Matthew Sardo spoke with writer Michael Moreci about his new book from Image Comics ROCHE LIMIT: CLANDESTINY #1.
The conversation spans; creative influences, creator struggles, Joss Whedon, internet trolls, gender issues in comics, and what elements make up good science fiction.
Tuesday, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Jason Momoa, star of Game of Thrones and soon to be Aquaman in the DC Universe, will be joining Antoine Fuqua’s Magnificent Seven remake. The remake of the 1960 Western, which has been done and redone over the years – and was in itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai – has been acquiring more and more compelling talent over the last several weeks. Perhaps this will be enough talent to outweigh the expectations of a film slated for a January 2017 release date.
Along with Momoa, the Magnificent Seven remake will feature both Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, who both grabbed Oscar nominations (and a win for Washington) for Training Day, their first collaborations with Fuqua. Newly anointed superstar Chris Pratt will be along for the ride, as will Vincent D’Onofrio in, what else, the villain role.
Deadline also reported Tuesday that Byung-hun Lee, upcoming villain in Terminator: Genisys and star of the G.I. Joe films, has landed a role in this Magnificent Seven remake as a character named Billy Rocks. Other cast members include Wagner Moura, Luke Grimes, and Haley Bennett.
The impressive cast doesn’t seem to fit with the announced release date of January 13, 2017. January is typically the wasteland of Hollywood, where they dump movies in which they are supremely unconfident. Films like I, Frankenstein and The Boy Next Door belong in January, not a Magnificent Seven remake with such an all-star lineup and a proven director like Fuqua, whose upcoming film Southpaw is already generating some buzz. Perhaps, once the film comes together and begins filming, the release date will be pushed to a more favorable slot in 2017. Only time will tell.
In and of itself, Batman vs. Robin is a fairly entertaining new entry in the DC Original Animated Features series, and as a sequel it actually improves upon its predecessor, 2014’s Son of Batman. But as an adaptation of the critically acclaimed “Court of Owls” storyline featured in issues of Batman in 2011, it falls woefully short and does a terrible disservice to the work of those who created the Court for the comics, writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo.
The feature’s story picks up a few months after the events of Son of Batman, with 10-year-old Damian Wayne (voiced by Stuart Allan) having fully assumed the mantle of Robin in Gotham City, though kept on a very short leash by Batman/Bruce Wayne (voiced by Jason O’Mara), as the two still struggle with their father/son/partner dynamic. Batman’s most consistent message to Damian is “Justice, not vengeance”, and it’s a message Damian continues to struggle with thanks to his years of training as the future leader of R’as Al Ghul’s League of Assassins. The tension between the two is made worse by Batman’s efforts to keep Damian’s presence and identity a secret from the public eye until he can finalize adopting the boy as his ward, just as he did with Dick Grayson years before, and Damian finding ways to escape the confines of Wayne Manor in order to get out into the city and be Robin.
The conflict comes to a head when a new antagonist, Talon (voiced by Jeremy Sisto), appears during one of Damian’s “escapes” and actively encourages the boy to follow his more bloodthirsty inclinations. Talon offers Damian a place at his side rather than at Batman’s in order to fight crime in Gotham the way it should be fought — with lethal force. Considering how poorly he’s been getting along with his father, it’s an offer Damian takes seriously, and one he keeps secret from the Dark Knight.
But Talon’s agenda isn’t entirely his own. He acts on behalf of the mysterious Court of Owls, which apparently has existed for hundreds of years, since the founding of Gotham City, and from the shadows has steered the path of the city thanks to its members being among the city’s wealthy and influential elite. Led by its current Grandmaster (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes), the Court has set its sights on Bruce Wayne and his new vision for modernizing Gotham City for the new century, and naturally sees Batman as an obstacle to its grand designs. What better way to occupy the Bat’s attention, or even destroy him entirely, than to have him dealing with Talon and a suddenly rebellious partner?
Where Batman vs. Robin most clearly improves upon its predecessor is in the performances of its voice cast, all of whom are just a little more experienced and comfortable playing these roles. The winner of the “Most Improved” award in this regard is young Stuart Allan, whose line reads and inflections don’t sound nearly as forced or stiff as they did in his first turn as Damian Wayne. A big help to the voice performances improvement all around is a stronger, more natural-sounding script from veteran comics scribe J.M. DeMatteis (DC’s Justice League Dark and Justice League 3000) and a couple of newcomers to the cast who themselves have provided the voice of Batman in other DC animated features. Jeremy Sisto (“Law and Order”), who in 2008 gave voice to Batman in Justice League: The New Frontier, and the man whose voice is perhaps most often associated with Batman, Kevin Conroy, both turn in compelling work here; so compelling, in fact, that they inadvertently reinforce the reality that Jason O’Mara’s Batman voice is serviceable, but hardly exemplary.
