Suicide Squad

Now right up front I was not happy going to see this flick, the third of the DC Comics Extended Universe after Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  After them, I figured it could only get worse, a point that has since been reversed by the vastly superior Wonder Woman.  But Suicide Squad?  I didn't even have invested interest in the comics. 

I have read the Suicide Squad here and there, even seen them on TV.  I knew the characters and the motives but it never really rang any bells for me.  Mind you, no offense meant to the work of John Ostrander, he's a genius, and the stories were good, just not in my wheelhouse is all.  Of course it seems only a few things from the comics of the time made it to the screen. 

The concept is here.  Super-villains offered time off sentence for doing the dirty jobs the superheroes can't do, and a few of the characters are here, but others that just seem odd.  Some are originals from the comics I remember, some from the newest iteration, and some from left field.  All are still from Belle Reve prison (I have some question on the proper pronunciation of that, but I'll let it go) and all still manipulated by Amanda Waller, though much thinner. 

There's Will Smith's Deadshot, who like co-star Margot Robbie, is simply electric when onscreen. He's a family man driven to crime and put away by the Batman.  He's got a moral code, but is still a criminal, we feel for him.  He might just be the sanest of the bunch, a great counterpoint to his co-star and glory hog (not that that is a bad thing) in this flick, Harley Quinn. 

I have never been a big fan of Harley outside of her original source material in "Batman The Animated Series," so I'm not down with the New 52 slutty stripper version.  Give me the jester outfit and the Mark Hamill Joker any day of the week.  This version, while charismatic and making love to the camera like crazy town, is slavishly dedicated to her Joker, who I'll get to in a minute.  She's good, and Robbie is terrific in the role, but there's a better Harley that could've been portrayed here, ya know?  She's also stolen the movie, in that, other than the New 52, Harley is not even a character I associate with Suicide Squad.  It feels mismatched.

Waller, played with skill by The Help's Viola Davis, at a discreet government meeting introduces her idea for this team, and in simplistic flashback method to each character.  It's easy, and it works.  We see in vignettes Deadshot in action and apprehended by the Batman, the origin of Harley Quinn as well as verification she may have murdered Robin as seen in BvS, Captain Boomerang captured by the seen but unnamed Flash, and much shorter ones with El Diablo, Killer Croc, and the Enchantress.

Waller describes a nearly fully formed world of metahumans just beneath the headlines, just waiting for others like the now deceased Superman and the Bat to open the gateway to public acknowledgement.  Whereas Marvel built their movie world, DC's was already there, waiting to be revealed.  We're twenty minutes in and we know the players, the world, and getting a good vibe on the plot - ain't nothing wrong with that. 

The Harley sequence includes a chase through Gotham from Batman, once again more than ably portrayed by Ben Affleck, and far too much of the Jared Leto Joker.  This tattooed metal-grilled psychopath is very scary, but, I'll say it, he's no Joker.  And I don't think the filmmakers thought so either, because his entire subplot fizzles as if it didn't exist - it certainly doesn't matter in the course of the film - why is he here?  I would have rathered a tetherless Harley than this substandard Joker wannabe waiting in the wings for a payoff that never really comes. 

The Enchantress, an extradimensional entity that possesses June Moone is said by Waller to be the most powerful metahuman she's catalogued. She has a brother, named Incubus, trapped in a jar, and that's where it gets crazy.  Waller has her heart, and June is in love with Rick Flagg, a special operative with ARGUS and under Walker's command. 

Flagg is played by Joel Kinnaman, not the first choice for the role, but one of my favorite actors.  I loved him in "The Killing," but not here, here he is a disappointment, and apparently a one note actor.  It's a shame, along with Leto's Joker, they're among the worst things in this otherwise entertaining flick. 

When Midway City (love the shoutout to Hawkman's hometown) is under attack by the Enchantress and her brother the Incubus, the Squad is gathered, and sent onsite, with super heroine Katana added almost as an afterthought.  Again, almost casually the fact that her sword drinks souls is thrown out there as if that kind of thing happens everyday.

Once on the ground, it becomes a mission movie and we get to see the villains interact, and fight the badder guys.  Of course around now the producers seem to forget half the team is there and it becomes about Deadshot, Harley, and Flagg, and unfortunately and pointlessly, the Joker - the threat that never actually manifests.  Boomerang, who in the comics is, along with Deadshot, Enchantress, and Flagg, the only recognizable Squad members, is hardly in this, and barely acts like his source material. 

