The Transformers: Robots in Disguise series has had a pretty tough reception. Thought not one of the worst series in the franchise it has the unfortunate luck of being the follow up to Transformers:Prime, which fans agree is one of the best. This has led many to offer harsh criticism against the show.
The graphic novel, which contains all the issues based on the show follows Bumblebee and his team as they work to hunt down escaped Decepticon prisoners. Unbeknownst to them, the other members of Bumblebee`s previous team are on Earth as well and are conducting an investigation of their own.
The story is a side event which helps to shows more of the connection between Transformers:Prime and the RID TV series. The lack of references to events in the previous show was one of the criticisms against RID. Over the years fans have come to appreciate the attention to detail and continuity which they know creators can insert into shows if they simply exercise time and effort. The graphic novel is able to tell a proper story and address issues from the show. Sadly, the story they tell tries to tackle a deep issue about a conspiracy involving Bumblebee`s first case but unfortunately it doesn’t come off as deep or character changing in way which will stick with the reader when it’s over.
The art is off a bit. Trying to present the animated versions of the characters results in them being less striking than they are in the show. This often results in them having very comical appearances and expression even in tense scenes of action. Priscilla Tramontano was able to offer lots of references to other Transformers franchises which many fans will appreciate. There is even a reference to the other IDW Transformer comics as Fixit is seen holding the “My first blaster” gun introduced in Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye. They were definitely trying to make make sure the fans were pleased with this work.
Overall, they succeeded. The books is a great way to tie up some of the loose ends which are left over from Transformers:Prime. It’s just not a must read as the drama in it is a bit weak and wrapped up in neatly with bow by the end of it.
With the upcoming buzz for the DC animated feature, The Killing Joke, it is an interesting note to see just how much animated movies and television series based on comic books have greatly matured over the years. While there are many series that cater to younger audiences there are many depictions of these characters with the grit and complexities that satisfy an adult audience.
Credit: DC Comics
The Killing Joke is based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Brian Bollard, focusing on both the origins of the Joker, and his attempt to break both Batman’s and Commissioner Gordon’s view of justice by putting them through “one bad day”. This is also the story famous, or infamous, for Barbara Gordon being crippled and becoming Oracle for decades within the DC continuity.
What is intriguing about this adaptation is seeing how far super hero films have come from their Saturday morning origins. Having evolved tremendously from the days of the “Super-Friends” and other series, in both form and execution.
Many of these changes stemming, ironically, with Batman: The Animated Series. Taking a page out of the philosophies of authors Robert Heinlein and Ronald Dahl the series didn’t dumb down the narratives in the series for their audience. Episodes dealt with drug abuse, depression, child abuse, social apathy, age discrimination, and, most prominently, the haunting effect of death on a human being.
Few of these issues were examined in the children’s programing, and usually it was akin to G.I. Joes’ “Knowledge is Half the Battle” segment. Furthermore, it is interesting that when both Marvel and DC began making their own animated features, their stories began to take on greater complexities normally left out of weekly television programming.
Credit: DC Comics
They weren’t forced to sanitize the story to make sure children (or their parents), wouldn’t freak out over disturbing themes or images. One would not have dreamt of putting The Killing Joke onto the screen twenty, or even ten, years ago. But now animated movies and series are no longer just for children.
Granted, there have been many attempts at creating mature cartoon films and series, but in their attempt at divorcing themselves from the juvenile audience, they alienate their adult audience, too. They require subtlety, nuances that don’t insult the viewers. Even the evolution of Batman as a character isn’t an in your face change. And as such he hasn’t lost the timeless quality that has come to define his legacy.
Whether the adaptation will compliment or be an affront to the source material, it’s beyond doubt the medium of cartoons has branched out from its family friendly origins.
Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book is a curious oddity. Disney’s latest live-action reimagining is at once revolutionary and familiar, both groundbreaking and yet fairly mundane. Revamping Rudyard Kipling’s enduring 1984 collection of stories for the new age with immersive state-of-the-art, WETA-produced CG visual trickery, it’s a visual wonder, but one that lacks any real distinction from previous iterations of this tale —especially from the studio’s previous animated classic from 1967. It’s never less than impressive, but at the same time, it feels a little cold and — beyond displaying the company’s ever-growing technical achievements — it also seems a little pointless. But it’s still an invigorated, stunningly well-made and sporadically heartfelt adaptation. And in that sense, it covers the bare necessities of what it needs to do.
Born a human but raised by wolves, Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a rarity in the jungle. Neither respected nor feared among the various creatures of the wilderness, he humbly lives his days guided through the loving, sympathetic support of his tribe, particularly his patient omega mother Raksha (Lupita Nyong’o) and their alpha leader Akela (Giancarlo Esposito). Adapting against his disadvantages, he’s trained by his wise caretaker panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) to survive the unforgiving conditions of his surroundings. But Bagheera’s attentive eye isn’t enough to protect Mowgli from Shere Khan (Idris Elba), a menacing tiger set on revenge after Mowgli’s late father disfigured his face with the “red flower,” a.k.a fire.
Knowing full well what humans can do with this mysterious and unstoppable plantation, Khan sets out to kill Mowgli hoping to save his home from its inevitable doom. And while the other animals don’t understand him, they know in their hearts that Mowgli is no real threat and — well aware that Khan’s patience is limited — send Bagheera to take him away to the human village, where he’ll be safe once-and-for-all. But Khan tracks them soon enough in their travels, and after Mowgli narrowly escapes the tiger’s ever-watching wrath with Bagheera trailing behind, the impressionable young man-cub finds himself under the sage guidance of Baloo (Bill Murray), a lazy-at-heart, height-fearing grizzly bear that teaches him about the simpler pleasures of life, like honey, long naps, music and riding down the lazy river. But life isn’t quite as easy as Baloo would make it seem, and before he can learn the final chorus to “The Bare Necessities,” he winds up under the throne of a different leader, the gargantuan orangutan King Louie (Christopher Walken), who wants Mowgli to teach him the ways of the humans.
Filmed almost entirely on a small soundstage, all while never feeling less than approachable and lived-in its computer-generated backdrops, comparisons to James Cameron’s record-breaking Avatar are simply inevitable. Both are about as technically impressive as blockbusters come these days. But at the same time, the novelty of each quickly begins to wear out once your eyes officially settle into the visual wonder on it all. From there, the story needs to kick in to make this one truly stand out. And as visually stimulating as both can be, both suffer from fairly constricted narratives.
Sadly, there’s something uncomfortably generic and largely ho-hum about this Jungle Book, beyond its resounding special effects. It doesn’t feel vital or substantial, and Favreau doesn’t seem interested in crafting any new ideas into this timeless story. In fact, this new movie is perhaps a little too faithful to the original in-house take, with new renditions of “I Want to Be Like You” and the aforementioned “The Bare Necessities” coming across shoehorned-in, inorganic and a little awkward this time around. But at the same time, there’s something oddly enjoyable in how they’re performed here. Walken’s first variation of Louie’s diddy (he sings it again during an imaginative little end credits sequence) is almost unintentionally comical in how its sung as both endearing and a threat by the Oscar-winner. And no matter what, I can never truly complain about getting the chance to hear Murray Baloo’s signature tune — arguably my favorite Disney song ever by the way.
And Favreau’s work isn’t passionless by any means. As always, his action is pulsating and fluid, displaying his signature sense of craftsmanship and showmanship with every rousing scene. But it lacks his signature personality. There’s a distinct director-for-hire feel to his work this time around. Even his weaker efforts, namely Cowboys and Aliens, had more spunk in their step in comparison to this one. There’s just something cold and aloof about this one — almost as if it were generated by a system or, worse, a machine than a heart-driven filmmaker. I hope this isn’t a sign of what’s to come for him.
