movies, filming took place all around the world and included a number of spectacular stunt sequences. The film’s release was repeatedly delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic but No Time to Die finally released in the United Kingdom on September 30th to largely positive reviews that emphasised Craig’s performance and the film’s action sequences while criticising the film’s lengthy runtime, and a final worldwide gross of almost $775 million.

The Review:
No Time to Die kicks off with one of the most longest, if not the longest, pre-title sequences in any James Bond film that basically serves a number of purposes; first, we get to see a flashback to Madeline’s childhood where, as a young girl (Coline Defaud), witnessed her mother being brutally gunned down by Safin, a psychotic killer with a bit of a limb and sporting an unsettling Noh mask. Safin’s motivation here is actually somewhat relatable as Madeline’s father, Mister White (Jesper Christensen), killed Safin’s entire family as part of a Spectre assassination. Although Madeline and Bond have retired to Italy to be together, leaving behind Bond’s tumultuous life, but are still haunted by the ghosts of their respective pasts; Madeline promises to reveal this part of her past to Bond after he makes peace with his former love, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), and in process unwittingly sets Bond’s paranoid into overdrive as he is summarily attacked by Spectre agents, led by Primo/Cyclops (Dali Benssalah), and he separates himself from Madeline to both keep her safe and because he feels he can’t trust her. The film then jumps to five years later, Bond has set himself up in Jamaica and is so far off the grid that MI6 has assumed that he has died. However, when Spectre agents kidnap scientist Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik) to weaponise the devastating “Heracles” virus that MI6 chief, Gareth Mallory/M (Fiennes) developed off the books to specifically target and eliminate individuals while negating collateral damage, both MI6 and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are understandably perturbed at the implications of this virus being in the wrong hands. When M discovers that his darkest secret has been dug up for the world to see, he becomes very cagey and snippy with his employees Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), Q (Wishaw), and Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear) and demands that Obruchev and his research be retrieved as quickly and surreptitiously as possible. Bond is begrudgingly brought into the investigation by CIA operative Felix Leiter, whom he embraces as an old friend; having been absent from the last two Bond movies, it’s great to see Felix make a comeback, if only briefly, and it’s just one of many heartwarming moments in the film that help humanise Bond, with Bond even referring to Felix as his brother at one point.

Bond is drawn back into espionage after appearing to be betrayed, only to find he’s been replaced.

Bond doesn’t truly return to his former, violent life until he crosses paths with Nomi (Lynch), a no-nonsense, militaristic agent who, in case you couldn’t guess, has replaced Bond as the new 007. The two initially have a frosty relationship, with Nomi brushing off Bond’s advice and experience and basically continuing on her mission with little regard for Bond’s presence. While Bond played it fast and loose with the rules and regulations, Nomi is all business and follows her orders without questions, making for a less glamorous but strikingly efficient spy, but her heckles are raised when M ends up reinstating Bond as an active 00 agent following a tense and heated confrontation between the two. The more they work together, however, a mutual respect develops between the two, to the point where Nomi requests that Bond regain his 007 number (his actual new 00 number is never revealed), and any concerns that Nomi is being setup to replace James Bond in future films are largely dashed as she never takes the spotlight away from Bond and she largely exists as a competent support character for Bond. Bond has a number of other allies helping him both officially and unofficially; when Bond agrees to help Felix, he is partnered with the lovely and excitable Paloma (Ana de Armas), a CIA agent on her first assignment who’s more than capable of kicking ass even while in a very revealing silk dress. Paloma helps Bond infiltrate a mass gathering of Spectre agents, which is revealed to be a trap setup by Blofeld to kill bond using Heracles, however all of Spectre end up being killed instead when Obruchev reprograms the nanobots to target the Spectre agents, which was a bit of an anti-climatic end to one of Bond’s most notorious and iconic evil organisations. After arguing with M over Heracles, Bond works independently to find out more information about the virus and concludes that he needs to gain access to Blofeld; to do this, he asks Moneypenny and Q for help, and they’re able to help him hack into a bionic eye used my Primo to reveal crucial information that gets Bond reinstated at MI6. Q actually plays a surprisingly big role in the film as he’s out in the field on more than one occasion and even communicates with Bond and Nomi through their earpieces in the finale, which is something I’ve never seen in a Bond film before. It does lead to an amusing moment where Q prepares to walk Bond through a complex procedure to open up the blast doors and allow Safin’s base to be bombarded with a missile assault and Bond simply frantically presses every button and pulls every lever.

Safin makes an immediate impression before becoming a bit of a cliché, fanatical villain.

The main villain of the film, Safin, is largely absent for much of the film and left as this mysterious, unknown third party. Instead, most of the film’s early going is focused on the remnants of Spectre, which Blofeld is secretly controlling while being locked up and isolated in prison. He’s been able to do this because he’s been diagnosed as clinically insane and spends his days muttering and mumbling in his cell and refuses to talk to anyone except his psychiatrist, Madeline. This leads to an awkward reunion between Bond and Madeline, and a tense reunion between Bond and his adopted brother; Blofeld delights in taunting Bond and having outwitted him, and the irony that the two now have a common enemy as Safin is specifically targeting Spectre agents and Blofeld himself to get his revenge. Unfortunately, we don’t really get to see too much of Blofeld here, and I continue to be unimpressed with Waltz’s performance as the character, which just a little too quirky and unhinged for my tastes considering how refined the character usually is. Safin picks up some of the slack in this regard, appearing to echo classic bond villains such as Doctor Julius No (Joseph Wiseman), Karl Stromberg (Curt Jürgens), and Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) in his soft-spoken, unsettling menace and sporting a disturbing skin condition. Safin is motivated to kill all of Spectre after they caused the death of his family, but his plot shifts to worldwide mass murderer after he acquires Heracles, which escalates his favoured method of using plants for a variety of nefarious purposes into reshaping the world into his own image. When he’s first introduced, Safin is clad in a white snowsuit and wearing an expressionless mask, resulting in a twisted visage as he hunts down the young Madeline, and the entire sequence is framed like a slasher horror film; however, when Safin finally returns later in the film, he’s set aside his mask and is just another disquieting, unhinged Bond villain in a suit with delusions of grandeur.

The Nitty-Gritty:
One of the most highly anticipated traditions of any James Bond film is the title sequence, in which the chosen song for the film plays over images of scantily-clad women, guns, and other obscure imagery tangentially related to the film. No Time to Die not only brings back the iconic gun barrel sequence (which also gets a call-back later in the film when Bond shoots an assailant down a curved tunnel) but the title sequence even recalls the very first title sequence of the series by bringing back the multiple circular dots that blared at the screen in the opening of Dr. No (Young, 1962), before descending into the usual iconography of guns firing and images of the main actors looking morose. It’s a pretty decent title sequence but for one crucial element; the title song itself, “No Time to Die”, by Billie Eilish. Now, admittedly, I am not a fan of Eilish; I find her music grating, depressing, and uninspiring, but I went into this willing to set aside these prejudices (after all, I’m not fan of Adele or Sam Smith and their Bond themes were pretty good) and remained unimpressed. I just don’t think the song really works; it never properly kicks into a higher gear and just sets a bleak, miserable tone for that the film doesn’t really reflect. The song really should have been a celebration of Bond’s life and emphasised this being the end of an era, and instead just conveys the same dullness of your average gloomy Billie Eilish song. Thankfully, some of these themes of it being a celebration of all things Bond and the end of Craig’s time as the character are revisited throughout the film; Louis Armstrong’s “We Have all the Time in the World” plays in the beginning and ending of the film, which is a nice (if unexpected) call-back to On her Majesty’s Secret Service (Hunt, 1969), and even had me half-expecting to see Madeline gunned down by one of Blofeld’s agents as she and Bond are racing through Italy.

Armed with his most iconic gadgets and teamed with beautiful allies, Bond is as effective as ever.

Additionally, Bond drives his iconic Aston Martin DB5, which is outfitted with all of the classic gadgets of old, and there’s even a touching tribute to Judi Dench and Bernard Lee as portraits of them adorn the walls of MI6. I actually really love the call-backs to classic Bond aesthetics that finally got reintroduced to the series in Skyfall, such as the door to M’s office (and the office itself) while still keeping things grounded in the current times with modern technology. We even get a spin on Bond’s classic watch gadget as Q furnishes him with a watch capable of emitting a short-range, high-frequency electromagnetic pulse that pays off beautifully in offing Primo (but is apparently unable to affect the nanobots coursing through Bond’s bloodstream, which is where I expected the gadget to really come into play). As mentioned, the film’s opening is starkly different to those of other Bond films not just for its length but also for the way its short, which mirrors a slasher horror film, with Safin even appearing and being portrayed as an unsettling masked home invader. Safin’s casual brutality is mirrored in Bond’s ruthlessness; both characters are completely at ease with killing (even executing) others in the line of duty, and Safin even proposes that the two are more alike that they may seem at first glance. Interestingly, the idea that Bond has “lost a step” due to his advancing age, injuries, and being out of action for so long is largely cast aside here; it could have been revisited once he meets and works alongside Nomi but, instead Bond is running, fighting, and chasing down bad guys with very few signs of having slowed down. If anything, Bond’s more effective and brutal than ever; he’s easily able to evade Primo and his mercenaries by leaping from a bridge with only a precarious wire for support, races across Italy on a motorcycle, has a series of brutal fistfights that continue to highlight Craig’s Bond’s adaptability when brawling, and the film is punctuated by a number of car chases against both jeeps and a helicopter to help keep things exhilarating. Yes, it’s a long film, even for a Bond movie, but all Bond movies are quite long and it never really felt like it was dragging all that much; I could see a few scenes and even characters being trimmed and maybe cutting back on some of the sweeping establishing shots, but overall I was quite satisfied with the length of the film and the amount of action packed in between its slower, more poignant moments.

Blofeld manipulates events from his prison cell before being unceremoniously offed by Safin.

Many Bond films become so iconic because of their villains, and as ever there’s a number of bad guys bumping around in No Time to Die; Primo stands out for his bulging bionic eye, but is mainly just Spectre’s main henchman and gets very little to do beyond cropping up to cause Bond headaches throughout the film. Bond’s focus shifts towards tracking down CIA operative Logan Ash (Billy Magnussen) after he proves to be a double-agent working for Spectre; Nash, a nervous and overly enthusiastic agent, plays a pivotal role in the film’s early going when his betrayal leads to the tragic death of Felix and it’s incredibly cathartic seeing Bond brutally brush the slimy little weasel under a jeep. Obruchev is the living McGuffin of the film, being a slightly neurotic Russian scientist who at first seems to be reluctantly assisting Spectre and Safin and soon turns out to enjoy his work on the nanobots a little too much, meaning he more than deserves his gruesome dip into an acid bath at Nomi’s hands.  And then there’s Blofeld, the ultimate puppet master of the film who continues to torment his stepbrother even while locked up; their interaction is a bevy of emotions, with Bond flipping between eccentricity and seething rage, leading to him choking Blofeld while spitting “Die, Blofeld!” Although Bond pulls back at the last minute, and gets berated by Tanner for losing control of his emotions, Blofeld is revealed to have died thanks to Bond unknowingly being exposed to nanobots specifically programmed to kill the Spectre head honcho, which was a death as anticlimactic as it was predictable (we see Madeline spraying herself with Safin’s nanobots, and Bond grab her wrist, prior to Bond choking Blofeld). Safin’s plot involves the use of Heracles, a vast array of nanobots that can be set to kill specific targets by programming them with DNA; once they’re inside your body, they’re there for ever and will pass from host to host until they reach their intended target, and Safin even has Obruchev modify them to kill the bloodline of the target as well. M’s direct involvement in this project casts an ugly shade of grey on the character, leading him into conflict with Bond and driving him to use every resource available, even at the expense of keeping the Prime Minister out of the loop and the world on the brink of war, just to eradicate Heracles once and for all. Safin’s jump from wanting revenge against Spectre to destroying most of the world’s population is quite the leap, but he is fully prepared to do this and has more than enough resources to pull it off; how he has these resources isn’t really explained (I guess he appropriated them from Spectre?) but he does sport a suitably ominous repurposes World War Two base as his headquarters and apparently has a background in using poisonous and otherwise toxic plants in his research. This only bolsters his nanobot technology and, while he is far from a physical threat to Bond, actually ends up making him Bond’s most formidable adversary ever as he’s able to infect Bond with nanobots that make his touch lethal to Madeline, effectively destroying any hope he could have of a normal life with her in the process.

To ensure the safety of his love, his child, and the world, Bond makes the ultimate sacrifice.

The movie may not have time to die, but the characters certainly do! As mentioned, Felix is the first to go in an emotionally charged scene that sees Bond desperately trying to haul his friend’s injured body to safety and then being forced to watch him die right in front of his eyes after he succumbs to Nash’s gunshot. Much of his immediate motivation revolves around wanting to avenge and honour Felix’s death, though I do think it might have had even more impact if Felix had joined Bond and Paloma on their mission (or even, dare I say it, replaced Paloma entirely) just so we could have seen the two interacting a little bit more and working together in the field. Blofeld also lives to die another day as, despite Bond’s best efforts to ensure that he has a long and unhappy existence rotting away in prison, Safin succeeds in offing the Spectre head through his proxies. I wasn’t exactly blown away by Waltz’s performance in the role, but I do have a fondness for the character’s iconography and impact on the franchise, so it was a bit disappointing to see him brought in as a Doctor Hannibal Lecter-type (Anthony Hopkins) character only to be killed off in anticlimactic fashion. Finally, believe it or not, No Time to Die actually has the balls to kill off the iconic superspy! All throughout the movie, Bond experiences and cheats death at every turn (he survives at least two explosions at close range with minimal damage beyond impaired hearing) and has been assumed dead for at least five years, but No Time to Die finds the character in a position where he’s finally achieved a sense of happiness that he had been searching for since the days of Casino Royale. However, his past haunts him so much that he immediately believes that Madeline has betrayed him, which costs him valuable time with her, and the two quickly rekindle their romance once they reunite, but, more crucially, means he misses out on experiencing fatherhood as he finds Madeline has sired his child, Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet). While she’s initially stated to not be his, it’s pretty obvious that she is, even to Bond, and he makes it a priority to rescue her, and Madeline, from Safin after he and Nomi infiltrate his base to shut down his operation. While successful, Bond is injured by multiple gunshots and drawn into a physical altercation with Safin, which sees him brutally snap the terrorist’s arm but being infected with nanobots that will kill Madeline and Mathilde if he touches them. After executing Safin, Bond is forced to stay behind on the island and open the blast doors so that the military’s missile strike will destroy the facility, bidding a heartfelt farewell to Madeline before being killed in the bombardment. In the aftermath, his life and sacrifice are toasted by M, Nomi, Q, and Moneypenny while Madeline prepares to regale her daughter with stories of her father. I kind of suspected that this might happen given the trailers and Craig’s desire to step away from the role, but also thought that the character would simply fake his death to finally retire from his violent life and be succeeded by Nomi, but the film actually went all-in with finishing off the character in perhaps the most dramatic way possible that hit with an impact I honestly wasn’t expecting.

