Up, Up, and Away!

Smallville premiered when I was a Sophomore in high school. I remember being excited to see a teen Clark Kent in a weekly series (outside of the old Superboy show, which I'm not old enough to remember, anyway). The first episode came and went and I was hooked. Each week, Clark did battle with a new villain (in the "creature/villain of the week" format) while balancing his personal life (the on-again off-again relationships with both Lana and Lex. Lex was a bromance, not a romance) with his newfound abilities.

I remember thinking how cool some of the special effects were, even if they were cheesy. In a time when most shows and movies were following the Matrix's bullettime example of making everything really slow to show how fast the character was moving (I still don't get it. I mean, he's going really, REALLY slow. Still better than the really fast Agent Smith, I suppose), Smallville took it in a different direction. Clark moved at regular speed (with blurs abound) and the environment around him would either freeze or be in slow motion. Now that's fast. The other effect I always cheered on was when someone would hit Clark with something, anything, and it would shatter on the Man of Steel. Didn't matter what it was, golf club, baseball bat, arrow, bullet, pretty sure there was a car engine in there somewhere, it always shattered the same, awesome way.

The show did suffer from a lack of direction at times and the fact that the CW/WB gave that show a budget of $1.25 didn't hlep. The show picked up after Millar and Gough left after the 7th season and the new showrunners truly embraced the source material. While I credit Millar and Gough for selling the WB on Smallville, the show had started getting long in the tooth (how many seasons of Lana and Clark pining for each other did we need. And the whole fake marriage thing with Lex? That was just creepy. Plus, Gough and Millar were partly responsible for Spider-Man 2, which had some incredibly awkward Clark/Lana-esque moments in it) and I feel the fresh blood really breathed new life into a tired series.

Smallville started out slow and small when it came to branching out into the greater DCU (of characters, it does not, despite what some people think, have any bearing on actual DC comic continuity. Some of the first characters to be featured on Smallville were a certain trickster from the 5th Dimension (though in the show he was a foreign exchange student) and Bart Allen (to this day I cannot figure out why they went with Bart instead of Barry or Wally). Mxyzptlk is a prime example of how the show attempted to stay grounded with its reinvisioning of Superman's early years. Instead of being an impish old demigod from a dimension far different than our own, he was a shifty exchange student with a penchant for fixing high school football games.

Cameos, guest spots, and recurring heroes was also something that improved when the new showrunners took over in season eight. Sure, Gough and Millar managed to work in a couple (like Green Arrow and Black Canary (she showed up in season seven)), but it was an all out nerdfest from eight onward. Everything shifted closer to how it is in the comics while clearly still based in the Smallville universe. The last couple of seasons brought fans Zatanna and the Justice Society. Even Clark matured into the man who would be Super...man.

Everything pointed to a grand finale for such a mainstay on the WB and then CW's schedule (and many viewers' as well), so what happened? Well, Smallville happened. It was always a show of uneven quality. While I enjoyed watching it week to week, there are episodes that stand above the rest, and then there are whole chunks of seasons that I barely watched or remember (I'm looking at you, Veritas journals, et al.)

The finale encompassed everything that the show is and was in two hours. Like just about every season finale before it, Finale (yes, that's the name of the episode) plodded along for the first half until Oliver was revealed as traitor (oops, SPOILERS) and he and Clark had a thirty second fight.

Then it slowed back down again. And Clark had a couple of meaningful conversations with his dad (say what?!), and then his mom, and then Lois (who snuck aboard Air Force One in the second half), all the while Apokalips was bearing down on Earth. We get it. A lot of people helped Clark become the man he is and needs to be. And it's great to have all these heartfelt conversations with those people. But there is a fiery ball of doom heading right for the planet. Didn't it occur to Clark to, I don't know, hurry his ass up? Every time someone talked Clark into taking that next step and he'd rush off, he'd only end up talking to someone else for five minutes.

