The Ultimate Universe... It can be looked upon in one of two ways.
The first - as an attempt to make high quality comics that are easily accessible to new comers to comics, not requiring a vast amount of reading of back issues to understands characters, events and so on.
The second - a cheap way of pumping more money out of the same characters, stories - with the added bonus that the comics can now be hipper and edgier!
As with most things, the truth doubtless lies somewhere in between... but the fact remains that as a concept, it has been popular... but it seems that in many ways it has already betrayed the ideals of its inception.
The Ultimate Universe (UU) started out as a "back to basics" style. Character origins were to come from more realistic sources than radiation, magic rings or such. They would come from genetic engineering and other more probable causes. No aliens or other worldly beings... at least, this was the idea behind Ultimate Spiderman and for the most part, it worked.
Naturally though, all good things must come to an end and the success of Ultimate Spiderman spawned many more titles... including but not limited to: The Ultimates, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four - to name a few. All of which did their part to erode the (relative) realism of the UU. This isn't to say the UU doesn't have enjoyable stories... it does but for a while, it was refreshing to have heroes who weren't slipping off to other dimensions or battling foes from other worlds
It's worth asking if - with the massive success of Heroes - the powers that be at Marvel are kicking themselves. While the Ultimate Universe - at its beginnings - was still very much a classic comic book universe, the parallels are obvious. It was far less contrived than the mainstream DC or Marvel universes... that's not to say that this approach hasn't been attempted before... it has... it's simply never met with such success as Heroes.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
She-Hulk fans were always deeply divided over Dan Slott as the writer on the third incarnation of She-Hulk's solo title... some found his joking, verging on fourth wall violating, slapstick anathema... otherwise couldn't get enough of his humour driven stories and wackiness but love him or hate him, he's now moving on to pastures new. Clearly some people approve of the work that Mr. Slott has been doing, as he's getting to play with Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman... which is probably the comic book equivalent of getting promoted from pencil pusher to management.
Putting aside the oft criticised artwork... just how did Slott's run fair? In terms of sales? Quite well, consider She-Hulk is a second stringer and considered by many fanboys to be a derivative character - probably not helped by the fact she was expressly created for the purposes of securing a copyright on a female Hulk type character... although, it's hard to judge objectively as (especially in recent months) there have been a great number of tie-ins and guest stars. Not least, Civil War and the build up to World War Hulk... which inevitably will have had a beneficial effect on sales.
The comedy certainly wasn't to all fans taste and in many ways, that's understandable. It was often over the top, almost showing off... and in may ways, didn't help the image of She-Hulk that Byrne created... a comedic character, not to be taken too seriously. Dan didn't make that mistake though, in between the kooky there were many moments where Jennifer Walters is forced to evaluate her life as She-Hulk and introspection on duality.
In fact, Dan was rather apt at plumbing this source of angst and creates the circumstances that force Jen to try and understand and come to terms with her powers in a way she hasn't ever had to before. Not least, she had to deal with some of the fallout of the events of "Search For She-Hulk" and "Avengers Disassembled" - most poignantly in "Bone". Which clearly demonstrates that Dan has more strings to his bow than just humour.
For all the flaws that might be perceived in Dan's work, it's undeniable that he has firmly established She-Hulk as more than just a female Hulk. Jennifer's duality is very much the focus of the comic and how she deals with - and sometimes denies - it. The fact Jennifer is forced to be human to work at the law firm does make for more interesting results and her transformation anxiety is an interesting aspect.
That isn't to say that the tile under Slott didn't have action... it did. Just not a great deal of it. This was further hampered by the subpar artists who really didn't do justice to what action there was there. With the possible exception of Paul Pelletier, no one ever really managed to nail the infrequent action scenes... and of course, most of them managed to make She-Hulk look pudgy... hardly fitting for one of Marvel's strongest heroes - male or female.
Other complicating factors were that sometimes, Dan got a trifle bogged down in the minutiae of the comic books in comic books. It was a pre-established fact that events occuring in the Marvel universe are in fact put into comic books but at times, it seems that Slott almost goes out of his way to make sure that this comes into play in plots - even going so far as to have a little cast of comic book geeks who tend to the comic books of Jen's law firm (they're legally admissible as evidence, you know).
