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Movie Night: Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut

14/07/202106/05/2024Dr. K6 Comments

Released: 3 November 2009
Originally Released: 6 March 2009
Director: Zack Snyder
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures/Paramount Pictures
Budget: $130 to 138 million
Stars: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan

The Plot:
In an alternative version of the 1980s, the world is constantly on the brink of nuclear war between the United States and Soviet Russia and masked vigilantes, once popular in the 1960s, have been outlawed for some time. However, when Edward Blake/The Comedian (Morgan) is found dead, Walter Kovacs/Rorschach (Haley) uncovers what appears to be a plot to kill off former masked crimefighters and, in his efforts to warn his fellow Watchmen, becomes embroiled in a diabolical plot to force the world into unity and peace.

The Background:
Published between September 1986 and October 1987, Watchmen (Moore, et al) was the brainchild of noted comic book writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, who revised their initial concept of a murder mystery involving Charlton Comics characters using entirely new, unique characters. Watchmen’s sophisticated adult narrative subverted the usual expectations of comic book heroes, grounding them in something resembling reality and tackling the genre with a serious, contemplative direction. Filled with dense imagery and complex themes, Watchmen was an influential mainstream success. For the longest time, the text was largely considered to be unfilmable, though a live-action adaptation was in the works as far back as the late-eighties. In 2005, though, the project finally entered production with Zack Snyder at the helm. Featuring a number of alterations to the source material, and Moore’s characteristic disinterest, Watchmen didn’t exactly set the box office on fire, earning just over $185 million worldwide against a $130 to 138 million budget. Though the film also received mixed-to-average reviews, I actually prefer the movie to the graphic novel, if I’m being honest. An extended director’s cut and this “Ultimate Cut” of the film were also later released, restoring many excised aspects from the source material and providing, perhaps, the most complete live-action version of Watchmen we’re ever likely to get.

The Review:
Though not the first scene of the film, Watchmen features perhaps one of the most striking and effective introductions to its fictional world in all of cinema; set to the tune of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’”, Snyder masterfully condenses some of the denser, more subtle, arguably inconsequential, complex, and intricate side plots and world-building moments of the comic book into one impressive montage which takes us through the early days of the colourful Minutemen and through to the intricacies of this decidedly alternative version of the world, where wars and monumental moments in human history were noticeably different thanks to the presence and influences of costumed heroes, all the way up to the debut of the Watchmen and the later outlawing of costumed adventurers following President Richard Nixon’s (Robert Wisden) unprecedented third term. Of course, the catalyst for the entire film’s events is the murder of Edward Blake, the Comedian. When we first meet Blake, he’s an aged shell of his former self; living alone in an apartment filled with mementos of a life-time of war and conflict, he is both taken off-guard and bitterly unsurprised when he is suddenly and violently attacked in his own home.

*Rorschach* *is a brutal, uncompromising, and inherently flawed protagonist.*

Unlike in the comic, where this was a decidedly simple and one-sided affair, this first action scene best showcases the dramatic license Snyder takes with the source material by delivering a bloody, violent, elaborately stylised beatdown in which the combatants are almost superhuman and capable of delivering (and taking) incredible punishment and smashing through objects (and even human bones) with their bare hands. “Stylistic” is a great word to describe Snyder’s Watchmen, which dials up the subdued presentation of the comic book to eleven, both paying homage to Gibbons’ artwork and updating the static panels into incredibly elaborate and visceral. As the sole remaining unlicensed costumed vigilante, Rorschach investigates out of a sense of duty and obligation; while many characters are aesthetically or motivationally altered in some way, big or small, for better and for worse, Rorschach remains extremely faithful to his depiction in the comic. His gravely, monotone voice accompanies many of his scenes, and others, and forms a loose, distorted narration of events and he is, essentially, the closest thing we have to a main character and is our main source of exposition into this vastly different world. Gritty, uncompromising, and paranoid, Rorschach is as crazy as he is dedicated to staying active, even though no one, even former allies of his, really like him all that much.

*Dreiberg is a far more assertive, but no less regretful, character.*

Speaking of which, the first person Rorschach goes to when he discovers the Comedian has been killed is his former partner and the closest thing he has to a friend, Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl II (Wilson); in the comics, Dreiberg was an awkward, unassertive, meek fellow who, for all his former glory, pretty much allowed anyone and everyone to walk over him and take advantage of him. Here, he’s still a shell of his former self and full of both regrets and doubt, but he’s far more assertive; while sympathetic to Rorschach’s condition and respectful of their former crimefighting days to give him the time of day where others wouldn’t, he’s far less patient of Rorschach’s accusations and attitude and far more willing to stand up for himself. In the end, his humility comes from his pining for Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II (Åkerman) and a deep-rooted longing for the thrill of his days as a costumed adventurer.

*Laurie’s aggression stems from her troubled childhood and relationships.*

Rorschach remarks that Dreiberg is “hiding in plain sight” and this is a recurring theme throughout Watchmen; every character wears a mask, whether literal (like Rorschach’s beautifully realised, ever shifting covering) or metaphorical and they’re all hiding something, whether it be their true intentions or their true feelings. Laurie is one of the most complex characters in that regard; aggressive, repressed, and out-spoken, Laurie has no time for Rorschach’s accusations and hostile nature and is emotionally and mentally strained thanks to her tumultuous relationship with her mother, Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino), and Doctor Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan (Crudup). Most of her issues stem from unresolved and half-remembered memories of her childhood; forced into super heroics by her mother, Laurie was obligated to live a life she didn’t necessarily want and constantly struggled with both her mother’s expectations and the reprehensible actions of Blake, who attempted to rape her mother back in the day.

*Despite his God-like powers, Dr. Manhattan has grown increasingly distant from humanity.*

Of course, another character who is hiding in plain sight (and behind a multitude of metaphorical masks) is Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Goode), a man whom Rorschach both respects for his intellect and physical ability but is also somewhat disgusted by since Veidt was one of the first to not only quit his adventuring ways but also shamelessly profit from it. Goode, despite perhaps looking maybe too young for the role, portrays Veidt as a smooth, confident, and wealthy businessman and aristocrat who openly speaks of both his past and his desire to steer the world towards a greater purpose other than warfare and conflict. Veidt plays this public role perfectly, appearing to be just as much of a victim as any of the other Watchmen, and concerned only with the welfare of humanity through his business and critical work with Dr. Manhattan. Speaking of Dr. Manhattan, Osterman is primarily regarded as the sole thing keeping the United States and Russia from engaging in all-out nuclear conflict; an ethereal, God-like character, Dr. Manhattan is the only character in the film to exhibit actual, tangible superpowers and, as if to compensate for this, has been gifted with a vast and seemingly limitless array of abilities, from teleportation, to nigh-immortality, to the ability to manipulate atoms in any way he desires, and a skewed perspective of time. Dr. Manhattan’s unique ability to perceive past, present, and future simultaneously and his extensive abilities have made him more and more detached from humanity, specifically Laurie; despite him assisting Veidt in conceiving of a clean, renewable energy source to unite the world, Dr. Manhattan has little care for the intricacies of mortals and his increasing detachment is a pivotal plot point of the film. Dr. Manhattan is superbly realised in the film thanks to CGI emphasising his otherworldly magnetism; in a film where costume design and aesthetics are impressive from start to finish, Dr. Manhattan naturally stands out and not just because his wang is out half the time; he’s literally a God among men and is portrayed as such throughout.

Watchmen‘s *unique visual storytelling* *emphasises its complex themes of humanity and identity.*

Watchmen is, at its core, a murder mystery story that is as much about commenting on society, humanity, and our various failings as it is about exploring the nature of superheroes; as in the comic, every character in the film is flawed, broken even, and is detached from reality in some way. Veidt sees himself as above it all on an intellectual level; Blake believed he was above it since he chose to cynically mock the state of society; Dreiberg chooses to hide from the conflict, and his true self; Laurie is in constant denial about her past and feels suffocated by it; Rorschach has completely abandoned all pretense of his life outside of his mask; and Dr. Manhattan has become completely disinterested and disillusioned in the petty squabbles of humanity. Though Snyder expands upon this narrative with an abundance of gore, expletives, and dramatic visual excess, it still forms the central backbone of the narrative and is just as interesting to follow, if not more so thanks to Snyder’s flair for style.

The Nitty-Gritty:
I mentioned earlier that there are numerous alterations to the source material; when I first saw the movie, I applauded this as I found the comic to be quite dense and slow and not the most visually interesting tale. Though I have grown to appreciate the influence and nuance of the comic book, I still prefer the film as Snyder’s attention to detail, stylistic choices, and the epic quality of the film make it far more interesting and engaging for me. Of course, one of the major changes Snyder made was to dramatically elaborate upon the few fight scenes of the comic book; fights are now heavily choreographed, greatly stylised sequences featuring an abundance of slow motion, blood, and violence. Characters exhibit near-superhuman levels of strength and durability, which goes against the purposely grounded nature of the source material, but I can forgive this as it lends a level of spectacle and gratuity to the film that not only appeals to me and my baser instincts but also, I would argue, makes the film and the story more accessible to a wider audience.

Watchmen‘s costume design and aesthetic choices are absolutely top-notch.

Plus, it’s not as if the base themes of Moore’s original story aren’t still present; if anything, they’re more explicit than ever thanks to Snyder’s decidedly unsubtle style of filmmaking and, yet, the film still replicates many of the slower, more subtle and nuanced character moments from the source material. Snyder’s attention to detail is absolutely flawless; every scene is crammed full of faithful recreations of the comic book and the lengths he went to replicate the costumes and aesthetics of Gibbons’ artwork is impressive. At the same time, Snyder uses the film as an opportunity to comment on and reference the many years of superhero cinema just as Moore paid homage to a bygone era of comics books; as a result, Nite Owl’s costume is a heavily armoured homage to the various Batsuits, Silk Spectre is literally poured into a super sexy leather number (as was the style of the early 2000s), and Ozymandias is purposely decked out in rubber armour reminiscent of Joel Schumacher’s Batsuits (it even has the much-maligned nipples). While I can understand people getting a bit upset about some of these changes as they seem superfluous in some ways, I honestly thought it really worked and helped emphasise the film’s extravagant aesthetic style.

*Snyder’s attention to detail and fidelity is astounding, especially in the* Ultimate Cut.

Continuing on the theme of attention to detail, Snyder includes, or straight-up adapts, entire sub-plots and story beats from the source material that, one could argue, others might have cut for time; as a result, we get a startlingly brutal recreation of Rorschach’s time in prison, therapy sessions, and character-defining moments as well as a great deal of time spent exploring Dr. Manhattan’s time on Mars, his origin, and his subsequent heart-to-heart with Laurie. This means that, rather than only paying lip service to what makes these characters tick or briefly touching upon it (or removing it entirely), Snyder is able to properly delve into the psychology of his versions of these characters through his distinct visual style. Even in the Ultimate Cut, which is unquestioningly the most definitive version of the film you’ll ever watch, some concessions had to be made, though; the most obvious of these is that Snyder is completely focused on the current story of the Watchmen rather than exploring the intricacies of their predecessors, the Minutemen, but, even then, this extended version goes to the trouble of including the tragic fate of Hollis Mason/Nite Owl (Stephen McHattie).

*The allegorical* Black Freighter story is interspersed throughout the Ultimate Cut.

Watching the Ultimate Cut of the film also means that the main story is interlaced with an allegorical side story, Tales of the Black Freighter (DelPurgatorio, 2009), at key moments; originally excised from the main film and released as a separate feature on home media, Tales of the Black Freighter has been largely restored to serve much the same purpose as in the comic book. The side story, which is told in startling gory animated sequences, follows a shipwrecked sea captain (Gerard Butler) who is driven to madness and obsession following a disastrous encounter with the demonic Black Freighter. Desperate to get back home to his wife and children and to warn his hometown of the freighter’s threat, he ultimately becomes the very monster he is trying to fight against when he unwittingly bludgeons his family in a fit of madness. As in the original comic book, Tales of the Black Freighter acts as an allegory for Veidt’s despicable actions and the story of Watchmen in general, with its themes of obsession and performing unspeakable acts in the name of good though, while I enjoy the animated version far more than its comic book counterpart, I can see why it was omitted from the original film as these themes are, by the very nature of Watchmen’s narrative, largely explicit regardless.

*I was honestly okay with the changes to the story and ending, especially as they made contextual sense.*

Of course, the big twist is that Veidt is actually behind everything, literally “hiding in plain sight”; though the execution of his plan to save humanity significantly differs from the source material, his motivations remain largely the same (having predicted the downfall of society, the inevitability of war, and the limitations of fossil fuels, Veidt engineers an elaborate and complex plan to fool the world into unifying against a common enemy). A big source of contention was Snyder’s decision to omit the iconic giant squid that Veidt genetically engineered to fool humanity into believing in an impending and ominous alien threat. While I really admired how the Watchmen television series (2019) managed to pull this grotesque creation off, I never really minded all that much that the squid was missing from the film. Not only is there a cheeky reference to it (Veidt’s machine is called a “Sub Quantum Unified Intrinsic field Device”) but the idea of Veidt replicating Dr. Manhattan’s powers and then attacking multiple cities across the world, rather than just New York City, and pinning it all on Jon actually makes far more sense and keeps the film from wasting time in explaining and setting up the squid. Could they have done that? Sure, and probably pretty easily, but, while it’s disappointing to not have the image of the squid’s bloodied and gruesome corpse draped throughout Times Square, I can live without it if it makes sense in the context of the narrative and, thanks to how prevalent Jon’s fragile grip on humanity is to Watchmen’s story, I would argue that it does.

The Summary:
It’s probably sacrilegious to say it but I still prefer the movie version of Watchmen over the comic book; while my appreciation for the source material has grown, especially after re-reading it recently, it was only after watching the movie that I actually became interested in the concept. Sure, it might be very different from the source material in a lot of ways but I’m okay with that because everything looks so slick and stylish and has a real cinematic grandeur to it. While Snyder’s unique cinematic style may not be for everyone, and it’s probably still seen as somewhat blasphemous that he stripped most of the subtlety and nuance from Watchmen, it really works for me and results in a bold, striking, and aesthetically pleasing superhero film that is truly unique among the genre. I feel what really makes Watchmen work is how accessible Snyder makes the source material; I can definitely say that it’s probably best to watch the film first and then explore the graphic novel and see if it’s just as appealing to you. Die-hard fans of the comic may have been annoyed and insulted by Snyder’s creative license but I wanted to see a gory, thought-provoking, and visually entertaining film and that’s exactly what Watchmen delivers. Watchmen delves into a completely different side of the superhero genre while paying homage to it through fantastic costume design, brutal action sequences, and an engaging narrative and the Ultimate Cut goes one step even further to deliver extended scenes that further expand this unique world and incorporating an allegorical tale to the main plot to provide the definitive Watchmen experience.

My Rating:

Fantastic

So, what do you think about Watchmen? Were you a fan of the graphic novel before seeing the film or did you, like me, gain a deeper appreciation for the source material after watching the film? Which version of the film do you prefer, the theatrical, director, or ultimate cut and why? How do you feel about Snyder’s visual and filmic style and the alterations he made to the text? Which of the titular Watchmen is your favourite and why and how do you feel about their costumes and characterisations in the film? Did you enjoy the animated Black Freighter segments, or do you feel they distracted from the already bloated narrative? Would you like to see a new adaptation of Watchmen, one perhaps even closer to the source material, and, if so, who would you cast in the various roles? No matter what you think about Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, feel free to leave a comment below and check back in next Wednesday for more Watchmen content!

Movie Night: Zack Snyder’s Justice League

11/07/202104/07/2024Dr. K11 Comments

Released: 18 March 2021
Director: Zack Snyder
Distributor: HBO Max/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Budget: $70 million (on top of the original $300 million production costs)
Stars: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ciarán Hinds, Amy Adams, and Henry Cavill

The Plot:
Following the death of Clark Kent/Superman (Cavill), Bruce Wayne/Batman (Affleck) scrambles to bring together a team of super-powered heroes when the disgraced New God Steppenwolf (Hinds) arrives on Earth and begins violently searching for the mysterious “Mother Boxes”.

The Background:
Oh God, where to start with this? Okay, so, after the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) became this super successful juggernaut, Warner Bros. scrambled to try and catch up and craft their own cinematic universe. The first step was Man of Steel (ibid, 2013); Zack Snyder was picked to helm the project and steer the direction of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and, initially, the results were promising. Despite some mixed reviews, Man of Steel was a financial success but the cracks in Snyder’s vision started to form with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (ibid, 2016). Despite the presence of acclaimed superstar Ben Affleck and reaping a hefty box office, the film divided many due to its pace and bleak tone and Warner Bros. started to get cold feet regarding Snyder’s vision for the DCEU. As a result, they brought in Joss Whedon to lighten the follow-up’s tone and ultimately replace Snyder after the tragic death of his daughter. Despite a similar box office gross to its predecessors, Justice League (Whedon/Snyder, 2017) released to scathing criticism and the film was disowned by even DCEU collaborators. The DCEU chugged along regardless but, very quickly, reports of Whedon’s reprehensible behaviour surfaced alongside rumours that a “Snyder Cut” was all but completed in Warner’s vaults and fans all over the world began campaigning hard for the release Snyder’s original version. While this did lead to a toxic community that I cannot condone, the movement gained serious traction when members of the cast voiced their support and Snyder finally returned to complete the film and was even afforded additional money and resources to film new scenes for his four-hour epic for the HBO Max streaming service. To the delight of Snyder’s fans, Zack Snyder’s Justice League finally released and drew a lot of attention to HBO Max. The general critical consensus, however, was mixed; though reviews praised the film as a coherent story and the culmination of Snyder’s vision, its length and excess were criticised. After the film’s release, Warner Bros. made the decision not to capitalise on its success and fans immediately campaigned to complete Snyder’s vision for the DCEU, despite his lack of interest in returning to the property, proving that some fans are just never satisfied.

