Review: "KINGSMAN: The Golden Circle" Improves on the First Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 of 2022 (No. 1834) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
Running time: 141 minutes (2 hours, 21 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of strong violence, drug content, language throughout and some sexual content
DIRECTOR:  Matthew Vaughn
WRITERS:  Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn (based on on the comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons)
PRODUCERS:  Adam Bohling, David Reid, and Matthew Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  George Richmond (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Eddie Hamilton
COMPOSERS:  Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson

COMEDY/ACTION/SPY/SCI-FI

Starring:  Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Edward Holcroft, Hanna Alström, Calvin Demba, Thomas Turgoose, Tobi Bakare, Bruce Greenwood, Emily Watson, Elton John, Sophie Cookson, and Michael Gambon

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a 2017 spy movie and action-comedy from director Matthew Vaughn.  It is a direct sequel to the 2015 film, Kingsman: The Secret Service.  Both films are based on characters and elements from the 2012 comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons.  The Golden Circle focuses on two elite secret organizations that must band together to defeat a common enemy that is holding the world hostage.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle opens a year after Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton) defeated and killed the diabolical Internet billionaire, Richmond Valentine.  Eggsy has officially joined the independent intelligence agency, Kingsman, and has taken his late mentor. Harry Hart's (Colin Firth) position as agent “Galahad.”  Eggsy is also dating Tilde (Hanna Alström), Crown Princess of Sweden, whom he saved from Valentine.

One night in London, Eggsy is ambushed by Charlie Hesketh (Edward Holcroft), a rejected Kingsman applicant.  Eggsy defeats Charlie, who escapes.  However, Charlie has a new employer, a mysterious organization known as “The Golden Circle.”  Its leader, Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of illegal drugs and narcotics, launches an attack against the Kingsman that leaves the agency devastated.  The survivors, Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong), make contact with “Statesman,” the American counterpart of Kingsman, which uses a Kentucky-based bourbon whiskey business as a front.  [The Kingsman's front is as a Savile Row tailor.]

With the help of the Statesman, Agent Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) and Ginger Ale (Halle Berry), Eggsy tries to stop Poppy Adams' plot to use a toxin in the drugs and narcotics she sells to hold the world for ransom.  She wants her demands met or she will withhold an antidote to the toxin, which means hundreds of millions of people will die.  In order to stop her, Eggsy will have to face many challenges … and a number of surprising reveals.

I enjoyed Kingsman: The Secret Service quite a bit, but it was mostly a substance-free past-time.  As much as I enjoyed the film, I had mostly forgotten about it a few hours after seeing it.  Kingsman: The Golden Circle isn't quite as substance-free as its predecessor.  The bonds and obligations of friendship and love weigh on the characters, especially Eggsy.  He can no longer just live for the job, not when there is a serious relationship commitment in front of him.

I found some of the Statesman characters to be either superfluous or simply boring, with the exception of Halle Berry's Ginger Ale.  I am a longtime fan of Berry's, and she makes the casually smart and calm Ginger an endearing character.  Elton John also makes a surprising and shocking turn as something of a fun and offbeat action hero.

The film also has a wacky-ass and fun soundtrack.  It uses John Denver's 1971 hit, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” including a poignant version sung by Mark Strong's Merlin.  There are a few Elton John hits, of course, some performed in the film by Elton.  The best song on the soundtrack may be a funky, country rock version of Cameo's “Word Up” by the German musical act “The BossHoss.”

Taron Egerton as Eggsy has star appeal and leading man quality, which is a surprise to me.  I wish the film had given some of the narrative time devoted to the Statesman characters back to Eggsy.  Egerton takes the Kingsman film franchise to the next level.  Kingsman: The Golden Circle is an improvement over the original film, enough of an improvement that I hope to see another sequel.

7 of 10
B+

Wednesday, February 16, 2022


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Review: "MORBIUS" is Anemic, But Jared Leto is Hot Blooded

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 18 of 2022 (No. 1830) by Leroy Douresseaux

Morbius (2022)
Running time:  104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, some frightening images, and brief strong language
DIRECTOR:  Daniel Espinosa
WRITERS:  Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless; from a story by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (based on the Marvel Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Lucas Foster
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Oliver Wood
EDITOR:  Pietro Scalia
COMPOSER:  Joe Ekstrand

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/HORROR/ACTION

Starring:  Jared Leto, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Matt Smith, Al Madrigal, Charlie Shotwell, Joseph Esson, and Tyrese Harris and Michael Keaton

Morbius is a 2022 superhero fantasy-horror and action film directed by Daniel Espinosa.  The movie is based on the Marvel Comics character, “Morbius, the Living Vampire”/Dr. Michael Morbius, which was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (cover dated: October 1971).  This is also the third film in “Sony's Spider-Man Universe” (SSU) series.  Morbius the film focuses on a scientist who tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease but instead turns himself into a new kind of vampire.

Morbius introduces Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto).  He is a genius, a scientist, and has a talent for fabricating technology.  He is also suffering from a rare blood disease and has spent his adult life looking for a cure to that disease which often kills those afflicted with it at a young age.  Michael is 35-years-old, and he recently refused a Nobel Prize.

Michael is currently engaged in illegal experiments involving vampire bats that he stole from a cave in Costa Rica.  Although she is critical of him for these experiments, Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona), Michael's fellow scientist and girlfriend, works with him.  Once he believes that he has finally created the cure for his rare blood disease, Michael injects himself with the formula.  Michael's body is transformed into that of an Olympic-level athlete, but the cure also turns him into a vampire – one with a powerful blood lust.  Now, the bodies of people with the blood drained from their bodies are being found all over the city.  Is Morbius the killer … or is Morbius responsible?

Morbius is about Morbius.  The only other character that this film allows any traction is Martine Bancroft.  It isn't that the screenplay is shallow; I find that it attempts a serious contemplation of both Dr. Michael Morbius' character and Morbius the vampire's dilemma.  I wish the film's story had taken more time with the two FBI agents hunting Morbius, comic relief Alberto “Al” Rodriguez (Al Madrigal) and the really serious Black man, Simon Stroud (Tyrese Gibson).

Morbius may be Jared Leto's best performance in a film in years.  I prefer Leto's Dr. Michael Morbius to “Rayon,” the drug addicted, HIV-positive trans woman he played in the 2013 film, Dallas Buyers Club.  Leto won a “Best Supporting Actor” Oscar for playing Rayon, a character I found shallow.  In Morbius, Leto's good looks, his vanity, his obvious acting talent, and his imaginative approach to fashioning characters and performances serve both him and film, quite well.  I found both Dr. Michael Morbius and Morbius the vampire to be endlessly fascinating characters and not at all shallow.

It feels weird for me to recommend this film for Jared Leto's performance, but I am.  Morbius is officially part of a superhero film universe.  Adrian Toomes/Vulture (Michael Keaton) from the 2017 film, Spider-Man: Homecoming, even makes an appearance in Morbius in order to solidify some connections between Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  That connection thrills the fanboy in me.  I like Morbius, and I am giving it a higher grade than I probably would.  And that is because of Jared Leto's outstanding work in Morbius.

