Movie Review: The A-Team and Killers

THE A-TEAM

Quick synopsis: Hannibal, BA, Face, and Murdock are The A-Team – a military unit that “specializes in the ridiculous” in Iraq. When the team is framed for a crime they didn’t commit they escape from maximum security prison and try to clear their names. Gushots and explosions ensue.

HANNIBAL
Good: Like George Peppard before him, Liam Neeson brings confidence and humor to the team’s cigar-chomping leader.
Bad: Shoots BA in the arm right after meeting him.

BA
Good: Sorry Mr. T, but this BA has more range even if he’s less threatening.
Bad: Let’s see…becomes pacifist, weird Mohawk origin, and was he some kind of car thief at the beginning of the movie or something (I didn’t catch it)?

FACE
Good: Face is still the guy who can get anything he wants with either his looks or his charm.
Bad: The Captain Sosa subplot distracts from the fact that Face is supposed to be a ladies man.

MURDOCK
Good: Over-the-top Howling Mad Murdock worked in the 80’s but the toned down crazy man is just right for the film.
Bad: Not enough stuff for Murdock to do. As the pilot, he usually comes in after the action. Even the final fight only shows Murdock at the end even though there’s no aircraft in it.

THE VAN
Good: Great to see BA’s ride for a little while – great homage to the original.
Bad: Gets destroyed – which I guess is okay because for the rest of the film there’s no opportunity to use it anyway.

CAPTAIN SOSA
Good: She serves as great back-story for Face while becoming a large source of support for the team.
Bad: At first, when she and Face are reunited, it’s the typical, “We dated and I’m angry,” stuff. As the story progresses though, you discover that it was Sosa who’s at fault which is a refreshing change from the usual “it’s the guy’s fault” subplot. So while it starts bad, it becomes good.

LYNCH
Good: The TV version spent his time chasing the team, always getting outsmarted. The movie version is usually one step ahead and has superior numbers, firearms, and tech than The A-Team.
Bad: I don’t know if this is bad – it’s probably just because I saw a similar bad guy in The Losers – but the happy-go-lucky villain annoyed me.

GENERAL MORRISON
Good: Nice to see Gerald McRaney (another staple of 80’s television (Simon & Simon anyone?)).
Bad: More plot device than character, General Morrison is the one who okay’s the team’s final mission and is killed before he can vouch for team.

PIKE
Good: He should have been the main villain – a bad ass who’s the only character in the film to take BA down.
Bad: As with Captain Sosa, I think seeing a little less of him would’ve added to the impact.

CAMEOS
Good: There is a scene with Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz (the original Face and Murdock).
Bad: The scene was cut and only runs after the credits.

ACTION SCENES
Good: The action scenes were consistently over-the-top like a James Bond movie so it wasn’t ‘unrealistic’ in that universe (would have been distracting if they mixed ‘could happen’ with ‘could never happen’).
Bad: The fight scenes were that shaky-fast-cut garbage that makes everything look like a three year old is directing.

ACTION FIGURES
Good: Pretty decent likenesses and detailing and they’re in scale with Marvel Universe, Star Wars, and GI Joe 3 ¾ inch figures. For anyone stuck playing with the 80’s figures (remember Murdock had the bright orange jumpsuit and goofy grin), this is a real treat. The van is incredible too – it plays different sound clips depending on who you put in the front seat.
Bad: The Face figure has a suit – I was hoping for him to be geared up like he was in Iraq. He looks like a hit man with the suit and black gloves. And no Captain Sosa figure? What’s up with that?

So did I like the film? In the words of one BA Baracus, “Oh hell yeah, Hannibal.” It’s like a big-budget, two-hour episode of the show. It moved quickly and never took itself too seriously while establishing a real, lasting, reason for the team to be on the run. I would have liked a longer ending with Captain Sosa becoming the fifth member of the team (not a secondary character like Amy Allen or Tawnia Baker) on the run with them for her help in escaping. Still, I loved the original series and I still love the characters after all these years. See it in theatres because it didn’t open big so there probably won’t be a sequel. I’m looking forward to putting the Blu Ray next to my new DVD collector’s set of the original series.

