So I have been on a bit of a new t-shirt kick lately, partly because I need some new fun clothes to cover myself with when I go to Comic-Con next month, and partly because I am no longer a size small, and its time to face that fact and stop wearing clothes that show off my small but not going anywhere Buddha belly.
I got my new 'I GALACTUS PLANETS' t-shirt in the mail this past Friday, and refuse to take it off except to wash it, it's that cool. If you're any kind of comics geek, and there's any left, go to dieselsweeties and pick one up.
I also snapped up a sweet Silver Surfer shirt that I am waiting expectantly for, and the Batman shirt from Threadless that I have been waiting for months to have reprinted. I can't wait to walk around with that one on either. Yes, I know I am a dork. But I could be a wife-beater, or a serial killer or something. So it could be worse.
Labels: comics, everything else
Whilst watching Wonder Woman yesterday (yes the 1970's comics-inspired tv show with Lynda Carter in the Amazonian title role), during a gun fight, as the bullets richochet harmlessly away, Superwife exclaims to the bad guys:
"Quit aiming at her bracelets everytime!"I laughed my ass off. And that's exactly the kind of thing that when it happens, reminds me why I love her so much.
I have been waiting for this shirt to be become available again at Threadless for-fucking-ever and even though it was just reprinted, the sonofabitching thing was part of the spring sale and sold out in less than a microsecond or two. Maybe they only reprinted one of them. But if anyone reads this, loves me, and loves me enough to buy me something, well, there's the link. Size Medium because I eat more nowadays. And if not for me, for any Batfan, once its available again you are going to want one of these anyways.
I don't know what else there is to say other than this is the bestest thing I'll read all week. Maybe longer. Go read.
If only this apocalypse had already happened.
If only this apocalypse had already happened.
So my laptop is back and now I so am I, at least in a connected sense. If anyone is wondering what kind of warrantee service HP offers, it rocks. Had my baby back in no time, and it is as good as new now.
UPS however, is a gang of douchebags for leaving my repaired laptop on my porch in a Northern Ontario winter, but since it was mild (for here) and my laptop was none the worse for the experience, I am going to forego making a stink and just let it go.
While I waited for my laptop to come back and have been off on the long break part of my swing shifts, I have been keeping busy doing a ridiculous amount of ice fishing, had a great bud of mine stay with us for a few days, fixed my snow blower (all by myself and I am SO proud of myself about it), watched a few movies, notably the fantastic Juno, and the lackluster Justice League New Frontier, and got caught up on every comic book in my read pile that I hadn't yet gotten to.
And about those comics: My take on the recent Spider-Man One More Day/Brand New Day business is that it fucking stinks. Spider-Man's marriage to Mary Jane and its subsequent Omega Level Retcon was nothing short of ludicrous. I love Spider-Man (and usually JMS), but I don't see how erasing his marriage, his revealing his identity to the world and pretty much anything else than lent substance to the character is supposed to make the character better. And as some kind of struggle between the devil and god no less. Grrr. I always loved the idea that Superheroes can have family lives and still be cool, and the fact that I myself am a family man probably has something to do with that appeal. So, boo Marvel. Bad decision.
And did I mention that I single-handedly diagnosed and fixed my snow blower? I did? Oh. Cause I did. All by myself.
UPS however, is a gang of douchebags for leaving my repaired laptop on my porch in a Northern Ontario winter, but since it was mild (for here) and my laptop was none the worse for the experience, I am going to forego making a stink and just let it go.
While I waited for my laptop to come back and have been off on the long break part of my swing shifts, I have been keeping busy doing a ridiculous amount of ice fishing, had a great bud of mine stay with us for a few days, fixed my snow blower (all by myself and I am SO proud of myself about it), watched a few movies, notably the fantastic Juno, and the lackluster Justice League New Frontier, and got caught up on every comic book in my read pile that I hadn't yet gotten to.