6 of 10
B

Friday, April 1, 2022


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"THE BATMAN" DELETED SCENE: Batman Meets Joker in Arkham

MARCH 23, 2022: Warner Bros. Pictures has released a deleted scene from THE BATMAN, in which Batman (Robert Pattinson) meets the Joker (Barry Keoghan) for a menacing conversation in Arkham.  The scene suggests that the two have an establish history.  The video is below:

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"The Batman" Soundtrack is Out Now

The Batman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Now Available From WaterTower Music

Features the Music of Academy, Emmy, and Grammy Award-Winning Composer Michael Giacchino

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WaterTower Music announces the release of the soundtrack to director Matt Reeves’ hotly anticipated “The Batman,” which stars Robert Pattinson in the dual role of Gotham City’s vigilante detective and his alter ego, reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne. The film is set to open in theaters in North America March 4, 2022 and internationally beginning 2 March 2022.

The Batman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) features the music of Academy, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino, whose credits feature some of the most popular and acclaimed film projects in recent history, including “The Incredibles,” “Coco,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Ratatouille,” “Star Trek,” “Jurassic World,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “War for the Planet of the Apes.” It’s the fifth film Reeves and Giacchino have collaborated on.

The release of the soundtrack comes just days before the film’s release, and follows WaterTower Music’s campaign over the past several weeks of digitally releasing three of Giacchino’s powerful musical character themes, each of which has captivated fans across the globe. The first music to be heard from The Batman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) was, in order of release: “The Batman,” “The Riddler,” and “Catwoman.”

“I love working with Michael Giacchino, he’s one of my favorite people,” explained “The Batman” director Matt Reeves. “So, when I got ‘The Batman,’ I went to him knowing he has the same kind of love and connection to Batman that I do. He told me he wanted to do what we’d never been able to - to record before I ever shot a frame. He said, ‘I want us to record a suite, as if it was the unknown Beethoven Sonata of Batman that was found, and we use that to score the entire movie.’ I was excited about it, so he started writing while I was still writing, and he would send me little sample recordings of pieces he was doing on the piano.”

Reeves said that later, “the night before Robert (Pattinson) was to screen test, Michael sent me this incredible suite which contained the Batman theme - he had put it together with an orchestra - and I was blown away! It was so emotional. I drove to the set, and (The Batman producer) Dylan Clark was there, and I said to him, ‘You have to get in the car.’ He sat in the passenger seat, and I turned up the music. The two of us literally cried. He, too, felt it was amazing.

“I just felt like this was a very special, fated day, because Robert was about to be in one of the classic Batsuits, we were going to shoot some scenes, and there we were listening to this perfect music,” Reeves continued. “Suddenly you felt you were about to be part of film history that meant so much to you and meant so much to everyone. That music helped Robert Pattinson to become Batman, and we listened to that music all the time.”

The Batman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is now available digitally for streaming/ purchase, and on 2CD.

The track list is as follows:

1. Can't Fight City Halloween

2. Mayoral Ducting

3. It's Raining Vengeance

4. Don't Be Voyeur with Me

5. Crossing the Feline

6. Gannika Girl

7. Moving in for the Gil

8. Funeral and Far Between

9. Collar ID

10. Escaped Crusader

11. Penguin of Guilt

12. Highway to the Anger Zone

13. World's Worst Translator

14. Riddles, Riddles Everywhere

15. Meow and You and Everyone We Know

16. For All Your Pennyworth

17. Are You a Kenzie or a Can't-zie?

18. An Im-purr-fect Murder

19. The Great Pumpkin Pie

20. Hoarding School

21. A Flood of Terrors

22. A Bat in the Rafters, Pt. 1

23. A Bat in the Rafters, Pt. 2

24. The Bat's True Calling

25. All's Well That Ends Farewell

26. The Batman

27. Catwoman

28. The Riddler

29. Sonata in Darkness

From Warner Bros. Pictures comes Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” starring Robert Pattinson in the dual role of Gotham City’s vigilante detective and his alter ego, reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne.

More than a year of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies—Alfred (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright)—amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.

When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), Oz, aka The Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka The Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.

Starring alongside Robert Pattinson (“Tenet,” “The Lighthouse”) as Gotham’s famous and infamous cast of characters are Zoë Kravitz (“Big Little Lies,” “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”); Paul Dano (“Love & Mercy,” “12 Years a Slave”); Jeffrey Wright (“No Time to Die,” “Westworld”); John Turturro (the “Transformers” films, “The Plot Against America”); Peter Sarsgaard (“The Magnificent Seven,” “Interrogation”) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Jayme Lawson (“Farewell Amor”) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (the “Planet of the Apes” films, “Black Panther”); and Colin Farrell (“The Gentlemen,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”).

Reeves (“The Planet of the Apes” franchise) directed from a screenplay by Reeves & Peter Craig, based on characters from DC. Batman was created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger. Dylan Clark (the “Planet of the Apes” films) and Reeves produced the film, with Michael E. Uslan, Walter Hamada, Chantal Nong Vo and Simon Emanuel serving as executive producers.

The movie’s behind-the-scenes creative team included Oscar-nominated director of photography Greig Fraser (“Dune,” “Lion”); Reeves’ “Planet of the Apes” production designer, James Chinlund, and editor, William Hoy; editor Tyler Nelson (“Rememory”); and Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (“1917,” “Little Women,” “Anna Karenina”). The music is by Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino (the current “Spider-Man,” “Jurassic World” and “Star Wars” films, “Up”).

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents a 6th & Idaho/Dylan Clark Productions Production, a Matt Reeves Film, “The Batman.” The film is set to open in theaters in North America March 4, 2022 and internationally beginning 2 March 2022; it will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

“The Batman” is rated PG-13 by the MPA for strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material.

ABOUT WATERTOWER MUSIC:

WaterTower Music, the in-house label for the WarnerMedia companies, releases recorded music as rich and diverse as the companies themselves. It has been the soundtrack home to many of the world’s most iconic films, television shows and games since 2001.

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Review: "THE BATMAN" Has Great Action Scenes and Dull Psychological Drama

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 of 2022 (No. 1824) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Batman (2022)
Running time:  175 minutes (2 hours, 55 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material
DIRECTOR:  Matt Reeves
WRITERS:  Matt Reeves and Peter Craig (based on Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger)
PRODUCERS:  Dylan Clark and Matt Reeves
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Greig Fraser (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  William Hoy and Tyler Nelson
COMPOSER:  Michael Giacchino

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION and DRAMA/MYSTERY

Starring:  Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, John Turturro, Andy Serkis, Peter Sarsgaard, Jayme Lawson, Gil Perez-Abraham, Alex Ferns, Rupert Penry-Jones, Hana Hrzic, Charlie Carver, Max Carver, Luke Roberts, Stella Stocker, and Barry Keoghan

The Batman is a 2022 superhero action-drama from director Matt Reeves.  It is the eighth film in the modern Batman film franchise that began with director Tim Burton's 1989 film, Batman, and it is a reboot of the Batman film franchise.  In The Batman, a sadistic serial killer begins murdering key political figures, forcing Batman to investigate his city's hidden corruption, which may involve both his father and mother's side of the family.

The Batman opens on Halloween.  The Gotham City mayoral race is in the final stretch between incumbent Mayor Don Mitchell Jr. (Robert Pattinson) and challenger, Bella Reál (Jayme Lawson).  A sadistic new serial killer, who calls himself “The Riddler” (Paul Dano), murders Mayor Mitchell.  Thus, begins The Riddler's wave of murder and terror.

