"Witness how I control the elements! The wind blows wild, and yet my junk remains unexposed."
Okay, yesterday I looked at three different cinematic adaptations (or pseudo-adaptations) of Marvel's Doctor Strange: the 1978 made-for-TV pilot Dr. Strange, Full Moon's Doctor Mordrid in 1992, and the 2007 animated Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme from Lionsgate and Marvel Animated Features. Each version has its strengths and weaknesses. Yes, even the dreck that is Doctor Mordrid has a couple of saving graces: Jeffrey Combs would have made a terrific Stephen Strange in a better script, as would Brian Thompson have been a great Mordo. Also, Yvette Nipar's character, a research consultant for the police, provides a useful plot device that I will talk about more later. (Just as an aside: I think that Nipar is among the most underrated and under-utilized actors of my generation. Google her.) Now, I'm going to reference yesterday's post quite a bit today, so - if you haven't read it yet - you probably should do that now.
"What a piece of work is Stan Lee?"
Today, I'm going to throw out a few suggestions that I think will make a Doctor Strange film worth watching for both fanboys/fangirls and the general movie-going public alike.
The first question that gets posed in when we talk about a comic book adaptation is generally about casting. Who will play Doctor Strange? Mordo? Clea? Wong? To me, that's putting the cart a bit before the horse, but, okay, I'll play.
There are some fan photoshops floating around the internet that have Liam Neeson wearing the Sorcerer Supreme's robes. I like Liam Neeson as much as the next guy, but I feel that the window for Neeson to play Doctor Strange has passed. Patrick Dempsey wants the role, but, as I said yesterday, I think he lacks the vocal quality necessary to make the reciting of incantations not seem too hokey. The first actor who comes to mind for me is Joseph Fiennes. He has the look, the voice, and the Shakespearean acting chops necessary to bring Stephen Strange to life.
"Play another evil wizard? Oh, joy. Do I at least get a nose this time?"
"Is this a sonic screwdriver I see before me?"
My first choice for Mordo has - in a way- already played the role. Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice was, in my opinion, a great big rip-off the Doctor Strange comic books. Nicolas Cage's Balthazar was obviously inspired by Doc Strange and Alfred Molina's Horvath is pretty much a Mordo clone. So, Molina would be one choice, but another fun possibility might be to have Mordo played by Joseph Fiennes's big brother Ralph.
"How many more times does he have to mention me on his blog before I get to file the restraining order?"
Clea is an interesting creature, literally. She's not human. She's spent most of her life living in a dark dimension. She should be - in my opinion - simultaneously tough-as-nails and very naive. My choice for Clea is also one of my favorite actresses: Ari Graynor. Wong is tricky. He is basically the Alfred to Strange's Bruce Wayne, so some effort should be made to distinguish Wong from Alfred. I think the way to do this is to remove the surrogate father element and cast Wong much closer in age to Stephen Strange. To that end, I suggest Star Trek: Voyager's Garrett Wang.
"Whatever, Ari. I'm just glad he didn't call me 'Harry Kim.'"
Do I have any thoughts about directors? Sure, but I'm taking the easy route here: Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), David Yates (the last four Harry Potter movies), and Jon Turteltaub (The Sorcerer's Apprentice).
"I kick ass. What more do you need to know?"
Now, as for the story, I think that we should learn the lesson taught to us by the 2007 animated feature and not get too hung up on detailing every aspect of the origin story. Do you remember The Shadow with Alec Baldwin? It took that movie way too long to really get rolling. Tim Burton's first Batman movie didn't bother with an origin story at all for its hero, allowing only one flashback to tell us of Bruce Wayne's motivation. We didn't see anything to fill in the gap between his parents being murdered and him becoming the Batman. Look at The Avengers: two of the six heroes were given no on-screen origin story at all. We don't need it. Not every superhero movie has to explicitly portray the character's origin to be interesting. Let me just say that one more time in case Hollywood didn't hear me the first time: Not every superhero movie has to explicitly portray the character's origin to be interesting.
Admittedly, this would have been cool. (Found at fanpop.com)
I would like to see a less conventional approach to telling Doctor Strange's story. Doctor Mordrid actually had an intriguing concept before they totally blew it: a series of bizarre murder/suicides are occurring related to the theft of alchemy materials. Police are baffled. This is about as far as Full Moon got before dropping the ball. What they should have done but didn't was to have the police researcher connecting the dots leading her both to the evil sorcerer and the good sorcerer. This, in a Doctor Strange movie, would allow the audience to learn about Doctor Strange's origins as the researcher does: a brilliant neurosurgeon is in a car accident and is unable to perform surgery because of injury to his hands. He spends millions of dollars on alternative cures and then just drops off the map. The researcher talks to people who worked with Strange at the hospital and even meets a few people within Strange's inner circle. She may even be warned off at one point by Clea. Ultimately, the researcher ends up being useful to Doctor Strange, so she (and we) are brought into his bizarre, mystical world. Instead of knowing every single thing that makes Stephen Strange tick, he is an enigma, gradually revealed to us through the first part of the movie by another character.
