SUICIDE SQUAD (Extended Cut Bluray, Warner Bros. 2016)

 SUICIDE SQUAD (Extended Cut Bluray, Warner Bros. 2016)

One of my favorite comics of the late 1980s,  at least of the DC Comics variety,  was the John Ostrander written SUICIDE SQUAD.  I enjoyed it because I've always thought that it was one of the more original concepts brought to superhero comics at the time it was being published.

The first issue of the original 1987 series

SUICIDE SQUAD answered the question of what happens when  the bad guy got carted off to jail.

You  know the typical comic book superhero cliches and conventions:

1.)  super hero and super villain fight
2.).   super hero saves the day the bad guy goes to jail

The reason why this scenario always seemed to be lacking is that in a world where masked criminals  possessed Herculean strength, could shoot laser bolts from their eyes or possessed technology and weaponry that is far advanced beyond comprehension for normal law enforcement officials to combat,  ordinary correctional facilities and detention centers would be completely useless.

The 80s team line up

SUICIDE SQUAD presents the tale of a shadowy intelligence community operative named Amanda Waller who comes up with a witty solution for this problem.    Commission the construction of a specialized facility for super powered bad guys called Belle Reve in Louisiana,  house the criminals there,  and treat them as a commodity ( that commodity being enhanced human beings with godlike powers  and abilities),  and do what the government usually does whenever it discovers a new commodity:  weaponize it.  She offers these masked hooligans a deal: agree to become a member of a covert strike team that carries out secret missions in the interest of American national security, and in exchange for services rendered,  they have a chance of getting  lighter sentences or  of being paroled earlier.

Viola Davis as Amanda Waller

  There are a few catches,  though....no one can know of the existence of the covert team, and if caught performing a mission, the government will disavow any information about them.   This is basically a witty PR move made by Waller. ..it would generally look bad if the President asked the Justice League of America to assassinate some third world dictator or take out some drug cartel in the bloodiest fashion possible, but if it's the bad guys....well, they're just doing the same thing they always do: murder and mayhem. 

The current incarnation of the comic, which began publication in 2016

Oh, there's also the fact that 90% of the missions that they get sent on are no win situations and there's a pretty good chance that not everyone is making it back alive. And,  they totally pull an Escape from New York on you  and equip you with an explosive bracelet that will take your arm off if you step out line.  Hence, the title SUICIDE SQUAD.

It's basically THE DIRTY DOZEN set in a world full of superheroes....and it was pretty brilliant.  So,  needless to say I was very interested to see how the film adaptation turned out.  

The gang's all here....

The film?    It's good.  It's a decent action film.  It contains more DC Comics nerd fan service than I was expecting. ...I especially dug the Capt. Boomerang flashback with The Flash.  More Affleck as Batman, which was teased in the trailers...

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

My only problem with the film is there's no real standout performances.  Oh, everyone is cast well and all the cast carries their load, but....I love a couple of these characters on the comics page (Captain Boomerang, Katana, and Enchanteress come to mind), but their screen counterparts seem to be lacking.  Even Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn doesn't deviate from a somewhat cookie cutter cardboard standee- level performance, IMO...Which is sad, because it seems the majority of the promotion and marketing behind this film is directed towards her character.  This may be due to the script, though, or the efforts made to shoehorn the backstories of the entire cast into a finite timeslot.  I don't know...

 Even Jared Leto's take on the Joker is subdued and less manic than one would typically prefer, and there are moments in his delivery where it sounds like he's trying to channel Mark Hammill's vocal performances of the character in several animated Batman venues over the years.

It's entertaining and worth a watch....having said that, I recommend investing the time to check out the Extended Cut of this film, because much like the earlier BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE,  the theatrical cut's pacing and structure is haphazard and wonky,  and the reinstated cut scenes do flesh out the plot and the characters' motivations somewhat.  Side note:  I highly recommend the film's soundtrack
, which is top notch with great tracks by Rick Ross and and others....

 Quite a few slightly informative featurettes, but nothing truly spectacular

SUICIDE SQUAD is a decent time killer with some fun action sequences and moments of fanboy bliss, but lacks just a small percentage of substance that could gave turned it into something truly special.  All said and done, though, it is a nice addition to the fledgling Warner Brothers DC COMICS Cinematic Multiverse and I'd look forward to any future adventures these characters find themselves in.

BATMAN: RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS (2016) Bluray

BATMAN: RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS (2016, Warner Bros) Bluray

 

Batman and Robin (voiced by Adam West and Burt Ward) find themselves caught up in a delightfully goofy plot devised by four of their greatest arch nemesises to conquer Gotham City.  Along the way, Aunt Harriet wonders if she might just be a beard in her relationship with Bruce Wayne and his youthful ward, Dick Grayson, Batman turns evil and takes over Gotham via the use of a matter replication ray,  Robin is forced to team up with Catwoman (vocals by Julie Newmar), and the Dynamic Duo take a ride into outer space in a Bat Rocket.