The Batman (Robert Pattinson), a vigilante who has operated in Gotham for two years, works alongside Lieutenant James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) of the Gotham City Police Department, much to the chagrin of many rank and file officers and higher-ups in the department.  They discover that with each of his murders, The Riddler leaves a message for Batman.

Batman is really reclusive billionaire, Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson), who obsessively protects Gotham.  So focused on his mission is Bruce that he pushes away his loyal butler and mentor, Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis).  However, Batman ends up partnering with Selina Kyle ( Zoë Kravitz), a waitress who is something of a cat burglar – a “Catwoman” – who is trying to find her missing roommate and girlfriend Annika (Hana Hrzic).

The Batman will be forced to reckon with Gotham City's hidden corruption and also face tough questions about his late parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne's (Luke Roberts and Stella Stocker) involvement in that corruption  Especially, troubling is Thomas Wayne's connection to a notorious Gotham crime lord, Carmine Falcone (John Turturro).

The Batman is a film that borrows liberally from the recent film and comic book past of Batman.  I recognize story elements borrowed from Batman comic book stories like “Batman: Year One” and “Zero Year.”  There are allusions to Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film; even composer Michael Giacchino's score seems to reference composer Danny Elfman's score for Burton's film.

However, director Matt Reeves, in making The Batman, seems obsessed with or bewitched by director Christopher Nolan's hugely popular Batman films:  Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), referred to as “The Dark Knight trilogy.”  Nolan's film were “dark” and edgy in terms of subject matter, plots, and characters, but Nolan filled the films with invigorating and tense action set pieces.

The Batman is just dark.  It is as if Reeves took Nolan's aesthetic and through a coal black filter over it.  The Gotham City of this film seems like a real-life city, and it is dark as all Hell at night and damp – really damp.  Reeves and his co-screenwriter, Peter Craig, fashion a story that is overwhelmed with political corruption and depraved criminals that are dark in personality and even darker in motivation.  Bruce Wayne is morose, as if both actor Robert Pattinson and Matt Reeves are determined to make him a caricature of the caricature that has become iconic rock musician, the late Kurt Cobain.  It is an utter waste of Pattinson's potential as both an actor and a movie star.

On the other hand, Pattinson's Batman has more layers.  Pattinson makes him formidable and dangerous, but also introspective and capable of mercy.  This Batman is also a fierce fighter, but is physically vulnerable; Bruce's body is marked with the scars of his Batman activities.  Batman is often knocked down by his opponents in hand to hand combat and seriously injured by gunfire.

Too bad that The Batman does not have better villains.  They aren't really worth talking about, but I do want to point out the really terrible version of The Riddler that is in this film.  He is a whiny, boring incel, and as The Riddler, actor Paul Dano is more doofus than diabolical.

The Batman does have good supporting characters, but the script does not give them much with which to work.  Zoë Kravitz is full of fire and talent as Selina Kyle, and when she is allowed to show her acting chops, she steals entire scenes.  Most of the time, however, it feels like all the filmmakers really want her to do is pose and look bad-ass slash alluring.  James Gordon is a mostly one-note character, and even the supremely talented Jeffrey Wright cannot make the character be more than that.  I won't get into how much the brilliant Andy Serkis is wasted as Alfred Pennyworth.

The Batman is truly at its best during the fights, chases, and action scenes.  The film also gives us a monster-like Batmobile that is more muscle car than mobile, and when Batman uses it to pursue the Penguin (Colin Farrell) in his car, the film seems to explode off the screen.

What keeps The Batman from being a really good film, to say nothing of being a great film, is that it is too long.  It is half kick-ass action and half plodding melodrama, and I wish the plodding melodrama had been cut in half.  Honestly, I would only recommend The Batman to people who enjoy watching Batman movies, regardless of whether they are comic book fans or not.

6 of 10
B

Friday, March 4, 2022


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Review: "JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: Apokolips War" - As Endings Go, This One is Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 of 2022 (No. 1820) by Leroy Douresseaux

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War – video (2020)
Running time:  90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – R for bloody violence, language, and some sexual references
DIRECTORS:  Matt Peters and Christina Sotter
WRITERS:  Ernie Altbacker and Mairghread Scott; from a story by Mairghread Scott (based on characters appearing in DC Comics)
PRODUCER:  Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Tiger Animation

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Matt Ryan, Camilla Luddington, Taissa Farmiga, Jerry O'Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rosario Dawson, Jason O'Mara, Stuart Allen, Hynden Walch, Rainn Wilson, Liam McIntyre, Ray Chase, John DiMaggio, Roger Cross, Shemar Moore, Christopher Gorham, and Tony Todd

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is a 2020 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation.  It is the thirty-eighth film in Warner Home Video's line of “DC Universe Animated Original Movies.”  This film features the marquee DC Comics superhero teams:  Justice League, Teen Titans, and Suicide Squad.  The title of the movie references the supernatural-leaning version of the Justice League, the “Justice League Dark.”  In Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, the Earth's remaining superheroes engage in an epic battle to save what is left of Earth from Darkseid.

As Justice League Dark: Apokolips War opens, Superman (Jerry O'Connell) has devised a plan in which the Justice League will lead a first-strike attack on the all-powerful New God, Darkseid (Tony Todd), who has made two failed attempts at conquering Earth.  The plan is also for the Teen Titans to stay behind and protect the planet.  Unfortunately for the heroes of Earth, Darkseid has learned of their plans and overwhelms them with his “Paradooms,” a genetic hybrid creature made from combination of Darkseid's Parademons and Doomsday, the alien creature that once “killed” Superman.

Two years later, Earth is in ruins, and Darkseid has placed three devices, known as “Reapers,” on Earth to mine the planet's core of its magma.  Some superheroes, such as Cyborg (Shemar Moore), Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), and Batman (Jason O'Mara), are now Darkseid's slaves.  Many of the surviving heroes blame Clark Kent/Superman for leading them into failure, and worse, Superman has been forcibly de-powered after Darkseid tattooed his chest with liquid kryptonite.  Still, the Man of Steel has not given up on saving Earth.

Supeman and Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn) have hatched a new plan to stop Darkseid.  Clark recruits the remaining Teen Titans, Damian Wayne/Robin (Stuart Allen) and Raven (Taissa Farmiga), who is struggling to maintain her father, Trigon's (John DiMaggio) imprisonment.  But everything may hinge on the troublesome con man and sorcerer, John Constantine (Matt Ryan).

Within the “DC Universe Animated Original Movies,” there is the “DC Animated Movie Universe.”  The line began in 2013 with the straight-to-video release of Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox and is comprised of 15 feature length films.  The point of the “DC Animated Movie Universe” was to make animated films that were loosely based on “The New 52.”  Started in 2011, “The New 52” was the publishing initiative in which DC Comics relaunched its entire line of superhero comic books.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is the last film in the “DC Animated Movie Universe.”  That factoid is second in importance to the fact that Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is a really good DC Comics animated film.  The film probably uses the “Justice League Dark” title rather than simply “Justice League” because of the tone of the story and because, in many ways, John Constantine, the star of 2017's Justice League Dark animated film, is the lynch pin of Apokolips War.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War takes the viewers in some inventive and intriguing directions in regards to characters, relationships, and mythologies.  The film offers a surprising amount of emotionally fulfilling character drama and arcs, including the usual Lois Lane and Clark Kent relationship.  However, John Constantine and Zatanna (Camilla Luddington) offer a poignant pairing, but the most surprising is the romance between Damian Wayne and Raven.  They're good enough to be the stars of their own animated film.