"Boom. Shadow junk."
Seriously, Yvette, your agent isn't doing you any favors.
Now, this character could instead be a journalist. Possibly Ben Urich if that character is available having been used ten years ago in the Fox Daredevil movie. Norah Winters may be available if she hasn't been used in any of Sony's Spider-Man films. The character could also be a cop. We haven't seen Jean DeWolff on the big screen yet, have we? What a great role for Yvette Nipar! Instead of spending an hour sloshing through everything Stephen Strange goes through to become the Sorcerer Supreme, we get a mystery that needs to be solved, and Doctor Strange gets to remain something of a sphinx, which is as it should be.
It's possible that we might not actually see a Doctor Strange movie come to fruition. Marvel has quite a few other definite and rumored films in the queue before getting to Strange: Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, a Nick Fury prequel, a Black Widow prequel or sequel, a Hawkeye movie, Avengers 2, Ant-Man... If any one of these movies tanks at the box office, Marvel might pull the plug on the whole thing.
I do think it's time that Doctor Strange made it to the big screen, though, as he is easily one of the most interesting characters in the Marvel universe.
Even before Marvel President Kevin Feige recently teased us with news of a possible Doctor Strange movie, I have long been imagining what a cinematic version of the Sorcerer Supreme might look like. I have a few ideas, but let's talk first about some of the previous incarnations of Doctor Strange.
For those unfamiliar with the good doctor, here's a brief history of the character:
"Jailbait? I'm Hellbait."
Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1963, Stephen Strange is a brilliant, but arrogant and selfish neurosurgeon who damages his hands in a car accident. After traveling the world to try many different and unsuccessful remedies to repair his hands, Strange finally arrives in the Himalayas before a mystical hermit called only the Ancient One. While there, he thwarts an attempt on the Ancient One's life by his disciple Mordo. Seeing goodness in Strange, the Ancient One decides to teach him the mystic arts, and a superhero is born. With his manservant/assistant/sidekick Wong, Strange battles the vengeful Mordo, the otherworldly Nightmare, and the demon Dormammu, in some of the more fantastically-drawn adventures of Marvel Comics. During one of his visits to Dormammu's dark dimension, he is aided by a human-looking girl who turns out to be Dormammu's niece. Later, we discover that she is named Clea, and she becomes a disciple and lover of Doctor Strange (So inappropriate.) Okay, that should have us all up to speed.
"Listen to the ground. There is movement all around.
There is something going down, and I can feel it."
In the late 70s and early eighties, a slew of science fiction and superhero TV shows emerged, likely to capitalize upon the success of movies like Star Wars and Superman. Among these was a made-for-TV-movie/pilot of Dr. Strange (1978) starring Peter Hooten, Sir John Mills, and Jessica Walter. This version is quite a departure from the comics. Dr. Stephen Strange (Hooten) is a psychiatrist, not a neurosurgeon. He's charming and really quite a nice guy, and there's nothing wrong with his hands. Thomas Lindner (Mills) is the current Sorceror Supreme, aided by his disciple Wong (Clyde Kusatsu). Morgan LeFey (Walter) has returned from, well, somewhere, to assassinate Lindner and take over the world for her master, the Nameless One - not to be confused with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be Named.
Doctor Strange's real
nemesis.
In this version, Clea (Anne-Marie Martin billed as Eddie Benton) is a human woman temporarily possessed by Morgan in an attempt on Lindner's life. Emotionally distraught by her ordeal, she ends up in the care of Stephen Strange, who Lindner discovers is the Chosen One (there's a lot of "ones" in this) who is to become the next Sorcerer Supreme. Abracadabra, presto-change-o: the good guys win, the bad guys lose, CBS aired it opposite a re-showing of Roots, and nobody saw it. Mostly. Stan Lee consulted on the adaptation and had only good things to say about it. (He was not so generous about the TV adaptations of Spider-Man and Captain America.)
"Are you sure you're not John Holmes?"
I can be pretty generous about this movie myself. Yes, the effects are cheesy, and, yes, it doesn't follow the comic books very well, but it was a way around the origin story that didn't consume the entirety of the movie, and it didn't start off with a lead character who is largely unlikeable for a possible series pilot.
Peter Hooten is good, and he has that great, deep voice. That's one thing that you have to remember about the Sorcerer Supreme: he has to sound convincing reciting those incantations. Patrick Dempsey has lobbied Hollywood to play Doctor Strange in a new movie, but, I'm sorry: he just doesn't have the right voice for it, in my opinion.
