Friday, August 14, 2015
The Diversity Test: Captain America The Winter Soldier
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
If the Marvel films of 2013 were a disappointment, 2014's two entries were anything but. Captain America: The Winter Soldier had a somewhat bizarre April release date (I blame the Fast & Furious franchise), so its release threw me off a bit. And then in that first weekend, the "Hail Hydra" meme exploded, spoiling many who hadn't seen it initially, including myself. Disappointing as that is, the movie is still spectacular, a huge game changer in the MCU (and Agents of SHIELD, which found some footing once this twist occurred). Needless to say, after some of the capital the MCU squandered in 2013 was pretty much gotten back with this movie. And then the next, too...
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
The Diversity Test: Thor The Dark World
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
I feel like that first year after The Avengers Marvel films faltered a little bit. I'd imagine plenty would disagree with me about Iron Man 3. Not sure as many would argue against my less than glowing opinion of Thor: The Dark World.
Test
Monday, March 9, 2015
The Diversity Test: Iron Man 3
Iron Man 3 (2013)
The Avengers ended Marvel's Phase 1 with a bang, ending an era in the franchise and in movies in general. A year later, it was time for the next step, beginning with the character who started it all. After the rousing success of the Avengers team up, could going back to movies focusing on single characters work? Would the follow ups feel like let downs? Iron Man 3 was the first to let us know.
The Diversity Test: The Avengers
The Avengers (2012)
We come to it at last! The movie event begun in that little extra scene at the end of Iron Man in 2008, that slowly scaled up with a second (not all that memorable) shot at the Hulk later that year, the mysterious Black Widow in 2010, and movies bringing us Thor and Captain America (along with a Hawkeye cameo) in 2011, reached its climax in 2012. And perhaps most surprisingly, it blew us all away. There had never been anything quite like it. Certainly we'd had major film franchises with giant payoffs by the end (see: Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter), but this was something unique. Various tentpoles from disparate stories converging into the biggest of them all, representative of the Avengers themselves. As a result, plenty of familiar faces, but new as well.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
The Diversity Test: Captain America The First Avenger
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Unlike Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, where part of their settings added to at least a larger visual diversity (even if their depictions may had issues), the first movie featuring Cap has the distinct disadvantage of taking place in the 1940s, a time of segregation of races and marginalization of women, or at least that's the general belief of the period. There is certainly some truth it. Segregation of the armed forces wasn't ordered ended until 1948. The work women did to support the war effort at home embodied in the iconic image of Rosie the Riveter was vital in transforming women's place in American society beyond the home. A number of women served in the armed forces and saw combat and few have had their stories told. But segregation remained and the vast majority of soldiers serving were men, so you might not expect the cast to show that much variation.
And if your expectation are low, you won't be disappointed.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
The Diversity Test: Thor
Thor (2011)
The extra scene at the end of Iron Man 2 hinted at it and May of 2011 brought it as the MCU expanded beyond Tony Stark and Earth and took us to Asgard, one of the Nine Realms. I liked it and its small scale. A lot didn't, but hey, it was another step toward the sprawling movie franchise we have today, set to become even more sprawling in the years ahead.
Thor also demonstrates one of the major modifications to Mike Cooper's method of calculating the Diversity Score. When he began tallying things up, much of what he was looking at centered around the Star Wars Expanded Universe, now Star Wars Legends, material that is primarily literature. If you've ever read much of that material, you'll once in a while come across books with the Dramatis Personae listed at the beginning and Mike noted that in many cases, a good fraction of the characters are described as "Human male". Add to the fact that many authors in every genre of fiction have a tendency to make a note in character description when they're meant to be pictured as a person of color (e.g. "dark skinned, tan, olive skinned, etc.). This could lead to a situation with some readers defaulting to imagining a character as white without such a description (As an aside: I myself as a reader have a strange quirk that I'll consciously imagine book characters as racially diverse if not described otherwise. This gets awkward when 100 pages in, I learn of my black protagonist's ginger locks and pale skin.)
In the Star Wars universe, it's strange to see such a human-dominated cast when the movie made such pains to illustrate so many kinds of aliens in settings like the Mos Eisley Cantina and Jabba's Palace. Even stranger that such a majority of the human characters are men. It was a problem that certainly existed in the original trilogy, though they are a product of their time. The prequel trilogy, while still demonstrating a problem with women in speaking roles, at least populated its vast crowds of extras, both real and computer generated, with a wealth of women and aliens. In Mike's case, it makes sense to chronicle the percentage of Star Wars characters who are and aren't white male humans.