The surprising turns and compelling directions in which this film travels are matched by some high quality animation, a strong script, and some surprisingly lean and mean directing.  Such a large cast and so many subplots could have dragged on Apokolips War.  Instead, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is an exciting and riveting film, and it is a great way to end one universe in the DC Comics multiverse.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, August 18, 2021


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Review "OLD" is a Crazy, Entertaining, Thrilling Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 69 of 2021 (No. 1807) by Leroy Douresseaux

Old (2021)
Running time:  108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for strong violence, disturbing images, suggestive content, partial nudity and brief strong language
DIRECTOR:  M. Night Shyamalan
WRITER:  M. Night Shyamalan (based on the graphic novel, Château de sable, by Pierre-Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters)
PRODUCERS:  Marc Bienstock, Ashwin Rajan, and M. Night Shyamalan
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Micheal Gioulakis (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Brett M. Reed
COMPOSER:  Trevor Gureckis

FANTASY/THRILLER/HORROR

Starring:  Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Aaron Pierre, Kathleen Chalfant, M. Night Shyamalan, Alexa Swinton, Thomasin McKenzie, Embeth Davidtz, Nolan River, Alex Wolff, Emun Elliot, and Kylie Begley, Mikaya Fisher, and Eliza Scanlen

Old is a 2021 horror-thriller and fantasy film from director, M. Night Shyamalan.  The film is based on the 2010 French-language, Swiss graphic novel, Château de sable (2010) by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, which was published in English as “Sandcastle” in 2011.  Old the movie focuses on a group of people trapped on a secluded beach where they age rapidly, reducing their entire lives into a single day.

Old introduces husband, Guy Cappa (Gael Garcia Bernal), and his wife, Prisca Cappa (Vicky Krieps).  They are going through a difficult time and decide to take their two children, 11-year-old daughter, Maddox (Alexa Swinton), and six-year-old son, Trent (Nolan River), on a family vacation to a tropical resort.  On their second morning at the resort, the Cappas get an offer from the resort's manager for a trip to a secluded beach.

Although the Cappas initially believe that they will have the beach to themselves, they soon learn they will not.  They meet a surgeon, Charles (Rufus Sewell); his wife, Chrystal (Abbey Lee); their six-year-old daughter, Kara (Kylie Begley); and Charles's elderly mother, Agnes (Kathleen Chalfant).  The late arrivals are the close-knit couple, Jarin Carmichael (Ken Leung) and his, wife Patricia Carmichael (Nikki Amuka-Bird).  Trouble starts when they meet someone who was on the beach before them, the recording artist and rapper, Mid-Sized Sedan (Aaron Pierre), and then, discover the corpse of his female companion.  Accusations fly, but no one is really paying attention to the fact that the three children are changing … rapidly.

The film's of writer-director M. Night Shyamalan can be both sublime, such as his Oscar-nominated breakthrough, The Sixth Sense (1999), or ridiculous like 2004's eye-rolling The Village.  Sometimes, his films can be both, to varying degrees, such as 2000's Unbreakable.  Or his films can be surprisingly inventive and mostly entertaining, such as 2013's After Earth, 2016's Split, and now Old.

People once called Shyamalan the next Steven Spielberg, although his films seem closer to Alfred Hitchcock's.  At the heart of most Shyamalan films is a mystery, and that mystery holds the audience in suspense.  The problem can be that when the mystery is solved in one of his films, sometimes the suspense turns to befuddlement, but that doesn't really happen with Old.

After the first twenty minutes or so of introduction, Old offers about forty minutes of the best mystery and suspense that audiences have gotten in the last two years or so of American films.  Shyamalan builds this killer thriller by depicting his characters' varied reactions to their crazy and increasingly unbelievable situation.  Watching some of them revert to their old melodramas, others fall into to their mental challenges, and some approach their situation with a sense of curiosity and wonder can be invigorating.  Through these characters, Shyamalan offers so many intriguing points of view.

The film's last forty minutes is a mixture of science fiction and horror that is captivating, even when it seems a bit over-the-top.  At this point, Shyamalan turns to the Cappas' domestic drama in a way that bounces between being poignant or edgy or stock melodrama.  There is a happy ending, but it is best, in order to avoid spoilers, that I allow you to decide whether that happy ending is plausible or appropriate, dear readers.

I have never read the comic book, Sandcastle, that inspired Old, but from what I understand, the comic's narrative is a bit more ruthless with its characters.  Still, I found Old satisfying because of Shyamalan's seamless filmmaking and because of the way his uses the characters' aging to keep things hopping in the narrative.  I don't know if M. Night Shyamalan's Old will age well, but I do believe that it will always find an audience willing to be enraptured by its mystery and thrilled by its suspense … to one extent or another … like me.

7 of 10
B+

Thursday, December 9, 2021


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Review: "SUPERMAN: Red Son" is an Entertaining Novelty Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 68 of 2021 (No. 1806) by Leroy Douresseaux

Superman: Red Son – video (2020)
Running time:  87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violent content, bloody images, suggestive material, language, thematic elements and some smoking.
DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu
WRITERS:  J.M. DeMatteis (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Sam Liu and Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and Bruce Timm
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann  
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Digital eMation, Inc.

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Jason Isaacs, Amy Acker, Diedrich Bader, Vanessa Marshall, Phil Morris, Paul Williams, Greg Chun, Phil LeMarr, Jim Meskimen, Sasha Roiz, William Salyers, Roger Craig Smith, Jason Spisak, Tara Strong, Anna Vocino, Jim Ward, Travis Willingham, and Winter Ave Zoli

Superman: Red Son is a 2020 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Sam Liu.  It is the thirty-seventh film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series.  The film is based on the 2003, four-issue, comic book miniseries, Superman: Red Son, written by Mark Millar and drawn by Dave Johnson and Kilian Plunkett.

The traditional origin of Superman is as follows.  A rocket ship from the doomed planet, Krypton, carries baby Kal-El to Earth.  It lands in the United States, specifically in a field near the town of Smallville, Kansas.  Jonathan and Martha Kent find the rocket and Kal-El inside.  They adopt him and name him “Clark Kent,” and Clark grows up to be Superman.  The premise of Superman: Red Son is that the rocket ship landed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) a.k.a. the Soviet Union.

Superman: Red Son opens in the Soviet Union during the year 1946.  There, we meet a young boy who is being chased by a gang of bullies.  The boy's friend, a young girl named Svetlana, defends him by chasing the bullies away.  The boy reveals to Svetlana that he was not scared of the boys, but that he was instead scared for their safety.  The boy then reveals to Svetlana his superhuman strength and his ability to fly.

In the year 1955, the Soviet Union releases a propaganda film of an alien superhuman under the command of the nation's premiere, Joseph Stalin.  The American media dubs the alien, the “Soviet Superman” (Jason Isaacs).  In the United States, President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Jim Meskimen) tasks genius scientist, industrialist, and inventor, Lex Luthor (Diedrich Bader), to develop countermeasures against this Soviet Superman.

