die fledermaus v der ubermensch

::sound of wind blowing dust off of a page::

hello blog, my old friend.

so I wasn't going to dust off this blog any time soon, but I just saw Batman v Superman last week and... and... I have thoughts! and feelings! and problems, oh so many problems! and a reevaluation of sorts...

So BvS... DC/WB's attempt at bringing their shared cinematic universe to an explosive start. there's action! there's mystery! there's women named Martha! (there is absolutely zero humor, except for Perry White. good old Perry White. I'm shocked Snyder didn't put a bullet in your head too - more on that later).

Generally speaking, I enjoyed BvS a lot more than I thought I would. It wasn't as awful as a lot of reviews had led me to think, and definitely had moments of brilliance. That said, with a few exceptions, it was an entirely unpleasant, gloomy, dark, infuriating experience. The DCCU looks to be a very grim and serious place, where very grim and serious people live and do very grim and serious things. The main gist seems to be that a lot of people don't like Superman and maybe want to do something about it, and Lex Luthor seems to be trying to push all the factions to... well... do something about it, though his motivations and, well, actual plan seem to be lost somewhere in the really convoluted plot. At the same time, Superman is also a bit of a Messiah (this is Snyder's big, grand idea, and I have read some pretty spot on commentary saying that this movie has a very strong anti-atheist theme running through it). At the same time, Lex seems unwilling to wait for someone else to kill Superman for him, so he hacks into the Kryptonian ship Zod left (because of course he does, using Zod's fingerprints and probably in a deleted scene learns how to create Doomsday from Zod's body (something about an impurity? it was a pretty muddled to be honest. is this like how Jor El placed the entire Kryptonian birthing matrix inside his son in Man of Steel? only to have it never really references again, except as a means to really piss Zod off?) mixed with his blood. Diana Prince shows up, looking for something. Bruce Wayne finds it, plus more stuff. We get discussion of the "metahuman hypothesis" without much context (also, if metahumans are popping up everywhere, why does Lex only have files on four?). Oh, and lest we forget, Lex also manipulates a victim of the Man of Steel destructionporn to testify in front of the Senate and blow it up (because? he clearly wants the senator dead but that's sort of it. Superman stands there like an idiot then gets mopey that he couldn't stop it - or maybe he didn't want to! - but nobody really pins it on him other than some vague questions of did he know, and it ultimately gets dropped.

So Lex Luthor's main plan (so Doomsday is a backup plan, even though he's clearly taken substantial steps to create it) seems to be to get Superman to kill Batman (because...? Batman stole stuff from him? to further make Superman unpopular then have Doomsday kill him? Because he knows Batman has kryptonite and will likely kill Superman? It's really unclear....), all the while having played Batman into getting really angry and wanting to kill Superman by somehow manipulating him (even though it didn't seem like much manipulation was needed). Anyway, he gets Superman to do this by threatening his earth mother (which becomes SUPER IMPORTANT in resolving the v part of BvS). Superman tries to avoid the fight by telling Bruce (because everyone seems to know who everyone really is in this movie) he's being manipulated. Batman doesn't give him the chance, so they fight. There's kryptonite gas and a kryptonite spear. There's pummeling and humorless quipping. They stop. Lex gets mad Batman isn't dead, unleashes Doomsday. Wonder Woman shows up. More fighting. Explosions (in abandoned ports and nearly empty downtown areas, of course, because even though the destruction in Man of Steel was fine and normal, man people didn't like it so much so we want to emphasize just how much we're not doing that again, even though Pa Kent says in a dream (lots of dreams in this movie) that being a hero probably means some horses are going to die and you'll feel bad until you meet a good woman, or something like that). Then, spoiler alert, Doomsday does exactly what you'd expect him to do and kills Superman in a kind of ridiculous way (short version, Superman grabs a spear made of the one substance that weakens him and flies it into Doomsday's chest. Doomsday has super-conveinently fashioned a large spike out of one of his arms after Wonder Woman cut it off and rams it through Superman's chest, killing him). We're left with a fading image of the dirt rising over Clark's coffin (it's apparently important that he's buried as Clark, not as Superman... Clark at one point says Superman was just the dream of a Kansas farmer, so I guess we're supposed to realize that Superman's humanity is more important to him than being Superman but it's seems a little forced and odd.)

And did I mention dream sequences? Oh yeah, we've got some dream sequences. First, we see Bruce dream about the deaths of his parents, their funberal, and the bats lifting him out of the cave (which didn't actually happen, but Bruce felt like they did so yeah). Than Bruce has double whammy dream - the much hyped Knightmare, and then a sub dream featuring the Flash that makes absolutely no sense based on any information we have been given in the movie so far (and even afterwards, doesn't really make much sense). the big reveal in the Knightmare is the Omega symbol and the parademons (which LOOK awesome, so well done production designers!) But is Bruce dreaming that Superman is working for/with Darkseid? is this some sort of prophetic dream and we'll see a similar scene in the first or second JL movie? Then Flash shows up after Bruce "wakes up," says some mumbo jumbo about Bruce being right, Lois being the key, and then realizing he was early (?) and leaving, telling Bruce to "find us." This last bit, at least, clearly leads the the end of the movie where Batman and Wonder Woman agree to find the other metahumans that Lex was apparently tracking to "prepare to fight."