Which brings us to Thor. As the character sheet below will demonstrate, a majority of Thor's major characters are Asgardians, beings who look identical to humans but are in fact a powerful alien race with abilities that made primitive humans see them as gods. If you're using "human" as a requirement for totaling up the diversity, then Thor has very few humans, let alone white human males. Thor, Loki, Odin... they're not human. The frost giant Laufey is clearly not human. The actors obviously are, though, and this study is about a number of things, but one is the idea of everyone seeing themselves represented in one of the largest media projects in the world. Thor may be Asgardian, but he looks like a white guy because he's played by a white guy and that matters. That being the case, this will be the first movie where I make separate tallies, one for actors, one for characters. In one tally, if it's a character being portrayed by a white guy, that won't count toward cast diversity. However, if the character is not a white human male, even if they appear to be identical to one, that will count toward that diversity tally, let's call it the Dramatis Personae tally. So, for example, Thor, in spite of looking exactly like a white male human is in fact Asgardian, a more powerful alien being. I'm not really doing this for him, though. It's more about for characters like Laufey and Thanos, roles portrayed by white men (at least voiced in Thanos' case) but at least getting points for throwing a little visual diversity into the characters. This will be a new statistic used with every Marvel movie from here on out with non-human characters, even if it does feel like cheating.
I went on longer than I meant to there on making that distinction, but I thought I would at least attempt to clarify. So, on to Thor...
The extra scene at the end of Iron Man 2 hinted at it and May of 2011 brought it as the MCU expanded beyond Tony Stark and Earth and took us to Asgard, one of the Nine Realms. I liked it and its small scale. A lot didn't, but hey, it was another step toward the sprawling movie franchise we have today, set to become even more sprawling in the years ahead.
Thor also demonstrates one of the major modifications to Mike Cooper's method of calculating the Diversity Score. When he began tallying things up, much of what he was looking at centered around the Star Wars Expanded Universe, now Star Wars Legends, material that is primarily literature. If you've ever read much of that material, you'll once in a while come across books with the Dramatis Personae listed at the beginning and Mike noted that in many cases, a good fraction of the characters are described as "Human male". Add to the fact that many authors in every genre of fiction have a tendency to make a note in character description when they're meant to be pictured as a person of color (e.g. "dark skinned, tan, olive skinned, etc.). This could lead to a situation with some readers defaulting to imagining a character as white without such a description (As an aside: I myself as a reader have a strange quirk that I'll consciously imagine book characters as racially diverse if not described otherwise. This gets awkward when 100 pages in, I learn of my black protagonist's ginger locks and pale skin.)
In the Star Wars universe, it's strange to see such a human-dominated cast when the movie made such pains to illustrate so many kinds of aliens in settings like the Mos Eisley Cantina and Jabba's Palace. Even stranger that such a majority of the human characters are men. It was a problem that certainly existed in the original trilogy, though they are a product of their time. The prequel trilogy, while still demonstrating a problem with women in speaking roles, at least populated its vast crowds of extras, both real and computer generated, with a wealth of women and aliens. In Mike's case, it makes sense to chronicle the percentage of Star Wars characters who are and aren't white male humans.
Which brings us to Thor. As the character sheet below will demonstrate, a majority of Thor's major characters are Asgardians, beings who look identical to humans but are in fact a powerful alien race with abilities that made primitive humans see them as gods. If you're using "human" as a requirement for totaling up the diversity, then Thor has very few humans, let alone white human males. Thor, Loki, Odin... they're not human. The frost giant Laufey is clearly not human. The actors obviously are, though, and this study is about a number of things, but one is the idea of everyone seeing themselves represented in one of the largest media projects in the world. Thor may be Asgardian, but he looks like a white guy because he's played by a white guy and that matters. That being the case, this will be the first movie where I make separate tallies, one for actors, one for characters. In one tally, if it's a character being portrayed by a white guy, that won't count toward cast diversity. However, if the character is not a white human male, even if they appear to be identical to one, that will count toward that diversity tally, let's call it the Dramatis Personae tally. So, for example, Thor, in spite of looking exactly like a white male human is in fact Asgardian, a more powerful alien being. I'm not really doing this for him, though. It's more about for characters like Laufey and Thanos, roles portrayed by white men (at least voiced in Thanos' case) but at least getting points for throwing a little visual diversity into the characters. This will be a new statistic used with every Marvel movie from here on out with non-human characters, even if it does feel like cheating.
