Saturday, 29 June 2013
On 29.6.13 by KieronMoore in Amy Adams, Christopher Nolan, Film, Henry Cavill, Man of Steel, Superman, Zack Snyder No comments
I've never really been a fan of Superman. He’s too perfect.
Invulnerability, super strength, flight, all packaged up in an oh-so-American primary
coloured super-suit of apple pie and charisma. No, I’m a Batman fan; damaged by
a crime-ridden society, he’s a much darker, more questionable hero and easier to
root in real societal issues. Superman is just too distanced from reality, even
before he turns back time by flying around the world so fast it spins in
reverse.
Man of Steel may well have been conceived to deal with this kind of
criticism. Though directed by Zack Snyder, who really hasn’t impressed me in the past, this new take was produced by
Christopher Nolan and written by David S. Goyer – the creative team behind the
masterful Dark Knight trilogy.
As can be expected with these names on board, the film isn’t a colourful,
one-liner-packed Marvel-esque romp but a character driven attempt to look at old
Supes in a new and interesting way. The first two-thirds of the film follow
Henry Cavill’s grown-up Clark Kent as he learns about his past and reflects on
his upbringing. Brought up on a Kansas farm, complete with Kevin Costner, Diane
Lane, and dog, Clark dreams of heroism; in a magnificent piece of imagery, he
chases the dog around using a red sheet as a cape (it reminded me of that Phantom Menace teaser poster which was so much better than the film), but he also
struggles with his father’s demands to repress the fact that he’s different. Though
this flashback structure is unnecessarily muddled, these sequences are the real
heart of the film. It’s a coming-of-age story about finding your identity, with
moral questions abound – should Clark use his super strength to save others, or
let them die so that he can keep his secret from the world? Costner puts in a
brilliant performance as the caring father figure who advocates the latter, but
at some point, trouble has to come along to turn Clark fully into the Superman
we all know.
And that trouble comes in the form of the great Michael Shannon,
adding class as well as ham as the militaristic General Zod. This confrontation
begins suspensefully, with Zod’s grand arrival and demand
for Superman to hand himself in leaving me eager to find
out what would happen next. Unfortunately, what happens next is that the film
goes dramatically downhill. The final act drops the interesting character stuff
and is composed entirely of punch-up after explosion after punch-up after explosion after utterly unnecessary sub-plot in which Laurence Fishburne saves a damsel in distress from an explosion. With the destruction ramping up and my interest ramping down, this final act is an unwelcome return to the hyperactive child Snyder responsible for Sucker Punch and could easily lose half an hour.