After the Soviet Superman prevents a satellite from crashing into the American city of Metropolis, Luthor's wife, Lois Lane Luthor (Amy Acker), secures an interview with him.  Lois uses the interview to reveal to him a top secret document that indicates the horrors Premiere Stalin perpetuates against some citizens of the Soviet Union behind Superman's back.  This leads to changes in the nature of Superman's relationship with the Soviet Union and also with the world at large.  Now, a Cold War between Superman and the United States begins, with Lex guiding the U.S. side.  Can the world survive Superman's goals and Lex Luthor's machinations?

The novelty of Superman: Red Son is that it offers alternate-reality versions of not only Superman, Lex Luthor, and Lois Lane, but also of Batman, the Green Lantern Corps, and Wonder Woman (Vanessa Marshall).  However, the novelty soon wears off, and Superman: Red Son's gimmick grow old and cold rather quickly.

Luckily, Superman, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, and Wonder Woman are so well-written in terms of personality and character drama that I found myself fascinated by the inter-character relationships involving these four.  Beyond that, I was initially fascinated by the film, but felt less so after the first half hour.

I have never read Mark Millar's original comic book, Superman: Red Son, but I have been planning to for ages, although I keep putting it off.  I am a huge fan of the majority of Millar's comic book output.  Superman: Red Son has its moments, but after seeing it, now, I really need to read the comic book.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, September 29, 2021


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Review: Entertaining "VENOM: Let There Be Carnage" Offers Some Crazy Love

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 59 of 2021 (No. 1797) by Leroy Douresseaux

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Running time:  97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some strong language, disturbing material and suggestive references
DIRECTOR:  Andy Serkis
WRITERS:  Kelly Marcel; from a story by Kelly Marcel and Tom Hardy (based on the Marvel Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, Matt Tolmach, Tom Hardy, Kelly Marcel, and Hutch Parker
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Robert Richardson (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Maryann Brandon and Stan Salfas
COMPOSER:  Marco Beltrami

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION

Starring:  Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Little Simz, Jack Bandeira, Olumide Olorunfemi, and Woody Harrelson

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a 2021 superhero fantasy-action film directed by Andy Serkis.  The film is based on the Marvel Comics super-villain/anti-hero characters, Eddie Brock/Venom, to which several comic book writers, artists, and editors contributed in the creation, most especially artist Todd McFarlane and writer David Michelinie.  This film is a direct sequel to the 2018 film, Venom, and it is also the second film in “Sony's Spider-Man Universe” series.  In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Eddie Brock and Venom face a new symbiote, a violent monster more powerful than Venom.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage opens in “St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children,” circa 1996.  There, young Cletus Kasady (Jack Bandeira) watches helplessly as his love, young Frances Barrison (Olumide Olorunfemi), is taken away.  She will be placed at the “Ravencroft Institute,” where she will be experimented upon because of her special power, her ability to emit a sonic scream.

In the present day, police Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham) contacts Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), who is attempting to revive his journalism career.  Mulligan asks Brock to speak to Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), now a serial killer who sits on death row and awaits execution.  Kasady refuses to talk to anyone other than Brock.  Kasady invites Brock to attend his execution, but Brock uses the visit to benefit himself.  Kasady sees Brock's actions as betrayal.

Meanwhile, Brock and the symbiote, Venom, have hit a wall in their relationship.  Each believes that the other does not really appreciate what he brings to the relationship.  Plus, Brock's ex-fiancée, Anne Weying (Michelle Williams), tells him that she is now engaged to Dr. Dan Lewis (Reid Scott).  This news and his cantankerous relationship with Venom lead Brock into being careless when he visits Kasady a second time, which leads to the creation of a monstrous new symbiote named “Carnage.”  Meanwhile, the adult Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris) is still imprisoned and, in her new identity as “Shriek, she still pines for her man, Cletus.

From what information I have gathered, the general consensus seems to be that the sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, is better than the first film, Venom.  As entertaining as I found the sequel, I think the original is the better film.  Yes, Venom: Let There Be Carnage has a lot going for it.  Its main cast:  Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, and Woody Harrelson have all received Academy Award nominations for their acting – Williams and Harrelson more than once.

Yes, the sequel's special effects are excellent.  It is quite an achievement to create multiple scenes featuring not one but two shape-shifting, morphing CGI characters.  Venom and Carnage transmute at the same speed and frequency with which the late actor and comic legend, Robin Williams, blabbed and babbled – every chance he got.

Yes, I will give Venom: Let There Be Carnage credit for attempting to be something more than just a superhero film.  [Venom considers himself a hero.]  The film offers themes related to romance, fractured relationships, troubled friendships, jealousy, unrequited love, and love triangles.  In fact, I have to credit Tom Hardy for sharing so much of what is essentially his film with another actor.  Much of this film is about the story of Woody Harrelson's character, Cletus Kasady.

However, the first film seemed more sure of its plots and story points.  As eye-popping as Carnage is in this sequel, I think the original film's human/symbiote villains, Carlton Drake (played by Riz Ahmed) and Riot, were … deliciously evil.  Carnage is needlessly homicidal, and the character takes away from the subtle notes that Woody Harrelson tries to play as Cletus Kasady.

So, in the end, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is entertaining and often funny.  The supporting characters get to play, even fifth wheel Dr. Dan, and I'm always happy to see Naomi Harris, who makes the most of her time as Shriek.  But Venom: Let There Be Carnage feels like a placeholder.  It is as if Sony Pictures offered this sequel in order to satisfy demand while it takes time to develop a really good follow-up to the original Venom, instead of this merely good one.

6 of 10
B

Tuesday, October 5, 2021


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Review: Strong Women Flow Through "WONDER WOMAN: Bloodlines"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 58 of 2021 (No. 1796) by Leroy Douresseaux

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines – video (2019)
Running time:  83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of fantasy action and violence, and some bloody images
DIRECTORS:  Sam Liu and Justin Copeland
WRITER:  Mairghread Scott (based on characters appearing in DC Comics)
PRODUCERS: Amy McKenna and Sam Liu
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker
EDITOR:  Frederik Wiedmann
COMPOSERS:  Christopher D. Lozinski
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Digital eMation, Inc.

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices)  Rosario Dawson, Jeffrey Donovan, Marie Avgeropoulos, Kimberly Brooks, Michael Dorn, Mozhan Marnò, Adrienne C. Moore, Cree Summer, Courtenay Taylor, Nia Vardalos, Ray Chase, and Constance Zimmer

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is a 2019 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and directors Sam Liu and Justin Copeland.  The film features classic DC Comics character, Wonder Woman, and is the 36th film in the “DC Universe Animated Original Movies” line.

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines opens several years in the past before the main story begins.  United States military pilot, Captain Steven “Steve” Trevor (Jeffery Donovan), is engaged in an aerial battle with Parademons.  He crash lands his fighter jet near Themyscira, the island home of the warrior race, the Amazons.  Princess Diana (Rosario Dawson), daughter of the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta (Cree Summer), rescues Trevor.  After he is healed, Trevor is taken prisoner because no men are allowed on Themyscira.  However, Diana sees Trevor's arrival as a sign that she needs to leave the island because it is her duty to protect man's world from a great evil she believes is coming.  This decision causes Hippolyta to disown her daughter.

