Tag: dc

Supergirl Sputters Into Flight

~ Peter Kanelis ~ 2 Comments

Supergirl is another recent comic book movie that delivers another mediocre cinematic experience that comes closer to being utter garbage than much of what I have seen in a while. DC Studios may have gotten a few elements right, but I found those to be quite sparse as I subjected myself to this surprisingly, but mercifully short release. Ana Nogueira is the script writer with Craig Gillispie serving as director.

Milly Alcock is in the lead role as Superman’s somewhat dysfunctional yet formidable Kryptonian cousin. Jason Momoa has taken on the role of some intergalactic bounty hunter known as Lobo. Other cast members include Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham. David Corenswet makes a couple of unnecessary appearances as Superman

At this point, Supergirl is goofing off throughout space as some party girl accompanied by her Kryptonian dog with the not so ingenious name of Krypto. Supergirl encounters a young girl on a mission of vengeance hunting for a space marauder named Krem of the Yellow Hills, played by Schoenaerts. After helping the girl retrieve a handmade sword that was crafted by her deceased father. The girl’s family had been killed by this Krem character, which is why she is rather hellbent on settling the score. Supergirl’s spaceship gets hijacked, and Krypto gets poisoned, which draws her into this mess. Lobo has his own agenda, but he becomes a somewhat unreliable ally. A chase ensues across several planets until a final confrontation takes place that solidifies what kind of hero Supergirl is going to be.

I understand that comic books require a lot of grace and suspension of disbelief, but the writing here gets pretty atrocious at times. Some flashback scenes are done with characters speaking in the fabricated Kryptonian language, but the translation in English has no sense of eloquence or originality. It was full of familiar colloquialisms and expressions. Then, we learn that Superman doesn’t know anything of his native language, which doesn’t make sense since he has some relics from his destroyed home planet and probably would have learned something of his own people’s language.

The casting of Milly Alcock isn’t a bad decision, but she was not served well by this script. There are some moments where I found her genuinely amusing and charismatic, but it wasn’t enough for me to forgive the more clunky production decisions in this thing. I know the actress has taken some heat for some comments made in interviews during the promotion, and it’s deserved. She still may have some talent that can be better utilized with a better writer.

Momoa’s performance was actually the more interesting one in this film. Lobo is a dangerous dude, but he has something of a code that can be respected. He did come in handy at some important moments, but there again even he wasn’t enough to improve the viewing experience by much.

The main villain with the stupid name was just another unhygienic, unhinged, brutish weirdo who got away with his misdeeds more by luck than judgment.

The performance of the cast was fine. The problems really are more from the editing and writing.

The action sequences and visual effects what one would expect. The fight scenes and moments of superpower display were not all that creative or interesting, but it wasn’t completely unimpressive.

On the whole, the film manages to not be a complete dumpster fire, but it does deserve the disappointing box office returns. It’s not one that is going to be remembered with any real fondness among the nerds and cinephiles who will show up hoping it is better than its reputation. Those hopes are likely to be dashed for many. It’s just another barely adequate release from Hollywood that is unlikely to improve with age.

Film Review: Still Not A Bird Or A Plane

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The latest cinematic iteration of Superman, written and directed by James Gunn, is reasonably entertaining but not much more than that. David Corenswet is in the title role and puts in a pretty good effort. Rachel Brosnahan is the latest version of Lois Lane. Nicholas Hoult was somehow chosen to play Lex Luther and probably should have been reconsidered. Nathan Fillion, Edi Gathegi, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, and Pruitt Taylor Vince are also included in the cast.

Superman prevents a war between two fictional nations. He gets in a fight with a metahuman and loses. He seems to be taking care of a super-powered dog as well who gets him back to his isolated Fortress to recuperate. Lex Luther, who is always looking for ways to discredit and destroy Superman gets hold of a message from the Kryptonian visitor’s parents. Apparently, there was a part of the recording that had remained corrupted. Luther’s team manages to repair the message and broadcasts the revelation that Superman’s real parents had expected him to rule over the Earth instead of being the heroic protector that everyone had become familiar with. Luther has also unleashed some kind of pocket universe in an effort destroy the Man of Steel and allied himself with various other superpowered miscreants to help him achieve that goal. Superman has a lot on his plate and has to regain the trust of the people of his adopted home.

