Things I Viewed
Nov. 17th, 2003 09:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteSome spoilers hidden under cut-tags.
1. Matrix Revolutions As you may recall, I liked Matrix Reloaded, though on a second viewing the film's flaws in terms of pacing and length became more apparent. Having seen the final film in the set, M-Reloaded looks weaker still, as it's clear a lot of it was little more than setup for the finale. What's more, I think the two films could have been one film with a number of scenes edited out or down, though still longer than a conventional film of this era.
As for Revolutions (really a rather dopey name, as no revolution really occurs), I found it very, very entertaining. Aside from a well-assembled but somewhat unnecessary stretch at the beginning and the big fight between Neo and Smith, the film takes place outside the Matrix, in Zion and in the tunnels leading there and briefly in the machine city. As a result, this is much grittier, much less pretty. The ensuing action sequences thus lose a lot of the "cleanliness" that had before. That is to say, the characters' suffering and deaths are not antiseptic. It's a big change, and one I think if overdue given how many innocents jacked into the Matrix are killed without a thought in the other films.
This is not a great film, mind you. The newness of the first film is long gone. What works here works because it channels a dozen WWII films and half the anime ever made and a good number of comic books. I think the Wachowskis, however, have scaled back their ambitions here, leaving behind some of the semi-philosophy that alienated many (although not me) in Reloaded.
At worst, this is an intelligent top-notch action film, with a number of characters I came to care about - none of them Neo, I will admit - and not a single moment that made me look at my watch. It was also fun, which Reloaded was not.
Special kudos to the Wachowskis for finding a good replacement for the late Gloria Foster to play The Oracle in Mary Alice. (Clever of them to make The Oracle's new look a small plot point.) Other performances of note include Ian Bane as the man possessed in Reloaded by Smith, now awake and sounding too much like Hugo Weaving; Nathaniel Lees as Captain Mifune (almost certainly named in homage to the legendary Toshiro Mifune); and Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe.
Will you like this? If you liked the first two, yes. If you didn't hate the second with a passion, probably. If you like anime, you might enjoy it just for the live-action visualizations of anime tropes. But if you are tired of the Matrix by now, best to stay home. As for me, while I certainly see no need to continue the series, I still find this world worth exploring. In the hands of someone else (Joss Whedon, as always, would be a candidate for such a job in my head), it could even sing again the way it did in the first film.
2. Teen Titans The WB has begun showing this Cartoon Network show on Saturday mornings at 8:30. Rev up your VCR, and enter the world of anime-style DC heroes for kids. This show is not anywhere near as sophisticated as the previous DC adapatations from Warner Bros. There are no secret identities, almost no adults, and some of this is animated in a very over-the-top style that would be out of place on Batman. If you remember the Teen Titans comics of the 80s, you might by aghast at what Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire and Raven have become.
But boy, is this cartoon fun! The animation style and the broad character play work to create a light-hearted, quick-paced cartoon that I wish they had made when I was a kid. The kids here are likeable, even if Raven is now a Wednesday Adams goth chick and Starfire is astonshingly naive (and a lot less, um, well-developed than she is in the comics). This is the first kids' cartoon I've seen in a while that I can understand kids liking, even while I can see that its humor and action make it fun for adults in a mood for something light.
Don't bother trying to fit this into the animated continuity, trying to figure if this Robin is Tim or Dick, and whether this is Tim right before the events we learn about in the Batman Beyond film. Just sit back and enjoy.
If you do want an answer as to where it fits, try this: this is the Teen Titans cartoon that WB Animation made in the animated universe. There is a Teen Titans in the regular continuity, and this cartoon is an unauthorized recreation of them. That's why there are no secret identities - the Bruce Timm of that world has no way of knowing them. And I'm picturing that in the future, once Terry McGiniss (Batman Beyond) meets old Tim Drake, Terry will ask Tim about that retro cartoon his dad liked with the anime Robin, and Tim will cringe.
3. The Simpsons Another ho-hum year has begun. I watched this week's episode with some hope, knowing it would be a musical episode and a spoof of Evita. Simpsons musicals used to be funny. Not anymore. It stunk. The story was dumb, with many characters acting out-of-character. The music was forgettable (though I'm not familiar with Evita, so maybe that is also a weak musical). The whole thing seemed pointless, as have too many nights in Springfield the past five years. The only thing worth mentioning here is that in a brief cameo by Michael Moore, he made fun of himself and the criticisms levelled at his films. Otherwise, we have new proof that The Simpsons is past its prime. And yet I keep watching, waiting for that gem to surface as it does two or three times a season.
