As an addendum to my list of my five favorite super-hero movies posted at the start of this week, here are three super-hero movies that I consider to be tremendously under-rated:

Superman Returns — I just don’t understand the almost universal apathy or even dislike towards Bryan Singer’s Superman relaunch. I love that this film has a somber, melancholy feel to it. I love that the story creates complicated character conflicts (the Clark-Lois-Superman-Richard love tangle) that aren’t easily resolved by the end of the film. (I was SHOCKED that Richard lived through the movie — and I really respect the filmmakers for not killing him off, thus providing an easy way for Lois and Clark/Superman to get back together.) I also love reverence the filmmakers showed for Richard Donner’s Superman movie — it really tickles me all the times the movie refers to Donner’s films, both visually (the design of the Fortress of Solitude, the use of Brando as Jor-El), and in the echoing of lines of dialogue in the script (such as Superman’s “statistically speaking, its still the safest way to travel,” and the reprise of Jor-El’s message to his son: “You will make my strength your own. You will see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father and the father… the son.”) The film has weaknesses — there’s not enough action, and Lex Luthor’s plot is pretty stupid. But watch again the plane crash sequence in which Superman reveals his return to the world, and tell me that’s not a magnificent moment of pop-fantasy magic. I’d love to get a sequel to this film to see where Singer takes the story from here, so I hope Warner gets around to making one.

Daredevil – Here’s another movie that I seem to be the only one who likes. As with Superman Returns, there are weaknesses to this film, like some embarassingly dodgy CGI effects. But there’s so much that I enjoy about this movie. I love how down-beat it is. I love how the filmmakers differentiate Daredevil from a more selflessly heroic character like Spider-Man. (This is epitomized by the scene on the rooftop between Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Elektra, in which he hears someone in trouble — but when Elektra asks him to stay with her, he does. Peter Parker would never make that choice — and I love that.) Speaking of Murdock/Daredevil, I know that its a popular sport to make fun of Ben Affleck, but I actually find him to be extremely watchable as Matt Murdock. And the rest of the cast is strong as well — Michael Clarke Duncan, Joe Pantoliano, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, and Jon Favreau in a terrific turn as Foggy Nelson. Although just a moment ago I criticized some of the visual effects in this film, let me take a moment to praise the clever way in which Daredevil’s “radar sense” is visualized. Like Superman Returns, this is another movie to which I’d love to see a aequel (although I’ve resigned myself that I never will), as the movie ended (with the Kingpin aware of Matt Murdock’s identity) in just the right place to take on one of the best Daredevil stories ever from the comics: “Born Again,” in which the Kingpin uses that knowledge to pretty much destroy Murdock’s life.

Hulk — As with Superman Returns, this is another film that I love for its slow, melancholy nature. Ang Lee’s movie is derided for its lack of action, but I think it has some TERRIFIC action sequences, like the Hulk’s desert battle with the army. Its just that the movie takes its time to get to those sequences. That would be a problem only if what was going on wasn’t so compelling. Again, this is a movie that is made by the strength of its cast. Eric Bana gives what I find to be a mesmerizing performance as the haunted Bruce Banner. Sam Elliott is terrifically cast as General Ross, and Jennifer Connelly and Nick Nolte are strong as well. Sure the movie is weird, and it does take some liberties with the comic continuity (particularly Bruce Banner’s father’s involvement in his origin), but I really enjoy this more cerebral, psychological telling of this story. I also find the comic-book panel scene transitions to be immensely clever.

If its been a while since you’ve seen one of these three movies — give ‘em another chance on DVD! I don’t think you’ll regret it.

May 27th, 2008

I love comic books. And that means that I grew up with a great love of super-hero stories. These days its true that many of my favorite comic books have little to do with super-heroes (looking through my “to-read” pile I see titles like David Lapham’s Young Liars, Stephen King’s The Dark Tower adaptation, Jeff Smith’s new boot RASL, Mike Mignola’s BPRD and Abe Sapien, Ed Brubaker’s Criminal, Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso’s 100 Bullets, to name just a few.) But there is still something about a great super-hero yarn that really excites me. (For instance, I’ve been reading and throughly enjoying Ed Brubaker’s run on Daredevil, Brian Michael Bendis’ work on Avengers and Secret Invasion, and Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men.)