"Mork calling Orson. Come in, Orson."
Moving on to the early 90s, Full Moon Features has acquired an option on a Doctor Strange movie but lets the option expire before going into production, so the script is re-tooled to remove any references to the Marvel character, and f-bombs and nudity are added. What we get instead is Doctor Mordrid (1992), which is about a centuries-old sorcerer (Jeffrey Combs) from another dimension who is living on Earth to protect it from a demon invasion led by rival sorcerer Kabal (Brian Thompson). Throughout, there are hints at what a Doctor Strange movie from Full Moon Productions might have been, and, frankly, we're all very lucky that it never happened. Full Moon makes schlock films, and that's what this is. The special effects are okay for a low budget, but the script is a mess, and the final "battle" sequence is boring. Watch it as a novelty only or if you're a Jeffrey Combs fan. (Which I am.)
About 15 years later, Marvel Animated Features gave us the direct-to-DVD Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme.
Sidebar: I just want to say that I like that Marvel employs career voice-over actors for their features. DC does more "stunt-casting" with their animated features, using well-known celebrities to voice their leads. First, I don't think the fact that Eliza Dushku (good as she was) voiced Catwoman in Batman: Year One had any impact on people choosing to watch or not watch that feature, and, second, her casting took the job from someone who is a voice-over actor by profession. Okay, stepping off the soapbox now.
"There can be only one... Wait. What?"
Now, DS:SS does follow the comic book origin story a little more closely, but, frankly, I still don't think that the pre-accident Stephen Strange comes across as enough of a jerk. Another problem with the origin story is that - in a feature that's only 75 minutes long, it eats up 80% of the story. Now, one change is that the Ancient One starts out with small army of sorcerer disciples - including Wong and Mordo - so we do get to see plenty of magic battling going on even before Doctor Strange becomes the "Sorcerer Supreme" of the title. There's just not much from Strange himself. It's entertaining but way too short as far as I'm concerned. Is this to appeal to a younger audience? Given the body count by the film's end, I certainly hope not.
Here ends part one. Part two will have some of my thoughts about what a live-action 21st-century Doctor Strange movie could look like.
In the meantime, here's the trailer for Doctor Mordrid as further evidence that you don't really need to see it:
On this day in 1809, poet and master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe was born. If he had not suffered an early and mysterious death in 1849, then today he would have been. . . well, dead anyway, obviously. For your entertainment, here is one master of the macabre being interpreted by another: Vincent Price.
Hey, gang, it's movie time again. Today I'm going to feature seven films I've watched (or re-watched) recently that are sequels, prequels, reboots, and retreads of familiar (and less familiar) material. Some are pretty successful in my opinion, some . . . less so.
So let's jump right in, shall we?
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
"Who's Bill Hicks?"
I was more than a little surprised to see that Spider-Man was getting a big-screen re-boot just five years after Spider-Man 3, especially when there are so many Marvel comics book characters who haven't made it to the screen yet: Doctor Strange, comes immediately to mind. However, that's not how it works for the movies these days. Sony owns the movie rights to Spider-Man, not Marvel, and the only other superhero Sony has is Ghost Rider. Since most of the major players had moved on (or had been moved on) from the previous Spider-Man series, and the third film had been so savaged by critics and fans alike (I liked it), a reboot seemed the best way to go, I guess.
I'd say it paid off pretty well, and not just at the box office. I'm a big fan of Emma Stone, and her Gwen Stacy is written far above your typical comic book damsel-in-distress. I also like Denis Leary much better as an actor than as a stand-up comedian ripping off Bill Hicks jokes. The film is well-made, well-acted, and the story evokes (similar to Spider-Man 2) the truth that always made Spider-Man my favorite comic book hero: at the end of the day, he's just a kid trying to do the right thing.
If you want to read about my theories on the shadowy figure in the after-credits scene, go here.
Dredd (2012)
"This helmet smells funny."
This is the second attempt to bring the ultra-violent comic book character Judge Dredd to the big screen, the first being the 1995 Sylvester Stallone version: Judge Dredd. This one more accurately conveys the feel of the comic book (garnering it an R rating). For those who've never read the comic or seen the 1995 version, it might be a little confusing, since the film starts without much explanation about what the Judges are, where and when the story takes place, or who Dredd is in the context of this world. However, that confusion would likely subside quickly as viewers are drawn into this gritty, nigh-anarchistic, dystopian future.
The effects are incredible. The violence is disturbing. (As it should be, right?) It is a curious choice, cinematically, to have Karl Urban, as Dredd, never remove his helmet throughout the film, but it is certainly accurate to the comic book. Thankfully, the writers got rid of the lovely Olivia Thirlby's helmet right away. (And she's more than lovely. She's very good in this.)
Good film, but not not not for the kiddies.
