Movie Catching Up, Part Two

Welcome back to the return of regular blog posts! Hmmmm...well, that may be asking for a bit much, but at least I'm getting these movies out of the way. After this I have three more that I saw in theaters and two more via On Demand.

So Jason Bourne came out of hiding. Just skipping over whaterver happened in the Matt Damon-less C-less "Bourne Legacy," this sequel finds him in hiding but recovered from his amnesia. What brings him back this time? He's contacted by the former CIA operative (Julia Stiles) who helped him in the past and is now also on the run. Through computer hacking she's discovered files about how Bourne became part of the program that turned him into a killing machine -- and it involves his father. Soon they're both being hunted by CIA assassins. The action sequences are what you'd expect, but the film gets bogged down a bit by a subplot involving privacy rights and a secret deal in which the CIA is funding a social media venture to use it to spy on everyone. My grade: B.

Suicide Squad is one DC comic book that I've never been interested in, and in the wake of the film that hasn't changed. The premise: government operative Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) assembles a team of imprisoned villains, either wiith special skills (Deadshot, Will Smith), metahuman powers (El Diablo, Jay Herndandez), or just plain psycho (Harley Quinn, Margot Robbie), who are coerced to participate The team's job is to do whatever it takes should someone like, say, Superman (currently still dead in the movies) decided to destroy the planet. Soon there is such a threat and the "team" is sent into action. But secrets and lies threaten everything.

Having Harley Quinn in the mix led to adding the Joker, and there are a couple of cameos by Ben Affleck's Batman. (Meaning all of this takes in the DC movieverse DC Extended Universe alongside Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, etc.) And Jared Leto's Joker is awful, annoying in every scene in which he appears. Oh, Heath Ledger, why did you have to die?

And too many of the Squad members leave no impression as characters. They're just along for the ride or to serve to move the plot a bit. Fortunately, Robbie's Harley Quinn is a live wire, and Amanda Waller proves to be a total badass -- a term that fits Viola Davis as well. And a scene inserted into the credits makes me glad she's part of the DC movieverse DC Extended Universe. My grade: C.

P.S. I suddenly want to go see it again.

Quick (Not) Review - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (SPOILERS)

It's been a week, but SPOILER ALERT anyway.

The 2013 reboot of Supeman on film, "Man of Steel," was financially successful enough to earn a sequel. But  that sequel was turned into much more: a hoped-for, full-fledged DC Comics movie universe, taking its place alongside the Marvel Movieverse. But many people had misgivings, seeing as how director Zack Snyder handled "Man of Steel." 

To jump-start the Justice League, in the quest for Avengers-sized box office, the decision was made to pair DC's two biggest icons for the first time. And have them fight. (Cliche alert.) And then throw in Wonder Woman, never before on the big screen. And add cameos of other heroes.  Thus, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was born. After seeing it twice in three days and digesting various opinions and reviews, as well as my own feelings on what Superman represents, here are some observations, in no particular order:

Warning: SPOILERS from here on out!

Weeks In TV, BTW...

I've decided to stop those weekly summaries of my TV viewing. Besides the fact that it's not like there's a huge audience hanging on my every word, I can't figure out a way to make it consistent. Do I go into huge detail about characters and plots and such? If I did that I'd have to take notes while watching. Also, it would be a pretty brief post when shows are on breaks (as most of them are right now). And it seems like it got repetitive. How many times can I point out the same flaws about "Gotham" from week to week? Anyway, I'm thinking I'll just use Twitter when needed.

Just a couple observations on the shows based on comic books...

I'm really torn about whether to revisit "Gotham" when new episodes return in January. I want it to be successful, but consistent quality just isn't there. They're introducing more and more future Batman villains when they hardy can deal with those they've already established. The crime-of-the-week plots have been pretty dreadful, and so much of the acting ranges from over-the-top to zombie-like.

On the other hand, "Arrow," "The Flash" and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" are killing it right now. The two DC properties are intertwined (there will be more crossovers), yet distinct. "Arrow" has deviated a lot more from its comic book mythology, while "Flash" is more faithful in some ways. Both shows are introducing more characters (in a better fashion than "Gotham"), basically building up their own version of the DC Comics universe -- without, of course, DC's biggest stars. It would be great if they could work these shows into their movie universe, if Warner Bros. can really get that off the ground with "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice." But they've already cast a new Flash for a movie sometime in the future, which is too bad.

Meanwhile, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." has not only its own comic book derivations but an already-established movie universe, and Marvel is apparently using the show to not only tie into their movies, but introducing concepts in the TV show that will carry over to future films. It's a shame they can't get the rights to Spider-Man and the X-Men back, though.