I See Possibilities...Underneath There's Something There...

One of my favorite films is Richard Donner's "Superman". In all it's dated, hokey charm I love this film and can watch it until the cows come home (most likely because as a young boy it wasn't dated when I saw it). And I'm apparently one of the few people who liked Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" (kind of like how I'm one of the few people who liked "The Two Jakes", "The Godfather Part III" and "Texasville" -- maybe I have a soft spot for sequels that come out decades too late). For all that it did wrong, it did many things right. So I've been waiting patiently for Superman to return to the big screen for some time...enjoying things like "Superman: The Animated Series" (good from start to finish) and "Smallville" (good for a while, then silly, then good again) and J. Michael Straczynski's "Superman: Earth One" (go read them now). So is Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" the Superman movie we've all been waiting for? Yes and no. Like "Superman Returns" there are things it gets right and things it gets so very wrong (spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the film).


I'm not going to recount the plot. You know Superman's origins (and if you don't you've obviously been living on Krypton). This time we spend more time on Krypton than ever before in a film. And this is not the cold, snowy Krypton of all the previous films. This is John Byrne's comic book sci-fi, class structured Krypton in all its glory (well...minus any real color or joy...cause let's face it we kind of jump into things in the middle of a Civil War just before the planet explodes). I was really shocked at screenwriter David Goyer's going balls to the wall sci-fi and staying on Krypton for the story as long as he did. It sets up things nicely for what is going to come next.

Once on Earth, we pretty much skip over the Kents bringing up Clark in Smallville with the exception of some flashbacks. Some of these are good as they set an interesting tone for how they brought up Clark. But two of them are troublesome and infuriating. If you've seen the trailers then you know that Jonathan Kent tells Clark who has just saved his schoolmates from drowning in a bus that he should have maybe let them die to keep his powers secret. I could get over this...it's out of character for Jonathan Kent, but understandable as a father...and it's presented as a "maybe...next time be more careful" kind of thing. What I can't get over is how the handle Pa Kent's death. They essentially "Ben Parker" him.

In all previous incarnations of the stories...on film, TV and in the comics...Jonathan Kent dies because he is human...heart attack, old age, etc...there is no way for Clark to save him even with all the powers he has. It is a moment in which an all-powerful being learns the concept of helplessness. In this film, he's swept away by a tornado and Clark could have easily saved him if he wanted to (Jonathan essentially tells him not to...to keep the secret???). So now we replace helplessness with guilt? Bullshit. That's not Superman. Not when it comes to Pa Kent. Clark essentially kills his dad by his inaction. And Superman NEVER kills (yes...I'll get to that in a bit).

Once the Kryptonians arrive, the film turns into the action packed film everyone accused "Superman Returns" of not being...and it doesn't let up. The last hour of the film is exhausting as Superman and the Kryptonian exiles from the Phantom Zone beat the living shit out of each other through every IHOP and Sears in Smallville before the fight moves to Metropolis so they can level an entire major metropolitan area and kill off untold amounts of people (with a bit less "Leonard Part 6" style product placement). I know we're seeing Superman's formative years here as this is his first appearance, but this is where his "boy scout" aspect has always come in with previous stories. Here, there isn't enough time to get Superman to think about all the death and destruction his actions may cause. We need to get right to the action, death and destruction be damned.

There is very little humor in the film...when it finally does show up towards the very end, it's not quite enough to alleviate what you've just gone through. In the comics (well...in current continuity...well...post-Crisis, pre-New 52 continuity)...Superman has killed once...Zod (well...a pocket universe version of Zod)...and it was such a heartwrenching decision for him, he never did it again (unless he has and I don't remember -- I know the pocket universe version of Zod has stayed dead unlike the Zod of this universe or Doomsday, but I digress). Here, he's forced into a similar situation but we get no real explanation for his feelings afterwards (nor any guilt or regret from having leveled a city)...just a scream...is it because he feels guilty he killed another Kryptonian (cause he's the only one left aside from those sent back to the Phantom Zone or anyone else who may have survived the destruction that we don't know about yet like in the comics where it eventually always seems like there was no one left on Krypton when it exploded)? Is it because he's tired (I know I was exhausted from that four hour fight...it felt like four hours)? We don't know...no discussion, no introspection...and it was needed (by me at least).

