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.

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.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

T’Challa a.k.a Black Panther was introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Captain America: Civil War, originally serving a role similar to the one Spider-Man played in the comics (the figure who joins Iron Man’s side but then changes his mind). Once Marvel were able to secure the rights for Spider-Man again, Tom Holland’s version of the character was hurriedly fit into the film. Spider-Man was brought in, but Black Panther remained and I think many people would agree that he shined in his debut.

The writing, the suit, the fighting and Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal all introduced the new King of Wakanda, and Black Panther picks up shortly after, where T’Challa is returning to Wakanda to be crowned king.

Firstly, there has bee a lot of excitement about this film because it is one of the first mainstream Hollywood films with a black director and a mostly black cast. Additionally, it is also one of the first movies in a while focusing on a black superhero. Inevitably, people’s excitement at these developments is also being met with the “colour-blind” or outright racist resentment.

  1. You don’t see me cheering for a new movie with a white cast.

It wouldn’t make sense for you to. There is an endless parade of films with white main characters and supporting characters. Your characters have a wide range of traits and professions. They are not often portrayed as thugs, or streetwise comic relief. The numerical representation of white people on screen far outstrips their representation in America, with over 70% of speaking roles in Hollywood films going to white actors (Sept. 2014- to August 2015). You are so used to this now that you have become blind to it.

Whiteness is the most desired commodity in Hollywood. It is why many stories focusing on black heroes are not viewed as “marketable”, despite successes like Straight Outta Compton and Hidden Figures. Studio heads are more willing to bank on white actors. This is why they favour adaptations of properties with white characters. This is why a character can be whitewashed when Hollywood adapts a story, because they view it as marketable. Then audiences start to internalize the same excuse, and get to the point where they genuinely support the idea that a movie loses interest for them if the protagonist isn’t white.

Consider this, even with the Marvel brand and Black Panther’s introduction in Civil War, it was still considered a “risk” to give $200 million to a black director whose previous work was critically lauded and profitable. There is a long-standing belief that black doesn’t sell as well as white, especially overseas, and Black Panther is challenging the dogma with its empathic opening weekend.

Don’t accuse black people or minorities as a whole of being racist here. Black people and Hispanics generally see more movies than white people do, meaning that a lot of them shell out money to watch (or even repeatedly watch) movies with characters that may not look like them. If minorities can do it, why can’t white people? We can appreciate a good story regardless of race, but we can also be appreciative when we get a great story and great film with actors that represent our population.

In short, if you go into this movie and carry your resentment with you, it is likely to influence your rating of the film.

Moving on…

Firstly, I have to say that this film did an amazing job of bringing Wakanda to life. Everything from the costumes, customs and music transports you to the fictional country that was never colonized. Its technology and clothing blend traditional and futuristic, borrowing inspiration from existing African countries to create something that is truly afrofuturistic.

Second, Black Panther actually gives us a good villain. Michael B. Jordan’s portrayal of Killmonger gives us a villain with a tragic backstory and a mission that is more unique than a lot of others you will see. Essentially, he wants to take over the world, but the nuances and motive behind his aspirations are what makes him and the film special. Jordan can be charismatic, intelligent, empathetic, but also threatening. Other villains have also been physically threatening, such as Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy, but without good writing they end up as generic placeholders. In terms of the entire MCU, Kilgrave from Jessica Jones may still have Killmonger beat. However, I have to place Killmonger above Loki as the MCU films’ #1 villain. Black Panther doesn’t shy away from exploring issues of racial identity and racism, and that was a pleasant surprise coming from the same company that turned a doomsday story into a buddy comedy (Thor: Ragnarok). Killmonger’s last line in particular, is one that left me speechless.