I went on longer than I meant to there on making that distinction, but I thought I would at least attempt to clarify. So, on to Thor...
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
The Diversity Test: Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Hard to believe in our age of two Marvels a year, when everything kicked off, not only was it nearly two years between films, but this one was the only one we got in all of 2010. Iron Man 2 is not without its controversy, as a large portion of online opinion isn't all that kind to the film. I agree that it's certainly unfocused, has too much going on, at times feels like set up for The Avengers, and comes up short in its inevitable comparisons to Iron Man. I don't think it's a bad movie, though and it does try to give Tony some more depth with his sickness. Plus, it's fun, though the final showdown with the villain, much like the first Iron Man, is underwhelming. It was certainly a step up from The Incredible Hulk at any rate.
This movie, though, is when the main vs. supporting character line begins to blur. Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey (recast) are back and seem easy enough to categorize. But what about the main villain, Ivan Vanko? He gets jailed and disappears for what seems like a good part of the movie. What about the debut of Black Widow? Does she have enough of a role to be considered main? Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer, who most seem to forget was even in the movie? Happy Hogan in an expanded role? It all comes down to judgment calls, I suppose, which is a major part of this exercise. I do my best, but who knows if anyone reading this will agree?
Hard to believe in our age of two Marvels a year, when everything kicked off, not only was it nearly two years between films, but this one was the only one we got in all of 2010. Iron Man 2 is not without its controversy, as a large portion of online opinion isn't all that kind to the film. I agree that it's certainly unfocused, has too much going on, at times feels like set up for The Avengers, and comes up short in its inevitable comparisons to Iron Man. I don't think it's a bad movie, though and it does try to give Tony some more depth with his sickness. Plus, it's fun, though the final showdown with the villain, much like the first Iron Man, is underwhelming. It was certainly a step up from The Incredible Hulk at any rate.
This movie, though, is when the main vs. supporting character line begins to blur. Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey (recast) are back and seem easy enough to categorize. But what about the main villain, Ivan Vanko? He gets jailed and disappears for what seems like a good part of the movie. What about the debut of Black Widow? Does she have enough of a role to be considered main? Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer, who most seem to forget was even in the movie? Happy Hogan in an expanded role? It all comes down to judgment calls, I suppose, which is a major part of this exercise. I do my best, but who knows if anyone reading this will agree?
Monday, March 2, 2015
The Diversity Test: The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
From the movie that jump started the MCU to the one that almost killed it. I kid, but poor Hulk. He just can't seem to get a decent movie. They can't seem to think of much beyond the Bruce/Hulk Jekyll/Hyde struggle and "Oh no! Hulk rampage! We must stop him!" Even The Avengers had to throw that into the middle of the film (and then add the development that sometimes he can control it somehow, but that's for another time.)
In any case, here is the film that fans and the studio apparently try their collective best to forget, but the stirrings of connective tissue are there. We do get a Tony Stark cameo, after all, but will Liv Tyler or William Hurt ever reprise their roles? Everyone very much doubts it.
From the movie that jump started the MCU to the one that almost killed it. I kid, but poor Hulk. He just can't seem to get a decent movie. They can't seem to think of much beyond the Bruce/Hulk Jekyll/Hyde struggle and "Oh no! Hulk rampage! We must stop him!" Even The Avengers had to throw that into the middle of the film (and then add the development that sometimes he can control it somehow, but that's for another time.)
In any case, here is the film that fans and the studio apparently try their collective best to forget, but the stirrings of connective tissue are there. We do get a Tony Stark cameo, after all, but will Liv Tyler or William Hurt ever reprise their roles? Everyone very much doubts it.