Men In Black 3 (2012)
"Make another 'dick-tation' joke. I bloody dare you."
So, what do you do when you have a sci-fi action-movie franchise you want to revive after 10 years but the elder of the two leads (Tommy Lee Jones) is now in his sixties? Concoct a time-travel story that takes the younger partner (Will Smith) back in time for an adventure with a younger version of his elder (Josh Brolin). I confess that I dismissed this sequel as gimmicky and unnecessary, and I really had no plans to see it anytime soon. However, upon the recommendation of a friend whose opinion I value, and with the discovery that this movie would feature one of my favorite English lasses (Alice Eve), I decided to give it a look.
It may be the best of the series.
The Expendables 2 (2012)
". . . and for a flaky crust, add a dash of apple cider
vinegar to the pie dough."
If you saw the first one, and you liked the first one, I cannot imagine that you will not also like this one. Testosterone-driven action sequences, lots of one-liners, extended cameos aplenty from classic action stars, and a sneering, evil villain (Van Damme): this is a near-perfect tribute to the high-octane action films of the 80s - perhaps even more so than its predecessor. It's just fun.
Bruce Willis gets all of the best quips, and he nails every one of them.
Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (2009)
"Whichever of you is humming 'Darth Vader's Theme':
. . . louder."
This is the third Underworld film, but takes place well before the others. It takes the Vampires vs. Werewolves story into swashbuckling territory and explores an earlier story between Lucian (Michael Sheen), leader of the howlers, and Viktor (Bill Nighy), commander of the bloodsuckers. This chapter's main purpose seems to be to further muddy the waters about who are the good guys and who are the bad guys in this series, and I'm still undecided about whether that's a good idea or a bad idea. Shakespeare it is not, but it is entertaining and, at times, moving. If you haven't seen any of the Underworld films but want to, do keep this one in the third position for viewing order. Even though it's a prequel, it really requires the context of the first two films, in my opinion, and could even give unwanted spoilers.
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
"Thicker than a Magnum,
Ace of Spades. . ."
The reasons for this semi-sequel without Matt Damon or director Paul Greengrass are as convoluted as the Bourne conspiracies of the stories. Basically, it looks to me like the studio wanted to make another Bourne film, wanted to find another movie vehicle for Jeremy Renner, and decided to kill two birds with one stone. So now we have a separate but parallel rogue agent from a separate but parallel black ops organization running for his life - at the same time as many of the events in The Bourne Ultimatum. I should really be annoyed that this film even exists, but I'm not. I really like Jeremy Renner, and his Aaron Cross is different enough from Damon's Matthew Bourne to avoid accusations of copycatting. In fact, this adds to the intrigue of the earlier films, and has me anxious for a "Bourne Conclusion" in which Bourne and Cross meet. I liked it. I have heard Matt Damon's criticism's of it, and I don't agree.
The Quatermass Conclusion (1979)
"This is a picture of my grand-daughter:
Blurry Quatermass."
Professor Bernard Quatermass was a British science fiction hero of the 1950s. Created by Nigel Kneale for the BBC, Quatermass protected the Earth against hostile alien threats again and again. Most of the films and serials depicting Professor Q's exploits are next to impossible to find, but the 1979 revival/conclusion serial is available on DVD. This film is a 100-minute edited-down version of the four-part serial, in which a now elderly Quatermass is trying to find his missing granddaughter in a dystopian near-future London. The youth of the world have become either thugs or flower children cultists who worship some unknown force that they believe will carry them away to another planet. Professor Quatermass begins to suspect that what's happening is far more sinister.
The serial plodded along a bit at times, but the shorter movie skips over what I feel were fairly important plot elements, so it is difficult for me to recommend one version over the other. both have strengths and weaknesses. Sir John Mills is compelling as Quatermass and Simon MacCorkindale as astronomer Joe Kapp becomes his able sidekick - before his performance devolves into complete melodrama. I can recommend this - either the serial or the film - as more than just a curiosity, but . . . not much more.
As always, feel free to let me know what you think.
By the way, congratulations to Yale Stewart on the 100th strip of his brilliant comic JL8 (nee Little League) that imagines the Justice League as eight-year-olds. If you haven't checked it out yet, you really must. It's on Tumblr here.
And, for your listening pleasure, I found this live acoustic version of "Gifts and Curses" by Yellowcard. The original version was featured on the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack and is sung from Peter Parker's perspective. (It's a favorite of mine.)
Yesterday's blog described my reticence at a Justice League movie - at least one slotted for 2015 that would attempt to incorporate the current incarnations of Batman and Green Lantern and would include Wonder Woman and Flash without a thorough cinematic introduction to the characters.
However, I realize that Wonder Woman has proven problematic to bring to the screen. Joss Whedon was supposedly working on a version for a while before abandoning it over - I assume - differences with the studio.