The five members of The A-Team: Hannibal, BA, Face, Murdock, and the van.

KILLERS

Quick synopsis: Spencer, a spy, hooks up with normal-girl, Jen, and leaves the business behind to be with her. When Spencer’s old boss dies, he and Jen are endangered by the assassins (all of whom are their friends, co-workers, and neighbors) who come out of the woodwork to claim the bounty on his head, and he is forced to tell Jen about his past.

SPENCER
Good: I could easily see Ashton Kutcher doing more action movies.
Bad: This adds to the string of romantic comedies he’s done that are neither romantic nor very funny.

JEN
Good: When Jen does something good during an action scene, it’s fun to see her smile and celebrate a little – it’s rare we get to see that first. The last time I can remember is in True Lies after Jamie Lee Curtis mows down a bunch of bad guys with an uzi she drops and has a moment after where she grins sheepishly as though she’s saying “How about that?”
Bad: Jen was more plot device than character and her reactions became irritating.

THE PARENTS
Good: Eh. Nothing.
Bad: No personalities. Tom Selleck is severe and unfriendly and Catherine O’Hara has a slightly larger alcoholic beverage each time she appears on-screen.

So did I like the film? Although it had some nice action scenes and one or two laughs, unless you’re a huge Kutcher or Heigl fan, skip it. The story goes from light and entertaining to unbelievable when it ends (at feels like the midpoint) with an explanation (the villain reveal) that made me go, “Wait, what?” There was no big fight against a worthy adversary or big action piece, just a conversation you won’t understand because when Tom Selleck is revealed to be the person who green-lit Spencer, you will want to scream at the screen, “Then why didn’t you tell your assassins not to shoot at your daughter?” Wait until this comes to a pay channel and watch it for free – or better yet, there wasn’t much cursing so you can wait until it goes to cable TV.

Ugh. Definitely wait until it comes to cable TV.

Bad Fortune

Today I went to Pick Up Stix (it's won-ton Wednesday and I need my fix) and got this in the fortune cookie:

Next time might I suggest gender neutral pronouns. Jerk.

Just for the record - Speedball likes the ladies. In fact, this seems like a good time to write about them.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my favorite show. For seven seasons I got to know and love these characters as the stakes got higher and the bad guys got closer to killing them all. Of course Buffy isn't the only woman I love from that show, there's also Willow, Faith, Dawn, Anya, Cordy, Tara, and Kennedy.

Alias is one of my favorite shows. Since season two it was always on the brink of cancellation but it kept getting renewed until we had five seasons and a complete story. Sydney Bristow was played to the hilt by Jennifer Garner who picked up an Emmy for best actress in the first season.

No list would be complete without the underappreciated gem, Dark Angel. For two short seasons Max kicked ass and tried to help out her fellow transgenics (the closest thing to having an X-Men TV show). It also introduced geeks to their goddess: Jessica Alba.

Of course there's the amazing women of Firefly/Serenity. Each character is so different but each has the other's back no matter what. As far as the list goes, I've met all four in person and they're so much fun and sweet in person.

Iron Man 2 and Kick Ass reviews

The quick review is just where I go over elements of the movie and name something good and something bad about that element (because what am I Roger Ebert?). Then I expand on something bad and something good. Now that we got the rules down, here we go.

IRON MAN 2

Quick synopsis: Tony’s back and dealing with the political aftermath of publicly coming out as Iron Man. Ivan Vanko designs his own armor and goes after Tony for revenge. The element that Tony uses to power the arc reactor is poisoning his blood. James Rhodes, disturbed by Tony’s erratic behavior, takes the Mark II armor which the military turns into War Machine. Tony has to figure out a way to cure himself, defeat Vanko, and save the day…and gets to make out with Pepper.

IRON MAN

Good: Lots of fun action scenes

Bad: A little too much running in the final scene when the drones were able to be taken out in one shot.

TONY STARK
Good: Great dialogue – still as quirky as ever.
Bad: Getting drunk at his birthday party in the Iron Man armor (Peter Parker singing and dancing in Spider-Man 3 anyone?).