He’s such a thoughtful, energetic, passionate director that it would be a shame to see him not live up to his full potential if he were to go on cruise control for the Mouse House from here-on-out. Word has it Disney is already moving forward on a sequel, and, frankly, I’d rather see Favreau do something more substantial with his time and career. His last film, Chef, for all its problems, at least felt invigorated, and even the messy Iron Man 2 had some burning zest at its core. While his direction is as competent, poised and assured as ever, but there’s little pride in his storytelling this time around.
But that suggests The Jungle Book 2016 is a completely soulless effort, and it’s not. At least, not entirely. The message about self-acceptance, the power of loyalty and the value of family comes with enough earnestness and sincerity to sell, and that’s thanks mainly to the persistently charming cast. Murray, Walken, Elba and the late Gary Shandling, as the nebbish porcupine Ikki, are the stand-outs among the all-star voice ensemble, while Sethi brings a wide-eyed purity and innocence to the lead performance — even when his line delivery can be a little too stiff for its own good. But to his credit, considering the 13-year-old had to not only carry his first movie on his own shoulders but act among imaginary supporting characters and an endless sea of green screen, I think he deserves a little slack. He does a commendable, ardent job and brings a genuine aesthetic to the film that’s severely absent without him.
Following up Kenneth Branagh’s surprisingly sweeping live-action Cinderella remake from this time last year, Favreau’s The Jungle Book can definitely seem a little lacking. While not necessarily uninspired, it doesn’t seem tactile or fervent enough to really stick the landing. But at the same time, compared to cynically-produced ugliness known as Maleficent and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, it’s definitely a step-up for the studio. I’m not sure how long this new live-action subgenre of remaking/reimagining classic studio films will last, but they’re taking some steps in the right direction. I just hope they find a little more purpose next time. It’s hard to completely forget about your worries and your strafes when watching Favreau’s vision come to life, but there’s still enough spirit and awe here to make this wildlife tale come alive.
Jimmy Kimmel Live is doing Marvel week leading into the release Captain America: Civil War (still a few weeks out), and last night he had on Paul Rudd, Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie, and Sebastian Stan on to discuss the film. They also showed a clip of Rudd’s Ant-Man first meets Cap.
Here’s the clip and the interview afterwards:
We all know the early reviews of Civil War are looking good right now. We also know Spider-Man is involved in a solid half hour of the action, which seems just about perfect. Who knows?
Pretty soon, lucky fans in several cities around the country will get a look at the film before its May 6 release, so reactions will shoot through the roof. Of course, early reaction to Batman v Superman was positive and… well…
Producer Frank Marshall gave a few details about the upcoming Indiana Jones 5, and also discussed the future of Harrison Ford’s iconic character. Turns out, they aren’t gonna do “The Bond thing” and bring in new actors in the future. We’ll see about that.
Marshall spoke to Variety about Harrison Ford being the only Indiana Jones:
“It’s all about the story. I think both in the ‘Jason Bourne’ series and on ‘Indiana Jones,’ we are not going to do the Bond thing… We think those characters are iconic, and those are the only actors who can play that.”
Of course Jeremy Renner tried to take the mantle of Bourne from Matt Damon, but it didn’t work. And he wasn’t Jason Bourne, so I see where he’s coming from. He also talked about Indiana Jones 5, which Ford and Steven Spielberg are getting to pretty quickly (the film is set for a July 2019 release). This new Indy will be a continuation of the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull. Now, this could be taken any number of ways. Sure this will be a continuation of the characters, meaning Karen Allen and The LaBeouf could be back in the fold.
Let’s hope it means only this, and not that there will be some sort of narrative spillover from the fourth film, who most like to pretend never happened.
Early 90s B-movie action purists will remember Dolph Lundgren’s sci-fi cop thriller Dark Angel as I Come in Peace. The shooting and international title is, in fact, Dark Angel, but the title was changed to I Come in Peace stateside to avoid confusion with two other films from the 20s and 30s named Dark Angel (like that would happen). I Come in Peace is a cooler name by a country mile, and it also happens to be the catchphrase for the film’s giant blonde antagonist, a white-eyed alien here to steal human endorphins by goosing us with a lethal dose of heroin. Here is a definitive 1990 camp thriller, one managing to have every cop-flick action cliché known to man, while at the same time managing to build a detailed background of this alien race and the politics on his home planet.
