Year of the Gargoyle!

Well, 2014 has been around for a bit, and it's not been TOO obnoxious thus far. Furthermore, Chinese New Year has been around for a few days, and it also doesn't seem all that bad. But it's not the Year of the Horse, like everyone is saying. No, no...

It's the Year of the Gargoyle.

That's right- in October 2014, Disney's Gargoyles will be celebrating it's 20th Anniversary. So, to commemorate, all my posts in 2014 will  be Disney-centric, focusing on Gargoyles, other Disney films that skew towards geeks and nerds, Marvel, Star Wars, and other things.

In the meantime, what can YOU do to celebrate? Here's a list...

1) BUY THE DVD'S!- Season 2, Volume 2 is now available after a wait of nine years, so now is the perfect time to get caught up. Furthermore, these are the unedited, original broadcast versions, so that's awesome. And if you haven't gotten the previous installments yet, what are you waiting for? After you buy and watch and enjoy, go to Disney Movie Rewards; every Disney DVD has a code that you redeem for points that can be used for neat swag. This also lets Disney know that people are buying them.

2) Take to Social Media!- Talk about how much you love Gargoyles on your Tumblrs and Twitters and Facebooks and share! Use the hashtag #Gargoyles20.

3) Show your love!- Do something fun? You like fanfiction? Write some Gargoyles fanfiction. Are you an artist? Draw some Gargoyles! Planning a trip to one of the Disney Parks? Take some of your Gargoyles merch and snap some pictures. Bonus points if you get one with one of the characters down there, like so....

Yes, I took Gargoyles comics to Walt Disney World with the sole intention of getting a picture of Belle reading them. You will never be that geeky.

So, stay tuned, and let's make 2014 the year that Gargoyles "LIVE AGAIN!"

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies- A Review!

Today, I'd like to talk about another of DC's direct-to-dvd animated features, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Adapted from the story by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Ed McGuinness, the story revolves around Superman and Batman trying to blow up a meteor while being branded as outlaws by President Lex Luthor. This film is notable for the voice cast; many of the voice actors from previous series produced by Bruce Timm have returned to once again portray their characters. They are Kevin Conroy (Batman from pretty much everything produced by Bruce Timm), Tim Daly (Superman from Superman: The Animated Series), Clancy Brown (Lex Luthor from the same Superman series, plus the two Justice League series), and CCH Pounder (Amanda Waller from Justice League Unlimited). So, yes, the cast is very good. But how's the movie.

In short, Public Enemies is very, very, VERY gay. I don't mean "gay" in the perjorative sense, mind you. Though I, on occasion, use "gay" as a negative term (mainly because I went to a public high school), in general I think it's in poor taste. The gay and lesbian community in this great nation of ours helps to maintain our cultural diversity, and their contributions cannot be overstated.

When I say that Public Enemies is gay, I mean that the theme of the film appears to be about how much Superman and Batman desperately want to have sex with each other. Now, the original comic had some homoerotic subtext, as has been commented on by very scholarly works, but the animated feature cranks it up to eleven. Public Enemies is like the Elton John Birthday Party of animated features. There's Batman's sudden shift in attitude whenever Lois gets mentioned, for instance. Or, the thrilling conclusion, where the two protagonists shoot each other a look that suggests that Superman is about to crash land his rocket into the Batcave, if you catch me drift.

Now, overall, Timm and company are generally faithful to the original story, though it's trimmed down a bit for time. There are two major changes to the plot, however. First, they changed why Superman is branded an outlaw by Lex. In the comics, it goes a little something like this...

LEX: You know kryptonite, that rock that's basically poison to Superman? There's a HUGE chunk of it coming to Earth that will kill us all; Superman is clearly behind it- ARREST HIM!

Granted, the populace of the DC Universe has never been known for being overly intelligent, but I find this a bit much. In the film, they change it to Superman being framed for murder, and do so in a fairly clever fashion.

The other major change regards Captain Atom. In the comic, he's arguably the most important character after Supers, Bats, and Lex; he ultimately saves the day. However, that would fail to impress upon the viewer how awesome the power of Superman and Batman's bromance truly is, so Cap is pretty much relegated to background duty.

They kept most of the choice bits of Jeph Loeb's dialogue, and there are some great action scenes, but for the most part, this film feels like it's missing something. Maybe it's the run time; it's only about 10 minutes shorter than the average for the rest of the DC features, but it feels really rushed. Or maybe it's because a lot of the big moments have been done better before. President Lex vs. the Superheroes was better on Justice League Unlimited, and Superman saving Batman after Batman saves the world was done better in the Justice League episode Starcrossed.

Honestly, I didn't love this. It's not bad, but I wouldn't recommend buying it. It's good for a rental, but that's about it.

Green Lantern: First Flight- A Review!

