Well, The Incredible Hulk is opening in cinemas this weekend - the second attempt to get the comic adapted to the big screen. It’s been pretty positively reviewed, but then again, that’s not hard compared to the previous version - the 2003 Ang Lee movie. That is easily one of the worst-received superhero movie of the past few years. It’s not considered as dreadful as Batman & Robin, but most people think of it as a pretentious, muddled, weird mess of a movie. But is it really?
Let’s take another look at it! Okay, turn the clock back to 2003. Marvel is in the middle of a renaissance period for their movies. After never having been able to get one off the ground for decades, suddenly it seems as if they can do no wrong. Blade starts it off in 1998, followed up by X-Men in 2000. They’re both modest hits, and well-received. Then in 2002, they hit the jackpot! Spider-Man is released and promptly becomes the fifth most successful movie of all time. Blade 2 is also released and greatly improves on the first.
In 2003, Daredevil comes out. It’s pretty mediocre, but it makes a bunch of money. X2 then comes out at the start of the summer, and is hailed as one of the nest superhero movies ever, surpassing the first one easily. So, Marvel have every reason to be happy - they’ve never had a flop, and with the exception of Daredevil, they’ve garnered pretty positive reviews. They feel like they can do no wrong. Hulk doesn’t look like it’s going to end this streak either. It’s directed by Ang Lee, coming off the acclaimed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It’s co-written by the writer of the same film. Oscar-winning pedigree attached to a winning streak - can’t go wrong, right?
Oops! Hulk debuts with a record opening weekend, then falls FAST. Audiences abandon the film at record levels, and it barely makes more than its $120m budget. But even more stinging are the reviews. Everyone hates it. The best reviews you can find are those that call it an interesting failure. It’s so bad, that five years later, Marvel acts like it never existed and starts over again.
So what went wrong? Well, I’ve braved the film again, and I’ve made some easy-to-follow bullet points explaining why I think the film went awry. J
- First of all, this movie is WEIRD. The entire thing is shot in a strange, dream-like manner. Reality and fantasy mix freely. We get flashbacks, and flashbacks within flashbacks. Gritty realism co-exists with mutated killer poodles. There’s no coherent tone or style to the thing.
- The casting doesn’t help. Oh, the actors are good. Sam Elliot is always good, and he helps ground the movie in some sort of realism. But Eric Bana, excellent actor though he is, is badly miscast. He’s huge, for a start - 6’3’’, and ripped - and doesn’t particularly convince in the role of a nerdy wimp. When he’s opposite Josh Lucas, you’re supposed to feel that Lucas is overshadowing him and intimidating him. Bana towers over him by 4 inches, and looks like he could rip him apart if he wanted. Instead, you get the feeling that Lucas is an annoying weasel, no threat at all, and you don’t know why Banner is putting up with it.
- Nick Nolte is entertaining, but for all the wrong reasons. He’s way over the top, but in his defense, it’s fun to watch. Belongs in a different movie, but still. Of special note is the scene in the generator room near the end where he just gives up any pretense of acting, and just starts yelling and waving his arms around like a nutter, at one point even just shaking himself and gibbering for no reason. Comedy gold.
- Adding to the general oddness is the director’s predilection for split screen effects and unusual visuals. It’s a brave attempt, but it doesn’t come across. Rather than using them for any sort of purpose, all we get is endless split screens showing the same events from different angles. It’s pointless and distracting. We also get odd freeze-frames, weird wipes, and in the most extreme example, when Josh Lucas is blown up, he’s cartoonishly surrounded by thick white lines separating him from the background. That’s also the scene that got the biggest laugh when I saw it in theaters - but I’m sure it wasn’t meant to.
- There wasn’t any other laughs, of course, because this is a VERY serious film. There’s almost not humor of any kind, and every event is treated as if it is of earth-shattering import. Which makes all the funnier, sadly.
- The effects, I suppose, are groundbreaking. But their integration into the film itself are a bit dodgy. From a technical standpoint, the Hulk himself is a great creation. He moves realistically, he seems to have a convincing heft, he has good facial expressions, and he does come across as an actual character, not a special effect. But he looks like he belongs in a CGI film. When he’s by himself, or interacting with other CGI creatures, he looks fine. But when you place him in a scene with humans, he looks badly out of place - as bad as Roger Rabbit or any other cartoon character. This is a pretty big problem for a move based around him.
- Or, I should say, supposedly based around him. The real emphasis in the movie is on the characters and their personal issues. Bruce Banner, and his father issues, and repressed memories. Betty Ross, and HER father issues. David Banner, and his murderous psycho issues, and so on. It’s a novel approach to the genre, certainly, but it’s hard to get into deep issues when your leading man turns into the Hulk every twenty minutes and breaks things. It just adds to the disjointed tone.
