Batman v Superman - Wonder Woman revealed!!!

Michael Wilkinson kills it once again!

During San Diego Comic Con at the Warner Bros. panel, not only was a teaser trailer for the hotly anticipated Batman V Superman was shown but also the first look of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. In my previous article, Suits of the World's Finest, I constantly praised Zack Snyder's costume designer for how he was able to create superhero costumes that closely resemble their comic book counterparts. This one appears to be a departure color wise but that may be just attributed to the desaturation of the picture. Because if one were to change the filter of the image then it would be immediately obvious that this IS Wonder Woman.

For a comparison here is an image of Jim Lee's rendition that is close to the classic image:

While she may not have a cape and the star spangled skirt everything seems just about right. Her look is very Greek, and it has to be. She's based in Greek Mythology so her costume has to reflect it. Hell if one were to inspect the image of Gadot closely then one  would notice that she has her iconic lasso attached to her belt. 

Having said that, even though she looks cool I still remain cautiously optimistic about Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. I liked her in the Fast and Furious franchise but that is not really enough to determine if she has the acting chops to pull it off. She can definitely be a badass, she proves that with the Fast films and this picture. But her dramatic performance has yet to shine. So we'll see. But for now the trinity is finally complete.

Batman V Superman - The Suits of the World's Finest

Be honest...you want to see the above happen

As many know there is this little movie coming out in 2015 2016 called Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. A film that is a sequel or rather follow up to the financially successful and critically divisive Man of Steel that is also to be helmed by the same director: Zack Snyder. Now, my opinion of Man of Steel is one of overwhelming love yet still have to acknowledge that there are a lot of problems with the movie. Problems that can be easily fixed. 

One could argue that the film could've started during Lois's introduction with just a simple two hour running time. I can see the film working without the first 30 minutes, but then that means I won't have my awesome John Carter/StarWars/Heavy Metal opening prologue with Russell Crowe reminding the world he's a badass. I'll even be the first to say that the dialogue is atrocious. Not even magnificent performances from magnificent actors could save it. That's why most of the blame gets directed at writer David Goyer. He's an amazing storyteller, but when it comes to dialogue he is very weak. That's why his best scripts become phenomenal when he is partnered with another writer. That's where Argo's Oscar Winning screenwriter, Chris Terrio, comes in to save the script from suffering another atrocity of language. But the story, well, I can guarantee you it will be amazing...I hope.

When this film was announced as the sequel to Man of Steel, I thought this was the smartest decision DC/Warner Bros. has ever made to compete with Marvel/Disney. I have no problems with Batman being in the movie. I do have a problem with Wonder Woman being in the movie because she could've been saved for another film. But seeing as how they want to subtly build the Justice League in this movie so that the next movie is Justice League, it does show a sign of concern.

It is perfectly fine for people to think this movie will be a cluster f#@% because what seems to have started as a simple battle between The Dark Knight and the Man of Steel now seems to be including The Amazing Amazon and a couple of others. If Spider-Man 3 and Amazing Spider-Man 2 have taught us anything, too many characters is a bad thing. Especially Amazing Spider-Man 2 because it sacrificed the story for the sake of world building to catch up with their parent competitors. Which seems to be what is happening with this movie. But then again there was this other movie called: X-Men: Days of Future Past. A movie that has roughly 25 well known comic book character in it yet still turned into a phenomenal film. Why? Because it knew what to focus on and not try to give everyone valid screen time but instead necessary screen time to serve a purpose for the greater story. That is what I feel like this Batman v Superman movie is doing. That's not to say that it could go either way. Time will tell. But till then. We have our contenders.

The Dark Knight

The casting of Ben Affleck has been controversial but his costume wasn't. I love costumer designer Michael Wilkinson. He was Snyder's costume designer on 300 and Watchmen, and he really gets comic book design. His showcase in Watchmen was an obvious homage to DC Comics movie history with the different costumes which were designed better than his predecessors. Then of course there is his work on Man of Steel with designing the iconic Superman Suit and Krypton. Pure genius. And that genius shows in the above image.