So, a somewhat mixed bag... opinions on it will be greatly shaped by what you think She-Hulk should be... Dan does somewhat walk the line at times but it would be wrong to say that he ever really strayed too far from the comedy... now that his run is almost up... what can we expect?
PAD has taken over as the main writer and he has left the future of the title suitably vague but it seems that the out and out comedy approach will be dropped in favour of something more serious and that the courtroom drama will be dropped in favour of something more action orientated.
In any event, Dan Slott certainly raised the profile of She-Hulk and probably increased her fan base. He has also taken on the honour of penning more She-Hulk comics than anyone else (taking the title from Byrne). Whatever you think of the title under Slott's auspices, as a character She-Hulk is probably in a much better place now than she was when he took her on and that should elicit some respect, from even the most grudging of fans.
Putting aside the oft criticised artwork... just how did Slott's run fair? In terms of sales? Quite well, consider She-Hulk is a second stringer and considered by many fanboys to be a derivative character - probably not helped by the fact she was expressly created for the purposes of securing a copyright on a female Hulk type character... although, it's hard to judge objectively as (especially in recent months) there have been a great number of tie-ins and guest stars. Not least, Civil War and the build up to World War Hulk... which inevitably will have had a beneficial effect on sales.
The comedy certainly wasn't to all fans taste and in many ways, that's understandable. It was often over the top, almost showing off... and in may ways, didn't help the image of She-Hulk that Byrne created... a comedic character, not to be taken too seriously. Dan didn't make that mistake though, in between the kooky there were many moments where Jennifer Walters is forced to evaluate her life as She-Hulk and introspection on duality.
In fact, Dan was rather apt at plumbing this source of angst and creates the circumstances that force Jen to try and understand and come to terms with her powers in a way she hasn't ever had to before. Not least, she had to deal with some of the fallout of the events of "Search For She-Hulk" and "Avengers Disassembled" - most poignantly in "Bone". Which clearly demonstrates that Dan has more strings to his bow than just humour.
For all the flaws that might be perceived in Dan's work, it's undeniable that he has firmly established She-Hulk as more than just a female Hulk. Jennifer's duality is very much the focus of the comic and how she deals with - and sometimes denies - it. The fact Jennifer is forced to be human to work at the law firm does make for more interesting results and her transformation anxiety is an interesting aspect.
That isn't to say that the tile under Slott didn't have action... it did. Just not a great deal of it. This was further hampered by the subpar artists who really didn't do justice to what action there was there. With the possible exception of Paul Pelletier, no one ever really managed to nail the infrequent action scenes... and of course, most of them managed to make She-Hulk look pudgy... hardly fitting for one of Marvel's strongest heroes - male or female.
Other complicating factors were that sometimes, Dan got a trifle bogged down in the minutiae of the comic books in comic books. It was a pre-established fact that events occuring in the Marvel universe are in fact put into comic books but at times, it seems that Slott almost goes out of his way to make sure that this comes into play in plots - even going so far as to have a little cast of comic book geeks who tend to the comic books of Jen's law firm (they're legally admissible as evidence, you know).
So, a somewhat mixed bag... opinions on it will be greatly shaped by what you think She-Hulk should be... Dan does somewhat walk the line at times but it would be wrong to say that he ever really strayed too far from the comedy... now that his run is almost up... what can we expect?
PAD has taken over as the main writer and he has left the future of the title suitably vague but it seems that the out and out comedy approach will be dropped in favour of something more serious and that the courtroom drama will be dropped in favour of something more action orientated.
In any event, Dan Slott certainly raised the profile of She-Hulk and probably increased her fan base. He has also taken on the honour of penning more She-Hulk comics than anyone else (taking the title from Byrne). Whatever you think of the title under Slott's auspices, as a character She-Hulk is probably in a much better place now than she was when he took her on and that should elicit some respect, from even the most grudging of fans.
It's perhaps a tribute to Red Dwarf that most British sci-fi of a certain description will immediately warrant comparison... even if the premise of Red Dwarf hasn't really been truly imitated.