The Summary:
No Time to Die is another strong effort in the Daniel Craig-era of James Bond movies; since his Bond films have all largely been sequential, it’s definitely advisable to be somewhat familiar with his previous outings as the character since the entire film is framed as a celebration of Bond’s life and career and a swansong not just to Craig but the character itself. Never before has a James Bond film positioned the renowned superspy in such an uncharacteristic position where he is largely retired from active service and focused entirely on living a normal life as the world passes him by, and his return to action seems to reinvigorate not just the character but those around him as well, with many of his allies excited to be working alongside him once again. Safin starts off as a strong and visually intriguing character, before descending into cliché Bond villainy and plotting to destroy the world for tenuous reasons, and Blofeld’s big return may be largely squandered but these issues are largely secondary compared to the continued character study into Bond’s emotional journey. Craig’s Bond is probably to most developed and complex of all the Bonds since we’ve witnessed his tumultuous and tragic evolution into an impassive spy and his struggle to reconcile his duty with his desire to lay down his guns, and all of this culminates in his stunned discovery that he has a child out their in a world and something more tangible worth fighting, and dying, for. The execution of Bond’s ultimate end may not land well for some; yes, it’s overly dramatic and reminded me of the overblown farewells modern-day Doctor Who actors give when they leave the role, and leaves a lot of questions regarding the series going forward. Will they recast and reboot again, or will they try and continue the story in this world with Nomi as the new 007? It’s hard to tell, and the film may end up being overshadowed by being “the one where Bond dies”, but I felt that it was an emotional and poignant journey and end for the character, and that the film was a strong and enjoyable outing throughout, and I’m excited to see where the series goes next if they do recast.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Have you seen No Time to Die? If so, what did you think to it and where would you rank it against other James Bond films, especially Daniel Craig’s earlier efforts? What did you think to Safin, his characterisation and his plot, and Blofeld’s brief return? Were you impressed by Nomi and would you like to see her get her own solo film as 007 going forward? Which of the character’s deaths was the most surprising and memorable for you and what did you think to the decision to kill Bond off? Are you pissed off that I spoiled the entire film rather than dancing around the plot? What is your favourite James Bond film and who would you like to see cast in the role someday? Whatever you thought about No Time to Die, sign up to leave a comment below or leave a response on my social media.

Movie Night [Global James Bond Day]: GoldenEye

Dr. K3 Comments

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

Released: 17 November 1995
Director: Martin Campbell
Distributor: MGM/UA Distribution Co. and United International Pictures
Budget: $60 million
Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen, Alan Cumming, and Judi Dench

The Plot:
In the midst of an administrative shake-up at MI6, renowned super spy James Bond/007 (Brosnan) in drawn into a confrontation with a rogue 00 agent who plans to use a satellite weapon known as “GoldenEye” to cause a global financial meltdown.

The Background:
James Bond, Agent 007 of MI6, was created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953 and was heavily based upon his time and experiences as a navy intelligence officer. Following a very strange, comedic adaptation of his works, James Bond was popularised by Sean Connery’s immortal and iconic portrayal of the character, which kick-started an unparalleled cinematic franchise. However, in the late-eighties/early-nineties, the franchise had stalled somewhat. Plans for a third picture for then-current Bond Timothy Dalton fell through thanks to legal issues and, by the time production of the seventeenth Bond film was ready to begin, Dalton had resigned from the role since he couldn’t commit to multiple films. Of course, every generation has their James Bond and, as a result, Pierce Brosnan was finally cast in the role and became the Bond for my generation. The character, and the film’s story (the first not adapted or inspired by from an existing Fleming text), was also updated to then-modern times and largely disregarded the previous films long before franchise reboots were really a well-known trope of cinema. With a worldwide gross of over $350 million, GoldenEye was a phenomenal box office success and effectively revitalised what had been a dormant franchise. GoldenEye was also a a critical hit and impressed with its contemporary sensibilities. Of course, while the film is still fondly remembered, it had a lasting impact thanks to the Nintendo 64 videogame adaptation, GoldenEye 007 (Rare, 1997), which is largely regarded as one of the best videogame adaptations, if not one of the greatest videogames, of all time.

The Review:
Unlike a lot of Bond movies, GoldenEye’s cold open actually plays into the films larger plot. The movie begins nine years ago with Bond and his partner and friend, Alec Trevelyan/006 (Bean), infiltrating a facility in Russia. This establishes, first and foremost, their unique relationship, which is base don a lot of witty banter and sayings, and Bond’s hatred of Colonel Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov (Gottfried John) after Ourumov executes 006 in cold blood. It’s a thrilling opening sequence, shot in such a way as to slowly acclimatise us to this new Bond (we only see Brosnan’s face after he has infiltrated the facility, building up tension to the reveal of the new actor) and to show that he’s just as bold, witty, and adaptable as ever as he’s able to commandeer a motorcycle and a plane and even pull himself out of what is obviously a deadly free fall.

Bond’s methods and attitude may be seen as antiquated but they’re no less effective.

When we pick up with Bond nine years later, MI6 is in the midst of an administrative shake-up. The new M (Dench) is a woman and is generally perceived by Bond and some of his co-workers (specifically Bill Tanner (Michael Kitchen), M’s chief of staff) to be unfit for the job due to her predication for statistical analysis rather than Bond’s more traditional, proactive methods of action. Their relationship is frosty, at best, and openly explored in a candid discussion between the two in which M confronts Bond over his judgements and isn’t afraid to tell him exactly what she thinks of him. To M, Bond is a “relic of the Cold War” whose methods are out-dated and borderline dangerous in the modern age of espionage. However, by airing their grievances to each other, they develop a mutual respect and admiration in which Bond appreciates M’s candour and M puts her trust in Bond to do what he does best and investigate the GoldenEye satellite. Indeed, Bond’s methods are a significant plot point in the film. H seduces the girl sent to psychologically evaluate him due to his lack of interest in MI6 protocol and his tendency to shoot first, ask questions later, and bulldoze into any situation, wrecking vehicles in the process, is frequently chastised by Natalya Simonova (Scorupco). Indeed, even for KPG figureheads like Valentin Zukovsky (Robbie Coltrane) criticise Bond for continuing to live in the past and work for MI6. Yet, as you might expect, Bond’s unique approach to his work, despite him continually being a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” gets results and, despite his critics, he is capable of subterfuge and investigatory techniques as well, as seen in his investigation into the Tiger Helicopter and Xenia Onatopp’s (Janssen) links to the Janus Syndicate, all of which are based on his instincts but turn out to be valid lines of enquiry.

While not a typical Bond Girl, Natalya shines through her intelligence and headstrong nature.

During Bond’s investigation of the devastation at Severnaya, he inevitably crosses path with Natalya, a programmer from the Severnaya facility who witnessed Ourumov and Xenia killing all of her co-workers, firing the weapon, and stealing the GoldenEye firing key for the remaining satellite. Unlike a lot of Bond Girls, Natalya is just a regular and, comparatively, unremarkable young woman. She’s basically a civilian, one who is scared out of her wits during the attack and continuously disgusted with the killing. She also questions Bond’s motives and his cold, clinical approach to his work and, as a result, provides a brief glimpse into his more vulnerable, human side. However, while she is somewhat lacking in fortitude and is held hostage a bit too often for my liking, Natalya is an extremely capable and intelligent Bond Girl: she is headstrong, ordering Bond about at various points and forcing him to take her along on his mission. Her technical ability is directly responsible for tracking the location of Janus; and, thanks to her experience with the satellite, she’s able to reprogram and reposition it even despite the snide remarks regarding her ability by her former colleague, the lewd and reprehensible Grishenko (Cumming).

Xenia and Ourumov represent the Janus Syndicate and are sadistic killers.

Of course, Natalya isn’t the only Bond Girl in the film. Xenia is quite a unique femme fatal for Bond; shrewd, alluring, and intelligent, she’s no mere henchwoman and is, instead, a highly sexually charged and dangerous adversary capable of seducing men into bed and crushing their ribs with her powerful thighs. She’s also a sadist who revels in the thrill of killing, literally getting off on it at various points throughout the film, and is more than a match for Bond as an intellectual and physical opponent. The Janus Syndicate is rounded out by Ourumov himself; a traitor to his own country, Ourumov aspires of being the next “iron man of Russia” and is an abrasive, egotistical man. However, while he seems slightly unhinged at the best of times and is a pivotal antagonist in many ways, Ourumov is reduced to little more than a henchman for Janus who uses his military rank and position to acquire the GoldenEye access codes.  

Bond’s former friend and partner turns out to be a traitor looking for vengeance for his people.

As for the headman of the Janus Syndicate, the film goes out of its way to paint the arms dealer and terrorist as a mysterious and enigmatic figure who hasn’t been seen and about whom very little is known except for the fact that he’s a “Lienz Cossack”. Of course, it turns out to be Alec Trevelyan, who faked his death but has been left horribly scarred on one side of his face after being caught in the explosion at the facility. After witnessing the cruel treatment of his people and the deaths of his family after the British betrayed them following the Second World War, Alec has been scheming for years to take revenge for this betrayal, beginning with infiltrating MI6 and culminating in a plan to destroy the British economy. Of course, Bond isn’t exactly without a degree of support during his mission. As always, Q (Desmond Llewelyn) is on hand to talk Bond through his new gadgets (nothing massively fancy; a belt that fires a high tension wire and an exploding pen, though Q Branch is full of fun little gags and mishaps in the background) and share some banter with him. Rather than being supported out in the field by long-standing Bond ally Felix Leiter (Various), Brosnan’s Bond is aided by Jack Wade (Joe Don Baker), who is a far more jaded and pragmatic CIA operative, and is able to convince Valentin to lead him to Janus by “[appealing to] his wallet”.

The Nitty-Gritty:
If there’s a downside to GoldenEye, especially for long-time James Bond fans, it’s probably the lack of any real car-based shenanigans. Bond never gets to use any of the gadgets and gizmos Q briefs him on in his fancy new BMW and, aside from the opening car chase against Xenia, there’s no real traditional car chases or car-based action. I don’t really mind this, though, to be honest as I’m not really a car guy and my enjoyment of a film isn’t predicate don the presence of a car chase.

Bond’s mission is a lot more grounded than usual but no less global in its scope.

Plus, GoldenEye more than makes up for it was Bond’s exhilarating and highly amusing jaunt through St. Petersburg in a tank! Following a thrilling escape from the archives, Bond is forced to commandeer a Russian T-54/T-55 tank to pursue Ourumov (who has taken Natalya hostage) through the streets of St. Petersberg. It’s very much a “Bond Moment” but, like much of the film, isn’t quite as over the top as some of Roger Moore’s antics (though I’m fairly certain one man can’t drive a tank in the way that Bond does) and culminates in Bond successfully bringing Janus’ armoured train base to a halt with a single shell. In true Bond tradition, GoldenEye’s plot takes Bond all over the world; Bond’s mission takes him to Monte Carlo, Russia, and Cuba, with all three destinations being starkly contrasted to each other (he spends the majority of his time in Monte Carlo in a casino, St. Petersberg is portrayed as a cold (if architecturally beautiful) country still recovering from the Cold War, and Cuba is a lush, luminous jungle). Similarly, GoldenEye is full of practical stunts and effects, from model shots used during the destruction of the Severnaya base and the raising of Janus’s antenna cradle to actual tanks, trains, and other vehicles all being involved in explosive sequences that lend a real credibility and gravitas to Bond’s otherwise extravagant actions. In fact, the only effects scenes that are a bit questionable are Bond’s dive into the plane at the start of the film and the shot of Boris’s flash-frozen form when he meets his fitting end.

Xenia’s aggression, physicality, and thighs of steel make her a formidable opponent for Bond.

Action is paced out wonderfully, though, with plenty of shoot-outs and a fights taking place to spice things up and Bond even escaping from an impossible death trap within a helicopter. While I still don’t get why that random deckhand attacked Bond on the frigate, the towel gag afterwards always makes me laugh, and the many confrontations between Bond and Xenia are a particular highlight. Thanks to his misogynistic nature, Bond has no compunction about fighting a woman, though Xenia’s physicality and aggression is enough to put him on the back foot; in the end, he’s able to bring her to a fitting end by causing her to be crushed to death against a tree.

Janus was probably Bond’s most personal villain yet due to his close relationship with 007.

Though Bond drops a characteristically witty quip regarding this, and many of the other events in the film, GoldenEye is one of the more personal missions for Bond. Taking his name from the two-faced Roman God, and having worked alongside 007 for years, Janus is a cold, calculating, and deeply personal villain for Bond. Thanks to his background as a Lienz Cossack, Janus has a propensity for deception, betrayal, and lies and it’s clear that Bond is deeply affected by Alec’s treachery even as he tries to compartmentalise his feelings on the matter. Alec is, effectively, Bond’s dark reflection and he knows exactly how to hurt him, which buttons to press, and how to counteract his methods, immediately taking his watch, defusing his mines, and fully aware that Bond’s Achilles’ Heel is his affection for women. All of this culminates in a fittingly brutal and visceral final fight between the two as they match each other blow for blow and shot to shot (Alec even taunts Bond with the claim that he (as in Alec) was “always better”) during their climatic chase/fight across the antenna cradle. Ever since he revealed his identity to Bond, Janus continually questions Bond’s unwavering loyalty to the mission and his country rather than his friend and, in the end, Bond emphatically drops his old comrade-in-arms to his death not for England but out of personal vindication for himself.

The Summary:
GoldenEye was the first Bond film I ever watched all the way through and that is solely because of my enjoyment of the videogame adaptation. I had been aware of Bond before GoldenEye but never been that interested in the franchise but GoldenEye changed all that with its slick, stylish, and entertaining presentation and story. Brosnan was the Bond of my generation and, even now, I consider him to be one of the best; charming, sophisticated, and extremely witty, his Bond was like an amalgamation of all of his predecessors as he had the same charisma and wit as Moore but could also be gritty and rugged like Connery and Dalton (…he was also a man, like George Lazenby). The subtext of Bond being an antiquated resource whose time has long since passed is interesting and is used to juxtapose Bond’s unique, somewhat blunt approach to his work against more modern, technologically orientated times. Sadly, this plot point didn’t really appear in Brosnan’s subsequent Bond films but it did crop up again in later Daniel Craig movies and is an intriguing inclusion since it shows that, while all the technology and resources of the modern age are useful, nothing beats the good, old-fashioned, hands-on approach. GoldenEye excels through its polished presentation, memorable theme song and score, and some tremendous performances all around; Sean bean makes for an equally charismatic and vicious antagonist, one far more personal than the majority of Bond’s previous villains, who serves as a dark reflection of Bond since he was his friend, partner, and is fully aware of all of MI6’s training and protocols to make him more than a match for 007. Action and stunts are far more subdued this time around, which helps to ground the film and reintroduce Bond as a more serious and realistic character and franchise while still being over-the-top and fun throughout. Endlessly quotable and entertaining from start to finish, GoldenEye remains one of my favourite Bond films (possibly my absolutely favourite) and was a fantastic return to prominence for the character and the franchise.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

Are you a fan of GoldenEye? Where does it rank against the other James Bond films for you? What did you think to Pierce Brosnan’s debut and portrayal of the character? Did you like the casting of Judi Dench as M and the subtext regarding Bond’s outdated ways and attitudes? What did you think to Sean Bean’s inclusion as the villain and his inevitable death? Did you ever play the videogame and, if so, how do you think it works as an adaptation of the film? Which Bond actor, film, story, villain, or moment is your favourite? How are you celebrating Global James Bond Day today? Whatever you think about GoldenEye, or James Bond in general, feel free to leave a comment down below.