This is the first Batman costume since the 1960s Adam West show that actually looks like the costume from the comics. If one were to look at the details, it is obvious that this costume is suppose to be made out of cloth instead of the armor from Nolan's Dark Knight films. The cowl and the gloves do seem like the same material of the Burton Batman films, but it is a nice merging of what made him iconic in the movies with what is known in the comic. I'm so happy that they went with this direction as opposed to the armor. This version may have padding inside to accentuate Affleck's ever growing muscular physique but it helps with the comic book image of showcasing perfect bodies in tight spandex. This may also be the first film adaptation to actually be black AND GRAY instead of all black! It sure as hell looks like it. It is perfection on so many levels that people who can't see it are obviously not comic book enthusiasts. But it can't be denied that Affleck looks like Batman. Whether or not he can pull it off, that is the real question.

Man of Steel

A powerful contrast with the black and white image of Batman, this is Superman. And I really mean IS Superman. Michael Wilkinson did a fantastic job with his first rendition of the costume for Man of Steel. A lot of people thought it was another rubber suit with texture on it, but in reality it is actually a spandex suit with chain mail textured onto it in order to subdue the bright colors. This upset some fans, especially the removal of the red trunks, but his new rendition of Supes' costume should make fans happy. It keeps the design of the first while tweaking a few bits.

His gauntlets are now blue instead of gray and extend to more of the arm. The alien lines on his sides actually seem to go up this ribs. The belt buckle now seems to be gold and square now instead of an oval. Plus the color looks brighter than the last suit which was toned down for the serious tone. This suit is still toned down but it is still obvious that the colors are bright. Especially coming from the S-Sheild which seems to be brighter than the rest of the costume. Henry Cavill is already monstrous in size and the added padding  is just to remind you that he is. And it works beautifully. Just look at that image. It does remind me of Kingdom Come's Superman who is suppose to be older. Cavill does look a little bit older in this pic. Maybe it's just the lighting on the hair... But that doesn't matter. CAVILL IS SUPERMAN! But if you like Christopher Reeves then I understand. But for me Henry Cavill is Superman.

What about a certain...Amazing Amazon?

Well according to Zack Snyder, he hasn't filmed scenes of actress Gal Gadot in the costume yet because she still has a long time to get buff and ripped. But given from what Wilkinson has done with Superman and Batman, I'm confident that his design of The Amazing Amazon will be breathtaking on the beautiful woman they have playing her. Whether or not she can act though is not my main concern, it is how they're going to portray the character is what got me more worried. But that is a topic for another day.

Final Thoughts

Come on! They both look like their comic book counterparts! Just look! LOOK!

I'm a big DC Comics fan, yet my favorite movie is a Marvel film: X-Men Days of Future Past. Well, the movie rights are technically not owned by Marvel so.... blah! What I'm saying is that the costumes of DC Comics are the most difficult to translate to screen because they were created in a time when spandex was the way to go for Superheroes. Marvel had the chance of establishing themselves in a time period when costumes can gradually cross the line between standard to grounded. So for costume designer Michael Wilkinson to maintain the idea that superhero costumes are pretty much just colored sculpted bodies and make it work is amazing. In fact these two costumes for this big movie are so far my favorite adaptation of a superhero costume. They're faithful yet updated. The way it should be. I anxiously await the reveal of Gadot in the red, white, and blue costume but also the looks he has for the entire Justice League.

Marvel may be more fun, but DC has their production design trumping them all the way. Now... all they need is to make this movie good. Yup. JUST this movie good. They can screw up the Justice League movie because it will always be compared to The Avengers, but THIS movie about the battle between the most iconic superheroes of all time has to be good. It has to. IT HAS TO!

300: Rise of an Empire - Analysis and Review

The return of the Historically Inaccurate Manly Movie!

300 was a movie that spawned a rebirth of stylized slow-mo action films back in 2007. It along with Sin City (both the comic book creations of author Frank Miller) also helped upsurge the comic book film genre and the hyper stylized green screen filmmaking. Both were considered revolutionary at the time that they were made as well as being lauded for being literally accurate to the text and images of their respective graphic novels. But the key words there should be "at the time."

The Plot

In this follow up to the original smash hit, Rise of an Empire shows a different side of the war. While Leonidas and the Spartans held the Persians back at the Hot Gates, the Athenian Navy held the Persians back from making complete landfall on Greece. Leading the charge of the Athenians is the military commander Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) who goes against Persia's most vicious naval command and military genius, Artemisia (Eva Green). While the Spartans may rule the land, the Athenians rule the seas in an epic battle that will stain the ocean with blood!

