Dawn of Justice Review Part II

Let us commence Part II forthwith…

Now those of you who read my previous post will remember (hopefully) the reasons I outlined for Batman wanting to kill Superman. Most all of them were pretty credible given that universe and its situation. However, they are all largely overshadowed by a different reason; one that is far more “in your face” and, frankly, annoying. And that is, Batman wants to kill Superman…because Lex Luthor is leading him on!

   Now wait a minute, you might say. What’s so bad about that? Sounds like a pretty good story-line if you ask me. Well, if we were talking about the Luthor played by Clancy Brown in the Justice League cartoon of the early 2000’s, you would be totally right! But we’re not. We’re talking about Jesse Eisenberg. Uncharacteristically weird, obnoxiously quirky, and appearing to have only hit nineteen the day before his annoying speech at that gala he threw, the actor’s take on this character was anything but right. Harsh words, I know, but it’s true.

   Lex Luthor is an accomplished business man, known for his quiet ruthlessness and overwhelming superiority complex. The thing is, the Lex that we knew (as in from comics and other media) has the persona to back it up! He’s a genius, more brilliant than Batman (but in a different way), and absolutely determined in whatever goal he wishes to achieve. He’s cold and uncaring, and capable of earth-wrecking plans, while at the same time being smart to avoid certain plans that he could undertake, but would pose too much of a risk of destroying the planet. *Cough* Doomsday. *Cough* Jesse Eisenburg brings none of that into his portrayal of the character. I get that they were going for “something different,” but if that something is garbage, well, it’s garbage!

   Never once at any point of the movie does it feel like this Luthor is in control of any situation. Not when it was revealed that he had been arranging all those little red notes and such to rile Batman up (really, ol’ Bruce should have considered that a bit more closely. He is the World’s Greatest Detective after all.). Not when he cheated and illegaled his way into getting a hold of General Zod’s body (that was just… How’d that random senator he was Jolly Ranchering around with even have the clearance he needed?). Not even when he kidnapped Superman’s mother and threatened to kill her if Supes didn’t fight Bats (there were so many ways out of that half-fermented pickle.). My point is, in the interest of being “different” (I guess), ol’ Zach took Superman’s arch nemeses, one of the handful of normal humans on the planet that can actually give Kal-El a problem, and allowed him to go off the rails. Luthor’s character arch is too jumbled and nonsensical throughout the entire movie. It took me watching it a couple times to even properly understand what his motivations for wanting Superman dead were. In the cartoons and comics, Lex hates Superman because one: Lex is jealous of him, of his awesome power and the fact that so many people look up to him with hope, and two: Superman was causing him trouble—exposing a plethora of Luthor’s many illegal activities and thus interfering with his businesses, foiling some of his exploits for power of his own, etc. In short, he showed Lex up to be the bad guy when, before, people had looked up to Lex. That’s understandable. That’s motivation. In Dawn of Justice, Luthor hates Superman because he doesn’t believe that Superman can be all powerful and be all good, and so wants to remove him before the “not-so-good” starts to show. (Gosh. I actually made it sound better in writing than it actually is on screen. Bad execution!)

   It’s a mistake they could actually kinda correct with a recast of the character and thus a change in tone. It would be a simple matter to do that and then bring across the sense that being in prison changed Lex, turning him into a more serious character or whatever. I’ve changed several original thoughts on this movie since I first saw it in theaters. I will never change my mind about Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor.

   

Now, about Wonder Woman….

   

That about sums her up.

Plot Holes.

So, I’ve already mentioned some plot-holes during my character analysis, but let’s see what else I can remember. (Slight (sort of) ranting ahead.)

   Metropolis and Gotham being next to one another is a thorn in my side. I know they did it so that Bruce’s story would have more weight and thus make more sense, but I don’t like it. Everybody knows that the two cities are leagues apart from one another. That’s why Bruce always plans a business trip with a private plane whenever Batman needs to go talk to Superman.

