Paddington is back and he is up for more misadventures in the follow-up to the 2014 family film and is already a hit in the UK.
Paddington (Ben Whishaw) has settled in London, bringing joy to the residents of Windsor Gardens. His Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) is about to celebrate her 100th birthday and the little bear is determined to find the perfect present. After finding one of a kind pop-up book of London, Paddington joins the workforce so he can buy it. But the book is even more valuable than anyone realized – leading to Paddington getting arrested and the Brown family have to prove his innocence.
The original Paddington was a huge hit around the world but a sequel still seemed like a big ask. Even writer/director Paul King admitted that the theme of the original Paddington was to bring the Brown family together and obviously the bear did that by the end of the first film, so it was going to be a tricky task to continue the series. Somehow King and his co-writer Simon Farnaby managed that.
One of the main reasons why the original film was so successful was its emotional core and Paddington’s kind heart and the sequel preserves this. Paddington 2 starts with a prologue showing how the bear came into the care of his aunt and uncle and he has a simple goal – earn money so he can buy the book: yet that act leads to an adventure for the whole Brown family. Paddington continues to follow the life lessons his Aunt Lucy gave him – that if you are kind and polite you will make friends: even with hardened criminals.
In the previous film Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) were the members of the Brown family that Paddington spends the most time with and Henry was the member who changed the most. Henry had to learn to loosen up, accept that life is full of danger and accept the bear into his home. Paddington 2 give Mary (Sally Hawkins) and Judy (Madeleine Harris) a more prominent role: Mary craves adventure and even training to swim across the English Channel and Judy has changed from embarrassed teenager to aspiring journalist. They are the ones who drive the investigation to prove Paddington’s innocence.
Hugh Grant played the villain of the piece, Phoenix Buchanan, a self-centered actor and a master of disguise. He clearly was having a blast, trying on different accents and a lighter-hearted villain than Nicole Kidman was. Buchanan has his own quest looking for clues for a hidden treasure and he gives the film an excuse to go sight-seeing at some of London’s most landmarks like St. Paul Cathedral and the Tower of London.
There is also an expansion of the cast. Brendan Gleeson has one of the biggest roles as Nuckles McGinty, the fear-inducing prison cook who Paddington get to soften his hard shell and together they end up making prison a more bearable place. The residents of Windsor Gardens get a more prominent role: Ben Miller and Jessica Hynes have a mini-arc as The Colonel and Miss Kitts, the newsagents and recognizable actors like Sanjeev Bhaskar (Goodness Gracious Me) and Robbie Gee (Snatch) are noticeable as residents that Paddington helps out. There are also a few cameos from some major British personalities but some might not have the impact to audiences outside the British Isles.
King has a distinctive visual style as a director and he brought that to the original. There was a lot of flair and visual jokes that helped Paddington stand out from the crowd of family films. He does it again, the best visual gags being in the prison regarding Paddington’s mishaps and one of the most unique sequences was a fantasy sequence when Paddington and Lucy take a tour of London in the pop-up book – the look pays homage to the 1970s animated series. Yet King seems to be toning down the use of his directional tricks which is baffling considering it was one of King’s strength as a director.
The big sequence at the end of the film involves a chase involving two steam trains. It was reminiscent to something from another classic British children’s property: Wallace and Gromit. Like the finale in many Wallace and Gromit shorts and its movie the train chase in Paddington 2 is a busy sequence as different members of the Brown family play their part in different areas like cogs in a machine.
Paddington 2 is a wonderfully British family film which has tons of heart and comedy for all ages. It is a slight downgrade to the original film but it is a better than the bulk of family films to come outand easily one of best CGI/Live-action hybrids.
Though Thanksgiving is a day for celebrating family, friends, and a great meal, it’s also a popular day for a trip to the cinemas.
Pixar’s Coco won the Thanksgiving box office this year, bringing in $8.9 Million. Coming in at a very close second was Justice League, which grossed $8.5 Million.