Don't get me wrong...the film isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination...I haven't even touched on the fact that we get supporting characters played by amazing actors who are barely name checked and then sidelined into story points that really only add to the length of the film without adding to the depth...I point you towards Jenny Olsen, Daily Planet intern who we really don't give a shit about when she's trapped in rubble and trying to be saved by Perry White and Steve Lombard ("Who?" I hear all you non-comic geeks asking -- right). The chemistry between Lois & Superman is barely there (though Amy Adams as Lois Lane works pretty well in and of herself...beyond her apparent super power of being able to teleport into any situation...she gets around)....where was I...I digressed too much...Henry Cavill does well as Superman/Kal-El, but we barely get to see his Clark side...hopefully we'll get more of that next time.

The technical aspects are all over the place. Hanss Zimmer's score didn't annoy me, but that's probably because I know John Williams' score so well I could run that through my head at points while watching the film (hmmm....new project...put together a cut of the film replacing Zimmer's score with Williams' score). The cinematography was too dark at times, coupled with fast moving CGI and your eyes really need to keep up with things. I'd praise the costume design & art direction for the work on the Kryptonian segments of the film, but that means praising the use of the "New 52" design of the Superman costume...which I really hate (though it's a nitpick here in regards to everything else going on).

The acting is what it is. No one really has much depth of character, but everyone does the best they can with what they're given. Michael Shannon is pretty formidable as Zod (and delivers a great bit towards the end explaining who he is and why he does what he does), but beyond him and Faora (his 2nd in command), the rest of the Kryptonians remain nameless and pointless as they wind up back where they started (potentially to be dragged out for a sequel if need be).

Right, the film isn't perfect, but it is good in places (I hate to use the word "fun" because it isn't with all the dark, death and destruction...and that's another thing we miss, Superman should be "fun"). What it gets right, it gets right...what it gets wrong is infuriating (though the whole Pa Kent situation didn't annoy me as much as the Khan situation in "Star Trek: Into Darkness"). And it does give us a jumping off point for a much better Superman film...kinda like "Superman Returns" did...

Where do they go from here? How do you follow up a story where Superman fights people who are his equals? You take the death and destruction they've caused and bring in the one character who can really be the hero, clean it up, rebuild and focus it all on the one person left to blame it on...let's see Lex Luthor use his billions to rebuilt Metropolis, use his scientific genius to attempt to create an adversary/weapon (Bizarro, Mettalo, the Parasite...all three) to destroy this alien among us who could turn on us at any moment and make him not only the villain that he should be (with all his human errors to help teach Superman some more lessons) but the supporting character he really is and was sorely missing from this film (although where you shove him in beyond a cameo of Lexcorp oil trucks is beyond me right now).

"Man of Steel" is successful as a comic book movie in that it gets a number of things straight from the comic books and puts them on the big screen in all their glory. As a film, I'm not sure it works as well as it should (while it can rely on an audience knowing certain things about Superman before they come in, they shouldn't have to know everything and there are times it feels like you need a class in comic book history just to know who some people are). But Warner does have the starting point they have so desperately desired to get a "Justice League" franchise off the ground (though one could argue "Green Lantern" could have done that as well since it has similar problems and concerns...got lots right, got other stuff wrong...didn't make enough money being the biggest sin...just like "Superman Returns" -- but that's all politics and bullshit)...so at least we have that and a sequel to look forward to and hope they correct the mistakes instead of overcompensating from the last film's mistakes.

Until next time...be seeing you...

No! Not the Bore Worms!

As most of you know (I say that as if I know exactly how many people read this damn thing and that I personally know most of them...I'm just silly)...