1990 was also a time when we were dead set on turning the incredibly uncharismatic Dolph Lundgren into a leading man. With all the range he showed in Rocky IV, no wonder studios wanted this ripped Swede to share the box office with Schwarzenegger. I love Lundgren, and he seems to be making a comeback since his name is up next on the pop-culture nostalgia conveyor, but let’s not pretend he resembles anything close to a competent thespian. They tried with Masters of The Universe, they tried with The Punisher (guilty pleasure. You know you like it too.), and these big budget attempts didn’t take. So his next option was to get steady work in some undercard thrillers. Like I Come in Peace, where he plays Jack Caine, a Houston vice cop who… wait for it… is not on the Captain’s good side.
Yes, Jack is a rebel at The Force, a cop who works under his own rules, doesn’t have time for a skinny, bookish new FBI partner (Brian Benben), and doesn’t let the actual law impede his enforcement of it. And lest we forget an item on the checklist, he recently broke up with his girlfriend. He’s just the sort of cop America needs when a gigantic blonde alien – Talec is his name – begins killing people with really sharp flying CDs and injecting them with heroin to spike their endorphins so he can then harvest them. This is all highly illegal and expensive according to the other alien, Azeck, the good one, who’s hot on the trail of Talec and drops this plot exposition while dying in the back of Jack’s car.
The pursuit of Talec also dovetails into Jack’s pursuit of Victor Manning (Sherman Howard), the drug dealer getting ripped off by Talec. Manning and his cronies are stock villains built at the 90s B-villain factory, which is why the aliens are so crucial to the ultimate enjoyment of the movie. I Come in Peace isn’t much for human characterization, but director Craig R. Baxley and writers Jonathan Tydor and David Koepp (DAVID KOEPP!) pay great attention to the backstory of these extraterrestrial villains. That’s where the film separates itself from similar schlock of the time. Giving Talec firm motivation, and even adding in an alien cop to pursue him to earth, are extra steps in the development of these antagonists where most films of this ilk wouldn’t bother.
Disney must be very, very happy with Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book right now. The live-action remake is currently rocking a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and early projections predict it’ll soon join the $1 billion club after it comes out this Friday. With all this excellent pre-release buzz, it should hardly come to any surprise that Disney is already setting up a sequel under their banner. After all, what would Disney be without a sequel to one of their successful films? And it looks like they want to keep a good thing going with Favreau is talks to return to the director’s chair.
TheWrap reported on the sequel news. In addition to Favreau returning to direct and produce the new film, screenwriter Justin Marks is also coming back to pen the continued adaptation of Rudyard Kupling’s beloved text of the same name. Lead child star Neel Sethi, additionally, is slated to come back on screen, and voice actors Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson and Lupita Nyong’o are also expected to lend their voices for a second round. It’s one big, wild reunion in the works here.
This, of course, isn’t the only live-action adaptation sequel in the works under Disney’s name, as they also have Alice Through the Looking Glass scheduled for May 27 and a Maleficent sequel rumored since the original’s release. And this is in addition to the countless other re-imaginings in the works at the moment, including a Pete’s Dragon remake on August 12 and a new Beauty and the Beast on March 17, 2017. And while I’ll had some problems with Favreau’s latest (I’ll talk more about them in my review later this week), I’ll admit that this and last year’s Cinderella are definitely a step in the right direction for this new sub-genre from the studio.
They certainly feel more inspired, heartfelt and far less cynically produced than 2010’s Alice in Wonderland or 2014’s ill-fated aforementioned Maleficent, and I can only hope they continue to get better as they go along. I feel like Pete’s Dragon, in particular, could truly be something special, and I wish nothing but the best for Favreau and his team moving forward with this sequel.