   What’s with the Gotham City Police Department and Batman’s relationship? At first it seems like they’re not on good terms, but then later in the movie Clark says something like, “The Bat’s activities are like a one-man reign of terror. And, as far as I can tell, the police are actually helping him.” Which is it?

And speaking of Clark, ain’t no way that fella still has a job at the Daily Planet. He never writes what he’s supposed to, he never does any investigative journalism, and he’s NEVER AT WORK! When Superman died, nobody noticed that Clark never come back.

   So, Luthor’s plan was to pit Batman and Superman against each other, deeming that one would kill the other (and apparently never suspecting that they might become super-friends instead), but more hopefully that Batman would kill Superman? Or maybe I’m stating that wrong. Was it more that he hoped that Superman would kill Batman, and thus show the world how “evil” he really is? Has Lex not been watching the movie he’s a part of? Ninety percent of the story is about the world trying to decide whether or not they like Superman at all! Most people actually don’t seem to very much anyway! And so what if Supes killed the Bat? Aren’t people all afraid of him and think he’s a vampire villain anyway? Furthermore, just how much did Lex know about Batman’s capabilities? Sure, he “let” him steal the Kryptonite, but what did he expect Batman to do with it? And what if Batman had killed Superman? Who would have stopped Doomsday? The monster would have destroyed the earth! (Just terrible!) Luthor should have more foresight than that.

   Um, why is the mother of Superman working as a waitress in a diner to make ends meet? Her son could walk on the bottom of the ocean and bring up a chest of buried treasure for her. He could tunnel down in the Congo somewhere and return with pounds of pure gold. Or he could just, I don’t know, fuse some coal into diamond with his bare hands? That’s messed up. #FairpayforMartha

   And speaking of Martha, that little scene with Batman and Superman when the spear was about to fall… *Sigh* Enough people have already said everything that could be said on that, I think.

   As for their fight, if those two became buds so easily, the tussle could have been avoided as easily as…

*Superman lands* “Bruce, Luthor has my mom!”

*Batman starts* “What?”

*Superman nods, and gives a sad look (in other words, his face doesn’t change).* “I need your help to save her. Her name’s Martha and—”

*Batman shouts and disables all his weapons. He puts his hand to his ear.* “Alfred, locate Martha!”

*Alfred from communicator* “Why would you say that name, sir?”

*Batman summons the Batplane and looks at Superman* “It’s his mother’s name.”

Fight over. No problem.

   And for my last thing, how did Luthor find out who both Batman and Superman were? We have no indication of how he did so, nor is it ever explained. He just knows. How? And why wouldn’t he use that against them when he was locked up or even before? Makes no sense.

   I could go on with the plot-holes for a while, but let’s say we leave it there.

Special Effects/Visual Aesthetics.

I have largely no complaints here. For the most part, the special effects were pretty solid. Superman’s flight was displayed pretty well. It looked like he was really soaring sometimes! I know about the Doomsday/Cave troll thing that people complain about, and that’s quite fair. There is a resemblance.

   But, as far as just being a big monster for our heroes to punch around on screen, he worked…in that capacity alone. Pretty much all of Batman’s scenes were great (better than they were in Justice League, that’s for sure!). The warehouse fight scene was absolutely flawless. For those timeless seconds of thug-beatdown, he was the Batman through and through. Wonder Woman’s (five seconds?) of fighting was decent, not bad for such a limited appearance as she had. I will hand it to Zach that he does seem to know how to deal out some realistic destruction on a huge scale. I mean, how would it look in reality if there were beings of such immense power pummeling one another in downtown Manhattan? Really, if the storyline of the movie had been half as good as the action and special effects were, we would have gotten a much better film. But hey, that’s just me…

So there you have it, my review in detail. This could have been longer, but I don’t really want to go on for that long with it. Something that should here be understood is this: Despite all my complaints, I like the movie. I looked forward to it for so long. I followed every new trailer, read every interesting article leading up to its release. It was the first time that Batman and Superman shared the big screen together, and it’s forever going to be a special thing for me. I bought the two-disc edition, and I’m going to watch it (for the sixth time?) soon. It might be flawed (it is), but by golly, it’s Batman V Superman!