The Diversity Test: Iron Man
Iron Man (2008)
The movie that began it all, that sparked a movie series no one even imagined and may have changed film franchises in ways yet unseen. It was a massive success and still held in high regard, regularly ranked near the top of the ten Marvel films released in the last nearly seven years. Let's take a look at the cast:
The movie that began it all, that sparked a movie series no one even imagined and may have changed film franchises in ways yet unseen. It was a massive success and still held in high regard, regularly ranked near the top of the ten Marvel films released in the last nearly seven years. Let's take a look at the cast:
The Diversity Test: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
So, a few months ago I suggested to a moderator on theforce.net forums that someone should analyse the diversity of the biggest film franchise in Hollywood right now, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a.k.a. the MCU. You see, the moderator Mike is a major advocate of greater diversity in media in general and in Star Wars in particular, having started and actively participated in a number of threads focusing on the topic in Star Wars and greater pop culture entitled, punnily enough, "Ignorance is Bias". As a recurring participant in the thread (though my visits to the forums are more sparing than they used to be, Ignorance is Bias is always a thread I click on when I do visit the forum's Literature section), I've read and voiced my thoughts on diversity issues in entertainment, particularly genre works, and it occurred to me that few properties, maybe none, are at the level of popularity and visibility right now of the Marvel Universe films. Other studios are trying to ape their winning formula, from other comic properties (DC, Sony with Spider-Man, 20th Century Fox with X-Men and Fantastic Four) to other genre properties (Disney and Star Wars, Universal and their classic monsters, bizarrely enough).
Marvel is king right now and with that has come extra attention and extra scrutiny, much of it deserved. It's easiest to see one of the biggest issues by looking at the leads in the Marvel movies so far. 10 movies in and 9 films have had a white man as the lead character. The only exception is the ensemble The Avengers which has... five white men and one white woman as its title leads. At this point, our first person of color in a starring role will be the 18th planned MCU film (Black Panther) while the first woman in a starring role will be the 19th (Captain Marvel). So, it made me wonder, just how diverse are the Marvel films? Are they becoming more diverse as time goes one? How do things break down as far as race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation go?
Mike has a simple and enlightening system he uses to measure the diversity of any given work when he experiences Star Wars stories, simply tallying up the dramatis pesonae of any work and finding the percentage of characters who are not white male humans. So, for example, if you were viewing The Empire Strikes Back and simply wanted to know the diversity of the main characters, this might be your tally:
Luke Skywalker
Leia Organa
Han Solo
Chewbacca
C-3PO
R2-D2
Lando Calrissian
Darth Vader
Yoda
You can debate whether or not all of those characters count as "main", but for this exercise it works. There we have 9 characters listed, 3 of whom are portrayed as white men (Luke, Han, and, knowing what we know after Jedi and the prequels, Vader). If you wanted to take it a step further you could go with how many are portrayed by white men (in this case only Leia and Lando would qualify as exceptions, along with half of Vader since the voice is James Earl Jones and the body David Prowse). In the case of the characters, you have a diversity score of 66 (67 if you're rounding up). For the actors, the diversity score drops to 28 (though arguably it's 39 since R2's performer, Kenny Baker, is a little person, a member of another minority group, though one marginalized enough that it's rarely brought up when speaking of diversity).
With the scoring in mind, I had to make a decision of who to count when I'm making my tally. Tony Stark is one thing, some random bartender with a single line, not so much. Any lines I draw between characters are bound to be arbitrary, but I had to draw it somewhere. Here are the categories I've settled on:
Main Characters - Characters I consider to be the main stars of the films. It can be harder to categorize than you'd think, especially as the casts grow.
Supporting Characters - Characters with multiple scenes, who contribute largely to the plot, are a major part of the ensemble, but the story isn't necessarily about or driven by them. Think Legolas and Gimli.
Minor Characters - Characters that are at least in two scenes, that a viewer will probably recognize on multiple viewings, but don't get much if any definition in the story. They basically qualify if they appear in two or more scenes and get lines or some focus.
Miscellaneous - Finally, the section where I cover everything else. It can be major non-white male (WM) characters that only appear in a single scene, notable settings or extras that demonstrate diversity, or other thoughts on a movie's portrayal of diverse characters. This is also a grab bag of any additional thoughts I have.
So, with that out of the way, the next post will be the first in the series where we look at the film that kicked everything off way back in 2008, Iron Man.
Marvel is king right now and with that has come extra attention and extra scrutiny, much of it deserved. It's easiest to see one of the biggest issues by looking at the leads in the Marvel movies so far. 10 movies in and 9 films have had a white man as the lead character. The only exception is the ensemble The Avengers which has... five white men and one white woman as its title leads. At this point, our first person of color in a starring role will be the 18th planned MCU film (Black Panther) while the first woman in a starring role will be the 19th (Captain Marvel). So, it made me wonder, just how diverse are the Marvel films? Are they becoming more diverse as time goes one? How do things break down as far as race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation go?