WAR MACHINE
Good: I like the origin – stealing the armor and having Tony’s enemy upgrade the weapons was a nice twist.
Bad: Being taken over by Vanko. Kind of useless considering he didn’t really get to do much damage to Iron Man.

JAMES RHODES
Good: Self-confident throughout the film – consistent – you completely understand why this guy has the code to Tony’s armor room.
Bad: Rhodey saw what the element core was physically doing to Tony and didn’t figure out what was going on as Tony’s best friend.

PEPPER POTTS
Good: Fantastic dialogue, a new role as CEO, and more screen time are not wasted. It’s always good to see her.
Bad: I know it would have ruined the ‘you’re dying?’ reveal at the end, but, as the person who knows Tony the best, she should have known something was very wrong with him.

HAPPY HOGAN
Good: He’s always eager to follow whatever order is given him and get involved when needed.
Bad: Nothing. Happy is just there to provide friendship and support to the characters without dragging the plot.

IVAN VANKO
Good: He didn’t say much so you hung on every word – even when he seemed amused you always got the sense that he was dangerous.
Bad: Not enough screen time and a final battle that was over much too quickly.

JUSTIN HAMMER
Good: I can’t think of a good Justin Hammer scene.
Bad: Ugh. Everything. He’s just an annoying weasel that you never take seriously and a weak foil for Tony.

NATASHA ROMANOV
Good: The costume. It’s what every fanboy hoped for.
Bad: Taking Happy down with a ninja-krav maga-Mr. Miyagi move (way to keep your status as a spy on the down-low).

NICK FURY
Good: There’s a good conversation at the end about The Avengers Initiative.
Bad: The whole scene at the donut store and at the mansion – having Tony find his own solution would have been better for the character.

EASTER EGGS
Good: Tony’s Malibu Mansion is the site of the West Coast Avengers Headquarters, Captain America’s shield (I bet we find out why it got destroyed in the Captain America movie), Thor’s hammer.
Bad: It would have been nice if Nick Fury had said whether Bruce Banner or Natasha Romanov were on the Avengers roster – guess we’ll have to wait.

ACTION FIGURES
Good: Every film version of the armor – really detailed, articulated, and awesome – and great figures of the comic book versions of the characters.
Bad: Some of the concept armors are odd looking (Inferno Armor?).

The biggest problem I had with the movie: Nick Fury gives Tony the means to create a new element. Fury suggests that has information straight from Tony’s own father that will help him solve his problem. Tony’s problem is he has a power source in his chest that’s toxic to him and his father not only foresaw Tony putting an arc reactor in his chest but created an element and hid the formula in a model for him to create sometime in the future? That’s more stretching than Mr. Fantastic himself could do.

As for Nick Fury, if he knew what the solution was to Tony’s problem, why not just give it to him? And it’s hard to believe that he knew the solution because if he did, he wouldn’t have banned Tony from leaving the mansion (which Tony disobeyed and ended up with the formula for the element in doing so). So was Fury just giving him his father’s stuff and hoping for the best? In the comics Fury always knows what he’s doing so he could have known that Tony would escape from the mansion and figure things out – on the other hand, he could have just been the bad ass from the comics and said, “Your father discovered a formula for a new element – one technology couldn’t create” and given him the trunk.

The thing I liked the most about this movie: The way Tony and Rhodey moved in the armor. I didn’t like the party scene but when Tony crouches in the armor it looks like someone wearing the armor can move normally. I remember those first X-Men/Spider-Man movies where people walked around stiffly. Now someone can move around in their costume/armor as though they’re wearing pants and a t-shirt.

So did I like the film? Despite the flaws, the back and forth between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts (thanks to Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow) is some of the best comic book film dialogue around. Plenty of action and I was entertained enough to dismiss the many large plot holes. It was awesome seeing the Avengers references and the film origin of War Machine was great too.

This never happened in the film but is still a great picture

KICK ASS

Quick synopsis: Dave, a huge comic book fan who gets bullied, decides to try being a superhero. On his first outing as Kick Ass, he gets beaten so badly that it damages some of his pain centers so that he can’t feel pain as intensely. He meets other heroes: Big Daddy, Hit Girl, and Red Mist. Kick Ass is in over his head but with the other heroes’ help, he’ll save the day.