Keep Strong!

*Disclaimer. All books, titles, characters, character names, slogans, logos, and related indicia are trademarks of and copyright DC Comics and/or Warner Bros.

Dawn of Justice Review Part I

Greetings, merry people. Readers of this blog will remember me mentioning some time ago that I was going to do a review of the movie Dawn of Justice. I didn’t post it at once because I wanted it to be thoughtful, and I wanted to be able to get out/bring across what I wanted to convey in a proper manner. Well, I’ve been working away at it, and now present to you Part I of what will be a two-part (I think) post. It’s a little longish, but I’ve included some pics to keep you all interested. Enjoy!

Batman V Superman. 

The title alone had folks biting their nails in unrelenting anticipation. It had never been done before. The two titans of the superhero realm coming together in a live action film! We had the surprisingly superb Batman Begins in 2005, and the rather expectedly (sorry) underwhelming Superman Returns in 2006. There was some severe speculation (and even plans, as I have been led to believe) that these movies would usher in the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) of their time. With the benefit of hindsight, I’ll say right now that it’s a good thing that that didn’t happen back then. The Dark Knight Trilogy deserved its own space and time to itself. It worked very well as a world unto itself, not really connected to the main DC universe. Bringing in the Justice League (or even just Superman, really) would have made things unnecessarily complicated, and taken away from the grandness that the Dark Knight Trilogy upheld on its own.

   But anyway, this is about the here and now, the time of Ben Affleck, Henry Cavil, and Gal Gadot. I thought a bit on how I would section this review for you guys, and I have now decided to break it up thusly: 

Story/Characters.  

Plot-holes.

Special Effects/Visual Aesthetics.

Let’s begin. 

Story/Characters.

Batman V Superman follows a seemingly straightforward storyline that follows Superman/Clark Kent as he tries to find his place among humanity and decide whether or not he ought to be Superman and save people. Batman exists in this universe, and the Dark Knight has a severe dislike for the Man of Steel, which he channels into a rage that manifests itself through his increasingly harsh actions on the streets of Gotham. Eventually, the actions of these two heroes cause them to meet for a face-off of epic proportions. God vs Man. Day vs Night etc. Also, Wonder Woman is…in the movie.

   At least, the above things (or something very close to it) are what the story is supposed to be about.

   What we actually got was something more like this…

   Superman can’t make up his mind on whether or not he should save people. Never mind that the last movie he was in (the events of which took place a little over a year the timeline of Batman V Superman begins) followed him trying to find his place in humanity and deciding whether or not he should save people, finally to realize in the end that yes, puny humans are worth saving, and even featured him going so far as to choose them over the last surviving Kryptonians. Psh! That doesn’t matter at all. Superman is having mid-life crisis, so him facing the exact same doubts and troubles as he did in his last movie (Man of Steel) for no apparent reason can fly.

   I had a problem with this. I watched Man of Steel, and it was, well, largely bland. A lot of people complained that there was just ‘too much mind-numbing action.’ To those people I say, “What Marvel movie were you watching?” Man of Steel was so starved for action, that I wouldn’t even call it an action movie! It was more like a Drama/Adventure or some other weird thing like that. We sat through 2 hours and 23 minutes of Superman trying to find himself in that film—Why in the world did Zack Snyder feel the need to subject us to the very same thing in Dawn of Justice? By this time, Superman should be a well-established hero to the world. I get that he’s a darker Superman and all (well, the recent Justice League might say otherwise) but my gosh! Would it kill Kal El to smile, put his fists on his hips, do an interview at a reputable news station??