1. Matrix Revolutions As you may recall, I liked Matrix Reloaded, though on a second viewing the film's flaws in terms of pacing and length became more apparent. Having seen the final film in the set, M-Reloaded looks weaker still, as it's clear a lot of it was little more than setup for the finale. What's more, I think the two films could have been one film with a number of scenes edited out or down, though still longer than a conventional film of this era.
As for Revolutions (really a rather dopey name, as no revolution really occurs), I found it very, very entertaining. Aside from a well-assembled but somewhat unnecessary stretch at the beginning and the big fight between Neo and Smith, the film takes place outside the Matrix, in Zion and in the tunnels leading there and briefly in the machine city. As a result, this is much grittier, much less pretty. The ensuing action sequences thus lose a lot of the "cleanliness" that had before. That is to say, the characters' suffering and deaths are not antiseptic. It's a big change, and one I think if overdue given how many innocents jacked into the Matrix are killed without a thought in the other films.
This is not a great film, mind you. The newness of the first film is long gone. What works here works because it channels a dozen WWII films and half the anime ever made and a good number of comic books. I think the Wachowskis, however, have scaled back their ambitions here, leaving behind some of the semi-philosophy that alienated many (although not me) in Reloaded.
At worst, this is an intelligent top-notch action film, with a number of characters I came to care about - none of them Neo, I will admit - and not a single moment that made me look at my watch. It was also fun, which Reloaded was not.
Special kudos to the Wachowskis for finding a good replacement for the late Gloria Foster to play The Oracle in Mary Alice. (Clever of them to make The Oracle's new look a small plot point.) Other performances of note include Ian Bane as the man possessed in Reloaded by Smith, now awake and sounding too much like Hugo Weaving; Nathaniel Lees as Captain Mifune (almost certainly named in homage to the legendary Toshiro Mifune); and Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe.
Will you like this? If you liked the first two, yes. If you didn't hate the second with a passion, probably. If you like anime, you might enjoy it just for the live-action visualizations of anime tropes. But if you are tired of the Matrix by now, best to stay home. As for me, while I certainly see no need to continue the series, I still find this world worth exploring. In the hands of someone else (Joss Whedon, as always, would be a candidate for such a job in my head), it could even sing again the way it did in the first film.
2. Teen Titans The WB has begun showing this Cartoon Network show on Saturday mornings at 8:30. Rev up your VCR, and enter the world of anime-style DC heroes for kids. This show is not anywhere near as sophisticated as the previous DC adapatations from Warner Bros. There are no secret identities, almost no adults, and some of this is animated in a very over-the-top style that would be out of place on Batman. If you remember the Teen Titans comics of the 80s, you might by aghast at what Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire and Raven have become.
But boy, is this cartoon fun! The animation style and the broad character play work to create a light-hearted, quick-paced cartoon that I wish they had made when I was a kid. The kids here are likeable, even if Raven is now a Wednesday Adams goth chick and Starfire is astonshingly naive (and a lot less, um, well-developed than she is in the comics). This is the first kids' cartoon I've seen in a while that I can understand kids liking, even while I can see that its humor and action make it fun for adults in a mood for something light.
Don't bother trying to fit this into the animated continuity, trying to figure if this Robin is Tim or Dick, and whether this is Tim right before the events we learn about in the Batman Beyond film. Just sit back and enjoy.
If you do want an answer as to where it fits, try this: this is the Teen Titans cartoon that WB Animation made in the animated universe. There is a Teen Titans in the regular continuity, and this cartoon is an unauthorized recreation of them. That's why there are no secret identities - the Bruce Timm of that world has no way of knowing them. And I'm picturing that in the future, once Terry McGiniss (Batman Beyond) meets old Tim Drake, Terry will ask Tim about that retro cartoon his dad liked with the anime Robin, and Tim will cringe.
3. The Simpsons Another ho-hum year has begun. I watched this week's episode with some hope, knowing it would be a musical episode and a spoof of Evita. Simpsons musicals used to be funny. Not anymore. It stunk. The story was dumb, with many characters acting out-of-character. The music was forgettable (though I'm not familiar with Evita, so maybe that is also a weak musical). The whole thing seemed pointless, as have too many nights in Springfield the past five years. The only thing worth mentioning here is that in a brief cameo by Michael Moore, he made fun of himself and the criticisms levelled at his films. Otherwise, we have new proof that The Simpsons is past its prime. And yet I keep watching, waiting for that gem to surface as it does two or three times a season.
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(no subject)
Date: Nov. 17th, 2003 11:09 am (UTC)To be fair to it, the lack of secret ids is kinda understandable, as the titans of the 80s were mostly cognito, and that's what they're clearly (the more timlike Robin outfit aside) shooting towards.
Similarly, you can't really fit the JLA animated series in with Batman/Superman: same (almost) character designs, but mostly different in every other way.
(no subject)
Date: Nov. 20th, 2003 02:30 pm (UTC)