A pilot proposal was shopped around and rejected several times until NBC decided to finance one featuring Adrianne Palicki. Then they passed on it.
Warner Bros. produced an animated film featuring the voices of Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion that I very much liked, but I don't know they should expect that potential audiences for their live-action Justice League film will have seen it. Nor should they assume that the Justice League animated series was seen by all.
I think that a live-action Wonder Woman movie needs to be made before she is introduced in a team film. Do I have some thoughts on how this could happen? Yes. Yes, I do.
Casting:
For me, Wonder Woman has to be tall. Really tall. She's an Amazon. Five-foot-eight just isn't going to cut it. Unfortunately, this eliminates my first choice to play the Amazon princess: 5'8" Gina Carano, mixed martial artist and star of 2011's Haywire. Now, I know, I know. There's so much that can be done with cinematography to make actors look taller. For years, Hollywood had us believing that Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were over six feet tall, and that Tom Cruise and Michael J. Fox were at least the same height as their leggy leading ladies. And, of course, we all saw 5'6" Meryl Streep play 6'2" Julia Child in Julie & Julia. (We did all see that, didn't we? Dude, go see it. It's good. Made me hungry.) Still, I'm reluctant to cast a shorter actress in the role. Besides, we need to throw a bone to the taller ladies out there who can't get cast opposite Tom Cruise, Mark Wahlberg, Jason Statham, and Robert Downey, Jr.
Among those taller ladies, here are 4 suggestions:
Adrianne Palicki.
She was cast in the role once already, and I expect that the failure of the pilot rested more on the story and tone of the show rather than upon Palicki's statuesque shoulders. I haven't seen it, though. (But I'd like to. Hook me up, internet.)
Blake Lively.
She may have to be precluded for continuity reasons due to her involvement with the Green Lantern movie, unless they decide to do a re-boot. Like Ryan Reynolds, I don't think she is to blame for how bad that movie was.
Rachel Nichols.
Remember her as Scarlett in the 1st G.I. Joe movie? Of course you do.
Phoebe Tonkin
Who? She is an Australian actress, and - while I haven't seen much of what she's done so far - I've liked what I've seen. She is close to being an unknown, which, really, may be the best way to go with the role. Cast an unknown in the titular role (it means "title," you animals), and fill out the supporting cast with the big names.
Now, I won't say that I don't care who plays Steve Trevor. Of course I care, I just don't think that it will be as hard to find a good-looking, charming actor to play the slightly cocky, unintentionally chauvinistic Steve Trevor. (see how I threw in character notes there?) I do think he should be shorter than Wonder Woman, but not comically so. You know what? Speaking of Julie & Julia, I really like Chris Messina for the part.
As for Diana/Wonder Woman's mother, Hippolyta? Too easy. Famke Janssen. Or Saffron Burrows. Or Lucy Lawless. Or. . . well, let's just say there are several options.
What would be the story line? Well, try this:
Billionaire Maxwell Lord (John Cusack) is working with the military on developing a genetically-modified companion animal to sniff out bombs, perform reconnaissance, and even take out human targets using the DNA of jungle felines. Colonel Steve Trevor is returning from a mission to retrieve DNA samples from an exotic breed of panther when his transport plane malfunctions and he crashes in the ocean, washing up on the shores of Themyscara: Island of the Amazons.
Deciding not to kill this male intruder, the Amazons elect to return him to the world of man accompanied by an escort who will be chosen through a contest of combat. (This is a common element in many of the Wonder Woman origin stories.) Diana competes in disguise - against the wishes of her mother - and wins the right to be the emissary/escort.
Back in America, we learn that Maxwell Lord's actual plan is to create a new breed of feral super soldiers he intended to market to the highest bidder, and he was using the military resources to accomplish this. Steve was very close to discovering this, so Lord had sabotaged his plane.
When Steve and Diana, arrive in Washington, DC, they are followed, and Diana thwarts an attempt on Steve's life. This brings her into the media spotlight before Steve has figured out exactly how to introduce this super-powered Amazon princess to the state department.
And, hey, we know that the media will treat a tall, beautiful, strong woman with the utmost of respect and decorum, right? Amid some social commentary and a few fish-out-of-water amusements, the Maxwell Lord plot thickens, and this ultimately leads to a confrontation between Steve, Lord, Diana, and Lord's first successful human/feline hybrid, his chief geneticist Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva aka the Cheetah (Paula Patton).
Cheetah is an awesome villain, by the way.
Now, that's just an outline, but I think that there is great potential here for an exciting action story with a strong female lead and an underlying commentary on how we as a society prioritize the qualities of women.
okay, now the costume - perhaps the trickiest part of the movie - I like the idea (which was used in the animated film) that a costume is designed that incorporates the emblems on Steve's flightsuit - the wings and the flag - into a traditional Amazonian warrior garb.