   Which is another thing. A large part of this movie features the people of the world trying to decide whether they want Superman to save people or not. This was a far better storyline, and made a lot more sense. It’s more easily understood and relatable. Still, more than half of the animosity directed at Supes would go away if the guy just took fifteen minutes out of his not-so-busy schedule every couple weeks to smile for a news camera or help an old lady cross the street in public. The theme over him is regret that humans don’t see him in the light he represents, but he never actually does anything about it. Do an interview!

   Then there’s Batman. Look, I’ll say from the outset that he was the best part of the movie. Hands down. 

   Ben Affleck brought something different to the Caped Crusader, and, whether you liked it or not, it worked for its setting (mostly). He’s older, battered, scarred, more reclusive and less malleable. It worked. One of the problems here is that there’s not enough of him in the movie, which is a shame because Bruce Wayne really takes up the majority of screen time. The movie even opens with him. Bruce, having witnessed the power and destruction that Kryptonians are capable of, thinks the world doesn’t need Superman. In fact, he thinks someone should kill him. He thinks Batman should kill him.

   Now, let me say this: It took me watching the film more than once to fully understand Bruce’s hatred for Superman. At first, it didn’t really make sense, but it does once you understand it. I mean, Batman has been fighting criminals in Gotham for twenty years in this universe. He’s been a superhero for twenty years, relying solely on his wit, grit, and determination (and Alfred). He’s suffered loss and heartache, and no small amount of bodily harm. Suddenly, along comes Zod and his insurgents, Superman appears, and everything changes. I mean, people in the here and now are upset that the government is potentially spying on them through their cell phones. How upset would they be if there was some all-powerful super guy that answered to no authority, who flew around all the time with a terrible frown, broke all manner of international laws, and didn’t care a thing about it? Furthermore, despite the fact that Superman is totally wrapped up in his own doubts over whether or not he should save people, he’s also, apparently, obsessed with Batman. How dare this person over in Gotham break the law to save people? Who does he think he is? Never mind that there’s a giant Bat Signal on the top of the Gotham City Police Department. Never mind that while old Supes was still hitchhiking across the country and destroying people’s semi-trucks, Batman was stopping Joker from gassing Gotham City Hall. He brands people. That equals bad. I, the great doubtful Superman, should shut down his operation because some random person keeps sending me little red notes. Seriously??!!

   What’s wrong with you, Superman? This was a bad plot device, because it didn’t make any sense. Superman needs to get his own act together before he goes and tries to forcibly fix somebody else’s. (Maybe he is evil after all.) I mean, in one scene, there’s this car chase, a pretty good one that showcases Batman’s driving skills and total disregard for the lives of thugs. Batman gets Lex Luthor’s (more on him later) thugs pretty much cornered (and they were doing illegal things, mind you), and, suddenly, Superman swoops down, bashes Batman’s Batmobile, rips the doors off, and then has the cheek to command him to stop being Batman. How dare you, Superman!! How. Dare. You.

   So yeah, Batman’s hatred of him was totally justified.

   What I didn’t like was that this version of Batman seemed a little less than bright. I mean, he’s the World’s Greatest Detective. He ought to have been more brainy. Brainy guys don’t shoot trackers the size of footballs onto the vehicles of the thugs they want to follow. Brainy guys don’t go down into the underworld of Gotham to pretend to watch a boxing match (while actually watching a thug) dressed in the plain, everyday face and clothes of one of the wealthiest men in Gotham. And above all, brainy men don’t allow themselves to be manipulated by any character played by Jesse Eisenberg.

   So, anyway, after a long (too long) time of these two going about their dark and broody lives, Superman finally decides that Batman should stop being Batman (hence that scene I mentioned earlier) and with that last straw, Batman decides to kill Superman. 

   And in this spot, we’ll cut this post, as I do not wish it to grow to a ridiculous length, and also because I want to save some things for Part II (I’m talking about you, Lex). What do you guys think? Agree with my points? Disagree? Liked the movie? Hated it? Somewhere in between? Let me know. 