That love of a good super-hero tale extends to movies. While working on these new Iron Man cartoons, and thinking about the movies still ahead this summer (Hellboy II, The Dark Knight, and The Incredible Hulk), I’ve been thinking about what makes a great super-hero movie.

Here are my five favorite super-hero movies of all time:

5. Unbreakable — Back when I loved M. Night Shyamalan, he made this fantastic little tale about a man (Bruce Willis) who discovers that he cannot be injured. There are no costumes, no witticisms, none of the silly trappings that have come to be associated with super-heroes and super-hero movies. Just a compelling story with some terrific under-played acting from a great cast (Bruce Willis has never been better than he is here as the sad, empty man who discovers that he is different), and some really interesting scene composition, shot set-ups, and editing choices from director Shyamalan.

4. Hellboy — Adapted from a series of mini-series written and gorgeously illustrated by Mike Mignola, Hellboy follows the adventures of a paranormal investigator who is actually a demon from Hell himself. Who loves pancakes. The comic is a wonderfully bizarre, textured mix of fairy tales, folklore and some good old-fashioned monster-fighting action. The film, directed by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, and the man tapped to direct the upcoming two films based on The Hobbit) is a remarkable realization of Mignola’s comic. The splendid, consistently under-rated Ron Perlman is brilliant as Hellboy, bringing enormous depth and warmth to the character despite all the red rubber makeup.

3. Spider-Man 2 — Like Hellboy, Spider-Man 2 is another film whose greatest strength is the way it is able to distill the essence of a beloved (albeit much more widely-known) comic book character into a compelling film all its own. Tobey Maguire was born to play the stiff, dorky Peter Parker who one day discovers that with great power comes great responsibility. I generally like my super-hero movies to be dark and morose, but what sets Spider-Man apart to me is actually the fun, giddy energy of the proceedings — from the beautiful visual effects of Spider-Man web-swinging through the NYC skyscrapers to the breathless scenery-chewing J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, this movie is a lot of fun. And it has a note-perfect ending.

2. X-Men 2 — Speaking of note-perfect endings, the last shot of this film had me ready, no DESPERATE, to watch X3 right then and there. (Too bad X3 wound up being such a disappointment, but that’s a subject for another time.) The whole rest of this movie leading UP to that phenomenal last shot is pretty dang good as well. Bryan Singer took everything that worked in the 1st X-Men film and stepped everything up several notches in this one. The action is terrific — the sequence in which Stryker’s soldiers lay siege to the X-Mansion with only Wolverine there to defend the students is a powerhouse of a sequence and everything I want to see in a super-hero movie. But it is the story behind the action that sets this film apart from other whizz-bang special effects films. There is Jean Grey’s struggle with her growing powers that threaten to overwhelm her, and her growing fear that she’ll be unable to do so. There is Wolverine’s attempt to discover his past and, more importantly, to figure out what bearing his past has to the person he wants to be. But most compelling is the way the young characters (Rogue, Iceman, Pyro) are pulled between the peaceful message of Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and the more violent leanings of Magneto (Ian McKellan). Aaron Stanford plays Pyro, and the way his character is slowly tempted towards the “dark side” is a far more gripping tale than George Lucas’ three-movie similar story about a young Anakin Skywalker. (BTW, I will always refer to this movie as X-Men 2 or X2, but never by the stupid title of X-Men United that the Fox Marketing department for some reason affixed to this film in the weeks before its release. I’m just saying.)

1. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm — In 1992 DC comics launched a half-hour cartoon show called Batman: The Animated Series. It was brilliant. Gorgeous animation and character design married to rich, deep stories that took Batman VERY seriously created a show that grabbed viewers’ attentions and, to me at least, remains the definitive version of Batman. In 1993, a theatrical film based on the show was released to theatres: Mask of the Phantasm. Interwoven stories and flashbacks tell the tale of Batman’s confrontation with a more violent vigilante, The Phantasm, as well as the story of how, years earlier, a young Bruce Wayne abandoned his chances for love and happiness to honor the vow he made to his murdered parents to rid Gotham City of crime. Batman Begins covers similar ground (both films were imspired by the comic mini-series Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli), and while I absolutely adore Batman Begins, to me Mask of the Phantasm is the superior telling of this story. It is astonishingly grim and psychologically probing (the scene in which a young Bruce Wayne, who has begun to realize that his becoming the Batman will dominate and destroy his life, begs his dead parents to release him from his vow, is a chilling moment and one of my favorite scenes in any movie ever). The narrative is sophisticatedly told — the film features intertwining flashbacks within flashbacks long before such storytelling devices were popularized by Lost or films like The Prestige. The animation is gorgeous. The ending is perfectly down-beat yet satisfying. (You can see my focus on the importance of a good film’s ending well.) Mark Hammil is astonishing as the voice of the Joker (who enters the story during the second half of the film). Hammil’s Joker is by far the best film version of this charcter so far — lunatic and dangerous (although I do have high hopes for Heath Ledger in the upcoming The Dark Knight). And speaking of definitive versions of a character, Kevin Conroy IS Batman. I cannot conceive that his performance can ever be topped. He IS Batman. End of story. If you haven not seen this film, go rent it. It rocks.