Coco released on November 22 and has currently brought in $22 Million. A solid number for sure, and it remains to be seen how it performs in its first weekend in theaters. The film is a hit for both fans and critics alike, holding a 96 percent audience and critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Justice League has totalled $130.8 Million domestically. The results are definitely lower than Warner Bros. hoped, but it isn’t a flop yet. If the League has legs at the box office, it can still salvage its overall box office performance.
Have you checked out Coco or Justice League yet? Sound off in the comments below.
They call themselves ‘Indie Art Attack’ and their mission is simple, recruit fellow Indie creators, block off a section in conventions and festivals and help each other succeed. The three-headed monster behind this movement include J.R. Mounts, Christopher Collins and both Lee Jiles and Eric Dotson of About Time Comics. We caught up with them at Heroes & Villains Fan Fest in Atlanta, Ga., to learn more.
Mounts is the creator of ‘Scairy Tales’, ‘Fried Pickle Noir’, ‘Stuck in My Head’ and, along with partner Chris Garrett, co-creator of ‘The Finleys’. Collins is a horror writer and invites you to his ‘World of Horror’ at Harrowscape. He just released his first novel this year, ‘The Raggedy Man’, published by Bloodshot Books. Lastly, the creative duo of Jiles and Dotson, both founded their company, ‘About Time Comics’, because well, it was about time. Jiles is the creator of ‘Godsend’ and also ‘In-Flight Service’, while Dotson helms ‘Dreamer’ and serves as the primary inker for all the company’s titles. About Time also publishes ‘The Legend of Everett Forge’, a title by creator and writer Scott Wilke.
J.R. Mounts
His mom told him that he could be anything he wanted to be, which he said he wanted to be Godzilla. That didn’t happen, but becoming a comic book artist and writer is pretty cool too. He is the driving force behind the ‘Indie Art Attack’ movement. The former musician had always loved sketching and writing songs, but it was after an office party, where he was asked to draw something for Halloween, that people really started to notice him, giving him an idea of what he could do next.
“People would see my art in the office and feel as if they should know it,” Said Mounts. “That convinced me that I should start creating comic books. It was a scary thought, but writing music is no different than writing comics. You’re essentially telling a story.”
He grabbed a sketchpad and told himself that if he could not, at-the-very-least, come up with one good idea in one of its pages, that he would scrap the idea. He started to think about the cartoons that he loved as a kid. Stuff like, ‘Calvin & Hobbes’, ‘The Far Side’, ‘Looney Tunes’ and ‘Peanuts’, and came up with his first book, ‘Scairy Tales’.
“I wanted kids to meet scary monsters, but it not be scary,” Mounts stated. “That’s why there’s an ‘i’ in ‘Scairy Tales’ because it’s ‘not-so-scary-fairy tales’. I didn’t want to do gags, rather have the gags be part of the story. Look, ultimately, every artist wants to be paid for what they do, but still love what they do. When you are a creator, you can’t not draw, write, perform, act. You always feel a need to keep producing.”
His series, ‘Scairy Tales’, is about a group of misfit kids that dress up all year long as superheroes and monsters. They discover a town of monsters with characters just like them.
“They get picked on regularly. They’re basically outcasts,” Mounts said. “They discover this town of monsters, at the same time, the monsters discover them and the adults of both towns start to figure out what’s going on.”
Mounts enjoys still incorporating his music into his stories. In fact, one of his graphic novels, ‘Stuck in My Head’, which claimed Second Place in the ‘Best Graphic Novel’ contest at DragonCon, comes equipped with a two-CD set for you to listen to while you read. It is a tale of comedic gore and meant to serve as a love letter to his wife.
“It’s about a guy that is just trying to find the answers,” Mounts said. “He’s unhappy at his job and starts to daydream about murdering his coworkers. He doesn’t aim to act on the thoughts, but rather, the story is inside the story, which is in his head. It’s meant to be a humorous look at adult life.”
Keeping it in the family of zany cartoons and, above all else, incredibly original, Mounts has numerous other books, but the one that he is now known for is ‘Fried Pickle Noir’. He credits his friend and the first time he ever tried fried pickles as his inspiration for the book.
