David Corenswet dons the blue tights and red undies in James Gunn's hard reboot of the franchise, and the first film in the newly christened DC Universe. A lot is riding on this film in order to fulfill expectations, and Gunn has the unenviable task of building a shared universe on the shoulders of this movie, but it manages to (mostly) succeed with flying colors. It's a bold and auspicious start as we're dropped into this fully developed world and asked to keep up. There's a lot going on and it feels like we're already three movies deep. We're introduced to the "Justice Gang" (Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific) as well as Lex Luthor (played by Greatest Actor of His Generation Nicholas Hoult). Krypto the dog also features heavily as an unexpected hiccup along the way.
Is it better than the first two Superman films from 1978 and 1980? Not in my opinion. But it easily stands alongside that version of the character, and it blows the brooding SnyderVerse out of the fucking water. Most importantly, it feels like a Superman movie again. This Superman resembles the golden age of comic books; he's full of hope and humanity, all about damage control and protecting creatures great and small. And John Williams's theme once again does the heavy lifting of bringing the beating heart and soul to this franchise.
So, does it do enough to wipe the bad blood left by the fallen DCEU? Only time will tell if audiences accept this new direction, but it's going to be an uphill battle as Marvel continues to dominate their own shared cinematic space.
4 punk rockers out of 5
Note: Next film in the new DCU is slated to be Supergirl, arriving in June 2026.
33 comments:
LMFAO
Cue the Shatner meme. Hooooooouuuuuulllllttttt!!!!!!!
I threw that one in just for you. ;)
All my homie(s) love The Houltster. (aka, The Houltinator) (aka, Hulk Houlton, RIP)
And, Ozzy. And, Theo.
I watched reviews of this and Fantastic Four in a private window and it still ruined my recommended videos. Had to clean them out, all over again. I guess I deserved that...
Hey, Pruitt Taylor Vince! There was a pic of Clark and him, in one review, but I didn't realize. Wasn't paying enough attention. I rewatched Identity, recently. The ending just isn't very uplifting, now. I had forgotten. I was like, "Yay, you did i...oh. Dammit."
There's always Constantine.
I saw him recently in this great little film called Heavy. And when I say "recently," I mean 30 years ago. Dude doesn't get enough work.
He did a phenomenal job as Pa Kent. At first I thought it was KG from Tenacious D.
Liv Tyler. Haven't seen her in anything, that I can recall. Oh right, Armageddon. That was not my fault XD The PragerU guy was a radio host in it? That's wild.
You never saw Lord of the Rings? Crikey. She's gotten me through some hard times...
Nope. I don’t tend to like pure High Fantasy. I usually need something to temper it. By something, I virtually always mean technology. That’s why I like Final Fantasy. Even then, some of them come way too close to disaster, in that regard. Looking at you, IX, you disaster-on-the-whole.
Back then, it was always, “Are you a Matrix guy, or a Lord of the Rings guy.” I still feel like that’s a useful distinction. I know, there are undoubtedly people who like both. I know, Hugo is in LOTR. But, I’ve never been interested.
Yeah, I always liked both since it scratches different itches. Where do you stand on Star Wars vs. Star Trek? I find that's another useful distinction. (I was always pro Wars, mostly because the Jedi stuff appeals to me)
Doc is going to murder me, but I’ve only seen a few episodes of The Next Generation, and the first J.J. Abrams movie (also not my fault). I obviously have infinite respect for Sir Patrick, but we all know that’s for a different, yet completely obvious, reason.
There’s a part of me that feels like Trek should be something I like more. It comes off as more cerebral, to me. But, I’m actually familiar with the main thrust of Star Wars. And, I love Anakin and Obi-Wan. The answer is Star Wars, even though I completely blame the Jedi’s ascetic ways for what happened to him.
I can fly the Trek flag high enough for all, but only as far as DS9. I acknowledge VOY as part of the 'Next Gen' era, but it wasn't for me. TNG is special to me for a hundred different reasons, but mostly because of Data + Picard. It's one of my Top 3 shows of all time.