Analysis

It is a wonderful thing to be considered a "revolutionary" film. Whether small or big, if something comes along and then others try to emulate, then that film really should be called revolutionary. Unfortunately, that usually means imitators are to come. Now, the TV Show Spartacus may be a stylistic rip off of the testosterone, blood shedding, female nudity bonanza of 300. Coming off of the 300 craze there was a definite need to fill that void and Spartacus does that. But like The Matrix caused an abuse of bullet time, 300 would result to an abuse of "ramping." As in the action slows down then speeds up then slows down to put emphasis on a certain attack. It works wonders the first time it is seen, but when used over and over again it is clear that there is not much originality with action. At least it is not as bad as the shaky cam action introduced in the Bourne Films.

Then of course there is the other subject that has to be addressed: Historical Inaccuracy. I can argue that the narrative of the 300 graphic novel was meant to be a visual propaganda storytelling by a soldier trying to rally his troops for war. So of course the story is exaggerated and the enemy is made out to be monstrous. Though in the movie they took the "monstrous" portion of the propaganda to the extreme. But then again the best propaganda does make the enemy literal monsters. And that's how the story was intended. A soldier rallying his troops by telling them an exaggerated story of true events that make them feel superior and the opposing party as monsters. Unfortunately because of the times we live in, people will not see it that way and they have every right to see it that way.

The Persian Empire were not monsters and they were in fact more civilized than the Greeks who were known for keeping slaves, something the films and the comic completely leave out. But because the movies is visual propaganda to serve the movie's storyteller, it does come off as a literal propaganda against modern Persians. It is their right to take offense in this. I have a Persian friend who is offended by this. But at the same time I could say that I should be offended by Act of Valor for portraying Filipinos as monsters. But I'm not. And is it the same thing? No, because at least the Filipinos still looked Filipino whereas the Persians in 300 look like monsters. But this brings me to another point. Everyone is capable of being a monster, but it takes an intelligent person to see that. It also takes an intelligent person to know that this movie is not by any means trying to be historically accurate nor claim that this is historical truth. It is a film that is meant to just give a simple message of freedom is worth fighting for but the characters just happen to be based on real historical people.

But does this sequel have the same message? Well...

Review

I enjoyed the film. That doesn't mean I think it is good. But I enjoyed it enough to where I think it meets up to the standards of the previous film. But it doesn't surpass it. The fact that the most memorable scene in the movie is the ultra violent and extremely hot sex scene between Eva Green's Artemisia and Sullivan Stapleton's Themistocles, and I mean this is one of the hottest sex scenes I've ever seen in recent films so far, then that kind of tells you something about the rest of the film.

Zack Snyder was working on Man of Steel when this film was in production so directing duties got passed on to Israeli director, Naom Murro, who does an adequate job of mimicking Snyder's style from the first film. But that's where the problem lies, the director was mimicking the exact same style from the first film. That shouldn't be a problem when dealing with a sequel, but when the notion of bringing in a new director to take on an established property usually means something has to be changed. The stylistic difference between Kenneth Branagh's Thor and Alan Taylor's Thor: The Dark World are obvious but they still feel like they're related and connected. Murro doesn't show a distinct style difference or flair here the way Snyder does when he was at the helm. This may not be his fault as this is his first foray into large action epics having only directed a romantic comedy previously. And while the Naval Battles are indeed fantastic there wasn't really a memorable moment that stood out. All the action was just fine and acceptable entertainment for the time. I could even say that it wasn't as gory as the last movie. Hmmmm.

Usually I'd go on to say how the actors are incredible, but for this film that praise only belongs to one person: Eva Green. She comes in to this saga as Artemisia, a Greek Woman who was forced into slavery then rescued by Persians who would then breed her into the ultimate military genius. It is interesting that the film would acknowledge that the Greeks had slaves yet completely ignore it when they keep establishing that the Persians are the ones who enslaved people. So that was a little odd, but it is her backstory. And Eva Green fully loses her self in the role. She is a powerful presence who remains in one's memories well after the movie is over. She is the ultimate villain, far more interesting and scarier than King Xerxes from the previous film, who in here even he has reason to fear her. And like I said, her sex scene with Stapleton's Themistocles is incredible and extremely hot. And I saw that in IMAX 3D with a lady friend who dragged me to movie... Thank you IMAX 3D.