- You know what, actually? I don’t think the Hulk is a particularly interesting character. I did enjoy the TV show, but it was more about Banner - with a token Hulk-out in every episode. The Hulk himself just smashes things, and while that does make for some entertaining action scenes, it’s not a lot to base a movie around. This adaptation emphasizes the psychological issues more to fill in those gaps. The 2008 movie apparently goes the other route and emphasizes balls-to-the-walls action. We’ll see if it’s more successful.
Thankfully, this movie didn't do a lot of harm to the careers of everyone involved. Ang Lee rebounded with the sucess of Brokeback Mountain and Lust, Caution. Eric Bana's Hollywood career didn't suffer any noticeable harm. Sam Elliot remains a great character actor. Jennifer Connelly's career is still going well. Josh Lucas still hasn't broke out as a star, as many predicted he would, but he's still working steadily. So, thankfully, everyone was able to put this embarrassment behind them. Sadly, it was seen as a bit of a sign that Marvel's golden days had hit a bit of a bump in the road.
Hulk was released, as noted before, in the heyday of Marvel’s success in film. After this, their fortunes were noticeably a bit more lower. We did get Spider-Man 2, which was just as good as the first one. However, we then got two Fantastic Four movies, X-Men 3, and Spider-Man 3, which made money, but which were noticeably less well received than the movies before them. We also got Elektra and Blade 3 which were out-and-out bombs. So, one could argue that Hulk started a decline in Marvel’s movie business. Thankfully, it seems as though they’re pulling themselves out of the doldrums. Iron Man was superb, and the new Hulk does seem to be better received than this one. We’ve also got Captain America and The Avengers also on the way, along with Iron Man 2. So, maybe we’re on the up again. Time will tell…
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Blackpool
Blackpool was a six part drama series that aired on the BBC back in 2004. It was written by Peter Bowker, and starred David Morrissey, Sarah Parish and David Tennant. It’s a murder mystery with a twist - namely, that it’s a (sort-of) musical as well. During dramatic moments, songs will start playing, and the characters will sing along to the song (the original vocals are also heard) and take part in choreographed dance routines.
It’s bizarre, and takes a certain mindset in the part of the audience before you can enjoy it. Luckily, I’m a musical theater nut, so I loved it. The concept proved less popular in the US, where a remake - Viva Laughlin - bombed after two episodes and earned the worst reviews since Cop Rock.
The basic plot is fairly simple. Ripley Holden (David Morrissey) is an amusement arcade owner, trying to get planning permission for a new hotel complex. This is made a bit harder by the find of a dead body in his arcade. DI Peter Carlisle (David Tennant) is called in and quickly finds he has more on his mind than murder, when he falls in love with Ripley's long-suffering wife, Natalie (Sarah Parish).
In amongst that, there’s various subplots going on with Ripley’s two kids. His daughter is marrying a much older man with ties to Ripley’s past, and his son is hiding a lot of secrets that could ruin Ripley - or at least throw a spanner into his worldview.
It’s not a massively complicated plot, and to be honest - it sort of seems a bit prolonged at six episodes. The soloution to the mystery itself is fairly obvious from near the start, and when it’s finally revealed, it’s almost as an afterthought, as if that’s not really what matters.
And of course, that’s mostly right. The main bulk of the enjoyment comes from the characters and the relationships between them, and the songs, of course. The acting is excellent, as you would expect from a glance at the cast list. David Morrissey’s Ripley commands the screen every time he’s on, and even though he’s an amoral slime who beats up his friends, organizes shifty business deals, cheats on his taxes, and cheats on his wife like it’s going out of style, you can’t help but like him based on his sheer force of personality and charisma.
David Tennant’s Peter Carlisle is also good - an outwardly charming and sensitive man, at first you think he’s a great guy. He’s charming, funny, treats Natalie well, and generally comes across as an all round swell guy. As the show moves on, you start realizing how manipulative he is. He’s as amoral as Ripley when it comes to getting his own way. Of course, he’s still played by David Tennant, so it’s difficult to really dislike him, of course.
The chemistry between him and Sarah Parish is worth noting. Tennant is one of those actors who tends to have great chemistry with most people, due to the fact that he seems to flirting with anyone who happens to be on screen with at time. That includes Morrissey, incidentally, slash fans - check out where the two of them dance cheek to cheek! His chemistry with Parish is special, though - check out the dancing scene set to Gabrielle’s “Should I stay?” and tell me that’s not crazy hot.