Mike has a simple and enlightening system he uses to measure the diversity of any given work when he experiences Star Wars stories, simply tallying up the dramatis pesonae of any work and finding the percentage of characters who are not white male humans. So, for example, if you were viewing The Empire Strikes Back and simply wanted to know the diversity of the main characters, this might be your tally:
Luke Skywalker
Leia Organa
Han Solo
Chewbacca
C-3PO
R2-D2
Lando Calrissian
Darth Vader
Yoda
You can debate whether or not all of those characters count as "main", but for this exercise it works. There we have 9 characters listed, 3 of whom are portrayed as white men (Luke, Han, and, knowing what we know after Jedi and the prequels, Vader). If you wanted to take it a step further you could go with how many are portrayed by white men (in this case only Leia and Lando would qualify as exceptions, along with half of Vader since the voice is James Earl Jones and the body David Prowse). In the case of the characters, you have a diversity score of 66 (67 if you're rounding up). For the actors, the diversity score drops to 28 (though arguably it's 39 since R2's performer, Kenny Baker, is a little person, a member of another minority group, though one marginalized enough that it's rarely brought up when speaking of diversity).
With the scoring in mind, I had to make a decision of who to count when I'm making my tally. Tony Stark is one thing, some random bartender with a single line, not so much. Any lines I draw between characters are bound to be arbitrary, but I had to draw it somewhere. Here are the categories I've settled on:
Main Characters - Characters I consider to be the main stars of the films. It can be harder to categorize than you'd think, especially as the casts grow.
Supporting Characters - Characters with multiple scenes, who contribute largely to the plot, are a major part of the ensemble, but the story isn't necessarily about or driven by them. Think Legolas and Gimli.
Minor Characters - Characters that are at least in two scenes, that a viewer will probably recognize on multiple viewings, but don't get much if any definition in the story. They basically qualify if they appear in two or more scenes and get lines or some focus.
Miscellaneous - Finally, the section where I cover everything else. It can be major non-white male (WM) characters that only appear in a single scene, notable settings or extras that demonstrate diversity, or other thoughts on a movie's portrayal of diverse characters. This is also a grab bag of any additional thoughts I have.
So, with that out of the way, the next post will be the first in the series where we look at the film that kicked everything off way back in 2008, Iron Man.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Book Review: Star Wars: Maul: Lockdown
Darth Maul is a character with a varied history. Perhaps the new character most associated with the Prequel Trilogy, even though he only appeared in one film, had a handful of lines, and was unceremoniously killed off. Perhaps it was the look, perhaps it was arguably the best lightsaber duel in the six film saga (so far), but the character endured beyond his initial run that included Episode I, the materials leading into that film that involved him, and any sequel stories of dubious canon dealing with his resurrection. The Clone Wars began his return with a twist at the end of a trilogy of episodes that introduced his brother Savage Oppress and the 3-D re-release of Episode I brought an explosion of Maul material, from short stories to a new young readers' book to a significant role in Darth Plagueis, his face plastered all over toys and merchandise, and his official resurrection in The Clone Wars. The acrobatic Sith Lord has seen his story expanded beyond what anyone would have imagined just a few years ago and in my opinion, much of that material has fleshed him out in high quality and entertaining storytelling.
Joining that wealth of new material comes Joe Schreiber's latest venture into the Star Wars galaxy, Maul: Lockdown, a book set shortly before Episode I and tying into the highly popular and detailed Darth Plagueis. Schreiber is well known for his two previous Star Wars horror novels, Death Troopers and Red Harvest, which brought the zombie genre and a level of brutality and gore rarely seen in the Star Wars universe. In many ways, Schreiber is the ideal choice for telling a story in which Maul is pretty much the protagonist, putting the living weapon in a setting of savagery and lawlessness and letting Maul's considerable physical abilities shine. Yet, as the apprentice to Star Wars' greatest villain, the brilliant mastermind Darth Sidious, Maul also gets to display his cunning, adaptation, and improvisation, something The Clone Wars began to display on a grander scale and had always been hinted in previous Maul-centered stories, but may have been overshadowed by this relentless physical nature.