Speaking of comedy, it’s generally handled well in this film. I have previously ranted on YouTube and this blog about Marvel’s insistence on humour in their films. The Thor films as a whole are the worst offenders, giving us sloppy writing that regularly fails to build tension because we always know a joke is soon to follow, usually from the most annoying characters (looking at you Kat Dennings). Black Panther has one or two moments where I felt like a joke could have been cut, but overall I believe it is one of the MCU films that has the most balanced humour. There is nothing wrong with humour in itself, but it must fit the characters and the storyline.

In terms of jokes that could have been cut, one of the most notable comes from Andy Serkis as Ulysees Klaue a.k.a Klaw. Reprising his role from Avenvers: Age of Ultron, Klaw serves as an ally to Killmonger. If you have seen the trailers you know there is a scene where Killmonger frees Klaw from captivity, so what I am about to say won’t be too much of a spoiler. During Klaw’s interrogation, he is randomly singing What is Love. I guess the “don’t hurt me, no more” part is meant to be funny because Klaw wants to avoid torture, but the scene also comes across as really random and very Marvel-esque in terms of sloppy humour.

Most of the humour comes from Shuri, T’Challa’s sister. Letitia Wright previously portrayed Nish in season 4 of Black Mirror and she is also able to shine here with the lighter material and the more intense moments. Shuri’s rapport with her brother is one of the highlights of the film and is a perfect example of a more organic approach to comedy, where it flows from a character naturally and doesn’t feel like it was forced in to keep things “fun”.

Alongside Boseman, Wright and Jordan we also have a host of other talented actors and actresses. Danai Gurira, best known as Michonne on The Walking Dead, makes Michonne look like Elsa in this movie. Daniel Kaluuya also plays an important role but he does get outshined by Winston Duke’s M’Baku. Martin Freeman also returns from Civil War as agent Everett Ross, and is yet another talented cast member and Lupita N’yongo rounds it out. For those who have seen the movie, you know her character is the real MVP.

The action in the film is at its best when the hand-to-hand choreography is on display. Some of the larger scenes do feature some shoddy CGI but thankfully these scenes aren’t prevalent enough to ruin the film. The Black Panther shines in his action scenes but Boseman also brings a great presence and power to the character, building off what we saw in Civil War. He is someone who is torn between tradition and change, past and future.

I know that the hype or the outright anti-black animosity will affect some people’s views of this film. Some might say it is overhyped. I was pleasantly surprised not to feel that way. It is my new favourite MCU film, beating out The Winter Soldier.

Go see the film for yourself, and hopefully you can enjoy the film simply as a film, while also appreciating everything else that comes with it.

Alexandra Shipp: Blackish

The Thursday announcement that Disney has acquired 21st Century Fox properties, including X-Men, led to a lot of speculation concerning the future of the X-Men film universe. I shared some of my own thoughts on this, and while sharing the link on Twitter I came across another conversation. There were retweets all over my feed revealing one post after another arguing that Alexandra Shipp, who portrays Storm in X:Men Apocalypse and the upcoming Dark Phoenix, is too light-skinned to play Storm.

I didn’t comment on the argument at the time because I wanted to let it develop more, so that more contextual info would be available before I shared my thoughts. Two days after the conversation began, it is now easy to trace its inception.

This debate began after a fan asked Shipp if she would like Storm to meet Thor, now that the universes would likely be merged. Shipp’s enthusiastic response was then met with criticism from one fan, “Disney is re-casting the whole team, boo. Sorry. Dark Phoenix will be your last. We getting a dark skinned non-racially Ambiguous Storm like we deserve.”

Shipp then retorted:

Presumably, the debate that I viewed on Thursday originated from this exchange. It is not confirmed if Disney will start fresh with X-Men and recast after Dark Phoenix but that isn’t really the point here.

Maybe Disney will re-cast, and also usher in a jarring tone change (as I suspect). However, I don’t think that Shipp’s skin tone should be an issue central to her potential re-casting. If a darker-skinned actor takes her place I have no problem with that, but I also don’t think that Shipp’s skin tone gives us a bastardization of the character.