The similarities between Red Dwarf and the new comer "Hyperdrive" are thin on the ground. They're both British... they're both sci-fi and they both have a ship as the main background for events to unfold. There the similarities end.
The most glaring one? Hyperspace simply isn't funny. The basic situation being a spaceship, flown by a crew of inepts, advertising Britain to an indifferent universe is - at best - thin. This isn't even slightly assisted by the blandness of episodes. Perhaps the only original idea they have is making the main female character sinfully ugly but then, that's hardly a trade worth emulating because she isn't particularly funny.
That isn't to say that there aren't good actors... Kevin Eldon - from innumerable British comedy shows - and Nick Frost - Sean Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz - have proven themselves many times over... but there simply isn't the material for them to work with. Eldon - as the totally barmy and unhinged security officer - is the only one who really gets a chance to shine. Frost feels like he's struggling to wring as much out of the lines as is possible... but then, there's only so much you can do with a bad script.
Despite entering its second season, the show still feels like many of the BBC's subpar comedy. As if it were treated like an essay by a recalcitrant student, left until the last possible minute and then hurriedly rushed with the minimum of thought and effort. It's clear an attempt was made to create a dysfunctional crew - the mentally impaired cyborg, the angst ridden (and ugly) first officer, the mediocre wannabe captain, the demented security officer and the rest, who are just there to provide bodies.
The best it ever manages to elicit is perhaps a smile or a vaguely amused exhalation but really, there's no punch. It's nigh on impossible to highlight any single failing because the show fails on so many levels. The highest accolade that it can be awarded is that it's about thirty minutes of fairly inoffensive sci-fi related watching. Occasionally, it might warrant a smile or a giggle but it falls into a banal space between different comedic styles.
The similarities between Red Dwarf and the new comer "Hyperdrive" are thin on the ground. They're both British... they're both sci-fi and they both have a ship as the main background for events to unfold. There the similarities end.
The most glaring one? Hyperspace simply isn't funny. The basic situation being a spaceship, flown by a crew of inepts, advertising Britain to an indifferent universe is - at best - thin. This isn't even slightly assisted by the blandness of episodes. Perhaps the only original idea they have is making the main female character sinfully ugly but then, that's hardly a trade worth emulating because she isn't particularly funny.
That isn't to say that there aren't good actors... Kevin Eldon - from innumerable British comedy shows - and Nick Frost - Sean Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz - have proven themselves many times over... but there simply isn't the material for them to work with. Eldon - as the totally barmy and unhinged security officer - is the only one who really gets a chance to shine. Frost feels like he's struggling to wring as much out of the lines as is possible... but then, there's only so much you can do with a bad script.
Despite entering its second season, the show still feels like many of the BBC's subpar comedy. As if it were treated like an essay by a recalcitrant student, left until the last possible minute and then hurriedly rushed with the minimum of thought and effort. It's clear an attempt was made to create a dysfunctional crew - the mentally impaired cyborg, the angst ridden (and ugly) first officer, the mediocre wannabe captain, the demented security officer and the rest, who are just there to provide bodies.
The best it ever manages to elicit is perhaps a smile or a vaguely amused exhalation but really, there's no punch. It's nigh on impossible to highlight any single failing because the show fails on so many levels. The highest accolade that it can be awarded is that it's about thirty minutes of fairly inoffensive sci-fi related watching. Occasionally, it might warrant a smile or a giggle but it falls into a banal space between different comedic styles.
Friday, July 13, 2007
In many ways, Die Hard was a defining action movie of the 1980s... While it's unlikely that Die Hard 4.0 - aka Live Free Or Die Hard - will enjoy the elevated status of the first but it certainly surpassed the predecessors.
Unlike many other films, Die Hard 4.0 doesn't attempt to be clever, or have a message or anything like that. No stupid fast cutting likely to induce fits or social commentaries or edgy for the sake of edgy.
Willis is perfect as reluctant hero, John McClane - the NYC cop with the knack for being the wrong man, in the wrong place, at the wrong time - and he's well matched with Justin Long as the stereotypical errant hacker. There is none of the forced comedy and buddy-buddy that you often get in this genre. Everything seems to flow naturally and even the "lessons" learned don't feel entirely hackneyed.