In Washington D.C., Diana finds a place to stay in the home of geologist Julia Kapatelis (Nia Vardalos) and her daughter Vanessa (Marie Avgeropoulos).  Julia's hobby is the study of Amazons, so she is happy to have Diana live with them.  Vanessa, who already has issues with her mother, however, begins to resent Diana's presence in the home.

Five years later, in the present, Diana is the superhero, Wonder Woman.  Julia asks her help in finding Vanessa, who has stolen an artifact from Julia's employer, Veronica Cale (Constance Zimmer), of Cale Pharmaceuticals.  Vanessa has apparently fallen in with a cabal of villains lead by Dr. Cyber ( Mozhan Marnò) and Doctor Poison (Courtenay Taylor) and become part of their diabolical plot.  Now, Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, and his friend, intelligence officer Etta Candy (Adrienne C. Moore), race to stop Cyber and Poison, but can Wonder Woman save Vanessa Kapatelis?

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is standard DC Universe animated fare in terms of fights scenes, action, and animation.  In that, the film is entertaining enough.  Where it stands out is that writer Mairghread Scott offers a story that delves deeply into mother-daughter relationships – from love and war to rebellion and reconciliation.  At the point in which I finally realized that the strife between Julia Kapatelis and her daughter, Vanessa, mirrored the discord between Diana and Hippolyta, I suddenly became interested in a film that was, for the most part, boring me.

I also like the fact that the film is almost entirely driven by female leads and female supporting characters, with Etta Candy being most appealing to me.  Adrienne C. Moore delivers a standout voice performance as Etta, and I hope that Moore gets to reprise her performance if Etta appears in another DC Universe animated film.

Steve Trevor is good not great, which I can also say about Jeffrey Donovan's performance as Trevor.  On the other hand, Michael Dorn, best known as “Worf” on the the former television series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” makes the most of his small role as Ferdinand the Minotaur.

I heartily recommend Wonder Woman: Bloodlines to fans of Wonder Woman.  While it is not a great film, I think fans of animated films based on DC Comics characters will also like this.

7 of 10
B+

Tuesday, July 27, 2021


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Review: First "VENOM" is Surprisingly Entertaining and Unexpectedly Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 57 of 2021 (No. 1795) by Leroy Douresseaux

Venom (2018)
Running time:  112 minutes (1 hour, 52 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for language
DIRECTOR:  Ruben Fleischer
WRITERS:  Scott Rosenberg and Kelly Marcel; from a screen story by Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg (based on the Marvel Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, and Matt Tolmach
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Matthew Libatique (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Alan Baumgarten and Maryann Brandon
COMPOSER:  Ludwig Göransson

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION

Starring:  Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, Reid Scott, Jenny Slate, Melora Walters, Peggy Lu, Ron Cephas Jones, Stan Lee, and Woody Harrelson

Venom is a 2018 superhero fantasy-action film directed by Ruben Fleischer.  The film is based on the Marvel Comics super-villain/anti-hero characters, Eddie Brock/Venom, to which several comic book writers, artists, and editors contributed in the creation of, most especially artist Todd McFarlane and writer David Michelinie.  It is also the first film in the “Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters” series.  In Venom the film, a troubled television reporter gains superpowers after bonding with an alien entity that is part of an invasion force.

As Venom opens, a space exploration probe belonging to the bio-engineering corporation, Life Foundation, discovers a comet covered in strange lifeforms.  The probe returns to Earth with four samples of these lifeforms, but one escapes.  Later, Life Foundation CEO, Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), has realized that these lifeforms are “symbiotes,” and that they cannot survive without human hosts.  However, soon after the symbiotes bond with humans, the humans' bodies start to reject the aliens.  Drake is obsessed with finding the perfect human hosts for these symbiotes, even if his experiments lead to the deaths of many humans.

Six months later, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is a failed television reporter and former star of “The Brock Report.”  He previously had a run-in with Drake, but fate has given him the opportunity to infiltrate the Life Foundation.  That is how Eddie has an unfortunate encounter with a symbiote that calls itself “Venom.”  Eddie struggles to adapt to what he calls the “parasite” inside his body and is shocked to learn that there are millions more like Venom out in space.  But Eddie will need Venom's help to stay alive when Drake and Life Foundation discover his strange union and come after him to retrieve their property – the symbiote Venom.

Except for his early comic book appearances, I have never been a fan of Venom, but I am a fan of Venom the movie.  He is one of those characters whose potential reveals itself in the movement that television and film offers.  The visual-effects crew of Venom does excellent work in creating Venom as a fascinating and alluring CGI character; noisy, chaotic, obnoxious, inconsistent, and aggressive work for this character.  In fact, there are many inconsistencies in what is supposed to be the nature of human-symbiote relationship, especially in what are the rules of Eddie Brock and Venom's merger, but I found this movie to be too much fun for me to pay attention to logic.

Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Riz Ahmed as Carlton Drake make the most of two characters that are not that well developed, and the characters make a good adversarial pair.  Even acclaimed actress and multiple Oscar nominee, Michelle Williams, manages to make Eddie's ex, Anne Weying, seem like something more than an obligatory female character.  But still, the gold in Venom is the special effect that is Venom the character.  I like Venom enough to watch a sequel...

7 of 10
B+

Monday, July 5, 2021


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Review: "BATMAN: Hush" Film is as Mediocre as Its Source Material

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 55 of 2021 (No. 1793) by Leroy Douresseaux

Batman: Hush – video (2019)
Running time:  82 minutes (1 hour, 22 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence and action, suggestive material, and language
DIRECTOR:  Justin Copeland
WRITER:  Ernie Altbacker (based on characters appearing in DC Comics and on the story arc, “Batman: Hush”, by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee)
PRODUCER: Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker and Benjamin Melniker & Michael Uslan
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann  
ANIMATION STUDIO:  NE4U Inc.

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Jason O'Mara, Jennifer Morrison, Sean Maher, James Garrett, Bruce Thomas, Geoffrey Arend, Stuart Allan, Sachie Alessio, Chris Cox, Adam Gifford, Peyton R. List, Peyton List, Jerry O'Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Jason Spisak, Maury Sterling, Hynden Walch, Tara Strong, Vanessa Williams, and Rainn Wilson

Batman: Hush is a 2019 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Justin Copeland.  It is the thirty-fifth film in the “DC Universe Animated Original Movies” series.  It is also a loose adaptation of the Batman story arc, “Batman: Hush” (Batman #608-619; cover dated: October 2002 to September 2003), written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Jim Lee.  Batman: Hush the movie focuses on a mysterious villain intent on sabotaging Batman by using the Dark Knight's worst adversaries and some of his friends against him.

Batman: Hush opens with Batman (Jason O'Mara) rescuing an abducted child that the villain, Bane (Adam Gifford), was holding for ransom.  Shortly afterwards, Catwoman (Jennifer Morrison) steals the ransom.  While Batman is pursuing her, a masked vigilante shoots at him, severing the Bat-rope Batman was using to swing through the city.  Batman falls onto the sidewalk and cracks his skull.