And who wasn't psyched as heck for Lex's return? Okay, that setup may sound like I'm going to tear into Michael Rosenbaum, but I'm not. Having him around for those couple of minutes really punctuated just how great Lex and Clark's dynamic really was. It was a shame they had to go and erase a decade's worth of character growth like that. Of course, I half-expected him to help dear ol' Tess along a bit quicker after her quip that Clark had saved her first. And without stabbing her.

Meanwhile, daddy Lionel (the evil one from the mirror universe) had taken on the spirit of Darkseid (in exchange for ripping out Lionel's heart to give to Lex) and has gone to confront the Light (Clark) in the Light's (Clark's) barn. What. A. Weak. Fight?

"I hit you!"
"EHH!"
*Five minutes of flashbacks that encompass the WHOLE series!*
"Now I can fly. And I can fly through you!"
"Oh no! Now I'm going to explode into old man dust and birds!"
"Birds?"
"Yes...birds."
"Whatever."

And then he goes to see Jor-El and gets the Superman costume so he can finally deal with the giant flaming ball of death that should have probably already ended all life on Earth. And what the hell is wrong with those people on Air Force One?
"We know firing nukes at this thing won't do a damn thing to it and will kill millions of people. But gosh dangit, let's fire them nukes anyway! Trust us, it's better this way."
That is some pretty poor reasoning.

Finally, Clark gets the suit. And then we never see him with it on. Sure, we get some pretty poor CG of Supes from a distance and then that shot of Clark ripping open his shirt to reveal the 'S' at the end (but his face wasn't even in the shot at that point), but never say, the classic Superman pose, all majestic and heroic.

If Clark could've just pushed Apokalips away, why didn't he do that in the first place. Why did he have to run around town visiting everyone and their mother before finally getting the suit and just nudging the planet away. Oh, it was because he didn't believe in himself? That he hadn't yet truly embraced his destiny? I'm sorry, but that s*** didn't fly in Spider-Man 2 and it certainly doesn't here.

After ten years of the same thing, I shouldn't have been surprised, but I still feel cheated. What? Did Welling just not fit into the Superman Returns costume? Couldn't pay for alterations? Tommy boy didn't want to work out enough to look good in the suit? What was it CW? WHAT? WAS? IT?

In a way, flaws and all, Finale was the perfect finale for the show I spent ten years following. It represents the heights and depths the series was capable of, and, even though I spent most of this post ripping the finale apart, I will miss the show.

Also, CW and Warner Bros., please consider making at least TV movies in the Smallville universe and get Tom Welling to get in shape.

New Shows Part 2

Last week, I did a review/preview of the upcoming/now here new TV season.

Glee - I can't believe I forgot about this last week. It just proves that I watch way too much television. Even though the song selection wasn't to my liking, there was enough going on here that I didn't mind so much. The school gained a new, female football coach after Ken had a nervous breakdown. Even though it wasn't said, it was probably because of the fallout from April ditching him on their wedding day. Some of my favorite quotes were from Brittany. There was this gem from the beginning, where the story was framed by Jacob, in which Brittany describes her summer vacation: "People thought I went on vacation, but actually I spent the summer lost in the sewers." Classic. Again, not sure, but this almost seems like a reference to the Goonies...
Anyway, the next episode focuses on Brit where they sing Britney Spears' songs all episode. Wooh...kinda sick of the theme shows. And now there's supposed to be a second Madonna episode. Great.

The Big Bang Theory- This one was an odd duck. I'm sure I've said that phrase before, possibly even about another TV show, but it's true. There was just something...off about this one's season premiere. I think part of it was delivery, in that it almost felt like the characters were the actors playing the characters playing the characters. Sound confusing? It should. However, the show was still pretty funny, even if it was predictable.

Supernatural - This was the show I was most excited about, since it is one of my favorite shows and I just couldn't fathom where they could possibly go from the end of last season. And it really didn't do much. The producers (since I believe original creator and showrunner Eric Kripke is now hands-off on the show) said that it was going to be back to basics like in the first season, before any of the apocalypse stuff started showing up. And that wasn't entirely accurate. Yes, it does seem like it's moving back to the monster of the week format of season one, but they've already set up a number of storylines such as the Winchester boys' grandfather also coming back with Sam, who doesn't know who pulled him out of the Devil's Box and "a whole bunch of demons are going crazy...including some things no one has seen before." Super. Like Scrubs, the intended end of the series is probably going to be better than the actual ending if the first episode is any indication.