Movie Night: Color Out of Space

Dr. KLeave a comment

Released: 7 September 2019
Director: Richard Stanley
Distributor: RLJE Films
Budget: $6 to 12 million
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Brendan Meyer, Julian Hilliard, and Elliot Knight

The Plot:
Nathan Gardner (Cage) and his family have moved out to his late father’s farm following his wife Theresa’s (Richardson) mastectomy. Their simple life of raising alpacas is interrupted when a strange alien meteorite lands in their garden and a strange, unquantifiable and seemingly intelligent and malevolent living colour begins to infect and infest the local wildlife, the animals, and the Gardner family in increasingly strange and horrific ways.

The Background:
Being a big fan of horror, fantasy, and Stephen King’s, it’s perhaps almost inevitable that, at some point in my admittedly-limited scope of reading, I would have heard of the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Born in 1890, Howard Phillips Lovecraft is perhaps one of horror/fantasy fiction’s most surreal and complex writers; known for conjuring nightmarish imagery and madness-inducing concepts and creatures, Lovecraft created an interconnected set of works that delved into the deepest, darkest fears of the human psyche and posited the idea that humanity is a mere speak in the grand scheme of the cosmos. In 1927, Lovecraft penned “The Colour Out of Space”, a story which he hoped would buck the trend for traditional, humanoid depictions of alien life forms. Interestingly, despite the immense mainstream success of his more notable stories, like “The Call of Cthulhu” (Lovecraft, 1926), Lovecraft considered “The Colour Out of Space” to be his favourite work and the story saw a number of adaptations over the years before director Richard Stanley began putting together this modern-day adaptation. Though planned as the first in a trilogy of films based on Lovecraft’s works, the film’s limited release and near-minuscule box office may scarper those plans despite it receiving generally positive reviews.

The Review:
If there’s one thing that might put the general audience off of viewing Color Out of Space (beyond the Americanised title), it’s the inclusion of Nicolas Cage in the lead role. Far from the blockbuster action hero he was in the nineties, Cage has somewhat reinvented himself in recent years, taking on more experimental and outlandish roles in productions with a fraction of the budget and release he is known for. Indeed, his reputation in Hollywood has become almost farcical as he brings a manic, unpredictable energy to each role he plays so you’re never really quite sure of what to expect when he shows up in a film.

Cage makes for a surprisingly relatable, ordinary man affected by an extraordinary event.

It’s fitting, then, that Cage is cast in a film based on a Lovecraftian tale; Lovecraft was notorious for conjuring up unspeakable entities that would turn the minds of us insignificant humans to a fine paste so it’s actually surprisingly remarkable foresight on the filmmakers’ part to cast the infamously kooky Cage in the lead role of Nathan Gardener. At the beginning of the film, Gardener is your typical everyman; a doting and devoted husband and father, he’s just trying to eek out a living on his father’s old farm and to return his family to some sort of normalcy after his wife’s battle with cancer. Cage brings a quiet, subdued energy to this portion of the role; you can tell he still deeply loves and cares for his wife and kids and is struggling to keep things together after all they’ve been through but he is. Nevertheless, a relatable and vulnerable character whom you buy as just a regular Dad trying to do what’s best.

Cage can always be relied upon to bring the crazy to any film he is cast in.

Things immediately take a turn into the bizarre and the surreal when the mysterious meteorite crashes into their garden; though Nathan isn’t the first to truly feel the effects of the alien Colour, he is the first to react to it, smelling a pungent stench that no others can before slowly being transformed and twisted by the influence of the titular Colour. Before long, he’s spouting all kinds of weird nonsense, exploding into unpredictable and even violent outbursts, and clearly becoming possessed by this unquantifiable alien influence to the point where he almost becomes a kind of avatar for the Colour and the closest thing the film has to a tangible antagonist.

Theresa is horrifically influenced by the presence of the Colour.

Of course, it’s not just the Nic Cage show; Joely Richardson plays his wife, Theresa, a relatively normal, everyday woman who is just trying to get back on track with her work, family, and sense of self confidence after her battle with cancer. She is, unfortunately, the first of the family to really feel the influence of the Colour, slipping into a zombie-like stupor and accidentally slicing off two of her fingers. As the Colour’s influence grows, her conversations and interactions with Nathan and the kids become increasingly disjointed and erratic but, through it all, her primary concern is for the welfare of her children (which, as I’ll discuss in a bit, turns out to be her downfall).

I really enjoyed, and believed, the chemistry between Benny and Lavinia.

As for the Gardener’s kids, Color Out of Space features some pretty decent casting; Lavinia (Arthur) is the couple’s only daughter, a Wiccan who is just on the cusp of growing old and rebellious enough to resent her family but is still devoted enough to truly care for her younger brother, Jack (Hilliard) and have a pretty believable friendly rivalry with her older brother, Benny (Meyer). Benny is depicted as a bit of an absent-minded stoner and the young muscle of the family as he’s constantly being roped into helping his father with the farm’s course and his outrageous alpacas but, despite annoyance and apathy being etched onto his face, he never once complains or throws a tantrum over this; as with all of the Gardener’s, family unity remains at the heart of these characters, however rocky that ground might have become before the film begins. And then there’s Jack, a cute and naïve sort of kid who has a natural curiosity and a fitting child-like whimsy about him. While his older siblings comment on the Colour’s influence but don’t truly succumb to it (with the eventual exception of Lavinia), Jack is the first one to really acknowledge the Colour’s alien presence, seemingly hearing and seeing it and attempting to communicate with it. Sadly, his affection for the Colour (which he views as a kind of imaginary friend) leads him to nothing but a heartbreakingly gruesome fate thanks the Colour’s apparent malevolence (or, perhaps, naivety).

The Nitty-Gritty:
One of the things that often proves so difficult for filmmakers when it comes to adapting the works of Lovecraft is just how obscure and indescribable his many horrific creations are; perhaps, of all of Lovecraft’s monsters, the Colour is the most “unfilmable” since the written word is far better at positing a living, alien Colour that is beyond human comprehension. Film is, obviously, an inherently visual medium so a colour must be shown onscreen and I feel that the filmmaker’s realised the Colour in perhaps the best way they possibly could. Rather than a traditional alien beast, the Colour is just that; a twisted, distorted sentient spectrum of light that is at once beautiful and horrific, blinding and awe-inspiring, resembling a flash of pure light one moment and then a vortex of extraterrestrial intent the next. For the most part, the Colour is realised in an unsettling hue of purple, magenta, and pink surrounded by a clear distortion of physical reality; when it emerges from the Gardener’s well, it almost resembles a tentacled monstrosity but it is wisely never really given a true, quantifiable physical form.

Theresa and Jack suffer a horrific fate due to the Colour’s touch…

Instead, the Colour acts through the things it influences, whether that is water, plants, or animals. It affects and distorts time and space, making moments drag out or flash past in an instant, causing characters to experience aggressive mood swings and events to seemingly happen at random and with no explanation. At first, the Colour’s influence is subtle, induced trance-like states, sending the Gardener’s animals into a frenzy, and making Lavinia sick when she drinks the tainted water but, all too soon, its influence begins to take on a more malicious note. When the Colour directly interacts with other creatures, it distorts and mutates them in gruesome ways; the Gardener’s alpacas end up fused together into a squealing, nightmarish beast like something from the imagination of David Cronenberg or John Carpenter. Described as “just a colour…but it burns”, it’s as tough the Colour were attempting to figure out the life forms it has found itself living with and, since it is unable to recognise them, transforms them and the surrounding area into forms it is more accustomed to. This is directly speculated upon by another of the Colour’s victims, Ezra (Tommy Chong), who is left a hollowed out dusk that decays into fragments of sizzling colour when he is discovered.

Lavinia offers a glimpse of the nightmare hellscape the Colour calls home…

Yet it is Theresa and Jack who arguably suffer the most due to the Colour’s influence; in trying to shield Jack from the Colour, Theresa and her young son become enveloped by its light and the result is a mutilated, agonisingly disgusting amalgamation of the two that, thankfully, is masterfully never lingered on for more than a few seconds at a time. While Nathan affords his beloved alpacas a mercifully swift death, the Colour’s influence drives him mad with distraction, allowing the Jack/Theresa creature to mutate into a ghastly spider-like….thing that attacks Lavinia in a monstrous fury before finally being put out of its misery. In the end, after the Colour has claimed her entire family, Lavinia falls back on her Wiccan ways, drawing solace from her copy of the Necronomicon and attempting to cast a series of spells and prayers to shield herself and her family, this leads to her self-mutilating herself in a vain attempt to ward off the Colour but she too becomes possessed by its influence, affording us a glimpse of the nightmarishly indescribable world that the Colour originated from before it blasts its way back to the space between waking worlds, taking the Gardener’s, their farm, and most of the surrounding area with it and leaving behind a sole survivor, Ward Phillips (Knight), a visiting Hydrologist who tries to help the family and ends up traumatised by the horrific events he bares witness to.

The Summary:
I’ve read my way through my fair share of Lovecraft’s tales and, of them, “The Colour Out of Space” was indeed one of the stronger stories. Though Lovecraft’s writing can be, at times, impenetrable and obtuse, “The Colour Out of Space” told a relatively simple tale of a normal, everyday family coming onto contact with a force of nature far beyond that of human comprehension and I have to say that Color Out of Space does a commendable job of not only bringing Lovecraft’s story to life but also expanding upon it with influence form his other works. With stellar, believable performances from top to bottom and some truly incredible special effects work (both on the Colour itself and the monstrosities it creates), Color Out of Space is quite the psychological thrill-ride with plenty of gory and gruesome moments to satiate more impatient audience members. It’s one of those films that truly leaves you questioning what is beyond our world, offering little in the way of explanations for the events that unfold, and dropping normal, everyday, relatable characters into an extraordinary and terrifying situation that has a suitably bleak and thought-provoking conclusion.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think to Color Out of Space? Did you appreciate the film’s subtle, nuance, mounting dread and atmosphere or was it, perhaps, too surreal and slow for you? Have you read the original short story, or any Lovecraft for that matter? What did you think to how the film realised the Colour and do you think it could have been done better or differently? Which Lovecraft story is your favourite and why? What other Lovecraft works would you like to see get a big-screen adaptation? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment below.

Movie Night: First Blood

Dr. K5 Comments

Released: 22 October 1982
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Distributor: Orion Pictures
Budget: $15 million
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Brian Dennehy, Jack Starrett, Bill McKinney, and Richard Crenna

The Plot:
After returning to the United States from the Vietnam War, former United States Army Special Forces soldier John J. Rambo (Stallone) faces not adulation, admiration, or a hero’s welcome but, rather, persecution and abuse at the hands of small-town sheriff William Teasle (Dennehy). Driven into the woods and suffering from post-traumatic stress and nightmarish memories of his time as a prisoner of war, Rambo wages a one-man war against his tormentors using only his unparalleled survival skills and finely-tune guerrilla tactics.

The Background:
First Blood is an adaptation of a novel by the same name, which was written by David Morrell and published in 1972. Influenced by Rogue Male (Household, 1939) and horrific stories of the Vietnam War told by his students, Morrell’s book was well-received upon release but the subsequent movie adaptation languished in development hell for ten years. Production began in earnest when Sylvester Stallone signed on to the project; Stallone, who was a proven box office commodity after the success of the first three Rocky films (Various, 1976 to 1982) also wrote around seven different versions of the film’s script but, while an ending was filmed that reflected the bleak conclusion of the novel and Rambo’s death, it was ultimately cut at the agreement of Stallone and Kotcheff. Interestingly, upon release, First Blood was met with mixed reviews, although the actors’ performances were highly praised (with Stallone’s being notably well-received). Regardless, First Blood more than made up for this with its frankly staggering $125.2 million box office and contemporary reviews not only regard the film much more favourably but First Blood is widely regarded as one of the best films of 1982 and one of the most enduring and influential movies of its genre.

The Review:
When we’re first introduced to Rambo, he’s little more than a vagrant wandering across the country in a bid to reunite with an old war buddy. Literally carrying his entire life over his shoulder, he’s a simple man just trying to reconnect with a world that has largely passed him by. Sadly, however, his attempts are largely in vain; his friend, Delmar Barry, has died after exposure to Agent Orange and it’s clear that Rambo is basically a stranger in his own country.

Teasle immediately takes a dislike to Rambo based on his rugged appearance alone.

However, this is made undeniably explicit when Rambo crosses paths with Sheriff Teasle, who immediately pegs him as a troublemaking drifter on sight alone. Teasle’s judgement of Rambo boils down to little more than his own personal bias and animosity, no matter how hard he tries to justify himself. I’m sure the ironically-named town of Hope is a nice, quiet little town and that Teasle is proud of the tight ship he runs but his persecution of Rambo is completely unfounded and unnecessarily aggressive. Of course, things only escalate after Rambo is arrested on paper thin charges of vagrancy and carrying a concealed weapon; while being processed, Rambo runs afoul of Teasle’s equally-despicable Deputy Sergeant Arthur Galt (Starrett) and suffers nightmarish flashbacks to his time as a prisoner of war. And, honestly, who can blame him after the disgraceful treatment he receives at Galt’s hands; Galt wallops Rambo with his nightstick, orders him to be hosed down and holds him in an unorthodox choke with that same nightstick but he goes too far when he attempts to have Rambo shaved with a straight razor.

Rambo carries both the physical and mental scars of his time as a P.O.W.

Triggered into a maniacal rage, Rambo easily takes out Teasle’s men with his bare hands and flees into the nearby woods. Earlier, Galt had described Rambo as a wild animal and his initial outburst and escape through town certainly support that; Rambo is an animalistic force of brute strength and unbridled rage, all brought on by flashbacks to his torture. Covered in scars and clearly still haunted by his experiences in Vietnam, Rambo is a force to be reckoned with and the police department vastly underestimate his capabilities. This comes to a head in their ensuing attempts to hunt him down; Teasle spares no expense in tracking Rambo down, pursuing him deep into the woods (and destroying his patrol car in the process), bringing in the dogs, calling in the helicopter for air support, and even drafting in the National Guard for support (who come packing a rocket launcher, no less!) It’s a monumental effort just to capture one man who, so far, is guilty of very little other than walking into town and being forced to relive the worst experiences of his life. Teasle’s obsession completely blinds him to Rambo’s obvious threat even after he is told of Rambo’s unmatched capabilities by Colonel Sam Trautman (Crenna) and directly leads to the accidental death of Galt after he takes this obsession to another level and ends up falling to his death as a result.

Rambo incapacitates his oppressors and pursuers through strictly non-lethal means.

This is, of course, a significant element of First Blood that separates it from the subsequent sequels. Rambo isn’t some ruthless killing machine here; instead, he’s a tortured, desperate man pushed to the edge by ignorant and abusive bigots but, despite his unbridled rage and brute savagery, Rambo doesn’t directly kill anyone in his debut film. Indeed, Rambo goes to great lengths to ensure that his pursuers are incapacitated non-lethally, setting elaborate traps and falling back on his extensive and peerless survival training. The result is actually far more impressive as it emphasises Rambo’s skill, ability, and restraint and he’s clearly deeply affected by Galt’s death. He just wanted to be left alone and would have harmlessly passed through town without incident but, when backed against the wall, easily disables Teasle’s men, and gives him every opportunity to “let it go” but is just pushed further and further until he has no other option than to wage a one-man war against the entire town…all with non-lethal force.