Batgirl (Peyton R. List) takes Batman back to the Batcave where his butler, Alfred Pennyworth (James Garrett), and, his former ward and sidekick, Dick Grayson/Nightwing (Sean Maher), create an alibi that not Batman, but his secret identity, Bruce Wayne, suffered the injury.  Alfred contacts Bruce's childhood friend, Dr. Thomas Elliot (Maury Sterling), a renowned brain surgeon, to provide Bruce's medical care.

Back on his feet, Batman discovers that his conflict with Bane and Catwoman was just part of an elaborate scheme perpetrated against him by a mysterious villain known only as “Hush.”  It seems that Hush is willing to use every major figure in Batman's “rogues gallery” to bring the Bat down.  Hush seemingly even knows the people close to Bruce Wayne and is using them.  Further complicating Batman's investigation of Hush is the growing relationship between Bruce Wayne and Catwoman's alter-ego, Selina Kyle.

I have only read the Batman story line, “Batman: Hush,” once, and that was during its original publication.  I found it to be longer than it needed to be.  I am not really a fan of writer Jeph Loeb, although he has written some comic books that I have thoroughly enjoyed.  As a story, “Hush” felt like something Loeb padded with a bunch of appearances by all-star DC Comics characters.  As beautiful as Jim Lee's art for Hush was and still is, some of it came across as cold, as if it were drawn in a manner to make it attractive to collectors of comic book original art.  But at least I found “Hush” the comic book story to be enjoyable most of the time.

Batman: Hush the film is mostly dull.  The chase between Batman and Catwoman and the subsequent Catwoman-Batgirl fight are exciting.  The big battle at the end of the film is good, except when it seems to run too long – of course.  Catwoman is well-written in this film, and I like the way Alfred Pennyworth and Dick Grayson/Nightwing are presented in Batman: Hush.

The character designs are mostly good, except Batman, who looks awkwardly drawn in this film.  The animation is mediocre, except for a few action scenes when it looks like the people involved in this production suddenly felt energized.  I will only recommend this film to fans of the “DC Universe Animated Original Movies” line.  People who mostly know Batman from the modern Batman live-action films will likely not find much to like in Batman: Hush.

5 of 10
C+

Tuesday, July 13, 2021


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Review: Idris Elba Drives James Gunn's "THE SUICIDE SQUAD"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 of 2021 (No. 1787) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Suicide Squad (2021)
Running time:  132 minutes (2 hours, 12 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and gore, language throughout, some sexual references, drug use and brief graphic nudity
DIRECTOR:  James Gunn
WRITER:  James Gunn (based on characters appearing in DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Charles Roven and Peter Safran
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Henry Braham (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner
COMPOSER:  John Murphy

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION and COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring:  Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Daniela Melchior, David Dastmalchian, Storm Reid, Sylvester Stallone (voice), Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Nathan Fillion, Flula Borg, Mayling Ng, Pete Davidson, Sean Gunn, Peter Capaldi, Juan Diego Botto, Joaquin Cosio, Lynne Ashe, Taika Waititi, and Viola Davis

[Overview:  Yes, The Suicide Squad 2021 is the entertaining film that Suicide Squad 2016 should have been, but was not.  And that has as much to do with star Idris Elba as it does with writer-director James Gunn.]

The Suicide Squad is a 2021 superhero and action-fantasy film from writer-director James Gunn.  It is a sequel to the 2016 film, Suicide Squad, and is based on the DC Comics team of antiheroes, Suicide Squad.  The Suicide Squad the film focuses on a team of imprisoned super-villains who are forced to invade a South American island where a deadly creature supposedly resides.

As The Suicide Squad opens, intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has activated her “Task Force X,” a team composed of dangerous criminals.  Imprisoned in Louisiana's Belle Reve penitentiary, these individuals either possess super-powers, have special abilities, or are some kind of meta-human, humanoid, animal hybrid, or mutant.  All of them are “super-villains.”  Waller chooses thirteen of these inmates and divides them into two teams (unbeknownst to the inmates) and sends them to the small island nation of Corto Maltese, off the coast of South America.

The first team is led by Army Special Forces Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and is comprised of  former psychiatrist and Joker boy toy, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie); Australian thief and super-boomerang thrower, Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney); animal hybrid and child killer, Weasel (James Gunn), meta-human, T.D.K. (Nathan Fillion); long-haired computer hacker, Savant (Michael Rooker); overeager mercenary, Blackguard (Pete Davidson); possessor of a special javelin ... Javelin (Flula Borg); and the alien warrior, Mongal (Mayling Ng).

The second more serious team is comprised of five super-villains.  It is lead by a mercenary and hit man with an advanced technological suit and weapons, Bloodsport (Idris Elba), and is comprised of the former military officer who kills for peace, Peacemaker (John Cena); a man who can emit polka-dots, Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian); a female thief who controls rats, Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior); and a man-eating, human-shark hybrid, Nanaue a.k.a. “King Shark” (Sylvester Stallone).

Once on Corto Maltese, Task Force X has to reach a structure called “Jötunheim.”  It houses a laboratory built on the island decades ago by exiled Nazi scientists so that they could continue their monstrous experiments.  Now, Jötunheim apparently houses a secret program known as “Project Starfish.”  At the heart of this project is something referred to as “the beast,” and to destroy this project, the members of this squad will show why the nickname for Task Force X is “The Suicide Squad.”

First, I can say that The Suicide Squad is a much better film than its predecessor, Suicide Squad (2016), which was probably made problematic by Warner Bros. Pictures executives making bad decisions about it.  In The Suicide Squad, writer-director James Gunn offer his audience gleeful and extreme violence, insane set pieces, and snappy dialogue.  However, Gunn is also very good at creating engaging character drama that allows even the most troubling characters to have a journey in which he or she experiences a poignant or uplifting heroic arc.  In this case, Bloodsport (kinda) transforms from selfish, killer asshole into an anti-hero who cares … about a few things and people … and a rat.

Other characters more or less have a similar arc, although Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn is as crazy, as homicidal, and as sweet as ever.  Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag, a holdover from the first film, is a much more interesting and likable character.  Viola Davis' Amanda Waller is darker, maybe even more … evil than ever, and Storm Reid delivers a surprisingly deft turn in a small role as Tyla, Bloodsport's daughter, who appears in two scenes.  David Dastmalchian steals a few scenes as the surprisingly endearing Polka-Dot Man.  Overall, the characters are both more interesting and much more appealing and fun than the characters in the first film.  I say that although in the new film, the Suicide Squad is much more homicidal.

Gunn makes sure The Suicide Squad feels irreverent and outrageous and pours on the ultra-violence, and most of the time, it works.  Sometimes, however, it feels like Gunn is trying too hard, and the violence is either gross or is so over the top as to come across as lame.  Gunn is known for writing and directing Disney/Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy films.  However, I think Gunn was trying to make The Suicide Squad like 20th Century Fox's Deadpool films, which are gleefully violent and shameless and infused with droll humor.  However, the Deadpool movies have Ryan Reynolds, who has mastered his own brand of (sometimes) endearing comedy that is witty, sarcastic, sardonic, silly, and stupid.  There is no Ryan Reynolds om The Suicide Squad, so the film can seem a little desperate in its bid to be crazy and cool.

