Justice League: Trials, Tragedy and Triumph.

The superheroes (minus one) who make up the Justice League finally coming together.

The time has finally come, comic book fans. After what seemed like eons of waiting, the world's first live action Justice League feature film has arrived in theaters. When Zack Snyder rebooted the Superman legend back in 2013 with Man of Steel, none of us could have known that he'd be ushering us into the DC Universe as well as sowing the seeds for the introduction of the incredible heroes who'll come to form the Justice League. In four short years, we've witnessed several cinematic milestones from the DC Universe, chief among them the first ever onscreen meeting of Superman and Batman as well as the first ever big screen debut of Wonder Woman in last year's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In addition to those epic moments, the film also gave us our first, albeit brief, glimpses of the three other members of the League: the Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg, thereby establishing them in the shared DC cinematic world. After BvS ended with Superman sacrificing his life to kill Doomsday, Bruce Wayne, with the somewhat reluctant help of Wonder Woman, set out to find and recruit these other exceptional beings into a team that could defend Earth in the event of an alien invasion.

For those who watched the Ultimate Edition of BvS, it was no secret that just such an invasion was imminent when Lex Luthor, in the moments after Superman died, was seen communicating with a holographic version of the well known DC villain Steppenwolf, uncle to the despotic ruler of Apokolips and legendary DC villain, Darkseid. When Lex hints at Darkseid's coming invasion when he's visited in prison by Batman at the end of BvS, Bruce decides he'll need reinforcements to fight the imminent attack. For comic book fans like myself, seeing the core members of the Justice League together onscreen has been a long held but often far fetched dream. For years, various directors tried to get a Justice League film off the ground, but never made it past the pre-production stage. The world only got the very first Wonder Woman film this past summer, more than 75 years after her comic book conception. Riding high off the critical and commercial success of that film and its overall lighter and more inspirational tone, the word on Justice League in the months leading up to its release was that it would continue DC's lighter, more optimistic path (although i argue passionately that Zack Snyder's first two films had optimistic moments), and show these heroes as the inspirational beacons of hope that many fans longed to see from the get go.

These shifts in tone and approach were signaled by a number of changes to the film in the months leading up to its release. Back in May, it was announced that Snyder would be stepping down from the film, then in post-production, to deal with the tragic suicide of his daughter and be with his family, turning over the duty of finishing the film to fellow director Joss Whedon, known, among other things, for directing both Avengers films. Right off the bat, rampant fan speculation circulated that Whedon was brought in to fix the film because WB execs weren't happy with Snyder's product, but the official story and one that myself and many other fans echoed was that Snyder personally brought Whedon in to simply put the finishing touches on his work. Either way, many saw Whedon's involvement as well as Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics Geoff John's more hands on role as producer as a sign of the film's lighter, more inspiring and humorous tone. Additionally, not long afterwards it was announced that the film's original composer, Junkie XL, who worked with Hans Zimmer on his epic score for BvS, including Wonder Woman's scathingly awesome theme song, had been replaced with veteran composer Danny Elfman. Although Elfman was no stranger to comic book films, having done the music for Tim Burton's Batman and Sam Raimi's Spiderman, news of his sudden addition sent waves of worry among those of us who loved Hans Zimmer's scores for MOS and BvS and hoped to hear them incorporated into Justice League.

The final omen of change was the revelation of the film's hotly debated runtime. Many fans, myself included, were still a bit cross with WB for cutting Snyder's original version of BvS down into the theatrical version which among other things, was criticized for its odd pacing and messy narrative. When the three hour, R-rated Ultimate Edition was released, we got to see the film as originally intended, one which delved deeper into the motives of the characters and helped to clear up some of the messiness. For weeks, fans went back and forth arguing the Justice League runtime, some claiming that it would be almost three hours long. It came as quite a shock then, when the official runtime was revealed to be just about two hours. Again, many fans were outraged to think that two hours was even close enough to accomplish the Herculean task of juggling six main characters, including three whose backstories and personalities had not been explored, getting them to put aside their differences and unite against an unfamiliar villain and also find a satisfying way to bring Superman back from the dead, get him reintegrated back into the world and join his teammates for the final battle. With so many aspects to cover, a scant two hours seemed nowhere close to enough time to successfully explore all these elements in an organic and satisfying way. If WB intended to follow up the huge success of Wonder Woman, which clocked in at 141 minutes and really had one main character, why the hell would they think they could tackle six main characters in barely two hours?