Anyway...as you may know (yeah...that's better), I've been a big "Flash Gordon" fan most of my life. Well...as long as I can remember having seen the Buster Crabbe serials on PBS in NYC in the 1970s as a little kid (assuming I remember that correctly at all). It's not just the serials, but the cartoon from the late 1970s, the 1980 Camp Classic and the various comic strip/comic book versions (especially Alex Raymond's original work). Notice how I didn't mention the recent SyFy TV series...I own it on DVD and have yet to actually get through the whole thing (I saw a handful of episodes when they aired and maybe someday I'll revisit it...but not today).

Anyway (I say that a lot, don't I?)...today I'm revisiting Dynamite Entertainment's recent 10 issue comic book series "Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist". This wonderfully written "update" was actually one of two different versions from two different comic book companies that were published essentially at the same time. I'm not going to say if one is better than the other, especially since the story from Ardden Entertainment isn't done yet...but I will say I've enjoyed each on their own merits.

Dynamite Entertainment has finally published a collection of all 10 issues as written by Eric Trautmann with art by Daniel Lindro (and Ron Adrian on the last 2 issues -- there were variant covers by various other artists, but the cover that was easy to find for each issue were by Alex Ross who also guided the series). If you have any love for the 1980 film starring Sam J. Jones and Max Von Sydow, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. This series takes the "story" of the film (which itself was based on Alex Raymond's original strips) as well as the "look" of the film and firmly plants it in the 1930s.

The basic story is still the same, Flash Gordon and Dale Arden are kidnapped by Dr. Hans Zarkov who believes the Earth is under attack from somewhere in space. He is proven right when their craft crashes on the planet Mongo where the evil tyrant Emperor Ming the Merciless rules over a variety of races with an iron fist. The humans eventually wind up teaming up with some of the people who have lived under Ming's tyranny to overthrow him.

There are now lots of great subplots that have been added to expand the story and depth of the characters. Unlike the 1980 movie, we do get Prince Thun of the Lion Men and King Kala of the Shark Men as part of the story (where in the movie they're repurposed or briefly glimpsed and disposed of, here both characters are back to the importance Raymond had given them -- Thun is really Flash's first ally on Mongo and a great character in general so it's good to see him here). Klytus becomes an even bigger political power player than he is in the film (as do the Bore Worms). In addition, we get a story thread of three exiles from Mongo on Earth trying to stop Ming's scheme (which involves Ming helping Hitler take over the planet so it will be easier for Ming to conquer later) that does give the book more of an antiquated feel at times (Nazis & Hitler as villains again), but it does work to give the story a "fresh" twist.

Trautmann keeps the spirit of everything that has come before moving along nicely. He even drops some of the more quotable lines from the 1980 film into scenes in more dramatic ways than they were used in the cinema. We get the monsters we barely got in the film that were such an integral part of the original work (and the movie serials) and we get a sense of cliffhangers that kept the flow of the serials going (without being like the DC Comics mini-series from the 1980s that had each issue end on a cliffhanger that seemed forced at times).

The art by Lindro & Adrian is well done and taken off of Alex Ross' designs that reinterpret the original strips, the Filmation cartoon and the 1980 film all at the same time (Ming's wardrobe consists of the robes Von Sydow wore in the film as well as a Green "Military" suit that resembles the Filmation designs). And the switch from Lindro to Adrian in the last two issues, while noticeable in the trade collection, isn't disconcerting or bad.


This is a fun easy read (especially since it's now collected in one paperback as opposed to ten separate issues that took way more than ten months to come out cause major frustration for this reader as the delays interrupted the flow of the story). If you're a fan of the film or "Flash Gordon" in general, you owe it to yourself to read this (though I will warn you, it does end on a cliffhanger that may not get resolved as this book has been cancelled, though Dynamite is claiming Flash will return).

There is also a companion series called "Merciless: The Rise of Ming" that ran for 4 issues and will be collected in August. This is also well worth a read as it gives Ming (and some of the other rulers of Mongo) a great backstory.

Until next time (whenever that may be as this gets more and more infrequent), be seeing you.