“We were out to lunch, my friend suggested that I should turn a pickle into a character,” Mounts said. “I was watching a lot of noir at the time and it just came to me. He’s a detective, named Q. Cumbersome, living in ‘The Pits’ and goes up against gangs like the, Potatoheads, Meatheads, Eggheads, among others. It’s basically ‘Sin City’ meets ‘Veggietales’.”
‘Fried Pickle Noir’ is a pun-heavy series, but Mounts prides himself on having never used the same pun twice in over 525 pages of ongoing story.
“You have Eggheads, Doughboys, Melonheads, etc., all coming after Q. Cumbersome, who is the last real detective in the city,” Said Mounts. “All the mobs have moved into the city and it takes this detective to fix the problem. He’s above the law and will take out anyone with a gun.”
He also cowrites a comic called ‘The Finleys’, which is about a character, Wyatt Finley, and serving as sharks that are cursed to living in chum buckets, while trying to adjust to human life. He’s currently working on a new book called ‘Silver Linings’, which is set for a 2018 release. It’s about an old man, a widower, and an alien. The man has essentially given up on life until an alien crash lands onto his car, giving him a newly found reason to live again.
Christopher Collins
This upcoming creator is not only a horror writer and artist, but a fan of the genre as well. His first novel, ‘The Raggedy Man’, just came out back in June. It is a supernatural horror story about a man whose son is kidnapped in a town where children seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate.
“The adults and caregivers band together to try and track down the kids, believing there is a supernatural entity behind the vanishings,” Collins said.
He is also working on his next novel, the title is still a work in progress, but the premise is about Charley, whose father dies, his mother can’t handle the pain of losing him and takes the family to live with an abusive grandfather at his home.
“The grandfather dies while the family is still in his home,” Collins said. “Though he somehow communicates with the children of the house and ends up infecting Charley with something dangerous.”
Collins grew up sketching, but loved to read. He remembers his father telling him that ‘he could read before he could tie his own shoes’. His father had a box of books in their outdoor room and allowed Collins to rummage through and that is where he found Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’. From there, he knew he what he wanted to do.
“I’ve always had a love affair with words and language,” Collins stated. “After reading ‘Carrie’ and some other works, it was off to the races from there.”
He credits Stephen King’s ‘Salem Lot’ and ‘IT’ as works that he could read repeatedly, but credits the horror-writing master as one of his most-favorite authors. He also loves Robert Jordan’s ‘The Wheel of Time’ series and enjoys novels from both Bentley Little and Robert McCammon.
When asked if he preferred sketching to writing, he didn’t have a favorite, but some of his sketches would make for some great comic book characters. He does yearly sketches of pumpkin head figures every October and is currently working on a character called, ‘EYEvy’.
“She’s a woman whose eyes are in the leaves, hence the name,” Said Collins. “She will be in a comic book I’m working on. So, to answer the question, as a creator, what you’re currently working on is always going to be your favorite thing.”
Lee Jiles & Eric Dotson (About Time Comics)
For Jiles and Dotson, creating a publishing company was a longtime coming. The two had been friends since 1994 and worked together on occasion, but after launching ‘Godsend’ in 2012, their publishing company was well on its way. For them, it is important to keep their titles creator-owned.
“We like it the way we have it,” Jiles said. “We have standards that we try to meet, as far as quality and content. Now, don’t get me wrong, if the right publisher came along and wanted to work with us, we’d absolutely consider it, but we’re happy right now with how things are.”
The publisher has roughly four main titles going right now, with Godsend serving as the company’s flagship comic. The series is an ongoing, currently sits at four issues and will get a trade at the completion of the first arc, which is at issue No. 6. The story is about a normal guy that leaves a small town for a big city and, along the way, encounters a strange man that leaves him in possession of a sword, which turns him into a supernatural hero.
“At that point, his life starts to spiral a bit,” Jiles said. “He’s being pursued by demons and the modern incarnation of the Knights Templar. He also has a new job and met a girl, along with new powers, so he’s got a lot on his plate right now.”