What you'd get is something like what blogger and artist Sam Tung designed a couple of years ago:
I also found this in the comments section of a Comic Vine article about Wonder Woman's costume, but I don't know who it belongs to, I'm afraid. A Cobie Smulders fan with some Photoshop skills, apparently.
The design could be modified at the end of the movie into something more functional along the lines of the comic book redesign or the NBC pilot.
Anyway, if I can come up with this on a blog and with a few minutes of internet searching, I imagine that the people at Warner Bros. who do this for a living could put together a great Wonder Woman film that I and so many others would be thrilled to come and see - probably twice.
"Hol, look at the camera! Jordan, stop making a face! Okay, everybody, say: ' Spandex!'"
The internet (or, at least, some corners of it) have been abuzz the last couple of days with rumors about the upcoming (two or more years from now) Justice League movie. Of course, the rumors (provided by Cosmic Book News) aren't exactly earth-shattering:
The team will consist of Superman (the version from the coming Man of Steel film), Wonder Woman, the Flash, the Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern (a revamped version from the eponymous but ill-received 2011 movie), and Batman. Aquaman will also figure into the film as the King of Atlantis. Alfred Pennyworth and Lois Lane will have cameos, and the bad guy is Darkseid - or at least his elite underlings.
Given the huge critical and financial success of Joss Whedon's Avengers movie, it makes sense that Warner Bros. would be anxious to get DC's super team into theaters as quickly as possible.
I'm just not sure that - if there is any validity to the rumors above - they're going about it in quite the right way.
What made The Avengers work - really work - was the fact that audience members were familiar with these characters in their big screen versions already. There had been two movies familiarizing everyone with why and how Tony Stark became Iron Man, one origin film for the Hulk and one tying the character more solidly into the Marvel universe (and traditional comic-action-film storytelling), Thor and Captain America each had their own origin stories, and Black Widow and Hawkeye's assets to the team had already been demonstrated in Iron Man 2 and Thor, respectively. Nick Fury and Phil Coulson had made cameos across many of the films, Dr. Selvig was introduced in Thor, and Pepper Potts was principal support in the Iron Man franchise. Even the villain of the film, Loki, was carried over from Thor.
Honestly, this was all the character background I needed.
There was a little bit of exposition to catch folks up or somewhat clarify things for the uninitiated, but the fact that the film didn't need to establish in-depth character biographies and motivations for all of the major players before getting into the action, made this team film work where others have failed.
Background on all of the team members probably wouldn't have been necessary, but - if audiences didn't already know Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, and the God of Thunder's stories at least, The Avengers would have been a very superficial film, in my opinion, and only comic book geeks like myself would have been invested in the characters.
It would still be enjoyable, and I know a few people who hadn't seen any of the preceding films who still enjoyed it. However, I really don't think that was an enormous part of the audience.
Really, this costume was even pushing
it a little. Not that I'm complaining...
It sounds like Zack Snyder's earlier assertion that The Man of Steel would exist in its own universe has been amended somewhat to allow for Superman's inclusion into the proposed 2015 Justice League film, but Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise was intentionally so grounded in reality that it is mostly only allegorical to the Batman mythos, and it is difficult to imagine a man in red spandex who can run at the speed of light existing in the same world as The Dark Knight. Besides, the conclusion of The Dark Knight Rises leaves "Batman" in such a way that incorporating him into a new team movie would probably not work very well. For more on that: check out this spoiler-heavy article on Cracked.com.
What does that leave us with, then: A Superman that we've only seen for a few seconds in a couple trailers and a Green Lantern that not many people liked? (And, according to analysts, severely underperformed at the box office.)
I re-watched the introductory movie for the 2001 Justice League animated series to refresh my memory on how that team was introduced. The first act of the alien invasion story utilized Batman and Superman almost exclusively, with cameos from Flash (whom we had met previously in an episode of The Adventures of Superman animated series) and Diana-soon-to-become-Wonder-Woman. J'onn J'onzz a.k.a the Martian Manhunter was revealed at the end of the first act as tangential to the alien invasion, and we get his origin story. The two remaining members of the team - the John Stewart Green Lantern and Hawkgirl - were introduced unceremoniously at the beginning of the second act with Stewart apologizing to Superman for being late so that we know he and the Big S have already met. Hawkgirl's introduction to the audience occurs by Superman exclaiming something to the effect of "Hey, what's Hawkgirl doing here?" This way we know that he at least knows who she is. Wonder Woman (who isn't called that by anyone in this episode) shows up, explains who she is to the assembled heroes, and states that she wants to help. And that's it.
Now, this speedy exposition only works for a few reasons:
"And if you threw a party, i-i-nvited everyone you knew, you
would see, the biggest gift would be from me, and the card
attached would sa-a-ay . . ."
