The backstory in Warner Bros.Fantastic Beasts hides a troubled political time in the world and part of it is revealed in Secrets of Dumbledore. I firmly believe these movies are setting the stage for showing the Nazi’s rise to power. The visual motifs are there and my prediction is that Grindelwald will become one of Hitler’s elite. He’ll have his own department to wrangle the war so one social order dominates the world.
It’s a concept fans of Hellboy (and Indiana Jones) are familiar with. I’m hoping that’s the finale JK Rowling’s navigating towards. Although my prediction for this third film is wrong, I’m okay with it. There’s two more films that may address it, and wrap up the story.
Matt Reeves‘ The Batman is a very different beast when compared to other past takes. It doesn’t outdo Nolan’s excellent trilogy and that’ll be a debate amongst diehard fans. He’s no longer that character from long ago where it’s about comic book style aesthetics or terrible one-liners. While I can profess a huge love for Burton’s gothic take, this version is moody, nihilistic and grungy. It’s also neo noir in its cinematographic design.
Robert Pattinson is great as the next iteration, but his appearance may have some wondering if he’s channelling Kurt Cobain. He hasn’t completely shed his moody Twilight persona, but I can buy into the new type of gravitas infecting the reclusive Bruce Wayne; the origins get rewritten. His father was a mayoral candidate for Gotham City and his mom…. Well, is troubled. Nearly everyone knows how their death affected the young boy who would become the bat, but in this case, the discovery of why they were murdered sets him down a slightly different path.
Amongst Baby Boomers, The Adventures of Captain Marvel defined the pulp-action superhero who would later be known as Shazam. For Gen X’ers, The Shazam/Isis Hour was a maligned television show of the mid-70s and it has its cult appeal. Jump to 1981, The Greatest American Hero showed how Stephen J. Cannell developed a fun, purposeful superhero sporting a different kind of symbol who wants to do what’s right in a cop buddy sitcom formula. The problems the character faced as the series progressed include learning how to use his powers, talking to the aliens in why he was selected and trying to keep those he loved safe.
To bring all those previous iterations of a superhero sitcom movie, Shazam, took several decades of storytelling in the television world to experiment with and the payoff is terrific. Ignoring the troubled property when it was first introduced in the ’40s to its reinvention by DC Comics, this 2019 movie borrows on many comedic tropes from the small screen as Billy Batson (Asher Angel) tries to figure out what being a superhero means. He has no book to guide him. He only has a comic book superhero obsessed foster brother Freddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) to offer tips and his own moral compass to keep him pure. The only misfire is in how nothing new is added to make it stand out.
LEGO’s Chima and Ninjago series on network television set the bar for quality entertainment which is not only funny but also engaging. These protagonists often dealt with inadequacies and skeletons in the closet. To resolve these issues took several episodes and for them to unlock their hidden potential meant achieving balance with the Force. In Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, Sensei Wu achieved this harmony many years ago and this new movie does little to align inner peace (the virtues of patience and spirituality) inside an action comedy.
After watching the LEGO Ninjago Movie, I’m wondering what in blue blazes happened? Comparisons by people who know the small screen counterpart will no doubt be made. These viewers (especially me) who kept up with this version for the past seven years will be picking favourites. Even though I knew the film would not be a continuation by any means after watching the trailer, I had hoped it can still be good. Like LEGO, new builds can be cobbled together from various kits, but this one is unbalanced. The only nod to the show is in the music the lead protagonist, Lloyd Garmadon (voiced by Dave Franco), has as a ringtone.
Suicide Squad is definitely a lot of fun with Deadshot (Will Smith) commanding this team! Technically, it’s Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) but if this individual is going to be the good guy to take care of the bad guys, he certainly needs to learn from Deadshot in how to rile and rouse a team into action. More could have been done in the tale to show these two have a battle of wills and decide who is the most righteous. But instead, the story weaves in and out of identifying who will make up this team and why they are brought together.
The plot felt inspired by Ghostbusters I and II. Certain set pieces were definitely very familiar — where the team has to go into the heart of where the commotion is taking place in a ravaged city. Just who caused the destruction was never revealed in the trailers. It could have been terrorists, another meta-human gone postal or even be an alien invasion. A major reveal follows:
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The backstory in Warner Bros. Fantastic Beasts hides a troubled political time in the world and part of it is revealed in Secrets of Dumbledore. I firmly believe these movies are setting the stage for showing the Nazi’s rise to power. The visual motifs are there and my prediction is that Grindelwald will become one of Hitler’s elite. He’ll have his own department to wrangle the war so one social order dominates the world.
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
All The Legends & Lore That Inspired Shazam
20 AprBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
Amongst Baby Boomers, The Adventures of Captain Marvel defined the pulp-action superhero who would later be known as Shazam. For Gen X’ers, The Shazam/Isis Hour was a maligned television show of the mid-70s and it has its cult appeal. Jump to 1981, The Greatest American Hero showed how Stephen J. Cannell developed a fun, purposeful superhero sporting a different kind of symbol who wants to do what’s right in a cop buddy sitcom formula. The problems the character faced as the series progressed include learning how to use his powers, talking to the aliens in why he was selected and trying to keep those he loved safe.
To bring all those previous iterations of a superhero sitcom movie, Shazam, took several decades of storytelling in the television world to experiment with and the payoff is terrific. Ignoring the troubled property when it was first introduced in the ’40s to its reinvention by DC Comics, this 2019 movie borrows on many comedic tropes from the small screen as Billy Batson (Asher Angel) tries to figure out what being a superhero means. He has no book to guide him. He only has a comic book superhero obsessed foster brother Freddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) to offer tips and his own moral compass to keep him pure. The only misfire is in how nothing new is added to make it stand out.
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Tags: Asher Angel, Commentary, David F. Sandberg, DC Comics, Jack Dylan Grazer, Superhero, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Zachary Levi