KICK ASS
Good: Great origin story and the Aaron Johnson’s performance was amazing and I really believed that he was alternately brave and timid throughout the movie.
Bad: The ENTIRE ‘playing along with Katie thinking he’s gay’ storyline.

DAMON MACREADY/BIG DADDY
Good: Great origin story and a quirky performance from Nicholas Cage who is charming enough to pull off shooting a little girl, even if it’s in the chest.
Bad: I hated that he dies at the end – just an awesome character.

MINDY MACREADY/HIT GIRL
Good: Despite the fact that she’s raised to fight and to kill, she is surprisingly cheery through much of the movie.
Bad: I understand Big Daddy’s origin, but turning your daughter into a killer is bad juju.

FRANK D’AMICO
Good: Is the main villain without being too irritating playing a standard mob boss.
Bad: Is a little boring. The standard, “What? Who? Find them. Kill them.” kind of stuff.

CHRIS D’AMICO/RED MIST
Good: He’s a spoiled kid who just wants his father’s approval but when he becomes involved in the family business, he finds himself taking over.
Bad: By the end of the film, when he takes his father’s place, he’s still the most unthreatening character in the film.

KATIE DEUXMA
Good: What starts out as a friendship turns into a romance where Katie is the only person who knows Kick Ass’ true identity.
Bad: Again, the ENTIRE ‘liking Dave because he’s gay’ storyline.

MARCUS WILLIAMS
Good: After Big Daddy’s death, it’s only appropriate that her God Father, who was her father’s partner on the police force, raise her.
Bad: Can’t think of anything. Without him, we wouldn’t have found out Big Daddy’s origin.

The biggest problem I had with the movie: The first twenty minutes of the film were really boring but necessary to set the plot in motion. At first I didn’t like the fact that Dave’s two best friends didn’t know his secret identity but his girlfriend did but when he’s getting tortured on the internet and you see Katie crying and really going through hell, you’re reminded why heroes have secret identities. It’s not only to protect them from the villains but to protect their sanity as well.

The thing I liked the most about this movie: THE ACTION SCENES!!! When Big Daddy fought his way through a warehouse of bad guys I start to wonder why none of the Batman movies had a fight scene that cool. The entire final act is one fantastic fight scene where the action is clear (not that choppy fight garbage where you can’t tell who is hitting who or doing what (i.e. Prince of Persia playing in theatres now)).

So did I like the film? This is a fantastic superhero film. Lots of great origins told very quickly and effectively without dragging the plot and a great story with a lot of different motivations and a really satisfying ending.

Kick Ass gets up close and personal with Big Daddy and Hit Girl

The Losers Film Review

I saw The Losers this weekend. I’ve wanted to see the movie since I saw the preview. I liked the preview so much that I bought the first trade paperback. I like that so much that I bought and read the rest.

I was a fan of the characters and the story before I bought a movie ticket (even if I was a Johnny-Come-Lately to the title). For those who are also fans (albeit real fans who discovered it long before I did) and are wondering if Hollywood made a film worthy of writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock’s material have nothing to worry about. Even those without any prior knowledge of the source, like the friend who went with me, it was a great film.

I didn’t realize when I greedily read all the trades that I was getting a first look at the film. The source material constitutes almost one hundred percent of the film. The reason I say ‘almost’ is because I can’t really remember all of the movie or the trade paperback. But I didn’t feel robbed getting that sneak preview of the film – it was great fun seeing all the characters that I enjoyed on the page on the big screen.

The plot of the film is the same as the comic book series. The Losers are a group who cross a mysterious figure in the CIA known as Max. When Max has the team’s extraction chopper shot down, no one knows that the team had loaded it full of children they’d rescued. The Losers throw their dog tags into the wreckage and go into hiding.