Outlander, a Starz-original TV show based on a series of novels of the same name written by Diana Gabaldon, is back with a second season. Although Outlander might not technically qualify as science fiction from a genre perspective–it doesn’t allude to a fictional scientific breakthrough or a speculative future either utopian or dystopian–, the name of the person who developed Outlander for TV, Ronald D. Moore, may set off a few science fiction red alerts. Moore was integral in fleshing out both the Klingon and Ferengi cultures in Star Trek: The Next Generation. And, Moore wrote or co-wrote some of the most popular Berman-era Star Trek episodes, including Star Trek: The Next Generation’s fan-favourite series finale All Good Things …
Moore was also responsible in large part for the successful re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica in 2004, working as the show’s developer and as one of its writers. So, I was pretty excited when I heard about this unique show that was developed for TV by the godfather of the Klingon culture and would feature a time-traveling World War II combat nurse portrayed well by Caitriona Balfe.
I won’t summarize the first season here but I will say that Outlander‘s first season surprised me. I had expected a lot more discussion about time travel and the nature of altering history from a show that was developed by Ronald D. Moore and involves sending its main character 200 years back in time. This lack of speculation on altering history, especially the main character’s own personal history, made the first season of Outlander seem more like a historical Soap Opera than a Science Fiction show. That being said, it was a well done historical Soap Opera that touched on issues like spousal abuse, psychological torture, rape, and the nature of love. And, although the first episode, “Through a Glass, Darkly,” doesn’t represent a total departure from Outlander’s first season, it does seem to promise an approach more rooted in science fiction or fantasy than its first season was. But, enough pontificating, first a recap of “Through A Glass, Darkly” …
Outlander Season 2 “Through A Glass, Darkly” – The Recap
If you watched Outlander last season you were probably, like me, surprised by the way Outlander Season 2 started. The audience sees Claire in a familiar stone circle frantically searching for something. She finds a ring in the dirt. A visibly upset Claire stumbles down a road until she comes upon a car–this definitely isn’t the 18th century where the audience left Claire last season. As the driver of the vehicle tells Claire while she holds him up by his collar, it’s the year 1948 and the English won the Battle of Culloden.
It’s a difficult reunion for Claire and her 20th century husband Frank made even worse by the fact that Claire, picturing Frank’s ancestor Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall, recoils in disgust whenever Frank touches her. Showing an exceptional level of understanding, Frank first tells Claire that he doesn’t care where she’s been and is only happy that she’s back. He even takes in Claire’s wild tale of time travel and marriage to another man with relative understanding. It’s not until Claire reveals that she’s pregnant with Jamie’s child that Frank loses his cool and nearly strikes his time-traveling wife, the reality of their predicament setting in.
After a discussion with his host and friend Reverend Wakefield, though, Frank decides to raise the baby as his own rather than dwelling on the fact that the child’s true father is a long-dead Scottish Highlander. Claire agrees that the child should be raised as Frank’s son and that she will stop researching the fate of her 18th century husband Jamie Fraser. Frank in turn swears never to use the word “flogged” in Claire’s presence.
Their terms discussed, the two talk about the future. Frank has decided to accept a posting at Harvard, and the two must move to Boston. So, after a symbolic burning of Claire’s 18th century get-up the two fly to America. As Claire steps out of the plane she has a flashback to the day she landed in Le Havre, France more than 200 years ago in the company of her other husband, Jamie Fraser.
Tobias Menzies gets to play both ends of the spectrum in Outlander
So, after the relatively surprising beginning to Outlander Season 2, the audience is taken back to where it left Claire and Jamie at the end of the first season. Jamie is recovering from injuries suffered during his rape and torture by “Black Jack” Randall. And, because of one of the only bits of discussion about changing history from Outlander’s first season, Claire and Jamie have sailed to France in an attempt to stop the Jacobite rebellion before it can be wiped out at the Battle of Culloden. Claire feels that this is the best way to ensure that the Highland culture that Jamie is a part of isn’t destroyed.