Shipp’s response reminds me of statements Halle Berry made concerning her own racial identity. Like Shipp, Berry is mixed and chose to identify as black from a young age, because she knew that is how the world would perceive her. For example, a white guy who says he doesn’t date black girls, would still see Berry as a black girl, instead of a white one.

While Shipp says she has never been “treated white” it is a fact that there is pervasive colourism in the world and in Hollywood. Even in Jamaica, a country that is 90% black, dark-skinned black people are performing skin bleaching to lighten their skin because they realize lighter-skin is viewed as more attractive. In other areas, such as Latin America, South East Asia and the Middle East, lighter skin is inherently viewed as more attractive than darker skin. The preference for lighter skin often coincides with a preference for other features typically associated with whiteness, such as straighter hair, thinner lips and thinner noses. Light skin goes beyond the aesthetic, becoming a marker of status and privilege due to the legacy of slavery or colonialism. For someone like Shipp, she may benefit from this colourism in some situations, while also being subjected to racism like any other black person in other situations.

There is a trend in entertainment- whether it is music videos, television or film- to cast the lightest-skinned black people possible, especially if they are love interests or eye candy. After a while it isn’t simple happenstance that most of the attractive black women in entertainment have “sun-kissed skin”, it is a deliberate choice by casting executives. They can get people who are ethnic without being “too dark”. As Viola Davis says,  there is a pervasive conception that “If you are darker than a paper bag, then you are not sexy.” Of course, Hollywood sometimes graces us with an exception, but the word “exception” means that they are a minority within a minority. I have been over the “best actor for the part” argument, and the slate of talented black actors that seemingly come out of nowhere for productions like Luke Cage and Straight Outta Compton make it clear there is plenty of black talent out there, they just need opportunities for good roles.

Respect to Bad Boys II for its dark-skinned love interest

It is possible that I am setting the bar somewhat low for Storm since I am so used to roles being whitewashed anyway. Even films based on true stories, like 21, are not safe from Hollywood’s attempts to make it more “marketable”. Storm seems like one of the few untouchable characters, and this may be why fans are even more protective when it comes to her portrayal.

There were plenty of users arguing that the discussion of whether a black actress is black enough is divisive and racist in itself. I ignored most of these comments simply because this is the same logic used to shut down any discussion of racism nowadays. You complain about white supremacist marches in Charlottesville? You’re being divisive. You complain about another unarmed black kid getting killed? You’re divisive. You complain about a public figure saying something racist? You’re divisive.

In principle, I don’t think it is racist or “divisive” to complain about an actress’s skin tone. Especially since I am sure that many of the people using this “divisive” excuse routinely defend whitewashing in films, thereby enabling racist practices in Hollywood.

Now, there are also people who understand the implications of whitewashing in film, and genuinely just believe that there is nothing wrong with Shipp’s skin tone. The character is black, and Shipp is black as well. Shipp is mixed, but Apocalypse never states that the character is mixed, and Shipp is a visibly black individual. In terms of skin colour, she may not be Viola Davis or Lupita Nyong’o, but she definitely isn’t Paula Patton or Meghan Markle either.

All of this to say that while I don’t agree with the backlash against Shipp in this case, I can understand where the detractors are coming from. If Shipp did a poor job with the role I would probably be more likely to support them. However, I thought Shipp was great as Storm. Maybe I’m not the best person to judge but her accent also seemed a lot more authentic than whatever Halle Berry tried to do in X-Men 1 (2000). Although Apocalypse was a disappointing film I was looking forward to seeing more of this iteration of Storm and I hope that if she is recast, fans don’t cheer simply because she was too light-skinned for them.