What Abrams and Kurtzman shat out is Trek in name only. Neither man has any concept of what made the franchise great to begin with.
@Neg: Nah, you're not alone. I haven't seen any episodes of TNG, although I've kept up with the various Star Trek movies over the years. I learned about Data himself from the FFS code. :rofldata:
Also, you're going to kill me, but I've never played any of the Final Fantasy games either, unless you count Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2. Plenty of gaps in my cultural knowledge, although I've seen about a billion shitty movies.
Based on Doc's high praise of TNG, I owe it to check it out in full sometime, if only my schedule weren't so damn jam-packed.
The Final Fantasy present in Kingdom Hearts is mostly a cameo affair. There isn’t even any actual FF content in III, outside of a nod to what Versus XIII was going to be. Keep in mind, this is what I was told by a friend of mine. I only played I, Chain of Memories, and II.
I’m not lambasting you, or lamenting, I’m just letting you know that I don’t feel it counts. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie aren’t children (well, that’s debatable with Tidus…). Yuna, Rikku, and Paine aren’t fairies. Squall (Leon) IS more bearable in KH, if only because he’s voiced by David Boreanez.
But, it honestly works in your favor that it doesn’t count, because you could have a fresh start, if you chose to jump in. I know, I know, the video game market, jam-packed schedule. Just sayin’~
That's fair. I've had FFVII on my list to play for the past 20+ years, but still haven't found enough time to get around to it. I would have to give up movies full time in order to have any chance in the JRPG market nowadays. My gaming backlog is about three miles wide. I bought Indy and the Great Circle (Jerk), which I was very excited for, but still haven't even had a chance to crack open the shrink wrap yet.
I think I have enough nuts pre-written and auto-scheduled that I could step away and keep this blog fully automated for a month or two while I pursue other interests, but I still try to keep current on new releases for my own peace of mind. Just wish I could stop time for awhile, while I catch up on everything else I've missed. Everything keeps moving too quickly and I've already fallen behind on everything I wanted to get to today. It's a vicious cycle.
Oh, and @Doc: Did you ever see that Star Trek: Picard revival series that ran for three seasons (2020-23)? I don't know if Data ever got involved, but it seemed to have a lot of talented people behind the camera and got some pretty decent ratings.
I cannot believe that they were allowed to put the word ‘remake’ on the first part of that…thing. I get that playing that instead may seem like the easiest thing to do, but I assure you it isn’t. It’s such a whackadoo fanfic-y reenvisioning, and those are the kindest words I can muster for it. Though, I wonder just how big of fans they actually are of it, if they were willing to change it that way.
They’ve been screwing it up for years, to be honest. They did a different cut of the sequel movie, which changes it from one of the greatest things ever to an abomination. The PSP prequel embodies the same issue, and the “””””remake””””” only further perpetuates it.
Stop trying to turn a plot point for Cloud into their own character, YOU FREAKS!!!
Doc reviewed an anime that shits all over the canon.
My advice is: play VII, watch the dub of the original cut of Advent Children, and play Dirge of Cerberus. Anything beyond that is Zack country, and we can't be stopping there.
Psssst, play VI (version 1.0) or XIII instead.
@bud:
I watched all of Picard. I've seen modern Trek described as Trek for people who don’t like Trek. That's a perfect description. Picard (the series) was an agonising mess of lens-flare, bad writing, cynical attitudes, bullshit plotting, and hateful characters. It's fair to say I hated 99% of it. But if it's something that you want to try someday, be aware that there are things in S02 and 03 that rely upon knowledge of TNG. Especially S03. (The 1% that I liked will likely have very little impact without that kind of history.)
@Neg:
It was the FF connection that lured me into the Kingdom Hearts franchise. I think what you said is correct. I don't recall there being any of them in Kingdom Hearts III.
I played the demo of the FFVII 'Remake'. It was the Mako Reactor mission. It didn't inspire me to want to play the rest - and I'm the guy who liked FFX. 😆
'Anything beyond that is Zack country, and we can't be stopping there.'