Keep Strong!

*Disclaimer. All books, titles, characters, character names, slogans, logos, and related indicia are trademarks of and copyright DC Comics and/or Warner Bros.

Is It Truly Love?

So can we just stop with the meaningless romance that seems to have invaded every sub-genre of fiction now in existence?

   

   What? Who doesn’t love a good love story? I’m glad you asked, because the truth of the matter is (and it might be a little hard to swallow) a surprising amount of people don’t like love stories! These peculiar individuals live among us, going about their day-to-day lives, yet becoming increasingly frustrated with the worthless cuddles and feels that so many writers feel the need to inject into an otherwise decent (unless, of course, it was already bad) story! (Before we go any further, it must here be stated that I neither claim to be nor deny to be one of these individuals. And I will furthermore say that I liked the story of Aragorn and Arwen, didn’t mind the puppy love of Meg Murry and Calvin O’Keefe (FROM THE BOOK, NOT THE MOVIE), and am quite fond of a certain short-story titled “They Met Under the Glinting Stars” (ahem). Now then…)

   

   There is a set of people who are tired of the stupid, senseless, and totally unrelatable “love” that has managed to seep into almost every story—books and movies alike. It’s no secret that this is basically all that the YA genre is now. (To those worthy authors out there who still write good YA, I mean you no disrespect, but know that you are in a minority.) From the idiotic half-crush half-WHAT? of books like “Uglies” (good gosh!), to the sudden and absolutely unformulaic “romance” found in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” to the literal eye-burning attempted cliché-bender in “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” and “The Battle of Five Armies.” What is wrong with the world?? What happened to romance that built naturally between the characters, that was understandable, that was relatable? What good is a cliché bender if it’s rubbish? What good is a kiss snatched under the moonlight if the readers or audience are just left rolling their eyes?

   

   I fear that we, as a society, have lost touch—or perhaps patience—with true love. Wow. That sounds really bad, but humor me. How many books or movies that were written or produced within the last five years do you remember to have told a true, a natural, and really relatable love story? Lots of folks are tired of the same old, “hateful-and-petulant-and-selfish-and-under-eighteen-year-old-girl catches the eye of dark-or-green-eyed-muscle-bound-but-quiet-and-secretive-probably-troubled-and-also-under-eighteen-years-old-guy, they both meet in an academy or something, exchange a couple sentences, and three chapters down the road they both just totally neeeeed each other.” Enough!

   Now in the interest of ensuring that this post is informative—instead of just, I don’t know, some kind of unhinged rant—I would like to list a couple (or maybe three) things that matter, ACTUALLY MATTER, when putting romance into a story. 

#1. Romance can’t be forced.

   Sounds like a no-brainer. But seriously, people need to stop thinking that it’s daring to just shove two characters who have no chemistry whatsoever together because…plot. It’s not daring, it’s annoying and unbelievable.

#2. It has to be both relatable and realistic.

   Do you remember the names of all those lovers and such that the Greek and Roman gods had? Of course you don’t, because who cares about the love-lives of the Greek and Roman gods?! In order to appreciate romance between your characters, your audience/readers must first feel for the characters themselves, and then be able to imagine themselves or someone they know in the situation you’re presenting, or at least believe in total absolution that your characters really are in love and not just smooching because…plot.

#3. A hateful character, or a character that doesn’t belong where they are, always ruins the feels. Always.

   I don’t think I really need to go into this one all that much. Suffice it to say that there is a certain red-headed elf that appeared in a certain movie concerning a certain hobbit whose presence therein—and lack thereof in later installments—can never be either explained, nor forgiven. I mean it.

And that’s all I have to say on that for now. Maybe somebody will actually briefly consider what I had to say (ha!), or maybe not. But I said it, and even as true love doesn’t repent over its existence, neither shall I repent over these words. But I’d like to know what you guys think. Let me know!