Fox- A Disney Company

Today, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion. The deal comprises numerous properties, ranging from The Simpsons, to Avatar, but the biggest point of interest for me is that Disney now has the rights to X-Men.  The development is now confirmed but this is something that a lot of Marvel fans have been praying for for a long time, if online discussion is any indication. I remember entire threads on the Internet Movie Database’s (IMDB) forums where people would demand that the rights for the X-Men films go back to Marvel. People would argue that the series needed a fresh start under Marvel Studios because the X-Men films mishandled characters like Cyclops (fair enough) or because they didn’t like the buttons on a costume (seems unreasonable). Like I have mentioned before when discussing the DCEU, when people want something to fail they become more sensitive to any perceived shortcomings.

Aside from the fans that have been praying for this, there are more reasonable fans who simply wanted to see the X-Men in the Avengers universe. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to see Wolverine in the Avengers film, which likely will not happen. Hugh Jackman previously said that he would be open to returning in the role if he got to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but he has said more recently that the “ship has sailed” for him. The scripts for Infinity War Part I and II are already written and being filmed, so normally I would say that the ship has sailed for seeing any former Fox properties in Infinity War. However, the rushed introduction of Spider-Man in Civil War does make me wonder if the filmmakers might be willing to squeeze something in for Part II.

One of my biggest worries was that darker and/or R-rated properties like Deadpool would be watered down to suit Disney’s “fun” and family-friendly silver screen image. Fortunately, Disney CEO Bob Iger has stated that Deadpool can remain R-rated at Disney. This is a step in the right direction, but it is still aligned with Marvel President Kevin Feige’s proclamation that the MCU will never be dark.

Deadpool had one noticeably dark segment, namely Wade’s time spent being tortured, but for the most part it still fits in with the “fun” tone that Feige is committed to.  In contrast, the X-Men films, especially X1, X2 and Days of Future Past (DOFP), are noticeably much darker than anything in the MCU’s films. The themes of prejudice from the comics are unashamedly fleshed out on screen, showcasing the violence and darkness that mutants experience. The opening scene of X1, where Magneto is separated from his parents in a concentration camp, is still one of my favourite openings in any film. I highly doubt we would see a scene like this if X1 was originally handled by Marvel Studios. Maybe most of the scene would be the same, and then a Stan Lee cameo would be used to alleviate the tension.

Now, the MCU has also given us properties like Jessica Jones and The Punisher, but I am not talking about Netflix here. I am talking about the big screen. When Disney originally acquired Marvel, people argued that imprints such as Touchstone would be used to distribute darker or R-rated material. However, we know now that any R-rated material so far has come from Netflix. Deadpool 3 will likely be the first R-rated X-Men film property that Disney gives us.

I think Disney will be willing to give Deadpool more R-rated sequels because they have already seen how successful his film was. The box office receipts are a testament to people’s love for the character in all his R-rated glory. In contrast, Disney might be more willing to take risks with X-Men since the most recent X-Men film, Apocalypse, underperformed (relative to previous entries) with critics and the box office. Additionally, Logan was a well received R-rated entry but marked the end of the X-Men film universe’s most popular character.

If darkness is viewed as the enemy, then “fun” will be viewed as the saviour. What about the rest of the films? Will X-Men be rebooted to offer more “fun” now? Will the themes of prejudice all be cut in order to make everything more family friendly? Will we get scenes like this one?

Or this one?

I doubt it.

Avengers: Infinity War Trailer Thoughts

Yesterday I wasn’t that excited for Infinity War. Perhaps it was due to a case of MCU fatigue, or maybe the decision to change a doomsday story into a comedy left a bad taste in my mouth. One of my friends advised that I would enjoy Thor: Ragnarok if I treated it as a comedy, instead of a Thor movie. Hence my decision not to see it.

After seeing the trailer for May 2018’s biggest release, I am now firmly aboard the hype train. Simply seeing all of these Marvel characters on screen is its own treat. Captain America is back, with the beard that has been teased via concept art for quite some time now. Along with Cap comes the return of the Winter Soldier, with a new metal arm. I remember watching the Infinity War promo many months ago and hearing Kevin Fiege say that it was important to break the Avengers apart before introducing a threat like Thanos.