Which brings me to Sullivan Stapleton. The only memorable thing about him in the film was he was the guy who got the savage warrior woman to bend over. But I really have to place a lot of blame to the script more than his acting. His character is not Leonidas and his army is not the Spartan army of killers but an army of ordinary people who really want to fight for their people. So he's not as testosterone fueled on overdrive as Leonidas but rather a smart and caring leader who does worry when his troops die. This would work great if Gerard Butler's Leonidas was not a precedence. It leaves Themistocles and his forgettable supporting Athenian cast looking like terrified soldiers rather than the manly blood thirsty soldiers introduced in the previous film. While it does offer a clear distinction that Sparta really is different from Athens, that distinction lacks the punch this film needs.

Final Thoughts

This is an enjoyable passable entertainment. It is not a history lesson so don't view it that way. This is more like a historical fantasy imagined by a teenage boy who just discovered that girls look better naked. That is not necessarily an insult, but that's how it feels like. It is still entertaining and weirdly enough it can be edited with the previous 300 film into a single 3 hour epic. It is possible to do that with these two films. And that would be incredible. But as a standalone, it is just okay.

SCORE: 6.7/10 - Eva Green is ridiculously hot... oh yeah and cool action

X-Men Days of Futures Past vs Watchmen

CLASH OF THE RETRO ALTERNATE TIMELINES!!!

**SPOILERS**

This article spoils a great deal of both films. If you do not wish to be spoiled please look elsewhere. If you have seen one and don't care for the other then I can't really stop you from reading this. So, let's begin!

All out honesty, if I'm going to compare Watchmen to another film it should be The Incredibles. If you have seen both films, just think about that for a moment. Yep. Same story. Different execution. Different ending. And if I'm going to compare Days of Future Past to another movie it should be Terminator 2. Again, if you've seen both, think about it. So why compare Watchmen, the faithful adaptation of the greatest superhero comic of all time, against Days of Future Past, the inaccurate adaptation of one of the greatest and shortest X-Men stories of all time? Well that's because both films are set in alternate time periods. Well, 1/3 of Days of Future Past takes place in the year 2023 but a dominant portion still lives in the retro world. Believe it or not there are things that they have a lot in common.

COMPARISONS BEGIN

The Death of a Hated Figure brings doom

Bolivar Trask and Edward Blake

Both of these films are triggered by the death of someone. In Days of Future Past, that death was Bolivar Trask. In Watchmen, that death was Edward Black aka The Comedian. Both occur at the beginning of the story and propels the narrative. However where they diverge is that Watchmen is about finding out who killed The Comedian and Days of Future Past is about stopping the murder from happening. But the consequences of this figure's death brings about something apocalyptic. In Days of Future Past that would be the unstoppable Sentinels of the future. In Watchmen it is the death of 15 million people around the world. In a sense they are both apocalyptic with massive scale consequences. Though it could be argued that had The Comedian not died in Watchmen the ending would still happen, but this is more about his death sends the characters on their journey the same way preventing Trask's death put the X-Men on theirs.

We're not doing so good

Charles Xavier and Daniel Dreiberg

In Days of Future Past a young Charles Xavier has fallen from grace after feeling like he is no longer needed. In Watchmen a large majority of the former superheroes still find difficulty adjusting to their lives. While the former Nite Owl II aka Daniel Dreiberg may suffer from a psychological case of erectile dysfunction; which is not as serious as Xavier's drug addiction to get rid of his powers and walk; they both do have that sense of losing a part of themselves without realizing it is who they really are that will save them. Daniel realizes he can't live without being Nite Owl and Xavier realizes he can't live without the wheelchair. It is clear that Xavier is in a more darker place than Daniel but both of them still had to confront the facts: they are who they are and they should not change that.

Prison Break? That's illegal you know

This is more of a plot coincidence than an actual thematic similarity. But both movies do feature a scene where the heroes have to break out arguably the badass of their stories in order to progress the plot. Days of Future Past has the gang plus a newly recruited Quicksilver breaking Magneto out of the Pentagon. Watchmen had a sexed up adrenaline rushed couple break out Rorschach from prison. And yes, one looked cooler than the other. I'm not going to deny that. And you already know which one is cooler. Its just funny how they both have a prison break though, right?