I’ve gotten quite a response, via e-mail, to yesterday’s review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! I truly wish I had better things to say about that movie. Maybe some of you out there will enjoy it more than I did.

No new cartoon on Monday because of the long weekend. Have a great Memorial Day, everyone, and I’ll see you back here on Tuesday! Fun with Iron Man will continue…

just returned from a midnight showing. What follows are my spoiler-free thoughts.

Boy.

They did it to me again.

I have never been more disappointed walking out of a movie theatre than I was after sitting through Star Wars: Episode I back in 1999. It truly never occurred to me that Episode I would be bad — and I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined just how awful it turned out to be.

Going into the 1st new Indiana Jones movie in 19 years, I tried my best to lower my expectations. The Star Wars prequels proved that George Lucas has lost quite a bit of his once-magic touch, and even Steven Spielberg has proven to be fallible (Anybody watched The Lost World or AI: Artificial Intelligence recently?). But still, I couldn’t help but be excited, and optimistic. Its a new Indy movie!!!

Well, there’s nothing in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that approaches the mind-numbing tedium of Star Wars Episode I, or the sheer inanity of Jar Jar Binks.

But it is, I’m afraid, an exceedingly mediocre film nonetheless.

What’s good? Well, Harrison Ford shows more life and charisma than he has for well over a decade. I’ve had a habit of declaring to my friends that Harrison Ford hasn’t been in a good movie since The Fugitive (1993) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). (Do you disagree? Check out this list: Sabrina, The Devils’s Own, Six Days Seven Nights, Random Hearts, What Lies Beneath, K-19: The Widowmaker, Hollywood Homicide, Water to Wine, and Firewall. Yikes!) Not only have those movies stunk, but Ford has seemed rather lifeless in most of them. But here the Old Harrison Ford seems back, as if he’s delighted to be playing this iconic character again — and that energy really shows through in almost every scene.

What else is good? Wellll…the jungle landscapes of Peru in which much of the movie is set is an excitingly different environment than the settings of the 1st 3 Indy movies, which is fun. There are some great moments of action. And (OK, this is a tiny spoiler but anyone who has seen or read ANYTHING about this movie knows this already) its really great to see Karen Allen back on screen as Marion Ravenwood. Her smile is every bit as beguiling as it was back in 1981 in Raiders.

So what’s bad about the movie? Where do I begin. The whole tone of the film is way off. Moments that should be dramatic and emotional (such as Marion’s revelation to Indy in the quick-sand pit), or moments that should be suspenseful and dramatic (such as Indy’s escape from the catastrophic event — that I won’t reveal here — at the end of the opening sequence), are played for yucks. Even the traditional opening shot of the Paramount logo dissolving into a mountain shape (that opened the 1st three Indy movies) is played for a joke in this one. Every time I started to settle in and enjoy a sequence, its interrupted by a stupid joke (with the Shia LaBeouf Tarzan bit in the middle of the film being the most egregious).

Whereas the other Indy films (Raiders in particular) unfolded with a clock-like precision, in which one exciting sequence lead logically to the next as the jeopardy escalated and Indy was lead through ever-growing obstacles, this film is a puzzle of questions. Why did the Russians need Indy in the opening sequence? How does Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) find Indy, and why does this rebellious youngster suddenly seem so eager to follow him around the globe? How exactly do Professor Oxley’s (John Hurt) scratchings on the dungeon floor lead Indy to an important location? What happens at the end to Indy’s blacklisting by the government? I could go on and on. There are some fun scenes, but they don’t really connect with one another, and I was often confused about where characters were, or how (or why) they’d gotten from one place to another.