The action is just what you'd expect from a Die Hard film, over the top but not so much so that you spend the entire time marvelling at how improbable it is. The film is really too much of a romp for you to spend time worrying about such details and as with the others, doesn't spend too much setting the scene. We're very quickly thrust into the midst of action, with houses exploding and guns being fired.
This Die Hard is slightly different from its predecessors in that its somewhat more grand in scale. McClane isn't just saving his wife from terrorists or stopping a bunch of mercenaries... no, this time he's saving the world. The practical effect of this is that Die Hard 4 offers far more diverse settings than any of its predecessors - although, that has been a trend over the course of the franchise but it works well, offering some truly visceral set pieces, courtesy of the resourceful McClane.
All in all, it's a very smoothly crafted action film that works very well and has the kind of heart and special effects that other recent films WISH they could have. It's at its heart, still an old school action film but it's not afraid to try new things... It might not quite beat the original but it's still an unapologetic action thriller.
Unlike many other films, Die Hard 4.0 doesn't attempt to be clever, or have a message or anything like that. No stupid fast cutting likely to induce fits or social commentaries or edgy for the sake of edgy.
Willis is perfect as reluctant hero, John McClane - the NYC cop with the knack for being the wrong man, in the wrong place, at the wrong time - and he's well matched with Justin Long as the stereotypical errant hacker. There is none of the forced comedy and buddy-buddy that you often get in this genre. Everything seems to flow naturally and even the "lessons" learned don't feel entirely hackneyed.
The action is just what you'd expect from a Die Hard film, over the top but not so much so that you spend the entire time marvelling at how improbable it is. The film is really too much of a romp for you to spend time worrying about such details and as with the others, doesn't spend too much setting the scene. We're very quickly thrust into the midst of action, with houses exploding and guns being fired.
This Die Hard is slightly different from its predecessors in that its somewhat more grand in scale. McClane isn't just saving his wife from terrorists or stopping a bunch of mercenaries... no, this time he's saving the world. The practical effect of this is that Die Hard 4 offers far more diverse settings than any of its predecessors - although, that has been a trend over the course of the franchise but it works well, offering some truly visceral set pieces, courtesy of the resourceful McClane.
All in all, it's a very smoothly crafted action film that works very well and has the kind of heart and special effects that other recent films WISH they could have. It's at its heart, still an old school action film but it's not afraid to try new things... It might not quite beat the original but it's still an unapologetic action thriller.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
So... the Transformers movie...
With Michael Bay films, you don't generally have expectations... so much as a mounting sense of dread but then, Hollywood never let a hack director with several critical and financial washouts go without a job - or Paul W.S. Anderson would have starved to death a decade ago - so why not give him something that'll be a hit anyway, eh?
Anyone familiar with the Transformers franchise - in any of its various incarnations - should have been fearful the day they heard Bay was directing... and quite why his name was so heavily promoted is something of a mystery... perhaps it's so people couldn't complain at a later point that they had not been fully apprised of the peril they faced.
As it goes, you'd still think that the basic premise of the franchise is fairly hard to get wrong. You've got a well established cast of characters, all you need to do is put them on Earth and have them slogging it out, good vs. evil... right?
Wrong! At least for Michael Bay, it seems. No... what's more important is the emphasis on teens. Horny, horny teens. Hawny, hawny, hawny, so hawny. Not really, it's the usual - geek meets hottie. Hottie doesn't know geek exists, geek buys car that is actually a giant transforming robot from another planet, geek gets hottie and so on. Let's not forget the soldier who manages to guarantee he survives until the end of the film by talking to his wife and new born. Time was that talk like that would get a man killed.
Anyway, aside from the gritty soldier trying to go see his offspring and the geek doing his best to be Jim from American Pie - there are actually some giant transforming robots in this film... amazingly. Why? Basically, a cubular plot device - the all spark - is what the Autobots and Decpticons were fighting over and it came to Earth a while ago. Megatron came looking for it but crashed in the Artic and with no anti-freeze, was soon incapacitated. Hero geek's great grandfather found Megatron, literally chilling in a glacier and for reasons of plot, his glasses had the position of the allspark transposed onto them.
