A Brunch Review: Star Trek: Into Darkness

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Directed by JJ Abrams

Starring 

Chris Pine...Kirk

Zoe Zaldana...Uhura

Zachary Quinto...Spock

Karl Urban...Bones

Simon Pegg.... Scotty

John Cho...Sulu

Benedict Cumberbacht...Khan

Only the second installment in JJ Abrams' Star Trek reboot and this cast and crew already feel a bit like home. The actors seem relaxed in their roles, the pressure of filling shoes now completely off. Abrams has brought together a group with a lot of chemistry, that can convey a great deal of character at a break-neck (almost Marvel-esque) story telling pace. 

Beyond that, I am not sure what more I can say about the film. Abrams' Trek films are not overly deep. As fast paced as they are, that would be difficult. They are beautiful to look at (I like the lens flare).  They are fun.  They are filled with utterly likable, even  interesting characters (even the villains are people you want more of) engaged in daring do. There are fast ships, running from danger, running into danger,  fascinating (looking) alien worlds. Things blow up. Oh and did I mention that those ships are gorgeous? The story, thin though it is, sufficiently supports the attendant action and implied espionage. There will be some people who demand more than a popcorn movie of their Trek films.  Not me. I don't mind a popcorn film. 

I suppose I could say that Abrams brings an ensemble approach to Trek that I feel has been particularly lacking in other big screen Trek outings. A TV series has time to flesh out its cast, to explore different characters, strange new worlds you could say, that movies often don't have.  Abrams tries to give his cast a lot more to do. Uhura is no longer just relegated to repeating the stuff we just read in the sub-titles to the Captain and Spock.  Scotty and Sulu save the day more than once. That isn't to say that the holy trinity of Kirk, Spock and Bones is diminished. It isn't.  Abrams and his writers just have more for the other characters to do. 

If I have complaints, and I suppose I do, they are these.

1. Khan probably isn't sufficiently explored.  Benedict Cumberbacht, the actor, is easily a match for the suave Ricardo Montalban (though perhaps not in the pecs department-see below).  He is more athletic  to be sure. But his Khan definitely feels a bit more hollow. Sure he has the better fight scenes and the bigger budget but its hard to really feel his anger and resentment. Montalban just oozed rage. Controlled to be sure, hemmed in by a fiery intellect, but, clearly, the man had issues. It seems like Abrams and his screenwriters might have found some of Khan's history fertile narrative ground and given a great actor more to do than spout heavy sounding one-liners. Alas, no. Khan is a cerebral guy, he shouldn't just chew through the scenery. Minus one point.

2. [Spoilers] There is a silly, stupid argument between Uhura, Spock and Kirk the subject of which is the relationship woes of Spock and Uhura. Uhura is annoyed because of Spock's seeming willingness to sacrifice himself for rules and ideals with an almost mathematical coldness, as if the people he will leave behind aren't even a variable in his emotional calculus. She may have a good point. Its not that this scene didn't have a place in the movie, its just that these characters are all too bright, and professional to have that argument at the absolute worst possible moment in the history of ever. Seriously.  Minus one point.

If you like Star Trek go see this movie. 8/10 (or, if you prefer, a fairly enthusiastic thumbs up).

A Brunch Movie Review: Batman: Year One Plus a bonus review

Batman: Year One
A film by DC Animated Studios

Starring
Bryan Cranston....Jim Gordon
Ben McKenzie.....Bruce Wayne/Batman
Eliza Dushku.....Selina Kyle/Catwoman
Complete Cast list here

A synopsis:
Batman: Year One tells the story of two men who collide with Gotham, and each other. One of them stands outside the law, one of them is an officer of that law. In the city, and its people they both find purpose, and through them the people of the city find their courage to stand up. There is also a cat-burglar. I see you nodding out there, but trust me, you don't really know the story, you only think you do....

It would not be hyperbole to say that DC Animated Studios film, Batman: Year One is a perfect adaptation of a perfect Batman story written by the once great Frank Miller. Miller penned perhaps the two greatest Batman stories every told (debate rages to this day).  The story of Miller and Batman would take us too far a field, but after penning the omega of the Batman character arc in the ground breaking, industry changing The Dark Knight Returns, Miller was offered a chance to write a Batman origin story, an update on themes and events that hadn't really been tackled since Bob Kane imagined them three quarters of a century ago.  Miller along with the gifted David Muzzacchelli, and inker Richmond Lewis, redefined the core figures that lie at the heart of the Batman mythos (with the exception of the Joker). That it did this this in four issues of economic, taut, noir story telling is a testament to the efforts of that team of artists and the writing an undeniable example of how great Miller really was. For good or for ill, every Batman writer, including Christopher Nolan, lives in the shadow the Miller of 1986 (TDKR) and 1987 (BYO).