In an alternate world, an interquel game sees Zack change his name to Xack and becomes Roxas' bestie in Organisation XIII. No one buys it.
I think it's safe to say I'd watch TNG first before ever chancing Picard. That seems like it relies more on nostalgia of the character, but sorry to hear they didn't do it justice. Seems like there's a bunch of new Trek shows on these days, which only decreases my chance of ever getting into it, because ideally I would like to start at the 1966 series and work my way forward. It's the 'Doctor Who' effect where I prefer to experience it from beginning to end rather than jump in the middle. (To a certain extent, that also applies to Final Fantasy, although I'd need an extra lifetime to get through that series.)
@Doc Hahaha. It’s already bad enough that Reno is Roxas’s best friend. Don’t worry, Bud; these aren’t spoilers. It’s voice actor banter. The Japanese voice artist was a member of the main team in Go-Busters. He passed =(
@Bud Bear in mind that the numbered Final Fantasy games are completely independent (Don’t bring up that kid in X, Doc. Don’t do it =P ). There ended up being sequels and such, for some of them, but one of the hallmarks has always been that they’re unique from one another. It’s interesting to learn the history of what games were considered to be included, but ended up being their own thing. Square/Squeenix employees would vie to see who got the honor.
Seiken Densetsu became Final Fantasy Adventure, in the West.
Seiken Densetsu II was considered for IV, but became Secret of Mana.
The Final Fantasy Legend games were SaGa games.
Xenogears was submitted to be VII, but was released as its own game.
There’s a shared, intertwined history between it, VII, and Chrono Trigger, which resulted in cameos and easter eggs. They go as far as Dirge, to my knowledge. I wonder if they included any in the “””””remake?”””””
You really are free to pick any numbered entry (that doesn’t have a -2 or -3 appended to the title).
Pays to know that XI and XIV are MMOs.
I-VI are largely 2D sprite-based affairs (w/some Mode7 in the SNES entries).
VII, VIII, and IX do the matte-painting thing, with 3D camera work in battles.
Voice acting starts with X.
XII plays like a single-player MMO, with party member AI scripts that you program yourself.
XIII is remarkably beginner friendly. You can endlessly retry every battle if you fail. You get healed after every one. You get to pick combinations of AI scripts and change them, on the fly.
Versus XIII had its name changed to XV after years of delays, to fool sheeple. It’s a sausage-fest.
XVI pulls latter-day Sentai/Anime bullshit by having everyone turn their powers over to one jackass. Why do they exist in the first place?!?! Yes, I am still triggered/broken. Thanks for noticing =P
I chose to read that as "Bud Bear" and kind of hope it sticks. The good news is that I understood about half the words above. But the overwhelming nature of jumping into something new is what's giving me cold feet. I bought FFVII awhile back and even installed it on my PS4, but then life got in the way. How do those "Pixel Remasters" of the first 6 games hold up? It's the only version available on modern consoles. I always try to play the originals over the "remakes" whenever possible.
What's strange is that I don't have many memories of playing RPGs outside of The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest) back in the late 80s/early 90s. I think the scope of them back then is what turned me off for life. The most recent one I played was Undertale, which was fun, but a major timesink. I never even got into Elder Scrolls or The Witcher sadly, although they all still remain on the list.... That list is a fucking behemoth. I'd need to clone myself several times over just to have a fighting chance.
Well, Bud Bear, I’ll be kind and overlook you calling Zelda 1 an RPG =P But, 2 does have RPG elements.
I have REAL beef with the pixel remasters. I don’t think the graphics are an improvement. They look washed out and fuzzy compared to the original sprites. I have NO idea why they felt the need to give you so much unnecessary screen real estate. They did a reverse crop; they expanded the backgrounds to a ludicrous degree and it looks horrible. There’s nothing gained from seeing more. It’s like some MMOs: ZOOM IN; I DON’T FEEL IMMERSED! I FEEL ENTIRELY DISCONNECTED!!