1) The Batman and Superman of this universe, at this point, had each had long-running cartoon series in which they encountered many super-powered villains and heroes and had even crossed over into one another's storylines. We know that this Batman and this Superman exist in the same universe and that this universe has heroes we haven't met yet.
2) It's a series. We know we will get the details about these newly-introduced characters somewhere further down the line. As for their motivations? Earth is under attack by aliens. The rest is just details.
3) It's a cartoon. Audience expectations are lower. (So is the production expense.)
I don't think the Justice League movie is going to actually happen in 2015. In fact, I actually hope it doesn't happen. I think it will be bad - messily bad - without a bit more prelude, and especially so, if it attempts to incorporate the world of the Nolan Batman.
I think they could get away with rebooting Batman in the Justice League movie, provided that they follow-up that reboot with a stand-alone Batman film. (And, that may be the plan as there are some rumors of a 2016 Batman reboot.) However, I feel they're going to have to do at least a partial reboot of Green Lantern as well - even if they choose to keep Ryan Reynolds in the mask. (I'd be okay with that. He wasn't what was wrong with that movie.) They might also get away with a "quickie" origin story for Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter as in the animated series, but that hinged upon an alien invasion story, which is a little too similar to The Avengers. This still leaves the Flash and Aquaman as unknown quantities in this new movie's universe, and, while I and the other comic book geeks will be able to follow along just fine, if Warner Bros. wants to make their money back, they've got to reach a wider audience.
"No cagarla. No cagarla. No cagarla...
So, here's my wholly unsolicited advice:
1) Move Justice League to 2016. Do it now. Man of Steel is still an unknown. Warner Bros. thought Green Lantern would be a slam dunk, and Green Lantern costumes were on the discount rack this Halloween.
"In my satin tights,
Fightin' for my rights,
And the old red, white, and blu-u-ue..."
2) Dig a little deeper into the Justice League roster. The Avengers movie only used three of the five actual founding members from the comic book. Warner Bros. might want to consider leaving Batman and Superman off the main roster. If Man of Steel cleans up, then Superman can have a small, but significant cameo. That's often how he was utilized in the animated series. Superman has a way of making others' super powers redundant. Speaking of redundant, you don't really need Superman if you've got the Martian Manhunter. Batman can be a presence in the film, but he's not really a team player anyway. While we're at it, let's leave Green Lantern in outer space as well - at least the Hal Jordan version. Think about characters like Black Canary, The Atom, and Hawkman or Hawkgirl (but not both).
3) Make a Flash movie. (Not a flash movie, a Flash movie.) Off-hand, I'd say give the Wachowskis a crack at it. Make a Wonder Woman movie. (J.J. Abrams, Simon West, Curtis Hanson, Kathryn Bigelow, Joe Wright, Renny Harlin?) I don't know precisely what was behind the failure of the 2011 Wonder Woman pilot because I never saw it, but I'd be willing to bet it wasn't Adrianne Palicki's fault.
If audiences respond to the Flash and Wonder Woman, then you've got a strong foundation for a team film, and give Sylvain White another shot. The Losers is a highly under-rated film.
I should really just stop apologizing when it takes me a while to get back to my blog. I do this for fun: to share my love of films and other silly things with those of you interested in reading about them. So, I'll write when I have the time and the interest to do so. I suppose that's what casual blogging is all about, anyway.
Zoe Kazan. See? Now don't you wish you'd watched The Exploding Girl like I told you to?
As usual, I have a number of accumulated movie views to share with you - some old favorites, some new to me - and, as usual, that number is a bit much for one post.
Esquire magazine has their "Women We Love" issue, and - since a few of the films I've seen lately have featured some of our favorite women in film here at Superfluity central, I thought that would be an appropriate theme for today's blog.
Ruby Sparks (2012) The women: Zoe Kazan, Alia Shawkat, Annette Bening
"In this script - written by you, my girlfriend - I play a writer
who writes the perfect woman - played by you, my girlfriend.
And you're crying anyway. I can't win."
A novelist (Paul Dano) writes about his fictional perfect woman (Zoe Kazan), and she appears. Zoe Kazan (granddaughter of famed director Elia Kazan and playwright Molly Kazan, and daughter of screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord) wrote the screenplay for this film, and actor Dano is her real-life main squeeze. It is an interesting film, and Kazan is an absolute delight as the title character. Dano's neurotic writer is a little hard to like, however, and this fantasy romantic comedy has some trouble settling on its voice. It is certainly not the most original premise in Hollywood cinema. Slightly reminiscent of an 80s teen sex comedy (with less gratuitous sex), it felt like a less witty remake of a Woody Allen film. The thing is: Woody Allen never made this film, but one feels that if he had it would have been shorter, funnier, and a little more self-aware.