The story is set in a space station and prison, where Sidious has dispatched Maul to infiltrate and track down an elusive arms dealer, Iram Radique, a figure few have met or seen and may, in fact, be a myth himself (The Usual Suspects' Keyser Soze seems to be a major inspiration). Complicating matters is the nature of the prison, designed so that the cells can be reconfigured at a moment's notice, two cells linked, and two inmates paired in a fight to the death, a match that's broadcast throughout the galaxy with a lucrative gambling industry having sprung up around it. The concept reminded me so much of 2008's Death Race remake that I imagined Joan Allen as the prison Cog Hive Seven's unscrupulous warden.
This isn't our first foray into a Darth Maul-centered adult novel, with Michael Reaves' excellent Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter back in 2001. In that, however, Maul was a more traditional antagonistic presence, pursuing a ragtag collection of good guys in an unstoppable chase. This time around, Maul is even more of the center of the story and dealing with such a collection of shady characters that he's almost the good guy, even though his ultimate goal will benefit the most evil character in Star Wars. As I noted above, Schreiber is a fitting choice to write Darth Maul and this brutal prison is the type of setting that lets Maul thrive. Maul is focused on his mission and that, along with the instruction of Darth Sidious to refrain from using the Force lest he reveal his nature as a Sith Lord in a constantly surveilled setting, means he has to think before he acts, plan before he moves, and investigate without giving himself up, maneuvering himself into the the prison's power structure uncovering the shadows without sparking the ire of the warden and guards or the inmates working for the very target he seeks. We get plenty of Maul's natural lethal capability, even without the dark side to call upon, while at the same time get to see him working, probing, and manipulating the other inmates to accomplish his own goal. In many ways, it's a microcosm of the Sith's Grand Plan, the manipulation of others to benefit his own ends, and seeing Maul get to accomplish that is gratifying. We uncover the mystery with him, learn new twists as he does, and it's captivating. Schreiber's structure of short, sleek chapters, a method that he used in his first two Star Wars novels, works even more to his advantage here, making the story move at a breakneck pace that still never feels rushed and makes the novel hard to put down. It seems like something is always happening, with a diverse cast of colorful characters all with their own agendas and motivations, all working to survive and triumph over the threats surrounding them.
Beyond Maul's characters, the prison and events relating to it are shaped through that motley collection of supporting players, from the manipulative warden to a father with a few secrets of his own and his son in the prison; two gangs of fierce inmates and individual inmates with their own strange quirks and secrets; and a few familiar faces from this era of rising Sith and underworld scum. Some are more interesting than others, but none drag the story down nor stand out as a glaring weakness.
The story isn't without its faults. After a strong start to a small climax about 2/3 of the way through, the story seems to lose its focus for a while before picking up for a strong finish. There are a couple of head scratchers that don't quite pay off as far as I could tell, one character who serves as a nice Expanded Universe tie-in, but was probably introduced too late to have as much character development as they could have, and a twist with one character midway through that had almost no impact on the story.
Overall, though, it works, from its take on Maul's perspective as he experiences physical difficulties and fear of failing his master, to the setting itself, with its strange geography and hidden terrors. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, especially when it was first announced, and was pleasantly surprised. If this is one of the final books before a new era in EU literature, it's sending it out on a high note.
8 out of 10
This isn't our first foray into a Darth Maul-centered adult novel, with Michael Reaves' excellent Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter back in 2001. In that, however, Maul was a more traditional antagonistic presence, pursuing a ragtag collection of good guys in an unstoppable chase. This time around, Maul is even more of the center of the story and dealing with such a collection of shady characters that he's almost the good guy, even though his ultimate goal will benefit the most evil character in Star Wars. As I noted above, Schreiber is a fitting choice to write Darth Maul and this brutal prison is the type of setting that lets Maul thrive. Maul is focused on his mission and that, along with the instruction of Darth Sidious to refrain from using the Force lest he reveal his nature as a Sith Lord in a constantly surveilled setting, means he has to think before he acts, plan before he moves, and investigate without giving himself up, maneuvering himself into the the prison's power structure uncovering the shadows without sparking the ire of the warden and guards or the inmates working for the very target he seeks. We get plenty of Maul's natural lethal capability, even without the dark side to call upon, while at the same time get to see him working, probing, and manipulating the other inmates to accomplish his own goal. In many ways, it's a microcosm of the Sith's Grand Plan, the manipulation of others to benefit his own ends, and seeing Maul get to accomplish that is gratifying. We uncover the mystery with him, learn new twists as he does, and it's captivating. Schreiber's structure of short, sleek chapters, a method that he used in his first two Star Wars novels, works even more to his advantage here, making the story move at a breakneck pace that still never feels rushed and makes the novel hard to put down. It seems like something is always happening, with a diverse cast of colorful characters all with their own agendas and motivations, all working to survive and triumph over the threats surrounding them.