For fans such as myself, the film's runtime created some panic about the quality of the film. Even so, I remained optimistic that if there was a way to pull it all off in that time, they would find a way to do it. So finally, after all the months of wild speculation and near feverish anticipation, I finally got to see Justice League on the biggest big screen, IMAX and after the credits rolled and the lights finally came back to life, the one thought which kept circling around my frazzled brain was...I wish it was longer. There were so many satisfying and epic parts, but ultimately i felt that the film needed to breathe more, stretch its legs. One of the many highlights of the Snyder films for me is the emotional resonance of so many of his scenes and in Justice League there were many good moments which could've been spectacularly powerful and emotionally stirring moments if they'd been stretched out a bit. At times it felt as though the film was rushing to just get the League together so they could fight Steppenwolf. During the lead up to Justice League, I tried my hardest to avoid the trailers, but after seeing it, I watched several of them and noticed that there were several moments from the trailers that were conspicuously absent from the film. Most of these were smaller moments, but their absence still felt like a tease and their inclusion in the film might have helped to make the buildup to the League's formation feel more natural and thought out.

Given the short runtime, the film does the best it can to give some background on the League's three new members such as giving us a scene of Barry Allen visiting his father Henry who, as in the comics, is wrongly imprisoned for the death of Barry's mother and also showing us a few quick glimpses of Atlantis and Aquaman's wife Mera when he briefly visits with her. Aquaman's origins will of course be fully explored in next year's hotly anticipated Aquaman film, so i wasn't expecting a deep examination, but a little bit more about his exile from Atlantis would've helped to establish him more as a man without a place to call home. Cyborg was the one who's origin I felt could've used much more exploration, especially given that his cybernetic upgrade was the work of one of the Motherboxes which Steppenwolf seeks. We saw a brief video clip of the Motherbox fusing the cybernetics to his body in BvS, but i would've liked to see the initial accident which made the cybernetics necessary in the first place. I guess (and hope) we'll see more of his backstory in future films. Still, he does manage to come across sympathetic in the film.

No doubt one of the biggest questions of the film which kept fans rabidly speculating for months was the way in which Superman was going to return from the dead. Everyone knew he'd be returning, but how would they do it? Would it follow the story line from the original series? Would Superman's black regeneration suit or (in)famous long hair make an appearance? And how would he return and readjust to being alive again, not to mention join his teammates in time to stop Steppenwolf? Without giving any details away, I can say that the method by which he returns is reminiscent of the comics while incorporating some new elements, but ultimately his return is tremendously satisfying for fans who've followed his heroes journey from day one in Man of Steel. Despite the protests of certain folks that Cavill's Superman isn't true to the comics (he is in many ways), Snyder said often from the beginning that the plan was always to gradually develop the character into the legendary icon that most people know and love. That goal comes to fruition in Justice League and although i would've liked to have seen his return drawn out a bit more and explored in further detail, I'm still quite satisfied with the result. The bottom line is Superman's back and better than ever.

Since the premiere, it seems that some critics have been savagely attacking the film's villain, Steppenwolf as being a bland, generic and totally uninteresting adversary. While he's by no means a very interesting or compelling villain, he serves the same purpose in the film as he always does in the comics: as the leader of Darkseid's Parademon army, sent to conquer planets and turn them into hellish landscapes like his home world, Apokolips. He's a conqueror plain and simple, nothing more multi-faceted than that and in the film he does a hell of a job, taking down legions of Amazons and Atlanteans single-handed before coming up against the League, who have their own struggles with him. Additionally, any DC comic fan knows that Steppenwolf only serves as the lead in for Darkseid, the first wave of attack before the tyrant himself appears. If nothing else, this film is laying the groundwork for Darkseid to appear in the sequel. On these counts, Steppenwolf does exactly as he's meant to do.