You know the answer. Yar-har-fiddle-dee-dee~
I don’t know if they retranslated all of the classic games for the pixel remasters, but they already retranslated VI, a long time ago. That’s not a selling point. Ted Woolsey’s original translations for VI and Chrono Trigger are mandatory. Especially Chrono Trigger. The newer translation is sanitized heavily and it causes major problems. As someone who has never played VI, you wouldn’t know every time a line is changed, like I do, but getting version 1.0 also lets you use the Vanish glitch to level spells an ass-ton faster.
I personally recommend the 20th Ann’y version of the first game, if you can make that happen. That’s how all of the pixel remasters should have been done.
Time is certainly a concern.
The first game is like 17-20 hours.
Chrono Trigger takes just over 30 to 100%.
VI depends on how many characters you want to level. You have to do at least 4. I’d say that’s about 40 hours to 100%, given that you’re using the Vanish glitch.
XII is around 55, straight through. Hundreds of hours to 100%. Don’t do it!
XIII is 70, straight through, with some end-game leveling, but you don’t have to, as long as you don’t insist on having the character with the least HP in the driver’s seat, like I do… About 110 to 100% it. I don’t recommend that. I very specifically wanted the Platinum. Only one I have; only one I will ever want.
How the hell did I forget VII?
The game is 55 normally. Considerably less if you power-level in the power-leveling spot. 88 to 100%.
Advent Children is 101 minutes.
Dirge...ummmm...it can't be more than 20. My runs over the years have been remarkably consistent, but I've never paid attention with Dirge. It's a third-person shooter. Plenty of cutscenes, but still a shooter. Don't even ask about 100%. I won't do it. I adore it, in its shittiness, at the level of investment I'm willing to give it. Bothering with the extras would ruin it, and I don't want that. I love Vincent.
@bud.
I understand your situation. Too many options. Not enough time. But some general thoughts, anyhow. Read and forget, or don't read. No harm done.
As a Dr Who fan, knowledge of the Classic Era is definitely beneficial in the Modern Era stories that reference it. But the Modern Era Christopher Eccleston (2005), David Tennant (2005–2010), and Matt Smith (2010–2013) years are so fuggin good! I really like Peter Capaldi (2014–2017), too, but some of the writing isn't as good in his tenure, so it's harder to recommend. That's where I stop. It went woke after that. 😐
With regards Star Trek, skipping the TOS years is entirely doable. The first episode of TNG has a TOS character in a simple connecting-line cameo, but the series itself isn't reliant on knowing all of what came before. It's perfectly fine to watch just TNG and go no further. It has a lot of episodes (plenty of duff ones, I admit), but it has an ending. There's no need to go to DS9 and VOY. But if someone chose to, likewise they have their own ending, with no need to go beyond their respective runs.
I played a bunch of stuff earlier this year during the first half of my absence, mostly indie titles on Switch that won't be well-known.
When it comes to bigger games, I put over 120 hours in Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition on PS4. It wasn't as good as DQ VIII, but it was great seeing a single-player DQ game back on the home console format. (VIII is a relevant comparison because IX was a DS game, and X was an MMO.) Sadly, DQ Character designer Akira Toriyama died a few weeks before I planned to start. 😔
I like to change genres when I finish something so I don't overdose on one, so next was Portal on Switch. First time playing. It was mostly fun.
Then back to PS4 for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. It was fun, too. Claudia Black was a great addition.
I've not played anything in a few months now, though, because I've been binging TV shows. One of which is Smallville. Christopher Reeve was in an episode I watched last night. It was after his accident, but he's totally still Reeve. There's a snippet of John Williams' Superman theme, which was really emotional. 🥺
Ooh, Superman is kinda on topic with this post. :loldata: It's the STS way.
@Neg Bear: Thanks for the rundown on the FF titles/lengths. I seem to remember AVGN doing a "chronologically confused" on this series as well. Or maybe that was Dragon Quest? It's all confusing to me. Sucks that they decided to mess with the sprites and translation aspects, since there's no way to play the originals. Unless I break out the emulators, I guess. I see that FFI 20th Anniversary was only released on the PSP? Shit.