The ending however turns into another mess like Man of Steel with weird streams of blue light in the sky.  Other than that silliness this was good, it's true, Suicide Squad was good, and the battle at the end is the type we want all metahuman brawls to be like, especially on the big screen.  Victorious and tragic at once, this was a winner. 

Up until a few weeks ago, with the debut of Wonder Woman, this was the best of the DC films.  I don't know what all the haters are on about, I dug Suicide Squad. 

After Earth

After Earth ~ M. Night Shyamalan has taken a lot of heat in recent years. He's no longer the critics' darling, and a lot of folks have given up on him, but I haven't. Still, I haven't seen his last few efforts in the theaters, waiting for home video to see them. That doesn't mean I still don't enjoy his work. Such was the case with After Earth, which he co-wrote and directed.

The science fiction flick was better known as a father/son vehicle for Will Smith (it was based on a story by him) and Jaden Smith more than anything else. With no credits at the start of the film, many folks didn't even know it was an M. Night movie. It works well for the Smiths, being a two-man acting tour de force, but honestly it wouldn't have been as good without M. Night's touch, at least in my opinion.

One thousand years in the future, a father and son crashland on a mutated, abandoned, and evolved Earth. The father is a genetically altered war hero with no fear who's been crippled and can't move. The son, the only other survivor, has find the beacon to call for help, with the remote guidance of his dad. They have a distant relationship, complicated by a lost sibling and a failure to be a ranger like dad.

Father and son must see eye to eye in a mission of survival and a race against time. The father and son theme is as strong as the boy becoming a man and facing his fears, but at its core, After Earth is a story of survival. I wonder if it was just the science fiction trappings or M. Night's name that kept it from not only being successful, but also this year's Castaway or Life of Pi.

In my opinion, it's another strong film from M. Night, visually stunning, good story, and well worth watching. Check it out.

Miley Gone Mad?

With an impending birthday coming this week, after watching the opening number of this year's MTV VMAs, I had to ask myself two questions. Or rather one question with a choice. Am I old, or has Miley Cyrus lost her mind?

I am concerned for her well being honestly. The woman is clearly out of control, if not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or just plain stupidity. If she was a close friend, or a member of our families - you know damned straight she'd be long overdue for an intervention.



Yeah, and there it is. It's not like the VMAs don't have a reputation for controversy. I remember quite clearly as a young man seeing Madonna hump the floor in a bridal gown while singing "Like a Virgin." I will never forget that as long as I live. Later shows have tried to recreate or top that moment, but rarely succeeding. It may be time for MTV to stop trying to do that, and just do an awards show. The Oscars and the Tonys have both shown in recent years that 'just an awards show' can actually be quite good.

What bothers me most about the Miley Cyrus performance at the VMAs is that no one stopped it, no one pulled her aside and said No. Even Robin Thicke, especially co-conspirator Robin Thicke should have known better. Lady GaGa is outrageous. Madonna is outrageous. But poor Miley just made us feel embarrassed and worried for her.

Outrageous, unique, and controversial are something to aspire to in the entertainment industry, but this was just a freak show, and pitiful and shocking for most of us to watch. And I'm sure Will Smith and his family agrees with me.

Men in Black 3

Men in Black 3 ~ This movie beats the odds several ways. First it's fun and entertaining, which for a sequel, let alone a second sequel, let alone a second sequel almost fifteen years after the original, and a decade after the lackluster first sequel. To be a good movie, and do well, against those odds is definitely an achievement.

The Men in Black concept is based on the brief and rarely seen Malibu Comics feature by Lowell Cunningham, which is in turn based on the ufology myth of the men in black from the government who cover up alien encounters. Through three movies now, Tommy Lee Jones as senior agent K and Will Smith as junior agent J have protected Earth from the scum of the universe as part of a top secret organization who do what you would expect them to do - kicking alien ass and erasing everyone's memories of said ass-kicking.

The films have been successful mainly because of Jones and Smith's almost perfect extreme buddy cop chemistry, as well as the sharp humor of the writing, and of course the cutting edge special effects. Even with all that, the first sequel was a weak entry almost ensuring MIB3 would not happen, but here we are.

