The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Now, you’ve read through dozens of reviews and opinion pieces on this film, so I’ll keep it short and sweet.

I loved this book as a child. A simple enough tale of Bilbo Baggins as he’s swept along on a quest to slay the dragon Smaug. He travels in the company of 13 dwarves and a wizard and overcomes many perils on his journey across the world.

I also loved Lord of the Rings and I thought the films were great…but that’s where the problem lies. Rarely did I feel that I was watching the Hobbit. I was watching a Lord of the Rings prequel.

Director Peter Jacksons justification for expanding The Hobbit into three movies was ($$) that he could incorporate the LOTR appendices, as they took place around the same time. Do you remember watching the Fellowship of the Ring? Did you really care how Sauron had been secretly building up his forces for the century beforehand? Was it an intrinsic part of the film that you would be lost without? Jackson seems to think so! The first 8 minutes or so of Fellowship were perfect. it told us everything we needed to know without once having a wizard racing around on a sleigh pulled by rabbits. (seriously)

Just to recap, backstory that wasn’t important enough to be put in the main LOTR book, wasn’t important enough to go into even the extended editions of the three films, somehow IS important enough to go into the Hobbit, a completely different movie!

Don’t get me wrong, this stuff isn’t uninteresting, but it has no place here. It bloats the length of the film, ruins the pacing and distracts from the plot. At times it feels like Bilbo is a side character in his own film.

I don’t hate this film or anything. Everything else, from the acting to the cinematography to the visual effects are of course, top notch. In the end, The Hobbit is a good film, but it could have been an amazing film and  I guess that’s the most disappointing bit of all…

Three review (2005) (Survival Island)

                Let me start by saying, the best thing about this film (called Survival Island in America) is the DVD cover. Great picture, great use of colour... but  then we get to the film itself. Okay, the plot. The film has a pair of couples partying aboard a yacht in the ocean. The boat sinks, one couple dies immediately and the other, along with one of the crew members, is stranded on a tropical island.

                The main character is Jennifer, played by Kelly brook. Her husband is Jack (Billy Zane) and the crewman is Manuel (Juan Pablo Di Pace). At first Jennifer and Manuel are thrown together and she pretty much as to depend on him to survive. it's shortly afterwards that her husband Jack is washed up. The film attempts to establish a love triangle here as Jennifer is torn between the familiarity of her husband and much younger more capable Manuel. it doesn't help that Jack is now a control freak and insanely jealous of Manuel (I say "now" because this is a character trait that was not alluded to prior to it becoming relevant) having being alone with his wife.

                I'd like to discuss the plot more but that's pretty much it. Jennifer spends some time with each man and towards the end of the film begins to manipulate them against each other for her own goals. Instead, I'll focus on some of the glaring problems in Three. All of these characters are absolutely hateful. Jennifer is nothing more than a manipulative gold-digger who's only with Jack for his  money, strings Manuel along would rather work on her tan while the men try to keep the group alive. Jack is more interested in keeping his trophy wife in line than doing anything constructive and despises Manuel for being better equipped to exploit their new situation. Manuel is the most sympathetic character for the first half but clearly resents the others dependence on him and develops a near obsession with Jennifer...

                Which brings me to another little chestnut. about half way through, while Manuel is sleeping, Jack takes his pair of goggles, one of the few tools they have to go spear-fishing. All well and good. When Manuel discovers this, he goes nuts, wades into the surf shouting about how he's going to kill Jack. Jennifer chases him, trying to reason with him and Manuel does the logical thing of realizing he's getting angry over nothing, calms down and goes back to whatever he was doing...Just kidding! He overpowers Jennifer and they have sex on the beach. Now, while you get the feeling that these two are going to screw eventually, you wouldn't expect him to force himself on her. When Jack gets back, he can magically tell that something happened and then accuses her of sleeping with Manuel before storming off, turning a serious issue into a bit of a cop out.