As mentioned before, it’s the characters that keep you watching in this. Who people seem to be at the start gets muddled as the show goes on. People reveal hidden parts to themselves, relationships get complicated, and the twists and turns keep everything going when the plot is - to be honest - going in circles a bit.
The music is great - mostly classic rock and pop tunes with a couple of newer songs thrown in for good measure - and the songs always relate to what’s happening on screen. The fact that the actors can be heard singing WITH the original vocals is a bit weird, but it makes it less jarring when other the vocals are switched between characters as the song goes on.
I’d recommend Blackpool a lot. It wasn’t a huge success for the Beeb, but it was well-received enough that it spawned a one-off sequel a few years later - Viva Blackpool. Sadly, it’s not nearly as good. Only Ripley and his daughter return from the first one - Tennant and Parish having swanned off into the sunset - and Ripley gets caught up in a lightweight scheme to recover the World Cup trophy, while trying to thwart the advances of an American Femme Fatale.
It’s a fun ninety minutes, but not nearly as substantial as the original. It’s a lot more light hearted, almost coming across as a comedy version of the original. Morrissey is as good as ever, but his daughter - played by Georgia Taylor - was not exactly the most likeable character from the first one, so her return isn’t quite so welcome. The supporting cast is decent, but mostly made up of comedy actors like Keith Allen and Mark Williams, adding to the insubstantial feeling. I’m not sorry they made it, but it’s inessential for fans of the first one.
The series was shown on BBC America, but it’s not available on Region 1 DVD yet. You can pick up both stories on a three-disk box set in Region 2 for fairly cheap, though. In fact, you can ONLY get the sequel as part of the set - showing that the Beeb must not have thought anyone wanted to buy it on its own. The DVDs are THIS far away from being bare-boned, with only links to the song sequences, and that’s it. No commentaries, documentaries, text extras, nothing. From the BBC, that’s quite disappointing. Luckily the set is cheap as hell, so that makes up for it.
All in all, a heart recommendation for the first series, and a half-hearted recommendation for the second. Pick it up if you can find it.
It’s bizarre, and takes a certain mindset in the part of the audience before you can enjoy it. Luckily, I’m a musical theater nut, so I loved it. The concept proved less popular in the US, where a remake - Viva Laughlin - bombed after two episodes and earned the worst reviews since Cop Rock.
The basic plot is fairly simple. Ripley Holden (David Morrissey) is an amusement arcade owner, trying to get planning permission for a new hotel complex. This is made a bit harder by the find of a dead body in his arcade. DI Peter Carlisle (David Tennant) is called in and quickly finds he has more on his mind than murder, when he falls in love with Ripley's long-suffering wife, Natalie (Sarah Parish).
In amongst that, there’s various subplots going on with Ripley’s two kids. His daughter is marrying a much older man with ties to Ripley’s past, and his son is hiding a lot of secrets that could ruin Ripley - or at least throw a spanner into his worldview.
It’s not a massively complicated plot, and to be honest - it sort of seems a bit prolonged at six episodes. The soloution to the mystery itself is fairly obvious from near the start, and when it’s finally revealed, it’s almost as an afterthought, as if that’s not really what matters.
And of course, that’s mostly right. The main bulk of the enjoyment comes from the characters and the relationships between them, and the songs, of course. The acting is excellent, as you would expect from a glance at the cast list. David Morrissey’s Ripley commands the screen every time he’s on, and even though he’s an amoral slime who beats up his friends, organizes shifty business deals, cheats on his taxes, and cheats on his wife like it’s going out of style, you can’t help but like him based on his sheer force of personality and charisma.
David Tennant’s Peter Carlisle is also good - an outwardly charming and sensitive man, at first you think he’s a great guy. He’s charming, funny, treats Natalie well, and generally comes across as an all round swell guy. As the show moves on, you start realizing how manipulative he is. He’s as amoral as Ripley when it comes to getting his own way. Of course, he’s still played by David Tennant, so it’s difficult to really dislike him, of course.
The chemistry between him and Sarah Parish is worth noting. Tennant is one of those actors who tends to have great chemistry with most people, due to the fact that he seems to flirting with anyone who happens to be on screen with at time. That includes Morrissey, incidentally, slash fans - check out where the two of them dance cheek to cheek! His chemistry with Parish is special, though - check out the dancing scene set to Gabrielle’s “Should I stay?” and tell me that’s not crazy hot.