The film really fell apart for me when I realized that, ultimately, the its all been building to Indy and the gang having to re-trace the steps of one of the other characters. This takes all the adventure and excitement out of the narrative! No more is Indy visiting places no one has ever been, or discovering things no one has ever seen (or at least, haven’t seen for thousands of years). No, here’s he’s just going back to someplace someone has just been. Where’s the excitement in that for the audiencve?

And finally, there is the ludicrous ending. I’m trying desperately to give my comments without ruining any details for those of you who will be seeing the movie. Maybe in a week or two I’ll revisit this in my blog in greater detail, after more people have seen the flick so I can worry less about spoilers. But remember what I wrote earlier about my feeling that the whole tone of the film was off? Nowhere was this more on display than in the last 20-30 minutes, in which it felt like our characters had wandered into the X-Files movie.

I wish I could report otherwise, but while there is some fun to be had, overall the movie is a bust. To me, the Indy saga ended with the gang riding off into the sunset at the end of The Last Crusade back in 1989. This new bunch of characters with some familiar names off on a new adventure? Don’t much recognize ‘em.

I love DVDs.   Love ‘em.   I love the great resolution and the surround sound.   I love watching all the behind-the-scenes special features and listening to the commentaries (which I often play while drawing Motion Pictures, among other projects).   I love getting to enjoy great TV shows in complete-season sets.   I love how I can re-watch, ad infinitum, the successful movies and shows that I love along with so many great selections that are a lot more obscure (I’m thinking about you, my live action The Tick complete series set…).

Yeah, I love DVDs.

And just as I find that I always have a pretty significant “to read” stack of books on my shelf as well as comics on my desk, I always seem to have a nice large stack of DVDs in my “to watch” pile.   Here are some of the DVDs I’m looking forward to enjoying in the coming weeks/months (if I ever get some free time!!):

Walk Hard: Extended Edition – Not exactly a home run from the Apatow factory, I did nonetheless very much enjoy this flick.   It’s worth it for the Beatles scene alone.   Apatow DVDs (Freaks and Geaks and Undeclared, as well as The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up and Superbad) have a habit of being pretty spectacular, crammed full of alternate takes, deleted scenes, and other fun stuff.   I’m hoping this one is too.

Cloverfield – I loved this in theatres…I’m eager to see if it holds up to a repeat viewing.

Juno – ditto.

Bee Movie – I missed this one in theatres.   Nothing that I saw or read about it made it jump out to me as a “must see,” but I’m an enormous Seinfeld fan so I’m looking forward to giving this a viewing.

John, Paul, Tom & Ringo – A series of lengthy interviews with 3 of the 4 Beatles which Tom Snyder conducted on various episodes of his talk show The Tomorrow Show in the late seventies and early eighties.   This includes John Lennon’s last televised interview, from 4/25/75.   I have never seen any of these episodes, so I’m very eager to check out this DVD collection.

Young Indiana Jones – Lucasfilm has released three enormous collections over the past year that collect the entire run of this show.   I have the first one.   I actually watched about half of it a few months ago.   The episodes I saw were the ones with the young, 10-12 year-old Indy.   They were rather hit-and-miss…I admired the concept of using the Young Indy character to educate the viewer about all sorts of different people and places in history (done via Indy’s Forrest Gump like encounters, in each episode, with all sorts of historical figures)…but I found many of the episodes I saw to be rather boring.   After watching a few of them, I started putting the episodes on in the background while I was drawing.   Its worth noting that the extras on this DVD set are stunning – each episode has lengthy documentaries about all the people and places and historical events mentioned in each episode – and I found these to be endlessly fascinating.   So why is this set still on my list?   Because I just happened to get sidetracked from this set right before the 1st episode with teen-aged Indy, played by Sean Patrick Flannery.   I’m really eager to see if those episodes are any good.   I just haven’t had a chance to get back to watching this set – hopefully sometime soon.

Robot Chicken Season 2 – I bow before the brilliance of this show.   If you’ve never seen it, you must seek it out to behold its glory.