Also note, I still haven't had a chance to watch Smallville, though I've heard some great things about the episode.

There were some other things I wanted to mention, too, but I can't remember what they are. Oh well, such is life.

Under the Red Hood, Thor, and a Legend Born?

While I don't find it terribly creative to title a blog entry after what I'm going to be writing, it certainly is effective. That said, I'm going to start off with the previously promised review of Under the Red Hood, the latest film from the DC animation department.

The film begins with an adaptation from the now-classic "Death in the Family" storyline where Joker beats Jason Todd with a crowbar and then leaves him to die in an exploding warehouse. They took out the part where Jason is looking for his mother and instead made a minor change in that the Joker was working with/for Ras Al Ghul.

Flashforward to modern day where Batman has continued on without a Robin (by the time Judd Winick's "Under the Hood" storyline came out, Tim Drake had been Robin for years, though this story might have taken place during one of his 'breaks' from the mantle) and a new player (the Red Hood) has set himself against both Batman and the current Gotham crimelord, Black Mask. The story continues as Batman tries to deduce the identity of the new, ultra-violent vigilante as well as keep Gotham safe from the Black Mask.

So, that's the short end of it, now for the review.

The Voice Cast: I'm a huge fan of Jensen Ackles, but I will admit I was a bit apprehensive after hearing his initial line-readings. That said, I think he did a pretty decent job with the role.

One area I was disappointed in was Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing. NPH has become one of my favorite actors (after seeing him play "himself" in Harold & Kumar and then on to his role as Barney in HIMYM) and Nightwing might be my favorite DC character (he can kick ass like Batman, but he's not as broody), so I had high hopes for the character in UtRH. Unfortunately, NPH makes the attempt to sound "heroic" (think a kid playing the protagonist in the school play) and just comes off sounding goofy. It gets a little better when he's just Dick Grayson and his "Can you for once just say 'Let's get in the car...'" line was well-delivered.

Bruce Greenwood does a good job as Batman and his line about why he hasn't/couldn't kill the Joker was fantastic.

John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama) turns in a fine performance as the Joker. Although, I will say that he seems to switch between an evil Bender (well, more evil) and a Mark Hammil impersonation, but it is still good. My favorite line comes when Black Mask breaks him out of Arkham to do a job for him.

The story itself could have used more room to breathe, but it's forgivable because of it's 70-odd minute runtime. Something that could've been improved was Batman's reaction to Jason Todd's death. There are flashbacks to show that Batman was "softer" when Jason was around, but, honestly, it wasn't all that much of a difference. Other than that, the story moves along quickly, with minor changes from the comic.

SPOILER ALERT*************************

Ras Al Ghul himself puts Jason in the Lazarus pit, instead of Talia sneaking him in there. And it wasn't to heal his mind, it was to actually bring him back from the dead. In the comics, it was Superboy Prime punching against of his paradise dimension that brought Jason back to life. Seriously. I'm not making that up. So I actually prefer the movie's version to the comic's.

The animation/art is much like "Crisis on 2 Earths," which is good. My only complaint is how some of the characters looked unmasked, namely Nightwing and Red Hood.

Overall, this is probably one of my favorite DC Animated films so far, with my only gripes being a couple of spots where the voice acting needed better direction (both in terms of the actor's delivery and in the lines themselves) and a couple of story points (again, I get that it is a 70-something minute direct-to-DVD animated film, so stuff needs to get cut).

Now, to my next topic. Last week, Marvel unveiled footage from their upcoming 'Thor' film (for the first time, to the best of my knowledge) at one of its shows at San Diego Comic-Con. A couple of days ago, the trailer shown (approx. 5 minutes in length) leaked onto the internet. Hours later, Marvel had already unleashed the law to get it taken down. Luckily, I saw it before that happened. The only thing I can say is that it looks incredible. As a comic book purist, I question why Thor has leather biker pants, since the top half of the costume comes directly from JMS' recent reboot of the character and there are some story points that I question, but overall, I'm even more excited for this film. I think after watching it I said, "Holy f***. I want it. I want it, now."