As far as ‘IFS: In-Flight Service’, Jiles’ other title, the comic’s backstory is unique as it contains a splash of his personal life as well. The story follows a recruit of a ‘shady’ government organization having recruited its main character, that also serves as a flight attendant.
“My wife is a flight attendant,” proclaimed Jiles. “That is how I came up with this idea. What a great way for a secret agent to cover-up as a flight attendant. It’s a revenge story. Her best friend was killed in a terrorist attack, joins this agency and keeps her job as a flight attendant to travel to missions.”
Dotson spearheads the company’s sci-fi title, ‘Dreamer’. The premise includes a man, having inherited powers from his grandfather, can manifest portals, including the ability to travel to different worlds.
“The powers were handed down to him from his grandfather, whose DNA was infused with that of an alien race,” said Dotson. “All the while, he’s being pursued by aliens that are on his tail and trying to figure out what makes him different from them.”
The company also picked up a title via Scott Wilke, who is the creator and writer of ‘The Legend of Everett Forge’. He was brought on a year ago after approaching About Time with his Kickstarter campaign and it fit well with what the publisher was already doing. The company is also a bit of a worldwide organization in its publishing efforts as it has creators from all over map.
“I cowrite ‘Godsend’ with Peter McLeod, who lives in Australia,” Jiles said. “The artist is Osky Yanez, from Argentina, and our colorist is Bryan Magnaye, who lives in the Philippines.”
Dotson added, “Miguel Puerta is from Mexico, he pencils ‘Dreamer’, and ‘IFS: In-Flight Service’ is by two different artists, Youmin Park, from South Korea, and Mark Marvida. We also have Ken Hunt who did the cover for Godsend No. 1, who has previously worked with DC Comics.”
Keep up with these three upcoming creators as their original works are surely to make some noise over the next few years. If you see them at any conventions or festivals, be sure to stop and greet them. Tell them their biggest fans, the folks over at Monkeys and Robots, sent you!
An award-worthy performance and a scintillating narrative make Novitiate a great film.
Summary
Novitiate takes place during the early 1960’s at the start of Vatican II – the period when Pope John Paul XXIII began reforming the antiquated aspects of the Catholic church. Margaret Qualley stars as a teen who is seeking to find her way by devoting her life to god. Melissa Leo plays the role of Mother Superior who is resistant to reform and feels that Catholocism should be anchored in tradition.
What Worked
Qualley’s performance as Sister Cathleen is incredibly nuanced and heartfelt. Her mother lived aimlessly going from one man to another. This lifestyle traumatized her daughter. Cathleen seeks stability, direction, and more importantly, love. Qualley’s character falls in love with religion not only for its consistency but the opportunity to bring happiness to the less fortunate.
Leo gives a ferocious performance as Mother Superior. She strikes such a balance between the desire to teach others and a rigid passion for tradition. While Vatican II is preaching communication and compassion, Leo’s character is hammering silence and submission from all members of the church.
Julianne Nicholson plays Cathleen’s mother and is the polar opposite of her daughter. While Qualley’s character sees the good in the world, Cathleen’s mother is incredibly jaded. She doesn’t commit to anything other than doing just enough to help raise her daughter. Even when the question comes about religion, she won’t give her daughter a straight answer. Nicholson’s performance was extremely efficient and vital to the story that Margaret Betts wanted to tell.
Margaret Betts constructed a strong the narrative that tackles some in-depth topics. Can one find comfort in religion? How does one come terms with losing faith? Should religion evolve over time? What was refreshing is that the film doesn’t seek to solve these problems, but it certainly brings the issue to the forefront.
Cinematographer Kat Westergaard manages to make use of the natural inside the convent to illuminate the bleakest of settings.
The resolution is far from clean, which feels warranted. People need to understand that thousands of would-be nuns left the church due to the type of tactics used by Mother Superiors across the world. There was a resistance to change, and it took the Arch Bishop in most cases in many instances to intervene to begin the evolution Vatican II sought to start.