The bottom line is that Justice League perfectly does what it was meant to do: bring these iconic characters together for the first time ever to save the planet from a dire threat. The characters all have great interplay with each other which is often very humorous without feeling too forced or out of character, even for Batman, who despite having a reputation as always serious and brooding, is known to crack a joke now and then. His interplay with Diana is both flirty and tensely charged, even hostile at moments, hinting at the obvious romantic tension between the two.

Aquaman is kind of the group's wildcard, reluctant to join and a combative outsider at first, but gradually his deep humanity shines through. Jason Momoa did a great job conveying both his gruff standoffishness and his underlying charm and humor. Flash is for lack of a better analogy, the Ringo of the group, the happy chap who's just so excited to be included. Barry Allen is essentially a nerdy and enthusiastic guy and Ezra Miller perfectly expresses his impossible to contain amazement at the opportunity he's been given and provides most of the film's funniest moments. I hope to see his character deepen and mature in future films, but for JL his giddiness and enthusiasm were a unique fit for the team. Ray Fisher as Cyborg was another genius casting decision and one of the reasons I longed to see more Cyborg in the film. In the limited time he's given, Fisher manages to convey the feeling that his newly developing "abilities" are much more curse than gift, one that not only makes him extremely reticent to join the team, but even to rejoin humanity. There's a sadness to Cyborg which Fisher conveys beautifully. Of course Gal continues to shine as Wonder Woman, dispensing pearls of hard earned wisdom and tender compassion to the team as only Diana can, not to mention kicking some serious Parademon and Steppenwolf ass when shit gets real. Affleck's Batman more often than not feels like he's ripped right from the comics; he's got the moves, the gadgets and in this film, the attitude that makes Batman who he is. I enjoyed watching Bruce struggle with his dark night of the soul in BvS, but it's nice to see him step back into the light a bit in this film and act more like the traditional Batman.

All in all, Justice League achieves what it set out to achieve, namely providing a fun, dazzling and action packed superhero adventure which often looks like it's ripped right from the pages of Justice League comics, particularly Justice League: Origin. Unlike Snyder's two previous films, JL is a more straight-forward and flat out fun film which one doesn't need to overthink. Having said that, there are still a few burning questions which the film doesn't take the time to answer, chief among them how Clark Kent is able to return to society after being pronounced dead, and it would've been great to delve deeper into Cyborg, Flash and Aquaman's backstories in addition to having a bit more foreshadowing for Darkseid, but my hopes are still up that we'll get an extended ultimate cut like we did with BvS. From what rumblings I've heard, it seems that about fifty minutes of scenes were cut from the theatrical cut, scenes which most likely clear up much of the lingering mysteries and perhaps deepen the story. Still, the Justice League we got is a wonderful introduction to the team, one which makes me even more excited to see what the DC cinematic universe has in store for us in the coming years. We're still in the early stages of exploring this vast universe and now with so many of the key players in place, there's no telling where we might go next.   

A Farewell to Orphan Black

Just a few of the members of Clone Club from Orphan Black.

Early this past month, a little known Canadian television show which aired on BBC America came to an end after an epic five season run. For most people, August 12th was simply another Saturday night in their lives, but for the members of Clone Club, the 12th was a night they'd always remember as the night they bid a bittersweet farewell to the weird and wonderful little show called Orphan Black. This obscure Sci-fi cult hit may not have been much of a contender in terms of ratings, but what it lacked in mass appeal it more than made up for in a rabid and incredibly loyal fanbase, affectionately dubbed Clone Club. If it's not apparent at this point, Orphan Black is about the lives of, you guessed it, clones, primarily a group of female clones, all played to individual perfection by Tatiana Maslany, who discover each other and set out to uncover the complex hows and whys surrounding their mysterious creation and their purpose in the world. Over the course of five years, Orphan Black took us on a journey into some of the seediest corners of Science, where the line between fact and fiction is often paper thin, along the way calling into question the very concepts of individual identity and body autonomy which we take for granted. At it's heart however, Orphan Black is a story about the struggles of these women to unravel the mystery of their creation and define their own sense of self as more than just lab rats in some experiment.

