Posts Tagged 'comics'

I have to admit upfront that I’ve read the first five Scott Pilgrim books, and I don’t think it’s possible for me to review the movie without drawing comparisons.  I’ll do my best to be accessible to those that haven’t read the comics, but really my recommendation is that you just read the comics, and then see the movie, and then come back and read my review again.

I’ll start out by saying that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is every bit as good as I hoped it would be, and much better than it likely would have been had anybody but Edgar Wright directed it.  Wright has proven in the past that he has a particular skill for action comedies that come at their genre blending in new and unique ways, which is  exactly what this film calls for.  Wright achieves that perfect balance between cartoony violence and genuine emotion that makes Brian O’Malley’s comics so memorable, and expands that balance in new cinematic directions.  As in the comics, Wright makes it clear that the video game-esque battles are a metaphor for the tribulations of a messy love life, while also establishing that the battles are just as real, diegetically, as anything else in Scott’s life.

That said, battles with seven evil exes crammed into one movie make it a little wearying.  It’s helpful that two of the exes are twins who challenge Scott simultaneously, but by that time you’re already wondering how long it’s going to take to get to the main guy.  Other than the twins, though, all of the exes are very distinct, which is nice.  Brandon Routh (the last guy to play Superman) and Chris Evans (the next guy to play Captain America) are both standouts, and Mae Whitman is a welcome addition to any ensemble.  Jason Schwartzman is good too (like that’s a surprise), but by the time he shows up the whole ex-battling conceit just seems tired.

On the subject of casting, I understand that some people are tired of him, but I think Michael Cera was absolutely the right choice to play Scott.  The whole thing about Scott Pilgrim is that he has this ridiculous talent for super-fighting, even though he seems like the last guy that would.  If he was portrayed by an actor who’s even the tiniest bit more conventionally masculine (like that kid from Zombieland, for instance) the balance wouldn’t work as well.  The same thing applies, for different reasons, to Scott’s clumsy mistreatment of the women in his life.  Michael Cera is this guy who’s well into his 20′s, but you can believe he’s still basically a little boy.  If he seemed like a full grown man, he’d just come off as a tool.

The women in Scott’s life are handled well, although they do seem to suffer the most for the condensation of the story.  It’s most glaring with Ramona, because the need for her to be enigmatic in the beginning ends up leaving very little time for real characterization.  She escapes the ‘Manic Pixie Dreamgirl’ trap, but she’s far closer to it than she ever came in the comics.  Kim Pine is pitch-perfect, but also comes off as much less complex than her comic book counterpart.  Knives Chau fares the best of all the female characters.  She still loses some scenes (and her father is entirely cut from the story), but her slow transformation from desperate-and-naive to cooler-than-Scott is portrayed to perfection by Ellen Wong.

I could name plenty of other things I liked (the music, Kieran Culkin as Wallace) and disliked (Scott never moving out or getting a job), but I think I’ve said enough for now.  The movie is no substitute for the comics, but it’s a great adaptation, and ought to make you happy whether you’re already a Pilgrim fan or just a filmgoer looking for something with plenty of indie rock, romance, and ninja fights.

In retrospect, maybe that’s what Garden State was missing… ninja fights.

Dear Mr. Lasseter,

As the head of animation for Disney/Pixar, I’m sure you know all about your parent company buying Marvel Comics.  You may have even known before it became public, although it’s also possible that the suits kept that to themselves until the last possible moment.

One of the effects of this acquisition, of course, is that Disney will have access to all of Marvel’s characters, to do with as they please.  In interviews, the Disney people have promised a hands-off  approach, but nobody who knows Disney thinks that sounds very likely.  Probably such claims are just to reassure the comic book fans, who fear change more than most.  So you and your people at Pixar must surely be taking a long look at all the diverse titles and characters Marvel owns, thinking about what would work well as a gorgeously realized CGI family film.

I have two words for you, Mr. Lasseter: Devil Dinosaur.  You’re obviously a lifelong geek, so it’s possible you’re already familiar with this particular masterwork, but I’ll explain just in case.  Devil Dinosaur is the creation of the greatest comic book artist of all time, Jack Kirby.  The title character is an intelligent, friendly tyrannosaurus rex who was permanently turned bright red by a fire.  A misfit amongst the other dinosaurs, he wanders the prehistoric countryside with his constant companion, Moon Boy, a fur-covered ancestor of humanity.  Together, they fight aliens.  Seriously.

Can you imagine a better Pixar movie than this?  Because I can’t.  A bright red dinosaur.  A talking monkey.  Aliens.  A story about an unlikely friendship (I know how much you like those).  I know there might be some concern that the dino-befriending-missing-link plotline is a little too similar to Disney’s Dinosaur.  That would be a horrible excuse not to make this movie, though, because nobody (and I mean nobody) saw Disney’s Dinosaur.  I know I didn’t.  Pixar’s Devil Dinosaur, on the other hand, I’d see five or six times.

