Day 11 is The Rocketeer!



People tend to forget, or were to young to know, that the early 90s brought a plethora of comic book-based movies and options. The success of Batman had Hollywood optioning comic books left and right; not just at DC and Marvel; but also at the then-more vibrant indies. Dave Stevens, who had worked in Hollywood, found himself with an offer to turn his creation into a film. An what a film it was!



The film captures the tone from the start and, apart from the FX work, looks like it could have been done in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Blill Campbell was the spitting image of Cliff Secord and he got the character right. Timothy Dalton rocked an Errol Flynn impression, Alan Arkin added nice touches of humor and Jennifer Connoly essayed a sweet, if toned down Betty, renamed Jenny. It tweaked things here and there (Jenny is an aspiring actress, not pin-up model) and some were inspired, like making the rocket pack's creator Howard Hughes, since Doc Savage couldn't be used. My only quibble is that Peevy's characterization was off; but, with Arkin's portrayal, you didn't care. Joe Johnston took his Indian Jones experience and brought this to life. Too bad Disney didn't promote it. It is one of the finest adaptations ever!

I watched it again last night as well, and it was my choice for yesterday. Synchronicity at work I guess.

-M

I watched it again a week or so ago and it came up from my "also ran" to position #2...

#2 Thor: the dark world



First, on a personal note... I saw this movie with my oldest son, and since it was many weeks after the movie's release there were only the two of us in the theatre. It became a running gag between us, because there were like five people when we watched John Carter... It's like whenever we go see a film together, we have the place to ourselves! Something that, alas, happens less and less often as he's getting older and now has his own life. The dark world would therefore be important to me if there were no other reason. 

Now the movie itself... Thor was my favourite Marvel hero for a very long time, and I still retain a lot of affection for him. The mix of superheroics and mythology always held a lot of appeal for me. I had enjoyed the first Thor movie somewhat, but not as much as, say, Iron Man or The Avengers. (I grew to like it more after a second viewing, but that's a different story). Going to see The dark world, I had low expectations... Pretty much just being lightly entertained for two hours.

But... WOW!!! After a so-so beginning ripping off a scene from Troy, the film kept getting better and better, until I found myself thrilled!!!

What made it so good? Where to begin? First, the hero is actually heroic and sympathetic in this one, not having to go through the redemption story arc of the first movie. The supporting cast has little screen time, but every minute they get makes them shine; they are all shown as true friends, ready to sacrifice themselves for each other. Fandral is as dashing as he should be; Sif is true and fierce and ready to put her own wishes aside to help Thor and Jane; Volstagg is boisterous and joyfully carefree; Heimdall is as cool as... well, as Idris Elba. Darcy is as amusingly nuts as in the first film, and is now granted her own bumbling sidecick; and finally Eric is hilarious in his imbalanced fear of having gods in his head.

But that's only the start... The real thing that makes this film so good is the great chemistry between Thor and Loki. Loki is, without a doubt, the single most interesting villain (some would say character) in the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe). Tom Hiddleston is the Norse trickster god, the same way Robert Downey Jr. gave us the definitive Tony Stark. And in this film, he gets to really shine.

So many good lines, so many good exchanges...

Volstagg: "If you even think about betraying him..."
Loki: "You'll... kill me? Evidently, there will be a line".


Loki: "I thought you said you knew how to fly one of these things"
Thor (angry): "I said «how hard can it be?»".


Loki (infuriatingly parental): "Don't hit it; press it gently"
Thor (angrier!): "I AM pressing it gently!" (hits buttons).


Loki (critical of Thor's piloting): "I think you missed a column".


Loki (looking at the fallen Jane): "Oh dear. Is she dead?"


Loki (admiringly): "You lied to me. I'm impressed!"


Hiddleston was very close to stealing the entire show!