The Nitty-Gritty:
First Blood is a deeply moving and bleak representation of the animosity and persecution many Vietnam veterans, and other war heroes, faced back then (and, I’m sure, even now); Rambo did absolutely nothing wrong but was set off by Teasle’s victimisation and Galt’s antagonism. Indeed, the only one of Teasle’s men to actually speak out against their treatment and vendetta against Rambo is the young deputy Mitch Rogers (David Caruso), the one voice of reason in Teasle’s department who begrudgingly follows his orders despite realising the very real threat Rambo poses.

Teasle is unimpressed with Trautman’s warnings of Rambo’s incredible skills.

Of course, Rambo’s history and true danger are related to an unimpressed Teasle by Trautman; Trautman, who takes full responsibility for Rambo’s training, regards Rambo as the literal best of the best, a man trained to survive in the wild with very little resources and who actually thrives under such circumstances. He urges, practically pleads with, Teasle to simply let Rambo slip away, fully confidant that he’ll surrender willingly if allowed to pass on (which is seen to be true when Rambo tries, and fails, to surrender following Galt’s death) but Teasle adamantly refuses to believe that one man can outwit his entire show of force even after everything he’s already seen. Sadly, Trautman’s attempts to quell Rambo’s anger also fall on deaf ears as, by the time he is able to contact him, Rambo has fully committed himself to the fight against Teasle and is basically reliving the war out in the woods.

Rambo’s unique survival skills make him a formidable warrior out in the wilds.

Teasle’s obsessive vendetta against Rambo is only fuelled after Gart’s death and he absolutely refuses to be dissuaded from his crusade no matter how many horror stories Trautman tells him. While Teasle’s humanity is practically non-existent, he does exhibit a bit more than just bigotry and hatred after it appears that Rambo has died; feeling cheated out of his victory, he nonetheless attempts to apologise for his abrasive actions to Trautman. However, it turns out that Trautman’s warnings were all based on irrefutable fact and we clearly see how adaptable and skilled Rambo is; he quickly retrieves his knife, acquires a police radio and other weapons from Teasle’s men, and is able to fashion all kinds of traps using just the woods alone never mind when he commandeers and army supply truck and rolls into town for the explosive finale.

In the end, Rambo breaks down in tears at the torture and abuse he has suffered and surrenders.

In the end, Rambo’s downfall comes not from Teasle or the hundreds of guns pointing his way but from his own traumatic experiences; while his time in Vietnam affords him unprecedented survival skills and allows him to live off the land and overcome superior forces with little more than his wits, it also scarred him both literally and figuratively. Everything he experiences in Hope is a reminder of his time in the war: the straight razor reminds him of his torture, he’s basically reliving his time in the jungles of Vietnam out in the woods, and he is basically attacking an enemy encampment when he storms the town in the end. With Teasle at his mercy, Rambo finally breaks down in despair at the loss of his entire team and the horrors he witnessed in Vietnam; the only one who understands him is Trautman, who validates Rambo’s heart-breaking monologue about the trauma and disrespect he has experienced both in and outside of the Untied States and the film concludes with Teasle injured, but alive, and Rambo surrendering himself to his old mentor and overwhelmed by the atrocities he has had to commit and suffer through.

The Summary:
First Blood is an intense and moving experience; essentially a glorified manhunt for the majority of its runtime, it tells the story of a highly trained and skilled soldier pushed to the edge by abusive and cruel cops and forced to both relive, and live with, the horrors and atrocities he faced in combat. Hounded at every turn and judged for his appearance as much as his status as a former soldier, Rambo receives only persecution and abuse rather than admiration or respect and, in the end, his tormentors pay for their mistreatment not with their lives but with their pride. Despite the insurmountable odds against him, Rambo succeeds through sheer grit and determination and is the original one-man army and yet, despite all of this, all he wanted was a little respect and to be left alone. Indeed, so tormented by his experiences is Rambo, and so tired of conflict and killing, that he refuses to kill any of his tormentors even when he has every chance (and right) to do so, making First Blood a haunting action/thriller. A thinking man’s action film, First Blood is a stark reminder of the horrors of war and the foul treatment they received back in the day, as though it was their fault that they were forced to fight and kill for their country; it’s very different to the bombastic and over the top, action-packed sequels that followed it and so might not be for everyone but it remains a sobering and impact film in its own right.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Are you a fan of First Blood? Did you watch it back when it was first released and, if so, how did you find it in the context of the time? How do you feel it holds up today, especially compared to the sequels, and were you disappointed that the sequels veered more towards action and death than introspective commentary on the horrors of war? What did you think to Rambo’s survival skills and Teasle’s baseless persecution and obsession with him? Do you think the film should have ended in the same way as the book and with the cut scene of Rambo dying? Which of the Rambo films is your favourite? Whatever you think, comment below and let me know and check out my review of the sequel.

Movie Night [Batman Day]: Batman (1989)

Dr. K26 Comments

In the decades since his first dramatic appearance in the pages of Detective Comics, Bruce Wayne/Batman has become a mainstream, worldwide, pop culture icon. The brainchild of writer Bob Kane, Batman was brought to life by artist Bill Finger and has been a popular staple of DC Comics and countless movies, videogames, and cartoons over the years. Although “Batman Day” was a few days ago, any day is a perfect excuse to celebrate comic’s grim and broody vigilante.

Released: 23 June 1989
Director: Tim Burton
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $34 million
Stars: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, and Michael Gough

The Plot:
Criminals of Gotham City are terrified by the armour-clad vigilante, the “Batman” (Keaton), secretly wealthy loner Bruce Wayne. Wayne’s vendetta against crime is confused when he falls for intrepid reporter Vicki Vale (Basinger) and mobster Jack Napier (Nicholson) transformers into the hideous Joker and begins terrorising Gotham with tainted beauty products.

The Background:
By the end of the eighties, Batman had undergone a long period of reinvention to transform him from a colourful, camp, family friendly figure and into a more serious, darker character. A lot of this can, of course, be attributed to the works of Frank Miller, which fully embraced the darker aspects of the character and it was this version of the character that producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan wanted to bring to life after they purchased the film rights to the character from DC Comics. The script underwent numerous drafts before Sam Hamm was brought in by director Tim Burton to produce the final screenplay. Burton, despite not being much of a comic book aficionado, related to the duality of the Bruce/Batman dynamic and the dark, gothic undertones of the character and was hired off the back of the financial success of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (Burton, 1985) and Beetlejuice (ibid, 1988). While Jack Nicholson was the top choice for the Joker, Burton ultimately cast Keaton in the title role (despite many of Hollywood’s leading men being considered) after directing him in the aforementioned Beetlejuice and considering him perfect for his (as in Burton’s)  subdued, haunted, “Everyman” interpretation. The casting of “Mr. Mom” caused much controversy at the time, as did chaotic script rewrites during filming. Despite all this, Batman was a tremendous critical and commercial success; “Batmania” swept the nation, resulting in a mammoth gross of over $411 million and, despite some criticisms concerning its dark tone and Batman’s lack of screen time, Batman was met with largely favourable reviews, kick-starting a slew of sequels and forever setting the bar for live-action adaptations of the character going forward.

The Review:
Batman begins by immediately establishing its tone as a far darker take on the character thanks, largely, to Danny Elfman’s fantastic and unparalleled Batman theme; bombastic, operatic, and tinged with a gothic undertone, Elfman’s Batman theme was as much a part of Batman as the suit or the cinematography. There’s no messing about with Batman having to “earn” his theme or building towards some kind of heroic crescendo; it simply blasts at you alongside the film’s title to literally scream “Batman”. Following this, we’re introduced to Gotham City, a dark, dreary, and grimy city that has a timeless quality thanks to its mixed of thirties, fifties, and eighties clothing and architecture. The city is almost a character unto itself with its gothic trappings, dingy back alleyways, and looming, ominous presence that is only made more threatening by the abundance of street crime.

Batman has a reputation as an urban myth amongst the street thugs of Gotham City.

Thankfully, we’re quickly introduced to the titular vigilante but, while Batman makes an impression by slowly dropping into frame and then dispatching two thugs with ease and efficiency, what really adds to his mystique is horror stories of his presence that literally has criminals in fear of “The Bat”. Batman then adds to his mystique by taking two shots directly to the chest and rising again and threatening one of the thugs to spread the word about his presence. It’s a powerful, incredibly effectively introduction to the character, who speaks with a low, threatening whisper and is seen to actually strike fear into the hearts of the city’s criminals rather than simply targeting organised crime. This is something I feel is key to Batman’s character; he was, after all, born out of a random act of violence so it bothers me when it gets unduly distracted by corruption or supervillains. Indeed, Gotham’s biggest crime boss, Carl Grissom (Jack Palance), and his “number one guy” Jack Napier are more concerned with district attorney Harvey Dent (Billy Dee Williams) than they are with the Batman. Having operated for six months and earned a reputation as an urban vigilante, Batman is, instead, the dread of criminals everywhere, the ire of policemen like Lieutenant Max Eckhardt (William Hootkins) and Police Commissioner Jim Gordon (Pat Hingle), and the obsession of Gotham Globe reporter Alexander Knox (Wuhl). That’s not to say that corruption isn’t rife in Gotham, however, as Eckhardt is on Grissom’s take, and the city is slowly crumbling under Grissom’s influence and the state of their economy.

Vicki becomes besotted with Bruce but ends up little more than a damsel in distress.

Batman is also a fascination of news photographer Vicki Vale, who specifically comes to Gotham after reading Knox’s stories and “likes bats” (which is a…little weird, to be honest). Intrigued by Bruce upon first meeting him, she agrees to meet with him on a date (which is amusing in its awkwardness, with Bruce’s confusion at the dining room a particular highlight) and ends up in bed with him. She is then greatly perturbed when Bruce fails to show any interest in her or return her calls, slowly becoming as interested obsessed with Bruce as Knox is with Batman; she senses that the opulence of luxury doesn’t seem to fit with Bruce’s demeanour and is shocked to discover the trauma he experienced as a child. While an emotional catalyst and an interesting enough character in her own right, Vicki very quickly becomes little more than a screaming damsel-in-distress; the Joker becomes infatuated with her, turning his rivalry with Batman into more of a love triangle than a violent battle of wills and ideals, and Batman’s final confrontation with the Joker is as much about rescuing her as it is about revenge. It’s telling that Bruce Wayne doesn’t actually appear in the film until after Batman and Napier have been introduced; Bruce, a wealthy bachelor, is not as prominent a figure as you may expect. While he hosts a fundraiser at Wayne Manor, he’s like a ghost in his own home and is known more for his affluent wealth than his physical appearance (while I can understand Vicki not knowing who he is since she’s new in town, Knox doesn’t recognise him either). An awkward, distracted individual, he seems uncomfortable in his own skin but this may be because he’s (shock-of-shocks!) secretly the Batman! With cameras secretly hidden all over his mansion, Bruce monitors his guests from the cavernous Batcave and seems far more comfortable hiding behind the grim visage of the Batman. Haunted by his parents’ deaths and driven by an obsession to use his pain for good, Bruce has crafted a ferocious persona to dispense justice but is losing his grip on his humanity in the process.

Sadistic mobster Jack Napier is a turned into a maniacal lunatic by an acid bath.

Napier, who has a reputation for being a “nutball” even before he takes an acid bath, is Grissom’s right-hand man; egotistical and self-absorbed, Napier is so arrogant that he’s even sleeping with Grissom’s moll, Alicia (Jerry Hall), on the side and considers himself untouchable. Unfortunately for him, this isn’t the case as he is set up by Grissom and supposed to be killed by the police while cleaning out Axis Chemicals; while he gets a measure of payback by shooting Eckhardt in cold blood, he ends up taking a bullet to the face thanks to his shot ricocheting off Batman’s gauntlet and then plunging into an acid pit despite Batman’s best efforts. Although he survives the dip, he is horrifically scarred and mutilated by the injury, and the acid, which breaks his already fractured psyche and gives birth to a colourful, maniacal supervillain: The Joker! Sporting a wicked permanent smile and clearly off his rocker, the Joker is a flamboyant, sadistic villain who quickly executes his former boss and assumes control of his operation. Though initially a glorified gangster with a flair for the comedic, the Joker quickly becomes a charismatic and dangerous threat to the city when he plots to taint beauty supplies with the same concoction that transformed him. Obsessed with art, he believes himself to be a living work of art and wishes to turn all of Gotham into a pale-faced, permanently-smiling pile of bodies but quickly becomes jealous of Batman for stealing all of the headlines and “[getting] all of [his] press”. As random and weird as all this seems, it’s very similar to a lot of the Joker’s madcap plots from the comics and eventually culminates in him riding an elaborate parade through the city while his “Smilex” gas covers those in attendance.

Batman and his gear all look bad-ass, if incredibly impractical.

You might have noticed that I haven’t spoken about Batman all that much and there’s a reason for that; Nicholson’s energetic charisma and scene-stealing performance dominates the majority of the film, with scenes such as when he fries a mob boss with his lethal joy buzzer and executes another with a poison pen being notable highlights. Still, when Batman does appear, he immediately takes control of the screen; dressed head to toe in black armour, Batman cuts an intimidating (if restrictive) figure. However, while it is noticeable that Keaton cannot turn his head, the film does a commendable job of hiding the limitations of the suit and it is always perfectly shot, seeped in darkness and shadow and always shown in the most dynamic way possible. While Batman’s fight scenes are a bit clunky and awkward, he has a bevvy of gadgets at his disposal, the most impressive of which is his sleek, powerful Batmobile. Rather than a sports car or a tank, this is an aerodynamic and intimidating vehicle which bursts through the city streets with a burst of flame and sports such optional extras as machine guns and an impenetrable shield. However, if the Batmobile is, somehow, too blasé for you, Batman also pilots the Batwing for the finale! This, as you might expect, results in some very impressive and detailed model shots and miniatures as Batman glides gracefully through the dark night skies…only to be promptly shot down by the Joker’s comically oversized pistol!

The Nitty-Gritty:
While Batman remains a very impressive and engaging take on the character, it does over emphasise his “Everyman” qualities a little too much. There’s no suggestion that Bruce spent any time travelling the world or training to be the peak of human mental and physical perfection; instead, it seems like Bruce spent all his time, effort, and money in building his suit, cave, and many Bat-gadgets. Still, while the lack of any real physical presence on Bruce’s part is a little disappointing, he makes up for it with his intelligence; a common part of the character that is often downplayed is his status as the world’s greatest detective and, while this isn’t massively emphasised in Batman, it does get some exposure in Bruce’s ability to figure out how the Joker is poisoning the city. It’s easy to forget that Batman features some fantastic actors; Jack Palance was a big name in the eighties and, while his role is small, he’s perfectly cast as a cantankerous mob boss and it’s great to see Billy Dee Williams but he hardly factors into the film at all and it’s a real shame that he got shafted in the sequels as he’s a charismatic and magnetic presence even in his brief screen time. Similarly, Commissioner Gordon is barely in the film but Pat Hingle plays the character with a gruff weariness that helps him to stand out in his few scenes. The upside to this, though, is the exploration of Bruce’s psyche through Vicki’s investigation; while Batman doesn’t go into massive amounts of detail in exploring why Bruce does what he does, there’s enough here to give a sense of the character’s obsession and trauma and the film is more concerned with portraying Batman as an urban myth (which I absolutely love as I feel this is how the character should be portrayed most of the time) and his eventual acceptance as an ally of the city and its police department.