In terms of the animation, Batman vs. Robin stays consistent with the look and feel of the previous features based on stories coming out of DC’s “The New 52” — there’s some overuse of computer animation versus hand-drawn for car chase scenes and larger set pieces, but this is a cost-cutting measure that’s certainly not new to WB Animation efforts. If anything, the film’s numerous fight scenes don’t quite measure up in terms of creative choreography and energy to the ones seen in Son of Batman, but that’s more on director Jay Oliva than it is on the animators themselves.
But where this feature most significantly and memorably disappoints is in its treatment of the Court of Owls storyline, which truthfully deserved its own feature if WB Animation and DC Entertainment meant to give the source material its due. Here, the concepts built into the landmark work of Snyder and Capullo, which made the launch of Batman as part of “The New 52” easily one of the most compelling reads in the entire line, are reduced to playing a supporting role in the story of Bruce and Damian’s growing pains as father and son. The mind games, the psychological warfare that the Court wages upon Batman as he painfully discovers that their power and influence might be more than he and his allies can overcome, is relegated to a handful of scenes which lack any sense at all that the lives of Batman or Bruce Wayne are affected in any meaningful way in their aftermath. It all comes off as a cheat, a gimmick meant to serve marketing purposes, and perhaps an indication that the folks at Warner Bros. didn’t or don’t believe that a feature based solely on the Court of Owls would sell well, as opposed to something as straightforward as something titled “Batman vs. Robin.”
All that said, completists who have invested in all of these direct-to-video DC Animated Features will no doubt wish to own Batman vs. Robin, anyway, and may even fork over the premium to have the collectible Batman figure included in the deluxe edition. Buyer beware: this figure is slightly larger than any of those included in the previous editions, which were also only available through Best Buy stores, and thus will look strange up on that shelf where you’re keeping all the other figures in the line. And don’t bother with the special features on this blu-ray, either — aside from the sneak peek at the next feature in the series, Justice League: Gods and Monsters, there’s little worth your attention. In fact, if you attempt to watch the overly lengthy featurette “Gotham City’s Secret: The Mythic Court of Owls”, which includes interviews with the Court’s creators about all that went into creating the mythology, symbology, and methodology of the Court of Owls, you’ll realize even more just how much more they could have done with the concept had it gotten its own stand-alone Batman feature, and how much more satisfying that effort might have been than what audiences actually got.
Batman vs. Robin
Starring the voice talents of Jason O’Mara, Stuart Allan, Sean Maher, Jeremy Sisto, David McCallum, Grey Griffin, “Weird Al” Yankovic and Kevin Conroy. Directed by Jay Oliva.
Running Time: 76 minutes
Rated PG-13 for intense action and violence, suggestive images and thematic elements.
Bryan Singer recently announced on Periscope and Collider that he will be releasing an extended cut of his most recent X-Men: Days of Future Past. The extended cut, subtitled Rogue Cut, will come out on July 14, which is the 15th anniversary of the original X-Men film.
Aside from being 17 minutes longer, Singer also said there would be some additional boys features on the new cut. Writer Simon Kinberg also told Collider a little about the extended footage, which is heavy on Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart:
“It was like, ‘What would it be like to have Patrick and Ian on a road trip together?’ And that was kind of, you know, it got condensed as I wrote it and then when we shot it, but it was just a sub-plot. It was a perfectly good sub-plot and people will see it one day, and Anna was great in it and it was well-directed; it just didn’t serve the overall story. And it didn’t, it never did, it was created outside the core story. As a result, when you watched the movie, you were like, ‘Why are we on this detour, on a movie that already has two time periods, two types of Sentinels, 10-12 main characters, just as a lark?’ And so it ended up getting cut.”
Personally, I have never been able to connect with the X-Men franchise as much as other comic adaptations, but X-Men: Days of Future Past was a much more complete and compelling film from top to bottom. I would like to see what an additional 17 minutes in the Rogue Cut does to the pacing and overall quality of the movie.
James Corden may be new to the Late Late Show game but he may have just made his mark with one the biggest action heroes in Hollywood.