Overall
While the subject matter might be too much for some audiences, ‘Novitiate’ is fascinating at the ripple effect change can have on an institution. Melissa Leo’s performance should garner some consideration around award season. Betts tells a fascinating tale that is certainly thought-provoking. ‘Novitiate‘ is the type of film that demonstrates the power of faith and the impact when it’s lost.
Following an action-packed mid-season finale on November 12th, Star Trek: Discovery is on break until January 7th, 2018. The show’s first nine episodes introduced longtime Trek fans and newcomers alike to a number of developments within the franchise. Featuring Star Trek’s first kiss between two gay male characters, the introduction of spore drive technology, a new look for the Klingons, and the introduction of Spock’s adopted human sister, the creative team had a lot on the go. Some of these new elements are interesting, but the lack of respect for established Star Trek canon has many longtime fans at red alert. Mutability may be a cornerstone of development, but too many changes happening too quickly often alienates fans, especially those who have been watching for decades.
Star Trek: Discovery – Don’t Leap to Conclusions
According to an interview that Discovery producer and writer Aaron Harberts had with Metro though, at least some of the discrepancies between Discovery and Star Trek’s established canon will be addressed in the show’s already announced second season. This is potentially good news for die-hard Trekkies, like me, who enjoy Discovery’s dazzling special effects and cinematography but can’t get behind the Klingons’ radically different new look or other aspects of the new show.
I say that addressing these discrepancies is potentially good news because a lot depends on how Discovery’s creative team approaches these discrepancies with established Trek canon. Trekkie reactions to Star Trek: Enterprise were mixed. Although I found the series corny at times, I gave it a broad pass, probably because I was a big Quantum Leap fan. However, many Trekkies took serious issue with the two-part story-line that comprised the episodes “Affliction” and “Divergence.”
In this story arc, it’s established that Dr. Phlox, CMO of the Enterprise NX-01, is broadly responsible for the way Klingons look in Star Trek, i.e. they look like dark-skinned humans with bushy eyebrows rather than having pronounced forehead ridges. Although this story arc addressed a key discrepancy in canon continuity, it all seemed, to this Trekkie anyway, like unnecessary pandering. I far preferred Cmdr. Worf’s abrupt assessment of the issue in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “Trials and Tribble-ations”: “It is a long story … We do not discuss it with outsiders.”
Star Trek: Discovery – “We Didn’t Start the Fire…”
The key to addressing these continuity errors, beyond simply avoiding changes to established canon, is to find a balance between Worf’s non-answer in Deep Space Nine and the drawn-out and poorly conceived pandering answer given in Enterprise. Sadly, this balance is hard to find, and this recurring problem routinely affects show-runners and directors bent on producing prequels — think Star Wars. It’s great to fill in the gaps, but unless these gaps are filled in well there’s no point in trying to fill them in the first place.
Unfortunately, because Discovery has suffered from poor execution since it started airing in September, this Trekkie has concerns about how continuity discrepancies will be addressed. “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” in which Discovery’s crew were set against a temporal loop, was a logistical dumpster fire regardless of how good its ratings were. It was as if the creative team forgot the parameters of their own idea and just started improvising. I may sound like a broken record, but execution is everything. Good ideas executed poorly become bad ones, so let’s hope the creative team improves on its ability to carry their ideas off well. If not, I worry that Discovery will lose old and new fans alike.
Of course before we get to the second season, we need to make it through the first, so engage your spore drive and meet me back here in January for my thoughts on Discovery’s next episode, “Despite Yourself.”
Denzel Washington’s strong performance isn’t enough to overcome the meandering narrative and moments of utter boredom in Roman J Israel Esq.
Summary
Our story centers around a socially awkward Lawyer named Roman J. Israel (Denzel Washington), and the events that occurr over a three-week span following the death of his boss. George Pierce (Colin Farrell) takes over the caseload left by his boss, and he immediately sees Israel’s talent. Pierce hires him, which set forth a sequence of events leading Washington’s character to break the law.