The Review:
When I reviewed the original, theatrical cut of Justice League (no, I will not call it “Josstice League”), I gave it a ten out of ten. This was primarily because I am a massive DC Comics fan and, after years (literally decades) of DC’s live-action characters always existing in their own self-contained bubbles, I was just happy to see them all onscreen together and co-existing and felt that this was the most positive thing to take away from Snyder’s rushed attempt to build DC’s cinematic universe. Time, however, has changed this perspective; Justice League is by no means perfect but it was honestly never going to be. Warner Bros. scrambled about trying to play catch up to the MCU and, in focusing on cramming everyone together as quickly as possible and sucking the fun out of many of their most popular characters, they lost me a little along the way. So to say I was excited for the Snyder Cut is to lie, honestly. As much as I enjoyed Man of Steel, Snyder really dropped the ball with Batman v Superman, which was more a collection of ideas and themes than a coherent movie, and I took massive issue with his grandiose vision of the DCEU which jumped from Superman’s origin all the way to Multiversal shenanigans in, like, two films. Still, as a rule, I generally do enjoy a longer director’s cut as you get more bang for your buck and, in that regard, Snyder certainly goes above and beyond to present the closest version of his vision for Justice League as possible, even going so far as to present the film in a 4:3 aspect ratio.

*Superman’s death cry activates the Mother Boxes and calls Steppenwolf to Earth.*

Zack Snyder’s Justice League begins with an egregiously slow-motion recap of Superman’s dramatic (and, in my view, unnecessary) death in battle against Doomsday. His death rattle (which seriously goes on for about six minutes), echoes all around the world, activating the Mother Boxes stored in Atlantis and Themyscira and sending a beacon out into the void of space with a simple message: Earth is vulnerable. Steppenwolf (now dramatically redesigned into a hulking creature wearing razor-sharp armour that honestly looks just as ugly as his original design but for different reasons) once again arrives to reclaim the Boxes; this time, however, his slaughter of the Amazons is much more brutal, featuring far more Parademons and presenting Steppenwolf as a formidable and imposing force. Indeed, compared to his theatrical counterpart, Steppenwolf is a much more well-rounded and interesting character; in the original cut, he was little more than a means to an end, an obscure and generic bad guy for the titular heroes to unite against in order to save the world but, here, he’s a driven, focused, and aggressive foe who is motivated not just by loyalty to his master and devotion to bringing about “the great darkness” but also desperate to regain his place among the New Gods after losing favour centuries before. Owing Darkseid (Ray Porter) a debt of fifty thousand worlds for his failures, Steppenwolf has been ostracised and forced to toil in endless conquest to regain his place at his master’s side; this desperation and motivation transforms Steppenwolf from a mere disposable hulk and into a surprisingly complex villain who seeks redemption and validation in the eyes of his master and will do anything to appease the will of Darkseid.

*Superman’s loss affects each of the characters in different ways.*

While the Man of Steel’s loss was felt in the theatrical cut, Superman’s death is a much bigger aspect of the Snyder Cut; carrying the guilt of Superman’s death on his shoulders, Bruce Wayne sets out to build an alliance of metahumans to combat this threat. While Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gadot) is reluctantly onboard with the plan and Barry Allen/The Flash (Miller) signs up immediately and enthusiastically, Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Momoa) basically laughs in his face and Victor Stone/Cyborg (Fisher) is busy struggling to reconcile his humanity after a horrific accident leaves him part machine. Furthermore, Superman’s loss is embodied here not just in Bruce’s guilt and desire to honour Superman’s legacy with a team of superheroes but in both Lois Lane (Adams) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane), both of whom struggle to adjust to life without Clark. Since Bruce has already been told that “Lois [is] the key” to reaching Superman, it makes sense to give Lois and Martha a little more prominence in the film, especially as her death is what causes Superman’s corruption in the dark future that looms over Snyder’s films.

*Batman is now absolutely focused on bringing together a team to honour Superman’s memory.*

Bruce Wayne is, of course, extremely different compared to his characterisation in Batman v Superman. Now driven by an obsessive desire to make good on his promise to unite Earth’s heroes in Superman’s name, he works himself tirelessly to track down the metahumans from Lex Luthor’s (Jesse Eisenberg) file, much to the continued chagrin of his faithful butler and father-figure, Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons). Since he works closely with Diana to find and appeal to these metahumans, there’s even a little (microscopic, even) bit of romantic chemistry between the two and there’s now a nice little scene of Alfred making tea with Diana and showing her Batman’s new Parademon-absorbent gauntlet (which replaces the original cut’s side plot regarding Batman luring the Parademons out with “fear”). Mostly, though, Bruce remains the same character as in the theatrical cut; he’s still blinkered in his focus on bringing the team together, resurrecting Superman, and preparing the world to face escalating threats but all of his weird little attempts at humour are thankfully gone (sadly, that God-awful “I’m rich” line remains but, thankfully, we get the return of his “I’m real when it’s useful” line).

*Wonder Woman now warns the team of Darkseid’s intentions for Earth.*

Wonder Woman, however, is noticeably different this time around; more time is spent showing her as a willing ally of Bruce’s and she is also part of a pivotal extended scene that explores Steppenwolf’s previous campaign against the Earth. This sequence, which expands upon the prologue seen in the theatrical cut, shows the forces of man, Gods, Atlantis, Themyscira, and beyond uniting not just against Steppenwolf and his Parademons but also their exalted and imposing leader, Darkseid. Darkseid received only a passing mention in the original cut but, here, Diana’s obvious fear of the New God helps to establish early on that an even greater threat looms behind Steppenwolf’s actions. Furthermore, when out in the field with the team, Wonder Woman directs the fledging Justice League in the best way to attack Steppenwolf and his Parademons, which places greater emphasis on her capabilities as a warrior and leader.

*The* Snyder Cut retains Aquaman’s characterisation but explores a little more of his world.

Aquaman is largely the same as in the theatrical cut except, unsurprisingly, more haggard and bleak rather than being an obnoxious jock. Though he claims to have no interest in Bruce’s crusade or working with others and has turned his back on Atlantis, he continues to do good and help those in need in his own way to get his hands on more whiskey. Bruce’s warning, though, compels him to return to the ocean and converse with Nuidis Vulko (Willem Dafoe), his former mentor, and ultimately to arrive all too late to help Mera (Amber Heard) defend the Mother Box from Steppenwolf. A couple of odd continuity issues are raised with all this, however, that fly in the face of DC’s directors wanting to align their movies with the Snyder Cut; first there’s Mera’s accent, which jumps from British to American to whatever the hell she likes, and second is the Atlantean’s ability to communicate using dolphin squeaks rather than just talking underwater as they do in Aquaman (Wan, 2018). Regardless, this version of Justice League does a far better job of setting up Aquaman’s solo film by showing more hints towards his world and Aquaman remains the film’s breakout character for me for me thanks to Momoa’s charismatic portrayal of the character.

*Though still very neurotic, Barry plays a pivotal role in the film’s events and finale.*

Barry Allen also gets a bit more time to shine this time around; this includes the restoration of his encounter with Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) and just more time to explore his awkward, energetic, and socially inept character traits. Barry was very much the comic relief of the theatrical cut and those who disliked many of his annoying character traits will be disappointed to find most of them intact and given more prominence in his increased screen time but I can’t fault Snyder’s attention to detail in showcasing Barry’s superspeed: his shoes and clothes disintegrate, the street is wrecked by his footfalls, and he experiences time in extreme slow motion when utilising the Speed Force. While the Flash loses one of my favourite scenes from the original cut (the “Just save one” moment), he plays a far greater role in not just the rescue of scientists from Steppenwolf’s clutches but also the film’s finale where, faced with defeat at the hands of Steppenwolf’s forces, he summons all of his super speed to travel back in time using the Speed Force and ensure that the invasion is halted.

*Cyborg’s role is greatly expanded, making him the heart of the film and fleshing out his character.*

Of course, the character who benefits the most from the Snyder Cut is Cyborg; in the theatrical cut, Cyborg is a stoic, confused young man who resents his father, Doctor Silas Stone (Joe Morton), for transforming him into a machine-monster in order to save his life. While this remains at the start of Cyborg’s character arc in the Snyder Cut, Snyder restores not just Cyborg’s importance to the film as the “heart” of the Justice League but also his eventual reconciliation with his father and showcases excised scenes of his promising career as a college football player, his natural aptitude for hacking (which he used to help those in need), and the horrific accident which left him near death. While I’m personally not a fan of Cyborg being on the Justice League, it was clear that there was originally more to his inclusion and importance to the film’s plot; since he’s literally comprised on a Mother Box and Apokoliptian technology, he is afforded numerous abilities and insights into the invading New Box forces and, here, Silas actually guides and mentors him in exploring these abilities (which includes his ability to access every technological device and network and essentially makes him the most powerful man on Earth).

*Superman returns, now in a black suit, and galvanises the team.*

Finally, there’s Superman; as you might expect, Superman is absent for a massive amount of the film on a small account of being dead. Like Darkseid, Superman looms over the film but as a hero lost and much needed as a symbol for the world’s heroes to properly rally behind. Bruce’s plan to resurrect Superman with the Mother Box is discussed (and edited) far more competently this time around; although there’s doubt about the moral and ethical implications of the plan (mainly from Alfred this time around), Bruce and Diana don’t come to blows like in the original film but the outcome remains the same. Like before, Superman is disorientated upon returning to life and attacks the fledgling Justice League in his confusion; his confrontation with Batman is a little different (and not as good as in the original cut, in my opinion) and there’s more to his return to the Kent farm but, upon regaining his senses, he returns to action as the team’s ace in the hole for the finale. Cavill is an absolutely fantastic Superman and Justice League finally got the character to a place where he is the charming symbol of hope and strength that the world needs and, despite his new black suit, Zack Snyder’s Justice League only expands upon that (of course, Cavill’s natural charisma and the absence of a horrible CGI face play a huge part in that).

The Nitty-Gritty:
One word to describe Zack Snyder’s Justice League (apart from “long”) would certainly be “epic”; Snyder pads the film’s runtime out with not only an abundance of never-before-seen footage, alternate takes, and new content but also an overuse of slow-motion and long establishing shots. To help make the film more accessible to viewers, the film is also split into six chapters, which was probably a great way to view it on HBO Max, and the DVD version of the film is split across two discs but, either way you slice it, this is a slog to get through and I have to believe that Snyder simply milked the extra time and money he was afforded just to capitalise on all the hype surrounding his version of the film. The closest comparison I can make is with his director’s cut of Watchmen (Snyder, 2009), which was similarly epic and ambitious in its scope, presentation, use of music, and its presentation of its costumed adventurers.

*Some shots effects, and inconsistencies negatively affect the* Snyder Cut.

It has to be said, though, that Zack Snyder’s Justice League has quite a few faults; some of the new special effects shots understandably look worse than others (and Cyborg still looks like dog shit), it’s pretty crazy that Darkseid and his forces just forgot where Earth was for hundreds of years (especially considering how badly he wants the secret of the Anti-Life Equation), the score has been completely reworked to remove Danny Elfman’s contributions (though, thankfully, Wonder Woman’s kick-ass musical theme remains), and many of the new scenes shot exclusively for the film suffer from poor lighting, inconsistent editing, and stand out like a sore thumb to the point where I’d much rather Snyder hadn’t bothered including the likes of the Joker (Jared Leto) when it makes little sense narratively (you’re telling me that in a grim, apocalyptic future where Superman has gone bad the Joker is alive but Aquaman isn’t?) Personally, I have never been a fan of Snyder’s “Knightmare” timeline; it made no sense in Batman v Superman and, thanks to Warner Bros. having no interest in allowing Snyder to fully explore this alternate timeline in Justice League sequels, it makes even less sense to me that he chose to continue pushing this dark vision of a future ruled by Darkseid and a corrupted version of Superman in the Snyder Cut (but, at least, it’s mainly confined to the film’s final moments rather than being awkwardly wedged in the middle of the film like in Batman v Superman).

*Snyder’s cut expands and recontextualises many of the film’s existing scenes and characters.*

Although many scenes and sequences may be familiar to anyone who has seen the theatrical cut of the film, the Snyder Cut expands upon every single one of these and, in many cases, recontextualises them into this larger narrative. This includes a longer scene of Bruce Wayne meeting and attempting to recruit Aquaman (accompanied by a lengthy song of reverence for the Atlantean), an expanded version of Wonder Woman’s introduction (including the first of a handful of pointless f-bombs), a longer version of Steppenwolf’s attack on Themyscira and the recap of Darkseid’s defeat centuries ago, more scenes of Steppenwolf and his Parademons’ search for the Mother Boxes (including torturing Atlanteans for information and a far better sequence where he acquires the final Box), and even recontextualising the interactions between Lois and Martha with the reveal that General Calvin Swanwick (Harry Lennix) has been J’onn J’onnz/Martian Manhunter all along.

*The* Snyder Cut restores and dramatically changes excised characters.

One of the main selling points of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, however, is the restoration of scenes and plot threads excised from the theatrical version. This includes characters removed from the original film, like Doctor Ryan Choi (Ryan Zheng), Vulko, Iris, DeSaad (Peter Guinness), Cybrog’s mother, Elinor Stone (Karen Bryson), and more time devoted to side characters like Silas (who now gives his life to mark the final Mother Box) and the origins of the Mother Boxes. One of the benefits of this is that we actually get to see an in-depth look into Cyborg’s expansive abilities (which includes a deep dive into the way he now perceives reality). Much of the Snyder Cut’s hype was also built around the inclusion of Darkseid but, in truth, the character is little more than a cameo; he simply takes Steppenwolf’s place in the flashback of the war between the allied forces of Earth and Apokolips and looms over the film like an ominous shadow as the ultimate threat for the united Justice League. Sadly, despite Snyder choosing to push his Knightmare future throughout the film and concluding it with a tease of Darkseid’s impending retaliation against the Justice League, it seems like we won’t be seeing Darkseid (or any of the New Gods for that matter) in the DCEU again any time soon.

*Thanks to the team, and time travel shenanigans, Darkseid is left humiliated.*

Snyder’s vision of the DCEU remains extremely bleak in its presentation; for all the characters’ talk of “hope” and the better nature of men, Snyder continues to suck all the life and colour out of these vivid characters. One thing I liked about Justice League was that it did a fantastic job of bringing some life and colour to this world, allowing the costumes to pop out on screen but, here, everything retains the same muted look and sombre tones of Batman v Superman. This is best exampled in Snyder’s instance on garbing the resurrected Superman in his black suit; Superman wore this in the comics after returning to life for about three issues and it was later stated to have helped aid his recovery but, here, no real reason is given for his choice of attire and it honestly would have made more sense for the evil Knightmare Superman to have worn the suit instead. Additionally, Snyder removes the red tint and tumultuous skies from the finale of the film, which admittedly does make the climatic battle against Steppenwolf’s forces easier to see but I feel the original colouring worked a lot better as a reference to the red skies that were are of DC’s various Crises. Speaking of the finale, Zack Snyder’s Justice League slightly recontextualises the ending. Although there’s still an implication that Batman is heading into battle with the intention of dying, it’s not as explicit as in the theatrical cut; what is much more explicit, though, is the feeling of team work between the Justice League as they each play their part in breeching Steppenwolf’s defences (Flash, again, gets way more to do in using his Speed Force charge to help Cyborg interact with the Mother Boxes) before Superman dramatically shows up to again completely lay waste to Steppenwolf. I’m glad that this beatdown is maintained as it was always a glorious showcase of Superman’s return and of the team coming together against a common enemy but, here, things go slightly differently as the heroes fail to stop the unity between the Mother Boxes and prevent Darkseid’s arrival. With no other choice, the Flash enters the Speed Force and reverses time in a beautifully surreal sequence, allowing Cyborg to reject the Apokolips’ influence and Wonder Woman to decapitate Steppenwolf right before Darkseid’s eyes.

The Summary:
I went into Zack Snyder’s Justice League with low expectations. Toxic fans and a rabid, almost cult-like online community had beaten any sort of excitement and wonder out of me. I quite enjoyed the theatrical cut; it wasn’t perfect but, news flash: none of the DCEU has been perfect and few films really are. Knowing that Snyder got so screwed over by Warner Bros. stung and it definitely frustrated me that we didn’t get a concise and more accurate version of Justice League years ago so that maybe the DCEU would be in a slightly better place but it was hard for me to feel invested in the film when it was so self-indulgent and so clouded by negativity and entitlement. In this case, though, I am glad to be wrong; there are many benefits to Zack Snyder’s Justice League. For one thing, it actually feels like a coherent story (even more so than Batman v Superman) and each member of the team is given so much more time to shine and showcase their powers and personality. Thus, when the Justice League unite for the finale, it means that much more as we actually get to know them all a little better and see them grow as a team through their interactions; it’s still a rush job as so much had to be crammed into so few films but, as a big fan I am of DC Comics and these characters, it remains a real thrill to actually get to see Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg all in a big budget, live-action film rather than constantly existing in self-contained bubbles (which seems where the DCEU will be heading again going forward). I’m not a massive fan of Snyder’s vision for the DCEU or many of the decisions he made but it’s better than nothing and not seeing an interconnected series of DC films so, while I was initially hesitant to enjoy Zack Snyder’s Justice League, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised in the end. Had Warner Bros. not interfered and screwed things up, we probably would’ve gotten a two-and-a-half-hour long film that would have satisfied everyone enough to justify at least one more team effort but it is what it as and at least we got to see the closest approximation of Zack Snyder’s true vision of the film in the end and that’s something to be celebrated rather than simply, selfishly, demanding more.