Corden and Arnold Schwarzenegger recreate every Schwarzenegger film in a six-minute skit. The best part of the skit is watch Corben try to hold it together. Enjoy this time away from work.
“The Late Late Show with James Corden” airs weeknights at 12:35 AM ET/11:35 PM CT on CBS.
The budget for Mad Max was less than $700,000. The Road Warrior was given ample financial banking with a $2 million budget, and George Miller’s vision flourished and expanded. But Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was a true blue Hollywood production, the first in the series to have American financial backing, and its budget was a whopping $12 million. Beyond Thunderdome looks and feels entirely different from its predecessors, sometimes in good ways, other times in ways that steal the charm and grit away from the franchise. I imagine Mad Max: Fury Road will be similar in tone to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but hopefully it will incorporate the violent texture of the best film in the series, The Road Warrior.
Our hero, Max, has moved on from the events in The Road Warrior, and the world that had fallen completely apart is showing signs of re-establishing, albeit in strange and eccentric ways. Max, now a vagabond with a caravan and a fleet of camels, has his caravan stolen immediately. The pursuit of the thief – that pesky gyro captain from The Road Warrior and his rambunctious son – leads him to Bartertown, a ramshackle new society powered by methane gas from pig excrement (like I said, re-establishing in strange ways). This new economy is led by Aunty Entity, played by Tina Turner in the most Americanized aspect of this third film.
Aunty and the leaders of Bartertown tell Max he can get his property back if he agrees to fight in the Thunderdome, what looks like an upside down wicker bowl where two people fight suspended on bungee systems. The Thunderdome itself is one of Miller’s wonderful creative flourishes in this film, where his world has been fully realized. Max agrees to the showdown, and after the fight with Master Blaster – the names in the Mad Max universe are the absolute best – Max finds himself adrift in the desert before he is picked up by a ragtag group of young nomads, a post-apocalyptic version of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys.
Without bogging in plot details and developments, I will simply say Max’s time with this commune in the desert, where they deify him and speak of “flying caravans” and promise elsewhere, leads to a chase sequence through the Outback that is even more elaborate and robust than the one in The Road Warrior. In the end, perhaps Max has regained his humanity. Always the reluctant defender of those in need, Mel Gibson and the screenplays keep Max at a distance, being acted upon rather than initially acting. The Mad Max films are less about the character and more about those around the character who force him into action.
But something about this chase at the end doesn’t feel as authentic. The stunts and the action appear to be taken in the same realistic vein as everything in this franchise, but here the danger feels slight compared to the ferocity of The Road Warrior. It is due in most part to the fact that the threat, Aunty Entity and her steampunk band of weirdos, sometimes weird for the sake of being so, are not nearly as threatening as Wez and The Humungus. There is never that sense of danger that is absolutely imperative to making these films work. Thankfully for everyone, at least Turner’s performance is more pomp and circumstance than an integral part to the story, because acting is not her strong suit.
The lack of a dangerous villain is probably the main reason Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was rated PG-13 instead of R. The direction of Miller, along with George Ogilvie who handled the large cast and dramatic moments in between the action scenes, remains energetic. Because in Miller’s mind lies this elaborate and textured world of madness and chaos, and his love for this creation shines in every moment. Here, he is given more money and more creative power to completely detail his world, and in that he succeeds. But there is the unfortunate problem of studio interference that waters down the dark side of the story in order to sell more tickets.
Thankfully, in the promos for Mad Max: Fury Road, this studio interference feels nonexistent. Hopefully that is the case, and Miller has been able to combine the best parts of these last two films into one Lovely Day.
Where Roche Limit felt like Total Recall (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Roche Limit: Clandestiny feels like Aliens.
From Image Comics:
It’s 75 years after the events that left the Roche Limit colony in flames. When a crew of military and science personnel are sent to the forgotten and desolate planet on a mysterious expedition, they quickly learn its dark secrets—and that their mission is not what they thought it to be. With danger lurking all around, the crew members fight to find a way off the planet and resist the mysterious presence that haunts them all.
The book is written by Michael Moreci, with art by Kyle Charles, and colors by Matt Battaglia.
What Moreci does well in Clandestiny is that you don’t need to read the first story to understand this book. He sets up the plot very quickly, gives you and emotional attachment to a few characters, and then throws a couple of curveballs at you. Hey future comic book writers! That’s how you setup a first issue for success. Where as the first series Moreci used monologues to set up the individual issue, Clandestiny punches you in the face to get your heart pumping.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?!” – Elbus, Roche Limit: Clandestiny #1
The best comparison I can come up with is that Roche Limit had an indie film feel and Roche Limit: Clandestiny feels like a big budget sequel. There are expectations with this bigger budget but the last page of the issue adds another dynamic to the storyline and ups the ante of the series.