So anyway, here's the good, the bad, and the ugly:

The Good:
- Wonder Woman/Diana Prince: seriously, she was probably the brightest spot in the whole movie. every time she was on screen, especially as Wonder Woman in the fight sequence climax, was just... incredible. She, unlike the rest of the "heroes", seemed to be enjoying it. While she makes some grim pronouncement about giving up on the world of men, there's an actual feeling of optimism about her that the rest of the movie sorely lacks. I read that her solo movie is going to have darkness to it... so... sigh... Gal Gadot was fantastic in the role.
- Zack Snyder's visual style: I'm generally not a fan of Snyder's slow motion punch, blue/green shading of everything that he usually does in his movies, but this was just a beautifully shot and choreographed movie throughout. Some of the fights dragged on a bit, and some of Batman's brutality went on a bit long, but it was still a visually stunning piece of cinema. Even the "SuperJesus" scenes, though they made me gag a little, were gorgeous. I did have a few problems where I felt like Snyder was trying to do a Watchmen and bring actual comic panels to the screen (which worked for Watchmen because it was the entire movie, whereas here he clearly snagged some key scenes from Dark Knight Returns but never consistently).
- the general setup of the greater DCCU: while I think it ultimately felt a little forced, and maybe could have been done in a way more organic to the story (well, to what story there was at least), BvS does a great job at setting up the rest of the DCCU. While the little vignettes of Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg really were too brief of an introduction into this world to have a major impact, they definitely had one, at least for me. And the movie really does a good job of leaving questions for later installments (though it also leaves a lot of open questions internally that should have been resolved in this movie, and never were).
- Batfleck: seriously, Ben Affleck as Batman. who would have thought? yeah, the material he had to work with had flaws, but he made it work. I still think I prefer Michael Keaton but Affleck's a close second...

The Bad:
- this was a cynical as hell movie. really really cynical. about heroes and what heroes stand for. about humanity. I left the movie feeling very sour. I would have made this part of the ugly, but I actually think this has been Snyder's intention with this version of the DCU, so I can say that, hey, at least he succeeded. Yeah, you saw Superman saving people (other than just Lois), and being, you know, a superhero, but that felt few and far between.
- the introduction to the other metahumans. really, I just think it should have happened more organically instead of shoving them in the middle in a way that interrupted whatever narrative there was going on in the rest of the movie. this might work in a comic book, or even a novel. but in a medium like the movies, you need plot coherence. something this movie lacked at times.
- dream sequences. just what? the beginning one was fine (though Bruce being lifted out of the cave by the bats was just weird, but hey, it was a dream). but the big one, the Knightmare, as its called made NO sense (though hey, cool, Parademons and an Omega symbol! oh, wait, how are the New Gods going to work in this universe? If Martian Manhunter can't work according to Goyer, then I don't see how you do them...)
- Henry Cavill: so here's my reevaluation of Man of Steel; while it definitely had a lot of problems for me - Pa Kent, the wonton destruction, the infusing of the genetic code for all Kryptonians into Kal El, the cynicism - I realized that, overall, I liked it fine as a movie. It had a relatively coherent story, character's motivations at least made sense, and you can certainly believe it as an origin story for a Superman like character, if not 100% for Superman himself. But Cavill is absolutely terrible. He's incredibly wooden as both Clark and Superman and, really, he's just really unlikeable which is a terrible trait to have in someone who is supposed to play Superman of all characters. he seems to have totally bought into Snyder's vision of Superman, and even then doesn't really have the acting chops to do it justice. He's more bearable in BvS than he was in Man of Steel, but only just...