As mentioned before, it’s the characters that keep you watching in this. Who people seem to be at the start gets muddled as the show goes on. People reveal hidden parts to themselves, relationships get complicated, and the twists and turns keep everything going when the plot is - to be honest - going in circles a bit.
The music is great - mostly classic rock and pop tunes with a couple of newer songs thrown in for good measure - and the songs always relate to what’s happening on screen. The fact that the actors can be heard singing WITH the original vocals is a bit weird, but it makes it less jarring when other the vocals are switched between characters as the song goes on.
I’d recommend Blackpool a lot. It wasn’t a huge success for the Beeb, but it was well-received enough that it spawned a one-off sequel a few years later - Viva Blackpool. Sadly, it’s not nearly as good. Only Ripley and his daughter return from the first one - Tennant and Parish having swanned off into the sunset - and Ripley gets caught up in a lightweight scheme to recover the World Cup trophy, while trying to thwart the advances of an American Femme Fatale.
It’s a fun ninety minutes, but not nearly as substantial as the original. It’s a lot more light hearted, almost coming across as a comedy version of the original. Morrissey is as good as ever, but his daughter - played by Georgia Taylor - was not exactly the most likeable character from the first one, so her return isn’t quite so welcome. The supporting cast is decent, but mostly made up of comedy actors like Keith Allen and Mark Williams, adding to the insubstantial feeling. I’m not sorry they made it, but it’s inessential for fans of the first one.
The series was shown on BBC America, but it’s not available on Region 1 DVD yet. You can pick up both stories on a three-disk box set in Region 2 for fairly cheap, though. In fact, you can ONLY get the sequel as part of the set - showing that the Beeb must not have thought anyone wanted to buy it on its own. The DVDs are THIS far away from being bare-boned, with only links to the song sequences, and that’s it. No commentaries, documentaries, text extras, nothing. From the BBC, that’s quite disappointing. Luckily the set is cheap as hell, so that makes up for it.
All in all, a heart recommendation for the first series, and a half-hearted recommendation for the second. Pick it up if you can find it.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Ace Of Wands - The Power Of Atep.
And so we return to the adventures of Tarot and co. in The Power of Atep. (Now there’s a Dr Who style title if ever I heard one). This is the second story of the series, and runs for four parts, as opposed to The Meddlers’ three. This is written by Victor Pemberton, familiar to Dr Who fans as the write or Fury From The Deep, as well as the audio adventure, The Pescatons.
We start off as Tarot and Mikki discover they’ve both been having the same dream - about each other! Not like that, you deviants - they’ve both been dreaming of Egypt. Mind you, from the meaningful glances they keep giving each other, it’s clear that Chas is hanging around less to help out, and more to stop our dandified hero from getting it on with his sister.
They’re both a bit put out by the experience, and Tarot in particular is not himself, acting very distracted. He goes off to see his chum Mr Sweet, while Mikki goes off to see a medium called John Pentacle. Despite his incredibly sinister name, she agrees to sit in on a séance with him and his equally sinister pals. During that, they all start chanting “Kill Tarot! Kill Tarot!” She deduces they may mean Tarot some harm. Doesn’t miss a trick, this girl!
While all this is going on, Tarot tries to research the Egyptian angle, try to drown himself, and keep muttering ominously about his old partner, Quabal - who parted with him on bad terms. Experienced readers will have deduced that Pentacle is indeed Quabal, using the power of Atep - an old Egyptian wizard - to destroy him as revenge for the act splitting up. And you thought Martin and Lewis had it in for each other!
Investigating the Atep angle, our heroes head for Egypt. Or rather, some stock footage and a sand dune, representing Egypt. Fun ensues when the actors run around in skimpy clothes, trying to pretend the heat is overpowering, while looking like they’re about the die of exposure.
Anyway, they decide to investigate the tomb of Atep, and meet up with the archaeologist who discovered it, Fergus Wilson. Together, they hope to uncover the mysteries of Atep and thwart Quabal’s evil plan. Well, I say ‘evil’ - it’s more sort of petty, to be honest. Actually, if Tarot just said he was sorry about the whole breakup, maybe he’d just drop it. But I digress.
The Power Of Atep is another strong entry for Ace of Wands. Whereas The Meddlers was fairly narrow in scope, confining it’s plot to one area, Atep is a lot broader, opening out the world. Mentions of Tarot’s backstory (and more reminders of the previous stars) help sell the sense that the characters have had lives before the events of the series. There’s the return of Mr Sweet - one of the recurring characters from the previous series. The move to Egypt half-way through the story helps a lot with keeping the mood fresh and stops it from getting repetitive.
