Badmouth » super hero

Green Lantern: First Flight

John Marcotte — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:31:22 +0000

In one of DC's best animation efforts to date, Air Force test pilot Hal Jordan is chosen by the dying alien Abin Sur to be his replacement in the Green Lantern Corps. Given a powerful ring fueled by sheer willpower, Jordan finds himself able to fly, project force-fields and survive the rigors of outer space. Related posts:

top five stupid spider-man plots

John Marcotte — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:43:21 +0000

At 45 years old, Spider-Man is still one of the greatest comic-book heroes of all time. But that doesn’t mean that every every Spider-Man story is a gem. Recently, Marvel infuriated fans with the One More Day storyline, where Peter’s Aunt May was shot and lay dying for the umpteenth time. Just when you thought [...] Related posts:

Superman Returns

Brian McDonough — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 08:00:59 +0000

[rating:2.5] Director: Bryan Singer Starring: Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Parker Posey, James Marsden I was completely torn watching “Superman Returns.” It's a terrific spectacle, visually one of the best superhero movies yet, but director and co-writer Bryan Singer betrays the essence of the character so thoroughly that the film is, at best, a guilty pleasure, and at worst, heresy. Here’s what the film gets right: The action is big and fast, expertly staged. I've never been more convinced by special effects that this is exactly what a superhuman being would be like. And Singer pits Superman against pretty much every form of major disaster: Plane crash, shipwreck, runaway car, earthquake, fiery explosions, each made compelling, each looking so big against the lone figure in the red cape. The visual design is top-notch. It’s a visually darker world that Superman is returning to, and it feels more modern without “edgy” nihilism. The Daily Planet has that retro art deco feel that’s just … right. The other major set pieces are diverse and fascinating. The film cost $260 million, but you’re seeing ever dollar on the screen. Related posts:

X-Men: The Last Stand

Brian McDonough — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 17:44:10 +0000

X-Men 3 packs a ton of action and angst into just over 100 minutes. If the film has a drawback, it's that its frenetic attempt to hit every emotional and action high overwhelms the story – and the viewer. Yet many of those emotional moments flop, and a lot of action potential is underutilized. It's no spoiler to reveal that Jean Grey, heroically killed at the end of the second flick, comes back, with dangerously increased powers. It's also been a key note of the ad campaign that Magneto is back, fighting against some kind of alleged “cure” for mutant-ness. Topping those two major storylines is mutant angst – unrequited loves, jealousy, all that oh-so-human frailty that the X-Men comics have always dripped. Brett Ratner steps into the chair Bryan Singer abandoned and seems determined to top the guy who had such success with the first two X-flicks. In particular, his action scenes are as fully orchestrated as military maneuvers, with Wolverine and a new addition, the Beast (Kelsey Grammer), really cutting loose in some exciting sequences. However, the moments that are supposed to have emotional heft are often fairly clunky, most particularly the intended tension between Wolverine and Jean Grey when her Phoenix incarnation comes back a bit ... randy. Ratner isn’t as bad at romance and sexual tension as, say, George Lucas, but he ain’t much better, either. As Magneto gathers an army of mutants committed to resisting this “cure” for their genetic gifts, the film managed to provide something the comics gave me when I was a kid, but the first two movies lacked. Much has been made of how the X-Men, as mutant outcasts, serve as a metaphor for anyone who feels disenfranchised. Racial minorities, the gay community, and most importantly, teenagers – young people whose bodies are going crazy on them, who feel misunderstood and alienated, and resent or revolt against the system. Watching the mutants take sides in this movie, I felt that old desire to be an X-Man again, to want to be part of that world. While Singer's movies held my interest and were quite successful, they never gave me that particular old buzz. For fans of the X-Men comics, there are a lot of classic references to enjoy. For the less initiated, the film is liable to rush past at points, but not at the cost of overall enjoyment. The film does a particularly good job early on, laying out the conflicts and explaining characters and situations at a brisk but digestible clip. (Warning: If you follow the jump, there won't be major specific plot spoilers, but there will be thematic commentary that might piss you off if you don't want any hints about the flick. Which, if you’re that intense about it, you should’ve seen by now…) Related posts:

Fantastic Four

Brian McDonough — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 01:13:36 +0000

Fantastic Four falls far short of fantastic. It’s a deeply flawed movie whose troubled production history is glaringly obvious in the final cut. Yet while romantic-comedy director Tim Story is pretty much lost at sea with big action set pieces, he nails some very nice little character moments that give the movie a bit of heart. That made me like the movie despite its flaws, and the fact that the story is all origin, ending only as the heroes truly become the Fantastic Four, left me eager to see a sequel that could kick action ass in all the ways this one doesn’t. Related posts:

Batman Begins

John Marcotte — Mon, 13 Jun 2005 05:43:01 +0000

Batman Begins is director Christopher Nolan�s attempt to build the foundation for a new movie franchise amid the smoldering ruins left by Joel Schumacher. By upping the realism, putting the focus on Batman instead of the villains and producing the first coherent plot in the series � he has managed not only to resurrect the Batman franchise, but to far surpass his predecessors� work.

The movie opens with Gotham City suffering from the twin demons of crime and poverty. After witnessing the brutal murders of his parents, young Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) abandons Gotham in a quest to understand the criminal mind. By the time he returns seven years later, the city has decayed into a cesspool of crime, misery and hopeless corruption.

Batman Begins is a classic coming-of-age story. For the first time, the demons that drive Bruce Wayne to fight crime are not only implied, but shown and explored to the fullest. Nolan and screenwriter David Goyer are not afraid to keep Bruce Wayne out of the Batsuit for the first half of the film as he slowly comes to the realization that he needs to become more than a man to fight the evil that is threatening to overtake Gotham City.