All in all....a pretty typical day in campy 1960s Gotham City....

Being a child of the 1970s growing up in the '80s as a comic book fanboy, it was admittedly a dry period for those of us who also enjoy film adaptation of superheroes.   Sure, there were the Christopher Reece SUPERMAN films and HOWARD THE DUCK, but that was about it....

 So, we had to seek solace in television, and luckily there was BATMAN (1966-68).  Much like classic STAR TREK, the show 's popularity as syndicated packages of reruns was at it's height.  You practically could trip over an episode on a daily basis on numerous channels in any given market.  As a kid, I loved the show, drinking it's particular brand of Bat Kool-Aid and fell for the hyperbole laden melodrama, caught up in the action.  As an adult, my appreciation changed gears when I finally came to the realization that it's all an elaborately staged campy sitcom.

Equal parts loving homage and biting parody/ satire of not just the 1960s TV series, but of all things Batman....keep an ear out for lines of dialogue slyly criticizing everything from Aunt Harriet's role in Bruce and Dick's life to the ending of Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT RISES....BATMAN: THE RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS is a fun little romp that manages to capture the spirit of the original show and finds witty ways to poke fun of itself.  It's all good natured fun, and hats off to the production for rounding up the surviving cast members of the original show and giving them the chance to shine once again in the roles that they made so iconic in live action five decades ago.

Adam West: Iconic Gotham Guardian

Things I've learned watching RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS?  It's incredibly disturbing to hear hear Adam West deliver lines from Tim Burton's 1989 BATMAN or those written by Frank Miller from DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.
And, the best line of dialogue...ever?   "Holy Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"

Be sure to check out this little gem of goofy entertainment. ....same Bat time, same Bat Bluray release....at a retailer near you.

HOWARD THE DUCK (1986) Blu-Ray

 HOWARD THE DUCK (1986, UNIVERSAL PICTURES, BLURAY)

Alien lifeform Howard T. Duck, who resembles an anthropomorphic Earth waterfowl, finds himself transported to and stranded on an strange new world, known by the natives as "Cleveland, Ohio".

While there, he makes the acquaintance of Beverly (Leah Thompson), an aspiring musician and her lab assistant friend (Tim Robbins), who both begin assisting Howard in making his stay here on Earth more tolerable while seeking for a means to transport him back home (to "Duckworld", naturally).

Things start going "afowl" ....ha! see what I did there?  It's called "deft wordplay".....or, possibly daft wordplay, because the level of humor I presented there pretty much matches the level on display in the film...

Holy shit, that looks painful.

 Anyways, things start getting nutty when the scientists who inadvertently brought Howard to Earth try to replicate the experiment, accidentally bringing something darker and evil to our plane of existence,  prompting Howard and his pals into heroism as they try and stop the sinister force from taking over the world.

Our heroes, folks.

 Oh....and there's a pretty bad-ass stop motion monster in the climax.

See?  Told ya.

Okay.....admittedly,  HOWARD THE DUCK is a trainwreck of a movie.  But it's one of those entertaining, watchable types of trainwreck that makes you kinda sit back in awe, astonished by the mere fact that it was made.  Had it been made using some of the original concepts bandied about during it's development phase....animated duck being one of the primary ideas they should have went with....it might be viewed as brilliant today.

But there's a charm to the 1986 film that's inescapable. It's one of those films that you either totally get....or you hate....and it's likely that whatever camp you fall into, it's ironically for the same reasons.

The first issue of the original 1970s series

Marvel Comics fanboys and Lucasfilm aficionados (like myself) tend to be more forgiving of the film.  Hey, it's not the best example of a comic book property being adapted,  nor is it the worst (ask me sometime on my opinions on that....ahem....1990's CAPTAIN AMERICA....ahem), and in the draught of the 1980s concerning superhero films between SUPERMAN 2 and 1989's BATMAN...we took what we could get and liked it.

Prior to seeing it theatrically in 1986, I was already a Howard supporter, being a fan of the character's 1970s comic book exploits. 

Howard's current comic book exploits

And, surprisingly,  the Duck ain't dead.  He's been starring in a few contemporary Marvel books dedicated to his misadventures (which are pretty hilarious) and if you stuck around for the end credits tease in 2013's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, you'd have seen a recognizable feather there, so here's hoping we get further fowl influenced films coming in the future from Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe....