My gripe is that Marvel has yet to officially release the trailer themselves. Why? It's not like it was rough, unfinished footage meant to only gauge fan reaction. This stuff looks as polished as any movie I have ever seen (one of the complaints is that it seems over-polished in its use of CG-enhancements). Why keep this from the general public. In most cases, when something like this is shown at a trade event (like Comic-Con or e3), the company releases it after a few days (so that the attendees of the show can feel like they got something special). But that isn't the case here. No. Marvel demanded the trailer be removed from all streaming-video/viral sites and have yet to make an announcement as to when we can expect the trailer from them.

Here's my request to Marvel: Please, let everyone bask in the glory that is the Odinson. It is awesome, and you have nothing to fear of retribution from fans (well, maybe the super, hardcore fans, but they always complain about something) and release the trailer.

This coming season of Smallville is supposedly going to be its last. I have mixed feelings about that. This is its 10th season, and that seems like a good, even number to go out on, but at the same time, I almost don't count seasons 5-7. They were just...bad. It was a perpetual circle of suck (mostly caused by Lana Lang) and I wasn't at all disappointed when Millar and Gough announced that they were leaving the show after 7. From there, the show picked up and improved (except for when Lana showed up for 5 or so eps in season 8). I credit the improvements with the fact that the new showrunners made an increased effort to move the show closer to the known Supes mythology. Sure, it still has its downs (mostly the final fight with Doomsday in season 8), but what show doesn't?

My point is, and I thank Scott with sending me this link, that, at San Diego, they had a trailer for season 10. While the qualty isn't very good, this gives us a taste of what's to come, and is much better than the season 10 trailer the CW has been showing (see the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfA2vSwYeIc&feature=player_embedded)

I have a feeling most of this is going to turn out to be, as my brother called it, Coma-Clark, but still. Hot damn. The trailer shows the Superman costume and Clark flying while carrying the Daily Planet's globe back up to the top of the building, but again, this could just be the visions of a dying Clark. Also, Kara (Laura Vandervoot) will be in at least one episode as 'Supergirl' and, when asked if she will finally teach Clark to fly, the producers just smiled and said, "Funny you should ask that."

Rumor has it that Darkseid will be the final villain, but that Lex is supposed to appear sometime during the season as well.

If you wish to partake in our Smallville drinking game, the rules are as follows: take a drink anytime someone says the word 'justice,' or, in the expanded rules, anytime there is a reference to chess (particularly in reference to the Checkmate organization).

Since it's been awhile since I mentioned work (like, two whole blogs), I do have something say. They announced the employee of the month for July, and it's a manager. One, I don't think managers should be eligible (but since the ratio of employees to managers is 2:1, there's not a whole lot of choice there) and two, this particular manager...doesn't do anything! Now, I had heard from other employees that this particular person didn't do a whole lot, but could never really comment because I didn't really work enough hours to observe. But since I've been working 35-40 hours a week during the summer break, I've really noticed that yes, she doesn't do shit. In the past week, I've seen her ring up three customers, responded to two manager calls (one while she was on the phone gossiping about a former employee) and give the customer the wrong product and then denied doing it. That's about it. The rest of the time she spends wandering around or hiding in the manager's office.

Now, what really grinds my gears is that, when it was announced, the sales staff (as pitifully small as it is) all voiced complaints about the worthlessness of the employee to the manager on duty. Her response? We should grow up and start acting professional. What'd she spend the rest of her night doing? Bitching about another one of the managers and throwing chairs around our stockroom. Classy.

I should state, there is no criteria for Employee of the Month, just three people, of which the winner of July is one of, who get together in secret and whisper about who should get it. Seriously, that's how they pick. I was even there for it this month because I was in the breakroom while they met. So I guess it's not much of a secret meeting. It's not even that I didn't get it after having a stellar month or that it was probably my last month to get it, it's who got the title instead that really pisses me off.

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