Clay is the glue that keeps the team focused and together even if they want different things. Clay is joined by Roque, the headstrong second in command who doesn’t want to go after Max. Roque just wants to go home and start a new life. Jensen, just as in the comic, provides much of the humor in the film. He’s a communications/tech guy who can hit what he aims for (most movies play that guy as good at hacking and bad at fighting and shooting) and he’s down for whatever Clay’s agenda is despite having a niece he’s close to back home. Pooch a pregnant wife who thinks he’s dead but he’s steadfast in his resolve to get Max so he can go home. Cougar is the stoic sniper who doesn’t mince words and always has his teammates’ backs. Finally, Aisha is the mysterious benefactor who has a score to settle with Max…and with Clay.

As far as Max himself goes, in the comic we don’t see much of him but there’s a lot of him in the film doing outrageous things. I think the less-is-more approach of the comic suits the character better than the film’s numerous appearances.

There’s the popular scene with Jensen who takes on a trio of guards with Cougar’s assist. He tells the guards that a government experiment has given him powers. I don’t know if that bit was an intentional nod to Chris Evan’s signing to portray Captain America but it was pretty funny.

Of course no great action film is without good interaction between characters and there’s plenty of that in The Losers. The actors have great chemistry and are fantastic in their roles.

The film, like the comic book, is a fantastic escape and will be a welcome addition to my Blu Ray shelf.

The Losers from the hit Vertigo series.

The Losers from the film.

Wizard World Anaheim 2010

There’s been talk that Comic Con International could be moving to Anaheim because it has more convention space and available hotels nearby. I hope it doesn’t because right now that convention is local to me and I like going everyday (it’s huge) and I don’t want to pay for a hotel. Two weeks ago I got a look at Comic Con International’s possible new home when I went to the first ever Wizard World Anaheim.

Wizard World Anaheim was from April 16 – 18 at the Anaheim Convention Center (right across the street from Disneyland). It was held in one hall of the massive convention center.

I’ve never been to a Wizard World convention but it was a really good time. The only thing I have to compare it too is Comic Con in San Diego. I’ve been going to the San Diego Con for about 25 years. With that in mind, I hit the Anaheim floor like a tornado, covering the entire room in about an hour. Very few celebs, with the exception of Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, and Adam West had large lines (and even those lines didn’t last long, allowing everyone who wanted an autograph to get one). The sellers were helpful and there were a lot of great deals to be had.

The vibe was really mellow and laid back and the celebrities were friendly. From my hotel (on the perimeter of Disneyland), I could clearly see the fireworks display every night.

I didn’t go the last day because the size of the con allows you to do everything you want to do in one day. I’m going to do it again next year, but just for Saturday.

Here are a few pix from the event – none of them were taken by me but others took great pictures.

The Anaheim Ghostbuster franchise (I can't wait for GB3)

The Purrfect Angelz - like the Pussycat Dolls, but geek friendly

The always awesome and sweet Jewel Staite (who plays Kaylee, my favorite Firefly/Serenity character)

Whedon Statue Wishes (aka where Xander and Giles at?)

A few lines of statues for Serenity and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have come out in the last few years. They’ve been great if not complete. What I mean is that while a few statues have been released, not all the main characters have been represented.


Serenity started out with its Diamond Select statues. Each one featured a character in a pose from the movie with a base that matched. For “Inara Strikes,” Inara is standing behind a barrier while taking aim and for “River Trumphant,” she is standing on a base of Reaver bodies just as she was in the film. After the release of these two statues, “Zoe’s Revenge,” was announced and never released. The statues were great even if the actual likenesses weren’t great.

River Triumphant from Diamond Select

Then came Quantum Mechanix’s series, Little Damn Heroes. It’s been about a year since the last maquette, Jayne, came out and no other characters have been announced so I’m guessing that the series has ended. It was an amazing series – affordable, unique, and fun. Each figure was ‘toon’ style on a plain base but all holding or wearing episode specific items like Mal’s trench coat and gun, Kaylee’s overalls (with teddy bear patch) and umbrella, and Jayne’s hat and ‘Vera.’

Kaylee from Little Damn Heroes

For those keeping score at home, if you were to put together the Diamond Select statues with the Little Damn Heroes, you get: River, Inara, Mal, Jayne, and Kaylee. We’re missing Zoe, Wash, Book, and Simon.