Batman’s suit might be restrictive but it looks absolutely amazing and cuts an imposing silhouette.

Bruce also makes up for his unimpressive physique and stature with a focused intensity; it’s all about the eyes with Keaton and he exudes a tortured demeanour, especially in private, where he lapses into a brooding countenance and pushes away all other distractions in favour of focusing purely on his investigation into the Joker. This is a version of Bruce Wayne who categorically needs the suit to become Batman; even now, the Batsuit is impressive and remains one of my favourites for the way it manages to balance being anatomically correct, somewhat impractical, and intimidating all at the same time. Yes, Keaton is a bit clumsy and awkward at times but, as I said, the film makes every effort to hide the suit’s limitations and it works fantastically; Keaton looks threatening and absolutely bad-ass in the suit and it played a large part in throwing off Batman’s reputation as a camp and colourful superhero.

Alfred’s concern for Bruce’s well-being sees him subtlety attempt to deter Bruce’s crusade.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this portrayal of Batman, though, is how unhinged the character appears to be; Vicki even tells Batman that many believe him to be as dangerous and psychotic as the Joker and Bruce definitely seems to be on the razor’s edge of sanity throughout the film. This is best seen in one of my favourite scenes in the film, which is the confrontation between Bruce and the Joker in Vicki’s apartment; here, Bruce’s façade slips noticeably, outrageously, and he flies into a maniac rage as he threatens the Joker. It’s intense and massively over the top and punctuated by the Joker’s ridiculous admonition: “Never rub another man’s rhubarb!” Bruce’s mental stability is of particular concern to his long-serving butler and father figure, Alfred Pennyworth (Gough), who dotes on Bruce like a grandfather and supports his endeavours but is continuously seen to be concerned for Bruce’s welfare and encourages him to leave his double life behind and settle down with Vicki, whom he sees as a positive influence on Bruce’s life and demeanour. This is explicitly stated at least twice in the film (once when Bruce is laboriously going over Napier’s criminal file and later when Alfred voices his wish to not have to grieve for Bruce as he does for his parents) and is precisely the reason why Alfred later allows Vicki into the Batcave. Unlike so many people, I never had a problem with this plot point as it makes perfect sense; Alfred wants Bruce to settle down, live a normal life, and to abandon his crusade and, when Bruce flounders in admitting his double life to Vicki, Alfred intercedes and forces him to reconcile his two lives.

The decision to tie the Joker to Batman’s origin has somewhat tarnished the film.

Of course, the real star of the show here is Jack Nicholson as the Joker; clearly revelling in the role, Nicholson looks to be having the time of his life and his Joker, despite being middle-aged and lacking the slim figure of his comic book counterpart. As colourful and iconic as his portrayal may be, however, it’s forever tarnished by the decision to have Napier be the man responsible for killing Bruce’s parents. As a kid, I didn’t really mind this all that much as this event hadn’t really been a major part of any of the Batman stories I’d read at the time and, even now, it doesn’t really enrage me that much and I can see why the change was made. It’s a quick and easy way to add a little more animosity to the Joker and Batman’s relationship and, without it, the love triangle aspect of the film would have been far more noticeable but I can’t say I’m a massive fan of the change, or the decision to give the Joker a name. Sadly, subsequent films learned very little from Batman’s few mistakes, with Spider-Man 3 (Raimi, 2007) making a similar bizarre retcon and Joker (Phillips, 2019) crafting an entire new alter ego for the character.

The Summary:
Batman remains an iconic and enduring film, for me at least; nostalgia plays a big part in this, of course, but I still maintain that this is one of the best adaptations of the character ever made. Keaton was fantastic in the title role and I had absolutely no problem with his Batman killing; he’s hardly a serial killer and subdues criminals far more often than killing them and, considering the Joker’s role in the death of his parents, it makes sense that he’d go out of his way to kill the Joker. It’s harder to explain the death of that random Joker thug in the bell tower but, as I’ve stressed on numerous occasions, Batman’s line of work is violent and dangerous and collateral damage is to be expected. With a fantastic and memorable soundtrack and absolutely spectacular sense of visual style, Batman is definitely more style over substance but there is a lot of nuance to the film; as a deconstruction of this version of the character, it works really well and Burton definitely explores the dark, tortured, lonely aspects of Bruce’s character in his own unique way. His interpretation of the character may be a little skewed but the spirit of Batman’s character is masterfully evoked and Batman definitely set the standard not just for subsequent adaptations of the character but for all superhero films by proving that superhero movies could be dark, serious adaptations while still being over the top, comedic, and entertaining.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

What are your thoughts on Batman? How does it hold up for you today and where would you rank it against other Batman movies? What did you think to Michael Keaton’s portrayal of the character? Do you think he managed to embody Batman’s brooding nature or were you put off by his unimpressive physique? Were you a fan of Jack Nicholson’s turn as the Joker? What did you think to the reveal that he was responsible for the Wayne’s deaths and Alfred’s decision to let Vicki into the Batcave? Were you a fan of the Batsuit, the Batmobile, and the film’s visual style or do you think Burton maybe missed the point of Batman? How did you celebrate Batman Day and what are some of your favourite stories, characters, moments, and adaptations of the character’s long history? Whatever you think, share your comments down below.

Movie Night: Malignant

Dr. KLeave a comment

Released: 10 September 2021
Director: James Wan
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $40 million
Stars: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Marina Mazepa/Ray Chase, and Jacqueline McKenzie

The Plot:
After her and her abusive husband are attacked at home, Madison Lake-Mitchell (Wallis) is plagued by terrifying visions of gruesome murders that she soon realises are real. Her plight worsens when the killer reveals a link to her mysterious past and she is forced to confront a horrifying secret about herself that has laid dormant for decades.

The Background:
The gritty, disturbing horror/thriller Saw (Wan, 2004) not only ushered in a new sub-genre of horror and spawned a long-running and influential series of gory films, it also put director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell on the map. Since then, the duo have seen even more horror success with their Conjuring universe (Various, 2013 to present) that has enabled them to venture into other genres and produce more experimental horror films. An original idea with no connection to Wan’s similarly-titled graphic novel, Malignant was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic but finally released to mostly mixed reviews and is currently on track to be a box office bomb with its $14.7 million worldwide gross.

The Review:
Malignant opens in the good old days of the early nineties at the Simion Research Hospital, where Doctor Florence Weaver (McKenzie) works to help children with mental and physical reconstruction after severe trauma. One look at the exterior of the hospital, however, should tell you that the facility is hardly the most benign and there’s a strong implication that Weaver and her associates have been experimenting on the children in their care in bizarre ways. The most destructive and promising of their charges is the mysterious and dangerous Gabriel (Mazepa/Chase), a monstrous young boy who is somehow only able to communicate by broadcasting his thoughts through speakers and radios and who can control electricity. One night, he flies into a violent rage, killing several staff, and Weaver has no choice but to “cut out [his] cancer” since he refuses to respond to their treatments.

Though she survives her attack, Madison loses her baby and starts experiencing disturbing visions.

The story then jumps ahead twenty-eight years to find pregnant Madison in an abusive relationship with her husband, Derek (Jake Abel); this is her third pregnancy and she is desperately hoping for the baby to survive this time as she has tragically suffered miscarriages previously. Although it’s said that Derek has beat on her before, this particular incident is caused specifically because of his heartbreak at having to continuously see his children die before they’re born, something he blames Madison for and, during an argument, he violently smashes her head into the bedroom wall and leaves her with a nasty head wound. That night, though, a shadowy supernatural entity toys with Derek before brutally twisting his head around and then attacking Madison; although she survives the assault, her baby doesn’t, and she’s left devastated and paranoid that the entity is still haunting her.

Sydney supports Madison even as she is haunted by visions of gruesome murders that turn out to be real.

On the plus side, this allows her to reconnect with her cute younger sister, Sydney (Hasson); thanks to Derek’s toxic influence, they haven’t been able to see each other for some time but Sydney stays by her sister’s side during her recovery and supports her even after she begins to suffer gruesome visions of murders. While sleeping or performing menial tasks, Madison is seemingly haunted by visions of a gangly, trenchcoat-wearing killer that leave her paralysed with fear and terrified out of her mind; her fear only grows when she realises that the killings are actually taking place and Sydney goes with her to inform the police in the hopes of catching the man responsible. Even when Madison reveals to Sydney that she (as in Madison) was adopted into Sydney’s family at eight years old, Sydney continues to support her and even conducts her own investigation into Madison’s mysterious past after she undergoes hypnotherapy to try and uncover her strange link to the killer.

Madison’s claims to see murders raise the intrigue and suspicion of the cops.

The brutal killings are investigated by Detectives Kekoa Shaw (Young) and Regina Moss (White); while Regina is more of a stern pragmatist, Kekoa is something of a workaholic and is so focused on his cases and crime scenes that he misses obvious flirtatious advances form the likes of Sydney and the equally cute crime scene investigator Winnie (Ingrid Bisu). While investigating Derek’s death, Regina immediately pegs Madison as the prime suspect due to her abusive nature and but Kekoa is more sympathetic to her plight; Regina is equally unconvinced (and even somewhat insulted) at Sydney’s claims that Madison is having visions of the murders but, while chasing up one of Madison’s visions, Kekoa comes face-to-face with their vicious killer, a seemingly supernatural and superhuman man who claims to be Gabriel. When their traditional methods hit a wall, Kekoa and Regina arrange to have Madison sit with a hypnotherapist and soon their investigation leads them down a dark path that forces Madison to go to her mother, Jeanne (Susanna Thompson), for answers to help fill in the gaps in her memory.

The Nitty-Gritty:
If there’s one thing James Wan has become really good at over the years, it’s building a sense of tension and dread; the sporadic and effective use of music definitely helps with this as scenes are either completely silent save for a character’s panicked breathing, punctuated by a chilly melody that rises to a crescendo, or startlingly flip from the mundane to the terrifying with a sharp pull of strings. While such jump scares aren’t for many, I always felt like Wan used them really well in Insidious (Wan, 2010) and his use of them (and music and silence) to help build a foreboding atmosphere is just as good here. it’s a pity, then, that Malignant suffers a bit from uneven pacing; building tension is one thing but the film definitely slows down a bit in the second act and the performances and deliveries don’t exactly make the middle section all that interesting either. The film meanders for some time as though it’s forgotten what it was doing and, when it does get back on track, it does so with a jarringly brutal shift that, while thoroughly bloody and entertaining, end sup feeling a bit rushed.

Horror clichés are given a unique new twist that keeps things interesting.

As a core aspect of Malignant is the question of the killer’s identity, Madison’s mysterious past, and the strange connection they seem to share, it’s difficult to talk about the film without spoiling too much. I will say, though, that anyone who’s had even a passing knowledge of horror films of this kind will probably see the twist coming, however Wan puts an absolutely ghastly spin on this twist that completely turns the film on its head and changes the way you view it. Indeed, much of the film is drawing from horror clichés that have been done before (it’s not the first time a character has had visions of a killer’s actions, for example, or dreamt of/been haunted by a serial killer) but Wan repackages these tropes with his own unique twist and presentation to keep things interesting. Wan further mixes things up with some unique and creative camera angles; when Madison has her visions, her surroundings bleed away into the killer’s location and the camera spins around her dramatically, which is very effective at putting us in her shoes and sharing her dread, and there’s a section where she’s being pursued by an invisible force that’s short entirely from a bird’s-eye view inside her house that is very Sam Raimi.

Gabriel ‘s twisted visage and movements make for an unnerving and inhuman killer.

Quite soon into the film, the killer identifies himself as Gabriel; he exhibits the same croaking, cackling voice as Gabriel and also the same control over electricity and lights. The killer is presented as both supernatural and tangible, appearing as an ominous and genuinely frightening black shadow when in Madison’s dreams and visions and as a lanky figure in a trenchcoat with long hair and wielding a trophy fashioned into a deadly knife. His movements are erratic and inhuman and remind me more than a little of the unsettling Onryō from film series like Ringu/The Ring (Various, 1998 to 2017) and Ju-On/The Grudge (Various, 2001 to 2020); the few times we do see his face, he’s a scarred monster of a man and he exhibits an unnatural control over his limbs and incredible superhuman strength, to say nothing of exerting a seemingly supernatural influence upon Madison. His design is extremely effective and makes for some effective scares; scenes are often framed in a way to keep areas of shadow in the background, meaning you’re constantly on edge waiting to catch a glimpse of the killer, and his tendency to bleed out of the darkness or appear out of nowhere makes for some effective jump scares. The film also benefits from his uncanny and superhuman prowess during one particular scene that sees him effortlessly slaughter almost an entire police precinct and the startling reveal of his true nature and connection to Madison completely changes the context of the film and asks for a repeat viewing.

The Summary:
I was intrigued by the trailers for Malignant; obviously, because of the way the world’s been, I wasn’t aware of this film at all until cinema’s opened up again and I found it to be an interesting premise with some creepy visuals. This is reflected in the film; the premise, while nothing groundbreaking, is executed in a unique and interesting way by mixing and matching other horror clichés into a new context and putting a terrifying twist on them. I’ve always said that it’s perfectly fine to go back to the well in movies, especially horror (how many haunted house films have there been, for example?), as long as the filmmakers put an interesting twist on the cliché and Malignant definitely does that. Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy to guess what the main twist is going to be, meaning that you’re just waiting for the film and the characters to catch up. When they do, there’s a horrifying spin on the reveal that helps to get the film back on track but that doesn’t completely make up for a middling middle half of the film and some odd performances and deliveries. Overall, it was an entertaining and chilling horror thriller; I can’t deny that I was expecting a little more from it but I stuck with it and was entertaining by the presentation and the foreboding ambiance being built up throughout the film, though I suspect that it might do better and possibly garner a cult following once it comes to home media.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Have you seen Malignant? If so, what did you think to it? Did you see the initial twist coming and what did you think to the twisted follow-up to that? What did you think to the film’s use of horror tropes and jump scares? Did you enjoy the film’s performances and the brutal kills? Would you like to see a follow-up to this concept and are you a fan of James Wan’s horror films? Whatever you thought of Malignant, sign up to leave a comment or leave your thoughts on my social media.

Movie Night: Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker: The Original, Uncut Version

Dr. K4 Comments

Released: 23 April 2002
Originally Released: 31 October 2000
Director: Curt Geda
Distributor: Warner Home Video
Budget: Unknown
Stars: Will Friedle, Mark Hamill, Kevin Conroy, Angie Harmon, and Dean Stockwell

The Plot:
When the Joker (Hamill) suddenly returns from his apparent death and begins terrorising Neo-Gotham, Terry McGinnis/Batman (Friedle) is forced to go against the advice of his mentor, Bruce Wayne (Conroy), and begin an investigation into the darkest chapter of the former Batman’s career.