                Of course, none of this is helped by the atrocious acting by all involved. Juan Pablo Di Pace had never acted before 2005 (he had guest spots in two t.v. shows the same year as well as another un-credited role) and lets face it, the most that's expected of Kelly Brook is to fill out a bikini, but Billy Zane is a serious, talented actor which just makes his phoned in performance that bit more unsatisfying. it's also bizarre that he seems to have no chemistry with Kelly Brook, despite being in a relationship with her at the time and even going on to being engaged for a time. (fun fact: Billy Zane and Kelly Brook tried to sue the studio in an effort to get them to cut the rather explicit sex scene from the film. They were unsuccessful)

                There's also a subplot about voodoo and Manuels ex-girlfriend, but it's barley touched on and quite frankly daft, going so far as to ruining the final confrontation between Jack and Manuel. these characters unwillingness to work together for mutual survival is illogical and idiotic, as is their blatant hatred for each other (an earlier scuffle between these two is what caused the yacht to sink in the first place.

All in all, Three is a thriller that is more likely to bore you than anything else. Please give it a miss.

BEFORE WATCHMEN: MINUTEMEN #1

Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1

Writer: Darwyn Cooke

Artist Darwyn Cooke

Pages: 28

Well, the wait is finally over. The greatly publicized prequel to Watchmen is finally on the shelves. Written and drawn by DC heavyweight Darwyn Cooke, Minutemen #1 deals with the early days of super-heroics.

            We start with some slightly heavy handed philosophy for the first two pages which is then humorously thrown aside as the writer goes about the business of introducing the main characters from the point of view of Night-Owl as he narrates them from his book. Everybody gets a fair amount of face-time and the set-ups are nice, though a plot may be difficult to find in it all. The dialogue is crisp and character building and never short of entertaining. This issue is only set-up so time will tell what the actual story is (we only really get glimpses towards the end.

            The art is standard Cooke (in that it jumps off the page) and is much nicer than in The Spirit. The cover is particularly gorgeous and it’s faded, almost sepia look seems quite fitting for the tone of the book.

            To call this project controversial is an understatement. It quite literally divided the comic reading public down the middle. It’s important that a work be taken on it’s own merits. Time will still tell on how Minutemen pans out, but it’s promising o far.

FLASHPOINT

Writer: Geoff Johns

Year: 2011

Publisher: DC Comics

Pages: (176)

The trade for “Flashpoint” came out this week. At 5 issues, it’s a pretty quick read. Now, I have to admit, I’m not a Barry Allen fan. I think he’s a boring character and don’t appreciate that DC sidelined Wally for him. That said, I always have faith in Geoff, so I tore in…

The plot centres around Barry Allen, The Flash. He wakes up one day and realizes that everything is different. There’s no build up or lead in. histories been changed all of a sudden and both Barry and the reader are left scratching their heads and wondering what the hell just happened.

            The first thing I noticed here (with as few spoilers as possible) was the pace. This feels like an episode of a t.v show. There’s only one big action scene and it’s saved for the last two issues. The first three are basically, Barry tries to figure out what’s happened, Barry tries to get his speed back and Barry recruits other superheroes. These are alright on their own, but the book really should have been two or three issues longer, because of the slow pace, by the time we feel things have finally started happening, it’s practically over and we need a quick climax to get out of the way. There’s no big epic moments like in Infinite Crisis. The whole thing is over before the reader knows it. It certainly isn’t helped by the lack of a clear villain. Professor Zoom is only in if for a few pages near the end and the Aquaman/Wonder Woman war serves as little more than a backdrop. And there is a very good reason for this…

            “Flashpoint” is not an event book. This could have been released as issues 13-17 of the Flash ongoing series and nobody would have noticed. This book has the feel of something that was already plotted before DC decided to make it an event and publish 14 tie-in mini-series that barley even matter to the main plot.