Still: this is a pretty good movie, and I expect that you will be charmed by Kazan's story as well as her performance.
One For The Money (2012) The women: Katherine Heigl, Debbie Reynolds, Debra Monk, Annie Parisse
"The sequel will be better.
What do you mean, "It doesn't
work that way'?"
This film flopped at the box office, and the critics were pretty harsh in their reviews. Nevertheless, I quite like Katherine Heigl as both an actress and - from what I have observed - as a person, so I knew that I would eventually get around to this movie in spite of its reception. Here's my take: Heigl is good - if a bit miscast. I never quite bought her as a "born and bred" Jersey girl. I think that Annie Parisse - who plays the smaller role of Mary Lou - would have been more believable as novice bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. I haven't read any of Janet Evanovich's novels, and - if this movie was a faithful adaptation - I don't think I will. The story is like "Elmore Leonard lite" - without any real sense of why Elmore Leonard's characters and stories are fascinating. I'm going to have to go with the wave of public opinion on this one and say, "Skip it."
Outlander (2008) The woman: Sophia Myles
"I am King of the Vikings. You are my daughter. After I die, do you
know what that makes you?"
"Yes, Viqueen. You need some new jokes, pop."
This one is fun. Imagine if Predator had taken place during the time of the Vikings. That's an oversimplification, but it gives you an idea of how cool this movie is. It also happens to be considerably smarter than Predator with more complicated characters. The only thing I knew about this film going in was that it featured one of my favorite actresses: Sophia Myles. In fact, that was my only reason for putting it on my to-watch list. Now, because of Sophia Myles, the rest of the cast, the story, action, and really cool monster, I'm telling you to put it on yours.
One gripe: that "blood splattering on the camera lens" effect is intended as callback to low-budget 70s slasher films in which fake blood actually did splatter on the lens and there wasn't enough in the budget to do a second take. The digital recreation of this effect is already overused in modern slasher flicks, and it really doesn't belong in a slick sci-fi film like this one.
The Raven (2012) The woman: Alice Eve
"You must chill! You must chill!"
I was really looking forward to this one. Edgar Allan Poe (!) played by John Cusack (!) hunting a Poe-inspired serial killer (!) in 19th century Baltimore (!) during the mysterious last days of his life (!). Also starring Alice Eve (!!!).
The only thing that didn't let me down in this film was Alice Eve. (And I doubt she ever will.) The whole thing was just way too heavy-handed. Everyone was yelling. All the time. They were even breathing intensely. I described the film to someone, and they said that it sounded like the script was written in all-caps. I could not have put it any better.
DISAPPOINTED.
"Hey, I wonder if she means old Ben Kenobi..."
Brave (2012) The women: Kelly MacDonald, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters
I have said this before and I will say it again: I could (and would) happily listen to Kelly MacDonald read the phone book, so when I found out that she would be providing the voice of the latest Disney princess, I could not have been more pleased. I wish I could say that I enjoyed this film more. I can't put my finger on it, but there was just something a bit disjointed about the whole thing. This could be because the original director and screenwriter, Brenda Chapman, was replaced by Mark Andrews abou two-thirds of the way into production. However, I am grading the film a bit more rigidly because it is a Pixar production, and I am accustomed to a higher quality of storytelling from that studio.
Whip It (2009) The women: Ellen Page, Juliette Lewis, Ari Graynor, Alia Shawkat
"... And the cat says, "Great! I didn't know you had
Meals on Wheels up here.' Get it?"
I wrote about this film way back in 2010 on my old blog, and it remains a favorite that I can watch again and again. This is, simply-put, a well-made film. It would have been easy to take this movie way over-the-top - a tendency that director Barrymore too often employs in her acting choices - but this little symphony hits all the right notes in all the right places.
If you haven't seen this one yet, do yourself a favor and rent it this week. I noticed that it has found its way into Redbox kiosks again.
Drive (2011) The women: Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks
"Hey, girl: it purrs like a kitten now, but what do you say
we just go for a walk along the beach?"
I very much enjoyed this film (even if I did keep hearing the Ryan Gosling "Hey Girl" meme in my head), but I found the extreme violence to be downright baffling. It did not - in my opinion - further the story. In fact, the effect was somewhat Brechtian - maybe that was the point. Ninety percent of the movie feels like a Michael Mann film: all-encompassing driving but ethereal score, sparse dialogue, characters absolutely dripping in cool. It is the other ten percent of Cronenberg-level violence and gore that sucks us immediately out of this neo-noir music video fantasy world into real shock and repulsion.
Is director Nicholas Winding Refn trying to tell us something about our entertainment choices or is he just another entertainer? Either way, this film knocked me out.
See you next time, gang. Until then, here's a video and two links to help you with your holiday shopping ideas:
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