King Kong: The Extended Edition — I liked Peter Jackson’s King Kong and eagerly bought this set when it came out, both to watch the extended version of the film as well as the extensive behind-the-scenes documentaries.   (The documentaries on the extended DVDs of the Lord of the Rings films are some of the best DVD special features I’ve ever seen.)   And yet, this DVD has been sitting unwatched on my shelf for almost 2 years now.   I’m not sure exactly why.   Maybe its just that the thought of sitting down for an even LONGER version of this flick (which was almost 3 hours in its original theatrical form) has been subconsciously daunting.  Well, hopefully I’ll get to it one of these days…

That’s all from me for now.   I have tickets to a late-night showing of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull tonight…I’m pretty jazzed about that!   I’ll be posting my thoughts as soon as I get out of the movie late late tonight (more like early tomorrow morning), so check back soon to see what I thought!

So…are you aware that there’s a new Star Wars movie being released in theatres this summer?

http://www.starwars.com/video/view/000639.html

It’s a computer animated film that takes place between Episodes II and III, during the Clone Wars. (Apparently there’s a Clone Wars TV series coming our way from Lucasfilm sometime next year.) I’d really really love it if this were super-cool, although its hard to muster too much hope.

Anyone one remember when the prospect of new Star Wars on the big screen was something to drive people crazy with anticipation?

So I feel like I’ve come across as being rather down on the new Indiana Jones movie in my recent blog entries.   But really – it’s the first new Indiana Jones movie in 19 years!   How could I NOT be incredibly excited??

Am I a little dubious about The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Well, sure. But still, I cannot wait for May 22.

So, in the spirit of the power of positive thinking, I’ve decided to focus on the positives today.   So I hereby present you with my list of my ten favorite moments in the Indiana Jones series (so far), listed in order of preference:

10.   “They’re digging in the wrong place!”   I am as filled with glee as Indy and Sallah are each time I hear this magnificent line-reading.   (Raiders)

9.   “She talks in her sleep.”   Henry Jones’ revelation of how he knew Elsa was a Nazi.   Henry:   “I’m as human as the next man.”   Indy: “Dad, I was the next man!”   (The Last Crusade)

8.   Pretty much the whole opening sequence of The Temple of Doom, in which Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones playing James Bond (complete with white Goldfinger tux).   I also admire anyone with the guts to open their big blockbuster action movie sequel with a dance number from “Anything Goes” – and in Mandarin, nonetheless! (Temple of Doom)

7.   “I am the monarch of the sea…”   After Marian kisses Sallah goodbye, he thumps his chest and wanders away down the pier while singing this little ditty.   It’s just a silly little extraneous moment, but there’s such LIFE in the character at that moment – I just love it.   (Raiders)

6.   “No time for love, Doctor Jones!”   My favorite Short Round line.
(Let me note here that I have never approved of a “kid sidekick” in a movie more than I approve of Short Round.   A terrific combination of role and actor.)   (Temple of Doom)

5.   “You could warn them…if only you spoke hovitos!”   The culmination of the phenomenal, iconic opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark is the introduction of the best Indy villain so far: Belloq.   Sort of a dark mirror image of Indy, Belloq is the archaeologist/adventurer without any morals. His taunting of Indy in this sequence (“once again Doctor Jones you see there is nothing you can possess that I cannot take away”) perfectly establishes his character and the rivalry dynamic with Indy.   (Raiders)

4.   “I should have mailed it to the Marx Brothers!”   There’s a lot of great Henry Jones/Indiana Jones banter throughout The Last Crusade, but Henry’s frustration at Indy for letting the Nazis capture his Grail diary is probably my favorite moment.   (Although “I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne” is pretty a good one, as well!”) (The Last Crusade)

3.   “Besides…you know what a cautious fellow I am.”   This is from a great scene early in Raiders, in which Marcus wishes that he were ten years younger so that he could accompany Indy on this adventure.   I love how that hints at their past together.   But my favorite moment is the end of that scene, when Marcus cautions Indy not to underestimate the significance and power of the lost Ark.   Indy scoffs at his warning (“Oh Marcus, what are you trying to do, scare me?   You sound like my mother”) but then adds “besides…you know what a cautious fellow I am” as we see, in a quick shot, Indy tossing his revolver into his suitcase…   (Raiders)

