Young Justice and Trump Luthor

Note: Yet again, lost track of the days and haven’t been posting regularly for the past two weeks.

Part of this was due to my birthday late in the month. The day and the weekend were great, but hitting 28 has made me take time to re-evaluate my goals. I have been focusing more on the job hunt and a rewrite of Elseworld. I’ve also written an opening scene for a rewrite of Hazard and am actively pursuing publication for my short stories. I hope to have a new full-time job by the end of the year and have a short story published by my 29th birthday. 

I remember starting Young Justice‘s first season and hating a lot of things, especially the character of Megan. “Hello Megan” was annoying and Megan didn’t have much character development besides drooling over Superboy. I felt like I was watching a Wattpad story come to life.

However, I grew to like the series more as it went on. The first season can always be rough since the writers might still be figuring out their characters, and voice actors might be going through the same growing pains.A smaller detail, but I also liked that “Hello Megan” was explained to be the title and catchphrase of an old TV show. Megan became obsessed with it and used the actress as a model for her human appearance. This helped me to forgive one of the most annoying quirks of season one Megan.

The second season was much stronger, and this third is my favourite so far.

It’s interesting to see a more violent version of the show, since the removal from Cartoon Network allows the creators more freedom. Of course, that’s not the only thing that makes it better. I am liking the villains, the cast, the new characters, the writing, but I also love how the media is omnipresent this season.

Aside from just wanting to defeat their enemies via combat, the team realizes the importance of controlling or shaping the media’s narrative. They have to create a positive, public image and actively work to fight misinformation that can turn the public against them. They even go into murky territory of creating fake news to help their cause. This isn’t just a subplot; the media is a defining piece of the puzzle.

I also love the direct jabs at Trump, with Lex Luthor using terms like “sad” and “both sides” when defending his actions.

I am excited to see where the story ends, especially with the Judas Contract subplot of Terra infiltrating the group. I am also hoping we see more of Megan’s brother before the season ends, if a segue back to him can be done organically. I think his appearance brought up a great discussion of self-image and prejudice, which I will likely elaborate on in another piece.

X:Men Dark Phoenix, Author Intentions, SJWs and Guns

The early X-Men films are some of my favourite comic book films, especially X2 and Days of Future Past. While Logan was a great send-off for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, Apocalypse left a bad taste in my mouth. Oscar Isaac was tragically wasted as the villain, due in large part to poor writing. Sophie Turner’s acting chops were suspect and many of the supporting villains were dull.

For those reasons, I am cautiously optimistic about Dark Phoenix. While the comic storyline has great potential, I am not sure if Turner has the range to pull this role off. Yes, I watch Game of Thrones, and I generally find her to be one of the weaker links on that show. I am also not a fan of Jennifer Lawrence so her presence as Mystique (which is overdone  due to her starpower) is another reason I have thought of skipping Dark Phoenix in theaters.

Now, I am not defending the writing or the acting in this clip. Lawrence sounds like she’s bored, and the writing is heavy-handed. However, complaints about “SJW” content do not concern the way messages are presented: People who complain about SJW content hate the message, or images, themselves.

Any image of strong women or POC can trigger the SJW detractors. I have seen someone call a scene with homosexuality “forced” because it involves a two-minute exchange with two women flirting with one another. For some people, ANY inclusion or mention of ANY ideas that are left of centre, is SJW.

I believe the above poster is one of these people. There is a tendency among people who cry “SJW” at everything to believe SJW content comes from a new generation of Hollywood execs. These right-wing zealots don’t realize that, sometimes, media just incorporates the messages from the original media. I remember people complaining about “liberal talking points” in The Punisher, even though those “liberal talking points” have been a part of the character for decades.

Likewise, the X-Men — a group of people hated by society because they were born different — have always been viewed as an allegory for discriminated groups, ranging from POC to LGBTQ+.

I never thought I’d see this but someone is actually arguing that the X-Men represent gun owners in America…you know, since they are persecuted and routinely threatened with deportation, extermination, violence etc.

I can agree that sometimes an author’s take on their material doesn’t have to be the only take. Sometimes, people can pick up on additional messages or allegories the author might not have intended. However, I don’t think an author’s take should be ignored, and replaced with a more asinine one (as is the case here). If this person thinks choosing to own a an assault rifle (remember, most gun control recommendations aren’t trying to outlaw all guns) and getting some skepticism for that, is the same as being discriminated against for genetic traits, then he has no idea what real discrimination is.