Before we delve into the ending of this wonderful show, we must go back to the beginning in which we're first introduced to Sarah Manning, a leather jacket clad British street urchin who's just returned to Canada after several years adrift in the world. We first meet Sarah as she's pulling into a train station, presumably somewhere in Canada. Later, on the train platform, while Sarah's on a payphone talking to another woman about seeing someone named Kira, she sees a woman further down the platform in apparent distress. Sarah watches as the woman paces the platform in tears and then slowly removes her shoes and jacket, leaving them on the platform near her purse. As Sarah approaches the woman from behind, she suddenly turns around, bringing Sarah face to face with her own face staring back at her. While Sarah stares in stunned amazement, the woman suddenly throws herself in front of an oncoming train, to Sarah's horror. Right out of the gate, Orphan Black hooks you with this intense opening and takes you on a wild trip into a labyrinthine world of shady corporations, conspiracies and clones.

Over the course of the next couple episodes, Sarah slowly learns that the train jumper, Beth, is not her long lost twin but is in fact only one of several identical copies of her. As season 1 progresses we gradually meet the group of clones who'll come to make up the heart of the show. In addition to Sarah, the scrappy orphan with the sordid past who's trying to sort out her life in order to be there for her daughter Kira, we soon meet Cosima, the show's big hearted resident geek girl and evolutionary biologist who's determined to understand the science behind their creation, Allison Hendrix, the tightly wound suburban housewife with a love of musical theater and an itchy trigger finger, Helena, the bleach blonde Ukranian assassin with a passion for sweets and finally, Rachael Duncan, a self-aware clone since birth who sits at the head of the Dyad Corporation, a shady scientific conglomerate with deep ties to the cloning world. These are only the core group of clones in Orphan Black and along the way we meet at least eight more clones, all portrayed in singular fashion by the chameleonic Maslany.

Once Sarah learns of the existence of her clone sisters, they work together to uncover the reasons behind their conception and learn just how deep the conspiracy to control their bodies and lives really goes. From the start, the show served as a powerful warning not only of the pitfalls of unrestrained scientific experimentation, but also and perhaps more importantly, a compelling statement on the ways in which an individual's sense of identity can be manipulated and controlled by powerful, external forces. Whereas these women once believed themselves to be wholly unique, autonomous beings with the power to define themselves and their lives, they come to learn how their lives have been secretly monitored and controlled since birth with even their genes being patented and owned. Upon discovering that they're little more than lab rats in some elaborate experiment, the sisters take it upon themselves to expose this far reaching scientific conspiracy, one which takes them deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole with each succeeding episode.

The show perfectly married creepy pseudo-science with plenty of pulse pounding action, suspense, intrigue and black humor, but the heart of the show always remained the "sestras", as they became known, and their united quest to free themselves from the frightening control of their numerous makers and masters in order to define their own identities and sense of purpose. Over the course of five years, we watched as they fought against and outmaneuvered their enemies, laughed with them in rare moments of joy and cried with them in the throes of tragedy, shared in their triumphs and suffered their devastating losses, all in their struggle to be free of those who see them as nothing more than property to be controlled and exploited.

Through the magic of television and storytelling as well as Tatiana Maslany's unparalleled ability to fully inhabit these characters and imbue them with distinctive and endearing characteristics, all of us in Clone Club came to love the "sestras" and their extended family as our own. Their myriad struggles held a mirror up to our own desire to be able to cast off restrictive social labels and define ourselves however we want. The show and it's endearing characters reminded us that no one else can tell us who we are, what our value is or what we're able to do. It showed us time and time again that, like the sestras themselves, we are greater than the sum of our individual parts and collectively we make up the full spectrum of human diversity. This is more important than ever in an age when technology has already begun providing us the means as well as the motivation to regulate and control the human body.  Like all great Science Fiction and to a greater extent all great drama, Orphan Black, through it's wonderfully weird prism, succeeded in shining a light upon the fundamental aspects of our own vast humanity.