Kyle Charles is simply a professional, his character designs for Roche Limit: Clandestiny are superb. We are introduced to about 10 characters in the first issue and each character has a distinct personality and emotions. This is a great example of the artist and writer being on the same page. There are several action movements in the book that look bad-ass and gets me excited for when the action really starts in the series.
What’s great about three arc storytelling is you can play with many aspects of the story. To where Roche Limit has a very orange/ brown look to the book, the second arc has a brilliant purple/blue feel. The colorist Matt Battaglia takes a definitive different direction with book. He use of colors to highlight action is excellent. I read the first issue on tablet and the book just glowed with color. It will be interesting to see how that translates to paper.
Roche Limit: Clandestiny #1 is must read for the week!
Yesterday was May the fourth, and Star Wars memes and videos were running wild on the internet.
Lowcarbcomedy.com in California came up with a beauty yesterday with their big head parody of the Star Wars: the Force Awakens trailer. Be careful, there are somethings that can not be unseen!
Lowcarbcomedy.com presents a special May the Fourth BigHead Star Wars Parody Trailer featuring whining, vomiting, and Han Solo as you’ve never seen him before!
Starring:
TED EVANS
DARA ZAN
ARVIE LOWE JR
LOGAN PETREE
ZORAN GVOJIC
Written by: ZORAN GVOJIC • TED EVANS
Directed, Edited, and GFX by: ZORAN GVOJIC
Filmed by: LOGAN PETREE • ZORAN GVOJIC
Sound Mix by: MARK KLEINFELDER
Special Thanks: GEORGE LUCAS • J.J. ABRAMS • LUCASFILM • HARRISON FORD • MARK HAMILL • PETER MAYHEW • JOHN BOYEGA • DAISY RIDLEY • JOHN WILLIAMS • JOHN MORRISON (For showing me the trailer) • MOM & DAD & STEP-DAD
Joss Whedon, the guy who brought us Buffy the Vampire Slayer, wrote episodes of Roseanne, brought our favorite heroes to the big screen, not once but twice and did very well, has quit Twitter and deleted his account because of the hate spewed on the internet towards him.
Whedon’s final message: “Thank you to all the people who’ve been so kind and funny and inspiring up in here.”
The internet hate is over the Avengers: Age of Ultron plot thread of Scarlett Johansson’s character Black Widow and the depiction of Quicksliver.
Patton Oswalt has come to the defense of Whedon.
Yep. There is a "Tea Party" equivalent of progressivism/liberalism. And they just chased Joss Whedon off Twitter. Good job, guys. Ugh.
Matthew Sardo of Monkeys Fighting Robots talks with Marvel Comics writer Jonathan Hickman, Walking Dead star Josh McDermitt, and action hero Terry Crews.
Bonus: Review of Arcadia #1 from Boom! Studio.
99% of the populate exists only in a digital simulation kept running by 1% of living people in this new sci-fi series from up-and-coming creators Alex Paknadel and Eric Scott Pfeiffer.
Thank you for listening!
Do you want to be our SUPER-FAN of the week? All you have to do is comment on this podcast to be eligible.
Do you have a question that you would like answered during the show? Email your questions to matt@popaxiom.com.
About the Monkeys Fighting Robots Podcast:
A Gen Xer and a Millennial debate the latest topics in pop culture. One guy is a filmmaker and the other is a journalist, but both are nerds. We make your slowest days at work better. Hosts, Matthew Sardo and EJ Moreno.
Never heard of Matt Sardo? For starters, he made the Kessel Run in less than 11 parsecs. Prior to that, he gave Doc Brown the idea for the flux capacitor and led the Resistance to victory over SkyNet – all while sipping a finely crafted IPA. As a radio host, he’s interviewed celebrities, athletes and everyone in between. He’s covered everything from the Super Bowl to Comic-Con.
Who’s EJ Moreno? Is he a trained physician? No. Is he a former Miss Universe contestant? Possibly. But what we know for sure is he’s a writer, filmmaker, and pop culture enthusiast. Since film school, EJ has written & directed several short films. He’s used his passion of filmmaking to become a movie critic for MonkeysFightingRobots.com.