“Get this man a shield,” says T’Challa. It could be clever editing but I am sure that this line is directed to Captain America and this makes it likely that Cap and his fellow anti-registration heroes are still in Wakanda when Thanos invades.As a result, it looks like Black Panther and Wakanda will have a central role in the film.  This would make sense since they would still be fugitives of the American government and still at odds with Iron Man. Even though the relationship appeared to be healing at the very end of Civil War it was clear that Cap and Stark weren’t going to reunite as drinking buddies just yet.

Speaking of Iron Man, his gift to Spider-Man looks glorious.

I have been stalling on watching Spider-Man Homecoming, mainly because I was put off by the Iron Man 3.5 vibe. From what I understand Tony Stark has relatively little screen time but I didn’t like the fact that Spider-Man was now tied to Iron Man because of the latter’s rushed introduction and exit from Civil War e.g. “We just got the rights to Spider-Man so we’ve got to add him to the movie somehow.”

The special effects for some shots could use some work but we still have some time for post-production so I’ll reserve my judgment until then.

Despite all the eye candy on display one of my favourite parts of the trailer is actually right near the beginning, with the different members of the Avengers saying “There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if we could become something more. So when they needed us, we could fight the battles that they never could.” This brings us back to a similar phrase being uttered by Nick Fury in the Avengers trailer in 2012.

Thanos’s few lines in this trailer leave me thinking that he can hopefully be a memorable villain for the MCU, in addition to Kilgrave and Loki. I have to say that Thanos looks better with the helmet. In my humble opinion, he simply looks incomplete without it. The lack of the helmet stands out more since we already saw the helmet in Guardians of the Galaxy.

In the comic, the conflict was focused on the heroes vs Thanos himself. The trailer shows the heroes also facing an army of minions and I am hoping that Thanos still has room to stand out and that this doesn’t end up as another situation where a sub-villain detracts from the main one e..g X-24 stealing Donald Pierce’s thunder in Logan.

I hate the Marvel/DC talk but I will say that Marvel’s format of having solo or even multiple solo films prior to a team up film can make the final product much more satisfying for fans. I was excited for Justice League as a fan of the comic books and tv shows, but Infinity War is now anticipated by the casual fans who probably still make fun of comic book readers. Additionally, we don’t have to worry as much about characters lacking development since they already got the bulk of their development from their solo films.  The majority of characters are not being introduced here. They are only being developed further as they adapt to a new situation. With that said, the film still runs the risk of having some characters fall by the wayside since there are simply so many. Another risk is handling the switch of tones between characters who are coming off of different storylines. The cast of Civil War had a relatively dark storyline, while Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Thor: Ragnarok  were full on comedies.

Despite these worries, I am a believer again. The Winter Soldier is my favourite MCU film and I am hoping the Russo Brothers can bring all of these characters together for something that has the “fun” so many people crave these days, while also giving us something that is truly epic.

Justice League Review

Along with Netflix’s Punisher, November 17 also marked the release of Justice League. Anyone who watches my YouTube videos or has read my other articles knows that I hate the DC vs Marvel mentality that prevents people from trying to enjoy both properties. Due to my own openness to enjoy both, this weekend was an early Christmas.

After some disappointing results from BatmanvSuperman and Suicide Squad (don’t even get me started) I approached Justice League with cautious optimism. One of my biggest worries after seeing the trailers was that the studios would force more humour or “fun” into the film. Joss Whedon assisted with post-production but Ben Affleck has said that the tone was set prior to Whedon’s arrival. I have no problem with “fun” itself, but I hate the increasingly popular mentality that every comic book film has to be fun in order to be good. This mentality also leads to people targeting the tone as an issue if a film is poor. BvS had its share of issues, such as Eisenberg’s Luthor and the third act. The tone was the least of my worries but people flocked to that argument like moths to a flame. I was worried the filmmakers would now see adding more humour as the only key to success, as opposed to some better performances, character development etc.