And about those comics: My take on the recent Spider-Man One More Day/Brand New Day business is that it fucking stinks. Spider-Man's marriage to Mary Jane and its subsequent Omega Level Retcon was nothing short of ludicrous. I love Spider-Man (and usually JMS), but I don't see how erasing his marriage, his revealing his identity to the world and pretty much anything else than lent substance to the character is supposed to make the character better. And as some kind of struggle between the devil and god no less. Grrr. I always loved the idea that Superheroes can have family lives and still be cool, and the fact that I myself am a family man probably has something to do with that appeal. So, boo Marvel. Bad decision.
And did I mention that I single-handedly diagnosed and fixed my snow blower? I did? Oh. Cause I did. All by myself.
Labels: comics, everything else, family, movies, narcissism, rants
At some point in the near future, sometime after Superwife goes back to work and we have something resembling a disposable income, we are going to be finishing our basement. And one of the things I like to pretend I'll get my way about is that I will get to put in a proper home theater when the time comes.
So, while I'm pretending, I will imagine that my home theater could someday look like the above picture of an actual Star Trek themed theater that is currently taking up space at some rich bastard's place in Florida. I so want to have this. The shitty thing is that whatever I do to my home theater when we do finish the basement, it won't look enough like this one, so its going to be a disappointment right from the start.
The Batcave one found on the same site is cool too, but its not Star Trek, and Batman wouldn't be caught with his parents dead with such a small monitor.
On a somewhat related note, the new beard is growing in nicely, and a not-at-all-trek-fan-friend-of-mine today told me how much it made me look like William Riker. Right in the middle of the office, like something that had just come to him in a flash. 'Riker!!' He yelled across the room. I couldn't have been paid a better compliment. So now, the growing of the beard is going to be called The Riker Manoeuvre, which coincidentally enough I was already calling it. Just not previously in public.
Labels: comics, movies, our new house, star trek
A friend of mine and I had a chat last night about the idea of the Batman vs Superman movie, an idea which has been around at least as long as the graphic novel that detailed the penultimate battle between the two heroes: The Dark Knight Returns.
The two have always had a fascinating relationship in the comics, and the idea of them squaring off is diverting for comic fans, but let's be honest here: We're talking about fucking Superman here. Batman is cool, and he's always been a personal fave (my list goes something like Superman, Green Lantern, Flash and then probably Bats), but pitting some ninja trained no-power with some cool gadgets against The Man of Steel? Come on. No contest.
This all came up because there is a sweet little easter egg in the new I Am Legend movie in the form of a billboard for the fictional Batman vs Superman movie. Apparently its a little in-joke to the screenwriter for Legend that at one time was involved in a version of the Bats/Supes movie. Full story here.
This same buddy of mine sent me a link to a site that tries to take a contest between the two superheroes seriously, and gives a breakdown of each's strengths and weaknesses, as well as the chance to vote on who you think would win. Check it out here, even though deep down, everyone has to know that Superman would win.
I had the opportunity to hang out briefly on my coffee break today at my local comic shop with my own local Comic Book Guy and it just reaffirmed how happy I am with my lot in life of being a geek.
Me and Comic Book Guy swapped stories about our favourite Spider-Man storylines of the past 20 years, both of us agreeing that at least in the case of Spider-Man, retconning has done more harm than good. Anyone else remember Ben Reilly? I always loved his costume. Ok, maybe not the bracelets.
Comic Book Guy highly recommended the 'Ultimate Spider-Man' series, as that one undoes the damage that the various retcons have caused and brings the characters back to their best incarnations. I'll have to check it out. Although I do see the need for comics authors to be able to reverse the damage inflicted by poorer writers and dumbass plotlines. Like waiting 10 years before returning Hal Jordan to the Green Lantern Corps for example. I am so happy that guy is back in Green. And we both agreed that the whole 52/Countdown mess has just been a bad move for DC. Good if you're rich enough to buy a weekly comic about the minor characters in the DCU but mostly filler either way.
My visit got me thinking that I am probably one of the more self-satisfied geeks out there. I love that I work in IT and find occasional time to indulge in my love of comics and scifi. And I work with a whole bunch of proper geeks, from hardcore gamers to comics fans to Star Trek fans. The work itself isn't inordinately fulfilling, but the paycheck does allow me to look after Superwife, Trin and still keep me current with Superman's exploits, so its all good.
And when, as a birthday present, a buddy of mine shoots me a keychain of the Dark Horse logo simply because he knows that I'll recognize it instantly, at least I know that I am not the only one who knows what a dork I am. Here's hoping that is in fact the geeks who shall inherit the earth.
Since I am on comics, here are two resources that I keep up with faithfully for my comic news:
- Variant Edition - Great site, good podcast. Thinking about sponsoring them solely to get a free tee shirt.
- Fresh Ink - Podcast. Geek girls really are teh shit. If you were having sex with Blair Butler and you threw in a Brightest Day, Blackest Night oath, she would actually know what you were talking about. Might think you were an idiot, but still.
Labels: comics
So I finally got around to watching episode 6 of geek week, one of my all time favourite video podcasts, and one which, sadly is rarely produced. Instead of 'geek week' it might be more appropriately called 'geek twice a year'.
But the weird thing is this: I took a screen grab awhile back of the best part from a past episode, one where a cosplaying Sarah Beattie (the female host) is in a pillow fight with a Sue Richards lookalike, and I posted it on my blog (here).
So how surprised was I when in watching this episode I find that they used the exact same screen grab in a scene in the current ep? Very weird.
What does it mean? Well, obviously to me, it means that not only are they fans of mine as well, but that I am right about the whole solipsist thing and the universe does in fact revolve completely around me.
Or it might be a coincidence. Either way.
Here's the link to the site and the latest ep. If you are into anything comic related, you will enjoy it. Plus they have cute girls in cosplay pillowfights sometimes.
Labels: comics
10 / 10I just took this week's trivia test at my all time favourite online store, jinx.com. Turns out to be all about comics this week. And it also turns out that I am in fact the geeky fanboy that people tell me I am, as evidenced by the fact that I got them all right.
Your Rank: Superman
You started it all and kicked off the Golden Age of comics! (Maybe you can tell Bryan Singer not to mess up your next movie)
You scored better than 88.5% of the 1035 people who took this quiz.
Feel free to take the test yourself, and let me know if I pwned you as hard as I did everyone else.
Labels: comics
A buddy of mine brought me back a very cool Iron Man t shirt from Comic Con and I just got around to wearing it tonight. Its a large and I am a small (hey, no snickering!), so the thing looks ridiculous on me, but when I turned off the light a minute ago I realized that the symbol designed to resemble the device embedded in Tony Stark's chest glows in the dark.
I'm just still geeking out about it, and had to share.
I'm just still geeking out about it, and had to share.
Labels: comics
So I read on a few forums that Chloe's demise in this season's finale of Smallville may be short-lived and that her character might be returning next season. Personally I think she's dead and won't be coming back so that the show can return to something resembling the comics' continuity in time to wrap up the show at the end of next year.
Superman-to-be notwithstanding, she was the best character on the show and I have not so secretly always hoped the writers would say to hell with continuity and just have Chloe and Clark end up together. Maybe even have Chloe take over Lois' body or merge together with her or something. Stranger things have certainly happened on this show. (Countess Isabelle Thoreaux anyone?) And maybe that's even what happened in the moment of her 'death'. We won't know for sure what the hell happened there until next year, when we also get to see more of Bizarro.
But if I had been asked if anything could possibly make up for killing off Chloe, my favourite female character on tv besides Rose Tyler (and she's a whole other story), my answer would have been a resounding 'no'. That is, until I found out that next season, a certain Kryptonian cousin will be taking her place.
No idea yet what multiverse they're pulling her story out of, but however it works out, any Supergirl is a good Supergirl.
More here.
Superman-to-be notwithstanding, she was the best character on the show and I have not so secretly always hoped the writers would say to hell with continuity and just have Chloe and Clark end up together. Maybe even have Chloe take over Lois' body or merge together with her or something. Stranger things have certainly happened on this show. (Countess Isabelle Thoreaux anyone?) And maybe that's even what happened in the moment of her 'death'. We won't know for sure what the hell happened there until next year, when we also get to see more of Bizarro.
But if I had been asked if anything could possibly make up for killing off Chloe, my favourite female character on tv besides Rose Tyler (and she's a whole other story), my answer would have been a resounding 'no'. That is, until I found out that next season, a certain Kryptonian cousin will be taking her place.
No idea yet what multiverse they're pulling her story out of, but however it works out, any Supergirl is a good Supergirl.
More here.
Labels: comics, smallville, superman
I've been thinking lately about how strange the recent friendships that I've made might seem to the uninitiated. Most of my so called friendships, outside of those with Superwife's family and a few real world friends, are entirely of the online variety.
To single out a few, there's a couple in Florida, Joe and Em that I talk back and forth with regularly on either my or their blogs, a hilarious mommy blogger and fellow Canuck named Jen, a good friend Michael who is as much of a fan of Superman as I am, (and that's saying something), and a guy that I work with named Shane, who owns a burgeoning DVD review company. I have never met any of these people, and all things being equal, I likely wouldn't.
Just funny how the relationships that used to (seem to) matter to me have faded away with hardly a whimper, but the relationships I have with my online pals seem to have a lot more strength to them than they rightfully should.
Shane, btw is doing something that I really wish I could do; he's going to Comic-Con this year, and as much as I really like the guy, I'm a pretty dirty shade of green about the whole thing.
But that's why I'm so stoked about this Moviethon thing he and his business partner have cooked up. Its a way for the two of them to raise money to go to Comic Con while allowing contributors the thrill of forcing them to watch some really shitty movies. Any one donating anything via Paypal, (even a buck) selects the worst movie they can think of, and at the end of June, Shane and his bud have to sit in a room and watch the 10 worst of the worst in a row, in one sitting. So far for my entry I'm trying to decide between Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Grease, Hudson Hawk, It's Pat: The Movie, Weekend at Bernie's, Gigli, Howard the Duck, or anything at all by Uwe Boll. It'll be worth the few bucks if they even have to sit through one of those.
If you're interested, check it out here.
To single out a few, there's a couple in Florida, Joe and Em that I talk back and forth with regularly on either my or their blogs, a hilarious mommy blogger and fellow Canuck named Jen, a good friend Michael who is as much of a fan of Superman as I am, (and that's saying something), and a guy that I work with named Shane, who owns a burgeoning DVD review company. I have never met any of these people, and all things being equal, I likely wouldn't.
Just funny how the relationships that used to (seem to) matter to me have faded away with hardly a whimper, but the relationships I have with my online pals seem to have a lot more strength to them than they rightfully should.
Shane, btw is doing something that I really wish I could do; he's going to Comic-Con this year, and as much as I really like the guy, I'm a pretty dirty shade of green about the whole thing.
But that's why I'm so stoked about this Moviethon thing he and his business partner have cooked up. Its a way for the two of them to raise money to go to Comic Con while allowing contributors the thrill of forcing them to watch some really shitty movies. Any one donating anything via Paypal, (even a buck) selects the worst movie they can think of, and at the end of June, Shane and his bud have to sit in a room and watch the 10 worst of the worst in a row, in one sitting. So far for my entry I'm trying to decide between Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Grease, Hudson Hawk, It's Pat: The Movie, Weekend at Bernie's, Gigli, Howard the Duck, or anything at all by Uwe Boll. It'll be worth the few bucks if they even have to sit through one of those.
If you're interested, check it out here.
Labels: comics, everything else, superman
Yeah, I know that the Mac vs PC thing has been done to death. And then some. But this was too good to pass up.
I love Superman a lot more than the next guy, and that's why this is so funny. We laugh at what we love.
I worked all day in my backyard yesterday, slept like ass for a few hours and then got up at five am for a twelve hour shift. I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open, let alone type (thank you spellcheck!), but GOD DAMMIT I am not missing the season finale of Heroes.
Halfway through and already I know its worth the horrible lack of sleep I'll be experiencing during tomorrow's 12 hour shift.
Halfway through and already I know its worth the horrible lack of sleep I'll be experiencing during tomorrow's 12 hour shift.
I've been on a bit of a Justice League kick lately. Been playing JL Heroes on my PSP, and just read Matt Wagner's Trinity, (which is AWESOME by the way). I'm still trying to work my way through Infinite Crisis while avoiding all the spoilers I can, which is harder than you'd think since I live online so much.
I also recently finished watching the entire series of Justice League (aka Justice League Unlimited), and after watching all the episodes in only a few weeks, I can appreciate what a great show it is. Or was I guess, now that its finished its run.
It is, first of all, a cartoon that is in no way whatsoever for the kiddies. Unless you like your kiddies watching their favourite superheroes/villains beat the holy shit out of each other or die in every other frame, to say nothing of all of the gratuitous shots of Wonder Woman's cartoon cleavage. I'm 32 and I'm not even sure that I should have been watching it.
But the show was very faithful to the comics that inspired them, even though they had to take a few liberties. There were almost 70 years of continuity to deal with after all.
Anyway, I was kind of bummed after watching the final ep, because there really aren't a lot of good shows for the superhero geek out there. Well, there is Heroes. And Smallville. In particular this season's episode of Smallville 'Justice' which retold the JL origin story. Ok, I may expect too much. Either way, I was stoked to find out that I and people like me can look forward to more JL action in the future.
Turns out the chances are good that a Justice League movie is coming to a theater near me.
And if that doesn't happen, at least they'll be making new JL cartoons. Good casting choices too.
Labels: comics, smallville, superman
Remember those Budweiser adds from a few years ago? Whaaaaaaassup? The ones that stayed on the air so long that they were funny at first, you got bored with them, and they got funny again?
They're even funnier done Super Friends style, especially at 4:30 in the morning:
They're even funnier done Super Friends style, especially at 4:30 in the morning:
I came across this video parodying Fast Times at Ridgemont High using superheroes for the students, and had to share. Props to Power Girl for finding it first. The Wonder Woman/Phoebe Cates pool scene is worth the price of admission alone. Especially since its free. Classic movie, btw. Better zip that.
Oh, and in spite of my promise to withhold linkfesting until after the new year, I've come across a few other gems to share. It turns out that when Superwife and Trin are visiting The
See how your Google contacts rank - You need to be logged into Gmail to use this. Shows you who you email most, along with other metadata.Happy New Year, Internets.
Turns out Al Gore was right all along - Discussion is heating up again about an enormous ice shelf that broke off in the Canadian Arctic last year. Guess there's something to that Global Warming after all.
PSP games being released in the coming year - There are reasons to look forward to 2007!
Poll: Top New Year's Resolutions for 2007 - It is New Year's Eve after all. Mine are to lose a few pounds, do more yoga, and try not to swear so fucking much. I have my work cut out for me.
Labels: comics, everything else
I just came across an article on the worst superhero names across the Marvel and DC pantheons, and had to chime in with my two cents.
The article itself is tellingly short; mine would have been a lot longer. I love comics and superheroes, but lets be honest here: Over 80 years of comics has given the world some seriously bad superheroes to champion. One would think that the worst of them would be more recent, as writers run out of names, but that isn't necessarily the case.
Here's the original article, and here are some of the ones I would have went with:
Mr. Fantastic (Marvel) Yes I know that he's from the Fantastic Four, but that does not exempt him one bit. I've always thought this to be the least awe-inspiring superhero name going, and add that to his lame-as-hell stretching powers, and you've got the top of my list.
UltraMan (Marvel) No points for originality here either. Other ways they could have gone and made the same bland impact: GreatMan and SpectacularMan.
Toxic Avenger (Marvel) Proof that terrible character begets equally terrible movie adaptation.
Giant-Size Man-Thing (Marvel) Too. Much. Double. Entendre. Must... Move.... On.
Matter-Eater Lad (DC) Just try not devolving into juvenile giggles with this one.
Ferro Lad (DC) Ferro Lad? Apparently this guy had the power to transform into living metal, I guess a la the X-Men's Colossus. But Colossus is a cool name and Ferro Lad sounds like some wannabe that works at a travelling carnival. Ergo he makes the list.
Captain Victory (Pacific) With names like this, its easy to see why you've never heard of this publisher before
Hourman (DC) Combine a superhero popping vitamins and using a catchphrase of "His power grows by the hour", and this might just be the lamest one going.
Labels: comics
I just found a link to a superhero quiz on a blog I read faithfully, and it turns out the guy is a superhero geek like me (or he was bored and wanted a break from all the chemistry)
Either way, I took the quiz, and here are the results, copied directly from the site:
Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...
I think they got the Spiderman right, but I'm going to try very hard not to make too much out of the fact that I am apparently more Catwoman than I am Superman.
EDIT 12/15/06: I retook the quiz a few minutes ago, and it turns out that I'm not Spider-Man after all. At least not first. I am Green Lantern by 85%. Time to dust off the old Green Lantern ring and start wearing it again.
Either way, I took the quiz, and here are the results, copied directly from the site:
Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...
I think they got the Spiderman right, but I'm going to try very hard not to make too much out of the fact that I am apparently more Catwoman than I am Superman.
EDIT 12/15/06: I retook the quiz a few minutes ago, and it turns out that I'm not Spider-Man after all. At least not first. I am Green Lantern by 85%. Time to dust off the old Green Lantern ring and start wearing it again.
Labels: comics
Today a friend of mine sent me a link for a clip on iFilm.com that he thought I'd enjoy, about a Batman/Superman collaboration movie that might have been. It was cool, but if those two ever share screen time together, I'd rather see Frank Miller's version of The Dark Knight Returns.
And you just never know, because in Superman Returns, Gotham was name-dropped during a critical scene, so maybe the door is being left open for something like this.
Either way.
While I was on the site I came across a gem spoofing reality tv using Superheroes.
After the jump, look for the Flash and Supergirl winning every round of the Amazing Race, and the Hulk freaking out over his cheeseburger order. Even if you're not a comics geek, this is really funny.
Reality Round Up: Superhero Edition
Labels: comics
Not to steal any thunder away from Superman (this is the week of his Return after all, and I will be blogging about the movie as soon as I've seen it), but Apple posted the teaser trailer for Spiderman 3 today.
And holy shit it looks good.
Check out the trailer here.
Why are you still reading this? Go. Now.
I just came across a story about a new movie being made based on The Greatest Cartoon Ever: Gatchaman, known in North America and for my entire childhood as Battle of the Planets.
Apparently an animation studio out of Hong Kong is going to begin production of a completely CG version of Gathchaman sometime next year. If its done with anywhere near the quality of FFVII: Advent Children, this is going to be awesome.
I can't begin to describe how excited about this I am. I can remember tearing home every day to watch this show, and to this day it remains one of those silly adorations from childhood that I haven't been able to shake. There are a surprisingly lot of those, btw. Think I want a do-over on my chilhood much?
I am such a fan of this cheesy old cartoon that when the series was released on DVD in both Japanese and English, Superwife bought me the boxed set. And now I can sing the theme song multilingually. Feel free to call me on that one.
Read the story here.
And here's to hoping this puts me one step closer to getting Superwife into that Princess costume I've mentioned before.
If you haven't seen X-Men: The Last Stand, you'd assume from all of the whining going on, that it's a bad movie.
You'd be wrong.
Making a movie adaptation of a comic book isn't simply converting the stories and characters from paper to film. And it certainly isn't taking one plotline directly out of a comic and writing a screenplay from it. And if it was, exactly which of the myriad, overlapping, continuity-bending plotlines should be chosen to write that screenplay from anyway?
Making a movie adaptation of a comic book is finding out the truth of the characters from all of those myriad, overlapping story arcs and creating a gestalt for each that stays as faithful to the stories they reside in as possible, within the confines of a few hours of cinema. Something that the first X-Men movie did well, the second did much better, and I think this third film does best.
So I am boldly stating, in blatant contradiction of what some so-called fans are saying about it, that X-Men III is a movie for the fans.
And here's why in my spoiler-free review:
The movie's central premise hinges on the discovery of a cure for mutancy, created from a mutant whose own ability is to suppress the mutant gene in others. Magneto and his band use this 'cure' as a rallying cry to wage war on the
In the film, we are reunited with many of the characters from the previous movies, with at least one glaring omission. Some characters have changed more than others, but all in direct response to the events of the preceding films. We also get to meet a few other mutants that have been notably absent from the first two films. And almost all the characters are true to the personalities fleshed out over years of development in the comics (or at least as faithful as they can be given the constraints of film - see comments above).
And now let's get the whole Phoenix thing out of the way, shall we? Every X-fan knows that Jean Grey comes back as the Phoenix. If you somehow didn't know about this, then you are not a fan, ergo I am not ruining anything for anyone that matters. And Famke Jansen is all over the trailers and posters (and toys, and slurpee cups, etc etc) anyway, so unless you live in a cave, you knew Jean Grey was in this movie.
Now. Prior to seeing the movie, I wasn't sure how they would handle the whole Dark Phoenix Saga, as it was a very complicated (and probably tied with Crisis on Infinite Earths for most beloved by comic fans) plotline. But the writers came up with a way to bring Jean back, introduce the Phoenix into the story in a meaningful way, and manage to keep the whole interstellar connection out of things. Here's one minor spoiler for you: The Starjammers aren't in this movie. All things considered, I think this major part of the movie was handled very well.
The action sequences are spectacular, the characters are true to their roots, and the franchise delivers its most intense storyline yet.
There are more than a few holy shit moments in the film, as certain things happen to certain characters that no one sees coming.
But the biggest problem I have with those whiners that I was talking about earlier is that the entire movie is basically one big valentine for the fans. I won't give anything away, but there are so many little touches that were painstakingly put into the film to satisfy the fan base that allowed this franchise to be so successful in the first place, I can't believe that fans have anything to complain about.
But I guess you can't please everybody.
I have been reading the X-Men comics for over twenty years, on and off, and after watching the movie a second time today, I don't think I would change one thing about it. (Okay, maybe one thing that had to do with Rogue, but whatever.)
So, if you are a fan of the previous movies, the comic books, or just like a great scifi/action flick with a real story, X-Men III is the movie to see.
And I haven't even brought up the special ending after the credits.... If you do go see this movie, stay through the credits for a coda regarding one of the main characters!
'Nuff said.
There have been two truly great movie adaptations of comic books in my lifetime: Spiderman, and now Batman Begins.
Honourable mention should probably go out to Brian Singer's first X-Men outing, but that movie was geared way too much for the kiddies and non-fans, so fell pretty short. And what does it say about a movie when its sequel is inifinitely better than the original?
We could get bogged down in discussing the long list of shitty adaptations (The Hulk, Daredevil, etc, etc), but I just don't have the time.
So. To the Reviewmobile!
Batman Begins does for The Dark Knight what Keaton, Kilmer, and (shudder) Clooney never could: Put the anti-hero in his rightful place in iconic history.
The movie opens with the necessary origin story, a job that is very well done here. We see the genesis of Wayne's phobia of bats before we get an inkling of what happens to his parents behind the theatre. (No spoiler there - everyone knows about that already).
From there we see Wayne travel the world, learning from criminals, being trained as a ninja, and finally making the decision that Gotham can be saved if he is strong enough to choose justice over revenge.
When Wayne finally does return reinvested in assuming his father's quest to clean up Gotham, we are treated with the dark, tough, terrifying figure that those of us who read the comic book know.
This movie makes the Keaton era Batman movies look like third rate fanfic: Gotham looks like a real city, Batman's costume, armour, and cape all make sense, as do all his gadgets. The special effects are awesome, the villains believable, and the acting was top notch, even that coming from Mrs. Tom Cruise.
In fact, the best part of this movie was the acting : Finally, finally Gary Oldman gets to play a good guy! Probably the single most gifted actor I've ever seen, (If you don't agree, stop reading this and go rent True Romance) Oldman has the unique ability to make you forget that he's acting and allows you to look past the actor and see him only for the character he's portraying. And the rest of the cast is well-suited as well: Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Rutger Hauer, and finally Christian Bale. The big guns were definitely brough to bear to make this movie.
Bottom line, go right past rent and go directly to buy for this DVD. Must have for any fan.