What Worked
Washington’s performance is one of the lone highlights of the film for me. Saying that one of the greatest actors of my generation was excellent is probably not that shocking to anyone, but he’s the one reason to sit through the film. Washington manages to breathe life into a character that was written poorly, inserting specific quirks and making the character memorable.
What Didn’t Work
Dan Gilroy’s narrative just doesn’t connect with the audience. It comes as a surprise to me (Gilroy was responsible for the fabulous screenplay for Nightcrawler), but he attempts to accomplish too many things over the span of the film. What’s most interesting in Israel’s story is the moral dilemma he faces working a case for Pierce. However, the film spends way too much time talking about social injustice, poverty, and the obligation to make a societal impact. It goes broad when it should have narrowed.
Farrell’s character serves little purpose in the film. While he was meant to represent the “corporate” side of practicing law, Pierce is really just here to push the plot forward. Other than that, all he does is look good in a suit and lament about selling out.
The pacing of the film is all over the pace. During the first act, we appear to race through the death of his boss and the eventual arrival of Pierce. Then during the second act, we slow down to a snail’s pace while Israel laments about being poor, social injustice, and what’s right. The most exciting portion of the film is the third act, and that doesn’t even come around for about one hour and twenty minutes into the movie.
They attempt to create romantic tension by introducing Maya Alston (Carmen Ejogo) to Mr. Israel, and it doesn’t go as planned. The idealistic Alston begins to take a liking to Washington’s character, abut that dynamic feels weird and out of place in the middle of this story. Why try and force something so unnecessary?
Summary
There is no scenario where anyone can plausibly recommend this film. Washington’s performance at least makes the movie watchable. Without him, Roman J Isreal Esq would be a complete waste of time.
Awards season is about to start its big push. We still have Steven Spielberg’s historical drama, The Post, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread – which just so happens to be Daniel Day-Lewis’s last movie as well – on the horizon. But there’s been plenty to enjoy so far in 2017, a year of big movies and small movies and some tremendous movie moments in both. You may have forgotten about some of these – stuff moves pretty fast these days – so this Turkey Day, here’s 12 movie moments to be thankful for in 2017…
1The Sunken Place in GET OUT
Jordan Peele’s race-based horror is still one of the very best films and very best moments of the year. It announced Peele’s presence as a force to be reckoned with, and the ripple effect has led him to more upcoming projects that sound fantastic. It also announced Daniel Kaluuya as a star.
The moment it became clear we were in the presence of greatness, however, was our first introduction to The Sunken Place. Katherine Keener’s hypnotherapist Missy gets her chance to send unsuspecting Chris into a nightmarish nothingness below the surface of reality. It is a shocking moment that sets the stage for the rest of the film, and a turning point in 21st-century horror.
Ruff and Reddy have hit the skids, plunging from A-list to “huh?” to “wait, who?” and finally to “who cares?” Next stop for these pathetic has-beens on the treadmill to oblivion is the convention circuit—where their agent turns a potential disaster into a goldmine of publicity—and the comeback begins.
Writing/Story
This issue really knows how to make a series about a talking dog and cat feel incredibly real. In the first few pages, it’s revealed that Pamela, the agent trying to help them, got a promotion so her bosses wouldn’t have to suffer though a harassment lawsuit. With the current shakeup in Hollywood, this all seems like something which would happen everyday in Tinseltown.
From there, writer Howard Chaykin takes a stab at the convention culture from someone who brings experience to the work. As Ruff and Reddy unsuccessfully try to reconnect with their fans the pair radiate the uncomfortable sensation of individuals who wish they were somewhere else. This is one of the many bits of real emotion Chaykin puts into the story and all of it is the kind of powerful comic reading which is essential to find these days.
Artwork
The coloring, pencils, and inks by Mac Rey is incredible. He has an powerful way of conveying emotions and set up without directly spelling things out. Scenes like Ruff and Reddy’s vehicles as they pull up next to each other to contrast their financial situations, Ruff digging his claws into his desk to show anger, and Reddy falling off the wagon from one panel to the other. Many of these scenes use little dialogue but express deep emotions and are a testament to Rey’s skills as an artist.