If that sounds stupid written down, you can only begin to imagine how idiotic it seems when it's put on the screen. Plus a whole subplot about the Decpticons hacking the Internet and having to get the world's most leet hacker to decode their signal... which turns to be nigh on irrelevant.
Really, it's just a horrible mishmash of mediocre teaser action and some laughable excuse for a plot... it's almost like the filler you get in Godzilla films before guys in suits duke it out in Tokyo but a lot more incoherent and cliched. Plenty of forced comedy - which seems to be further liken the Geek to Jim from American Pie - which is more likely to elicit a laugh at its idiocy... or possibly some teeth grinding frustration.
So, eventually after close to two hours of essentially action free tedium, laughable - in the wrong way - attempts at humour, the teen angst/romance and the mandatory secret government agency we get to the money shot... robot on robot action in a city. Quite why the soldiers thought taking the allspark into a populated area was a good idea is never explained but then, this film never pretends to make sense.
The action itself isn't that bad but as you'd expect from a hack director like Bay, there are shaky cameras and fast cuts that should mean this film has a warning for people with photosensitive epilepsy. Many times, there is action which really should be a single continuous shot that either cuts to a different angle or simply goes to see how fast the geek can run. This might be to make sure the effects look more convincing... they are good but there are several moments when you get pulled out the action by the fact that Optimus Prime or Megatron looks like a big blob of CGI.
On the Transformers themselves - the Autobots are more "true" to their original designs but suffice it to say that they've all been horribly reimagined. While it might be into forms that are more practical for very complicated/expensive transformations, they look like a mess... Not nearly as much as the Decpticons though... Most of whom are pretty rubbish looking in their robot state... more an amalgamation of office stationary than deadly killing machines.
All in all, the only things going for this film are the reasonably hot girl and the last 15 minutes - complete with mandatory sequel opening and cheesy use of "more than meets the eye" - which doesn't come even close to stopping this from being a real transforming trainwreck of a movie. Oh, sure fanboys and girls won't leave their seats dry but for anyone with less than fanatical love of the franchise, this will probably be a somewhat subpar action movie/toy commercial.
Really not worth wasting money on - Spielberg and Bay did what they do best. Sucked. A lot.
With Michael Bay films, you don't generally have expectations... so much as a mounting sense of dread but then, Hollywood never let a hack director with several critical and financial washouts go without a job - or Paul W.S. Anderson would have starved to death a decade ago - so why not give him something that'll be a hit anyway, eh?
Anyone familiar with the Transformers franchise - in any of its various incarnations - should have been fearful the day they heard Bay was directing... and quite why his name was so heavily promoted is something of a mystery... perhaps it's so people couldn't complain at a later point that they had not been fully apprised of the peril they faced.
As it goes, you'd still think that the basic premise of the franchise is fairly hard to get wrong. You've got a well established cast of characters, all you need to do is put them on Earth and have them slogging it out, good vs. evil... right?
Wrong! At least for Michael Bay, it seems. No... what's more important is the emphasis on teens. Horny, horny teens. Hawny, hawny, hawny, so hawny. Not really, it's the usual - geek meets hottie. Hottie doesn't know geek exists, geek buys car that is actually a giant transforming robot from another planet, geek gets hottie and so on. Let's not forget the soldier who manages to guarantee he survives until the end of the film by talking to his wife and new born. Time was that talk like that would get a man killed.
Anyway, aside from the gritty soldier trying to go see his offspring and the geek doing his best to be Jim from American Pie - there are actually some giant transforming robots in this film... amazingly. Why? Basically, a cubular plot device - the all spark - is what the Autobots and Decpticons were fighting over and it came to Earth a while ago. Megatron came looking for it but crashed in the Artic and with no anti-freeze, was soon incapacitated. Hero geek's great grandfather found Megatron, literally chilling in a glacier and for reasons of plot, his glasses had the position of the allspark transposed onto them.
If that sounds stupid written down, you can only begin to imagine how idiotic it seems when it's put on the screen. Plus a whole subplot about the Decpticons hacking the Internet and having to get the world's most leet hacker to decode their signal... which turns to be nigh on irrelevant.