The rest of “Through a Glass, Darkly” was similar to Outlander’s first season in that it was a relatively straight-ahead period melodrama aside from the fact that Claire knows vague information about some future events, including the fact that the Jacobite rebellion ends with their brutal defeat at the Battle of Culloden. In a productive meeting with Jamie’s Jacobite uncle Jared Fraser, publicly a successful wine merchant, Jamie convinces Jared that he and Claire are loyal to the Jacobite cause. Jared also gives Jamie a 35 percent cut in all profits that come from his wine business if Jamie will oversee it while Jared is away.
In the final scenes of “Through a Glass, Darkly,” Claire’s authority as a healer is once again challenged by an idiotic man with selfish interests: Le Comte St. Germain vows to get revenge on Claire, Jamie, and Jared when Claire exposes a smallpox outbreak that’s traced back to St. Germain’s ship. The authorities seize and burn the ship with all its cargo. Claire doesn’t waste any time making new friends, does she?
Outlander Season 2 “Through a Glass, Darkly” – My Critique
Much like Tobias Menzies, I’m a supporter of Team Frank, not Team Jack
Like I said above, it was good to start the season off with some mention of Claire’s temporal duality. Without any mention of time travel, Outlander may as well be Game of Thrones. This first episode of Outlander Season 2 reminded me of Tobias Menzies‘s (Frank/Jonathan Randall) emotive range. Menzies’s portrayal of Jack Randall last season left my skin crawling, and his portrayal of Jack Randall’s descendant Frank is as touching as his portrayal of Jack is unsettling.
Although I enjoyed the half and half approach taken in the Outlander Season 2 premiere, I don’t imagine that Outlander will continue using this format. One wonders what kind of drama could be cooked up in post-WWII Boston that would compare to the inevitable betrayal and violence involved in attempting to suppress the Jacobite rebellion from the inside. Having never read the series of novels by Diana Gabaldon, I can’t claim any insight into the outcome or structure that the show will take but I’m happy to wait and see where this story of 20th-century feminism in the 18th century goes.
Unlike Batman v Superman, it’s not all grim and dour! Episode one of The UnPOP Podcast also shells out plenty of love for the Batman animated films while also taking a look at living life as creatives in Hollywood. Each week the hosts, Curtis Waugh (Me! Hear my voice!) and Brock Powell, will filter all manner of pop culture trends and the latest movie releases through their specific nerd lens.
In this initial episode the show takes on the idea of bingeing content through a focused “Bat-binge”, discusses what “The Screening Room” might mean for theater goers and tackles the thousand-pound wet fish, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Have a topic you’d like to hear UnPOPPED? Send any comments/love/vitriol to unpopentertainment@gmail.com
Follow the show on Twitter @UnpopPodcast and the guys @curtwaugh and @thebrockyroad!
NEXT WEEK: You’ll find out the true answer to the question, “Xbox or Playstation?” as we’ll be binge gaming in anticipation of the first-person action film, Hardcore Henry.
‘Captain America: Civil War’ is less than a month away, and the press tour has begun. ‘Civil War’ will change the landscape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it will be time to look to the future Avengers to lead the way.
One Avenger that is front and center in Civil War II for Marvel Comics is Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige talked with Fandango about when to expect an announcement on a director and casting for the ‘Captain Marvel’ film.
“I think we’ll be announcing a filmmaker in the next month or two, and probably some cast members later in the summer, at the end of the summer,” said Feige.
This year’s San Diego Comic-Con is from July 21-24, is that late enough in the summer for Feige, or is the MCU mastermind planning another private Marvel Studios event to unveil plans for Phase Four. (The Phase Three announcement was in October 2014.) Marvel has three unannounced films planned for 2020.
Nicole Perlman and Meg LeFauve have already been tapped for the script, ‘Captain Marvel’ is scheduled for release on March 8, 2016.
Carol Danvers is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and designed by artist Gene Colan, Major Carol Danvers first appeared as a member of the United States Air Force in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (March 1968) and debuted as the first incarnation of Ms. Marvel in Ms. Marvel #1 (January 1977) after a fusion of alien Kree and human genes gives her superhuman powers, which occurred in Captain Marvel #18 (November 1969).
