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darth_miha
Reviews
Aquaman (2006)
My Review of ''Mercy Reef''
Having been a comic book fan for a very long time, I was gradually excited about the new Aquaman (Mercy Reef) series. But.... After seeing the pilot, I wanted to growl up, since this wasn't what I expected. Let me elaborate a bit... Reconceived as an environmentally-minded perpetual screw-up, A.C. is a well-meaning but callow young man who must learn to take responsibility once he is told of his Atlantean heritage. As dramatic as this sounds, that's more of a set-up for where the series might have gone. Throughout most of the pilot, A.C. comes across more like a smirky fratboy on spring break. At times, Hartley has the look and bland charm of Ben Affleck. Perhaps his upcoming turn as Oliver Queen on Smallville will better suit him. What's odd, though, is that A.C. knows he has superhuman abilities underwater and yet never once questions where they came from. It's one thing to know that you were adopted but to understand that you're amphibious should at the very least provoke some introspection. When you can swim fast enough to keep up with a fighter jet racing overhead and become stronger when exposed to water, you're going to respond with shock when told that you might hail from some place other than South Florida?! A.C. even has the audacity at one point to exclaim, "I'm a dive shop owner! I'm not the protector of the Seven Seas!" The boy just ain't right.
Ving Rhames channels Marcellus Wallace in his performance as McCaffrey, bellowing such lines as, "The only way to kill those scaly bitches is to nail them between the eyes!" McCaffrey fulfills the Basil Exposition role necessary for A.C. to find out who he is, even admitting at one point, "You don't think I know how absurd this sounds?" What attracted Rhames to such a thankless part remains a mystery.
Aquaman drowns in poor dialogue. Along with the aforementioned gems, the pilot contains atrocious lines such as, "Maybe someday the fish will have their revenge," the future campaign slogan "This is not a foolish crusade; this is a matter of national security," and McCaffrey's poignant, "Destiny is like a riptide. You never know it's pulling you in until it's too late."
At least the special effects were serviceable, if not superior to some recent feature films (although is it really saying much to proclaim that it looks better than Catwoman?). Had Aquaman been picked up as a series, the combination of its effects budget and on-the-water filming surely would have made it one of the most expensive series on TV. That daunting prospect alone may have been a reason why The CW didn't pick it up.
Ultimately, Gough and Millar had some good ideas for making Aquaman work as a TV show but it was the poor execution of them that made this mediocre pilot flounder.
Superman Returns (2006)
My Review of SUPERMAN RETURNS
Let me start first by saying, that I've been a Superman fan all my life now, so I know a lot about the mythology and the characters... When Superman Returns was announced (with Bryan Singer as the director) I was majorly psyched about the new movie. Anxious to see what directions, they might have for our ''boy in blue''. Finally, the day I've waited for came and after reading some of the reviews IMDb users submited, I was thrilled and worried... My opinion, fellow Superman fans and non-fans: This is an excellent Superman movie, with few major flaws and nothing more... I'll elaborate a bit.
Brandon Routh as Superman is everything I would have hoped him to be. He fills the suit and the persona better than I could have hoped. He flies in incredible ways. He performs feats that blow me away. He OWNS Superman. He's not Reeve, but no one is Reeve. He's just fantastic as Superman. He's his own. No all the same. This is a new Superman for movies, an improved Superman, and a strong one.
Kevin Spacey's Luthor is incredible. Spot-on. He bashes Superman about with a villainy the likes of which I've never seen. He's diabolical. He doesn't care how many people he slaughters. His acting is spot-on character and he holds the audience captivated with every word he speaks when on-screen. At the same time, all the same, this is essentially the Gene Hackman Luthor with a beating scene thrown in. A little wittier on the dialogue, but a few shorter on the one-liners even so.
Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane never plays for me. I don't buy her as the character. Half because of her age, the other half because she's just not a very good actress. She has one emotion, blank look, and honestly, as calloused as this seems, it's hard to relate to her in any way. Her character has made decisions that put her life into a certain position, and she actively makes choices to sabotage herself. She has a child despite knowing that it's Superman's kid and Superman is nowhere to be found. She tries to stabilize this with Richard, all the while knowing Superman's return would break things up. In the end, she fails to capitulate even to this fact, leaving a son with likely confused father issues, two guys being strung along, and no real, strong, feminist icon character per what I see with Lois Lane.
This movie is, but for bit, pretty much an homage of the first Superman movie that borders on such repetition that it almost damages the movie. Lex Luthor comes up with a way to decimate the United States and make a profit through real estate. Superman doesn't like this, so he goes to confront Luthor, Luthor stabs him with Kryptonite from Addis Ababa, leaves him for dead, and Superman somehow escapes and stops the evil plan. Miss Tessmacher, or Kitty, stops Lex from being able to bring his plan to fruition by ridding him of the crystals. It begins with blue credits and a trip through space. It ends with Superman floating above Earth and smiling to us, taking care of everything.
They've also included a little twist to the Superman Mythology, that I didn't like immediately. And that twist was Lois's kid, Jason. It was a very nice and weird treat, when I found out that Jason was Superman's son! Like I said, I didn't like this immediately, but then again, I enjoyed Superboy and this is (in my opinion), a clear homage on Superboy. If you forget that Jason wasn't cloned from Superman's DNA, etc....
In closing... Superman Returns was an excellent superhero movie (not necessarily the greatest, but still in league with Spider-Man and the others) that brought a legend back into the skies...