If you’re still unsure, check out this post from comic book historian Chris Sims, in which he shares five panels that embody the greatness that is Devil Dinosaur.  “Bonk bonk bonk” indeed.

Sure, Marvel owns plenty of characters that are far more famous than DD and Moon Boy.  However, adapting a property that everyone is familiar with creates a whole new set of problems when it comes to expectations.  On the other hand, how can you go wrong adapting something nobody’s heard of, especially when it’s made of pure awesome?  Also, since I’m sure you’re already wondering, there is a crusty old caveman character who’ll be a perfect part for John Ratzenberger.  I know you already have the next three or four Pixar movies in preproduction, but just add this one to the queue.  There’s no hurry; unlike pirates and vampires, dinosaurs and aliens will never stop being cool.

Thank you for your time, sir.  I’m looking forward to Toy Story 3, despite my discomfort with a recasting of Slinky Dog.  But that’s an issue for another day.

Sincerely, Dustin

In diligently keeping up with the world of genre movies and television, I frequent the frighteningly prolific science fiction blog, io9.  It’s a great source for information on coming attractions, even though it requires sorting through entries on Supernatural, Twilight, and plenty of other stuff I couldn’t care less about.  There’s also a smattering of that implicit white male privilege (despite several female bloggers) that’s all too common in geek circles, but being a privileged white male myself I can usually set aside my bleeding heart long enough to caught caught up on the Doctor Who Season 5 spoilers and speculation.

One of the other things I’ve been following closely, as I’ve mentioned, is the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are movie.  Something I’ve noticed in the io9 coverage, though, is an attitude of distrust toward anything that’s read as too “indie” or “hipster.”  The most recent headline, for example, claims that the film’s soundtrack “Stands at the Hipster Tipping Point.”  I don’t even know what that means, but apparently it has to do with Karen O doing the music (even though I’d call her a pretty mainstream artist, as things go these days).  Commenters have also singled out director Spike Jonze, the trailer’s use of The Arcade Fire, and even the hand-lettered titles.  Sofia Coppola has also been brought up more than once, despite having nothing to do with this movie and have split with Jonze years ago.

But my purpose is not to quibble over the validity of associating Where the Wild Things Are with hipster culture.  My purpose is to ask, who cares?  If you see a trailer and hate it, fine.  We all have different tastes, as much as I might wish more people agreed with me (about The Venture Brothers).  But if the only reason you can come up with for disliking something is its association with a particular subculture, then you’re a snob.  I don’t care if you consider your particular subculture to be oppressed by the “cooler” ones because of the way they treated you in high school.  High school is over, and you need to get over it.  I’m reminded of the episode of 30 Rock where geeky Liz Lemon goes to her high reunion and discovers that her defensive sarcasm was more hurtful than anything that was done to her.

To my fellow geeks out there, look, I understand.  I was a dweeby freak kid in high school too.  I learned at an early age not to try and do anything the cool kids were doing, because they’d just mock anyone who tried and failed to be like them.  So I went off and found a cadre of other strange, smart kids, and we developed our own taste and style (or at least found other places to steal it from).  My sophomore year, my style icon was Shade the Changing Man, for what it’s worth.

The problem with high school is that it happens to us at a very impressionable age.  Even though it only lasts four years, bits of its psychological detritus can linger in our subconscious well into adulthood.  I know I was into my twenties before I realized that I was free to dress however I wanted (stylishly, even) without anyone calling me out as a poser.  Clothes are just clothes, and culture is just culture, and most adults don’t go around judging each other by which imaginary cafeteria table they belong at.  Sure, there are a few indie rock kids who might look down on you if you call yourself a Neutral Milk Hotel fan because you’re really into The Aeroplane over the Sea but you’ve never heard On Avery Island, but how is that any different than a comics fan who’ll judge you if you’re really into Joss Whedon’s X-Men but you’re unfamiliar with Chris Claremont?  If we judged every subculture by its snobs, nobody would come out looking too good.

The thing is, if you avoid things just because they contain cultural markers that you’re not used to, you’re severely limiting your enjoyment of art and entertainment.  Geeks who are uncomfortable with hipster culture are far from the only example.  Think of white people want nothing to do with hip hop, or Americans who refuse to see foreign films.  Or a guy, concerned with seeming cool, who’s nervous about seeing Star Trek.  Maybe I’m a pop culture idealist, but I think the sole standard in deciding whether or not to partake in something should be how enjoyable it looks to you.  Putting prejudice aside throws open the doors to a vast array of entertainment options, whereas holding on to the petty concerns of the wounded high school kid within can only ever stifle and limit us.

I hope my ramblings have made some sort of sense to somebody, but in any case it’s something I felt the need to say.  And in fairness toward io9, plenty of people over there have defended WTWTA against its anti-hipster detractors.  I just felt the need to add my own thoughts to that chorus.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go read old Flash Gordon comics while listening to The Octopus Project.