The Badass never compromises

Rorschach and Magneto

You know who I'm talking about. No, not Wolverine. Young Magneto and Watchmen's Rorschach are the uncompromising "badass" characters in their respective films. Both of them have almost a black and white world view. Magneto does blur the black and white with shades of gray, but he still maintains the view that mutants are superior to humans. Rorschach on the other hand only and literally sees the world in black and white. His view is that evil must be punished, even if that means going to the extreme. Both of these characters are incapable of seeing anything different. When everyone else has fallen, they kept going with their causes. But that doesn't mean they're incapable of having friends.

Why can't we be friends?

I had to. Both films have a dynamic between a pair of characters with completely opposing views yet have a strange mutual respect towards each other. Daniel and Xavier can be viewed as fallen White Knights that have to pick themselves up again. And as I've stated before Magneto and Rorschach are the badass uncompromising Dark Knights that stay active in their cause no matter what. Yet both pairs need each other. Daniel and Rorschach both want justice but see different ways of going about it. Xavier and Magneto both want to ensure the future of mutant kind but have completely different methods of how to do so. Despite this, both pairs find a way to still remain friends. Though Daniel and Rorschach are not on opposing sides, the two of them are the only ones who can tolerate and understand each other. And even though Xavier and Magneto are on literal opposing sides, they do care about one another. But granted, if Rorshach and Magneto had to kill Daniel and Xavier, I strongly believe they would.

The "Villain" wants World Peace

Bolivar Trask and Adrian Veidt

Trask has similarities to The Comedian's intellectual rival: Adrian Veidt aka Ozymandias. Both of these characters want world peace. Trask wants peace for humanity by focusing all their hatred towards mutants rather than each other. Ozymandias wants to achieve world peace by faking an alien invasion framing the all powerful Dr. Manhattan with the deaths of 15 million people. Their methodologies of redirecting everyone's hatred and fear towards another party are very similar yet very logical. They're not evil, but they're not above creating an evil for the world to turn against. In a sense they acknowledge that good and evil are only concepts but concepts that everyone believes in. So if the way to unite people is to turn someone into the source of all evil, then of course people will unite for a cause.

It all works out in the end (?)

Both films have happy endings....ish. Days of Future Past ends with the dark future being averted and everyone who died in the original timeline comes back to life. But the change in the timeline may have awakened Apocalypse. While Watchmen ends with the United States and Soviet Union calling off their Cold War to preach world peace. But Rorschach's journal being found by a newspaper intern may trigger an unraveling of the conspiracy to save the world. In other words, both protagonists seemed to have temporarily averted disaster. But as we all know, peace never lasts forever.

Final Thoughts

If you've been following me you'll notice that this versus is completely different from my Godzilla versus and Prehistoric versus. Here I don't really delve into who did it better (except the prison break sequence) but more about what they have in common. I can easily make an argument how Days of Future Past is better than Watchmen. Just look at Rottentomatoes. But then I could've easily made an argument why Watchmen is a far superior film to Days of Future Past. At least they stayed true to the comics. But unlike the American Godzilla films that have similar goals and similar plots, these two films may have similar elements but completely different plots. One is about hope, the other is about reality. I just found it interesting how they match up in so many places and thought I'd point that out. Apologies if you thought this was going to be a complete bashing of one film over the other.

Because we clearly know who the winner is (> . >) X-Men Days of Future Past

Let's Remake Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS PURELY A "WHAT IF" SCENARIO AND NOT REAL. JUST PURE FUN. SO READ, THINK, COMMENT, THEN MOVE ON.

My Opinion of the Movie

I'm going to state this first and foremost that I am a HUGE fan of director Zack Snyder. He may not exactly make the greatest movies in the world but I will never call any of them terrible. Though his original concept film Sucker Punch nearly made me deem it his only true terrible film. I enjoyed the visuals. The anime vibe. The Heavy Metal vibe. The girls. The samurai. The Germans. The Dragon. The Robots. But most importantly of all, the potential story that was there.

It had a good idea: a young girl is placed in a world where she is exploited and uses her imagination to make her strong enough to escape that world. Sounds good on paper. But it takes a lot to pull it off. 