Although the epic saga of these clone sisters may have come to an end, the legacy of the show lives on in the countless members of clone club who were brought together from so many divergent walks of life by its message of individual identity and shared humanity. This is a testament to the enduring power of this weird little show and the passion and love that went into every second of making it.  Much like the sestras of Orphan Black, bound by their shared experiences, the members of clone club will always be bound by their love for the show and the characters who became like members of a secret little family. For those of us who bought the ticket and took the strange trip through the bizarre and beautiful world of Orphan Black, it's a story that will always hold a special spot in our hearts.             

Wonder Woman: Where No Man Dares to Go

It's been far too long since there's been any new material on my blog, so I figured what better way to stretch my blogger's legs so to speak than by taking a crack at what was arguably the biggest film of the summer, Wonder Woman. I know I'm quite late to the party and there's already been plenty of ink spilt discussing the colossal impact which this criminally overdue film is having on people, both men and women, from all walks of life. As of now, the film, which was released on June 2nd, can still be found playing in many cinemas across the country and, I imagine, the world, some three months later. This fact, along with the overwhelmingly positive critical and commercial response to the film gives clear proof that a film about the world's first and most famous female superhero was something that people had been dying to see for years. Now, more than 75 years since she debuted in All Star Comics #8, the legendary Amazon warrior known as Wonder Woman has finally been brought to glorious life on the big screen with all the strength, grace, determination and humanity which have remained hallmarks of this iconic character.

It should come as no great surprise that I myself saw the film no less than five times. With each new viewing, the symbolic impact of this ultimate champion of truth, justice and equality was more and more profound, particularly given the current social and political atmosphere in which we find ourselves, a time when the core values most of us in America once assumed to be fundamental to our national identity seem to be called into question more and more. In a period when we're coming face to face with egregious assaults against the very progress we as a people have paid for in blood, it's beyond moving to see a flesh and blood personification of our best qualities brought to life onscreen. Wonder Woman's onscreen debut in last year's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice merely whet our appetites to see this classic icon of female empowerment and equality in her own film. Given that the film is set to be released on Blu-Ray later this month, I figured now was the right time to delve into why I feel this film is the perfect culmination of all Wonder Woman has stood for over the decades and absolutely worth the 75 year wait.

When it comes to DC's big three heroes, Wonder Woman has always stood toe to toe with Superman and Batman in the comics, but unlike those two icons, she's been conspicuously absent from the big screen since her inception. Other than the 70's Wonder Woman tv show, Diana Prince, a.k.a. Wonder Woman has mostly been confined to the panels of the comic book world. That all changed when Zack Snyder, not simply satisfied with bringing Superman and Batman together in a film for the first time ever, decided to throw the Amazon warrior into the movie mix for the first time in history. Regardless of what you might have thought of the resulting film, one can't deny the history shattering power of Wonder Woman's first on screen appearance, arguably outshining Supes and Bats and pouring kerosene into the growing fire for a Wonder Woman film. Luckily, an origin film was already underway with Gal Gadot, Zack Snyder's initially surprising choice for Wonder Woman, resuming the role in her own solo venture. Many like myself who saw her in BvS were quickly convinced of Gadot's ability to convincingly embody the strengths of the character, but there were plenty of others still reserving their judgments until they saw her carrying her own film.

Diana examining the first man she's ever seen, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine).