I can say that most of the humour in the film works. There are some lines, particularly one from Batman, that felt out of place but the film didn’t end up being Thor: Ragnarok like I feared. Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) provides most of the comic relief and will probably emerge as a new fan favourite. His Flash is young and inexperienced, serving mostly as crowd control and ancillary support in the fights. While I liked the character himself, I still have to wonder why Barry was given Wally West’s personality. Any fans of the Justice League animated show will remember Wally West’s flash as the comic relief. Meanwhile, Barry Allen is a more serious character. Miller is weaker in the more dramatic scenes, which is a surprise given his performance in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Maybe my friend was onto something when he said Zack Snyder’s weakness is directing actors.

However, the majority of performances either gave us something new to like or built off what we’ve seen before. Ben Affleck’s Batman is more optimistic about his ability to impact the world with the league but still has traces of the world weary Batman that many fans are probably familiar with. He has “contingency plans” and he still knows how to push people’s buttons, as demonstrated in a scene where he confronts Wonder Woman.

Gal Gadot shines as the heart of the team, the warrior who also serves as a mother to the team’s new or reluctant members. Ray Fisher actually emerged as one of my favourite performances, but the writing and runtime doesn’t allow his character to flourish, especially in the second half. Jason Momoa is decent as Aquaman. Don’t get me wrong, he is an imposing figure on screen who has probably diminished the general public’s idea of Aquaman as a loser, but this film does lead me wondering how well he will carry a solo film.

Anyone who has seen all of the trailers or even saw BvS knows it was likely Superman would return. His return is actually tied into the plot from BvS, and is something that Batman is actively pursuing in the film. It doesn’t end up being a deus ex machina like I feared and Superman’s return actually leads to one of the film’s most memorable moments. Henry Cavill could be a wooden Superman at times but I actually enjoyed his performance here.

It is clear some scenes were cut from the film, either because we are missing parts from the trailer, or the fact that the film could have used some more time to flesh out the new Leaguers. To its credit, Justice League gives us a sense of character backstories without spending too much screen time to go in depth e.g. we learn Barry got struck by lightning and we know Cyborg was in an accident, but we don’t see it. This may be due to post-production cuts or it may have been the original cut. However, it begs the question of why ten or fifteen minutes couldn’t have been used to give Cyborg, The Flash or Aquaman some more devoted screen time. Stepping into the light is a theme of the film, not referring to tone, but referring to heroes who often work alone coming together to fight an enemy. At the beginning of the film Cyborg is still coming to terms with his new identity and takes some cues from Batman, keeping to himself while he tries to better understand his body and abilities. He makes it clear he can’t fully control his body yet and this leads to some interesting conflict, but this subplot is discarded in the film’s second half.

I hate to bring up a Marvel comparison but herein lies the advantage of doing solo films prior to the team-up. My previous paragraph could end up being null if each character got a solo film first. However, I will say that doing a team up film first can also generate more interest for a solo one. With their budgets, superhero films aren’t always guaranteed box office success. Maybe a Cyborg film done prior to Justice League would not have done as well as the studio hoped? Now, I hope the film comes to fruition due to Fisher’s performance.

Speaking of Marvel comparisons, Justice League does give us a pretty forgettable villain. I was excited to hear about Steppenwolf as the villain since it meant we could soon be getting Darkseid. The design we saw in the deleted scene of BvS is discarded here for a look that is more generic and looks poorly rendered for the majority of the film’s scenes.

Steppenwolf’s plot revolves around the Mother Boxes, three devices that can combine to turn any planet into the hellish environment of his homeworld (awesome getting a reference to Apokolips). The majority of Steppenwolf’s screen time is spent in search of the Mother Boxes, which leads to a memorable fight with the Amazons and some great fights with the League.