            Another problem with this book is the real world relevance. For the big game changer, the book that paved the way for the new 52, this is abysmal. Go read “Booster Gold: Blue and Gold” (also by Johns). It’s the exact same thing, so is “Booster Gold: Day of Death” and probably a lot more after.

            “Flashpoint” does have a few good points going for it. Cyborg was used well and the inclusion of Thomas Wayne as Batman was a stroke of genius. The eventual climax, while brief is quite tragic (though you’d be forgiven for wondering how Barry’s mother not dying caused Clark’s ship to crash in Metropolis instead of Smallville) and the note Thomas leaves for Bruce is quite touching.

The bottom line.

Overall, this book is good as just another Flash story, but as an event book, it’s a joke. The presentation is nice and the art inside is superb.

Next stop.

The new 52 launched in September and are doing pretty well so far. “Animal man” and “Justice League International” are exceptionally good, but there’s really something for everyone.

THE DEATH AND RETURN OF SUPERMAN

Writer: Various (Mainly Dan Jurgens)

Year: 1992

Publisher: DC Comics

Pages: (784)

The Death of Superman

The year was 1992. DC editorial was looking for something big for Superman. Initially there were plans for him to marry Lois, but that was soon rejected. It was a while later when someone spoke those infamous words, “Let’s just kill him”

            Those four words sparked what has gone down in record as “the best selling graphic novel of all time” of course, if you know your comics, you know that this led into bigger and arguably better stories, being just the tip of the iceberg.

            Anyway, we start off with “The Death of Superman” the first of three volumes, this is a seven issue trade that, funnily enough, contains the smallest amount of storyline. Doomsday breaks free from his restraints underground and goes on a destructive rampage. Eventually, the JLI is called in and fight him, promptly getting their asses kicked. It’s only when Booster Gold (awesome) gets punched into orbit and is saved by Superman that our hero shows up. 

We then get s short series of skirmishes where the JLI is picked off and only Supes remains. I really like the idea that we don’t know what Doomsday looks like as he’s dressed in a green jumpsuit that slowly tears away as the battle progresses. Eventually, the final showdown takes place on the streets of Metropolis, right outside the Daily Planet no less! They have a big sprawling fight and… that’s it. They both drop dead. Well, at least Superman’s inner monologue tells us that he knows he’s not walking away from this one.

            The panel lay-out is very clever with the issues having progressively less panels per page until the last, death issue, which is just a series of big splash pages.

World without a Superman

This trade is a 9 issue book and serves as both a eulogy to the character as well as set-up for the next volume. It has everything from how to dispose of Domsdays’ body to trying to resuscitate Clark to last farewells and the funeral. It is bittersweet and flowing with emotion. The story takes an odd turn however, with the mystery of who stole Superman’s body. We already know it’s Cadmus Labs and the story quickly turns tedious as all the reader is doing is waiting for the other characters to figure this out, but at least the Guardian gets something to do.

Eventually Clarks’ body is returned to his eternal resting place and we finally have a conclusion…until Jonathan Kent falls over and has a vision. He winds up on the astral plain with Clarks’ spirit, who got lost on his way to heaven. He manages to grab onto him, but wakes up alone. It’s several days later that the news channels start broadcasting alleged superman sightings and the tomb is reopened to reveal that the body is gone…again.

Reign of the Supermen (The Return of Superman)

            This trade is a beast. It clocks in at 21 issues ( 480 pages!) The plot deals with the emergence of four individuals who are trying to step into the void left by Supermans’ demise, several of whom claim to be Superman. This book was done as a collaboration between the four ongoing Superman titles at the time and it shows, with each title telling the story of one of the four supermen.

            This book certainly has an epic feel and if it sags a little halfway, the fantastic ending more than makes up for it. Eventually, the real Clark Kent shows up, newly resurrected and Green Lantern and the Matrix Supergirl are also roped in.

            Eventually the status quo is resumed (more or less) and some great new characters are added, such as Superboy (Connor Kent), Steel (john Henry Irons) and Cyborg Superman (Hank Henshaw), who all go on to greater success.