2.   “What truck?”   After getting his ass roundly kicked by the big Nazi boxer during the flying wing fight sequence, Indy is informed by Sallah that there’s still a chance to recover the ark, as the Nazis are now moving it on a truck.   The spirit with which Indy throws down the towel he’s been using to wipe his bloody face as he demands “what truck?” exemplifies the indomitable nature of this iconic character more than any other.   The magnificent truck chase sequence that follows ain’t too shabby either.   (Raiders)

1.   “You throw me the idol, I throw you the whip!”   Alfred Molina achieves movie infamy.   (Raiders)

Oh man I am so pumped:

http://movies.ign.com/dor/objects/379767/the-x-files-i-want-to-believe/videos/xfilestrailer_050908.html

I watched Alien Vs Predator: Requiem this weekend on DVD.   Sigh.   Has there ever been a franchise that started off as incredible, and then became so abysmal, as the Alien and Predator series?

(A certain series about a family named Skywalker does come to mind, although I consider the prequels to be apocryphal thus allowing the Original Trilogy to maintain its luster in my mind…)

The first Alien was a ground-breaking work.   H.R. Giger’s creature design was a marvel of originality – truly unlike anything that had ever been seen before.   The script was smart, the cast was terrific, and director Ridley Scott created a compelling, fully-realized world for his characters to inhabit.   The “look” of Alien is imitated almost as much as Ridley Scott’s 1982 film Blade Runner. The visual effects hold up and the film remains a white-knuckle suspense roller-coaster even today – a pretty stunning feat for a movie made in 1979.

The sequel, Aliens, was directed by another visionary – James Cameron. He wisely avoided creating a simple retread of the first movie.   Instead, he made a balls-to-the-wall action movie that is intense, exciting, and scary from the first scene to the last.   But what makes the action work is the great screenplay and attention to character development.   Cameron, aided by a terrific ensemble of actors (Sigourney Weaver, Paul Reiser, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, and a star-making performance from Bill Paxton – “maybe you haven’t been keeping up on current events but we just got our asses kicked, man!”) created a group of distinct, interesting characters that are enormous fun to watch.   These characters aren’t stereotypes – they all (at least, the ones who survive – and even many of the ones who don’t) grow and change as the film moves forward.   The relationship between Ripley and the little girl Newt is the heart of the movie.   When bad things start to happen (and they do), this makes all the action that much more gripping.   And the action and (pre-CGI) visual effects are spectacular.

Then there’s Predator. Gone With The Wind this ain’t, but it is a staggeringly entertaining action film.   As with Alien and Aliens, part of the magic of this film is the way the combination of script, director, and actors creates a group of characters that are extraordinarily watchable.   That’s the key to a good they’re-gonna-die-one-by-one sort of movie – the viewer really needs to invest in the ensemble of characters.   And what an ensemble we have here:   Arnold Schwarzenegger at his ripped-bicep monosyllabic best; Carl Weathers at HIS ripped-bicep monosyllabic best; Bill Duke and his intense eyes; and Jesse “The Body” Ventura chewing his cigar and all the scenery.   Fine actors they aren’t – but they’re just so much FUN to watch.   And the Predator design is, in many ways, as original and ground-breaking as Giger’s Alien. It’s all put together by the great John McTiernan (Die Hard), who directs action like no one else.

Those are three GREAT films.   But then what happened???

Alien 3: Here’s an idea – let’s take all the beloved characters from Aliens and kill them off before the opening credits are finished.   Then have Ripley commit suicide at the end.   THAT’s the way to extend a successful franchise!   (Actually, of all the bad Alien and Predator sequels, this one has aged the best.   I still think it was a bone-headed direction to go with the series, and my goodness is this a downbeat film – but once I accept that I can enjoy, upon repeat viewings, David Fincher’s directing and the great performances of Charles S. Dutton, Pete Postlethwaite, Charles Dance, and Lance Henriksen.)

Alien Resurrection: Ripley comes back to life as a half-Alien clone, then has sex with the Alien Queen who gives birth to a monstrous human-alien hybrid.   I am not kidding.

Predator 2: Arnold Schwarzenegger is replaced by Danny Glover, who wastes no time getting all Martin Riggs on the Predator in future LA.   Oh, and it also stars Gary Busey.

Alien Versus Predator: I don’t understand how you can have a movie called Alien Versus Predator and only have like five minutes of Alien versus Predator action.   And don’t get me started on the motion that Predators built the Mayan pyramids.