Keep Strong!

AT LONG LAST!!

Days went by; I labored long. Weeks became months; still I labored. Months stacked into years; I labored the quicker.

   Now at last, at long, long last, I have done it. I have finished it. I HAVE DELIVERED.

TOILS OF THE VALIANT

BOOK TWO OF THE CHRONICLES OF VRANDALIN

The epic conclusion to the widely-loved adventure of Strife of the Mighty! 

DOOM COMES. FAITH WAVERS. HOPE HANGS IN THE BALANCE. 

The battle for Darfrandor is over, but there is neither time nor mood for celebration. Having received word of the approaching power of the Dread Palace, time is yet again in short supply for Brandegan, Allon, and Merch—and all of Vrandalin with them. 

Heeding lessons learned from before and during the battle with the Morkathleam, Brandegan decides to leave Darfrandor without delay. Though he renders a stark warning to the people of the capital that there can be no victory in the fight against Ezirg Haur without the intervention of the Ayestærè, he begins to feel in his heart that the Vellneranians will never again have faith. Urging them to flee south on a desperate journey to Krandarmain Ilse, he leaves them to their choice. Yet the journey south will present Brandegan himself with hard choices to grapple, and force the silver-haired man to confront not only perils of the future, but burdens of the past. 

For Allon Bracken, the way forward seems both clear and clouded. His will knows that he is not the same man that fled Varalel, yet his heart will soon discover that some wounds remain tender long. He must come to terms with both shortly, for in this time of final deeds, the hurting and the lost, the fearful and the hopeless, commoner and noble alike, will need someone to lead them. 

As for Merch Provender, his difficulties come in many forms. From the worry over his home village, to the increasingly constant necessity to kill or be killed…to the often withheld thoughts and feelings of a new traveling companion. Yet all these difficulties must be overcome, for the clock is counting, and ale won’t last forever. 

But for Parma the healer, leagues to the south in the proud city of Mariz, darkness has already arrived. Only newly loosening the grip of cold policies enacted against the southeasterners by Governor Parfidy, she is forced to push back against the malice of mysterious bandits who threaten the lives of those she protects. But in doing so she discovers a sinister plot against Mariz itself, and soon finds herself fighting the ghosts and foes from a past wrought with heartache. It will cost her bitterly. 

Sacrifices are made, bonds are broken, and the powers of the realm are shaken in this kingdom-rending conclusion to the tale that began in Strife of the Mighty. Let the faithful keep strong.

*Sniffle* It's so beautiful....

   You guys have waited long for this one, and so have I! As promised, the tale that began in Strife of the Mighty concludes here...whether in good or evil. I did not split up the story into a trilogy. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I'm putting the Kindle versions of both Toils of the Valiant and Strife of the Mighty on sale for $0.99! To grab your copy of Toils of the Valiant click here! (Or here, if you prefer paperback.) To grab Strife of the Mighty, click here! (Here for paperback.)

   Thank you all for bearing with me through all of this. I strove extra hard to make the story extra gripping, extra meaningful, and extra awesome! Tell me what you think! 

Oh, almost forgot: I've released a new design in the Lael Marketplace!  Check out A Wilder Shape! This particular design was wrought especially for Toils of the Valiant. (And yes, it comes in men's styles, too.) I'm working very hard for you guys (really). 

Happy reading! Happy wearing!

Keep Strong!

Contest Winners!

Hey, everybody.

   So, as you all know, I recently held a contest to celebrate the opening of my new t-shirt shop. Well, today we announce those lucky three! Thanks to all who entered!





Coming in at third place is........... Barri!

Coming in at second place is...........April Turner!!

And taking home the first place grand prize.............Christian Calhoun from Oklahoma!

Let's hear it for our winners! Information for prize collection will be sent out shortly. Thanks again to all who entered.

Keep Strong!