My Rating:

Fantastic

What did you think to Zack Snyder’s Justice League? Do you think it lived up to all the hype or was it all style and no substance? What did you think to the additional, extended and recontextualised scenes from Justice League and how do you feel the Snyder Cut compares to the theatrical version? Which of the characters was your favourite and what did you think to their extended screen time? How did you watch the film; in sections or as one long movie? Would you like to see more from Snyder’s DCEU or are you happy with the direction Warner Bros. is taking? What did you think to the whole Knightmare timeline Snyder tried to push and were you a fan of Superman donning the black suit? Whatever you thought about Zack Snyder’s Justice League, good or bad feel free to leave a comment below (even if it is super toxic).

Movie Night: Independence Day

04/07/202106/05/2024Dr. K8 Comments

Released: 3 July 1996
Director: Roland Emmerich
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Budget: $75 million
Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, and Randy Quaid

The Plot:
When a series of flying saucers suddenly appear over and attack every major city across the world, United States President Thomas Whitmore (Pullman) is forced to mount a desperate counterattack alongside a rag-tag resistance, including ungainly MIT-educated satellite engineer David Levison (Goldblum) and gung-ho Marine F/A-18 pilot and aspiring astronaut Captain Steven Hiller (Smith).

The Background:
It’s easy to forget now but, back in the late-nineties, the writer/producer/director team of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were a hot commodity in Hollywood, especially after the box office success of Stargate (ibid, 1994); in fact, it was during the promotion of Stargate that the two came up with the concept for Independence Day, an alien invasion movie that they intended to be based more around a large-scale, co-ordinated attack rather than subterfuge. Featuring cutting edge special effects to render the aliens’ devastating attack upon numerous iconic American landmarks, Independence Day (confusingly saddled with the subtitle ID4) was the highest-grossing film of 1996 and made nearly $820 million at the box office. Although receiving some criticisms, the film was generally well-received, won numerous awards, and kicked off a resurgence in blockbuster disaster movies, which quickly became the trademark of Emmerich and Devlin, before finally getting a long-awaited sequel some twenty years later.

The Review:
If there’s one thing Independence Day does really well, especially for its first half or so, it’s build up a great deal of tension regarding the alien invaders; we get a sense of the size of the alien mothership right away when it passes by the Moon and causes ripples on the surface. Almost immediately, the alien signal is picked up by the Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (S.E.T.I.) and the American military begins to mobilise (more like scramble) to figure out what, exactly, is about to enter Earth’s orbit. Though the alien mothership, and the subsequent city-sized saucers, are somewhat simplistic and cliché in their “flying saucer” design, there’s a foreboding, ominous nature to their construction and you can tell, even before they start blasting away at major American landmarks and cities, that these E.T.’s are not here to make peace.

*Despite his critics, Whitmore galvanises the nation, and the world, against the alien threat.*

Naturally, the U.S. President is the figurehead for trying to calm the nation and sort out first a plan of communication and then, later, a plan of attack. At the start of the film, Whitmore is facing political backlash since he’s been forced to make a lot of compromises since being elected to office; with many in even his cabinet believing him to be a weak and ineffectual leader, Whitmore is eager to keep the peace and to not set off an interstellar war but finds himself caught completely off-guard when the aliens unleash their devastating attack. It’s an interesting leading role for Pullman, one that sees him having to juggle a myriad of conflicting emotions as Whitmore struggles to find a way to please everyone and hold together himself, his family, and the nation in the threat of global annihilation. It also, of course, results in one of the most iconic rousing speeches in all of cinema as Whitmore inspires the last remnants of humanity to strike back against their aggressors in a last-ditch attempt at survival.

*David, a committed environmentalist, becomes the unwitting saviour of humanity.*

Compounding matters is the personal animosity between him and David; some time prior to the film, David punched Whitmore after suspecting him of having an affair with his then-wife, Constance “Connie” Spano (Colin). David, who is something of a technological prodigy, is able to decode the alien signal and determine that they are planning a co-ordinated attack but, while he is able to ensure that Whitmore, the Joint Chiefs, and Connie are evacuated safely, his warnings come too late to actually stop the initial attack. David, despite being little more than a cable repair man, is constantly portrayed as the smartest person in the room; a committed environmentalist, David is driven to help others and to save the world despite his emotional attachment to Connie and his frosty relationship with Whitmore and, although he’s not a member of the Presidential cabinet, he quickly becomes an instrumental figure in figuring out how to outsmart and outgun the invaders.

*Will Smith brings his charisma and sass to the film, which cemented him as a a leading man.*

When the aliens arrive, the U.S. military is, understandably, put on high alert; as a direct result, Hiller finds his leave cancelled and he begrudgingly returns to his regiment; in many ways, the aliens’ arrival means big things for Hiller, who wishes to become an astronaut but had his application rejected, potentially because of his relationship with stripper Jasmine Dubrow (Vivica A. Fox). Hiller enthusiastically joins the first counterattack against the aliens and is left the sole survivor from the campaign, which is doomed to fail thanks to the aliens’ superior technology and firepower. It’s important to remember that, at this point, Smith was still largely known for being the goofball Will from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990 to 1996) but Independence Day really helped to cement him as a charismatic leading man, especially in action vehicles such as this film. Though much of his gung-ho character is ripped from the likes of Top Gun (Scott, 1986), Smith brings a magnetism and down-to-earth likability to the role and his sass is, as always, especially on point to deliver some of the more entertaining, and quotable, moments of the film.

*Russell, a dishevelled drunkard, turns out to be an unlikely hero.*

While there are a number of female characters including in Independence Day, they are all largely there to simply support, and worry for, the men in their lives; even Jasmine, who is briefly seen as being a proactive and adaptable character, is quickly side-lined once the men of the film put aside their issues to formulate a viable counterattack. Compounding this is the fact that Independence Day is also bolstered by several additional characters, chief among them is Russell Casse (Quaid), a drunkard who claims to have been abducted by aliens some years prior. Russell, and his trailer park family, represent the normal, everyday people in a film largely made up of governmental, military, or other specialists but their story is perhaps the least compelling of all the characters in the film since, while it has a redemptive arc to it, they lack the magnetism and presence of the likes of Goldblum and Smith.

*Despite how many characters the film has, there’s not a whole hell of a lot for the women to do*.

Other supporting characters include General William Grey (Robert Loggia), Whitmore’s chief supporter after Connie, Secretary of Defence Albert Nimzicki (James Rebhorn), the cliché pushy politician who continually clashes with Whitmore and the others and advocates first for an immediate military response to the invaders and for the deployment of nuclear weapons, and Julius Levinson (Hirsch), David’s overbearing and pragmatic father and one of the standout supporting characters for his characteristic Jewish twang, the entertaining banter between him and David, and the brief injection of uncompromising faith he brings to the proceedings amidst all the chaos and technobabble. One of the more emotional sub-plots in the film involves the tragic death of Whitmore’s wife, Marilyn Whitmore (Mary McDonnell), which is one of the few named character deaths that is actually acknowledged and has a lasting impact since the film is full of mass death and destruction and the focus is generally more on soldiering through the tragedy rather than dwelling upon it.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Naturally, an important part of Independence Day is patriotism and duty; although other countries are briefly mentioned and even seen much later in the film, it is the U.S. who lead the fight against the aliens and the closest it gets to being any kind of diverse or multinational effort is the inclusion of a couple of Jewish and Mexican characters. Instead, the focus is solely on America and how they deal with the crisis; we only see American cities being attacked and other countries appear to be both clueless and leaderless until David is able to present a viable counterattack option and the U.S. rallies the remnants of humanity across the world into action.

Independence Day set the standard for disaster movies going forward.

Still, if you’re not American or much of a patriot, like me, there’s one main appealing factor to Independence Day that, even now, continues to impress and that is the depiction of wide scale destruction and devastation. As if having gigantic, city-sized spaceships wasn’t bad enough, the invaders also have impenetrable energy shields, massive Death Star-like cannons mounted beneath their crafts that can obliterate entire city blocks in a single blast, and a seemingly endless supply of smaller attack ships that are faster, heavily armed, and also sport their own energy shields. Thanks to a combination of miniatures, cutting edge CGI, and some clever camera tricks, Independence Day delivers some of the most devastating scenes of widespread destruction ever put to cinema, especially at the time; even now, the shot of the White House being blown to smithereens is an effective and iconic effect that every subsequent disaster movie since has attempted to out-do or replicate in some way.

*The aliens are a frighteningly aggressive and highly advanced invading force.*

Additionally, Independence Day features one of the most unique alien designs in all of cinema; far from the stereotypical “Grey Aliens”, these invaders are large, biomechanical warriors intent solely on conquering the world through brute force. For most of the film, the aliens’ appearance is, smartly, left a mystery; when they are first seen, they are a horrific mess of tentacles and sport a gruesome, skull-like visage. After the story moves to Area 51, we learn more about the alien’s physiology from Doctor Brackish Okun (Brent Spiner in a memorable, scenery-chewing role) and that they are, actually, just as vulnerable and fragile as we are but are heavily protected by their advanced technology. The aliens also exhibit incredible physical strength, durability, and a degree of psychic ability since they can speak through Okun and project images of their intended plans for the Earth into Whitmore’s head.

*Their plan might be totally bonkers but the chemistry between these two is undeniably compelling.*

So great is the alien threat that they are able to decimate a large majority of the United States (and, presumably, the world) in just a couple of days, reducing humanity to a rag-tag group of survivors with few resources and even fewer chances of survival. Thankfully, the survivors cobble together one of the most ridiculous and convenient plans in all of cinema history when Hiller volunteers to pilot a crashed alien spacecraft (the one from Roswell, of course!) up to the alien mothership so that David can upload a computer virus (using an Apple PowerBook, naturally!) to momentarily disable the otherwise-impenetrable alien shields. Even now, it’s absolutely bonkers and shifts the film from a desperate scramble for survival and into a massive military counterattack but it works purely because Smith and Goldblum have undeniable chemistry together; in fact, their characters are so enjoyable that it’s a shame they weren’t paired up sooner (though, having said that, it almost feels like the two should have given their lives to destroy the mothership as the film suggests purely because their scene in this moment is so poignant and it would have greatly added to the emotional impact of the finale).

The Summary:
Independence Day was a massive deal back in the day; the teasers and trailers alone were enough to hype it as the must-see blockbuster event of the year, to say nothing of the toys and various other merchandise made to promote the film. For my generation, especially, there had never really been a film like it; The War of the Worlds (Haskin, 1953) was a bit before our time and disaster movies had pretty much died out by the end of the seventies. Than, all at once, both of these genres came together in an exhilarating way; bolstered by charismatic performances by the likes of Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum (always a personal favourite of mine), Independence Day may seem quite dated and trivial now but it was the real deal at the time and has easily become one of the most influential and memorable alien invasion movies in all of cinema thanks to it kick-starting a resurgence in disaster and alien invasion movies. Obviously, it’s a preposterous, almost nonsensical movie at times that asks for some pretty big leaps in logic and is far more about spectacle than substance but it’s still an impressive and entertaining film in its own right and easily the best production from the Emmerich/Devlin team even today.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

What are your thoughts on Independence Day? Did you get caught up in the hype back in the day? Did you enjoy the mindless destruction and overly patriotic undertones or were you, perhaps, put off by the cliché characters and more questionable plot holes? What did you think to the performances of the lead actors and the depiction of wide-scale destruction? What are your thoughts on the aliens, their design and technology, and the way the film handled the invasion? What are your plans for Independence Day today? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment down below.

Movie Night: Joker

26/06/202123/10/2024Dr. K6 Comments

Released: 4 October 2017 (Hey, that’s my birthday!)
Director: Todd Phillips
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $55 to 70 million
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Frances Conroy, Zazie Beetz, Brett Cullen, and Robert De Niro

The Plot:
In 1981, party clown Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) suffers from a medical disorder that causes him to laugh at inappropriate times and lives with his mother, Penny (Conroy), in Gotham City. With Gotham overwhelmed by crime and unemployment, Arthur’s dreams of being a stand-up comedian and meeting his idol, talk show host Murray Franklin (De Niro), soon give way to a nihilistic insanity that inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy.

The Background:
The Joker has long been a staple of DC Comics and is widely regarded as Bruce Wayne/Batman’s arch-nemesis. First appearing all the way back in 1940, the self-styled “Clown Prince of Crime” was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane and has been responsible for a great many tragedies in the Dark Knight’s life, from the death of Jason Todd/Robin to the crippling of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, and has gone through a number of iterations over the years, from madcap extortionist, to demented serial killer, to self-mutilating madman. The Joker has also been adapted to film on numerous occasions; Cesar Romero famously refused to shave his moustache for the role in the sixties Batman show, Jack Nicholson brought the character to life in Batman (Burton, 1989), Heath Ledger was posthumously honoured for his incredible performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight (Nolan, 2008), and Jared Leto had his time in the role significantly cut from the theatrical release of Suicide Squad (Ayer, 2016). Development of a standalone Joker movie was initially planned as a spin-off of Suicide Squad and would have featured Leto returning to the role; however, after a series of blunders caused Warner Bros. to rethink their strategy regarding the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), production shifted towards an unrelated interpretation of the character. Phoenix, who had previously turned down superhero roles, shared director Todd Phillips’ desire to produce a gritty character study that delved into the psychosis of the character, which is traditionally left ambiguous in the source material. Afforded a far smaller budget than other DC movies and also the first DCEU film to earn an “R” rating, Joker was a phenomenal commercial success and made over $1 billion at the box office. The critical reception was generally very positive as well; many praised the film’s uncompromisingly bleak narrative and for subverting the norms of comic book movies. Although others were disturbed by the film, which controversially inspired both protesters and deplorable violence, Joker spawned an unlikely musical sequel a few years later.

The Review:
When Joker was first announced, I have to admit that I was sceptical; I wasn’t a massive fan of Leto’s performance in Suicide Squad but, if it’s one thing I desire in my comic book movies these days, it’s continuity. The idea of producing a standalone Joker film didn’t sit right with me in general, much less that it wouldn’t be a part of the DCEU. Instead, Warner Bros. made the decision to lean into the idea of the multiverse, a concept that has been used for decades in comic books to present wildly different, alternative takes on characters and which, essentially, allows everything to be canon even when it’s not. Even as a die-hard, life-long comic book fan, this concept is confusing and I was surprised when the general audience, and many comic book fans, reacted positively to the idea of two Joker’s being active in cinema at the same time. I found it difficult to consolidate these feelings, though, and still firmly believe that the DCEU would be in a much better shape now if the producers had taken the Joker and Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (Yan, 2020) and combined the two into something that could actually fit in with the janky continuity of the mainstream DCEU. Thus, I was hesitant to even give Joker the time of day; no matter how much praise I heard or how many awards it won or how much money it made, I just found the idea of having another version of the character active that is separate from the DCEU was a bit daft, to say nothing of favouring a dive into the motivations of one of comic’s most notoriously ambiguous characters over a sequel to Man of Steel (Snyder, 2013).

*Arthur is just barely able to function in society by putting on a false face.*

When we first meet Arthur Fleck, he’s a pathetic excuse for a man; reduced to dressing up in clown make-up and forcing himself to be a smiley, jolly clown for hire, he’s beaten down (literally) by both life and society. Right away, it’s pretty clear that something’s very wrong in his head and with his demeanour; his social skills are questionable, his self-confidence almost non-existent, and his ironic pathological need to laugh uncontrollably at the most inappropriate times make him an inherently damaged individual. In a city drowning in chaos and unemployment, with life at its bleakest, Arthur may be one of the lowliest and most despondent citizens of Gotham. Although he attends regular therapy sessions and is encouraged to write his thoughts and feelings in a journal, these outlets are of little help to his mental state. Awkward, insecure, full of nervous ticks and tricks, he’s kept in a fragile stability only by numerous ambiguous medications and his desire to be a stand-up comedian. Ironically, just as he tends to descend into maniacal laughter in uncomfortable and awkward situations, his comedy routines and sense of humour are openly ridiculed and his medication seems to be holding him back from unleashing all of the pent up aggression and emotion bubbling just beneath his surface.

*Arthur searches for surrogate father figures to fill a void in his life.*

Arthur’s reality is one of pain and suffering and oppression; when not eking out a mediocre living during the day, he’s looking after his bed-ridden and increasingly confused mother, Penny (Conroy). Arthur’s main source of escapism is in watching Live! With Murray Franklin and imaging forming a bond with its host, and his idol, Murray Franklin. Lacking a true father figure, Arthur imagines himself connecting with Murray to fill that void in his life and this sense of abandonment and desperate need for acceptance, love, and understanding only fuels his despondency and anger. However, already on the razor’s edge of sanity at the best of times, Arthur snaps after first losing his beloved job as a clown and then taking a beating on the subway from three Wayne Enterprises employees, whom he shoots in cold blood. In this version of Gotham City, Thomas Wayne (Cullen) is a Mayoral candidate and both directly and indirectly responsible for Arthur’s state of mind and living conditions, and eventual turn into an anarchistic figure. Condemning the shootings as the work of “clowns”, Thomas champions the social elite and the top one percent over fixing the problems of the destitute and unemployed and, as a result, inspires a great deal of the social unrest and crime that plagues the city. It’s a very different and disturbing take on the character, who is normally a moral and socially just individual; he reacts with anger when Arthur confronts him and seems to care very little for actually improving the lives of the city’s destitute populace.