The Background:
Although a Batman animated series had been in the works during 1990, the release, and relative success, of Batman (Burton, 1989) and Batman Returns (ibid, 1992) caused a wave of “Batmania” and renewed interest in the character. Consequently, quite by chance, the idea of a new animated series influenced by both films and the 1940s Superman cartoons by Fleisher Studios, was thought up Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Eric Radomski, who spearheaded one of the most beloved and influential animated shows ever. Batman: The Animated Series aired eighty-five episodes between September 1992 and 1995 before being succeeded by twenty-four episodes of The New Batman Adventures (also known as The Adventures of Batman & Robin here in the United Kingdom) between 1997 and 1999. Once the show wrapped up, Warner Bros. brought many of the show’s creators back to continue the story in the then-futuristic world of 2019 with Batman Beyond (known as Batman of the Future in the U.K.) Batman Beyond introduced a younger Batman under the tutelage of an aged and long-retired Bruce Wayne and taking on all-new villains in a cyberpunk-style future. Though not quite as well-received and lauded as its predecessors or sister series, Batman Beyond was popular enough to warrant a direct-to-video feature film over other potential Batman concepts. Because the film’s production occurred in the wake of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, numerous cuts and edits were made to the film upon its release, with an “uncut” version being released once the controversy had died down. Regardless, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker released to critical acclaim, winning (or being nominated for) a number of awards, and is frequently regarded as one of the finest pieces of Batman media to ever be produced.

The Review:
My exposure to Batman Beyond is, admittedly, very limited; I watched Batman: The Animated Series on and off back in the day, never seeming to be able to get into a proper routine with it, but saw very little of its futuristic follow-up. When I did catch the odd episode, I can’t say that it really bowled me over; it was too different, too far removed from what I expected from Batman, with virtually none of the recognisable cast or characters. Hell, even Gotham City looked and felt different, and the show had very bleak and depressing connotations for fans of Batman: The Animated Series in its portrayal of Bruce as a grouchy, lonely, recluse. Still, the idea of an older, infirm Bruce mentoring a young successor had a lot of appeal to me and is definitely something I would have liked to see the comics do (particularly during the character’s “death” between 2008 and 2010). Despite that, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is well deserving of all the praise it gets; while I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’s better than, or even on par with, the excellent Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (Radomski and Timm, 1993), very few of Batman’s animated features are able to reach that pinnacle and I’d say Return of the Joker does a decent job of coming pretty damn close.

Terry is a very different kind of Batman, sporting more futuristic tech and a more agile physique.

While I’m lacking a lot of context for many of the film’s newer rogues, it’s not much of an issue since the “Jokerz” are generally just minions and cannon fodder to do the Joker’s bidding and to oppose Batman, though I did appreciate how their designs harkened back to Batman foes of old (with Stewart Carter Winthrop III/Ghoul (Michael Rosenbaum) resembling Doctor Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow and Delia and Deidre Dennis/Dee Dee (Melissa Joan Hart) aping Doctor Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn). The feature opens with an exciting action sequence featuring lots of laser blasts, explosions, mid-air chases, and action as Batman tries, and fails, to stop the Jokerz from stealing some high-tech computer parts. Despite all the advantages of Terry’s advanced Batsuit (including rocket boots, invisibility, and augmentations to his speed and strength), and the fact that he’s been Batman for a while now, Terry is still in training in many ways; he’s more experienced and capable but he’s still fallible and capable of messing up or being hurt. At times, though, I find him to be very reliant on the suit and the strength and other benefits it provides; it often feels like he was playing into the cliché of the role rather than being his own man at times but he manages to stand out by being a far more agile and witty Batman and approaching situations slightly differently than Bruce would/advises.

Terry has a complex relationship with Bruce and pulls no punches when fighting with the Joker.

Despite Bruce commending his work and commitment to the role, Terry is insulted when his mentor requests that he return the Batsuit in the wake of the Joker’s return. Terry initially refuses to acquiesce, seeing the role as a chance to make up for his past sins and troubled youth and confirming his commitment to helping others as Batman, and pushes both Bruce and Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Angie Harmon) for the truth about the Joker. This becomes a recurring element in the film, with Terry disliking the comparisons to Bruce’s old partners and striving to prove his worth as Batman rather than a pale imitation or a failed apprentice. This comes to a head in his inevitable confrontation with the Joker, in which Terry fights dirty with a crotch shot and constantly taunts the Joker, laughing at him, criticising his methods, and mocking him to drive the Joker into an angered frenzy.

Bruce is visible stunned by the Joker’s sudden and dramatic return to Gotham.

Bruce, of course, is now a grouchy, crotchety, tough mentor figure who has an interesting relationship with Terry, one that he clearly prefers to keep professional and mutual but you can tell that he values Terry as a replacement/apprentice. Though he’s clearly carrying a lot of ghosts and pain from his past, Bruce is as committed to both Batman and reclaiming his business and has absorbed a lot of wisdom from the long-dead Alfred Pennyworth, showing concern for Terry’s health and well-being and advising against going out on the town after a rough night as Batman, but lacks Alfred’s tact or bedside manner. Bruce’s stoic resolve is shaken upon the Joker’s return; he is visibly horrified by the Clown Prince of Crime’s reappearance and lapses first into moody silence and then into overprotectiveness after verifying the Joker’s identity. Bruce is disgusted at Terry’s sentiment, believing he is as misguided as his other teen partners who never knew what they were getting into, and a rift briefly forms between them because of Bruce’s refusal to explain his troubled past with the Joker. They make amends, however, when Terry saves Bruce from a dose of the Joker’s laughing gas, which is a horrifying sight since Bruce is accosted in his most private abode and the Joker explicitly reveals that he knows Bruce was Batman. Disturbed by being attacked in his civilian identity, Terry races to Wayne Manor and discovers the ‘cave in disarray and Bruce a cackling, grinning corpse-like figure. Succumbing to the Joker’s deadly toxin, Bruce just about manages to direct Terry to the anti-venom, and he is saved from certain death.

The Joker plans to unleash an orbital laser on Gotham to commemorate his return.

The Joker is, perhaps obviously, the star of the show here; as always, Mark Hamill delivers a sinister, maniacal performance that perfectly encapsulates Batman’s most persistent of foes. The Joker immediately establishes himself as a menacing and cold-hearted villain by callously shooting Benjamin Knox/Bonk (Henry Rollins) through the heart with the old “fake gun” trick and brazenly attacks the gala welcoming Bruce back to Wayne Enterprises. Though the Joker is critical, but admiring, of the new Batman, he dismisses him at every turn (referring to him as “Bat-Fake”) in favour of Bruce and wastes little time in setting in motion his plot to take control of an orbiting satellite and use its laser-firing capabilities to deliver massive damage to Gotham and commemorate his return.

Terry’s deductive skills aren’t quite on par with Bruce’s but he brings a unique approach to the role.

Due to the unexpected and impossible nature of the Joker’s return, much of the film revolves around Terry trying to uncover the details of his last appearance and how and why the Joker has resurfaced, apparently from the grave. With Bruce and Barbara being tight-lipped on the matter, Terry pays a visit to the aged Tim Drake (Stockwell), formally Robin, believing him to be involved somehow. Though now happy, healthy, married, and long retied from the role, Drake is still able to detect Batman even with his fancy cloaking technology, but denies any involvement in the matter, expressing only regret and bitterness at the entire debacle and his gratitude at having left the life behind. When Terry’s next suspect, Jordan Pryce (Hamill), also turns out to be little more than a middle man, he briefly despairs at his inability to duplicate Bruce’s deductive skills and reasoning only to finally solve the mystery by observing the deliberate nature of the Joker’s attack on the Batcave and the common thread that links all the materials he’s stolen, proving again that Terry might not be quite on the same level as his predecessor but is still capable of solving mysteries in his own, unique way.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Of course, the true extent of the Joker’s villainy and viciousness isn’t exposed until Barbara reveals the tragic details of their last encounter with the Joker through a flashback to some thirty years ago when Batman, Barbara-as-Batgirl (Tara Strong), and Robin were acting as a crimefighting trio; one night, while out solo, Robin was kidnapped by Harley Quinn and held captive by the Joker for three weeks. After aggressively hounding the underworld, the duo was finally lured to the rundown, partially demolished Arkham Asylum by the Joker. There, they are horrified to find that Joker and Harley (Arleen Sorkin) have brainwashed and tortured Robin into being their surrogate son, Joker Jr/J.J. and that, despite Tim’s willpower and strength, he eventually cracked and told them everything about Batman and his operation, revealing his true identity (much to the Joker’s disappointment) and transforming Tim into a disfigured, cackling little Joker-boy

The Joker subjects Tim to endless torture and unwittingly seals his fate.

During the highly emotionally-charged fight that consequently breaks out, Harley appears to fall to her death (despite Batgirl’s attempt to save her) and Batman, overwhelmed by his anger, is baited by the Joker, who gleeful shows video footage of Tim’s torture, taunting Batman and his crusade/motivation and receiving a vicious beating as a result (Batman even threatens to “break [him] in two!” in a chilling moment). However, after being incapacitated by the Joker, Batman can only watch helplessly as Tim shockingly chooses to shoot the Joker through the heart rather than kill his mentor, breaking down into a cackling flood of tears afterwards. It’s a truly horrific and terrifying fate for poor little Tim Drake and which, clearly, has fundamentally soured Batman’s character ever since and led to him alienating all of his closest allies in his twilight years. Though Drake recovered from this horrendous experience, it turns out that the Joker has been “possessing” Tim’s body using a special chip he implanted during Robin’s capture and torture; Tim is completely unaware of the Joker’s influence and the Joker has been able to take over more and more often to the point where he can make the change at will and is on the verge of possessing Tim forever. When Batman confronts Drake about his involvement with the Joker, the former Robin grows confused and disorientated before becoming more and more agitated and crazed, incapacitating Batman’s suit and descending into maniacal laughter, literally transforming into the Joker before our eyes in a spine-chilling moment.

The Joker is destroyed and Bruce finally begins to reconcile with his former allies.

With the Joker’s destructive laser damaged and now heading directly towards their location, Batman and Joker engage in a surprisingly evenly-matched fist fight; it seems possessing Drake’s body as afforded Joker the means to go toe-to-toe with the much younger and more formidable Terry but, just as the Joker is about to throttle the life out of him, Batman uses the Joker’s own electrified joy buzzer to short out and destroy the chip on Tim’s neck, defeating the Joker once and for all and returning Tim to his body, sanity, and consciousness. In the end, Batman gets Tim to safety, allowing the former Robin to finally reconcile with Bruce, Harley is revealed to be alive (though a grouchy old woman), Tim (and, more importantly, Bruce) commends Terry’s abilities as Batman, and Terry flies off into the night to continue the never-ending fight as the Batman of the future.

The Summary:
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is an action-packed adventure, to be sure, but also easily the darkest of Batman’s animated features; Batman Beyond was already quite a bitter and cynical end for Batman and his allies, with Bruce ending up a grouchy old man with none of his friends or family left, but Return of the Joker really hammers home how bleak Batman’s later years became. Using elements of the “Death in the Family” storyline (Starlin, et al, 1988), Return of the Joker really sticks it to any fans of Robin by having Tim relentlessly tortured and abused and even hinting that Dick Grayson is just as bitter and full of regret as Tim and Bruce. Thankfully, amidst all this bleakness, there is new hope in the form of Terry, a young and very capable but also very different Batman who helps to bring some of the fire and meaning back to an otherwise jaded Bruce. Return of the Joker is framed as Terry’s ultimate test, one that no one else believes he is ready for thanks to the danger and near-mythical threat of the Joker. Throughout it all, though, Terry remains resolute and confident and is able to defeat the Joker in a way that Bruce never could.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and where would you rank it against other animated Batman films? Which version of the film do you prefer? Were you a fan of Batman Beyond? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment down below and check back in next Tuesday for Batman Day!

Movie Night [Multiverse Madness]: Superman: Red Son

Dr. K1 Comment

In September 1961, DC Comics published a little story called “Flash of Two Worlds” (Fox, et al), a landmark story that featured in The Flash #123 and brought together two generations of the Flash: the Golden Age Jay Garrick and the Silver Age Barry Allen. In the process, DC Comics created the concept of the multiverse, the idea that DC Comics continuity was comprised of an infinite number of parallel universes that allowed any and all stories and characters to exist and, more importantly, interact and I’ve been celebrating this ground-breaking concept every Sunday of this month!

Released: 25 February 2020
Director: Sam Liu
Distributor: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Budget: Unknown
Stars: Jason Isaacs, Amy Acker, Diedrich Bader, Vanessa Marshall, Roger Craig Smith, and Paul Williams

The Plot:
In an alternate timeline, Krypton’s last son crash-lands in Cold War-era Russia and Superman (Isaacs) is raised to be the figurehead of Joseph Stalin’s (William Salyers) Communist campaign. In response, Lex Luthor (Bader) devises a plan to neutralise and destroy the Soviet Superman while a renegade terrorist known as Batman (Smith) and the alien cyborg Brainiac (Williams) both plot to overthrow the superpowered tyrant.

The Background:
Having met with considerable success with their animated ventures, such as Batman: The Animated Series (1992 to 1999), Warner Bros. Animation began producing a number of direct-to-video animated features based upon existing and popular comic book storylines but Superman: Red Son was a bit of a change of pace as the last few animated features had been part of a shared universe. Red Son was based on the three-issue miniseries of the same name written by Mark Millar in 2003, a story that was part of DC’s “Elseworlds” imprint. A surprisingly dense text, it was a popular and poignant “What If” scenario published by DC Comics for its deconstruction of Superman’s ideals. Similarly, the adaptation received generally positive reviews and sold quite well on home media. Having never gotten around to reading the original comic and, although I’ve been aware of it and the premise for some time, this was actually my first time properly experiencing this alternate take on Superman.

The Review:
These days, the “Evil Superman” story has been pretty much done to death; it was a big part of the Injustice franchise (NetherRealm Studios/Various, 2013 to 2017), movies like Brightburn (Yarovesky, 2019) have explored the concept further, and even Henry Cavill’s version of the character has walked the line more than once, particularly in the questionable “Knightmare” scenario present in the DC Extended Universe films. Interestingly, Red Son takes Superman’s core values of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” and simply transposes them into Soviet Russia; as a boy, Superman fears hurting others with his powers and hides them from the world as a result but, after showing them to Svetlana (Winter Ave Zoli), is encouraged to “give them to the State” in order to put them to the best use (i.e. for the betterment of their Communist superiors). As a result, the Soviet Superman isn’t initially evil in the way a lot of alternate versions of Superman are; he begins as a humble Communist patriot who is simply acting in the best interests of his country, which is basically what the mainstream Superman does more often than not.

Superman embarks on his own totalitarian regime predicated on peace through force.