Howard's appearance in the end credits sting of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR- Collectors Edition (2016)

 CAPTAIN AMERICA:CIVIL WAR (TWO DISC BLURAY EDITION, Disney 2016)

 

Following the events of CAPTAIN AMERICA:  THE WINTER SOLDIER and AVENGERS:  AGE OF ULTRON, Captain Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America finds himself at odds with both friends and foes after long thought deceased companion Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, is framed for the assassination of the leader of the African nation of Wakanda.

Charged to bring Cap and the Soldier to justice is fellow Avenger Tony Stark, the Invincible Iron Man,who assembles a new team of Avengers, including the new teenage hero Spider-Man.  But, Rogers is no slouch when it comes to recruiting, either...and this leads to a confrontation of epic proportions between superheroes on both sides of the battlelines. 

One guaranteed comic book purchase I would make when I was a kid was whenever I would run across whatever the latest issue of either DC Comics' JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA or Marvel's THE AVENGERS...usually from Blake's Pharmacy, located in West Union, Ohio (they're still around, have a working vintage lunch counter/soda fountain. ..and still off nickel Cokes.   Look them up and like them on Facebook) .  It was the fledgling bargain hunter in me: sure, I read and loved THE FLASH and GREEN LANTERN on a monthly basis in their respective solo titles, but in the pages of JLA, I got at least 7 or 8 heroes for the price of one comic.  Same thing with THE AVENGERS.  Even at age 8, I knew extra entertainment value when I saw it.

Unlike 2012's THE AVENGERS, which reminds this aging fanboy of the best issue ever of the aforementioned monthly team books published in the past, CIVIL WAR puts me more in mind of another favorite thing of mine from my youth, the classic Universal Monster "rallies" of the 1940s, like HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and such.  There's a level of excited anticipation that goes beyond the regular superhero team story (which CIVIL WAR is...for all intents and purposes,  this film is basically "THE AVENGERS PART 3").  You know you're getting a ton of familiar Marvel heroes,  but the pacing of the film is pleasantly relentless.  Cap is hanging out with the Falcon...then you get Ant-Man...AND the Black Panther....and then,....Holy shit!  There's Spider-Man!

Now, how this pacing differs from a very similar film from earlier this year, BATMAN V. SUPERMAN,  is a direct product of the script and seemingly better grasp on staging action sequences by the directing team of the Russo Brothers.   Whereas Zack Snyder's DC Comics themed movie has a disorienting quality, where one is constantly questioning what's going on and who the participants are, CIVIL WAR flows a lot more evenly in structure.

Plus,  there's an element of joy that the Marvel Studios films exhibit that seems to be missing  from the Warner Brothers' fledgling DC Cinematic Universe, whose films seem to exist in a very earnest darker universe, where oddly they take a very defensive stance on dealing with the consequences of it's heroes actions (I.e., SUICIDE SQUAD comes immediately to mind).

Tom Holland as the new Peter Parker/Spider-Man is a real stand out performance,  portraying the character as if he was ripped directly from the comic book pages.  This Webhead has just the right amount of quippy sense of humor and antsy teenage angst,  something missing from prior portrayals of the wallcrawler.   Another nice touch: the Queens accent.   Holland is the first screen Parker I actually believe is a New Yorker, which leads to a nice little exchange between him and Chris Evans' Cap that's just straight up welcome fan service.  Also, Spidey's reaction to seeing Giant Man is priceless and potentially the best line of the film.

Speaking of "antsy" and Giant Man, Paul Rudd continues to deliver a hilarious performance as the seemingly starstruck hero worshipping Scott Lang, which carries over from last year's ANT-MAN.

Chadwick Boseman's Prince T'Challa a.k.a. The Black Panther is another welcome addition to the film.  I'm a huge fan of the character's comic adventures  and am eager to see any upcoming film exploits.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is a satisfactory bit of anticipated fan service that does it's multiple jobs well: It juggles an ensemble cast, yet at no time loses focus on the dilemmas of the central character.  It accomplished this while advancing the story and put emphasis on new elements of continuing saga, as well as spending time introducing new players that prove to just as interesting.  Probably the best of this summer's bloated crop of superhero films, IMO.

BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE ULTIMATE EDITION (2016)

 

  BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE ULTIMATE EDITION ( 2016 )

Rated	R   Restricted
Run time	3 hours and 2 minutes
Number of discs	3
Format	NTSC
Language	English
Actors	Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams,Jesse Eisenberg,Diane Lane

WARNING! SPOILERS!

(For those that care)

After the events of 2013's MAN OF STEEL, it appears that Batman a.k.a. billionaire crudmugeon Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) is pissed off at Space Jesus.....ahem, I mean Superman (Henry Cavill) for simply existing, or something.   It seems the incredibly rich and paranoid sociopath believes one day Superman might be a destructive tyranical influence on human culture.   He may have garnered this opinion by watching the last 20 minutes of MAN OF STEEL,  who knows?