Beyond Maul's characters, the prison and events relating to it are shaped through that motley collection of supporting players, from the manipulative warden to a father with a few secrets of his own and his son in the prison; two gangs of fierce inmates and individual inmates with their own strange quirks and secrets; and a few familiar faces from this era of rising Sith and underworld scum. Some are more interesting than others, but none drag the story down nor stand out as a glaring weakness.
The story isn't without its faults. After a strong start to a small climax about 2/3 of the way through, the story seems to lose its focus for a while before picking up for a strong finish. There are a couple of head scratchers that don't quite pay off as far as I could tell, one character who serves as a nice Expanded Universe tie-in, but was probably introduced too late to have as much character development as they could have, and a twist with one character midway through that had almost no impact on the story.
Overall, though, it works, from its take on Maul's perspective as he experiences physical difficulties and fear of failing his master, to the setting itself, with its strange geography and hidden terrors. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, especially when it was first announced, and was pleasantly surprised. If this is one of the final books before a new era in EU literature, it's sending it out on a high note.
8 out of 10
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Raimi's Spider-Man Trilogy
The last post I had was a terrific trailer concerning Nolan's Batman trilogy. Well, before Batman, we got a trilogy of superhero films starring Marvel's most iconic hero, Spider-Man. Now, it's pretty close to consensus that Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy isn't quite on the level of quality of Nolan's Batman, especially when you throw in its weakest entry, Spider-Man 3 (side note: I do have to say that it's refreshing to have a set of movies content with doing just the Title, Number format. In a world of Dark Knights Rising, Trekking Into Darkness, Last Stands, Winter Soldiers, Dinosaurs Dawning, Shrek Forever After, etc, it's nice that we just got Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3. I'd also like to thank Toy Story). But there was a lot to like in this colorful, sometimes campy, but very sincere portrayal of the old webslinger.
We must also remember just how important the success and popularity of Spider-Man was to the rash of comic book movies we've had since. If X-Men showed that superhero movies could be serious and cool, Spider-Man showed that and that they could be wildly popular. So we can thank Sam Raimi (and to an extent, Bryan Singer) for Nolan's Batman trilogy, Marvel's Iron Man to Avengers universe, and everything in between.
In that spirit, here's another trilogy trailer, this time for Raimi's Spider-Man:
BTW, Spider-Man 2 is still one of my favorite superhero films. And its trailer is still one of the coolest out there.
We must also remember just how important the success and popularity of Spider-Man was to the rash of comic book movies we've had since. If X-Men showed that superhero movies could be serious and cool, Spider-Man showed that and that they could be wildly popular. So we can thank Sam Raimi (and to an extent, Bryan Singer) for Nolan's Batman trilogy, Marvel's Iron Man to Avengers universe, and everything in between.
In that spirit, here's another trilogy trailer, this time for Raimi's Spider-Man:
BTW, Spider-Man 2 is still one of my favorite superhero films. And its trailer is still one of the coolest out there.
The Dark Knight Trilogy
Some videos work oh so well. This trailer for the entire Nolan Dark Knight trilogy, where we see the three films combined and meshed with scenes and dialogue, make me realize just how well that world they built fits together. Just fantastic:
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Gotye - Somebodies: A YouTube Orchestra
So, in my move over from my LJ account to this one, I'm going to rustle up my old favorite videos and repost them here. I figure it'll be easier to have them over on this blog and I won't have to go digging them up over there so much. So, here's the first, the multiple online artists covering Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know". It's a nice mashup.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Looking back on A Storm of Swords
I think it's time to admit that I'm done with my Livejournal blog. No one reads it, I don't have any interest in maintaining it, and though I have fewer readers at this blog, at least blogspot gets traffic, so you never know. I've been putting off this blog post for some time, so it's time to get to it.
I've never been the most avid reader. I've wanted to be; I've read lists of my friends who seem to be reading classic novels all the time and telling how it's changed their lives this week. I wanted to read these classics and see how such things would make me more intellectual. Maybe read Ulysses and figure out what the big deal with Bloomsday is. Gabriel Garcia Marquez and whoever wrote The Wasp Factory. But I also want to keep up with great television, independent movies, blockbusters, the latest video games, study to by a physicist, lose weight, and explore the beauty of my current state of residence. There's not enough time in life for all of those things, so many of them have to give.