Aquaman and Shazam

This weekend graced comic book fans with two new trailers, one for Aquaman and one for Shazam.
Since the two trailers were released so close to one another I’d figure I’d just do one blog post for both.

I’m more excited about Aquaman so let’s start off with that one. First, I am still not sure how well Momoa will carry a film. I have heard that he’s good in some other shows where he has a substantial role e.g. Frontier but only time will tell with Aquaman. We don’t get too many lines from Momoa here, but the lines I have heard so far seem okay. Nothing cringeworthy yet, but I am sure the script will ask for a lot from the character emotionally.

The visuals look amazing. Obviously I hope that they are cleaned up over the next five months but the design of Atlantis, from the costumes to the architecture are all bursting with creativity and give something visually fresh. It looks like the underwater battle sequences will hopefully be something truly memorable, instead of a boring CGI fest. While Man of Steel had a great DragonBall Z-esque fight in its third act (which people still criticize for damage done, because they parrot criticisms they hear online and can’t think for themselves), the last fight in Batman v Superman fell very short. Doomsday was undeveloped, and felt tacked on and the fight had little emotional weight. If Aquaman builds its world and characters well leading up to its big fights, I am sure that a war between sharks, giant squids etc. will be a visual treat.

Black Manta and Ocean Master both look amazing. I never thought the bulbous helmet would work well in live action for Black Manta, I assumed the filmmakers might use a more streamlined design like the one in Young Justice.

Director James Wan has said Aquaman will focus on Ocean Master as the villain, but let’s hope that Black Manta has a strong showing to possibly be the villain in a sequel. Patrick Wilson is a great actor and I am hoping the writing does him justice, instead of giving us a generic evil brother. If done well, Ocean Master could surpass Loki.

I loved the trailer’s opening shot, since it tackles the “talks to fish” jokes that have been done to death. The CGI in that scene was probably one of the weaker shots but like I said, hopefully it gets cleaned up.

 

Now, this clip is actually one of my favourites from the trailer, because I love flossing. Also, this tweet segues well into some of the comments I can’t stand about this trailer. Yes, it is “light” and “fun.” That does not guarantee the film will be good. Suicide Squad was also light and fun. Also, just because Shazam is light and fun does not mean every single comic book film should have the same mold. This tone fits this character.

Anyways… It’s good to see Jack Dylan Grazer again, after his role in It. I haven’t seen Asher Angel in anything before but he seems like he’ll be good in the role. Zachary Levi captures the innocence of Billy well, truly coming across as a kid in a man’s body. However, a lot of the humour fell flat for me. Also, the suit looks cheap. It does not look like something bestowed upon someone by a wizard. It looks like a Value Village purchase. I honestly found the suit so distracting throughout that I had to rewatch the trailer again to really take in the dialogue.

Also, I wasn’t a fan of the music. I like Humble but I wasn’t a fan of this remix, or maybe I just didn’t think it fit this video. Then again, I rewatched the trailer and the music is growing on me a bit.

Originally, there was a lot of buzz about The Rock playing Black Adam but the cast list doesn’t even show him present. It appears Mark Strong will play the villain, and his character descriptions seems similar to Black Adam’s: Another person with previous experience with Shazam, who now seeks to reclaim power.

I did like the references to other heroes in the film. Some people are complaining about the batarang in Freddy’s room, but I don’t think it’s meant to be a real batarang. It may possibly just be a toy replica. If it’s the real thing, I’m sure the film will explain how he got it.

Since the film is still nearly a year away, I’m sure the next trailer will give us a better look at the villain. For a character like Shazam, who is not that well-known among the general public, it makes sense to focus on him in the advertising.

Deadpool 2 Review

Needless to say, this film carried a lot of hype and a lot of expectations. The first film was a profane, 4th wall-breaking breath of fresh air. Sometimes it is tough to follow up on a film like that, since part of its appeal is the novelty. Can it really be as entertaining the second time around? While I think I prefer the first film over this one, I will say that Deadpool 2 is a worthy sequel.