Along the way, we are introduced to boy genius Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), who shares Bruce Wayne's xenophobia,  but is far less benevolent.   He's building an anti- Kryptonian deterrent that involves the dead body of General Zod (Michael Shannon) and a wrecked Kryptonian spaceship.  Oh, and a little bit of his own blood, because Lex is apparently batshit insane in a non-entertaining,  scary way.

This leads to Luthor manipulating events so that Superman and Batman have a reason to inevitably start kicking the shit outta each other, other than to lend legitimacy for the title of the movie.  To do so, Batman puts on a really cool robot suit, and decides Suoerman is a cool guy due to them having a maternal figure that shared the name "Martha".

Luthor unleashes his doomsday biological weapon, aptly named "Doomsday", and then Wonder Woman (Gal Godot) shows up to help the newly acquainted Super Buddies battle the monstrous scientific abomination, either due to a heightened sense of moral obligation. ...or, because she's on the posters for the movie, too.  I haven't decided which....

The trio then proceed to defeat the big, blurry CGI brute via a combination of Wonder Woman's rockin' new theme playing on the background score and Batman telling a bad joke.....oh, and Superman impaling the monster and himself on a giant spear made outta kryptonite.   Hell yeah!

Superman sacrifices himself , leaving the Caped Crusader and the Amazon Warrior Princess to stand around looking poignant while pondering the fate of the remaining future sequels and spin off films to the fledgling franchise.

THE END.

I'm a lifelong comic book and superhero aficionado....I began my crazy trek through fandom in 1979, and have never stopped.  I still read roughly 60 to 70 titles a month (depending upon what miniseries,  one shot, annual or graphic novel that comes down the pike at any given month).  I have an upstairs stacked to the brim with 35 years worth of long boxes, and a Silver and Bronze Age collection that's the envy of several local comic shop owners.  So, it's needless to say that whenever new multimedia adaptations of comic book source materials come along, I'm interested.   And, generally,  if it's a good film...I care.  Passionately.  Especially these days, when Hollywood special effects technology has finally caught up with the four colors comics page and we can actually see literal personification of funnybook heroes presented on screen.  I mean, you're talking to a guy who openly wept the first time he saw THE AVENGERS (2012) theatrically,  because he was finally seeing some of the shit he had mentally running around in his head since age 5 come to life.....and, every person that was surrounding me in that darkened theater that night was having the time of their lives and digging it, too.

I should have cared about BATMAN V. SUPERMAN....but, surprisingly,  I didn't.   It's not that it wasn't a good film.  The casting was superb, and performances were great.  I'm of the opinion that Cavill is striking as Clark Kent/Superman, and  Affleck as Batman (despite all the early naysayers) nailed the part.  Godot is surprisingly charming as Wonder Woman, despite the small amount she's given to do with her role in BVS.  I'm eager to see the upcoming solo WONDER WOMAN film because of this. I even dug Eiseberg's boy genius take on Lex Luthor,,even though at times in the theatrical cut of this film he seems way too manic and in danger of chewing scenery. 

I think my problems with this film lie within the theatrical cut of this movie, what with it's disjointed chaotic structure,  breakneck pacing and overwhelmingly confusing plot.  It suffers from feeling like you're watching five films at once, but only having the attention span to ingest one.  Certain characters motivations are unclear, or seem to change haphazardly.  I remember walking away from my first viewing of BVS wondering what exactly was Luthor's reasoning for any of his actions.....and, why the fuck was Batman so angry?

The ULTIMATE EDITION  fixes this with it's added footage which clarifies some confusing plot points.  Luthor's machinations and intentions are clearer, and some of the lingering questions about incidental characters are answered .  It's a better, less confusing film due to the new info brought to light.

Plus, the 3 hour plus runtime makes it a slight chore to sit still and watch.

I think my problems with this new cut now lie with it's general tone.  As I said, it's a good movie....but it's general tone and atmosphere are dark and earnest.  Earnest in a way that it constrasts with the fantastical elements of the story.  They don't gel as well as the earnest nature of the tone of, say, Nolan 's DARK KNIGHT trilogy did.  There's no joy in this film.  There's anger and violence, but no joy.  The heroes in BVS aren't ideals, they're expressions. Superman is a martyr, Batman is paranoid and angry, Wonder Woman is reactionary and protective.

I don't want to strive to be any of these heroes, not like I did with their comic book counterparts when I was a kid...I want to help these superheroes get some therapy.

BATMAN V. SUPERMAN:  DAWN OF JUSTICE ULTIMATE EDITION is entertaining, but while the casting and performances are commendable,  the feeling the tone of the film leaves viewers with is the cinematic equivalent of castor oil.  It'll probably help whatever ails ya, but it's a bitter pill to swallow.