*Arthur finds a freedom in embracing his violent urges, which transforms his demeanour.*

The discovery that Thomas may in fact be his biological father fractures Arthur’s already damaged psyche almost as much as Murray’s subsequent mocking of his awkward and embarrassing stand-up act and he is driven further to the edge by the discovery that he was actually adopted. No longer able to rely on his medicine to hold him at bay and finding a freedom in his murderous actions, when Arthur finally does give in to his base urges, his entire demeanour changes; in the beginning of the film, he slouches and slumps around the place like little more than a zombie. A gaunt, lowly speck of a man, it’s all he can do to get through each day much less trudge up the now iconic flight of stairs but, after killing for the first time, he finds himself liberated. No longer bogged down by his inhibitions and embracing his newfound freedom, he stands upright, moves with a grace and flamboyance and breaking into disturbing dances, and his descent into madness and violence only escalates from that moment on.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Joker goes to extreme lengths to evoke the spirit of the eighties; not only is the old school Warner Bros. Pictures logo featured at the beginning of the film, but the whole movie is full of a dirty, grimy appearance indicative of movies such as Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976) and The King of Comedy (ibid, 1982), both of which play as big an influence in the film’s plot and Phoenix’s portrayal as classic Joker-centric stories like Batman: The Killing Joke (Moore, et al, 1988). Additionally, Gotham City itself becomes as central as a character to the film as any of the living actors. A desolate, crime-ridden, bleak place overrun with violence, this is probably the best look at the seedy, street-level crime that plagues Gotham. I find this very appealing as, normally, Batman stories tend to focus more on organised crime, supervillains, and corrupt officials rather than the very random acts of violence that caused his creation in the first place.

*As many have noted, Phoenix* *steals the show* *with his* *captivating performance.*

Of course, the real star of the show here is Phoenix’s performance; thanks to a dramatic weight loss, he appears almost emaciated and constantly on edge, as though his very skin is crawling with repressed emotion. He runs through a gamut of emotions throughout the film, from despondency and oppression to passion and anger, to a cold disgust and an unhinged mania. Phoenix perfectly encapsulates the random, volatile chaos that is the Joker, humanising this traditionally ambiguous and unpredictable madman in an unsettling way. Pathological laughter aside, Arthur is exactly the kind of unassuming, downtrodden man you’d walk past in the street on any given day without a second’s thought; until he finds solace in killing and carnage, Arthur’s only comfort comes from living in a dream world of his own creation where he’s beloved and successful and accepted, but, when that shatters before his eyes, he replaces it with the euphoria of inciting anarchy through his actions as the Joker.

*Arthur is tipped over the edge when he realises this relationship is a figment of his deranged imagination.*

Nowhere is Arthur’s fragile and demented mindset more apparent than in his relationship with Sophie Dumond (Beetz); as you might imagine, considering he still lives with (and has a worryingly close dependency on) his increasingly frail mother, Arthur’s attempts to woo Sophie are clumsy and disturbing. He follows her (stalks, you might say) across the city but apparently seems to win her over with his sense of humour; feeling the rush of killing, he goes to her and she attends his stand-up routine, which is a hit, and supports his endeavours. After finding out the truth about his parentage, Arthur goes to Sophie for comfort…only to discover that their entire relationship was another aspect of his dream world. Frightened and disturbed by his presence, she begs him to leave and, already driven to the edge by his mother’s lies and the knowledge that his stand-up act was actually a complete screw up that his idol mocked on live television, Arthur reacts to the loss of his last tenuous grip on sanity by brutally killing his mother.

*Freed from his inhibitions, the Joker inspires chaos and revels in the adulation of the oppressed.*

Thomas’s derogatory comments about the “clowns” of Gotham incite the downtrodden and the desperate, like Arthur, into a rampant mob who don clown masks and believe that the Joker is sticking it to the wealthy and the oppressive elite. Seeing this, and his unintentional influence on people, excites Arthur, who finds himself in a position of power for the first time in his life. Betrayed by everything and everyone he’s ever known, Arthur is apathetic when he’s invited to fulfil his life’s dream and appear on Live! With Murray Franklin and instead sees it as an opportunity to spread his unique message and brand of chaos by shooting Murray in the head on live television while a city-wide riot breaks out. Although immediately arrested for the crime, the chaos that grips the city allows Arthur, now fully embracing his role as the Joker, to escape and stand amidst the adulation of his admirers having finally found his place in the world.

The Summary:
Joker is definitely an intense psychological thriller; as an exploration of the mind of a psychopath, it’s right up there with films like American Psycho (Harron, 2000) for the surreal and disturbing way it presents Arthur’s world and perception of reality. A traditional comic book movie it is not and that is immediately clear from the grounded, dirty aesthetic and twisted nature of the narrative, which focuses on an already disturbed and fractured man’s descent into complete anarchy. Joaquin Phoenix, of course, delivers a spellbinding performance and seems completely lost in the role; his commitment to the physicality and mentality of the character is commendable and he deserves all the praise in the world for delivering one of the most nuance and unsettling interpretations of the Joker ever seen. Sadly, my initial misgivings about the film continue to hold true; the fact that the film ends with the suggestion that all of the events we witness may have been as much a figment of Arthur’s imagination as Sophie or anything else we see really doesn’t help with that, either. It’s perfectly in keeping with the Joker’s status as an unreliable narrator but it just adds to the pointlessness of the film in many ways. Sure, Phoenix is great and the film does a fantastic job of telling a self-contained Joker story without Batman but what is the point of really getting under the Joker’s skin if we’re never going to see him clash with his long-time nemesis? If Arthur isn’t the true Joker, as is also suggested, then again what’s the point as it adds nothing to the actual Joker’s story, which continues to run contrary to Joker in both comics, movies, and television. As a result, while Joker is an impressive and disturbing psychological thriller, it’s not really a very good Joker story and I can’t help but feel that it’s handicapped by being associated with DC Comics as a result. I get why it did so well and got so much praise but it just seems like a waste of time, money, and talent when it’s going to mean nothing in the big picture of the DCEU.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

Do you agree with my assessment of Joker or do you think I’m just talking bollocks? If you’re a fan of the film, what was it about it that you enjoyed? Do you agree that it’s disappointing that we won’t see this version of the character play a role in the DCEU or do you think such concerns aren’t as important as telling a good story? What did you think to Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the character and how does it hold up for you compared to other Jokers? Are you a fan of the DC movies exploring the multiverse and producing disconnected films or, like me, do you prefer them to be part of a larger shared universe? What are some of your favourite Joker-centric stories over the years? Whatever you think, good or bad, about Joker, drop a comment down below and let me know your thoughts.

Movie Night [Captain Picard Day]: Star Trek: Nemesis

16/06/202103/07/2024Dr. K5 Comments

As amusing detail in the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 to 1994) episode “The Pegasus” (Burton, 1994) is that the crew and children of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D celebrate “Captain Picard Day” on Stardate 47457.1, which roughly translates to this day, the 16^th of June. They do this by producing drawings, models, and paintings that the bewildered Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) must then judge. I, however, am using this as another good excuse to delve into some more Picard and Next Generation content.

Released: 13 December 2002
Director: Stuart Baird
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $60 million
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Tom Hardy, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, and Marina Sirtis

The Plot:
After locating an earlier version of Lieutenant Commander Data (Spiner), B-4, in Romulan space, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E soon discovers that the Romulan Empire has been taken over by Praetor Shinzon (Hardy), a young clone of Picard, who threatens to destroy both the Romulans and Starfleet with his highly advanced and unstable battleship, the Scimitar.

The Background:
Following the conclusion of the popular Star Trek: The Next Generation, the crew, like their predecessors, moved into a series of feature-length films. Although the much anticipated meeting between Captain Picard and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) failed to really deliver on the potential of its premise, it performed decently at the box office. The sequel (and one of my favourite Star Trek movies), Star Trek: First Contact (Frakes, 1996) performed much better, beating its predecessor by some $30 million, but the follow-up, Star Trek: Insurrection (ibid, 1998) failed to exceed at the box office or impress critics. For the fourth Next Generation movie, long-term cast member and director Jonathan Frakes was replaced as director by Stuart Baird, who wasn’t too familiar with the long-running franchise. Indeed, after numerous scenes depicting more character-based moments ended up being cut from the finished film to focus on action and many cast members questioned Baird’s suitability as director. For a film that was supposed to be the grand finale of the Next Generation crew, Star Trek: Nemesis was a crushing financial disappointment at the box office, with critics, and even with its main star. The film’s paltry worldwide gross of just of $67 million made Star Trek: Nemesis not just a box office bomb but also the lowest-grossing Star Trek film to date; it also saw any plans for a follow-up to be cancelled, and led to a major reboot of the franchise in 2009.

The Review:
Star Trek: Nemesis begins without the usual Star Trek fanfare and drops us immediately into the political intrigue that forms the basis for the movie’s overall plot by opening with peace between Romulus and Remus being debated within the Romulan senate. Of course, this peace would be achieved through an imperial alliance under Praetor Shinzon that would allow the Romulan Empire to openly and directly oppose the might of the United Federation of Planets and, when the proposal is resoundingly rejected, the council is summarily executed. We then re-join the crew of the Enterprise-E at the long-awaited wedding between Commander William Riker (Frakes) and Counsellor Deanna Troi (Siritis), which also finally sees Riker being promoted to a position of captaincy and Data replacing him as Picard’s first officer. Picard’s best man speech is a particular highlight, emphasising his rapport with his crew and the central theme of the film: family. Picard sees his crew as family, his ship as home, out of both pride and necessity, since he is the last of his family line.

*Data is shaken by B-4’s existence but attempts to help his brother realise his potential.*

The wedding, of course, helpfully reunites the crew with Lieutenant Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), who picks up B-4’s positronic signal. The implications of such a signal intrigue Picard on Data’s behalf and (thanks to the ion storm of Kolarus III) gives him, Worf, and Data the perfect excuse to bust out a futuristic dune buggy. It’s not often we get so see wheeled vehicles in Star Trek so it’s a nice moment of levity for Picard, who begins the film in a far more jovial and mischievous mood than usual thanks to the wedding, and leads to a pretty decent, old-fashioned car chase and shoot out. Unlike Data and Lore, B-4 is an inquisitive, naïve, child-like being; a precursor to his big brothers, B-4 has the potential to be as advanced and evolved as Data but is limited by his less sophisticated technology and childish demeanour. His existence creates something of a crisis for Data, who begins to question his creation and life and the meaning of his own existence and raises interesting questions regarding our capacity for intelligence and how important experience and personality are to our development. The film briefly explores this by downloading Data’s memories and experiences into B-4 but it doesn’t immediately affect B-4 or allow him to evolve in the same way; for the most part, it seems to be a failure but, of course, by the end we’re left with the suggestion that B-4 could, in time come to be as advanced and experienced as his older brother.

*The* Scimitar *is a forboding and intimidating warship that dwarfs the* Enterprise-E.

Normally, it’s massively convenient that the Enterprise-E just happens to be the “closest ship” to the current crisis but, in this case, it actually does make sense since the ship was heading that way, drawn to nearby Romulan space by B-4’s signal, and it’s later revealed that the ship was specifically lured there by Shinzon. Shinzon is given quite a bit of build up prior to his actual appearance; as a Remun, a race bred to simply be cannon fodder and slaves for the Romulans, it is unusual that he has reached such a vaulted position but his threat is immediately established in the dramatic reveal of his supped-up warship, the Scimitar, and the monstrous appearance of his Reman viceroy (Ron Perlman).

*Shinzon’s physical appearance degrades as his true twisted is revealed.*

Shinzon’s reveal is a stunning blow to the crew but especially for Picard; in Shinzon, he sees himself as a younger man, the son he always yearned for and the life he could have had were he exposed to the same traumas and horrors as the Reman warrior. As if it wasn’t immediately clear, Shinzon is a clone of Picard, bred to be placed as a destructive mole within the Federation, and exists as Picard’s obvious dark opposite. The crux of the film, and Picard’s arc, is reconciling that Shinzon’s true nature has been twisted, skewed by his experiences; to begin with, he believes he has finally found the chance to nurture a son and continue his legacy but, very quickly and harshly, learns that Shinzon desires nothing but power, destruction, and vengeance upon not just his Romulan overlords but the Federation itself. Shinzon is a charismatic and alluring antagonist; eloquent and calculating, he is perfectly capable of subtle manipulation and subterfuge and aggressive, uncompromising fury. Immediately after his introduction, we see that he has no interest in peace; he is merely curious by Picard’s existence but determined to destroy his enemies, viewing the Romulans, the Federation, and especially Picard with disgust and hatred. This is an intriguing element and really throws Picard for a loop but it’s unfortunately very underdeveloped as, almost immediately, we learn that Shinzon is a destructive, aggressive force, resentful of Picard and his other enemies, so he may as well have been introduced as a villain right away rather than through half-hearted subterfuge.

The Nitty-Gritty:
I can understand why people disliked Star Trek: Nemesis; for me, the film’s glaring flaw is the pacing. The film is very short and wastes a lot of its potential; it’s not often we get to really peel back the layers of Picard’s officious and complex personality and seeing him vulnerable, somewhat helpless against his dark doppelgänger was genuinely intrigued…for all of ten minutes or so. Similar to Star Trek Generations, the film squanders its potential but, unlike that film (which is largely a snore-fest), Star Trek: Nemesis does, at least, have a lot of action sequences packed into its run time. I mentioned in my review of Star Trek: First Contact that one of the few flaws of that film is the lack of space-based combat and, while Star Trek: Nemesis doesn’t really have a space battle until the finale, it does include an entertaining chase sequence and a shoot out between Picard, Data, and the Remuns aboard the Scimitar.

*Troi’s traumatic experience isn’t as big of a focus as you might expect.*

Again, though, the bulk of the film’s focus is on Picard and Data; given the plot of the film, this isn’t entirely unsurprising but it is still a bit disappointing. Riker and Troi’s long-overdue wedding is a central focus of the early part of the film but, very quickly, Riker is pushed to the background as simply a voice of concern among Picard’s crew. Troi gets an interesting sub-plot where Shinzon, enamoured by her appearance, initiates a mental invasion of her mind via his viceroy that is a very blatant allegory for rape but, again, this is only briefly touched upon. Clearly Troi is affected by this experience and she does get to extract a measure of revenge against her tormentors, but she also disappears for a lot of the film between these two events. Similarly, Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) is barely in the film, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) exists mainly to debate the merits of B-4’s potential, and Worf doesn’t really get much of anything to do but man (Klingon?) the phaser banks.

*While Picard exorcises his dark half, Data makes the ultimate sacrifice for his surrogate family.*

As I mentioned, this isn’t entirely surprising and the film’s primary narratives revolving around Picard and Shinzon and Data and B-4 do go some way to making up for this. Picard is heartbroken and enraged at how selfish and disappointing his “son” is and the final confrontation with his doppelgänger is as much a fight for his (Picard’s) survival as it is against himself and the dark side that dwells deep beneath his morals and ethics. Similarly, Data is saddened by his younger brother, his childish nature, and his position as Shinzon’s slave. I mentioned earlier that family is a central theme of the film and that’s true; the idea is that the bond between a surrogate family of close friends and colleagues is just as strong as those between blood relatives. This is even reflected in Shinzon, who literally needs Picard’s blood to survive and who only truly confides and trusts in his viceroy, treating everyone else as disposable and expendable filth. In the end, both Picard and Data choose their surrogate family over their actual family, with Picard exorcising his dark half and Data willingly sacrificing his existence to ensure the survival of his family.

Nemesis explores Picard’s more vulnerable side but, sadly, fails to really capitalise on its potential.

Of course, this ending draws immediately and blatant parallels to the classic finale of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Meyer, 1982); while Data’s sacrifice kind of comes out of nowhere, so did Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy), if we’re being really honest, and both relate to the aforementioned themes of family and sacrifice that are prevalent in both movies. It’s a sudden and heart-breaking end to a beloved character but one, perhaps, long overdue since Spiner had desired to be killed off for some time. Like Spock, Data is able to create a kind of back-up or failsafe to ensure his legacy lives on, in some way, through B-4. The similarities don’t end there either, really: Shinzon is a more blatant dark mirror of Picard but Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) was also a dark reflection of Kirk, his ship a dark opposite of the Enterprise, and his motivations similarly based on horrific experiences that he largely blamed his opposite for. It’s a deeply personal story for Picard, one that ties into themes that have brewing since, at least, Star Trek Generations and demonstrates that the difference between nature and nurture is often an extremely blurred line.

The Summery:
I can understand, to a degree, why Star Trek: Nemesis wasn’t received all too well but, honestly, I find it to be the second-best of the Next Generation films. It’s not a complete bore-fest like Star Trek Generations or Star Trek: Insurrection, featuring a lot more action and thought-provoking narrative elements but it’s still not quite on the same level as Star Trek: First Contact. Sadly, however, the film does squander a lot of its potential; the pace is very brisk and the film just doesn’t focus itself in the right ways. There’s a very intriguing story here, a deeply personal one, for the normally composed Picard but the potential of that story is thrown out the window all too fast as any question about Shinzon’s motivations is immediately rendered mute shortly after we’re introduced to him. Shinzon is, in many ways, a fascinating antagonist; he has every reason to hate his enemies and his motivations are as understandable as they are abhorrent but, sadly, not enough is done with the concept of him as Picard’s dark mirror. Still, I feel Star Trek: Nemesis is an underappreciated and overlooked film in the franchise; it’s worth a view for the potential of the Picard/Shinzon story and Data’s ultimate, poignant sacrifice alone and it’s easily the most aesthetically impressive of the Next Generation movies so I’d say it’s worth a bit more consideration that it got upon release.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

What did you think to Star Trek: Nemesis? Where does it rank against the other Next Generation and Star Trek films for you? Do you agree that the film isn’t as bad as people made it out to be or do you think it deserves its negative reputation? What did you think to Shinzon and his position as Picard’s dark mirror, and to Data’s sacrifice? Do you think these elements were warranted or do you feel they were squandered? Would you like to see another go-around for the Next Generation crew or do you prefer to see new, unique takes on the franchise? How are you celebrating Captain Picard Day today? Whatever your thoughts on Star Trek: Nemesis, or Star Trek in general, go ahead and share them below.