At first, the Soviet Superman basically acts as a nuclear deterrent to the rest of the world, ensuring the strength, superiority, and prosperity of Soviet Russia in a similar way to how Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan acted for the United States in Watchmen (Moore, et al, 1986 to 1987). This Superman is uncomfortable in the spotlight and sees himself as a “servant of the State”, a man simply doing his part in ensuring Russia’s success, and is quick to attribute his feats to the betterment of the country rather than simply his actions. Similarly, he doesn’t hesitate to act to intervene when Metropolis is threatened by a falling satellite, expressing that the citizens of the United States aren’t his enemy or those of his government, and yet he is sceptical and distrustful of the press, such as Lois Lane-Luthor (Acker). In this version of the DC Universe, Lois is still a reporter but is married to Luthor; Lois’s ideals clash with those of Superman’s, with each of them disapproving of the actions and methods of each other’s governments. Clearly intrigued by Superman, it is Lois who opens his eyes to the horrendous actions of Stalin, which have left his beloved Svetlana dead after being imprisoned in a hellish gulag for knowing his true identity. Disgusted at the torture and treatment of the prisoners, and enraged at Svetlana’s death, Superman frees the inmates and brutally kills Stalin, usurping his authority in the process and beginning his own totalitarian regime. Just as she encouraged him to give his powers to the country, Svetlana’s dying words motivate Superman to be the strongest of the strong and to ensure that the Russian people are never again oppressed. Just as Luthor hoped, this causes Superman to become a significant threat as he easily ends the Korean War and demolishes the Berlin Wall, accepting collateral damage and loss of life to safeguard the majority and spreading a message of peace through aggressive intervention. Luthor’s machinations speed up his vendetta against Superman, which sees his him cloning a bizarre version of Superman using genetic material from this landing craft.

Luthor creates a clone of Superman that he purposely overloads to the point of death just to rattle Superman.

This “Superior Man” (Travis Willingham) resembles the traditional Superman in many ways, save for a “US” symbol on his chest, and has been programmed with complete subservience to his country (and to Luthor), however he’s little more than a blank slate. Luthor unveils Superior Man in a very public display and wastes no time in sending him to confront Superman, leading to a massive brawl between the two through the streets of Moscow. Horrified at the devastation and loss of life their conflict causes, Superman quickly diverts the battle away from innocent lives (interesting that the Soviet version of Superman is more concerned with safeguarding innocent lives than Snyder’s Superman in his debut film…), but the clone soon degenerates into a monstrosity and, finally, painfully dissolves when Luthor purposely overloads him with more power to test Superman’s limits and psychologically unnerve his superpowered opponent.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Superman: Red Son isn’t anything massively new when it comes to animation since it appears very similar to other DC animated movies and draws heavy aesthetic influence from Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s animated works. The story continuously jumps through time, showing characters aging and noticeably changing (Luthor starts off quite athletic and with a full head of hair but soon grows pudgy and balding while Superman’s costume becomes darker and more adorned with military insignias and accessories as his campaign escalates), which covers a lot of ground very quickly in order to establish that these events take place over a long period of time and slowly shows the expansion of Superman’s Communist strength.

Superman and Wonder Woman forge an alliance in a world where Batman is a violent terrorist.

As with many alternate world stories and animated features, Red Son includes several cameos and additional characters, recast and changed by their place in this parallel world. This Superman forges a powerful alliance with Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Marshall), who admires his accomplishments and his commitment to his ideals of unity through strength; their relationship is built out of a mutual desire to change the world for the better with their powers and resources rather than a romantic liaison since Diana is a lesbian in this world. In time, however, Diana comes to question Superman’s methods when he turns insurgents into little more than zombies. Similarly, Superman faces opposition from the Soviet Batman, here little more than a terrorist who openly opposes Superman’s regime after suffering in the same gulag as Svetlana and losing all faith the superpowered Premier. As with many alternate versions of Batman, the Soviet Batman is perfectly happy to kill, blowing up a museum dedicated to Superman’s accomplishments and killing numerous innocents in the process. Batman has also inspired several followers, who all wear his symbol and willingly follow his orders, which causes them to be subjected to brainwashing by Superman’s reprogrammed Brainiac technology. After many years of striking against Superman, Batman eventually overwhelms Wonder Woman and subdues her with her own Lasso of Truth in order to lure Superman into a trap. Using artificial red sunlight supplied by Luthor, Batman weakens Superman and mercilessly beats him into submission as payback for his part in the death of his parents and to liberate Russia from his oppressive rule. Ultimately, though, Wonder Woman breaks free from her binds and restores Superman’s powers, though Batman choose suicide over being subjected to Superman’s brainwashing and the whole ordeal causes Diana to walk away from man’s world.

Superman and Luthor team up to defeat Brainiac and Superman uses the opportunity to fake his death.

Finally, Luthor’s ongoing efforts to bring down Superman lead to him not only becoming President of the United States and repositioning the United States as a prosperous democracy, but also discovering Abin Sur’s crashed spaceship and bequeathing the power ring on his finger to Captain Hal Jordan (Sasha Roiz) to create an alternative version of the Green Lantern Corps. Although not wishing to go to war with the United States, or to simply remove Luthor from power, Superman is forced into action when the Green Lantern Corps attack; although saved by Diana, he refuses to listen to her pleas for peace and loses her trust and friendship forever when Themyscira closes its borders to the rest of the world. Although Brainiac’s invasion of the world is limited to a brief montage, its influence on the story is significant; defeated and reprogrammed by Superman, Brainiac not only subtly influences Superman’s methods and gives him the technology necessary to better enforce his rule, but has also been secretly plotting to take over the world through Superman’s increasingly aggressive methods. This comes to a head in the finale, where Brainiac’s machinations lead Superman to the White House and the world to the brink of all-out war. Thanks to Lois, Superman realises the error of his ways and even works alongside Luthor (in a version of his signature mech suit) to battle Brainiac on the White House lawn; Luthor’s technology even ends up playing a pivotal role in disabling Brainiac’s forcefields and allowing Superman to destroy the machine, faking his death in the process and retreating to a simple, unassuming life to allow humanity to make their own destiny…and their own mistakes.

The Summary:
Superman: Red Son is an entertaining glimpse into an alternate version of Superman, one whose ideals of patriotism and justice are skewed by his Communist beliefs and upbringing. Initially a propaganda tool used to showcase the might of the Soviets, Superman evolves into a surprisingly layered dictator, one who laments and avoids the taking of innocent lives but is willing to aggressively expand his empire through force, if necessary. In time, his regime enforces a notable peace through the expansion of Communist ideals, which makes him colder and more inhumane in his efforts as he subjects those who defy him to lobotomies and yet still believes that his methods are more humane than those of Stalin. Superman is positioned as the enemy of the free world, particularly Democratic nations such as the United States, which seeks to liberate the Soviet nations from his oppressive rule but, as with Superman’s methods, Luthor’s aren’t exactly benevolent. One thing I found particularly interesting was that Superman doesn’t have another name; renouncing whatever name he had as a boy and becoming a symbol of Communist power and ideology, he’s also far more separated from humanity because of the emphasis on his alien nature, which is skewed by Communist beliefs. It’s an interesting take on the character and helps to make the story stand out and showcase the surprising amount of depth to Superman, who retains his trademark desire to only do good and help others but this desire is distorted by his totalitarian ways.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

What did you think to Superman: Red Son? How would you rank it against the other DC animated features and how do you think it holds up against its source material? Are you a fan of the Soviet Superman concept? What other alternate scenario would you like to see Superman thrust into some day? What is your favourite alternative take on Superman and what are your thoughts on the “Evil Superman” trope in comic books and other media? Whatever your thoughts on Superman: Red Son and other parallel versions of iconic characters, go ahead and leave them down below.

Movie Night: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Dr. K8 Comments

Released: 3 September 2021
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Budget: $150 million
Stars: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Tony Leung

The Plot:
Desiring a normal life away from his father, Xu Wenwu (Leung), who has led the terrorist organisation known as the “Ten Rings” for a thousand years thanks to his mysterious alien rings, Shang-Chi (Liu), a master kung fu, flees to San Francisco. However, his normal, everyday life is shattered when he is forced to confront his father, who has become obsessed with locating a lost mythical land.

The Background:
Shang-Chi was created by Steve Englehart Jim Starlin and debuted in December 1973 to capitalise on the popularity of kung fu (and, specifically, the late Bruce Lee) during that time. Despite being a staple of Marvel Comics ever since, and me being a die-hard comic book reader and collector, I can’t really say that I have any experience of Shang-Chi at all beyond a few passing mentions and I am much more familiar with Danny Rand/Iron Fist, so I was surprised not only when a movie was announced but also to learn that the concept was kicked around in the 1980s and that an adaptation very nearly saw the light of day in 2004. Seeking to introduce new characters for the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), MCU producer Kevin Feige saw Shang-Chi as a way to not only do the Mandarin justice but to also expand the scope of the MCU into Asian territories and a whole new genre. Following delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings finally released to overwhelmingly positive reviews; critics praised the film’s martial arts and characters and regarded the film as a breath of fresh air for the MCU and the film managed to defy the pandemic by grossing almost $169 million at the box office.

The Review:
The movie opens with a quick recap of the titular legend of the Ten Rings, which actually doubles as two legends in one; basically, Xu Wenwu found the mysterious and powerful, potentially alien, rings about a thousand years ago and they granted him immortality, everlasting youth, and the power to conquer and reign. Like all men with power, though, he craved even more and, upon learning of the lost land of Ta Lo, ventured there to learn the powers of the Gods. While Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) was a complete mockery of everything the Mandarin stands for, Wenwu isn’t exactly a one-to-one interpretation of the fictional warlord either; rather than controlling different elemental powers and such, the ten rings function more as a kind of magnetic inexhaustible energy field that Wenwu manipulates like whips or uses to fire concussive bolts, propel himself through the air, or form shield. I can understand why (the actual ten rings are probably a little too close to the powers of the Infinity Stones, maybe), though, and it definitely makes for some unique action and fight scenes involving the character.

This new version of the Mandarin end sup as one of the MCU’s most complex and sympathetic villains.

Crucially, however, Wenwu is a surprisingly complex and sympathetic character; in the comics, the Mandarin is generally always this power-hungry dictator who slaughters and destroys simply to feed his lust for power but Wenwu actually gave up his evil ways after meeting, being bested by, and subsequently falling in love with Ying Li (Fala Chen). Together, they sired two children and it was only after Ying Li died that Wenwu returned to the rings, rebuilt his criminal empire, and returned to amassing a formidable armed of well-trained assassins and terrorists. Having studied Ta Lo for years, Wenwu has become somewhat consumed by grief and guilt; he supplants the blame for Ying Li’s death into the people of Ta Lo and, later, even Shang-Chi himself and his entire motivation is based on the belief that storming Ta Lo and opening the “Dark Gate” they protect will return his love to him. Indeed, for the majority of the film, Wenwu is a well-spoken, intelligent, and even kind-hearted character; he’s stern and tough, and seen to be ruthless and uncompromising, and definitely has a dark past soaked in blood but it’s undeniable that he cares for his children, and his lost love, even if the allure of the ten rings is often more provocative for him.

When his father comes looking for him, Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past.

As for Shang-Chi, after his mother died he was trained to be an assassin, like all of the men under Wenwu’s command; a highly adept and dangerous fighter, he was given his first assignment at fourteen and used it as an opportunity to escape from his father’s organisation. Fleeing to America and changing his name to “Sean”, Shang-Chi was content to hide from his true self and his true power and eke out a meagre living as a valet attendant alongside his oldest and closest friend, Katy (Awkwafina). However, when Wenwu’s goons come for him (specifically the jade pendant the wears around his neck, a gift from his late mother), Shang leaps into action to defend himself and Katy using his incredible (and largely unmatched) martial arts skill. Realising this his sister is in equal danger, he travels to Macau (with Katy in tow) and is forced to face his past in the process; ashamed of his upbringing, the heinous acts he has committed in his father’s name, and his inability to save his mother, Shang is reluctant to face his inner demons but nonetheless adamantly opposes his father’s plot to burn Ta Lo to the ground and is convinced that Wenwu has gone mad with grief and needs to be stopped.

Katy provides the comic relief while Shang-Chi tries to repair his relationship with Xialing.

Katy largely fills two very crucial roles in the film: she’s both the audience surrogate and the comic relief, two roles she fulfils beautifully. Her rapport and banter with Shang is genuinely affectionate and entertaining and she is often getting into amusing situations that he has to rescue her from since she’s not really a fighter. Her enthusiasm and kind nature more than make up for this, though; even after learning about Shang’s true name and past, she sticks by him and her faith in him is never shaken. In fact, it’s only bolstered when she sees how good a fighter he is and when they reach Ta Lo, she is eager to help out in the ensuing battle in her own way and ends up not only being a vital part of the finale but also a highlight of the film. Shang’s sister, Xu Xialing (Zhang), more than makes up for Katy’s lack of fighting prowess; a grim and independent young woman, she and Shang were close as children but she grew to resent him after he left and never returned for her, and after spending a lifetime being shunned by her father and denied the same fighting training her brother received. Nonetheless, she has self-taught herself to be as formidable a fighter as he, especially with a roped kunai, and the reforging of their relationship as brother and sister is a key subplot of the film. Though they join forces fairly quickly after reuniting and agree that their father has gone mad, it’s only through truly working together to oppose Wenwu that their tension and lingering issues come to be resolved.

Some formidable, if underdeveloped, goons oppose our heroes alongside some fun cameos.

Of course, the odds are fairly stacked against are three heroes; Wenwu sends his two top enforcers, Razor Fist (Munteanu) and Death Dealer (Andy Le), to acquire Shang and Xialing’s pendants, alongside dozens of nameless, faceless, disposable members of the Ten Rings. While Death Dealer is little more than an unnamed mute with a cool look and some swift moves, there’s discord between him and Shang since Death Dealer was so instrumental in Shang’s harsh and brutal training as a child. We get a touch more personality for Razor Fist, a hulking brute of a man with a blade for an arm who follows his orders relentlessly but is still smart enough to know when to withdraw or refocus his goals for his own survival. Rather than being depicted as strictly a terrorist organisation, the Ten Rings is painted as a global, adaptable organisation that can topple governments and change the course of history through many and varied means. The film even has Wenwu comment on the unfortunate situation with Slattery and philosophise on the power and meaning being names and reputations, though I honestly could have done without revisiting this lingering plot point as I wasn’t impressed with the way Iron Man 3 (Black, 2013) handled the character. Of course, there are a few familiar faces from the MCU to be found here as well; both Wong (Benedict Wong) and Emil Blonsky/The Abomination (Tim Roth) appear in the film for what basically amounts to a brief cameo in Xialing’s underground fight club where Wong tricks Abomination into knocking himself out as part of a scam to fun his magical teachings.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is an extremely visual film that is heavily seeped in Chinese lore and mythology; aesthetically, it stands out beautifully from other films in the MCU, especially in the fight choreography and the largely oriental setting of the film once the characters move away from san Francisco. Even then, fights and shots are framed in a way that is visually engaging and entertaining, with the camera being fluid and flowing as smoothly as Shang-Chi’s fast and elegant movements. Macau provides an alluring neon background for Xialing’s fight club while Wenwu’s compound embodies his centuries of age and experience. Of course, it is Ta Lo that really makes the film stand out; an alternate dimension of mythological wonders come to life, Ta Lo is a land untouched by the ravages and wars of man and heavily reliant upon the old ways of combat and the benefits of magical armaments. The closest MCU parallels I can draw are to Black Panther (Coogler, 2018) and Doctor Strange (Derrickson, 2016) for the way it mixes traditional oriental folklore and magic with advanced technology, at times, and the use of both to create a whole new corner of the MCU, one rich in notions such as chi and lost lands of wonders that potential hold more dangers for this interconnected world.

Fittingly, the varied and impressive fights steal the show.