Then, from my favorite show of all time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we have the “Essence of” series of statues from Diamond Select. These statues showed the characters in situations that weren’t show-specific but very cool (Buffy in action with a vamp being dusted, Willow levitating, etc.) and each one had a unique light-up bases. Unlike the Serenity statues, the “Essence of” statues had great likenesses. But after four great statues, the line ended.

All of the statues from the "Essence of" line

Now we have the ‘Tooned Up’ series from Electric Tiki. This series, I am very happy to say, is ongoing. The statues were ‘toon’ style and is what the highly-anticipated-and-never-delivered cartoon series would have looked like. The Buffy statue comes in two or three different episode-specific outfits (same pose) with different hands that contain a stake, bo staff, and the slayer scythe. Willow comes in ‘Vengence’ (from the time she went after Glory) and ‘Dark Willow’ versions (again, same pose – just different paint jobs). Every statue so far (except for Glory) has had different versions but all have been awesome. The ‘Tooned Up’ version of Faith just came out and has an interchangeable hand so that she can hold a stake or her signature knife.

Buffy, Glory, and Dark Willow from the 'Tooned Up' series

Buffy, Angel, Spike, and Willow each got “Essence of” statues from Diamond Select. Electric Tiki has put out ‘Tooned Up’ versions of Buffy, Willow, Glory, Faith, and has just finished a sculpt for Spike (with a human and vamped-out version).

The forthcoming Spike statue looks awesome

There have been a lot of great statues but no line has lasted long enough to give me the core group of characters from either Serenity or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’ve already mentioned the characters that are missing from Serenity core characters. As far as Buffy statues, Buffy and Willow are in both series but I want a Xander and Giles statue. Cordelia would be nice too but I’ve always considered Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles the core of the series and it would be great to be able to have those four united on a shelf.

The problem with a statue series is that the items come out one at a time and take a month or a few months between releases and don’t last very long before they’re discontinued. Most of the items are limited which means that you have to get the pieces that you’re interested in before they sell out and hope that they come out with other characters you want.

Now Sideshow Collectibles has another Buffy statue series. Their first statue, “Buffy: Throne of the Slayer” is due in September. If I order the first statue, will they eventually release a Willow, Xander, and Giles statue. Probably not, but I still ordered the first statue and will hope for the best.

Sideshow Collectibles' "Throne of the Slayer"

Ghostbusters 3

"The wounds from GHOSTBUSTERS 2 are healed." – Bill Murray

I remember hearing that a new Ghostbusters film was in the works a few years ago at Comic Con. It was when Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson were promoting the awesome Ghostbusters video game (if you have an X-Box 360 or PS3 and haven’t experienced busting ghosts, what are you waiting for). I just thought it was talk. It isn’t unusual for some fan to ask, “How about Ghostbusters 3?” and get an answer like, “We’ve been thinking about it” or “It isn’t out of the question if the script is right.” Suddenly the gossip is that they’re making Ghostbusters 3.

It looks like it's going to happen.
Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray have all mentioned it in interviews and Ivan Reitman confirmed that he was back to direct. Variety reports that Ghostbusters 3 is supposed to begin filming in May for a release on January 7, 2011. The film has a release date!

And what about the plot? Dan Aykroyd said, "There’ll be a whole new generation that has to be trained and a leader that you'll all love when you meet her. There'll be lots of cadets, boys and girls who'll be learning how to use the neuron splitter and the inter-planet interceptor - new tools to enable them to slip from dimension to dimension." The new leader was a mystery until Eliza Dushku let it slip during an interview with Hollywoodspy.com, that she might star in Ghostbusters 3 because she’s a friend of Dan Aykroyd, and he really wants her to be a part of the project.

I’m a huge Ghostbusters and Eliza Dushku fan – I would love to see her in a Ghostbusters uniform.

So will the film go off as planned? Will we be buying tickets for Ghostbusters 3 next year? Will it rock harder than the first one? I don’t know. I hope that I’ll be able to watch the original Ghostbusters train a new generation and I hope that new generation will get their own movies.

I can't wait to see the originals back in action

And I can't wait to see Faith bust ghosts

A scene from the video game. Try it - busting makes you feel good.