In adapting this work, DC Animated set for themselves a tall order.  Bringing, perhaps, the most beloved Batman story every told, and arguably the best, to the screen in a way satisfying to both fans of the original work, and people with no experience of the original must have seemed daunting for an animated feature.  Its a complex story and animation is hard work, and cutting corners, simplifying character designs, and effects are all ways in which animators cut cost, reduce labor and turn out products on time. Luckily the folks at DC are serious about their feature length animated projects and opted not to use any of the tricks of the weekly animated trade.

While all animation must, in some ways, simplify the design of any character, or place (the nature of having to have numerous illustrators draw the same characters, with some speed) the look and feel of Batman: Year One very closely matches quite closely the art and designs, lighting and color of Muzzacchelli and Lewis. Gotham is the color of Tammany Hall, and its architecture the texture of old crime shows from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Gotham is not a clean city, the social contract is completely broken.  It is city of survivors, and victims, of the powerful and the powerless. It is a place of almost, but not quite, brazen corrumption.  DC Animated really captures the scope of Gotham as imagined by Miller. Without this context its hard to imagine that twin stories that unfold could be believable. This is Batman as believable as it gets, Batman by way of realism.

More than Marvel Animation Studios (also a great house by the way) DC Animated tries to get A or B list vocal talent for their features.  Batman: Year One may be their most successful marriage of vocal talent to date.  Bryan Cranston's vision of the young disillusioned Lt Jim Gordon is nothing short of brilliant. What is Gordon to do in a department where corruption is the norm than the anomaly?  He is a good cop, but also a cop who works too much and never sees his pregnant wife. Being a cop with integrity is dangerous in a city like Gotham. It is especially dangerous for the loved ones of such a person. Cranston manages to bring every bit of that confusion, of those temptations to his performance of James Gordon. The greatness of Batman: Year One lies, in no small part, to this exploration of Gordon and his humanity.  He isn't just a guy who picks up a red phone and calls the Batman.  He is a flesh and blood human being who hates the thought of shooting someone.

What of Bruce Wayne? He is a man in search of a method. He has all the tools, the education and the resources. He has no idea how to apply them.  Batman: Year One explores how Bruce did it and explains how he came to use his fears to scare his enemies. It is the story of how he came to know the city of Gotham.  He might have been from Gotham, but it didn't raise him. During this year, he meets the key figures that will come to define his future, his failures (Harvey Dent) his love (Selina Kyle) and of course, his partner in reformation, Jim Gordon. As the tag line from the first issue said of Wayne's journey toward becoming the greatest detective, "It won't be easy."

Having a great voice cast is more or less useless if you haven't got the script to utilize that talent well.  The writers have managed to pull so much from the source material that the film seems vastly deeper than the typical DC animated film.  They managed to import so much of the inner monologues of Gordon and Wayne (described by Miller's text boxes-these are not thought balloons, or dialogue balloons, but rectangles in a portion of a comic book panel where narration of some kind occurs).  These elements of character narration are crucial to both of Miller's great Batman stories. Including as much of them as possible in this film was integral to preserving the depth of Miller's characters. Without them, the film would have fallen incredibly flat. Like the muscular prose of Dashiell Hammett, part of the punch and the pace of noir/hard-boiled literature is the dialogue, but it is also the first person narration.

In all the crucial ways, and even some of the none crucial ways, the team at DC Animated have captured the look, feel and depth of the source material. If you like Batman see it. If you liked Miller's book, give it a shot.  If you like hard boiled fiction give it a shot.  Give it a shot even if you aren't that into animated films (and definitely read the original work).

The Brunch Verdict: 10/10  (that is high praise by the way)

Bonus review: Catwoman an animated short film

This was a bonus feature on the Batman: Year One disc.
1. It is glorious to look at. Excellent animation.  Fluid. Just freakin' gorgeous.
2. Catwoman is very hot.  Too hot, I mean on a stripper pole hot.  DC animated, breasts cannot stay in an outfit like that when you add all that activity.  Maybe that is her unknown super power, magical no nip-slip. Before you pull that DC animated, put a parental warning on it.  It was a bit odd to watch with my daughter.
3. Come on DC animated, Catwoman has no powers. She can't do much of what you had her do. Dopes. Do you know what happens when she falls off of a car moving 50 or 60 miles per hour? The same thing that happens to me, best characterized by the phrase, "HOLY FUCKING SHIT, I'M ALL DEAD."
The Brunch Verdict:
10/10 Animation
22/10 Crazy cleavage
-1/10 Boob physics
3/10 Catwoman story, understanding of character, general physics

My contribution to Women's History Month: Kathryn Bigelow + Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman. Amazon Warrior. Superhero. And of course Woman. She is a DC Comics icon, something of an American icon too. In fact she forms one part of DC's nearly holy Trinity (the other two parts formed by the equally iconic Batman and Superman). Warner Bros and DC have produced some good adaptations of the D.C. material of late(Superman I, II, and of course , and Batman: The Dark Knight.. DC/Warner Brothers even tried to return to Kryptonian waters, walking in director Richard Donner's foot steps, with the game but too homagey Superman Returns. This summer DC and Warner Brothers are taking a huge chance on what is easily the most dangerous property they have, The Green Lantern.
To see precisely why the Green Lantern is such a potential goldmine of unintended laughs, and camp go here.