Movie Night: Predator

14/06/202131/03/2024Dr. K16 Comments

Released: 12 June 1984
Director: John McTiernan
Distributor: 20^th Century Fox
Budget: $15 to 18 million
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Shane Black, Richard Chaves, and Kevin Peter Hall

The Plot:
Major Alan “Dutch” Schafer (Schwarzenegger) and his crack rescue team are recruited by Dillon (Weathers), an old friend turned government operative, to rescue an important group of hostages from guerrilla forces in a Central American jungle. However, they soon find themselves being picked off one at a time by a mysterious extraterrestrial hunter (Hall) who kills for sport.

The Background:
After the release of Rocky IV (Stallone, 1985) there was a joke circulating around Hollywood that Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) had run out of earthly opponents and would have to fight an alien next time around. Writers Jim and John Thomas took this concept and expanded it into a screenplay initially titled Hunter that, after being bought by 20^th Century Fox and placed into the hands of producer Joel Silver, was transformed from a pulp sci-fi tale into a big-budget action vehicle. Initially, the then-relatively-unknown Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast as the titular alien creature, which was originally conceived of as a more agile and bug-like monster; however, after Van Damme bowed out after issues with the original suit, the creature was redesigned by special effects legend Stan Winston (with some input from director James Cameron) to accommodate a new actor, the monolithic Kevin Peter Hall. Filming was rough for the cast and crew, many of whom became ill from food poisoning and the intense heat, and the lead actors (all big, beefy boys in their own right) became obsessed with working out and appearing in peak physical condition. Upon release, Predator was met with largely negative reviews; despite this, the film made nearly $100 million at the box office and quickly became a cult classic that is now regarded far more favourably. Of course, it also spawned an under-rated sequel and marked the beginning of a multimedia franchise that includes further sequels, videogames, and comic books. There were even cross overs with 20^th Century Fox’s other sci-fi/horror franchise, the Alien saga (Various, 1979 to 2017), and a fan movement to declare June 12^th as “Predator Day”; although this clashes with “Superman Day”, any excuse to revisit this franchise is a win for me.

The Review:
I know how it sounds but let’s not beat around the bush here: Predator is as much a man’s film as you can get! I say that having known plenty of girls who enjoy the film, and the franchise, but come on now, this is a film made for a very specific type of audience at a very specific time when films such as this were popular and the fact that it is so unapologetically hyper-masculine really plays into its strengths as an enjoyable sci-fi/action/horror romp that can be appreciated by anyone and everyone, regardless of gender identification. Right off the bat, Predator isn’t pulling any punches: first, we get the blatant shot of an alien craft shooting a capsule to Earth, then the manliest team of men who ever menned disembark a helicopter while Alan Silvestri’s fantastic, iconic score plays, and, finally, we get perhaps the single greatest interaction between two characters ever put to film as Dutch and Dillon reunite with the world’s most powerful handshake! The excess and testosterone is practically oozing out of the film at every moment but, perhaps, none more so than in these first ten minutes or so where we learn all we need to know about Dutch and his team: They’re the best at what they do but have certain principals, seeing themselves as “a rescue team, not assassins” and being suspicious of outsiders joining their party.

Predator *showcased many different sides of Arnold’s range and charisma.*

Though one of Arnold’s early roles, Dutch is a fantastic part for the Austrian Oak; rather than being a stoic and silent character, Dutch is confident and instantly likeable, with a playful sense of humour and camaraderie with this teammates. However, when on mission, Dutch is all business, exhibiting a keen sense of his surroundings, comprehensive knowledge of guerrilla tactics and survivalist skills, and a natural ability to adapt to any and all situations. We first see this when he provides a distraction by sending a truck careening into the guerrilla camp and, later, when he sets traps for the Predator and learns how to use mud to camouflage himself and put together a proactive plan to bring the fight to the alien hunter. Of course, while Dutch is a physically capable mountain of a man, he’s no one man army (well…he is but he’s part of a team so I have to talk about his team…); while you can make the argument that Predator’s characters are all largely interchangeable, with the majority of them being heavily-muscled, snarky brutes who attack with a cold, clinical efficiency, each of them has many opportunities to stand out and be a little more than a one-dimensional caricature despite the fact that we really know and learn next to nothing about them.

*Mac is distraught and driven to mindless vengeance when his friend is killed.*

Hawkins (Black), for example, is the awkward bookworm type, one of only two members of the team to sport a more slender physique, whose “thing” (beyond his ridiculous glasses) is trying to get Billy (Landham) to laugh with so-bad-they’re-good Dad jokes. Billy, in comparison, is the strong, silent type; introspective, with an aptitude for tracking, he is the first of the group to really sense that something otherworldly is afoot in the jungle. Superstitious and an appropriation of the Native American spiritualist, Billy believes that a spirit or some cursed demon is stalking the group yet, while he doesn’t rate their chances of survival, he never gives in to despair and is the first of team to confront the Predator head-on in single combat…with results so disastrous that they’re not seen onscreen. Easily the most amusing and memorable character, beyond Dutch and Dillon, is Blaine (Ventura), a gigantic, musclebound soldier who exudes a macho charm that is both endearing and entertaining. Oh, and, he’s also got a fuckin’ galting gun that he uses to mow down guerrillas with reckless abandon and shrugs off bullet wounds like they’re nothing! Blaine also stands out through his love of chewy tobacco, some fantastically memorable one-liners (his “sexual Tyrannosaurs” line is a personal favourite but who can forget “I ain’t got time to bleed!”, perhaps the most unforgettable line of the film) and his brotherly relationship with Mac (Duke). Mac’s “thing” is the little razor he uses to constantly shave sweat from his face and his friendship with Blaine; he’s the only one to refer to one of his team mates as a friend and he’s deeply affected by Blaine’s violent death. Mac is also the only one of the team to really crack under the pressure of the Predator’s assault; grief-stricken and hungry for revenge, he blindly rushes into the jungle to pursue the creature and tries to make good on his promise to avenge his fallen comrade. Of course, he is unsuccessful, mainly because he is so emotionally distraught that, despite being the first to really “see” the camouflaged Predator, he’s unable to think rationally enough to get the upper hand on the alien.

*Poncho and Anna help flesh out the team and the world but are largely insignificant*.

Perhaps the most underwhelming and easily forgotten member of the team is Poncho (Chaves); in fact, Poncho is so inconsequential that I’m also surprised that he manages to outlive Hawkins, who appears the least physically capable of the group. Poncho, instead, does very little beyond asking rhetorical questions, taking a log to the gut, and ultimately being killed by an unceremonious plasma blast to the head when the last few survivors are trying to escape. The team is also joined by Anna (Elpidia Carrillo), the last remaining hostage from the guerrilla camp; like Billy, she’s a quiet, superstitious, and perceptive character who believes that a devil is stalking them, having heard stories of similar events happening in the past. She adds very little to the team beyond being a hinderance and to add an extra layer of dread to the proceedings, especially when the Predator is still being hidden from view and is a mysterious presence, but she’s largely inoffensive. Best of all, there’s no awkward romantic subplot between her and Dutch; he orders her to “Get to dah choppah!!” the first chance he gets and is left to fend for himself, with no sexual distractions or damsels to rescue.

*Dillon’s presence causes tension and his downfall comes from his wounded pride.*

The wild card to the team is, of course, Dillon; numerous vague hints and references are made towards Dillon’s past and friendship with Dutch but, even with that in mind, Dutch is immediately suspicious of the mission when he is ordered to take Dillion, now a CIA operative, along with him. The rest of the team, particularly Mac, don’t care much for Dillon’s presence, seeing him as a liability to their operation, and these suspicions turn out to be well founded when it’s revealed that the team was drafted in to take out a group of terrorists rather than rescue hostages. This causes tensions within the group, who are already on edge thanks to the mysterious killer picking them off, but they are nevertheless forced to work together to try and corner the Predator. Dillon is the only one of the team that is unwilling to believe in a supernatural or extraterrestrial threat stalking them from the trees but, when the Predator is exposed, he willingly joins Mac in attempting to extract a measure of revenge against the alien for all the death and trouble it has caused him. For Dillon, it’s pride that causes his downfall; had he stayed with Dutch, he may have been in with a chance of surviving but, in the end, he’s dismembered and skewered with an effortless efficiency.

*The Predator is initially kept well hidden and vague for maximum tension.*

It is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the titular Predator who brings the most appeal and distinctiveness to the film; although we know that an alien presence is clearly stalking the team, we don’t get out first real look at it for a good hour or so and, even then, it’s a fleeting shot. Instead, we see through the Predator’s unique and costly thermal vision, watching as it pursues and observes its prey from the treetops and attempts to mimic their speech (a haunting feature, to be sure). When the Predator does appear, it’s little more than a pair of luminous glowing eyes and a vague, distorted shape and, despite almost the entire film taking place during the day, the creature is kept well hidden. We see glimpses of its blade, spend a lot of time watching its arms, legs, and torso as it ritualistically cleans up its gruesome trophies, and only get a good, lingering look at the creature when it follows Dutch into the water and its cloaking device is disrupted. The result is one of the most iconic alien designs of all time; rather than the bug-like creature that was the Predator’s original design or the animalistic nature of the Xenomorph, the Predator is a humanoid being made up of two arms, two legs, and sporting an impressive frame and physique. Garbed in light armour and sporting a vast array of weaponry (that ranges from low-tech but incredibly lethal wrist-mounted blades to the creature’s iconic plasma cannon), the Predator is instantly recognisable thanks, in large part, to its helmet and dreadlocks but also because of its monstrous crab-like visage and mandibles.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Take away the alien and Predator would be a largely forgettable, by-the-numbers action film about a troupe of crack soldiers fighting terrorists. The Predator, though, takes that concept and the film’s various clichés and completely flips them on their head; as soon as we first see the Predator’s thermal vision, and definitely after Hawkins’ brutally swift death, the film becomes something entirely different from a hyper-masculine action film. It transforms before your eyes into a survival/horror film against an alien presence that is far beyond that of man, changing from a routine mission to defend America’s freedoms to one about man’s battle for survival.

*The film evolves from bombastic action to one man’s primal battle for survival.*

Before we get to the point, it’s important to make mention of the wide variety of action scenes on offer in Predator: the film starts off relatively simple, with Dutch and his team gunning down the entire guerrilla camp with a clinical efficiency and a bevvy of one-liners, before escalating into a paranoid firefight into the dense jungle in a desperate attempt to kill whatever is responsible for the deaths of their team mates. When it becomes apparent that they’re facing something beyond their understanding, Dutch leads the survivors in setting up a series of low-tech traps, using survival tactics to create a perimeter to ensnare the creature so that they can get a clear shot at it. Though Dillon is sceptical, he helps with this task regardless and it works…until the full extent of the Predator’s capabilities quickly render all their planning mute. Dutch, however, continues to employ these same tactics out of desperation and necessity more than anything else when he’s left the sole survivor; he loses his gun and is left with only a handful of shells and melee weapons with which to make his final stand. He does this through simple guerrilla strategies, using mud to mask his heat signature after a close call with the Predator and then fashioning a bow, a series of explosive arrows, and a number of deadly traps with which to enact his last, desperate stand against the creature. In this sequence, the film’s title takes on a double meaning as Dutch becomes both predator and prey, turning the Predator’s weapons and technology against it to draw it out into the open for a more even fight.

*Despite the Predator’s superior strength, Dutch triumphs through his wiles.*

While the sequels and extended media would, of course, greatly expand upon the Predator’s society and culture, there’s enough evidence towards the race’s ethos in this first movie: the Predator only attacks those who are armed and that it deems worthy prey (with the exception of Hawkins and Poncho, who were largely defenceless…), methodically stalks its victims from afar to ascertain their strengths and weaknesses, and makes trophies out of the skulls of those it kills. With its cloaking device compromised and faced with an enduring, persistent, and adaptable foe, the Predator chooses to ditch its signature plasma cannon to engage Dutch in a one-on-one fight, even hampering its vision by removing its helmet. Of course, the fight is anything but fair since the Predator is inhumanly strong; I watched a lot (basically all) of Arnold’s films as a kid and it was massively impressive to see a foe not only tower over him but also lift him up by one hand and beat him to near death. In the end, of course, Dutch is able to outsmart the Predator and lure it into a fatal trap; mortally wounded and defeated, the Predator chooses to activate a devesting self-destruct device in an attempt to take Dutch with it but, just as Dutch casually shrugged off a plasma blast early, no small-scale nuclear blast is enough to put down Arnold and he manages to outrun and avoid the blast but is left clearly affected, traumatised even, by his encounter with the creature and the Predator’s systematic slaughter of his friends and comrades.

The Summary:
To me, Predator will always be a near-peerless classic; everything about the film, from start to finish, is so gloriously over the top and entertaining that it never fails to be an enjoyable sci-fi/horror romp. Endlessly quotable and immensely fun, Predator is a fantastic film to throw on with a group of friends with some pizza and a few drinks and just have an unapologetic good time. I regard Predator as one of Arnold’s best films since it was a role with some real meat to it that really showcased his charisma and what he was capable of as a subtly complex action hero: Dutch isn’t just some muscle-bound meathead; he’s intelligent, experienced, and highly adaptable while also being charismatic, well-respected, and tough as nails at the same time. The film is full of testosterone and ridiculously macho characters yet, despite this, they’re all really endearing and likeable; there’s a real sense of camaraderie amongst the team, who all work together as a unit, and even the tension and suspicion regarding Dillon is largely a non-factor in the face of their struggle against a greater, common enemy. The titular Predator is a fantastically unique creature; here, it and its culture are, largely, a mystery and a lot of what we learn about it comes from inference and speculation, all of which adds to the otherworldly nature and appeal of the alien, to say nothing of its horrific appearance and impressive weaponry and physical skill, and I will always have time for Predator and the Predator concept because of this.

My Rating:

Fantastic

So, tell me, what did you think to Predator? Did you see the film in the cinema back when it first came out and, if so, what did you think of it at the time and how do you think it holds up today? Which of the film’s characters did you like the most, or the least, and why and did you enjoy the film’s excessive machismo? What did you think to the Predator and its design and weaponry and how differently do you think the film would have turned out if Van Damme had remained in the role? Which of the Predator sequels and merchandise was your favourite and did you celebrate Predator Day this year? If you’re a girl and you enjoy Predator and over-the-top action films, chime in with your thoughts about how any one can enjoy these films but, either way, do please leave a comment below sharing your thoughts and opinions on Predator.

Movie Night [Ghostbusters Day]: Ghostbusters (1984)

08/06/202108/06/2025Dr. K11 Comments

Throw on your proton pack and get ready to bust some ghosts because June 8^th is, officially, “Ghostbusters Day”! Ghostbusters (Reitman, 1984) was first released on this day back in 1984 and, since then, has become a major pop culture franchise that includes comic books, a popular cartoon and line of action figures, and videogames and it is, easily, one of my favourite films and franchises from that era.

Released: 8 June 1984
Director: Ivan Reitman
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Budget: $25 to 30 million
Stars: Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, and William Atherton

The Plot:
After being fired from Columbia University, four bungling scientists put their research into the paranormal to use as supernatural exterminators of ghosts and ghouls across New York City. However, while a government official attempts to prove them frauds and shut them down, they soon discover that an ancient God of Destruction is gearing up to wreck havoc across the city…and the world!

The Background:
Ghostbusters was the brainchild of actor Dan Aykroyd, who originally wrote the script (which also went through a number of slightly different titles) as a vehicle for himself, Eddie Murphy, and close friend John Belushi before the latter’s untimely passing. After Aykroyd settled on Ivan Reitman as the director, Reitman brought Harold Ramis onboard to star and rework the script into something they could realistically film, with the group casting Bill Murray soon after and specifically tailoring the script to the three actors’ strengths, characteristics, and ironing out the special effects sequences. Despite concerns from Reitman regarding the film’s ridiculous finale, Ghostbusters tracked well with test audiences and, upon release, finished as the number one movie for the weekend and made nearly $230 million by the end of its release, an incredible achievement considering the comparatively minuscule budget. A subsequent re-release in 1985 saw the worldwide gross hit nearly $240 million and established Ghostbusters as the most successful comedy of the 1980s. Reviews were, accordingly, extremely positive, with the film winning many awards and launching a multimedia enterprise that included an under-rated sequel, a cartoon, loads of toys, and later film projects.