There was one more thing which particularly annoyed me. This was
when Zod is broadcasting a message via all the world’s TV and computer screens,
and someone says "he's on the RSS feeds!" I mean, really, did Goyer
have any idea what an RSS feed is? You can't just put in internet words
arbitrarily to make the film modern. "Zod's taking over the
re-tweets!" 'He's in all the sub-reddits!" "Stop him before he
gets to Wiki administrator status!"
On the plus side, that annoying line came shortly after the best
part of the film, which was a visual gag about a printer.
Overall, has it changed my opinion on Superman? It’s definitely a
more interesting exploration of the Superman mythos than Returns, and it’s my
favourite Zack Snyder film to date. If anything, the printer gag is definitely worth paying for. On the other hand, its final act lets it
down severely, and the film never gets as good as Nolan’s morally complex The
Dark Knight (I probably bring that up a lot, but it’s the standard by which all
superhero films have to be judged). I’m still not a fan of Superman.
Thursday, 20 June 2013
Duncan Jones' Moon is one of my favourite sci-fi films of recent years. It's intelligent, interesting, and well enshrined in the genre. And the poster art captures this brilliantly - here's my analysis of it for The Big Picture.
Wednesday, 12 June 2013
I rewatched Forrest Gump the other day, for
the first time in a shameful number of years. Robert Zemeckis’ tale of a
slow-witted Alabama fella' making his way through the major events of the late
twentieth century really is a very good film. Tom Hanks embodies the titular
role brilliantly; Gump is an engaging and likable character. And yet, I
reflected afterwards – why is he?
The way screenwriting is conventionally
taught dictates that a protagonist must have one main goal which informs everything
he or she does as the plot progresses. Forrest Gump, well, really doesn’t. He
doesn’t have much of a direction in life at all. Things just tend to happen to
him and he often doesn’t even understand his own reasons for what he does, most
notably when he spends three years running across America because he “felt like
running”.
It’s also questionable how much Forrest
develops as a character. He begins the film witless but well-meaning and ends
the film witless but well-meaning. Sure, he may become more comfortable with
himself to the point of being able to sleep with love interest Jenny, but
is that interesting character development or just an aspect of growing up? He
retains his childlike worldview, with his reliance on his mother’s advice,
throughout, even long after her death.
Perhaps it’s the simplicity of this
optimistic, open-minded worldview that makes him endearing. In a cynical world
full of war and politics, what matters to Forrest are are things like
fulfilling his promise to Bubba and ensuring Jenny’s happiness. And he's absolutely faithful to these goals – when things go wrong, he doesn't complain, but looks on the bright side and keeps on trying. In the process, he becomes a
millionaire, yes, but not through ambition, and perhaps that’s a very relatable
fable about what we should value in life.
Yet it’s not the moments when he becomes
rich that elicit cheers. These are played more for comedy and the real
achievements are when Forrest re-unites with Jenny and when he gets to bring
his child up. This is because of the big dramatic question informing everything
Forrest does, even when not related to the main “goal” of that sequence – “will
Forrest and Jenny get together?”. Forrest is drafted into the Vietnam War to fight
for his country, but he writes letters home to Jenny. Forrest becomes a shrimp
boat captain to fulfill his promise to Bubba, but he names the boat Jenny.
Forrest runs across America for three years, but his love of running began
through Jenny’s encouragement – “run, Forrest, run”. Forrest’s devotion to
Jenny is a thematic link through everything, drawing together the messy
here-and-there of his life, and is a relationship we grow to care about.
And while Forrest may not develop clearly,
other characters around him do change for the better – because of him. Every supporting
character is memorable, full of individuality, and has some form of arc. A
lesser writer wouldn’t have taken such risks as having Forrest’s friend in ‘Nam
speak constantly about shrimp throughout his introductory scenes, but it’s
hilarious and endearing. Look also at Lieutenant Dan’s introduction – we know
exactly what kind of character he is from his brash treatment of other soldiers.
The voiceover which gives him some history – “a member of his family had fought
and died in every war” – is a brilliant look at the gruff soldier archetype
that seems to be setting up for Dan to be the next in line to die. But what we don’t
expect is the way that Forrest saves him from his believed ‘destiny’, inadvertently
changes his life, and turns him from this hard stereotype into someone much
more compassionate. Dan is a much different person by the end of the film, as
is Jenny before her death. Forrest changes people for the better, and the film
ends with him bringing up his son, and we can only believe he’ll do an
excellent job.
At Jenny’s grave, Forrest says “I don't
know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around
accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is
happening at the same time.” Like the feather at the beginning and end of the
film, Forrest’s journey is a meandering and directionless yet light and fun
ride. Nonetheless, it’s very revealing about the world its set in, with a
likable central character with a big dramatic question that gets an ultimate
result. Forrest may not be the sharpest crayon in
the pond, but his kind heart more than makes up for that.
Saturday, 1 June 2013
I just want to say you’re a brilliant,
wonderful, talented, and quite sexy man.
Your first series remains one of my
favourite Who memories. You were so different, so alien, so playful yet with
that very carefully judged dark and manipulative edge. You were so… The Doctor.
And even though your next series was a mess, the one after that has had its ups and downs, and your hair wasn't as good after 2010, you’ve continued to give
stunning, funny and touching performances throughout. The Eleventh Doctor has
been great. Except for the awkward misogyny and that bit where you killed David
Bradley. But that’s just about cancelled out by the way you said “look at the
detail on that cheese plant!” in The God Complex.
I’ll be very sad to see the Fall of the
Eleventh. But change is what keeps the show going and change is something for us both to be excited about.
Honestly, I’d prefer to see you and Steven
Moffat leave the show together, so that we could bring in an entirely fresh new
take on Doctor Who, a new take on the character rather than another Moffat
Doctor – a whole new era, just like in 2010, in 2005, and, well, in 1963 (some
of the show’s best years, in my humble opinion).
But Steve’s sticking around. Despite my
issues with his recent showrunning, I promise that, in the spirit of the
Doctor, I’ll remain open-minded and optimistic about what the future may bring.
And, of course, I’ll look forward to your two final adventures.
Come along, Geronimo, bow ties have been
cool, etc.
Kieron xxx
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About Me

- KieronMoore
- Hi there. I'm Kieron. I write some things, including some about Doctor Who and some about films. Graphic novel about the Buddha coming soon. Also work in telly.

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