There is an obvious question lurking in this blog...Where is the ass-kicking Wonder Woman movie? Seriously now. A Wonder Woman movie seems like something of a no-brainer.
Consider that she easily one of the most complex characters of the DC comics Universe. She is a diplomat, and a warrior (though disdainful of violence). She is an Amazon raised in a very particular culture isolated from men (I can even see some X-Men style parables here, specifically addressing issues in the LGBT community). Physically she is as powerful as Superman, skilled in hand to hand combat as Batman, and happier, generally than both. And while her costume would probably need a revamp, I suspect that the rest of her character would need little to make it appealing across a diverse audience. Her back story is a goldmine, that can also, draw on a nearly limitless treasure trove of Greek mythology thanks to the Amazon connection. And I think there is a potential to engage in some progressive romance too, because lets face it, Wonder Woman will not have a sexuality that anyone would be able to describe as conventional (think of her genetics, and culture and you have a sure prescription for interesting storytelling directions). Clearly a Wonder Woman film could be anything, in the right hands, except boring. And I think I know what some of the right hands should be.

With any filmmaking endeavor I think the question has to be what is there that we don't like, and do those "don't likes" loom larger than the "likes." I say Wonder Woman is a no brainer for DC/Warner, because, on paper, at least, the "don't likes" are surprisingly few, whereas the cup containing all the "likes" is, quite simply, overflowing. In an effort to get this wonderful ball of Wonder Woman rolling, allow me a few suggestions movie industry excutive types.

Any great comic book film, (indeed any great film) has to start with a great vision and leadership. DC/Warner have wisely put Christopher Nolan in the producer role for the next Superman movie. They should do whatever it takes to get him to do the same thing with any Wonder Woman project. It makes good business sense from their point of view. A good comic book film will produce at least two more successful ventures almost regardless of the quality if the sequels. Think X-Men 3. It did slightly better box office than X-Men 2 and it was not a good movie. Any DC movie needs quality control, because DC, more than Marvel, risks camp and sillyness with almost every hero in their pantheon. If DC/Warner could they should also give Nolan and his script writing partner anything they want to pen a Wonder Woman script. Give them movie deals to make the next three whatever they want to films, give them prostitutes, tickets to TED conferences, seriously make the Nolan team write the script I don't know if it is crucial, but given the dramatic and conceptual weight Nolan has imparted (with the help of decades of comic book writers of course) to the Dark Knight of Gotham City, it sure couldn't hurt.

Kathryn Bigelow must direct this movie. Someone reading this may be tempted to suggest someone else. The following the following films are all the rebuttal I need. Near Dark, Point Break, Strange Days, and The Hurt Locker Bigelow. For. The. Win.

Jeff Imada should probably choregraph all the non-CGI action. I know that poor guy is over worked since the Jason Bourne Trilogy but tough luck, that is the price of success damn it. I would also need to see some quality grappling as the Amazons would be well versed in such things given their origin. So throw Yasuhiro Yamashita and Randy Couture into the fight choreography team for added zest.

Line in the sand. No invisible jet. Nope, ah-ah-ah, stop, no buts, shh. No jet. Hey, I said zip it.

What follows are some loose suggestions for the core cast.

Jessica Biel as Wonder Woman/Diana
Rosario Dawson as Artemis
Sigourny Weaver as Hippolyta, or and I like this oodles more, Angela Basset as Hippolyta.
Paul Bettany as Achilles
It isn't necessarily a given that any WW movie would incorporate this character. Gail Simone did so in her most recent run on Wonder Woman, and to great effect.
Guy Pierce as Ares (Show me someone who says that doesn't sound supercool, and I will show you a liar).

Alright that is all I have. What would you like to see in a Wonder Woman movie? The conversation is open to non-comic geeks too!

Brunch Notes: All art by Adam Hughes.
Also if you are interested in seeing more of his work, and really why wouldn't you be, here is what you need.
Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes This is beautiful stuff and features more than just Wonder Woman.

Fun times can be had at Hughes official website, JustsayAH.

Also in honor of Women's History month, its good to remember that DC publishes a ton more titles featuring women as the main protagonists.

(Can you name them all?)