The Review:
Ghostbusters is a brisk, well-paced horror/comedy that immediately establishes its semi-realistic world right from the beginning before introducing us to our three main characters. The first of the Ghostbusters we meet is Doctor Peter Venkman (Murray), a lackadaisical scientist to say the least who uses his research as an excuse to get out of doing any real work and to try and impress women. He’s the sarcastic, cynical, loud-mouthed member of the team and, as Dana Barratt (Weaver) points out, is more of a con man than an actual scientist. At the same time, though, he’s the most socially conscious and capable of his fellow scientists, being much more street smart and handling a lot of the Ghostbusters’ press and advertising. Of course, you can make the case that Venkman is little more than a womanising, egotistic prick; a creep who literally chases every pretty face he sees and who has, despite his many legitimate degrees, literally no idea of what he’s doing or how to work his equipment. He is, as his former dean states, “A poor scientist” and, as Dana astutely observes, more like a gameshow host than a paranormal expert. Still, despite my dislike for Murray and his attitude towards the franchise after the sequel, it’s hard to deny that Venkman is the breakout character of the group thanks to his greedy, outspoken, snarky personality; where the other Ghostbusters maintain a degree of professionalism and awkwardness, Venkman is loud, arrogant, and ballsy and the most candid of the group.

*The Ghostbusters are goofy and making it up as they go along but rarely portrayed as incompetent.*

Doctor Ray Stanz (Akyroyd), meanwhile, is the overly enthusiastic heart of the group; without Ray, there would be no Ghostbusters since he’s the one who really drives their research and cause forward. Ray, however, is quite naïve and easily distracted by his passion for the paranormal; he is crushed when they are kicked out of the university but extremely excited to be putting their research into practise as the Ghostbusters and remains, despite the often dire nature of their situation, the general optimist. It is fitting, then, that since Ray is the heart of the Ghostbusters, it’s Ray who ultimately (accidentally) causes the Ghostbusters to face their ultimate threat as he’s unable to clear his mind when they’re forced to “choose the form of the Destructor”. Even knowing this, Ray attempts to think of the most harmless thing possible, a cherished memory from his childhood, and instead causes a hundred-foot-tall marshmallow man to rampage through downtown New York. Doctor Egon Spengler (Ramis), meanwhile, is the pragmatist of the three; he’s the most clearly intellectual and rational of the Ghostbusters, rarely letting his emotions rule him, but he’s not just a mere stick in the mud. He is as excited as Ray about the presence of ghosts and the potential their organisation has and has many more subtle moments where he really shines, such as his love for Twinkies, snappy one-liners (“I looked at the trap, Ray!” and his cry of “Your mother!” always gets a chuckle out me me), and his sly indications to Venkman to up the charge for their services to the Sedgewick Hotel’s manager.

*Dana expertly rebukes Peter and Louis’s advances but appears to be a conduit for the supernatural.*

The Ghostbusters are (eventually) rounded out by Winston Zeddemore (Hudson); if you forgot about Winston, I wouldn’t blame you since Hudson’s name and image is missing from practically all of the film’s promotional materials and that’s a real shame since he’s my second favourite character after Ray. Winston isn’t a scientist; he’s just a normal, everyday working man who joins the team when they expand their operation and, through him, we get a relatable character who voices many of the concerns and questions we may have with an entertaining bluntness. Winston also brings a unique perspective to the group by being a religious man; he approaches their work not from a scientific perspective but as that of a man exorcising awakened spirits yet, when faced with claims of the Ghostbusters’ legitimacy, passionately advocates for the reality of their work with one of my favourite lines in the film: “I have seen shit that will turn you white!” A prominent sub-plot in the film revolves around Dana, her encounters with Zuul’s minions, and Venkman’s subsequent attempts to flirt and impress her. Dana is a refreshingly strong and candid character; she doesn’t really believe in the supernatural, but the experience rattles her, forcing her to turn to the Ghostbusters, and she puts up with absolutely none of Venkman’s shit. She’s strong and independent, easily able to deter unwanted advances from the likes of Venkman and Louis Tulley (Moranis), and only ends up needing to be rescued because she gets possessed and, even then, this transforms her more into a secondary antagonist than a damsel in distress. Despite what is initially a purely superficial attraction to her, Venkman comes to respect Dana and more seriously, honestly pursue her; when he finds her possessed by the “Zuul, the Gatekeeper”, he sets aside his normally cavalier personality to subdue her and seems genuinely concerned for her wellbeing.

*Peck is an insufferable thorn in the Ghostbusters’ side but was riled up by Peter’s attitude.*

Despite dealing with an increasing number of ghosts and ghouls, the Ghostbusters also face the most dangerous threat of all: governmental red tape in the form of Walter Peck (Atherton), a representative of the Environmental Protection Agency. Peck is deeply sceptical of the Ghostbusters and their operation, believing them to be frauds and con artists but, to be fair, he only becomes an unbearable antagonistic character after Venkman gives him the run-around; had Venkman simply co-operated, things might have gone down a lot different and less disastrously. Still, it’s from Venkman’s rudeness that we see, arguably, Peck’s true nature as a slimy, rotten, manipulative little git who uses every resource at his disposal to shut down the Ghostbusters no matter what the consequences are despite the fact that he really doesn’t know anything about the Ghostbusters’ operation or equipment. One of the main appealing aspects of Ghostbusters is the goofy humour; while this is largely embodied by the three main cast members, it is Louis who fills the primary role of comic relief thanks to his clumsy, ungainly personality. Mostly an annoyance to Dana, Louis is a perpetual loser who throws parties for his clients rather than friends and is like a hyperactive dog who doesn’t know when to quit and Moranis really brings a quirky hilarity to the character when Louis is possessed by “Vince Glortho, Keymaster of Gozer” and begins running around the city spouting nonsense and talking to horses. Similarly, Ray, Egon, and Peter sneaking around in the library bantering back and forth is highly entertaining, as is their panicked fleeing when the Librarian Ghost attacks them. It’s not all goofball humour, though; much of the comedy comes from simple line delivery, particularly from Venkman and Janine Melnitz (Potts) thanks to their dry delivery and snarky ab-libs. The cast all gel so well together that it’s easy to believe that they are long-term friends and colleagues who are more like a dysfunctional family; they’re bungling fools at times, often making stuff up as they go along and playing it by ear, but they’re not incompetent fools and there’s a difference. Like, for example, they might not have had a successful live field test of their unlicensed nuclear accelerators and are, in all likelihood, operating an extremely volatile operation in the middle of the city, but they’re still smart and capable enough to construct all of their equipment, to say nothing of fixing up the fire station and the frankly scrap-worthy hearse Ray secures as their vehicle.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Ghostbusters immediately establishes its world with an effective opening sequence that shows that, yes, ghosts are real and they are infrequently haunting buildings throughout New York City. One thing that is, seemingly, often forgotten about Ghostbusters is the truly creepy and terrifying elements of the film amidst its humour and the Librarian Ghost is our first exposure to that but this is only escalated later in the film with more monstrous ghosts and creature designs. Ghostbusters has a fantastic, timeless quality to it thanks to its masterful use of practical effects and traditional special effects work; ghosts are all unique and increasingly gruesome, being semi-transparent and slightly cartoony in their appearance but it works because they’re meant to be otherworldly spirits of a somewhat horrific nature. Similarly, the Ghostbuster’s equipment all looks suitably cobbled together and their proton streams are given an ethereal tangibility thanks to a combination of special and practical effects (sparks fly from the proton wand and explosions and scorch marks are left behind by the proton stream).

*For a comedy film,* Ghostbusters has a lot of terrifying moments and effects.

The score really helps towards emphasising the film’s more terrifying moments, most of them revolving around Dana, such as when eggs spontaneously begin to fry on her kitchen counter, her apartment is drenched in ectoplasm, and her various encounters with the Terror Dogs (with her abduction being particularly horrific). These monstrous Hellhounds are truly horrifying and are brought to life through a combination of (admittedly terrible) stop motion effects and practical animatronics. When a practical effect, the Terror Dogs are disturbingly scary, dripping with saliva and menace and help to place Ghostbusters as one of many films of the time to really push the boundaries of the PG rating.

*The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man makes for a ridiculously amusing finale.*

Of course, the film’s most impressive effect is the absolutely ridiculous Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. Up until the Stay-Puft’s appearance, the film plays its humour and concept mostly straight and realistic, but the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man flips that entirely on its head. It’s a hilarious sequence where the intended and much-feared “Destructor” is forced into the most absurd form possible and, as Mr. Stay-Puft stomps through the middle of New York City as only suits, camera trickery, and miniatures can deliver, it’s both comical and alarming to think that the end of human life could come from such a cute, ludicrous being.

The Summary:
I grew up watching Ghostbusters; it was one of the quintessential movies of my childhood that helped shape my love for cinema and big, special effects sci-fi/horror productions. As such, I have a great deal of fondness, nostalgia, and respect for the film but, even with all that aside, Ghostbusters is an effortlessly entertaining piece of cinema that, honestly, has everything you could want from a film. It’s funny, scary, enjoyable, charming, and appealing on so many levels, with some amazing old school special effects, great cinematography, and a fun and varied soundtrack, with the film becoming instantly iconic for Ray Parker Jr’s award-winning theme song alone. What I love the most about Ghostbusters, despite the great effects and unique premise, is how naturally organic all of the humour is; the leads have a realistic and appealing banter with each other that makes them instantly likeable and they bicker and trade snarky barbs like old friends. Even better is the fact that, unlike the much-maligned 2016 reboot, almost none, if any, of the humour is gender-based; the only character who’s slightly deplorable is Venkman and neither the film, nor its humour, is geared towards one gender over another. Instead, the humour is largely simple banter that can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone rather than always taking the lowest possible route and relying on crude toilet humour and gender-based insults. If anything, Ghostbusters is more an amusing commentary on politics and governmental bodies and even those aspects aren’t so explicit that they take over the film, making it a fun comedy/horror that appeals to everyone and remains highly recommended.

My Rating:

Fantastic

What are your thoughts on Ghostbusters? Were you a fan of the film back in the day? Which of the four Ghostbusters was/is your favourite? What did you think to the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and the film’s premise? Perhaps you grew up with the cartoon and action figures; if so, what memories do you have of them? How are you celebrating Ghostbusters Day today? Whatever your thoughts and memories of Ghostbusters, drop a comment down below.

Movie Night: Darkman

07/06/202106/05/2024Dr. K5 Comments

Released: 24 August 1990
Director: Sam Raimi
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Budget: $14 million
Stars: Liam Neeson, Larry Drake, Frances McDormand, and Colin Friels

The Plot:
When Doctor Peyton Westlake (Neeson) is left horrifically scarred and burned by mob boss Robert G. Durant (Drake), he uses his advanced (but fallible) synthetic skin and his augmented strength to take revenge upon those responsible while also struggling with his now volatile emotions and sense of humanity.

The Background:
Long before he took the reigns of Sony’s Spider-Man franchise (Raimi, 2002 to 2007), and after making a name for himself with his Evil Dead splatter-horror films (ibid, 1984 to 1992), Sami Raimi had shown an interest in developing an a comic book adaptation. After failed to secure the rights to characters such as Batman and the Shadow, Raimi decided to create his own crime-fighting character, drawing heavy inspiration from classic Universal Monsters films and the likes of The Phantom of the Opera (Leroux, 1910) and The Elephant Man (Lynch, 1980). Working alongside his brother Ivan, his producing partner Robert Tapert, and Chuck Pfarrer, Raimi crafted a story that was much an exploration of the soul as it was a gruesome superhero production. After the studio opposed Raimi’s wish to cast his friend and long-time collaborator Bruce Campbell in the title role, he cast Liam Neeson, believing the actor would be able to convey the nuance of the character’s turmoil despite the film’s extensive make-up effects, which were the genius work of Tony Gardner. Darkman is one of my personal favourite movies and I’m delighted to see that it received a decent amount of praise upon release. The film only made $48.8 million at the box office but is often regarded as a cult hit, spawning two direct-to-view sequels (without Neeson’s involvement) and a number of comic book spin-offs. Honestly, I’ll take any excuse to talk about this hidden gem of a film and today seems like the perfect opportunity given that it’s Liam Neeson’s birthday.

The Review:
The first thing to note about this film is Danny Elfman’s fantastic, operatic score; bombastic, dark, and gothic, Elfman really captured the atmosphere Raimi was going for with this film and it works on many levels to sell it as a brooding tale of a twisted, tragic man turned superhero and as a monster film. The second thing the film does right off the bat is introduce one of the most under-rated and ominous performances ever put to film and that is Larry Drake as mob boss Robert G. Durant.

*Durant is a commanding, menacing presence who exudes authority in every scene.*

Drake, then best known for his role on L.A. Law (1986 to 1994), brings a sophisticated menace to the role and steals every seen he’s in with a simple, noticeable presence. Stoic and professional, Durant is an eloquent, intelligent, cold, and calculating individual who carries himself with a quiet confidence; when he walks into the room, he fully believes that he is the most powerful man present and is completely confidant that, no matter the odds, he is in complete control of every situation. This, largely, turns out to be true as he easily and calmly takes out several of Eddie Black’s (Jessie Lawrence Ferguson) men not just with the surprise firepower of his henchmen but also with a few well-placed shots of his gun. Durant’s signature is, of course, the cigar cutter which he uses to slice the fingers off his victims; Durant collects these in a special case, touching them up with reverence to really highlight how sick and sadistic this character is.

*Westlake is brutally attacked and left a scarred shell of his former self.*

When we’re first introduced to Peyton Westlake, he’s a relatively normal, everyday man and a simple scientist struggling to crack the secret of stability in his synthetic skin. Garbed in a nerdy cardigan, Peyton is passionate and committed to his work but not to the point of distraction; although bothered by his inability to get his synthetic skin cells to last longer then ninety-nine minutes, he still has time for his girlfriend, Julie Hastings (McDormand), and dotes on her wherever possible. The two have a fun, easy relationship but Peyton wants more and is heartbroken when Julie appears to turn down his marriage proposal; for all his intelligence and obvious scientific ability, Peyton is a very relatable, somewhat awkward man who is instantly likeable. It’s thus even more random and tragic when Peyton’s laboratory is attacked by Durant and his henchmen. This is a gruelling sequence in which Peyton is beaten, partially electrocuted, bludgeoned, dipped into acid, and forced to watch Durant’s favourite, Rick (Theodore Raimi), shoot his assistant in the head before his eyes. Despite the fact that he should have died in the ensuring explosion, Peyton clings to life but is irrevocably changed inside and out; unable to feel physical sensations and prone to extreme anger, Peyton is forced to live the life of a vagrant and desperately attempt to perfect his skin so that he can reclaim his former life. When his anger gets the best of him, he turns his attentions just as much, if not more so, to using his synthetic skin to take revenge on those responsible for his horrific appearance.

*Though she seems a strong-willed character, Julie becomes little more than a damsel in distress.*

If there’s a weak link in the film, it’s got to be Julie; Frances McDormand is a decent enough actress but she’s not that appealing as a woman or a character. Like Peyton, she’s just a normal person with a normal life trying to make the most of it and I can respect that they didn’t cast some knock-out bimbo or an overly made up woman and went for the more realistic look but, still, she never really grabbed me as an particularly alluring character. While she shows a lot of conviction in her morals and is even willing to accept Peyton in his altered condition, she ultimately becomes little more than a damsel in distress who Peyton, as Darkman, must fight to save, which diminishes her otherwise strong character somewhat. Like any good mob boss, Durant is not alone in his organisation and is joined by a handful of one-dimensional but somewhat memorable minions: there’s the aforementioned Rick, a young man who appears to be Durant’s protégé and whom Durant seems more than friendly with; the large, bald-headed Pauly (Nicholas Worth); Rudy Guzman (Rafael H. Robledo) the superstitious Mexican; and the deranged Smiley (Dan Bell). He also has another henchmen, Skip (Danny Hicks), but he disappears after the opening of the film. We don’t really learn anything about these guys except that they’re a bunch of sadistic bastards who follow Durant’s orders to the letter and take immense pleasure in the suffering and killing of others but they exist primarily to cause Peyton’s unenviable position and then fall victim to his machinations and brutal revenge.

*Strack lacks any of the threat or nuance of Durant and makes for a disappointing final villain.*

To be honest, you could also make the case that Durant is somewhat one-dimensional since we learn very little about him except that he is quick to anger when offended and more than willing to kill anyone, even his own men, if they fail him, offend him, or anger him. Despite this, he’s a far more charismatic and appealing antagonist than his employer, Louis Strack Jr (Friels), who is a slimy, corporate weasel of a villain. Though Durant is always well-dressed, he’s basically a thug in a suit; Strack, by contrast, is the typical suit-wearing puppeteer and, while he does claw back some personality in the finale where he’s revealed to be maniacal and possibly insane, he’s still a shadow of Durant’s aura and if there’s one failing of the film it’s that it ends with a final battle against Strack rather than Durant.

*Peyton, left with nothing but the tattered remains of his former life, turns to premeditated revenge.*

The bulk of the film revolves around following Peyton as he attempts to put back together the tattered remains of his life and concoct his elaborate plan for revenge; this means that we witness first-hand the degradation of his sanity and humanity as he struggles to keep his volatile emotions under control and to hold on to the last vestiges of his humanity. Too monstrous to return to Julie as he is, this means throwing himself into the perfection of his skin; Peyton becomes obsessed with this process and driven to fits of rage at the skin’s inability to survive prolonged exposure to the light, driving him towards a vicious revenge as a creature of the night. This transformation is both emotional and physical as we see Peyton struggling to maintain his composure when masquerading as himself and, as the film progresses, his tattered appearance degrades, revealing more and more glimpses of his true self until he is left to confront Strack with his gruesome visage on show for all to see.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Darkman is quite the ridiculous concept, to be fair; you need to suspend your disbelief quite a bit to accept that a man would not only survive such an attack but also be able to function for any length of time with burns and injuries as grisly as Peyton’s are depicted in the film. It’s also an extremely over the top affair in many ways; Darkman was, and still is, the best “comic book” movie not actually based on a pre-existing comic book and it shows, with elaborate action sequences, cliché henchmen, and favouring style and spectacle more than logic. Still, with that being said, it’s an extremely enjoyable film because of all those elements; it’s dark, brooding, operatic, and bombastic when it needs to be, with much of the film revolving around the exploration of this simple scientist transforming before our eyes into an unrelenting monster of a man, a killer of killers who wants desperately to return to the life he once had despite the fact that he would never be able to even if he perfected his skin due to being changed emotionally as well as physically.