The mood, which I praised The Meddlers for, is still strong here. Throughout the beginning of the story, we get flashbacks to Tarot and Quabal’s act - before we know that’s what it is - keeping us wondering what we’re seeing. We also get the unsettling séance scenes, and their effects on Tarot - making him try to drown himself while wearing a straitjacket, in a genuinely tense moment.
There’s also a few scenes where Quabal impersonates Tarot and attacks the good guys. We don’t know that’s what’s happening, and it throws the audience for a loop when we see the hero attack his friends seemingly for no reason.
It’s not perfect, of course. Sebastian Graham-Jones is a bit wet as Quabal. Instead of acting as a dark mirror of our hero, he rather seems more like a sulky child. Also, the actor playing Fergus Wilson has such a fake Scottish accent and beard that I expected him to be exposed as a fake half way through. Also - his character didn’t make any sense. Near the end, he pulls a gun on Mikki and Chas, and tells them he’s working for…well, we don’t know who. He’s not working with Quabal - we saw them alone earlier and they definitely weren’t friendly. He just seems to turn evil for no reason to provide a bit of last minute tension.
Anyway, still a very enjoyable piece of fantasy TV. Hopefully the series will continue to be as much fun for the rest of the duration.
We start off as Tarot and Mikki discover they’ve both been having the same dream - about each other! Not like that, you deviants - they’ve both been dreaming of Egypt. Mind you, from the meaningful glances they keep giving each other, it’s clear that Chas is hanging around less to help out, and more to stop our dandified hero from getting it on with his sister.
They’re both a bit put out by the experience, and Tarot in particular is not himself, acting very distracted. He goes off to see his chum Mr Sweet, while Mikki goes off to see a medium called John Pentacle. Despite his incredibly sinister name, she agrees to sit in on a séance with him and his equally sinister pals. During that, they all start chanting “Kill Tarot! Kill Tarot!” She deduces they may mean Tarot some harm. Doesn’t miss a trick, this girl!
While all this is going on, Tarot tries to research the Egyptian angle, try to drown himself, and keep muttering ominously about his old partner, Quabal - who parted with him on bad terms. Experienced readers will have deduced that Pentacle is indeed Quabal, using the power of Atep - an old Egyptian wizard - to destroy him as revenge for the act splitting up. And you thought Martin and Lewis had it in for each other!
Investigating the Atep angle, our heroes head for Egypt. Or rather, some stock footage and a sand dune, representing Egypt. Fun ensues when the actors run around in skimpy clothes, trying to pretend the heat is overpowering, while looking like they’re about the die of exposure.
Anyway, they decide to investigate the tomb of Atep, and meet up with the archaeologist who discovered it, Fergus Wilson. Together, they hope to uncover the mysteries of Atep and thwart Quabal’s evil plan. Well, I say ‘evil’ - it’s more sort of petty, to be honest. Actually, if Tarot just said he was sorry about the whole breakup, maybe he’d just drop it. But I digress.
The Power Of Atep is another strong entry for Ace of Wands. Whereas The Meddlers was fairly narrow in scope, confining it’s plot to one area, Atep is a lot broader, opening out the world. Mentions of Tarot’s backstory (and more reminders of the previous stars) help sell the sense that the characters have had lives before the events of the series. There’s the return of Mr Sweet - one of the recurring characters from the previous series. The move to Egypt half-way through the story helps a lot with keeping the mood fresh and stops it from getting repetitive.
The mood, which I praised The Meddlers for, is still strong here. Throughout the beginning of the story, we get flashbacks to Tarot and Quabal’s act - before we know that’s what it is - keeping us wondering what we’re seeing. We also get the unsettling séance scenes, and their effects on Tarot - making him try to drown himself while wearing a straitjacket, in a genuinely tense moment.
There’s also a few scenes where Quabal impersonates Tarot and attacks the good guys. We don’t know that’s what’s happening, and it throws the audience for a loop when we see the hero attack his friends seemingly for no reason.
It’s not perfect, of course. Sebastian Graham-Jones is a bit wet as Quabal. Instead of acting as a dark mirror of our hero, he rather seems more like a sulky child. Also, the actor playing Fergus Wilson has such a fake Scottish accent and beard that I expected him to be exposed as a fake half way through. Also - his character didn’t make any sense. Near the end, he pulls a gun on Mikki and Chas, and tells them he’s working for…well, we don’t know who. He’s not working with Quabal - we saw them alone earlier and they definitely weren’t friendly. He just seems to turn evil for no reason to provide a bit of last minute tension.
Anyway, still a very enjoyable piece of fantasy TV. Hopefully the series will continue to be as much fun for the rest of the duration.
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