And then there are the fight scenes. Honestly, we haven’t seen fight scenes like this in the MCU at all, and they’re very rarely in cinema these days as well. Fights are fast-paced, kinetic, and full of energy, motion, emotion, and variety. Shang-Chi is every bit a living weapon, easily able to defend himself against numerous armed and unarmed foes even in close quarters like on a double-length bus or on a narrow scaffold while also being so away of his surroundings that has able to keep Katy safe from harm at the same time. At first, he is completely unmatched; even the hulking Razor Fist can’t hold to tough him so expert are his martial arts skills, but Xialing is able to defeat him in their cage fight thanks to Shang-Chi holding back against her and her having trained to be his equal. In Ta Lo, Shang-Chi learns additional martial arts skills, ones more focused on chi and serenity than anger and brute force, in order to stand toe-to-toe with his father, who is an accomplished fighter even without his magical ten rings. Thanks to a fluid camera and some truly incredible shots, Shang-Chi’s fights are a masterpiece of visual cinema that all seem to flow as one continuous shot and really highlight how talented the character (and the actors) are in their craft.

The film culminates in a massive battle against demonic creatures and between father and son.

Similar to Black Panther, the film concludes with a dual sequence depicting Xialing and Katy battling alongside the residents of Ta Lo to defend it from the Ten Rings and Shang-Chi confronting his father in a series of escalating fist fights. The stakes become incredibly high as Wenwu fanatically pound son the Dark Gate, convinced that it will return Ying Li to him, only to unleash a swarm of demonic creatures that suck the souls from their victims! While Ta Lo and the Ten Rings are forced to fight together to fend off these winded demons, Shang-Chi desperately tries to talk sense into his father and to stop him from destroying the gate entirely. Thanks to Wenwu’s ten rings and his mad obsession, to say nothing of his centuries of experience and knowledge, to say that the would-be Mandarin is a formidable foe is more than an understatement. Shang-Chi, however, finds the strength to persevere and continue to battle against his father, even turning the power of the rings against him at one point and summoning one hell of a game-changing ally to aid in the fight, as he finally accepts his destiny and true self. While a lot of MCU films can have somewhat disappointing conclusions as the heroes battle a dark mirror of themselves Shang-Chi chooses an intense and emotionally charged finale that pits father against son. While the influx of gigantic CGI creatures can detract from this narrative, it doesn’t change how spectacular a debut and finale this is for the titular character, who makes an impactful first appearance in the MCU that appears as though it’ll have lasting ramifications for this shared universe of films.

The Summary:
Considering I absolutely nothing about Shang-Chi and was only really aware of three characters in this film (one of which being another vastly different interpretation of the Mandarin), I really enjoyed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The final battle was maybe a little overblown and dragged a bit and there were a few instances where we told things rather than being showed them but, overall, it was a very entertaining film. It feels like forever since I’ve seen a big budget kung fu film at the cinema and Shang-Chi definitely delivered on that front, showcasing easily the most fluid, complex, and impressive fight scene sin the MCU and shining a long-overdue spotlight on a hitherto unseen corner of Marvel’s interconnected world. Simu Liu is instantly likeable as the well-meaning, but flawed, main character, Awkwafina stole the show with her loveable and amusing escapades, and Tony Leung brought a depth and emotional complexity that I wasn’t expecting from one of Marvel’s most fearsome villains. With top-notch special effects, jaw-dropping fight scenes, and a focus on Chinese mythology and folklore, Shang-Chi has opened a door into even more spectacular territory for the MCU and I’m excited to see where the character and his world go next as Phase Four continues on.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Have you seen Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings? If so, what did you think to it? Are you a fan of the title character? What are some of your favourite Shang-Chi stories and moments from the comics? Which of the film’s fantastical creatures and cameos was your favourite? What did you think to this new interpretation of the Mandarin and the way the character’s been handled in the MCU? What’s your favourite kung fu movie? Whatever your thoughts, sign up and leave a comment or let me know on my social media.

Movie Night [Star Trek Day]: Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Dr. K2 Comments

On this day, 8th September 1966, the first episode of Star Trek (1966 to 1969) first aired, that being “The Man Trap” (Daniels, 1966). Since then, Star Trek has become a massive cultural phenomenon that still endures to this day, spawning numerous continuations, spin-offs, and ancillary media to become, perhaps, the most influential science-fiction franchise of all time. Accordingly, the 8th of September has been deemed “Star Trek Day” and is thus the perfect excuse to dedicate some more time to, and celebrate, this massive sci-fi franchise.

Released: 7 December 1979
Director: Robert Wise
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $44 million
Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Stephen Collins, and Persis Khambatta

The Plot:
Some time has passed since the conclusion of Star Trek; James T. Kirk (Shatner) has been promoted to admiral and the U.S.S. Enterprise is now under the command of Captain Willard Decker (Collins). When a mysterious and destructive alien cloud known as V’Ger approaches Earth, Kirk reassumes command of the ship, reuniting with his crew in the process, in a desperate attempt to discover V’Ger’s origins and intentions.

The Background:
I’ve mentioned previously that a big question facing many Star Trek fans is the choice between the Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 to 1994) and, thus, between Kirk and his successor, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). As the Original Series never seemed to be on television when I was a kid, I mainly watched The Next Generation and its subsequent spin-offs so the majority of my exposure to the original crew came through the feature-films. Although Star Trek performed well during its original run, it gained significantly more popularity during re-runs; however, production of a feature-length continuation was met with considerable difficulties and took so long to get off the ground that creator Gene Roddenberry even started shopping around a follow-up series, Star Trek: Phase II. The success of sci-fi epics like Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Spielberg, 1977) and Star Wars (Lucas, 1977) convinced executives that they could benefit from a big-budget, feature-length Star Trek film, which was largely adapted from an unproduced script for Phase II. Necessitating the construction of extremely expensive sets, the film’s script underwent numerous rewrites and changes, often with the input and under the scrutiny of the returning cast members. Although the film grossed nearly $140 million, Paramount were disappointed that it didn’t perform as well as they had expected and the film was met with mixed to negative reviews. Even now, the film is largely considered a disappointment and one of the worst in the franchise but, if nothing else, its negative backlash led to a dramatic course correction in how subsequent films were written and produced.

The Review:
Star Trek: The Motion Picture opens promisingly enough by introducing us to the all-new, far more alien and threatening designs for the Klingons that would go on to define the alien race in all subsequent Star Trek media. An aggressive, war-like race, their first thought upon encountering the V’Ger cloud is to open fire, which promptly results in the destruction of their crafts. While this is a decent enough way to introduce V’Ger and sell the entity as a threat, it’s not much of an engaging or entertaining sequence and this is largely to order of the day for the film. With V’Ger inexorably approaching Earth (and with the Enterprise, of course, the only ship capable of meeting it in time), Kirk manages to convince his superiors to give him back command of the ship in order to investigate the entity. Kirk, now and admiral, appears to have reassumed command of the Enterprise primarily to fuel his ego and to have a command once more as much as because of his experience with the strange and unknown. This, of course, brings him into conflict with the Enterprise’s current captain, Decker, who resents Kirk taking control away from him and believes (rightfully so) that Kirk’s previous experience with the Enterprise is no longer valid due to the ship’s recent refit; this turns out to be the case as Kirk gets a little lost touring the ship and is unfamiliar with its systems and capabilities since they’ve changed so much.

Spock rejoins the crew after becoming aware of, and fascinated by, V’Ger’s consciousness.

You might notice that Mister Spock (Nimoy) is not among the crew members for nearly an hour; indeed, Spock has left Starfleet and is labouring on Vulcan at the beginning of the film and only joins the crew after sensing V’Ger’s consciousness. Having worked to suppress his emotions in the ritual of Kolinahr, Spock’s character at first seems to have taken quite a dramatic step back as he is initially cold towards his crew mates, almost seeming like a stranger amongst them, but he eventually reacclimatises to the crew. As pragmatic and logical as ever, Spock becomes so fascinated by V’Ger’s unique form of consciousness and composition that he takes it upon himself to attempt to make direct contact with the entity and is overwhelmed by the influx of information in the process. Indeed, V’Ger’s cold, logical composition is a direct parallel to Spock’s often unemotional nature but, after mind-melding with the entity, it is revealed that the difference is that Spock’s capacity for emotion separates him from the entity, which is confused and incapable of understanding emotion or appreciating beauty.

The unique friendship between Kirk, Spock, and Bones has very few chances to shine.

While Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Kelley), Lieutenant Commander Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan), Lieutenant Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig), Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), and Lieutenant Commander Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) all return in their familiar roles, there’s not a whole lot for most of them to do. Scotty gets a fair amount of time to shine in the early going as he introduces Kirk to the refitted ship and struggles to fix up the damaged engines and, while Bones only agrees to come along out of loyalty to his former captain, he plays a relatively influential role in pointing out Kirk’s disingenuous reasons for commandeering the Enterprise and commenting (in his trademark abrasive nature) on his rivalry with Decker. Unfortunately, there are far few moments for Kirk, Spock, and McCoy to interact, robbing the film of their amusing and love/hate relationship and making The Motion Picture a decidedly stale experience.

V’Ger finds a voice by transforming Ilia into a robotic duplicate.

Instead, the Enterprise is manned by a larger unfamiliar crew, the most prominent of which is Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Ilia (Khambatta), a Deltan who acts as the ship’s navigator and has a previous relationship with Decker. Unfortunately, any chance of this relationship being rekindled, or of exploring Ilia’s personality, are quickly dashed when V’Ger abducts her, apparently kills her, and has a robotic duplicate assume her form and act as its emissary. Though now a robotic lifeform, the probe contains Ilia’s memories and experiences, which it is briefly able to reignite through Decker’s influence. The antagonistic force of the film, V’Ger, is the original “cosmic cloud”; a mysterious, incredibly powerful, and seemingly malevolent force that contains a form of consciousness far beyond anything previously encountered. Capable of launching devastating energy attacks, it overcomes its difficulties in communicating with its Ilia double and appears to be a sort of vast ship whose design and concept are more than a little reminiscent of the Borg. V’Ger’s goal is based upon a misinterpretation of the programming of Voyager 6 by an alien race of living machines to assimilate information and then return to Earth and “The Creator”, meaning that the entity is far from malicious and is, instead, a titanic machine that has gained sentience and is simply trying to understand its purpose and is little more than a demanding child. However, when V’Ger’s attempts at communicating with its creator go unanswered, it comes to believe that “carbon lifeforms” have infested the Earth and threatens to eradicate the infestation to fulfil its mission to return to its creator.

The Nitty-Gritty:
I think one of the things that always bugged me about this movie is that so much has changed between the Original Series and the Motion Picture. All of the familiar uniforms for gone, replaced with a dull, uninteresting outfits that are mostly grey and uninspired and, while you might think it’s good that the Enterprise has undergone a dramatic refit as it makes for bigger and far more elaborate sets (and, indeed, these are impressive), the film wastes so much time in introducing us to the ship. The model effects are top-notch, don’t get me wrong, and it really helps sell the awe, ambiance, and iconography of the Enterprise but my God! I still feel like I’m watching it even now, it went on for that long!

The model shots are great, which is good as the film spends a lot of time dwelling on them.

This is, of course, symptomatic of the era that the Motion Picture was made; sci-fi films, especially those set in space, loved their long, lingering shots and to build a sense of atmosphere and grandeur and I can respect that but it constantly grinds the film to a halt and gets in the way since the film seems more interested in showing off its impressive (if, obviously, dated) special effects and model shots than it does with actually moving the plot along. Pacing is a real problem in the film, especially in the first hour or so; it plays very much like an extended episode of the series, with the crew encountering numerous random obstacles in their otherwise straightforward journey and the film constantly featuring Kirk recording his thoughts in the Captain’s Log. Because of the refit, the Enterprise is in chaos as the crew try to get the ship ready for launch, immediately selling the idea that this isn’t the same Enterprise we knew from the Original Series and necessitating a quick tour of the film’s impressive sets. The downside to this, though, is that the transporters are dangerously malfunctioning, and the ship’s capabilities are limited, which mainly exists simply to fuel the animosity between Kirk and Decker since Kirk’s decisions almost get the crew killed when they randomly come across a wormhole.

V’Ger’s core and interior are certainly impressive and mysterious.

The special effects are impressive and ambitious for the time, admittedly; as I said, there’s some lovely model shots at work and the Star Trek concept clearly benefits from having a much larger budget. Sadly, the film opts to have a rather underwhelming antagonist at face value; V’Ger is literally just an ethereal cloud of blue lights but, once the Enterprise penetrates its energy field, it is revealed to be a complex biomechanical entity, of sorts, that is extraordinary to look at and clearly took a lot of time to construct but its more abstract nature makes V’Ger more like a force of nature. This is best seen during Spock’s absolute head-trip of a journey into V’Ger’s vast core, where he witnesses all of the knowledge and experience V’Ger has accumulated over the years. This all culminates in a journey to V’Ger’s core, a frankly extraordinary set that is as grand and complex as it is bland; despite this, it’s a suitably cold, alien environment, with the remains of Voyager 6 sat at its core, that dwarfs the cast. In the end, Kirk and the others figure out that V’Ger requires a now-archaic signal in order to complete its mission but, having learned all that there is to learn (a somewhat contradictory assertion since V’Ger has somehow learned nothing of emotion or carbon lifeforms), it requires tactile human contact in order to “evolve” and, thus, Decker sacrifices himself to facilitate this. Yes, in the end, Star Trek: The Motion Picture basically becomes a rip-off of 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kurbrick, 1968) and Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are left to muse on the ramifications of this new, undisclosed lifeform.

The Summary:
God, what a bore-fest! I feel like I lost two hours of my life and fell into some kind of coma watching this film. There’s a reason that I haven’t seen it in about ten years; it’s just so boring, cold, and clinical…so drab and uninteresting. I can fully understand and appreciate that the seventies were a different time and that seventies sci-fi, especially, was very much about establishing an atmosphere and revelling in the vest intergalactic ambiance of outer space but Star Trek: The Motion Picture pretty much embodies all the worst aspects of Star Trek. Needlessly mired in philosophy and scientific curiosity it sacrifices not just action but characterisation in service of its plot and it’s truly a shame as there are glimmers of the rapport between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy that were so entertaining in the show and subsequent movies and the plot is actually rather fascinating. The idea of a living machine attempting to reconnect with its creator and evolve into a higher form is intriguing and the revelation that it was all because of an old Earth space probe and the suggestion of some vast race of sentient machines all has a lot of potential but it’s so poorly executed. For Star Trek’s big feature-film debut, The Motion Picture just played things way too safe and sucked all the fun and adventure out of Star Trek and no amount of impressive and ambitious sets, models, and special effects can save this one.

My Rating:

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Terrible

Are you a fan of Star Trek: The Motion Picture? If so…why? What is it, exactly, about the film that you enjoy? If you’re not a fan, what was it that turned you off about the film? What did you think to Kirk’s portrayal as an egotistical, self-serving asshole? Did you like the new designs for the Enterprise’s interiors and the new characters the film introduced? What did you think to V’Ger; do you think it should have been officially recognised as being involved in the Borg’s origin or do you think it’s best left as one of those incredible space phenomena? Which Star Trek captain, crew, show, or movie is your favourite and why? How are you celebrating Star Trek Day today? No matter what you think, feel free to leave a comment down below.