My favourite scene is when we find his reaction to his mother's death, and his exchange with Thor over it. That was brilliantly played, and reached a depth of emotion rarely seen in an action movie. It is not uncommon to have characters grieve for a fallen friend... but here Frigga's death had an extra dimension; it went far beyond the death of Coulson in The Avengers. It was more than a sad event prompting the heroes to outdo themselves... it was Thor and Loki's mother, for heaven's sake. Frigga's funeral was also a thing of beauty, a rare moment in an action film.

The film is extremely good at defusing what could be corny scenes with moments of light-hearted fun. It struck a perfect balance between the two, I thought, and knew just when it was appropriate to have a dramatic moment stay dramatic (Frigga's death, Loki's death) and when it was appropriate to defuse it (Thor and Jane finding themselves stranded forever and ever in the dark world). 

Even the painted end credits looked
awesome!

Perfectly cast, with great visuals, great action, great drama, great character moments, cool music... This is my favourite MCU movie.

2. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Much like X-Men, I thought the first Spider-Man film was great, capturing much of what I loved about the comic, but annoying flawed. In particular, I could not get into that vision of the Green Goblin and the action finale didn't work for me at all.

And much like X-Men, the second film kept everything great about the first one and fixed most of the flaws.

Dr. Octopus wasn't quite the Dr. Octopus from the comics, but he sure looked the part and was a great villain in his own right. The mentor scientist driven insane by an experiment gone wrong. Basically Dr. Octopus with a bit of Lizard thrown in.



The movie drew bits and pieces from some of the best Spider-Man comics. Power loss tied to lack of confidence right out of the Sinister Six story from Amazing Spider-Man annual 1. Deciding to quit being Spider-Man right out of Amazing Spider-Man #18, with the costume-in-trash moment taken right out of Spider-Man No More! from Amazing Spider-Man #50.

Rosemary Harris is wonderful as Aunt May. She gets a couple great scenes in the film, one where Peter finally tells her (part of) the truth about Ben's death, and another where she gives Peter a speech about heroism.

The single best adaptation of any comic character I have ever seen up on screen is J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson. In fact, I think Simmons might just be Jameson and I think he's Jameson every time I see him. Jameson as baseball coach in For Love of the Game. Jameson as band teacher in Whiplash. The recent film La La Land just had him be Jameson running a restaurant:
"You're fired!"
"It's Christmas!"
"Yeah, I see the decorations. Get out."



I thought Tobey Maguire was a great Spider-Man. (But Tom Holland is better)

And the movie basically just tells the basic Spider-Man story. The heart of Spider-Man is the message, "With great power comes great responsibility." It's a call to moral obligation. But the series makes it clear the phrase is more of a question than answer. Because one must then learn to balance different responsibilities, including responsibilities to others and responsibilities to oneself. The story of Spider-Man is ultimately a Taoist quest.

And that's what we see in the film. He's saving the day as Spider-Man, but getting fired from jobs, doing poorly in classes, struggling to make the rent, not being there for friends, and not able to be with the girl of his dreams. So he gives up being Spider-Man and finds everything else falls into place. But that's not the right answer either, it turns out. Balance.

This is the greatest superhero movie ever without contender (until Spider-Man Homecoming comes out next year)

Is it perfect? Sadly no. It has one glaring flaw which permeates the film and trilogy. Nothing involving Mary Jane works. Kirsten Dunst's performance is lackluster. But the script she's given to perform explains why. There is absolutely no chemistry in the supposed romance. This is one thing the generally inferior Amazing Spider-Man films did right. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone genuinely looked ready to jump each other's bones once the scene wrapped. Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire looked like they went and rinsed their mouths out in disgust after kissing. Worst onscreen romance since Star Wars Attack of the Clones.

When I first got to work making the list, I immediately filled this into the #1 spot and then began working on a shortlist to draw the other 11 entries from. So how did this end up at #2...

Agreed!!!

Seeing these coming up I  just gotta say that ...ummm...I don't get your(American that is) obsession with Charlie Brown. The strips, maybe, but I've never found anything overly endearing in the cartoons.

I'm just going to duck out the back door now to avoid the missiles...