So, you can see why when HBO began their hit TV show Game of Thrones, I was skeptical that I would ever find the time and will to read the books on which they're based. I was especially skeptical after watching the first two seasons. The story is amazing and rich and fascinating, but I didn't think I would want to read stories which I'd already seen onscreen. I'd done so with The Lord of the Rings and as a result realized that I liked the movies more than the classic books they were based on. But I finally did. I checked out Martin's first book, got the audiobook and began reading and listening. One thing I realized is that if I really like the story, I don't want to hear it on audiobook. I discovered this with a Star Wars book a tried to listen to a few years ago and rediscovered it with A Game of Thrones. Audiobooks work for some, but with me, I feel that I need to read the words to get the full experience, to have it in my head and my head alone. As a result, I read A Clash of Kings more than I listened to its audio and I marveled at just how different the show had gone from that book. Perhaps if I'd read the book first, I would have been put off by the changes, but I actually like many of the changes the show made, particularly in Dany's story.
Then came A Storm of Swords, a story for which I was rather spoiled in many aspects and which I must put a SPOILER WARNING from here on out. So, SPOILER WARNING for A Storm of Swords as well as for a major revelation in A Dance With Dragons. If you have not yet read ASoS and don't want to be spoiled, don't read on as I'm reacting quite a lot to events that take place in that book. I'll warn you again when I get to the Dance with Dragons spoiler and speculation that spawns from here on out.
Still reading? This is your last chance...
Okay...
I've never been the most avid reader. I've wanted to be; I've read lists of my friends who seem to be reading classic novels all the time and telling how it's changed their lives this week. I wanted to read these classics and see how such things would make me more intellectual. Maybe read Ulysses and figure out what the big deal with Bloomsday is. Gabriel Garcia Marquez and whoever wrote The Wasp Factory. But I also want to keep up with great television, independent movies, blockbusters, the latest video games, study to by a physicist, lose weight, and explore the beauty of my current state of residence. There's not enough time in life for all of those things, so many of them have to give.
So, you can see why when HBO began their hit TV show Game of Thrones, I was skeptical that I would ever find the time and will to read the books on which they're based. I was especially skeptical after watching the first two seasons. The story is amazing and rich and fascinating, but I didn't think I would want to read stories which I'd already seen onscreen. I'd done so with The Lord of the Rings and as a result realized that I liked the movies more than the classic books they were based on. But I finally did. I checked out Martin's first book, got the audiobook and began reading and listening. One thing I realized is that if I really like the story, I don't want to hear it on audiobook. I discovered this with a Star Wars book a tried to listen to a few years ago and rediscovered it with A Game of Thrones. Audiobooks work for some, but with me, I feel that I need to read the words to get the full experience, to have it in my head and my head alone. As a result, I read A Clash of Kings more than I listened to its audio and I marveled at just how different the show had gone from that book. Perhaps if I'd read the book first, I would have been put off by the changes, but I actually like many of the changes the show made, particularly in Dany's story.
Then came A Storm of Swords, a story for which I was rather spoiled in many aspects and which I must put a SPOILER WARNING from here on out. So, SPOILER WARNING for A Storm of Swords as well as for a major revelation in A Dance With Dragons. If you have not yet read ASoS and don't want to be spoiled, don't read on as I'm reacting quite a lot to events that take place in that book. I'll warn you again when I get to the Dance with Dragons spoiler and speculation that spawns from here on out.
Still reading? This is your last chance...
Okay...
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Nolan Worlds Collide
The Dark Knight Rises is still over a month away, but the excitement is undoubtedly building. When the second trailer debuted a few months back, someone made this nice little video combining clips from Nolan's Batman trilogy with a voiceover from The Prestige. And it works.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
The Stars in Us
Neil deGrasse Tyson talks about the most astounding fact in his minad and someone sets it to a beautiful video.
So, feel large. Feel significant. Because we are.
The Spot
Hello, Blogspot! Might as well join the crowd and start one here. I've had a livejournal forever, so why not start one of these, too? We have liftoff.
Oh, wait, it's called blogger now. Okay then.
Oh, wait, it's called blogger now. Okay then.
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