Deadpool follows the Merc With A Mouth as he tries to save Russell Collins a.k.a Firefirst (Julian Dennison) from time-travelling Cable. As you may be able to guess from the trailer, Cable is on the hunt for the teenaged mutant due to something that Firefist does in the future. It is tough to describe this film’s plot well without spoiling too much, since there is an important inciting incident early on that shapes Wade’s character for the rest of the film. You may have heard that Deadpool 2 has more heart than the previous one, and I have to agree.

I had some worries going into this film due to the director switch, and chatter from some friends worried about the film possibly trying to do too much with its addition of X-Force and Cable. However, I tried to cut out all the chatter from other people and go into this film with an blank slate. I will say that this film is darker than the first. While the first film undoubtedly has dark moments, such as Wade’s transformation scene, the darker moments are more prevalent in this one. That was no problem for me though. Hating on anything dark is fashionable nowadays (Wade takes a stab at the DC Universe) but darkness is fine if it fits the story. Deadpool isn’t always happy-go-lucky in the comics and I am glad to see that the creative team behind this film realize that. Deadpool 2 still does a better job balancing its serious moments and humour than most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films do. Humour is always more rewarding when it isn’t overused.

The performances are great all-around. Ryan Reynolds continues to embody Deadpool, whether in an irreverent moment or a serious one. Dennison is a newcomer to Hollywood but his previous experience in New Zealand’s film scene is evident. His character is probably the most interesting one in the film: A young mutant whose powers make him a danger to himself and those around him. Dennison’s story also brings up the theme of abuse, which actually becomes important to the plot instead of being something tacked on. Zazie Beetz got plenty of hate online since fans didn’t want a black actress playing Domino. Some of the hate came from just from the announcement of her casting, while some criticism came after the look was revealed. Sorry but I am unsympathetic to the people who complained simply about a black actress since I bet some of them belong to the same horde who vehemently defend whitewashing. The double standard in people’s reactions to whitewashing vs blackwashing annoys me to no end.

Anyways, Beetz is arguably the film’s breakout star and I think there may be a lot of new Domino fans after the film. Brolin puts in a great performance as Cable, but I almost feel like his character could have had a bit more development or screen time. The writers also did a good job of getting some humour out of Cable’s interactions with other characters, without neutering his character like the MCU films consistently do with theirs. Cable’s motivations are clear and tragic, but maybe Brolin’s performance just left me wanting a bigger role. Nevertheless, I’m excited to see where they go with the character from here. The supporting cast also returns, with Karan Soni’s Dopinder having one of the best moments in the film.

For those worried that all the members of X-Force would drag the plot down too much, let’s just say the writers did a good job of handling the characters’ screen time. Leading up to the third act, Wade Wilson is seeking a sense of purpose and belonging, or more importantly a family. Through Russell, Domino, Colossus etc. he begins to find that and evolves as a character. The main conflict arises between Deadpool and Cable since Deadpool wishes to try and save Russell, while Cable wants to kill him. This conflict is handled well throughout but there is another villain introduced just prior to the third act. For the nerds (like me) who follow the online chatter, you may already have an idea who the villain is. The villain comes across as an entity introduced just so that Colossus and the other heroes have something to fight, while Wade and Cable try to deal with Firefist. The villain’s lines are sparse, and if you don’t know his background in the comics you’re left in the dark here. Additionally the villain sports some of the weakest CGI in the film.

Speaking of CGI, the villain isn’t the only person to feature some bad work at times. Colossus and Cable’s effects, from the arm to his weapons, seemed to get the lion’s share of the budget. Meanwhile, a lot of other scenes, from car crashes and so on looked very cartoonish in comparison. The budget was nearly doubled for this film and I can’t help but think some more practical effects could have worked wonders, if possible. Then again, director Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) has said CGI is faster and cheaper. However, I feel like some of the effects in the film were not worthy of a $110 million budget, regardless of how resources got divided. Then again, the budget displayed might include some costs for actors, marketing etc.

Leitch may not have balanced all of the film’s pieces as well as Tim Miller, but I will say that the John -Wick-esque choreography is a welcome addition. While Deadpool 2 might sport a weaker third act, due to a tacked-on villain, the third act also has some of the film’s best moments. Deadpool 2 manages to fit in another 80’s tribute that is actually more touching than half the moments I’ve been forced to watch in sappy rom-coms. The film can make you laugh but also provides a lot more. I’ll see it again in theatres if I can, but until then I highly recommend it. If it wasn’t for the addition of the tacked-on third act villain I could probably say I liked this film more than the original.