Hello, all! I hope everyone had a Mighty Christmas! Anyway, now that the festivities have died down, I've decided to get started on one of my New Year's Resolutions- to get caught up on reviews for the DC Direct animated features. Since I left off with Wonder Woman, logically, the next review should be for the next one in the series, so here's my review of Green Lantern: First Flight.

Now, before we really begin, let me state that I'm not a huge fan of either Hal Jordan or the Green Lantern Corps, and this movie features both in abundance.

With Hal, I don't necessarily dislike him; he's just always come across as REALLY dull. The CONCEPT of Green Lantern is awesome, but Hal is as bland as white bread. He's basically a blank slate of a character who's easily adapted to whoever he's paired with, which is why he's a free-willing guy with Barry Allen, a straight-laced guy with Green Arrow, and a witless punching bag with Batman. (Seriously, Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner have a more nuanced relationship dynamic than Hal and Bats.)

Oh, Frank Miller. To think there was a time when your stories weren't (pardon the expression) bats*** crazy.

Honestly, he was only interesting with Emerald Twilight and beyond. My real hatred lies with the Hal fanboys, who blatantly ignore past continuity and characterization and continue to proclaim how great Hal was. Seriously, they even spent thousands of dollars to clear Hal's good name (but that's a blog post for another day).

So, I don't like Hal, but I don't hate him. However, I HATE the Corps. Every lame alien concept EVER has showed up there. They've had dogs, chipmunks, talking mushrooms, fish guys, and I think something that looked like a carrot, and that's just the tip of the fecal iceberg. The real tragedy of Emerald Twilight is not that Hal went crazy and killed them all, it's that it took him that long to do so. The Corps is awful, and I hate them. Except Mogo. Mogo is the bomb, yo.

Having said all that, I have to say that both Hal and the Corps are used to good effect in this movie. Now, on to an actual plot synopsis.

Hal, hotshot test pilot, gets a magic ring from a dying alien. He's taken into space to meet the Green Lantern Corps, a group of space police, of which Hal is now a member. He's trained by Sinestro who, as luck would have it, is actually EEEEVIL. Sinestro gets a yellow magic ring, hijinx ensue, and Hal saves the day. Spoilers!

Playing Hal Jordan is Christopher Meloni, who you might remember from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The role of Hal fits Meloni like a pair of comfy jeans. Makes sense, as Hal's basically a cop, and Meloni's been playing cops for something like a decade now.

And then there's Victor Garber as Sinestro. I'm not sure what you would call the voice acting equivalent of chewing scenery, but Garber does it marvelously here. Then there's Michael Madsen as Kilowog; he doe a good job, but I get the feeling he just showed up, read his lines, and collected his paycheck. A harsh statement, perhaps, but he IS in the "Anything for a Buck" phase of his career (how else do you explain Bloodrayne?). There's quite a few more name talents in this, but those are the most notable performances.

As for the style, the animation kicks ass, and the artists really go nuts with the GL ring constructs. While there are a few giant fists, generally, Hal is shown to use his ring in a very creative fashion- at one point, he makes a steel chair to whallop an alien criminal (ECW! ECW!). And the climactic final battle is everything you would hope it would be in a Green Lantern feature- giant energy constructs, cosmic whoop-ass, planets getting thrown around... It gives me a shudder of nerd-ecstasy just thinking about it!

Now, some folks have criticized how the film is practically ALL in space. Take this quote from IGN.com's review- "The filmmakers seem less interested in his transition from an ordinary man into a intergalactic superhero, and in their eagerness to get him up into space and fighting aliens right away, the charm of the origin story is somewhat lost." They're absolutely right! Oh, if only Bruce Timm and company had made an animated feature that showcases how Hal goes from test pilot to space hero!!! The folly!

Really, the only problem I have with the film is a little change to the mythology. In the film, when a Green Lantern dies, their rings fly back to Oa. This BLATANTLY contradicts the opening scene, where Abin Sur dies and the ring goes off to find a successor. The whole things seems concocted to sidestep the "Well, why doesn't Sinestro just kill so-and-so when he has the chance?" argument. On the other hand, there's a really neat scene after Sinestro gets his yellow ring and scores of rings start falling on Oa. Still, I don't think that was terribly neccesary.

Overall, First Flight is a solid piece of animation. It's fun, action-packed, and not nearly as violent as previous endeavors (no one vomits blood or gets decapitated; most of the deaths occur off-screen). I may not be the biggest Hal fan, but he makes being green seem easy.

They bump back.

So, Starz has been showing some of the Hellboy animated movies on their various channels (namely Encore and Movieplex) and they're pretty awesome. I watched Blood and Iron yesterday, and it was very cool. Now, it had a lot of flashbacks that didn't seem fully integrated to the main story. They were related to the story, certainly, but their placement throughout felt slap-dash and haphazard. They detracted more than added to the tale.