There are a lot of cool special effects and fight scenes. Corenswet does not seem to be a terrible casting choice so that helps. I thought Brosnahan was quite good as Lois Lane. She was interesting and feisty but managed to not be too obnoxious.

The plot was a bit of a muddled mess and hard to follow at times. Also, Hoult really did not have the familiar air of menace one would expect from Lex Luther. Hoult is a good actor and usually enjoy his performances, but I found his selection for this role to be somewhat of a misfire.

I have declared for years that Superman is so powerful and morally righteous that it is hard to make him all that interesting.

I didn’t really dislike the film, but there was a lot that i thought could have gone better. My lack of enthusiasm for this may also be due to the oversaturation of superhero flicks coming out of Tinseltown in the past couple of decades.

Film Review: Aquaman Swims His Way To Mediocrity

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the latest cinematic misadventure from DC Studios and Warner Brothers. James Wan directed this film and shares story credit with David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Jason Momoa, and Thomas Pa’a Sibbett. Johnson-McGoldrick wrote the screenplay. Momoa reprises his role as Arthur Curry/Aquaman and is joined by Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Randall Park, Dolph Lungren, and several others.

In this film, Aquaman splits his time between the land and the sea after he has been married and produced a son. He’s enjoying some family time and rules Atlantis after his brother was imprisoned for his misdeeds in the previous film, simply titled Aquaman. David Kane, also known as Black Manta, has yet to give up his thirst for revenge on Aquaman. Kane is enraged that Aquaman chose not to save his father’s life after defeating him in battle. Aquaman tended to help out against any pirates who chose to terrorize any ships traversing the oceans. Anyway, Atlantis is attacked, Aquaman needs some help to locate Black Manta and decides to break his brother out of prison. Wilson’s Orm Marius is not too pleased to be allied with Aquaman, but he decides that it is better than languishing in prison far away from his ocean home. Anyway, a global chase ensues across the land and the seas. There are plenty of super-powered brawls. The CGI effects are unleashed with abandon. There is also an ancient evil that is using Black Manta’s bloodlust for his its own ambitions of freedom from an eternal prison. This has all the usual trappings and visual spectacles of a comic book movie.

The bright spots in this film are few and far between. Momoa is a compelling and charismatic presence in this film-sometimes. He just could not manage to hold my interest with any real consistency. Patrick Wilson’s performance was a bit more intriguing to me, but he was still having to contend with a pretty lackluster script. The landscapes and seascapes were pretty spectacular but without a sense of authenticity. There were some action scenes that were almost exhilarating. If Amber Heard’s career is ruined after her courtroom debacle with Johnny Depp, I suspect that I would be hard-pressed to miss her. Her performance almost reaches the level of just being dreadful. I suspect that she did not entirely hit the bottom of her acting barrel due to not having much screen time. The other more known cast members were such as Kidman or Lundgren were fine, but the plotting did not do them many favors either.

I will confess that I am not a major expert on Aquaman from the comics, and I know there were some artistic liberties taken when it came to this onscreen iteration. Momoa portrays this version with a bit of immature machismo that is rather off-putting. Aquaman relies mostly on his brute strength other than showing any real sense of cunning or ingenuity. He is complicated later for his humility and willingness to ask for help to protect Atlantis, and that’s fine, but it makes for a bit of a boring lesson when presented in a comic book action movie.

If DC Studios plans on doing a reboot of their franchise after this film, the current range seems to have ended with a bit of a whimper. The more official reviews of this film have not been all that favorable, and the scorn is somewhat deserved here. The film is watchable for the most part, so it’s not a complete failure. It does reach near-perfection in one sense. It’s a clear example as to why this genre of film is sinking in popularity at the box office.

Better luck next time, kids!