It's certainly ambitious of me to think I'll ever get around to these games. Reminds me of when I bought all the Persona games several years back. How naïve I was to think I would finally play them just because I "owned" them (I should have already learned my lesson with Assassin's Creed and Red Dead Redemption). It's not for lack of wanting, I assure you. The desire is there, it's just my time management skills are poor. Movies are the perfect non-committal length for me. If one movie sucks, I can write it off and start another. I also tend to get bored easily with longer campaigns. I think the hardest part is getting started; once you're in the "zone," it's easier to stay focused.
@Doc Bear: I do recall us talking about skipping the Who classic era entirely and starting straight with the 2005 reboot. But even that sounds intimidating at this point, since that's about 10 seasons to tackle. I think it's easier when you're watching it throughout the years rather than trying to catch up all at once.
When it comes to Star Trek, I've always wanted to watch TOS just to satisfy my own curiosity since it's such a cultural milestone. If I ever get around to that, I'll definitely follow it up with TNG in its entirety because it seems just as significant in many regards. Would be nice to finally get all those references, so many years after the fact.
I've not seen Smallville, although that's another one on "The List." Some of these TV runs are way too intimidating to get through. There's simply not enough time to watch everything. Not to mention, there are shows I've been wanting to revisit for years that I still haven't gotten around to, like Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks, X-Files and Lost. Don't know if I'll ever get to see them again at this point. If I could just freeze time—and halt the aging process in its tracks—I would do it all....
Yep, the chronologically confused video was about FF. I’ve been using the real numbers, but:
IV was released here as II.
VI as III.
The real II, III, and V were skipped, initially. Eventually they got localized. Simple as that, really.
Yeah, I meant you need to emulate. The PSP is a funny creature. It has exactly the right things to have made me get one. PS1 games look great running on it. It has the stellar remakes of Mega Man and Mega Man X. And, my favorite version of FFI, as stated. I cannot ever expect anyone without those specific proclivities to bother. Emulate~
I’m going to personally hope that by “all” you only mean Persona 1 and both of the games labeled as 2 (i.e., Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment). 3, 4, and 5 are painfully guilty of latter-day Sentai sins. I’ve been known to call 5, ‘The Literal Devil.’
@bud:
I assumed you'd have seen Smallville on its first run. My bad. Sorry for the spoiler, then. :erm: It's not a series that I'd personally recommended, tbh. It ran for 10 years and has a LOT of crap amongst the good, especially in the early years; the teen romance / butt-hurt scenarios are extremely badly written, for example, and can be wildly inconsistent from one episode to the next. It's also often horribly contrived and stupid. I'm not exaggerating.
It does get better in later years, but it's a long wait. I watched it on a weekly basis back in the day, so warmed to it over time. I enjoy it because of the developing Superman lore, and it has my favourite onscreen version of Lex.
@Neg:
I liked Persona 3 and 4. They're frustrating at times and huge time-sinks, but there's a sense of progression that I liked. I don't know how they differ from the first two; I've not played those ones. I bought P5 a few years back and set aside a whole evening to start it. There's maybe a good game in there (?), but it's so damn ugly that I couldn't tolerate it. ☹️ Even the menus are bad.
In 1 and the 2s, everyone in the party is a wild card. It’s not ‘this one person is the be-all, end-all.’ I get that they call their hand about that, and that is something I’ve come to highly praise. You know in Rider that the person the show is named after, is the one who’s gonna bring it all home. If you expect otherwise, it’s your fault. Same with the Matrix. We’re immediately told Neo is the One. But, Final Fantasy has (or USED to have) no problem setting the delineated most-central protagonist amidst the rest of the party. Everyone in VII has an ultimate weapon and Limit Break, not just Cloud. Terra can do more things when in Magitek Armor, yes, but there is a point where you can put anyone you want into them.