The animation is solid. It's kind of a cross between Mignola's original style and the style popularized by the various Bruce Timm animated projects, and it works.

And, of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the voice talent. Actors from the live-action films, such as Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Selma Blair, and John Hurt, join veteran voice acting talent. Overall, this provides a top notch voice cast that really shines.

I also caught the last half of Sword and Storms today, which is similarly good, though having missed half of it, I'm hesitant to comment on it fully. On the other hand, the parts I did see had Hellboy fighting a bunch of Japanese demons, like the kappa, so that's pretty cool. Of course, Hellboy is pretty cool regardless, so that probably goes without saying.

Gargoyles Season 2 Volume 1 DVD Review!

As I mentioned previously, Season 2 of Gargoyles is when the series went from "pretty cool" to "so friggin' awesome I can't wait for the next episode when is it on already?!?". This volume collects the first 26 of the total 52 episodes for Season 2. As for the rest of the season, Disney hates their fans and consumers. I kid, of course, but seriously Disney, GET ON THAT.

Anyway, this season is awesome for several reasons. First, the cosmology and history of the series is expanded upon, creating a rich tapestry, so much so that they had SEVEN spin-off pitches. More importantly, this season is where they broke the rules. Traditionally in cartoons, the good guys win and the bad guys lose. In Season 2, however, there are episodes where that's reversed. The bad guys win sometimes, and the heroes have to face their failures. It's deep stuff. Similarly, the series' antagonists pretty much own this season. They're fleshed out, given origins and, more importantly, goals and even redeeming qualities. They may be bad guys, but they're not "bad guys". There are points in the show where I was more anxious to learn what happened to the villains than the heroes ("Xanatos and Fox are gonna have a baby? Whoa!").

The regular cast from the first season continues to deliver this season, and they're aided by a new cast member, Brigitte Bako as Angela, Goliath's long lost daughter, and a host of impressive guest stars, including Tim Curry, the late and great Mssrs. Darren McGavin, Robert Culp, and Paul Winfield, Sheena Easton (rrooawr!), James Belushi, a whole host of Star Trek cast members, and more.

As for special features, all episodes feature optional introductions from co-creator Greg Weisman, in which he gives a little background about the production of the episode. There's also a feature that... uh... features the voice actors, which is entertaining. Finally, there's commentary on the four-part "City of Stone" storyline, which is cool, as that's one of the series' better arcs. First, it's action packed and features the origins of not one but TWO of the series' main baddies. Second, it's educational. While in high school, way back in '96, we were reading MacBeth in my English class. "City of Stone" is ACTUALLY about MacBeth, and they were rerunning the arc on tv at the same time. I mentioned this to my teacher, and she had seen it and commended the show on the historical accuracy regarding the real MacBeth. So, parents, Gargoyles is not just an action-adventure series, but an educational action-adventure series.

All in all, Season 2 Volume 1 is FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC. If there are any holdouts who haven't picked this up yet because they're also waiting for Volume 2, well, it's been five years; if Disney will ever release (please God!), they need to think there's profit in doing so.

Gargoyles Season 1 DVD Review

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, Gargoyles was one of the best damn shows ever. And this is were it all began. This DVD contains all 13 episodes from the first season. The first five episodes comprise a five-part story, "Awakening", which pretty much sets up the entire premise of the show. The next eight are one shots, usually focusing on one specific character. These are a bit more episodic than what we'd get in Season 2, so you can watch them out of order, if absolutely necessary. Of course, this is the DVD, so there's no reason not to watch them out of order, so I don't know why I even mentioned it.

The main thrust of the story is that gargoyles are real. One thousand years ago in Scotland, a clan of these gargoyles was wiped out. Six survived only to be turned to stone for a millenia. They awaken in New York City, befriend a policewoman, and begin to fight crime. Much kicking of butt ensues.

One of the selling points on the back of the DVD is that the show features cast members from Star Trek, which is kinda true. As far as recurring characters go, there are only two cast members from The Next Generation, Jonathan Frakes as David Xanatos, and Marina Sirtis as Demona. They're both villains, and they're awesome in the roles. Two other Star Trek alums have guest appearances. Of course, in Season 2, there a LOT more   Star Trek cast members showing up, but that's for a later review.

As far as special features go, there's a documentary focusing on one of the Gathering conventions, where Gargoyles fans get together with the stars and creators of the show. Neat stuff. There's also a video of the original show pitch, which is cool. Finally, There's commentary on the first five episodes from a few of the folks who worked on the show, including co-creator Greg Weisman and Keith David, who voiced the show's main protagonist Goliath. It's AWESOME.

Overal, if you want an action-packed cartoon that doesn't skimp on story, drama or characterization, buy this DVD. If you own it already, remember, it makes a great gift for birthdays, graduations, and Father's Day. It's one of my favorite shows of all time, definitely in the top five, so trust me when I say it's worth owning.