Really, it's just a horrible mishmash of mediocre teaser action and some laughable excuse for a plot... it's almost like the filler you get in Godzilla films before guys in suits duke it out in Tokyo but a lot more incoherent and cliched. Plenty of forced comedy - which seems to be further liken the Geek to Jim from American Pie - which is more likely to elicit a laugh at its idiocy... or possibly some teeth grinding frustration.
So, eventually after close to two hours of essentially action free tedium, laughable - in the wrong way - attempts at humour, the teen angst/romance and the mandatory secret government agency we get to the money shot... robot on robot action in a city. Quite why the soldiers thought taking the allspark into a populated area was a good idea is never explained but then, this film never pretends to make sense.
The action itself isn't that bad but as you'd expect from a hack director like Bay, there are shaky cameras and fast cuts that should mean this film has a warning for people with photosensitive epilepsy. Many times, there is action which really should be a single continuous shot that either cuts to a different angle or simply goes to see how fast the geek can run. This might be to make sure the effects look more convincing... they are good but there are several moments when you get pulled out the action by the fact that Optimus Prime or Megatron looks like a big blob of CGI.
On the Transformers themselves - the Autobots are more "true" to their original designs but suffice it to say that they've all been horribly reimagined. While it might be into forms that are more practical for very complicated/expensive transformations, they look like a mess... Not nearly as much as the Decpticons though... Most of whom are pretty rubbish looking in their robot state... more an amalgamation of office stationary than deadly killing machines.
All in all, the only things going for this film are the reasonably hot girl and the last 15 minutes - complete with mandatory sequel opening and cheesy use of "more than meets the eye" - which doesn't come even close to stopping this from being a real transforming trainwreck of a movie. Oh, sure fanboys and girls won't leave their seats dry but for anyone with less than fanatical love of the franchise, this will probably be a somewhat subpar action movie/toy commercial.
Really not worth wasting money on - Spielberg and Bay did what they do best. Sucked. A lot.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
So, the third season (or series, if you prefer) of the "new" Doctor Who has finished, amid persisting rumours that effectively the entire creative team is to quit, along with Tennent himself... of course, that's the beauty of the format.
Everyone - even the Doctor - is replaceable, or at least... he's replaceable in the sense that the actor that portrays him can be replaced. Which is the important thing. One thing that can't be denied is that RTD has left his mark on this incarnation of Who... which I suppose you could take as a blessing or a curse, depending on how you feel about the show as it is.
Tennent has settled into the role far better than Ecceleston ever did and his new companion is infinitely less irritating. Not only that but we managed to escape Earth - especially circa 21st century - more than we had before, which can only be a good thing. It's really rather embarrassing that a being capable of travelling to any point in space and time tends to get stuck in present day London.
The season arc - although really, I think it's an exaggeration to call it an arc when it's maybe one little hint at the finale every couple of episodes - was somewhat spoiled by the fact it was an all but inevitable occurrence. Not to mention that said finale was written by RTD and hence was rather over the top. A change of creative staff would be interesting, it's unlikely that the mostly one episode stories will alter but maybe we can see some more innovation. At least Billie Piper has gone.
Everyone - even the Doctor - is replaceable, or at least... he's replaceable in the sense that the actor that portrays him can be replaced. Which is the important thing. One thing that can't be denied is that RTD has left his mark on this incarnation of Who... which I suppose you could take as a blessing or a curse, depending on how you feel about the show as it is.
Tennent has settled into the role far better than Ecceleston ever did and his new companion is infinitely less irritating. Not only that but we managed to escape Earth - especially circa 21st century - more than we had before, which can only be a good thing. It's really rather embarrassing that a being capable of travelling to any point in space and time tends to get stuck in present day London.
The season arc - although really, I think it's an exaggeration to call it an arc when it's maybe one little hint at the finale every couple of episodes - was somewhat spoiled by the fact it was an all but inevitable occurrence. Not to mention that said finale was written by RTD and hence was rather over the top. A change of creative staff would be interesting, it's unlikely that the mostly one episode stories will alter but maybe we can see some more innovation. At least Billie Piper has gone.
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