As a fan of both sci fi and pre-WWII pop culture, I naturally have a lot of affection for Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon. There’s much to be enjoyed about the original comic strip (which basically invented the style that led to the creation of super-hero comics), the 1936 serial starring Buster Crabbe, and even the 1980 movie, which I’ve mentioned before.  The 1970′s softcore porn version, Flesh Gordon, is also a lot of fun.  Although the various incarnations get pretty complicated, the basic story is of a regular guy from Earth who ends up on a bizarre alien planet, where he inadvertently becomes a hero in the struggle against Emperor Ming, the tyrant who has been keeping the whole planet under his thumb.  With the recent rebirth of big budget sci fi and comic book adaptations, the time almost seems perfect for a new Flash Gordon movie.  It’s never quite been done cinematic justice, and the basic story would hold up well to a modern interpretation.

Unfortunately, there’s one rather big problem: Emperor Ming.  As the name implies, Flash’s nemesis is an unreconstructed “yellow peril” Asian stereotype.  Despite being an alien, he’s undeniably portrayed as the worst sort of racist view of a Chinese ruler.  He’s a vindictive, inscrutable tyrant with an affection for ornate finery and a lecherous eye for (white) Earth women.  In the original comic he has bright yellow skin, long fingernails, a high-collared robe, and a Fu Manchu goatee.

Unsurprisingly, the serial was faithful to this version, casting a white actor named Charles Middleton and putting him in the same kind of “yellowface” make-up that was common in those days for portrayals of Asian characters.  Of course, the actual skin tone was irrelevant in a monochromatic film.

Concerns about racism never even entered anyone’s mind until the 1980 film.  By that time, it was necessary to be at least a little racially sensitive (but not too much).  The answer was to leave Ming basically unchanged, while pretending there was never anything Asian about him.  Swedish actor Max von Sydow was given a look that was immediately recognizable as the classic Ming, but with just enough of the Asian elements replaced with a more futuristic, “alien” look for plausible deniability.

The animated versions of Ming, in both the Filmation’s Flash Gordon series and the later Defenders of the Earth, took this idea a step further.  Ming was given green skin, as if to say, “See, this guy’s clearly an alien!  How could you accuse him of representing an Earthly race?”

Even with these attempts at a more extraterrestrial appearance, however, anyone who’s at all familiar with longstanding racist depictions of Asian men can recognize Ming as an embodiment of that unfortunate tradition.  Meanwhile, more sympathetic characters who are clearly of the same race as Ming, such as his traitorous daughter Aurra and her lover Prince Barin, were unambiguously white.  They did have yellow skin in the original comics, but even then they were less recognizable Asian than Ming.  Later portrayals, even the cartoons in which Ming is green, show them as totally caucasian.  The message seems to be that the more evil you are, the more alien you are, and alien in this case looks a lot like Chinese.

Naturally, when the Sci Fi Channel decided to adapt Flash Gordon for TV in 2007, they were eager to avoid anything that could be perceived as racism.  Their answer to the Ming problem was to completely remake the character, removing every bit of his previous look to create a very white sort of fascist dictator.

There was a lot wrong with this adaptation (it was unwatchably boring, for one), but one of the complaints against it was that Ming was lackluster and missing everything that had made him a memorable villain.  Regardless of his origins, we expect certain things from Ming: a bald head, facial hair, an ornate robe.  Exoticism.  So what is to be done?  There can be no Flash Gordon without Ming the Merciless, but it’s possible that Ming is a character too wrapped up in racism to ever escape.

In my idle moments I’ve given some thought to how Hollywood could pull off a successful Flash Gordon revamp, and the only idea I have for Ming is this: don’t run away from his faux-Chinese heritage; push it in the other direction.  Cast a Chinese actor as Ming, and make Aurra, Barin, and the rest of their people equally Chinese.  Eliminate Earth entirely, setting the story in the future and making Flash’s planet one that was colonized by the United States, while Ming’s planet was colonized by China.  You don’t need exposition for this- just imply it with production design.  For Ming’s costumes, create a futuristic variation on what Chinese emperors actually wore, rather than just an American’s simplistic idea of the look.  Do away with Ming’s predatory behavior toward Flash’s girlfriend.  It’s a creepy and dated element regardless of his race.  Finally, sweep away the blond=good/dark=bad undertone of the original by making Flash Gordon black.  After all, it would make a great role for Will Smith, a charismatic action hero who’s been hurting for a sci fi property that’s actually worth watching.

As for the role of Ming himself, there are plenty of aging action stars who could pull it off.  Given the inevitable campiness of the project, Jackie Chan might work.  I’d suggest Chow Yun Fat, except that it could be hard to distinguish his version of Ming from the character he played in the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

But would this be enough to redeem the character and the franchise?  Maybe privileged white fans like me need to accept that some characters and stories have too much bigotry in their history to ever be redeemed.  After all, nobody is trying to create an acceptable new version of Uncle Remus (although I say this with hesitation, because it seems possible that someone in a locked room at Disney might right now be doing that very thing).  If there is to be no more Flash Gordon, I’ll accept that, but I do wish someone could find a way to solve the problem of Emperor Ming.