This has been kind of a trailery week on my blog, but you are just going to have to deal with it! The Deadpool trailer above is pretty great. I think they got Deadpool’s character down perfectly. We will have to wait until Valentine’s Day to see if the movie turned out as well as the trailer, but I hope so!
Batman: Arkham Knight Is About What It Takes To Be The Batman!
Kotaku ran an opinion piece on why they think the story in Batman: Arkham Knight failed, you can read it here, but I think that the author missed the point of the story. This is not a game about Batman dealing with this humanity, or how he is falling apart, this is a game showing what it takes to be Batman. This post is going to contain some spoilers, so watch out if you haven’t beaten the game.
At every turn in this game Batman is dealt a blow, personal or professional, but he keeps going. He powers through. Due to the events of previous games his sanity is also starting to tear, but instead of interacting with Joker like the author of Kotaku would like, he knows the hallucinations aren’t real, so he forces himself to ignore Mr. J. Never giving the Joker of his mind the time of day. If he was to interact, he would be giving in to the madness, and proving that point every time you do sort of interact with the Joker the hallucinations get worse.
The author is also mad because the game doesn’t let you fail enough. As Batman you are always winning. You always beat the bad guy, or destroy the tanks (those awful tanks). Well of course you do, your Batman! There are setbacks sure, but you do what you have to keep crime off the streets. To keep the shell of your city intact. You will win at all costs.
Kotaku wanted to see a Batman that was merely human, but Batman is more than that, he is a symbol. As a side quest you even meet the next Batman, so you know that this is not the end for the cape and cowl even if it is for Bruce. Speaking of Bruce, Batman: Arkham Knight also points out one more thing. Batman isn’t the mask, Bruce Wayne is. That is why Wayne is discarded at the end of this game, and why when the Joker is caged in Batman’s mind Batman says, “I am Batman!”, not, “I am Bruce!”. Bruce Wayne is disposable; Batman is forever.
Do We Want A Killing Joke Movie?
One DC’s big announcements at Comic-Con was the they are making a Batman: The Killing Joke animated movie, and just this week it was confirmed that the “THE” Joker himself Mark Hamill would reprise his role as the Clown Prince. Now The Killing Joke is a landmark graphic novel, and I am always okay with Mark Hamill’s devious laugh tickling my ears, but do we really want a Killing Joke movie?
The Killing Joke is about the Joker trying to drive Jim Gordon crazy, and pushing the Batman to break his code not to kill. Real light reading. Again a great book, but not one I am sure that I want to see acted out. Between the torture of Jim Gordon, and assault and crippling of Barbra Gordon it will be a hard movie to get through. I don’t expect all movies to be daisies and lollipops, but The Killing Joke might just be too grim to watch. Especially one featuring a mainline comic book hero.
We will see how this pans out, and Mark Hamill has wanted to do it for years, so I am sure that DC will make the best possible movie out of it they can. I just don’t know if I will want to watch it. Knowing me I probably will, but I may not be very happy with what I will witness. Hey at least we will get an Oracle origin story out of this right?
DC And Hoopla Are A Match Made In Heaven!
When my local library system got Hoopla I didn’t pay much attention to it. It had a small number of books, and the movie and TV sections were worse. It slowly got better, but I still never went back to the App. That has all changed now however. DC Comics and Hoopla signed an agreement, so now a lot of DC’s digital trade paperback length comic books are now showing up on the site, and they say a lot more are to come. If you have never read any of the New 52, now is a great time to start since you can read a lot of them for free. Which is a pretty great price. They also have a good selection of older series as well like Neil Gaiman’s landmark Sandman.
I am not sure what the library’s game is here, maybe they never want me to go back to their buildings? Whatever the case, reading free comic books thanks to their agreement with Hoopla is wonderful. If you haven’t tried it out, you really should. Provided you have the right hardware unlike The Paladin.
Steal Some Stuff With Ant-Man!
I have to admit Ant-Man was the first Marvel movie that I was worried about. After loosing a director, and then going through massive rewrites, I thought this was going to be Marvel’s first major flop since the Incredible Hulk. Somehow though they still pulled it off. Ant-Man is an amusing addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while I don’t think this will be anyone’s favorite Marvel movie, I do think most people will enjoy themselves.
Ant-Man is about cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), and how he learns to be the Ant-Man from the man who used to carry the mantle for S.H.I.E.L.D, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Scott is tasked with keeping Dr. Pym’s shrinking technology out of the wrong hands. In other words Hank needs Scott to steal some stuff for him.
While Ant-Man is yet another superhero origin story, this time it has the twist of being a teacher/protégé scenario. Honestly, anything they can do to mix things up a little is appreciated. Though I think the real reason for this is that Scott Lang in the comic books is the wisecracking and fun Ant-Man while Hank Pym is a mean jerk. Wisecracking and fun works well with the current Marvel movie hero mold.
Which is one of the main issues with this film. While it is more of a heist movie than a straight-up superhero versus supervillain movie, it doesn’t really try to break out of the current set of Marvel movie conventions. When watching this film there is no doubt who is responsible for it. My other issue with this flick is that this really should have been a Wasp movie, or whatever they are going to call Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) when she suits up, and she will. I mean she helps train Scott for crying out loud. They try and explain/hand-wave it away, but never to any real satisfaction. Though I guess the real reason is that they wanted Ant-Man not Wasp.
Paul Rudd showed why Marvel is going after all the likable comedic actors for their films. He is instantly charming and easy to root for even though his character has a somewhat checkered past. Michael Douglas works well as the frustrated ex-superhero trying to impart his talents on his replacement. While Evangeline Lilly does a good job with her role, her character as mentioned above is kind of wasted, or at least misused.
Ant-Man isn’t going to be thought of as the greatest Marvel movie ever, but the fact it is as good as it is, is a testament to how well the Marvel movie formula works. It is an action-packed often silly adventure. If you like what Marvel has offered in the past, you will like Ant-Man. If you were never a fan or have superhero fatigue, Ant-Man will not be for you. I however, had a great time.