Wonder Woman shines as the battlefield MVP for most of the film. The Flash and Aquaman get their moments as well, while Cyborg serves his own purpose. It is an old joke that Batman would be useless against physically powerful villains but decades of comics show him fighting far more powerful foes with the use of gadgets and tactics. We get some of that here but there is also plenty of time when Batman is removed from his plane or bat mobile and ends up being the weakest link. Even when he is fighting one thug at the beginning of the film he is able to execute some stunning acrobatics (complete with slo-mo) but then still takes a lot of time to take down one person when compared to his speed in the warehouse fight in the first film. Now, this film makes it clear he is getting older and is more beaten up than ever, but his prowess ends up being inconsistent throughout the film.

While CGI provides us some great shots, such as Flash’s Sistine Chapel moment, it also gives us many other scenes where CGI simply seems unnecessary or poorly rendered. The fights are hampered by poor CGI in places, especially for the parademons. Like Steppenwolf himself, the parademons looked better in BvS (the Knightmare scene). Additionally, the fights are somewhat diminished by the fact that we aren’t as emotionally invested since the villain isn’t that interesting. He is physically powerful and imposing but so are his opponents, we need more than that to interest us. Ciaran Hinds’s voice acting sadly seems wasted. Steppenwolf has some good lines but overall he felt like another placeholder villain with a pretty generic motive that was provided simply so the league could have something to fight.

A film should not be judged simply for what it sets up, but I have to give the theatrical cut some credit for its ability to weave in other characters and worlds in its concise running time. We get a brief glimpse of Atlantis and glimpses of important characters from other worlds, such as the Greek Gods and Green Lanterns. There are two post-credits scenes and the second one leads well into the future DCEU movies, while also providing a glimpse of a character many fans have been waiting for.

Overall, Wonder Woman is still my favourite DCEU film, but there are some things that I liked about the Justice League movie. The final fight is more entertaining, which is probably unfair since the fight combines our favourite characters. Justice League is hampered by some of the same issues from its predecessors but still surpasses BvS Suicide Squad and after some thought I might have to say it beats Man of Steel. I might revisit this ranking in a week though.

**Edited on February 16

  1. Wonder Woman
  2. Man of Steel
  3. Justice League
  4. Batman V Superman
  5. Suicide Squad

Deadpool 2 Teaser Thoughts

You likely remember Deadpool’s  “No Good Deed” spot but we now have our first official teaser.

Like the first teaser, this one doesn’t show us too much and I don’t mind that at all. The majority of the time is actually occupied by a Bob Ross parody. I didn’t know the name of the painter but I immediately recognized the reference from Deadpool’s tone of voice and the wig. Like the first film, I am glad that Deadpool 2 embraces cross generational pop culture references, ranging from Aliens 3 to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. I also want to thank Ryan Reynolds for introducing me to the term “holy f***knuckles”.

The actual film footage gives us brief glimpses of Domino, Vanessa and most importantly, Dopinder. Deadpool’s conversations with Dopinder are some of my favourite moments so I am eager to see more.

Negasonic is back and looks better than ever. The colours in the costume from the first movie hinted at a classic X-Men costume but now it looks like we’ll get the real thing.

I know a lot of people though that the classic X-Men costumes couldn’t work on screen. I was one of them at but X-Men First Class changed my mind and this costume just affirms my belief that there isn’t anything wrong with some more colour. It’s a great nod to the classics, that also doesn’t come across as cheesy on screen. Since this film has a bigger budget I am also wondering if there will be more X-Men cameos or if there will be any reference to recent X-Men films like Apocalypse or Logan.

We also get a superhero landing in the film clips. There is plenty more material ripe for parody in the superhero genre so I’m hoping Deadpool makes use of all its ammunition. Since David Leitch (co-director of John Wick) is in the chair, I am sure the action will deliver so that is actually the least of my worries. The pessimist in me worries that since this film is no longer just a passion project with a (relatively) small budget, it might not have the same magic as the first. However, I am hoping it delivers.