*Unable to feel pain and despondent, Darkman is prone to violent outbursts.*

This is seen at numerous points throughout the film but perhaps the best scene at showcasing just how tumultuous Peyton’s emotions and rage have become is his “Dancing freak!” outburst. Frustrated and despondent at his inability to crack the ninety-nine minute barrier, Peyton goes on a half-crazed rant about his condition and begins trashing his lab, ranting and raving before the unimpressed eyes of the cat he adopted by proxy. It’s a gut wrenching scene, one which ends with Peyton catching sight of his horrendous visage in a puddle and collapsing in despair to his knees, desperately attempting to calm himself with his rational mind. As fantastic as Neeson is at conveying this transformation, it’s Larry Drake who steals the show here; articulate and intimidating, Durant exudes authority and control and commands respect whenever he is onscreen. You get the sense that, in all his years, Durant has never failed and that his operation runs like clockwork so, once Peyton begins interfering in his business, he takes it extremely personally and as an affront to his reputation and position. Unlike Strack, and many film villains, Durant isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty or to avoid being up close and personal for the more violent aspects of his day-to-day; thus, when he learns that Peyton has survived as Darkman, he personally leads his men on an assault on the former doctor’s makeshift laboratory and attempts to kill his foe using a grenade launcher! In the end, Durant meets a horrific and satisfying end when Darkman causes the helicopter he is riding in to crash head-first into a bridge; Darkman revels in the death of his tormentor and there’s a real sense of poetic justice to the scene…it’s just a shame that it wasn’t the finale of the movie and that the sequel inexplicably depicts Durant as having survived this explosive end with minimal injuries.

*While he initially laments what he has become, Darkman comes to revel in his brutal actions.*

Unlike many of his more heroic, masked peers, Darkman isn’t afraid to kill those responsible for his shattered life and monstrous condition; he doesn’t take killing lightly and, at first, wallows in despair at the monster he has become but, over time, comes to revel in the deaths of his victims with a haunting, dramatic laugh reminiscent of the Shadow’s. And…why not? Peyton’s suffering is great and endless, his injuries ghastly and irreversible, and his victims more than deserve the fate he metes out to them. Darkman is the story of an ordinary man pushed as close to the edge as possible and, for a vigilante such as he, there is no room for compromise or mercy; he assumes the identities of many of Durant’s men (including Durant in an entertaining scene) and brings about the downfall of his organisation through manipulation, deception, and violence. It’s a little convenient, you might say, that Peyton is able to so closely mimic the voices of those he impersonates but, to be fair, we do see him practising this skill relentlessly and, while impersonating others, he keeps conversation to a minimum and we also see Peyton padding himself out to impersonate his more stoutly victims, which helps to sell this convenient element of the film. A central crux of the film is the ninety-nine minute time limit Peyton is forced to work around whenever he is out in the daylight; this means that there’s a constant sense of tension as Peyton is always on the clock, which drives him to bouts of mania and aggression as his skin gets closer and closer to disintegrating, and nowhere is this exhibited more explicitly or amusingly than in the iconic “Take the fucking elephant!” scene. While this scene is worth it for the memes alone, it’s also an astounding piece of acting from Neeson as Peyton desperately tries to keep his anger in control and fails, bit by bit, as the scene progresses, the camera skewing and twisting like his fractured psyche and resulting in a brutal explosion of rage and vindictiveness on Peyton’s part. As if to emphasise his true, inner self breaking through, his façade begins to immediately disintegrate in this moment, revealing to Julie that he isn’t the man he’s been pretending to be and, perhaps, never will be again.

*The film does a superb job of showing the gruesome extent of Darkman’s injuries.*

Of course, the most impressive aspect of Darkman is its truly gruesome special effects; thanks to Durant’s attack and the ensuing explosion, Peyton has been horrifically burned, with practically the entirety of his body covered in monstrous burns that expose his bones and tendons. The only part of his skin that remains unblemished is a small section of the left side of his face, which remains the last window into his failing humanity. Peyton’s scarring is genuinely terrifying and ghastly to behold, with him resembling little more than a chargrilled skeleton once the full extent of his injuries is revealed, and I remain astounded at how good the make-up effects are as Neeson disappears beneath the full-face prosthetics. Of course, there’s no way he’d be anywhere near as articulate as he is without his lips and the damage to his vocal chords but, again, we see him struggling to talk after he escapes from the hospital so the film does make an attempt to address this and, sure, his constantly-weeping wounds and exposed nerves, muscles, tendons, and skeleton would undoubtedly be a festering ground for crippling and fatal infection. Sadly, not all of the film’s effects are as good as the make-up; there are some pretty poorly-done greenscreen shots and effects compositions that definitely stand out but, thankfully, they are few and far between and also add to the film’s pulp origins and Raimi’s trademark campy filmmaking methods but…God damn the practical effects are absolutely top notch. Best of all, as I mentioned, there are numerous stages to the effects, with Darkman favouring bandages like Doctor Jack Griffin/The Invisible Man (Claude Rains) that degrade and reveal different aspects of his mutilation as the film goes on and it remains astounding to me that the effects can be this impressive and so massively downgraded in the straight-to-video sequels where Neeson’s replacement, Arnold Vosloo, was clearing wearing a far less impressive mask effect.

The Summary:
Darkman is an elaborate pulp adventure with some massively over the top performances at times but, having said that, it’s an enjoyable romp because of it. Many of the performances are somewhat campy and exaggerated, making even the most one-dimensional henchmen memorable and entertaining as a result, but, while it dabbles in camp and simplistic pulp at times, it also has one other foot firmly rooted in the dark, gothic horror of the classic Universal Monsters films that really helps to give the film its unique edge. This is, of course, bolstered by Drake’s scene-stealing performance as the film’s villain, Neeson’s affecting, complex turn as the titular character, and Darkman’s impressive practical effects and make-up. Just that alone is worth the price of admission as it really shows how realistic and horrific even the most unlikely, monstrous burns can be but Darkman’s position as a monster of a man, granted augmented strength at the cost of his emotional stability and visual appeal, work in conjunction with his unique ability to impersonate others and really help make him stand out amongst other dark, brooding anti-heroes. While the film was an original idea not based on any one existing work, it truly evolved into an entity all its own through Raimi’s exceptional adaptation of many tried-and-tested influences, birthing a new kind of superhero who, honestly and ironically, deserves much more time in the spotlight.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Have you ever seen Darkman? If so, what did you think of it? Did you enjoy the film as an over the top romp or were you, perhaps, unable to reconcile the film’s more elaborate stretches of logic and realism? What did you think to the performances of Neeson and Drake and the film’s ghastly make-up effects? Have you seen the sequels or read any of the Darkman comics? Would you like to see the character get more spotlight or do you think the concept works better as a cult favourite? How are you celebrating Liam Neeson’s birthday and what is your favourite Liam Neeson film? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Movie Night [Sonic Month]: Sonic the Hedgehog (1999)

04/06/202118/09/2024Dr. K16 Comments

Sonic the Hedgehog was first introduced to gamers worldwide on 23 June 1991 and, since then, has become not only SEGA’s most enduring and popular character but also a beloved videogame icon. This year, the Blue Blur turns thirty and what better way to celebrate than by dedicating every Friday of this month to SEGA’s supersonic mascot.

Released: 1 November 1999
Originally Released: 26 January 1996 and 22 March 1996
Director: Kazuho Ikegami
Distributor: ADV Films
Budget: Unknown
Stars: Martin Burke, Lainie Frasier, Bill Wise, Edwin Neal, and Sascha Biesi

The Plot:
Doctor Ivo Robotnik (Neal) takes Princess Sara (Biesi) hostage and forces Sonic the Hedgehog (Burke) and Miles “Tails” Prower (Frasier) to journey to Robotropolis to keep Planet Freedom from being destroyed and, in the process, have them battle his ultimate creation: Hyper Metal Sonic (Gary Lipkowitz).

The Background:
After Sonic achieved worldwide success and became the hottest pop culture icon of the nineties following the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992), Sonic was practically everywhere as SEGA capitalised on their mascot’s success with comic books, story books, toys, spin-off videogames, and, of course, animated ventures. Outside of Japan, DiC Entertainment produced two widely different Sonic cartoons that ran simultaneously and would come to inform the long-running Archie Comics series. Just as Japan and the rest of the world saw different Sonic promotional materials and lore, so too did each country have incredibly different animated ventures for SEGA’s mascot as, in 1996, Perriot studio produced a two part original video animation (OVA), “Welcome to Eggmanland” and “Sonic vs. Metal Sonic!”, that featured a traditional anime aesthetic that was closely modelled on the anime sequences from Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Sonic Team, 1993) and much closer to the source material thanks to the involvement of Sonic Team (specifically Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima). As audiences outside of Japan were enduring easily the worst Sonic cartoon ever created, Sonic Underground (1999), and to coincide (somewhat) with the North American release of the Dreamcast, ADV Films combined the two-part OVA into one feature length feature, subjected it to a questionable dubbing process, and released it straight to video. Still, the feature length animation holds largely favourable reviews among Sonic fans for its closer adherence to the source material despite being just as removed from it as Sonic’s American cartoons.

The Review:
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie is this absolutely mental anime adaptation of the videogames that has a slick, detailed aesthetic that not only evokes the artwork of the videogames but also aligns almost perfectly with the anime sequences from Sonic CD. Because of this, though this world is as strange and unique as the various iterations of Mobius, the OVA feels like an authentic tie-in to the source material rather than a distilled, heavily altered commercial product like the cartoons.

*Though short-tempered and lazy, Sonic revels in action and adventure.*

What really makes the Sonic OVA stand out from other animated adaptations, apart from the anime aesthetic, is its portrayal of Sonic; rather than a wise-cracking show off, OVA-Sonic is a snarky, short-tempered teenager and actually showcases the “attitude” that Sonic was advertised as having. He just wants to sunbathe in peace and quiet and yells at Tails for interrupting his relaxation and has absolutely no interest in helping Robotnik even though the safety of the entire planet is, apparently at stake. Despite his lackadaisical attitude, though, Sonic is quick to race into action when he sees Tails is in real danger and begrudgingly agrees to solve Robotnik’s problem despite never shaking the belief that something fishy is going on. Sonic is not just cocky but also extremely arrogant, surprisingly lazy, quick to anger, and uncouth, something his current incarnations often seem to forget or ignore. While still heroic, Sonic prefers to wait until the very last second, or needs considerable persuasion, to act; Sonic desires challenge and, without it, is mainly lethargic. This is best depicted in his intense and escalating battle with Metal Sonic wherein Sonic’s stupor gives way to a passionate desire to defend his pride and identity.

*Tails is at his most capable here, berating Sonic’s inaction and directly influencing the plot.*

Tails, also, is far more capable and competent than his other animated counterparts; a genius with machines and computers, it’s heavily implied that he retrofitted all the junk and discarded technology to build his laboratory and aircraft hanger and he’s easily able to reprogram Robotnik’s navigational device to alter Hyper Metal Sonic’s programming and repair the Tornado after it crashes. Crucially, though clearly an enthusiastic and naïve little kid, Tails is Sonic’s conscience and the voice of reason; when Sonic refuses to help, Tails berates him and helps coerce him into action and, while he does need a bit of rescuing, he’s also quite capable of doing far more than just whining or being a mere hostage or a liability.

*Sara is a pain in the ass but at least she has more personality than the President.*

Tails’s usually annoying characteristics are, instead, supplanted into Sara; a grating, annoying character, Sara is selfish and aggravating, throwing tantrums over the littlest things and revelling in her ability to manipulate the hearts and minds of men with her allure. Interestingly, though, the annoying aspects of her character give her a little more personality than the average damsel in distress since she doesn’t just sit there like a lemon or cringe in fear; she shouts, screams, lashes out, and whines the entire time instead which, yes, means you end up questioning why anyone would want to rescue her annoying ass but an irritating personality is a personality nonetheless, at least, which is more than can be said about her father, the President (Neal), who is a largely ineffectual and useless character.

*Knuckles is a far less gullible or bumbling character than he’s now characterised as.*

Unlike the majority of Sonic’s American cartoons, the OVA immediately gets extra points from me for actually including my favourite Sonic character: Knuckles the Echidna (Wise). Of course, of all the characters, Knuckles is perhaps the most fundamentally changed by the adaptation process; rather than an echidna, he’s said to be a mole (one, somehow, capable of flying) who is more interested in treasure and bounty hunting than guarding Angel Island and the Master Emerald. In fact, neither of these two elements are ever mentioned, characterising Knuckles as this wandering nomad who is, nevertheless, “Sonic’s best friend”; Knuckles, far from the gullible and foolish character he has become in recent years, is a capable, confident, and knowledgeable source of exposition and gets some fun comedic moments like when he chastises Tails for landing on Sara’s boobs or when his beloved and bad-ass cowboy hat catches fire!

*Though a buffoon at times, Robotnik is still a charismatic, deceptive, and competent villain.*

For those only familiar with Sonic’s American cartoons, perhaps the most striking character in the OVA is Dr. Robotnik; rather than some bumbling fool or a semi-cybernetic, tyrannical dictator, Robotnik is far closer to his videogame counterpart and, when I think of the Robotnik from Sonic’s 2D videogames, this is the one I think of. A charismatic, deceptive, and a ruthless individual, Robotnik is easily able to intimidate the President by kidnapping his daughter, manipulate Sonic and Tails into doing his bidding, and ultimately capture Sonic’s “life data” to complete Hyper Metal Sonic. There’s a lot of backstory hinted at with this world, primarily through Robotnik, who explains how Planet Freedom works and hints towards previous encounters with Sonic and Tails, and Robotnik actually has a lot of depth to his personality as he seems to genuinely be besotted with Sara while also wishing to destroy Sonic and take over the Land of the Sky. Robotnik, of course, isn’t the only antagonist in the OVA; at first, we’re led to believe that the primary antagonist is the mysterious “Metal Robotnik”, a massive demonic anime mech that is, clearly, being piloted or at least controlled by Robotnik. The deception, however, completely fools everyone despite the fact that Metal Robotnik sounds exactly like Robotnik! The mech suit gives Robotnik a vast array of combat options that briefly give him the upper hand but the destruction of Metal Robotnik isn’t even a set back for Robotnik; it’s all simply part of his master plan, which is surprisingly competent and threatening.

*Sonic insists on battling Metal Sonic alone, seeing the robot as a degrading imposter.*

Hyper Metal Sonic, obviously, ends up becoming the main antagonist but it doesn’t actually properly appear until after our heroes get past Metal Robotnik, enter Robotropolis, and shut down the Robot Generator; it’s glimpsed in the opening, pre-title sequence, however, and looms over the narrative like an ominous cloud so that, once it does appear, it’s in suitably dramatic and threatening fashion. Hyper Metal Sonic is a cold, calculating, silent antagonist and Sonic sees its mere existence as both an insult and a threat to his position, categorically refusing to have his friends help him and choosing to battle his robotic counterpart alone in increasingly violent confrontations.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Though there is a general, prevailing idea that Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie is much closer to the source material than its other animated counterparts, that isn’t exactly true; the world we are presented with in the film is just as different from that seen in the games as Mobius is in the cartoons and comics, perhaps even more so since this is a strange world that resembles a shattered, post-apocalyptic version of our world more than the wacky, fantasy worlds seen in the videogames. However, the spirit of the videogames is evoked far closer thanks to the OVA’s anime aesthetic and locations closely resembling those seen in the games (Never Lake, for example, appears to be briefly seen onscreen at one point and Sonic races through traps and obstacles very similar to those from the games, including the first and most accurate onscreen portrayal of springs, spikes, and Badniks).

*The world is both familiar and yet unique, borrowing from and then influencing* Sonic‘s videogames.

One thing I love about this OVA is not just how well it captures the spirit of the source material but also came to influence later videogames and Sonic canon; it’s fitting that this was released outside of Japan around the time of the Dreamcast since there are many visual and aesthetic similarities between the OVA and Sonic Adventure (Sonic Team, 1998): Tails’s workshop, the airstrip that rises out of the ground, the visual of the “relics” of the Land of Darkness (clearly the remnants of New York City) sinking into the ocean are all clearly evoked in Sonic Adventure. Honestly, it’s a shame that more episodes of the OVA weren’t produced and that it hasn’t had a greater impact on larger Sonic canon; ideally, I’d love to see a 2D Sonic videogame utilise an artistic style or anime sequences such as the ones on display here for the cutscenes, if nothing else.

*Animation is slick and fluid and the level of detail on offer is astounding at times.*

Visually resembling Sonic CD’s impressive anime sequences, and loosely adapting its plot, unlike its American counterparts, the OVA featured a fairly simplistic story, but one given greater depth by its diagetic world. While some exposition exists regarding Planet Freedom and its two opposing “dimensions”, it is clearly not Earth, Mobius, or the Japanese videogame world either, despite some aesthetic resemblances to each. Instead, Planet Freedom is a post-apocalyptic alternate Earth where some calamity has caused the planet’s surface to break away and reduced the lower surface to ruins. As a result, the OVA’s visuals and scenery are amazingly detailed and even somewhat resemble the Zones of the source material. This, coupled with the OVA’s musical composition, evokes Sonic’s spirit in a way that its counterparts failed to do; by appropriating numerous anime tropes and conventions, the OVA’s characters act exactly as you expect and engage in frequent, intense, fast-paced action.