Ken Bruzenak continues to match the Lettering to every scene perfectly. From the fake movie titles which are perfect reflections of the different time periods they are supposed to be set, to the general dialogue, every word feels intentional and purposeful.
Conclusion
The second issue seals the fact this series is intense and worth picking up. As the pair moves forward in their comeback, all we can hope is their demons don’t get the best of them. Or maybe they should. It would help the book continue to be a page turner.
At the conclusion of 2016’s “Darkseid War,” we learned that Wonder Woman has a twin brother. The Amazonian princess has finally come face-to-face with her brother in the wake of Hercules’ death. This reunion, however, turns sour as it is revealed that Jason teamed up with Grail, daughter of Darkseid, to take down Diana.
Despite there being a cliffhanger at the end of the last issue, this issue has us going back in time – dedicated to the secret origin of Jason. What was the childhood of the Amazonian brother like? Where Diana was raised as a mighty warrior, how was Jason raised? How did a boy from an island of women get raised by the last Argonaut, Glaucus?
**Some Spoilers Ahead**
Story:
The origin of Jason begins when he finds that he can lift a boat above his head as a child. While he is shocked, he goes to show his father, Glaucus, who reveals to him the truth of his birth. Glaucus explains to Jason that he is the son of Zeus, that he was asked to hide from Hera, Zeus’ wife.
Jason takes all of this news well…too well. It’s implied that he already had a happy childhood, but his reaction to learning his father is Zeus is not believable. Not just with Zeus either, but with other members of his godly heritage. Glaucus asks Hercules to train Jason how to fight and control his demigod powers. When Hercules reveals he is Jason’s brother, he doesn’t seem shaken by it at all. This issue is meant to give us insight into this new character, but I’m left wondering why this man was so willing to accept these facts.
Despite this distracting detail, I actually do like the origin that was presented. It’s almost a parallel to Wonder Woman’s with one distinct difference. Both were raised by legendary Greek heroes. Both were trained by Olympians to fight. The real difference is that when both parental figures tell them not to be a hero, only Jason listens. Diana disobeys her mother and goes off to become Wonder Woman, where Jason stays a fisherman. Now that the twins are together, we’ll just have to see if he becomes a hero.
Art:
The art is the best part of this issue. Emanuela Lupacchino, known for the first volume of the Starfire series, shows her skill in creating characters. They are unique enough to make them stand out from one another, yet still look human.
The colorwork also helps the issue feel more realistic. The different tints and shades in the character’s skin make the characters look more real. The more vibrant colors help capture the feel of the Mediterranean area that Jason grew up in. Together with the pencil work, we get a beautiful book to look at.
Conclusion:
This issue is a pleasant break from the heavy betrayal of the last issue. While the character of young Jason is a bit hard to believe, it’s fascinating to look at the parallels between his and Diana’s life. The book is beautiful to look at, with every turn being a colorful yet realistic take in this comic book world. It was nice to take this detour, but next time we head back to the war of the demigods.
Willem Defoe was recently a guest on Variety’s podcast, Playback. The discussion was intended to be centered around The Florida Project, but it diverged in a way that allowed Defoe to talk about his experience working on comic book movies with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and the upcoming Aquaman film, directed by James Wan. Here’s what the actor said:
“James Wan and Sam Raimi are both personal filmmakers. They really have a strong personal stamp. They both have a good sense of play. They come from the handmade world and they come from the horror world, and the beautiful thing about horror movies is the film language is very rich, because you can get away with it. There’s a fantastical quality but you can also make a popular movie because it’s a very accessible genre.”
It’s interesting that Defoe notes the horror background of both directors. The genre hasn’t had much of a place within superhero films, but that trend could be flipped a bit with Aquaman. Although the movie shouldn’t be a full-blown horror movie, there is potential to sprinkle some elements from the genre into the film.
Aquaman hits theaters on December 21, 2018. Are you looking forward to it? Sound off in the comments below.