Alien Versus Predator Requiem: Why is this movie called “Requiem”?   Can anyone tell me?   OK, there’s a lot of Alien versus Predator action in this one (which puts it a step above the 1 st AVP) but holy cow is this film a mess.   Every one of the characters introduced is flat and uninteresting. I cannot (even though I just watched this yesterday) recall a single one of their names.   The action geography of the story is utterly incomprehensible – the Predator will be in one part of the town in one scene, and then cut to the next scene in another part of town and suddenly its there too…and throughout the second half of the film characters keep randomly running right into one another for no other reason than the plot demands it (example: a group of characters hide out in a gun shop, and then two other characters who are running from a different Alien attack just happen to run into that same gun shop even though it was established earlier in the movie that they lived in a totally different part of the town).   As with Alien Resurrection, the filmmakers feel the need to muck with the iconic Alien and Predator designs by introducing another hybrid character – in this case, a Predalien.   Ugh.

But probably the worst sin of AVPR (I feel really silly typing that ridiculous acronym) is that, by setting the story in present-day (and in a small town in Colorado), it just makes the Predator and Alien monsters seem so…pedestrian.   The early films in these franchises all took place in incredibly exotic locales – the deep space freighter Nostromo in Alien…the brutal colony world LB427 in Aliens…even the deep Central American jungles of Predator. I’m sure the filmmakers thought they were putting a fresh new spin on things by taking these creatures and putting them in the middle of “Anytown, USA” but all they do is make these incredible movie monsters seem like they’re in just another run-of-the-mill teen horror movie.   How boring.

Here’s hoping that May 22’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull doesn’t make me want to that great franchise to this category of Good Series Gone Bad!

I don’t think I’m the only child of the eighties who was deeply affected by Transformers: The Movie.

I’m not talking about the Michael Bay CGI effects-O-rama, but the animated spin-off of the Transformers TV show that hit the big screen in 1986.

I actually never saw Transformers: The Movie in theatres.   I took notice of it when two things happened:   1) I started seeing ads for a lot of new Transformers toys, and 2) suddenly the Transformers TV show started featuring a lot of new robots.   (The second season of the show took place after the movie, and featured all the new characters introduced in the film.)

But I do remember when I finally saw Transformers: The Movie on video. I was blown away by the incredible animation (worlds better than the show), the violence (the whole first 40 minutes are one long extended battle sequence – and suddenly the laser blasts that each of the robots fired actually did damage!), and the rather merciless way in which all of the beloved characters from the show are wiped out – including, most notoriously, Optimus Prime himself.   I didn’t weep – but boy was I stunned!

Looking back on the movie today, there’s a lot that doesn’t hold up.   I recognize how the story points (killing off the old characters and introducing lots of new ones) were driven by the need to sell new toys.   The animation – so spectacular to me as a kid – looks a bit dodgy to older eyes.   The second half of the movie is rather boring.   (And what the heck is up with the Weird Al song that all the characters suddenly start dancing to on the planet of junk???)

But I still have a lot of affection for Transformers: The Movie. For whatever reason I still really love those characters, and the writers/animators/etc. were able to wring a lot of gravitas out of the way those characters were put through hell and back in the midst of what was, in the end, a 90-minute toy commercial.   I had a lot of fun seeing Michael Bay’s Transformers movie in the theatre for the 1st time last summer.   But I think that movie would have a much longer shelf life if it had half as much emotion as Transformers: The Movie from 1986.

I saw Iron Man tonight.

Wow.

What follows is as spoiler-free as I could make it.   But if you want to go into this flick totally devoid of any knowledge, why don’t you check back in after you see it and let’s see if we agree?

OK, now, let me get right to it: the film is tremendous.   Director Jon Favreau was able to create a very intense, serious film (one not aimed just at the little kiddies) that is also quite funny and endearing.   There’s a lot of humor, but its not the type of forced “stand back, here comes the wakka-wakka” type of humor that so often makes me cringe in comic book films.   Much of the credit for this must go to the man in the lead role.