*Amusingly, some risqué* *moments slipped past the OVA’s censors…*

Of course, the OVA isn’t perfect; ask most people for their thoughts on it and the first thing they’ll mention is the pretty atrocious voice acting. Tails has a strange, nasally quality; Sonic’s voice is wildly inconsistent, croaking one minute and being strained the next, and Old Man Owl (Charles C. Campbell) is almost unintelligible. Knuckles, however, sounds pretty good and I love Dr. Robotnik’s boisterous, elaborate slightly German accent. Overall, I don’t really mind the voice work; it’s not like the ones in the American cartoons were always great and it actually adds to the OVA’s cheesy, goofy charm. Indeed, the OVA’s flaws come from the poor quality of some of the voice acting rather than the quality of the animation yet, interestingly, though it has the high-quality whitewash of respected Japanese anime to bolster its critical reception, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie remains almost as separate from its source material as any of the American animations, though ironically is able to better convey the essence of said source material better than any Sonic animation produced throughout the nineties. Furthermore, the OVA is made more entertaining by the fact that a few questionable moments made it past the censors: Sonic gives Metal Robotnik the finger, Sara is seen breastfeeding in a brief imaginary sequence and kicks the crap out of Metal Sonic when she thinks its looking up her dress, and Sonic lands on his crotch on Robotnik’s craft, which is all very wacky and amusing.

*Metal ultimately comes to reflect not just Sonic’s speed and skill but his heroic heart as well.*

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie excels in the quality of its animation; characters move with blinding super speed like in Dragonball Z (1989 to 1996) but are also slick and smoothly animated. Nowhere is the animation and art style represented better than in the depiction of Sonic’s battle against Hyper Metal Sonic and the design of Metal Sonic (and, also, Metal Robotnik). Their battles are a test of their skill, speed, and endurance as Sonic is somewhat on the backfoot given that Metal doesn’t tire or feel pain but Metal, far from a simple unemotional machine, begins to grow frustrated with Sonic’s persistence and will and evolves to mirror Sonic’s personality and body language as much as his speed. Thanks to Tails’s influence, Metal eventually chooses to sacrifice itself to save Sara and the President, refusing to be save from destruction since “There. Is. Only. One. Sonic”.

The Summary:
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie is, still, perhaps the greatest Sonic animation ever created even though it still takes numerous, strange liberties with the source material, reflecting neither the Japanese or American versions of Sonic’s story or the story as told in the games themselves. Instead, the OVA is its own thing entirely, implying a continuity and a larger backstory that we, sadly, never get to explore as we only got to see these two episodes edited into one feature-length animation. Nostalgia and the general obscurity and rarity of the OVA obviously all helps to add to its appeal but Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie is still well worth your time, especially if you’re a Sonic fan or a fan of anime in general since there’s plenty on offer here for both. Between the slick animation, catchy soundtrack, and action-packed narrative, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie presents perhaps the most appealing and cohesive bridge between Sonic’s many competing narratives and I’d love to see the concept and aesthetic revisited in more detail at some point. However, since that’s extremely unlikely given how wildly different the Sonic franchise is these days, at least we still have this hidden gem to fall back on.

My Rating:

Fantastic

Have you ever seen Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie? If so, what did you think to it? Were you able to look past the dodgy voice acting or was it simply too much to handle, despite the OVA’s impressive animation? Did you like the unique world of the OVA or do you feel it was too separate from the videogames and generally accepted narrative of the time? Would you like to see a return to this style of characterisation and animation for Sonic or would you prefer something a little different; if so, what? How are you planning on celebrating Sonic’s thirtieth anniversary this year? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the OVA, and Sonic in general, so feel free to leave a comment below.

Movie Night [Dragon Ball Month]: Dragonball Super The Movie: Broly

30/05/202114/11/2024Dr. K3 Comments

When the Great Demon King Piccolo was released upon the world, he broadcasted a message on television declaring May 9^th as “Piccolo Day”…and promptly celebrated by announcing his ownership over the planet. Since then, May 9^th has been officially recognised as “Goku Day” and, accordingly, I have spent the last few Sundays looking back at one of the franchise’s most popular villains: Broly.

Released: December 2018
Director: Tatsuya Nagamine
Distributor: Toei Company/20^th Century Fox
Budget: $8.5 million
Stars: Sean Schemmel, Christopher Sabat, Vic Mignogna, Chris Ayres, Erica Lindbeck, and Dameon Clarke

The Plot:
After restoring peace to the Earth, and the multiverse, in the Tournament of Power, Son Goku (Schemmel) and Vegeta (Sabat) have been undergoing rigorous training to combat both the renewed threat of Frieza (Ayres) and unknown enemies from beyond their world. However, they face a threat unlike no other when Frieza joins forces with Paragus (Clarke) and his son, Broly (Mignogna), a being whose power eclipses both Saiyans and forces them to turn to the one technique they swore they’d never use again: Fusion.

The Background:
After debuting in the pages of Weekly Shōnen Jump back in 1984, Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball has proven a popular and influential manga and anime; its sequel series, Dragonball Z, not only came to define the entire franchise in popular, mainstream media but also spawned several feature-length movies and even a third series, Dragonball GT, all of which are generally considered non-canon as they lacked the direct involvement of Toriyama. After years of speculation and anticipation, Toriyama returned to Dragon Ball in 2015 with Dragonball Super, an official continuation of his popular manga that spawned two more feature-length movies in 2013 and 2015 and, of course, an accompanying anime series that ran from 2015 to 2018. Picking up immediately where Dragonball Z left off, Dragonball Super has largely supplanted Dragonball GT in the Dragon Ball canon and saw series protagonists Goku and Vegeta transform into even more powerful states, harnessing the powers of Gods, the return of many familiar characters and villains from the franchise’s rich history, and a tournament that spanned parallel universes! Soon after the end of the anime, Toryiama began working on a feature-length film to cap off the series that promised to introduce a “long awaited, strong opponent”. Thanks to his immense popularity among Dragon Ball fans, this turned out to be none other than the Legendary Super Saiyan, Broly, redesigned by Toryiama and officially integrated into his main series canon for the first time. This popularity, alongside improved worldwide distribution compared to previous films, saw the film eventually eclipse even the U.S. lifetime gross of the much-lauded Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001) to amass over $120 million worldwide.

The Review:
It is to my great shame that I have to admit that I haven’t really watched much of Dragonball Super, much less read the original manga. I’ve been patiently waiting and debating about buying the physical releases of the anime and caught a few episodes here and there, but the majority of my knowledge of the series comes from what I’ve read online and the previous movies in the series. Luckily, Dragonball Super The Movie: Broly opens in familiar-enough territory; with King Cold (Jason Douglas), Frieza, and the Ginyu Force arriving on Planet Vegeta to meet with King Vegeta (Sabat). If there’s one thing I’ve found Toryiama likes to do whenever he revisits his seminal franchise, it’s digging up the past; he unnecessarily resurrected Frieza in the previous film, Dragonball Z: Resurrection “F” (Yamamuro, 2015), and even brought back Future Trunks (Eric Vale) in Dragonball Super. It’s a helpful shorthand for getting a sense of how powerful certain characters are by having Frieza around but, generally, I don’t really like that villains and characters so hopelessly outclassed are suddenly brought back and deemed a threat once more.

*In detailing Broly’s new backstory, the film features some unexpected cameos.*

The film even revisits Frieza’s eventual campaign against the Saiyans, including Goku’s father, Bardock (Strait), into the plot and officially incorporating him into the overall canon at the same time. Interestingly, the alterations made to Goku’s origins not only recontextualise the characterisation of Bardock but also slightly alter the specifics of how Goku escaped the destruction of Planet Vegeta and the majority of the Saiyan race and even his early years on Earth. This also allows us to see Vegeta and Raditz (Justin Cook) as little kids, which is something we’ve never really seen before in the series. All of these elements form the background to Broly’s revised origin: similar to his original incarnation, Broly is still a child prodigy with a power level that initially appears to eclipse that of even King Vegeta’s son and who has the potential to be even the Legendary Super Saiyan. King Vegeta is still fearful and frustrated by Broly’s superiority over his son and ostracised the child, and his father, Paragus, by sending them to the backwater world of Vampa where Broly’s power would not be a threat to his rule or the purity of the Saiyan race. Angered, Paragus pursues his son and vows to harness Broly’s power to oppose his former king, resulting in a backstory that is largely the same but slightly different in subtle ways; clearly, Broly’s original origin as a Saiyan born with incredible powers was iconic enough to leave mostly intact but his eventual personality and the circumstances of his madness are altered quite considerably.

*Broly is now a far more sympathetic and tragic figure, making him much more complex and relatable.*

Originally, Broly was overwhelmed by his power, frustrated by his father’s control over him, and enraged to the point of mindless insanity thanks to Goku’s crying disturbing him as a child; though initially quite eloquent, he was always a mindless engine of destruction even before he literally became little more than a rampaging monster. Here, though, Broly is a far more complex character; naïve and almost caveman-like, he’s easily controlled by his father thanks to a restraining collar and is quite passive and childlike even when fully grown. He’s not only far more gentle and eloquent, he also makes friends with Cheelai (Lindbeck) and Lemo (Bruce Carey) and grew so attached to Ba, a gigantic creature from Vampa, that his father had to mutilate the beast to keep Broly focused on his training as an unstoppable weapon. These elements all add much-needed layers to Broly’s backstory, transforming him into a far more tragic and sympathetic figure who is a victim of his machinations of his father and upbringing as much as his limitless power and uncontrollable rage. When we are finally reintroduced to Goku and Vegeta, they are still just as enthusiastic about sparring and growing stronger than ever thanks to their experiences in the Tournament of Power. While Goku wishes to grow more powerful to take on opponents from other universe, Vegeta desires to increase his power in order to defeat Frieza, angered that Goku not only resurrected Frieza but allowed him to go free after he helped them in the anime. It’s interesting to see Vegeta be the voice of reason; I would have assumed that his and Goku’s motivations would have been reversed but, instead, Vegeta is most perturbed by the potential threat Frieza poses, especially after they discover that he has stolen six of the seven magical Dragon Balls.

*Despite his lack of training, Broly’s raw power is enough to push Vegeta to his limits.*

Convinced that Frieza can’t be up to much good, Goku agrees to go with Vegeta and Bulma (Monica Rial) to the ice continent (picking up some nifty cold-weather clothes along the way) to find the last Dragon Ball. In a strangely amusing twist, though, it turns out that Frieza’s motivations for finding the Dragon Balls are as laughably vain and simple as Bulma’s: Bulma wants to wish to look five years younger and Frieza wants to be five centimetres taller, with both characters reasoning that any more would be “too noticeable”. It’s a tenuous reason to get the plot in gear but a recurring joke in the film and perfectly in line with the wackier elements and motivations of the franchise. Frieza’s motivations change, however, when his soldiers find the now-aged Paragus and Broly; impressed by the potential of Broly’s power, Frieza feeds Paragus’s desire for revenge against Vegeta by coercing them into engaging with his hated enemies. This time around, Broly’s rage is not at Goku alone but, instead, at anyone his father deems to be an enemy and, specifically, Vegeta for being the son of the man who condemned them to death. Once he begins to engage in battle, though, his formally peaceful and serene nature gives way to an insatiable bloodlust and increasing, overpowering rage that pushes both Goku and Vegeta to their limits.

*Goku and Vegeta are forced to merge into Gogeta to counter Broly’s unstoppable rage.*

Overwhelmed by Broly’s limitless rage, power, and brute strength, Goku and Vegeta are forced to not only team up with Golden Frieza to defeat Broly but also to turn to Piccolo (Sabat) for help in mastering the Fusion Dance. Previously, the two had fused into Vegito using the Potara Earrings and, though they had performed the Fusion Dance and transformed into Gogeta in non-canon anime, movies, and videogames, they’ve never performed the dance or assumed this form in canon until this moment. It’s a striking contrast to Vegeta’s fear and helplessness in Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan (Shigeyasu, 1993); there, he was so reluctant to fight against Broly or lend Goku his power that he was almost willing to accept what he saw as his inevitable death at the hands of the Legendary Super Saiyan but, here, his resolve against Broly’s power never falters and he begrudgingly agrees to undergo the transformation in order to prevail. As much as I enjoyed seeing Vegeta’s usual arrogance and ego stripped away and him brought to his knees by fear, it’s equally as entertaining to see him forced to merge into the same body as his hated rival.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Unlike his original appearances, which quickly devolved into little more than an extended series of fights against a near-unstoppable opponent that ended in anti-climatic fashion two out of three times, Dragonball Super The Movie: Broly depicts Broly as a formidable opponent whose power increases again and again as the film progresses and, yet, also a foe whom Goku and Vegeta are able to put up a much better fight against than in his original incarnation.

*Broly’s Wrath State quickly overwhelms Goku’s Super Saiyan God form.*

Unlike his original counterpart, Broly is actually rather untested in battle, relying on brute strength, anger, or instinct in a way that is slightly different to in the original films; despite his vast power level, he cannot even transform into a regular Super Saiyan, much less the Legendary Super Saiyan, at the start of the film and, yet, his base form is more than capable of matching Super Vegeta and pushing him to his limits. Broly also demonstrates the ability to learn, adapt, and increase in power as a fight progresses and, after being bested by Vegeta’s Super Saiyan God form, Broly summons the power of the Great Ape but channels it through his normal body, attaining a new form not seen before: his Wrath State. In an interesting twist, Broly is far more devoted to his father than in his original depiction; rather than turning against and killing Paragus in the midst of his onslaught, Broly follows his father’s directions (when not in a mindless rage) and is so traumatised by his death at Frieza’s hands that he finally transforms into a Super Saiyan. Nothing, not even a Kamehameha/Galick Gun combination or Golden Frieza is enough to stand against Broly, forcing Vegeta to swallow his pride and endure the Fusion Dance to allow Gogeta to be born in canon for the first time. Their eventual team up with Golden Frieza makes for a suitably impressive finale; as much as I may dislike Frieza being resurrected and even him being somewhat redeemed and becoming more of an anti-hero and reluctant ally, it’s still impressive seeing him forced to fight alongside his hated enemies in their merged form.

Broly‘s fights quickly escalate into some of the most furious and explosive the series has ever seen.

The result is a series of far more impressive and spectacular fight scenes than in any of Broly’s previous appearances; as awesome as it was to see the original Broly swat away our heroes like they were nothing, there’s no denying that Broly’s fights are bigger, more explosive, and far more exciting as the stakes continually increase and each character is forced to up their power level again and again to match the other. Even better is the climax of the film; as noted, Broly’s previous appearances all ended in anti-climatic fashion save for one and even that did little to redeem the film that proceeded it. Here, Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta and Legendary Super Saiyan Broly fight so hard that they threaten not only the safety of the Earth but the entire universe as well. Tying back into Broly’s introduction as a simple man-child with a kind heart, he is ultimately transported back to Vampa by Cheelai’s wish right as Gogeta is about to finish him off. Frieza allows Broly to go, confidant that Cheelai and Lemo will be able to domesticate him so Frieza can utilise his power at a later date, and the film ends with Broly, now living a simple life as a farmer with his friends, content and at peace with himself. Unlike in his original incarnation, he even ends the film on good terms with Goku, who not only wishes to face Broly in battle once again but also finally, surprisingly, embraces his Saiyan heritage for the first time in a nod to the original films by insisting that Broly call him “Kakarot”.

The Summary:
Of all the films to feature Broly, Dragonball Super The Movie: Broly is easily the best one, even better than Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan. One of the biggest issues the original Dragonball Z feature films had was that they were so condensed that they often focused solely on comedy or fight scenes, with little substance to their style. This is great when you’re burned out from watching characters power up over the course of three or five episodes of the anime but not so much when you’re trying to invest in their original characters and the potential of their premises. Dragonball Super The Movie: Broly takes everything that worked from Broly’s previous appearances and expands upon it, giving him a far more intricate and interesting backstory while still portraying him as a brute of near-unstoppable power. At this point in the franchise, Goku and Vegeta are so powerful that it’s hard for any opponent to be taken seriously but the fact that Broly forced them to not only merge together but also turn Super Saiyan Blue in that form shows that he’s just as formidable, if not more so, than his original incarnation. With far more impressive fight scenes, much better use of characters, comedy, and action, and even some much-appreciated peeks into the past, Dragonball Super The Movie: Broly is probably the best Dragon Ball movie out of them all and the fact that it leaves the door open for Broly to naturally and seamlessly return to the franchise is all the better.

My Rating:

Fantastic

What did you think of Dragonball Super The Movie: Broly? Were you happy with the alterations made to Broly? How do you feel about characters like Frieza returning to the franchise and being somewhat redeemed? What did you think of Dragonball Super as an official continuation of the series? Which story arc from Dragonball Super did you like the best and which characters from the multiverse would you like to see show up in future films? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment below.

My Rating:

Fantastic

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My Rating:

Fantastic

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My Rating:

Great Stuff

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My Rating:

Could Be Better

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My Rating:

Pretty Good

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My Rating:

Fantastic

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My Rating:

Fantastic

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My Rating:

Great Stuff

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My Rating:

Fantastic

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My Rating:

Fantastic

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