The bottom line.

Like most stories, The Death and Return of Superman has a strong opening, a slow second act and a strong ending. My edition is in the three trades so I can’t comment on the quality of the omnibus collection, though I imagine the spine thickness may be a problem. A minor annoyance is that issue covers are not included in the story, making it a bit difficult to tell when one issue ends and another begins.

Next stop.

Superman: Doomsday omnibus.

A collection of further Doomsday appearances, Hunter/prey, the natural sequel and where the Doomsday character should have been dropped, a very nice doomsday origin issue, the forgettable Doomsday Wars mini and a few Our Worlds at War tie-ins.

Green Lantern review

Okay. I went to see Green Lantern last night & spent a lot of today thinking about it and mulling it over in my head. As a fan of the franchise, though not specifically a Hal fan (I’m more of a Guy guy) I was initially excited but thrown off by the first trailer. I remained cautiously optimistic and found all the negative reviews very disappointing. However, I had my ticket since Tuesday and was going with a group of friends.

This film had good points and bad points but I have to say, were these reviewers even watching the same film as I? What I mean is, I can see the problems in Green Lantern but from reading various reviews you would think that these problems made the film unwatchable. So here’s my thoughts…

The good.

The effects. The CGI that had been so worrisome from the trailers has been tightened up and looks superb, not Avatar or Tron: Legacy superb but you know what I mean. The computer rendered motion capture suit looks very good but the mask can be a little jarring at first (though you quickly get used to it) The constructs are imaginative and the climax is fantastic. Oa looks nicely rendered, though it’s quite different to the comics. Other lanterns such as Tomar-Re are also very well done and feel real.

The comedy. The film itself isn’t a comedy but it does have some comedic elements. These were all well executed without overloading the film or drifting into slapstick. Likewise, the film makes sure that it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The bad.

The tone/editing. This film had quite a dramatic shift in tone at times though that can be put down to sub-par editing and directing/screenplay. One notable example is when Hal first recites the oath. This should be a big moment in the film and we thing we’re going to fly to Oa but instead we suddenly find ourselves in a bar scene with Carol. In my opinion, this scene should have been after he got back from Oa. Likewise, Sinestro at one point mentions taking a squad of lanterns and going after Paralax. There is a brief scene showing them leaving Oa with intense music but we suddenly cut back to an Earth scene, then cut back to the lanterns attack.

At one point about half way through we have the beauty shot of Oa. The only problem here is that we have seen it already with the scene of Sinestro confronting the guardians about Paralax.

The only time this works well is the quick cuts between Hal speaking the oath and Hector getting infected by Paralax. This does a good job of showing how this event changed both their lives forever as well as juxtaposing their opposite paths towards good and evil.

The screenplay. The plot of Paralax destroying worlds often takes a back seat for the Hal/Carol relationship. The film suffers for this as we don’t really see how much of a threat Paralax can be until the end. The set-up for Hector Hammond is also explored in length but his final confrontation with Hal is over all too quick for the amount of time put into developing the villain.

The mixed.

The acting. This was quite mixed with Hal, Hector and especially Sinestro doing good jobs with the material given them, especially Mark Strong who wasn’t given near enough screen-time. Tim Robbins didn’t really have anything really meaty to do. Blake Livley put up quite a wooden performance and seems nowhere near the next big thing her agents are desperately claiming her to be.

Overall, this is quite a good film. It’s not great but is far from disappointing. The action was excellent but I wish there had been more of a focus on the cosmic elements of the mythos. Also, more Kilowog! I would rate this film a 7 out of 10. Not as good as Iron Man but much better that Iron Man II. I realize that I may get some flak over this but I would rate Green Lantern as just above Thor. This is not The Dark Knight, nor is it trying to be. But what it is, is a fun summer popcorn film and setup for a potentially fantastic sequel.

My thoughts on the 2011 DC Comics Reboot

This is all i'm Saying on this matter: