Horizon Zero

Leviathan Has Mouse Ears and Web-Shooters

I haven't commented on the big Disney buys Marvel!news, mostly because I think the sturm und drang coming from some quarters of the fanboy community is, quite frankly, silly.

No, I don't believe that Disney is going to put safety nubs on the end of Wolverine's claws. Nor do I think that suddenly all the Marvel super heroes are going to relocate to Duckburg.

Disney's interest, I think, lies in the vast repository of characters and intellectual property that Marvel represents. Compared to that, monthly comics publishing is just a drop in the bucket. Oh, there might be some pressure to 'synergize' events in the comics to match the big blockbuster of the summer, but Marvel itself has been doing that since the Bill Jemas period.

Disney is a big enough entity that it can support the House of Mouse, Lost and Pulp Fiction without any wires getting crossed. It's not time for the bunker just yet.

The Geekiest Time of the Year

I refer, of course, to the greatest annual cultural event of my people - the San Diego Comic Con.

It's been over 15 years since I've attended one. Every year I tell myself that perhaps next year I'll get to go back, but inevitably things conspire to keep me away. Still and all, at least I've made the pilgrimage once in my lifetime.

Ironically, the last few Comic Cons have seemed to focus less on comics and more on comic related ventures in other genres. SDCC has become the place to spill news regarding the latest super hero movie, or provide exclusive clips of upcoming television series or showcase new next gen games. As a result, the bulk of the truly epic comic news seemed to have shifted to other events, like the Wizard World conventions in Philly and Chicago, and the recently revived New York Comic Con. (Not to knock any of those august affairs, but SDCC remains king in my inner geek's heart, and likely always will.)

There's a lot of stuff just over the horizon that is likely to be discussed at this year's shindig. At the end of this year we get two more fantasy franchises in The Golden Compass and The Dark is Rising. Next year features The Dark Knight and Iron Man. Lost and Battlestar Galactica are moving into thier respective final phases. JJ Abrams is keeping busy with the Star Trek remake (rumor has it that Zach Quintos, aka Syler from Heroes, will be playing Mr. Spock) and his mysterious "Cloverfield" movie. Lucas, Spielberg and Ford are busy on Indiana Jones IV. And there are still a raft of Narnia movies to be made yet, as well as the last two Harry Potter films.

So, still lots to see and lots to do.

Harry Potter and the Migraine of Doom

So, yes, I went to see Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix yesterday. And yes, I did eventually come to suffer from what can accurately be described as the Migraine of Doom. The one, however, probably did not lead to the other, although it's a good thing epilepsy isn't common in my family, because Lord parts of this movie were flashy enough to trigger it.

Like previous Potter films, a lot of stuff from the books gets left on the cutting room floor. This is even more true with Phoenix, since it's the longest of the series to date. Pretty much any major plot where Harry is only tangentially involved is dropped, and a few important plot points get shifted away to different characters in order to keep the movie's narrative tight.

The interesting thing, to me at least, is what the changes imply for the final Potter novel, due out next week. One of the game changing ideas from the Phoenix novel is the inclusion of a prophecy that seems to apply to Harry but could also be valid for another supporting character in the series. The movie retains the existence of the prophecy but pretty much entirely cuts out the concept that it might apply to anyone else, which suggests to me that the potential game changer is, in fact, something of a red herring.

Also, author JK Rowling has been cited as having told the director of OOTP not to cut out a certain character because of his importance to the plot of book seven. The consensus among viewers is that certain character was the Black family House Elf, Kreacher. The entire House Elf concept has generally been ignored since the second film, and while Kreacher had a major part in the death of Sirius Black in the Phoenix novel, his part in the film is merely long enough to establish his existence and his grudge against the Order of the Phoenix. Curious, that.

The film - as a film - is good, and superior to The Goblet of Fire in my opinion. The director is on board to helm the next movie in the series, HP & The Half-Blood Prince, which will be something of a challenge in that a good chunk of the book is done in flashbacks, with the standard school year stuff taking something of a back seat. There is a hefty chunk of action at the end however, as always.

The last book comes out early Saturday, which is fortuitous: it'll give me something to read on the plane if I end up having to fly out to South Carolina instead of drive.

Along Came a Spider

Spent the weekend at Mom and Dad's, and had a chance to watch Spider-Man 3.

Short Version: 2 was better.

Long Version: I felt there was too much stuff crammed into the film. I'm on record as not liking multiple villians in a film - unless it's a team movie like X-Men - and I think that history shows that it just burns through antagonists without really giving them their due. Doc Ock got a great deal of characterization in Spidey 2 and it made for a better movie. Thomas Haden Church tries to do the same with his portrayal of the Sandman but there's simply not enough time to show much development and Sam Raimi opts to have him do more telling than showing anyhow.

Frankly, I think they would have been much better served cutting Venom from the film almost entirely. Keep the symbiote and the black costume, but have the fight at the end be just against Sandman and wrap the film up with the Osborne stuff and the obligatory Peter/MJ scene. Then credits... followed by a Pirates of the Caribbean style stinger where Eddie Brock comes across the rejected symbiote.

In lieu of that, they could have gained a little more time for character work by trimming back that godawful Dark Peter strut through NYC and the jazz bar dance number.

Gwen was pretty, but underused. The Aunt May scenes didn't really contribute much either, in my opinion.

Even with all my criticism, it was still a pretty good movie. Just nowhere near as solid as Spider-Man 2. There's still plenty of stories that can be told, and the franchise is strong enough that it can survive a new cast and director if the right people come in to replace the current bunch. It's worked for the Bond franchise, after all.

Overall, I'd say 3 stars (off a 5 star scale). It's already broken box office records, so what matters quality?

Does this presage a better than average summer season? There are a raft of films I'm actually interested in seeing in the theaters this summer, which has not been the case in the last few years.

It's April 25th, Do You Know Where Your Advent Children Are?

I'm a sucker for Final Fantasy.

Yeah, I know - with the franchise up to Final Fantasy XII at this point it's become a little bit silly to refer to them as final fantasies, but you have to go with the brand name recognition.

Final Fantasy: Advent Children is the CGI movie sequel to the original Final Fantasy VII game for the Playstation - a game that has become a landmark in the RPG genre, if not gaming in general. In fact, FFVII has such a hold on the zeitgeist of much of the modern day gamer culture you occassionally find people that actually express surprise that it wasn't the first Final Fantasy game available over here in the States.

Also, its lead villian Sephiroth, has become something of a cult anti-hero in himself. Never mind the fact that he doesn't actually appear much in the game and is kind of a wuss. I think the reason he's endeared himself to Geek Nation is the fact that he's one of the first video game villians that actually reached out and hurt his audience, because - let's face it - there were an awful lot of fanboys out there that had not so secret crushes on Aerith. Her murder gave players a good reason to track Sephy down beyond just the ho-hum save the world aspects, and made the much more linear FFVII endgame worth slogging through. (See? Revenge can be a positive motivator.)

So how is the sequel? Well, it's very pretty. Kinda confusing though. I'm not entirely sure it was neccessary, from a story point of view.

For all its convoluted storytelling (wha? Cloud's not really who? He's a what?) Final Fantasy VII managed to wrap up its plot and leave things at a satisfactory place. Other entries in the series, like Final Fantasy X, clearly needed a followup in order to resolve various loose ends. Although a dress-up game might not have been my first choice. Ah, well.

Personally, I want to see the world and characters of Final Fantasy VIII revisited, as I think you could wring some more interesting stories out of a bunch of those guys, particularly Seifer and Quistis. But then I'm one of those rare North American FFVIII fanboys, and we are few and far between, it seems.

So be it. Ya'll enjoy your VII CGI porn.

Harry Potter 4

I saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire today. In short, while it was a perfectly fine film, I don't think it's quite as good as Prisoner of Azkaban was. It's mostly a collection of little things, but my major criticism is that Goblet just seems to lack that palpable sense of dread that Alfonso Cuarón managed to inject into Azkaban.

Goblet of Fire was a fairly long novel, and director Mike Newell wisely chose to leave out some of the more non-essential plotlines (including, thankfully, the truly dreadful Hermionie-led Elf Liberation Front. Gag.) but some of his editing choices seem a little counter-intuitive. Without having read the novel, I'm not sure I could have sussed out exactly how Harry managed to survive his encounter with Voldemort. Speaking of which, Ralph Fiennes is sufficiently creepy as the not quite human looking Dark Lord of the Not Sith. The FX were very good all around in fact, so no complaints about switching back to the pre-POA effects team.

Again, I'm not trying to imply that it was a bad movie. I'm just slightly disappointed that it didn't have the sense of movement that Prisoner of Azkaban did.

Also, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint are both in dire need of a haircut. Just saying.

About trailers: I acknowledge that it looks technically amazing, but so far I've found it extremely difficult to work up any strong feelings regarding King Kong. I'm very disappointed that my theater didn't have the Superman Returns teaser attached. Very disappointed.

Double Your Franchise, Butcher Your Box Office

Uwe Boll. Why does he torment us so?

And seriously, who keeps giving him money to make more movies?

My Inner Geek Wept Joyfully

HALO. Peter Jackson.

Joy.

No, he's not directing. At least not yet. But he and fellow LOTR vet Fran Walsh are producing, which leads me to think there's a very high probability that WETA will be doing the SFX. Which could make for some truly epic Earth/Covenant/Flood ground action.

There's only one thing that could ruin a HALO movie for me: showing the Master Chief without armor. HALO is unique among big title films in that it doesn't need a star, and would only be hurt by casting someone with a Name as the Master Chief.

Keep the original voice cast, at least for Master Chief and Cortana. For stunt casting purposes you could get Carl Weathers to play Sgt. Johnson or Battlestar Galactica's Grace Park as Miranda Keyes. (Well, she'd be in the sequel, I guess.)

We're Number Two! Shiny!

Serenity's opening weekend placed it at Number Two for the weekend, grossing a little over $10 million in 3 days.

Okay, so Revenge of the Sith did that with just the midnight screening. Not the point. Serenity only cost $40 million to make, so you figure that it's already recouped 1/4th of it's dev costs. That's very good news if you're hoping for sequels, which I am.

It boggles the mind, however, that so many people would choose to watch that insipid Jodie Foster airplane flick. (Honestly, I thought the insipid new Jessica Alba flick would be the real competition. Lousy movie, but hey! Jessica Alba!)

There's no accounting for taste, I guess.

Serenity Today

I am a leaf on the wind. Watch me soar.

I just got back from the local 4:05 showing.

I liked it, which will probably come as no great shock. It's not a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination but it may be the best sci-fi movie I've seen this year. (Star Wars is CGI porn - it doesn't count.)

Some of the characters come off as a little more ruthless, or at least less white hat-ish than they did in the series, which is good. There's been a raging debate around the blogosphere and on usenet about whether or not Firefly is libertarian in nature. It's anti-big-government at least, and the crew of the Serenity cut a pretty libertarian path across space. Part of what drives the plot is the Alliance's desire to perfect the species and 'make things better' - something our anti-heroes have no faith in.

There's more than one cast death - one of them you can see coming, the other hits you very much out of the blue.

The bad guy is softspoken but effectively menacing, moreso because Whedon doesn't follow the cliche of "every villian sees himself as the hero" - his villian knows he's evil, knows he'll never see the promised land, and yet still does his evil deeds because that's his role in the grand scheme of things, and the end justifies his means.

Everyone looks great for the most part, although there are some shots of Nathan Fillion that are lit from below that aren't too flattering. But it's made up for with this totally glorious shot of River standing over a mountain of vict.. well, go see for yourself.

Also, Joss must be thinking ahead - Inara is equipped with a longbow in one firefight. What movie being supervised by Joss Whedon might have need for a female warrior woman? I wonder...

We get plenty of answers to things started in the series, but we don't get everything. And there's plenty of room for a sequel if the film does well.

The showing I went to wasn't very populated, but I do live in a town of about two to three thousand tops. Go catch a matinee if nothing else - with Star Wars finished and Star Trek comatose, we need science fiction that isn't 'monster of the week' or 'videogame movie directed by Uwe Boll' schlock.

Speaking of which (well, at least in the sense of a videogame movie, in this case not directed by Uwe Boll but still borrowing from the sentiment) I caught the trailer for Doom at the start of Serenity. Other than the mild novelty of watching large chunks of the movie in actual FPS mode I can't say I saw too much of interest.

They also ran the trailer for Jarhead, which wants to be Platoon so badly it's palpable.