Venom Trailer Thoughts

Tom Hardy is one of my favourite actors, and Venom is one of my favourite comic book villains. So you might be wondering why I’m a little late giving my thoughts on the latest trailer.

Despite the lead and the character, the film never interested me much because it is a solo film on a villain (or anti-hero in this case) that works better when paired with a hero. Venom was interesting to me because of his link to Spider-Man. The symbiote (judging by the trailer I have been pronouncing it wrong or the director insisted on pronouncing it wrong) felt rejected by Spider-Man and found another host. In many adaptations, Eddie Brock has his own reasons to hate Spider-Man, creating an interesting scenario where he and the symbiote have a mutual enemy. Once Venom’s origin is stripped of his connection to Peter Parker/Spider-Man, a big part of what made the character interesting to me is gone. Therefore, the film doesn’t hold as much appeal, regardless of who plays Eddie. Although people may feel like The Joker overshadowed Batman in The Dark Knight, The Joker needed Batman as a foil in order to truly shine. The below scene is the perfect example.

The trailer itself generated some more excitement from me, after a very lacklustre teaser. I understand that teasers don’t show much but there have definitely been better teasers than whatever Venom gave us. Off the top of my head, The Raid 2 comes to mind. Great images that get our attention with only a cursory look at the plot.

So first, the plot seems somewhat generic in comparison to what we could get if Venom was simply in a Spider-Man film. Reporter goes against evil businessman… we can see where this will go. I’ve never been into car or motorcycle chases much so most of the action that this trailer focused on didn’t interest me that much. The most visually appealing scenes were actually the simplest ones, when the symbiote defends Brock against the intruders in his apartment. The big reveal at the end is a moneyshot of course, but the effects look like they need to be cleaned up. According to some articles, a full-suited Venom isn’t even in the film for that long but Tom Hardy has debunked these rumours according to IMDB trivia.

The symbiote voice is done by Hardy as well, and actually reminded me a lot of Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget. Not too much to say otherwise. I doubt I’ll check this movie out in theaters, probably save it for online. Sorry Hardy.

The Walking Dead and “Forced” Diversity

I gave up on The Walking Dead TV show about a year ago. While I used to love the show for its post-apocalyptic plot, (some of the) performances and the zombie action, I lost interest once the show became bogged down with filler. Once Mad Men and Breaking Bad finished it seemed like AMC became more desperate to keep one guaranteed cash cow in live syndication. Plot lines from the comics were introduced and dragged out far longer than necessary, whether it was through the addition of unnecessary characters or entire episodes that focused on minor characters and exploits that could have been condensed to half the time. I was in denial about the filler until Negan’s introduction, when his dragged out intro was used for the sake of “suspense”.

Now, I am over the show but still continue to read the comic, which is currently on issue #178. This post will have spoilers for the comic so stop reading if you want to avoid those.

By this point, the comic is far beyond the Negan storyline. Rick is the leader of Alexandria and the latest arc, The New World Order, involves his people finding a new community, The Commonwealth. This discovery is mainly the result of Eugene’s radio conversations with Stephanie, a resident of the Commonwealth. Although it is against Commonwealth procedure she begins talking to Eugene and the two both speak to their respective communities to organize a meeting.

Eugene and a small group of Alexandria residents head to a designated meeting point, where they meet with The Commonwealth’s party and head back to the new community. Once in The Commonwealth, we see Stephanie for the first time, who almost looks like Velma from Scooby-Doo.

We see Stephanie again two issues later, and she is now a black woman. As expected, when I scrolled down to the comments ( I was reading this online) I came across one comment after another complaining about the usual, “political correctness” and of course, “forced diversity”.

Firstly, The Walking Dead does not have many black characters, especially main ones. Michonne and her newly introduced daughter are the main ones at the moment. The Commonwealth has one other member we’ve met so far, Father Gabriel is dead, we haven’t seen Heath in a while in the comics…

So to start, it’s not like minorities are already over-represented or “forced” on the reader. So, black characters are already underrepresented.