I’ve already read a number of reviews that emphasize how perfect Robert Downey Jr. is as Tony Stark, and I most vigorously agree with the chorus. Not only is he a visual dead ringer for the character (the goatee is perfect), but he’s able to convey just the type of rich, spoiled, brilliant, cocky bastard that is Tony Stark.   As I alluded to above, there’s a tremendous amount of humor is this performance – I love his banter with his “lab assistants,” and with Jarvis – but also a lot of weight.   Like most superhero origin stories, this movie centers on “the turn” – when the hero character has to change from the person he was to the more righteous person he will become.   That can be a tough moment to play, and not every superhero movie – or ever actor assaying a superhero – can sell that.   But Downey Jr. just nails it.

The whole rest of the cast is dynamite as well.   The casting of Jarvis was dead-on.   Terrence Howard is terrific as Stark’s buddy Jim Rhodes.   I love how he’s able to nudge Stark on his behavior without being a total stick-in-the-mud himself.   (In the plane-ride scene early in the movie, you can really see why he and Stark are friends!)   Gwyneth Paltrow is also very strong as Pepper Potts, Stark’s assistant.   She maybe gets a teensy bit too damsel-in-distressy towards the end of the flick, but she is a lot of fun to watch throughout the film.   Just as Terrence Howard does in his role, her performance hints at a long shared history with Tony Stark – and that really helps to flesh out the “world” that these characters inhabit.

Jeff Bridges brings a lot of charisma and energy to his role of Obadiah Stane, Stark’s mentor.   I just love Jeff Bridges, and it looks like he was having a lot of fun in the role.

Let me take this moment to commend the film for not having any bad guy with a crazy plot to blow up the world.   I like that the story stays small – that the conflicts are mostly personal.   I also love the connection with Stark, as opposed to bringing in some random super-villain for the action finale.

I also can’t forget the terrific Clark Gregg as an Agent of…well, you know! (At least any good comic book fan does.)   You might recognize this familiar face from The West Wing (FBI Agent Michael Casper) or Sports Night or his many many other TV & movie appearances.   I was glad to see him pop up here, and hope he has more to do in the sequel.

Speaking of the sequel, any comic fan who pays close attention will know for damn sure who the villain will be in the sequel.   (Keep your eyes on a certain adornment that the two most villainous characters in the movie have in common!)   I can’t wait to see how that character is handled.   (I’m almost as excited as when Batman Begins closed with the promise of The Joker in the next one…)

In case my gushing hasn’t convinced you yet – go see this film right now, and have a lot of fun!

And for all that is holy, stay until the end of the credits!!!   You’ll be glad you did.

(P.S.   I’m already working on some Iron Man cartoons for this site – they should be ready next week, after our characters’ adventures this week in a certain big dumb robot movie from last summer…)

On April 29th I wrote about my anticipation for all of this summer’s big-budget movies. But a quick perusal of last weeks’ Entertainment Weekly summer movie preview contained info on a number of smaller movies coming out this summer that sound like they’re also worth my ten bucks or whatever the hell it costs to go see a movie these days in downtown Boston.

Son of Rambow – Two British boys watch Rambo: First Blood and team up to film their own version. I saw the trailer last week and it looks dynamite. I have no idea of the story of the movie is anything like this at all, but the synopsis and the trailer remind me a lot of the 3 kids who made a shot for shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark. (I mentioned this on April 21st , and my buddy Andy Mo was kind enough to forward me the link to the Vanity Fair article about these guys.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2004/03/raiders200403

I actually saw their version of Raiders at a sci-fi fan-film festival in Worcester a few years back, and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever beheld. I am desperate to see it again some day.) Anyhoos, that connection makes me very interested in this flick.

The Foot Fist Way – Apparently this is a comedy about a hapless tae kwon do instructor. It was made three years ago, and I’ve been reading about it on-line seemingly forever. According to EW, Will Farell used his clout to help this small film finally see a theatrical release. I’m intrigued.

Religulous – Bill Mahr and Larry Charles (writer for Seinfeld and director of Borat as well as many episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm) team up for a documentary about the state of world religion. I’m there.

Towelhead – Another movie I’ve been reading about on-line for quite a while. Its based on Alicia Elan’s 2005 novel about a 13 year-old girl of Lebanese descent. On the surface that doesn’t sound so much like my kind of movie, but its written and directed by Alan Ball (who wrote American Beauty), so I’m interested.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona – Directed by Woody Allen and starring Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and Scarlett Johansson. I always try to give a new Woody Allen movie a chance, and this one has a spectacular cast.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor – Just kiddin’!