The Ugly:
- Jesse Eisenberg's take on Lex Luthor: maybe the extended version, or some deleted scenes make it better, but this was the WORST representation of Luthor I have ever seen (and I sat through Kevin Spacey's take). Here's a petulant child whose motivations for every single thing he does are lacking, who seems to just have a new plan before his last plan actually has a chance to fail, who seems to know things without any reason given for him to know (not just the identities of Batman and Superman - how on Earth did he know how to make Doomsday? I doubt the ship would just tell him that. I gather that we're supposed to assume/believe that either Darkseid or MAYBE Braniac ("he's hungry" really could refer to him, and not just Darkseid) had somehow gotten to him? honestly, even though he sets much of the action of the movie in motion, the entire story could have almost been told without him, or at least without as much of his involvement upfront.
- death is cool: yeah, fewer people die - apparently - than in Man of Steel, but Snyder sure likes his heroes to, at least indirectly, be Killy McDeathalots. Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we shot Jimmy Olson in the head? (see the credits - though does that mean that "Jenny Olson" is his sister? shouldn't she have been more distraught, or, heck, hated Superman more?)
- Snyder's "I'm a comic book guy- real fans know I'm being true to the comics" petulance REALLY comes out in this. and I get it. he loves Frank Miller, that's clear (though even there he largely misreads/misremembers his source material), but it feels like he's emulating a very specific, very brief, and very awful period in comics - the grim and gritty 90's where people reevaluated the book and ran with it (See Image comics). Especially after the Flash's armor in the dream sequence, I kept thinking I was going to see pouches and bullet chains on Batman or something. (not to mention, well, Batman actually didn't kill anyone in DKR except ARGUABLY the Joker, who actually broke his own neck so... ). now maybe this is just MY preference - 90's comics, for the most part, make me ill and Frank Miller, while he did some cool stuff 30-odd years ago, is actually kind of terrible - but it really isn't the best era in comics to take most of your inspiration from, especially where you have such a rich history to mine for your major characters.
- Martha, Martha, Martha: this was the big WTF for me. seriously. "Oh I was going to kill you dead because you might destroy the world, maybe... wait, shit, your mom's name is Martha too? bitchin! let's be bros."
- "the bat from gotham": because we're too serious a universe to even say "batman?"
- bat branding: really? i mean what? it was mentioned to me that he only had started doing this recently in terms of the film (though I don't remember that being indicated) and that he had only done it to a human trafficker and a child molester (which, actually, makes sense though Jesus, really? he brands them to ensure that they die in prison? really???)

So... yeah, I liked BvS, maybe in spite of myself. But I can't say I enjoyed it a whole lot... I think it tried to be more important and profound at times than it had the ability to back up, it tried to put too much into the plot, and it was just such a dour movie that "enjoy" is just not a word that comes to mind. But yeah, it was "fun" to watch (while not being "fun" in any way, shape, or form), and I found myself engrossed by the imagery. it left me wanting more, though maybe with a director and creative team who likes and respects the source material, but even if more has to be set in the Snyder-verse, I am cautiously optimistic about what's coming next... (well at least Wonder Woman...)

Frankly, if WB/DC wanted to build a cinematic universe they should have made sure Green Lantern wasn't so awful, as they could have built from some of the seeds they tried to plant there. But even coming off of Man of Steel,  I had at one point thought that they should make the follow up "World's Finest" where a younger but still experienced Batman meets and teams up with, while mistrusting, Superman  against some foe or another (so, basically this, minus the Joker), with Wonder Woman showing up at the end - after already getting her origin film -  leading into a third movie: "Trinity" where they fight a bigger threat - someone like Vandal Savage maybe? who can then cause them to round up other metahumans/etc. for a big JL movie. This would have certainly solved some of the pacing problems with BvS, and some of the story problems as well. this would have set them further back in their attempt to compete with Marvel so obviously never would have happened, but... well... one can dream.

posting again soon... probably

posting again soon i think... yeah...

Cover song!!

oooh. shameless self promotion!!

i just recorded this over the past two days, partially just do cover it (love the song, finally figured out how to play it, in particular the trumpet solo as guitar solo) and also to play around with garage band and such before i try and do real recording of my own stuff.

not terribly thrilled with the vocals, though that may owe slightly to using the built in mic on my macbook and not a regular one (not in the best space for recording with a fuller setup so...)

anyway, of course this is not my song, music and lyrics by Stuart Murdoch, Richard Colburn, Michael Cook, Christopher Geddes, Stephen Jackson, and Isobel Campbell, from the album Tigermilk. i don't even remotely claim to own this and will happily take it down if anyone complains (i know that's not the right way to do this, nor does it get me around copyright law... i should know better since i'll be going to law school to study that stuff too...)

anyway, here it is...

note

So I have decided that I am going to do a few more personal entries to this blog. Nothing spleen venting or gut wrenching, though I might talk a bit about middle and high school... ech.

just so you know. if you're reading i mean.

so...

So I haven't posted since 2010, before I was even married? hmmph...

A few blog ideas forming, one basically ready to go.

more soon. i promise...

just checkin in. more blogging soon....

a few things:

1. my fiance and I have started a food/cooking blog here. check it out!

2. I currently live in new jersey.

3. Robert plant has a new album coming out. normally this wouldn't matter much to me, but he's covering Low. And this is sort of amazing....

4. I'm way behind on my comics... I know there's only a couple i need to check up on (buffy and amazing spiderman... maybe whatever's going on in the batman books, or at least the return of bruce wayne) but... it's funny, I originally envisioned this as sort of a comics blog but have maybe only posted 4 or 5 entries about comics... so we'll see how that goes...

posting from my droid

yep

so this might mean I will blog more, since I can prettymuch just get to this on my phone whenever...

dangerous.

this guy at this open mic sounds like he could be playing guitar parts of explosions in the sky songs....

should I also twitter?

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