Picking up roughly where BvS ended, with Diana keeping a low profile among mankind after she walked away from us one hundred years prior, we are quickly wisked back in time to her childhood as daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the immortal Amazons of Themyscira. The origins of the Amazons in Greek Mythology are covered nicely, including Diana's original comic book origin in which she was sculpted from clay by her mother and brought to life by Zeus. Themyscira is a heavenly paradise populated by the fiercest warriors, chief among them Antiope, Diana's aunt, who, against the wishes of Diana's mother, trains her to be the greatest warrior among the Amazons. Diana's mother keeps Diana on Themyscira, hidden away from the horrors of man's world, that is until man's world comes to Themyscira in the form of Steve Trevor, an airplane pilot who crash lands on the island and is rescued by Diana. While she marvels at seeing a real life man for the first time, the people Steve was attempting to escape from, the Germans, follow him into Themyscira. This is one of the best treats of the film; it takes place during WWI, the world's first modern war on a global scale. After an epic battle on the beach where we see the Amazons in spectacular fighting form against the Germans, Steve is compelled by the famous lasso of truth to reveal that he's working as a spy for the British. Diana is horrified to hear Steve recount the horrors of this war to end all wars and the millions already dead. Not surprisingly, Diana ends up accompanying Steve back to our world, convinced she can single handedly end the war by killing Ares, the Greek God of War who she believes has poisoned men's hearts into starting the war.

Gadot so believably conveys Diana's wide eyed naiveté about the world without a shred of irony or cynicism that you don't doubt her sincerity for even a second. It's her complete innocence and inexperience which creates most of the film's funniest moments once she comes to our world and attempts to navigate the many subtle and confounding aspects of our strange society. This, I feel, is a reflection of Gal's own genuinely kind and down to earth character, something I had the honor of experiencing for myself when I met her at Rhode Island Comic Con. She effortlessly radiates natural warmth, charm and grace as well as strength, both inner and outer, in every scene.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman crossing No Man's Land.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the already legendary scene in which Steve and Diana are moving through a trench where Allied soldiers have been stranded for years fighting the Germans. Despite Steve's insistence that they can't stay and help the villagers held hostage by the Germans on the other side of No Man's Land, Diana takes it upon herself to help, revealing her iconic Wonder Woman armor and walking out of the Trench straight into the bombed out, barb-wired wasteland in between. What follows is undoubtedly the most awe-inspiring and powerful moment of the film and I unashamedly admit to getting choked up as Diana confidently walks forward through the mire, deflecting machine gun bullets with her bracelets and mortar rounds with her shield. This one scene singlehandedly conveys the immense power and awe of this character and all she's come to represent over the course of her 75 year history. The symbolism is not lost in the fact that here's this warrior woman, strong and determined, standing up for what's right and pushing forward in a land where no man can even take a step. From this moment on in the film, Diana is simply unstoppable, rolling through enemy troops singlehandedly with an astonishing grace and power, proving beyond a doubt why Diana is one of the greatest fighters in the DC Universe.

One of the film's many strengths is its ability to pay homage to the light tone of classic Superhero origin movies without shying away from the grittiness of the real world or falling into the clutches of campiness. The film never takes itself too seriously yet respects the seriousness of the subject matter and the grim realities of war. In this film, we see how Diana's initial innocence and unwavering optimism in the goodness of mankind is tarnished by the human atrocities she witnesses, ultimately giving way to the edgier cynicism we first see in her in BvS. In keeping with the portrayal of these classic heroes in the grounded and more realistic DCEU, Diana is shown to be a character who always tries to do what she believes is right, but quickly discovers that in our deeply complex and messy world the best way to go about doing that is often a very difficult thing to ascertain.       

Despite being set one hundred years in the past, the world presented to us in Wonder Woman is one very similar to our own, a world of smoke and fire where darkness and light wrestle for control of every human heart. The film's strength lies in its ability to take an icon like Wonder Woman and bring her through the muddy trenches of the real in order to rise triumphantly and continue fighting for what she chooses to believe is worth fighting for. Despite Diana's shocking discovery of the duality which lies in the hearts of men, she still chooses to believe in our capacity for good and it's this message which the film delivers so powerfully. Diana is confronted with the same dark temptations we humans wrestle with everyday and her acceptance of this as a reality and her determination to keep fighting for what she believes are what make her the hero and icon that millions of people, regardless of race, religion, gender or identity, have looked to for inspiration and guidance for over 75 years. Today, perhaps more than ever, people are desperate for heroes who shine a light on the best aspects of our collective humanity and now with Wonder Woman finally off the cinematic sidelines and shining in her own film, many people feel they have a champion to look up to, one who can show the way forward through the smoke and muck of this world. Take heart, brothers and sisters, Wonder Woman is here!