So let's Remake It... The Story That Is

The first thing I want to point out is that I had no problem with the cast of the film. I am aware that Amanda Seyfried was suppose to play the main role but was happy that Emily Browning was casted. Mainly because during the year Sucker Punch came out, Amanda was in almost everything so it was nice to see a different girl in this one. So I'm sticking with the cast. Emily Browning (Babydoll), Jena Malone (Rocket), Abbie Cornish (Sweetpea), Jaime Chung (Amber), Vanessa Hudgens (Blondie), Oscar Isaacs (Blue), Carla Gugino (Gorski) and Scott Glenn (Wise Man). I know Jon Hamm plays an integral role in the film and a major role in the film's director's cut, but lets see if this story still needs that role.

The basics

In the original film a girl gets sent to a mental asylum after accidentally killing her little sister during an attempt to stop her evil step father from doing god knows what to them. Once there, the asylum all of a sudden with no explanation turns into a brothel/club that exploits women in numerous ways. She is forced to become a dancer and whenever she dances she enters a fantasy world that reflects what is going on with her at the moment. She plots to escape the asylum, for no other reason than wanting to escape the asylum. She goes about doing this with the help of the star dancer and her sister along with two other girls. The lead girl dances to distract the owners and patrons of the brothel from what her cohorts are doing. Their actions are represented through the fantasy sequences. Things go horribly wrong and most of them wind up dead leaving the lead girl and the star as the ones left standing. She comes to the conclusion that the Star is the one who deserves to escape and sacrifices herself so that the star does so. During that sacrifice it reverts back to the asylum where it is revealed that she has been lobotomized and in a figurative sense has been set free.

That's pretty much what happened in the film. Now, while the fantasy elements do stand out pretty damn well on their own, they seem really out of place in the movie. A lot of pieces are there but none of them actually thought through. Now, let met give a rundown of how I personally would've made the story or would've like to see the story go:

The Remake

The beginning is the same. A mother dies. She is survived by her two children. Daughters: Babydoll (Emily Browning) and Babydoll's sister. Their stepfather believes he will inherit the mother's money only to discover that it will only go to the children. Now, in the original film it was kind of ambiguous as to what he was going to do them. The film suggests rape, but in context that wouldn't necessarily help him take the money. The stepfather knocks out Babydoll and then brings her to a Brothel owned by a mobster named Blue Jones, a man who collects special cases. The stepfather bribes Blue to ensure that she will be incapable of speaking, to which Blue accepts.

The Brothel is revealed to be a meeting point for several worlds. There are fantasy characters, sci-fi characters, and noir characters populating the Brothel. The girls of the brothel all look like they're human but in reality they all belonged to a different world. Babydoll at first believes that she has truly gone insane but becomes completely convinced that it is true when she looks out the windows to see different worlds.

This is where we start to get into the weird realms. From here, it is mainly about Babydoll wanting to escape to get revenge on her Stepfather.  That is the key component that I see missing from the original film. She wants to escape, but her reason for escaping is not clearly defined. Her mission should be to escape and get revenge from her Stepfather. From there it could go into this whole "how do I escape a realm that exists outside of reality?" That poses a powerful obstacle for her to go through. That is where the roles of the other girls come in.

They will still play a role in her escape but it would have more to do with discovering how to shift back to their respective realities. One of the girls can come from the Steampunk WWI reality, another from the Heavy Metal Fantasy reality, then the Cyberpunk reality. Part of the plot could be that in order to enter the reality they must get past a security system specifically meant for that reality. Which is where these boss fights will come in. Each boss defeated allows each girl to escape.

When it finally reaches that point where Babydoll gets to escape the asylum it reverts back to her world and she finds her stepfather. She gets her revenge on him in almost a high fantasy battle which ends with the death of her stepfather as well as her recapture.

That is when the revelation shows the big twist from the movie, she has really gone insane but used those insanities in order to stay strong to accomplish her mission. The girls that helped her all escaped the asylum and are living the lives that they see fit.

Would that have been better?

The remake I suggested sound convoluted but even then, there's no denying that some form of story can be told from this concept. Just because my vision doesn't exactly add up doesn't mean that there is no other way to do it. This is just one of many.

The big question is. If you have to. How would you do it?