Next, if a white character got switched to a black one, would people complain about “forced whiteness”? I don’t think so. For many people, white is viewed as natural, universal, or a default. They then become more sensitive to any mention or inclusion of minorities e.g. this guy who complained about “heavy handed” homosexuality in Batman: Bad Blood. The heavyhanded homosexuality he complained about is a five minute scene of a female character (who is lesbian in the comics) flirting with another female. For some people, any minority inclusion becomes too much or “heavy handed”. Don’t let semantic maneuvers like “I only mind diversity when it’s forced” make you think they are being reasonable.

Next thing, the white Stephanie we saw first could possibly have been an artist mistake. That happens in comics.

Edit: Kirkman confirms it was an artist mistake (read page 25).

If not, maybe Kirkman decided that another black character couldn’t hurt. If we continue to take the mentality that consciously thinking of diversity is forcing it, we will continue to get artistic works that are mostly white. Most white creators write mostly white main characters. Also, white characters are still considered more marketable (although Black Panther is helping to combat that) so properties with white characters are more favourable to studios when they want to adapt something. So if there is no conscious effort to create characters of colour, we will continue to end up with characters who are mostly white, at a rate that far outstrips the percentage of whiteness in America. Like I mentioned in another article, this is the reason you might assume a character is white when you read a book, unless you get some explicit indication that they are not (e.g. nationality, description of skin colour) or if you know that the author typically writes about minorities. If you think that mostly white characters are fine as long as the story’s good, then you shouldn’t have an issue with one character being switched to black, as long as the story is good.

Stephanie’s race change does not impact the story in any negative way, or create any plot holes or inconsistencies. It doesn’t impact the story, and people with the “colour-blind” approach view this as an affront since the colour-blind approach just leads to white being viewed as a default.

The Right is Still Triggered

Note: To anyone reading, sorry for the hiatus. Been busy sorting out a move into a new place and just got internet set up yesterday. Without further ado, back to it.

I have my moments of distraction, where I spend time in the black hole of YouTube recommendations, watching scenes from some of my favourite shows or the other random videos that pique my interest. I was watching a clip from Netflix’s The Punisher, when I came across a random right-wing comment.

“Deborah Ann Woll is so beautiful and talented. The female characters in this show are some of the best I’ve seen in a long time. No feminazi bullshit, no pandering, no SJW nonsense, just all normal, strong, believable women characters that didn’t make me feel like I was watching a show created by tumblr. I loved Karen and Madani in this show (Madani started off annoying until around episode 4 though.) This show is just so well done. There’s some cheesy writing here and there, some flat jokes, but shit, nothing is perfect. I’m stoked for season 2.”

Firstly, this comment is amusing since the 20+ other comments after it didn’t mention politics at all. No one else was mentioning “feminazis” or sjws, so who is really triggered here?

Next, this post also demonstrates how intolerance is relative. This viewer commends Karen’s character and her inclusion in the series, while also saying it isn’t “feminazi bullshit”. For some people, any scene with a female lead (if she isn’t banging the male lead) is feminazi bullshit. Any strong female character becomes a Mary Sue and part of a feminist agenda.

As an example, look at this comment on this Punisher clip. In the below scene, Billy Russo is giving a speech to potential recruits of his private military contracting firm, Anvil.

Now check out this comment from a triggered right-winger who sees two female applicants.

“This is such a bullshit scene LOL I laughed out loud there’s no less than two women in that crowd. There is not a single civilian contracted mercenary group that would ever hire women for combat. Sjw’s and stupidity may have forced the US Army to allow women into combat but civilians don’t have to and most people that own their own businesses are smart enough to know simple facts of life. Simple facts such as women are ineffective in combat and if you don’t believe that look at any stats from the US military’s physical Fitness tests. Without fail the ratio of men passing these tests to women passing these tests are ten-to-one one across-the-board. They are not built for combat there’s nothing sexist about that it’s simple fact men are Fighters they are built to be that way women are not.”

So this person is obviously harping on the fact that women typically have less upper body strength than men. He says women pass these tests at a ten-to-one ratio compared to men, and that ratio of women is approximately what we see here. Maybe (emphasis on maybe) I could understand where he was coming from if the group was mostly women, but to go on a rant because two women are in a scene?

Like I said, sjw and feminazi are relative. They are not absolutes. “Feminazi bullshit” to one person can be completely overlooked by another. The more right-wing you are, the more sensitive you will be to any minority or female inclusion.