However, The Suicide Squad does have Idris Elba, and if not for him, James Gunn would have ended up with a Suicide Squad film that works about as well as David Ayers' Suicide Squad film.  Elba, as the world-weary, but supernaturally skilled killer, Bloodsport, plays the complicated anti-hero turned action hero with his usual understated grace and commanding screen presence.  The Suicide Squad is bonkers, inventive, and imaginative – thanks to James Gunn.  However, it is a superhero fantasy and action thrill machine because of Idris Elba.

7 of 10
A-

Friday, August 6, 2021


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Review: "REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN" Does Not Reign

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 of 2021 (No. 1786) by Leroy Douresseaux

Reign of the Superman – video (2019)
Running time:  87 minutes
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of action violence
DIRECTORS:  Sam Liu
WRITERS:  Jim Krieg and Tim Sheridan (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Sam Liu and Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann  
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Maven Image Platform

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Jerry O'Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rainn Wilson, Patrick Fabian, Cress Williams, Cameron Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Nathan Fillion, Christopher Gorham, Matt Lanter, Shemar Moore, Nyambi Nyambi, Jason O'Mara, Jonathan Adams, Rocky Carroll, Trevor Devall, Paul Eiding, Jennifer Hale, Charles Halford, Erica Luttrell, Max Mittelman, Toks Olagundoye, and Tony Todd

Reign of the Supermen is a 2019 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Sam Liu.  It is the thirty-third film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series and is a direct sequel to the 2018 film, The Death of Superman.  The movie takes its story from “Reign of the Supermen!” a 1993 story arc that was part of “The Death of Superman” DC Comics story line and publishing event (1992-93).  In Reign of the Supermen, several new people present themselves as possible successors to Superman, in the wake of his death.

Reign of the Supermen opens six months following the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday (as seen in The Death of Superman), and the rising crime rate in Metropolis has spread beyond the city.  Meanwhile, four new super-powered beings have emerged to take Superman's place.  Still grieving the loss of Superman and, by extension, his alter-ego, Clark Kent (Jerry O'Connell), reporter Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn) of The Daily Planet has been investigating the new Supermen by gathering whatever information she can from different sources.

One Superman is a gold-visor wearing, energy blast-shooting vigilante called “The Eradicator.”  Another is “Steel,” the armored hero who is the identity of a young scientist, John Henry Irons (Cress Williams).  The third is a teen clone of Superman created by a scientist working for Lex Luthor (Rainn Wilson), and the public starts calling him “Superboy” (Cameron Monaghan).  The fourth, who seems the most like Superman, is part-man and part machine and is called “Cyborg Superman.”

The four “Supermen” are controversial and mysterious, and one of them is conspiring with Darkseid (Tony Todd) in the lord of Apokolips' plan to invade Earth.  Meanwhile, the Justice League:  Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), Batman (Jason O'Mara), Aquaman (Matt Lanter), Cyborg (Shemar Moore), Flash (Christopher Gorham), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkman, and Martian Manhunter (Nyambi Nyambi) have been sidelined.  Now, Lois and the three truly heroic Supermen must uncover the mystery of what actually happened to the real Superman if they are going to stop a plot to take over the world.

Some of the central conceits of superhero comic books and their media adaptations are that the superheroes will almost always win; the bad guys will lose; a superhero's death will ultimately not benefit the super-villain; and the villains will plot even in defeat, while the superheroes remain vigilante.  If you are never bored by this, you will generally always like or love superhero fiction.

In the case of Reign of the Supermen, the conceits are alive and well.  While the idea of Superman dying always causes the fanboy in me some internal discomfort, I found myself mostly bored by Reign of the Supermen.  I couldn't wait for this movie to end, but I wanted to finish it in order to write this review.  I did like the four “Supermen” and the drama in the film built around them.  Everything else only mildly interested me.

I found that the battle between Superman and Doomsday that made up the second half of The Death of Superman saved that movie.  The battle that dominates the last act of Reign of the Supermen only made me care about the movie a little more.  I really liked the Supermen of Reign of the Supermen, but not much else about this movie.

5 of 10
B-

Saturday, May 29, 2021


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Review: "THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN" Saved by Superman vs. Doomsday

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 of 2021 (No. 1785) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Death of Superman – video (2018)
Running time:  81 minutes (1 hour, 21 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of violence and action including some bloody images.
DIRECTORS:  Sam Liu and Jake Castorena
WRITER:  Peter Tomasi (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Sam Liu and Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann  
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Studio MIR

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Jerry O'Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rainn Wilson, Rosario Dawson, Nathan Fillion, Christopher Gorham, Matt Lanter, Shemar Moore, Nyambi Nyambi, Jason O'Mara, Jonathan Adams, Rocky Carroll, Trevor Devall, Paul Eiding, Jennifer Hale, Charles Halford, Erica, Luttrell, Max Mittelman, and Toks Olagundoye

The Death of Superman is a 2018 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and directors Sam Lui and Jake Castorena.  It is the thirty-second film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series.  The movie takes its story from “Doomsday!” (also known as “The Death of Superman”), a story arc that ran in various DC Comics titles in late 1992.  In The Death of Superman movie, Superman battling a seemingly insurmountable foe.

The Death of Superman finds Superman (Jerry O'Connell) at the height of his popularity as a superhero in Metropolis and around the world.  However, Superman has some brewing domestic issues in his civilian life as Clark Kent (Jerry O'Connell).  Clark is dating Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn), a fellow reporter at The Daily Planet.  Clark's parents, Ma and Pa Kent (Jennifer Hale and Paul Eiding), are visiting, and they will finally meet Lois, but that only forces Clark to face the fact that he has not told Lois that he is Superman.

Elsewhere, without warning, a meteor has crashed on Earth causing trouble above in Earth orbit and below in the ocean depths.  Emerging from the meteor is a gray-skinned, white-haired monster with incredible strength, stamina, and invulnerability.  Also, its skeleton protrudes through its skin in the form of multiple razor-sharp spurs.

The creature, whom Lois dubs “Doomsday,” quickly dispatches the Justice League.  Doomsday beats Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), Batman (Jason O'Mara), Aquaman (Matt Lanter), Cyborg (Shemar Moore), Flash (Christopher Gorham), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkman, and Martian Manhunter (Nyambi Nyambi) nearly to death.  Now, only Superman stands before the creature, but to defeat him, Superman may lose his own life.

The Death of Superman is not the first time that the “Doomsday”/“The Death of Superman” story line has been adapted into a direct-to-DVD animated film.  The first was 2007's Superman: Doomsday, which I did not care for all that much.  Concerning this newer film, I don't like the graphic design of the characters, who all appear to have anemic faces.  In fact, their heads are all face – odd, angular faces.  I find them a little jarring to look at, but the animation moves smoothly.

I thought the first half of 2018's The Death of Superman was dull, but the second half is a blast to watch.  Doomsday's fights with the other members of the Justice League are filled with bone-crushing blows and near-death intensity.  The Superman vs. Doomsday battle is so powerful that calling it “epic” does not completely describe the insane violence displayed in this literally to-the-death fight.

The character drama between Clark and Lois is also well-developed, and the depiction of the edginess in their relationship keeps the first half of the movie from being a total loss.  This film also includes a strong version of Lex Luthor (Rainn Wilson), one that could have taken over this film.  Ultimately, I am giving The Death of Superman a high recommendation because of the Superman-Doomsday battle.  This fight is like an animated equivalent of a battle one might find in a Disney/Marvel Studios' Avengers films.

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, April 24, 2021


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