The plot of Men in Black 3 bucks the odds even further, as it's about time travel. The common thinking in Hollywood, even in scifi movies, is that time travel makes people's heads hurt. Only when it is done well, like in the Back to the Future or Terminator series, does it come off successfully with mainstream audiences. MIB3 does it as well.

An alien villain, Boris the Animal (played by Jemaine Clement from HBO's "Flight of the Conchords" although you'd never guess it), escapes prison and goes back in time to 1969 to kill K before he can put him in jail. K vanishes from the present, so J must go to 1969 to save him and put time right. And here's where we hit the third odds-breaker. The younger K, played by Josh Brolin, is Will Smith's partner for most of the movie. His impression of Tommy Lee Jones as K is dead on, and half the entertainment of the flick. The chemistry is intact despite a new actor in an old role.

This movie is so much fun, captures the spirit of the original, and covers new territory while being funny, exciting, and fresh. The only thing that could have made this better would have been a Will Smith theme song. Recommended. I wouldn't have thought I would say this, but bring on Men in Black 4.

That Time of Year Again

The last few weeks of the year are here and it’s time for Hollywood to roll out their finest stuff in hopes the Academy will take notice and bestow an Oscar on these films. There are a lot of them out there.

Doubt is getting a lot of hype. Milk and Gran Torino promise career performances from Sean Penn and Clint Eastwood respectively. The much talked about reverse-aging epic The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is out there as well. There’s also Will Smith in Seven Pounds, Tom Cruise in Valkyrie, the animated Waltz with Bashir from Ari Folman and Revolutionary Road from Sam Mendes.

Like I said, there are a lot of them, and this is the way it’s been at the end of the year for the last couple decades. The studios want their Oscar hopefuls in the Academy’s faces right before nomination time, and for the most part, this simple ploy usually works. Mark my words, most of the above flicks will make up the majority of the noms this year.

This is bullshit in my opinion. Time of year shouldn’t matter. A good movie, an Oscar-worthy movie, is Oscar-worthy no matter what time of year it is released. If these studios had any reall balls they would release all of these in January. If a flick is really that good, the Academy will remember it come December. And if not, if the Academy is that dim-witted and memory-handicapped, why are they allowed to vote?

Quickies 8-9-2008

Picture This! ~ An Ashley Tisdale vehicle to whet the kids’ appetites for the High School Musical sequel hitting theatres in October, this really isn’t as bad as it could have been. As a matter of fact, it’s quite a lot of fun. Clever cellphone hijinks abound in this Disney family flick as well as a musical number or two. And Ashley is much more grounded and likable here than in the HSMs. Recommended.


Thomas and Friends: The Great Discovery ~ Yes, that’s right, it’s a “Thomas the Tank Engine” movie. My nephew was in town so we went to the movies. Once I got over the acid trip weirdness that all the vehicles had faces it wasn’t bad. Wonderfully narrated by Pierce Brosnan and easily accessible to adults it wasn’t bad. I did fall asleep however, not because I was bored, but tired from the night before. The point at which I fell asleep had Thomas jealous of a competitor, when I awoke that competitor had vanished and didn’t show up again for about twenty minutes (an eternity in a kid flick). I thought for sure Martin Scorsese was actually a ghost director and Thomas had done his rival in! Trust me, that nod-off made for a much more exciting film. Good one for the pre-school set, and also for sleepy, imaginative adults.


Hancock ~ I really wasn’t expecting much from this year’s Will Smith Fourth of July offering. It looked more like a rip-off or parody of the superhero genre than anything else. I was surprised. Hancock, while a bit predictable in places (mostly from the later previews and trailers), is still this summer’s best superhero flick this side of Iron Man. Smith plays a man gifted with superpowers but with little regard for the people (or property) his position indicates he protect. An alcoholic, a slacker and a drifter he’s just not your typical hero. The police hate him more than they probably would a super-villain. As PR worker Jason Bateman tries to help Hancock we learn more about his past and where he came form, and from there the action really starts rolling. Not really a parody at all, but a sly homage to the genre, this one is worth seeing in the theatre.


Déjà Vu ~ I hate movies whose synopses give away vital plot points. This one did it for me, and because I loved this film so much, I won’t do it for you. This Denzel Washington thriller comes with my highest recommendation, along with the proviso you don’t read anything about it before you see it. That’s right, it’s Sixth Sense secret cool. I loved it.