I’m not going to list all my issues with P5, because it’d take a while, but there’s a strange can’t-win-either-way dynamic going on because of how Joker is handled. You’re meant to pour yourself into him; he’s meant to be you. But, there are reasons I can’t do that. And, situations where I can’t make the choices appropriate for him, because they’d be inappropriate of me. The ones that are appropriate for me, aren’t appropriate for him. Yes, I’m talking about the dating. My kingdom for an of-age protagonist.
He gets praised so much and called LEADER (which is a trigger word for me), and because I’m not embodying him, as intended, it’s being said to and about an empty husk. Even then, I wouldn’t want my ego to be fellated that much. I’m like, Makoto, get up here and lead this party!
There’s also the issue of Ludonarrative Dissonance. You make a million dialogue choices, but none of it actually changes what happens. I don’t want that piece of dogshit in my party, even temporarily. I don’t want that much of the story to be about them. But, the only way to choose against that, is to choose to stop playing.
I actually REALLY love the aesthetic. It’s one of the most stylish things I’ve ever encountered. It’s an RPG about Gentlemen Thieves! I wanted to love it more than anything. But, it’s so anathema to me.
And, like all shit toku, the music paradoxically fucking rips. But, that’s never enough to compensate; it never could.
@Doc: No problem. I already knew about the Christopher Reeve cameo, which was one of the things that made me want to see it in the first place. I think it was cuckoo who was a fan of that show.
I never really got into the WB/CW-type shows because they all seemed like angsty teen drama to me (I think I fell off around the time of Buffy and Dawson's Creek). Supernatural was another one of those shows that went on forever and I always meant to watch, but I know it well from all the gifs/memes. I think my rule of thumb is, the longer it goes on, the less of a chance I'll ever get around to watching it (unless I jumped on early, like The X-Files).
@Neg: I bought Persona 5 because I heard nothing but good things about it, and bought the others so I could eventually get to it. But joke's on me; I never started any of them. 🤡
Same thing goes for Danganronpa, Zero Escape and all those other types of games. I'm realizing I have a real fucking issue with attention span. My individual backlogs for books, movies, TV shows and video games could carry over several lifetimes.
P.S. This is developing into quite the STS-y thread. I'm delighted it's for Superman because that means I get to keep seeing that cool poster image show up on the sidebar. :D
Neg, you know more about Persona 5 than I do. I bought it based on my feelings of the previous two games, played it for two nights, then threw in the towel and never went back. I made the same choice as you, I stopped playing, but for wholly different reasons. Luckily, I paid less than £10 in a sale. I'm not familiar with the music beyond what I heard in those sessions.
Ludonarrative Dissonance isn't a term that I'd encountered before, but it's one that I've recognised countless times, even in Mario games. I learned a thing. TY.
Bud, I gave up on Buffy long before the end, too, but I enjoyed Angel. It had some great writing. It's interesting that you mentioned Supernatural. I watched Seasons 07-10 of it before taking a break and going to Smallville. :loldata: Both shows do have many of the same problems, even though they're very different tonally. Both also have too many seasons.
This is going to seem contrary, but... No offence meant. The Superman poster art: 'Hey, Supes, move a few inches forward, the glare from the sun is killing the composition. I want golden hour, not fucking amateur hour." 💩
@Doc Know your enemy ;)
@Bud I know something of hating otherwise universally belovéd things. And, vice versa. I’m reminded of a Captain America quote about telling the world to move.
Also, because it was just brought to mind: As weird as it may seem for me, I don’t like that Persona is Dark Pokémon. You’d think that’d make it appeal to me, but it just reminds me of how much I adored Pokémon back when I was into that franchise. The dark seeks the light? Something like that, I guess~
My Pokémon knowledge is thus: of the hundreds (thousands?) of them, I could probably recognise about 3. The ball is a cool design.
Do either of you have any thoughts on Shin Megami Tensei or Devil Summoner? They often have a 'collect monsters' element. I enjoyed some of those, from the PS2 era onwards. I never had the opportunity to play any before then.
I’ve seen parts of LPs of mainline SMT and Devil Summoner. The general vibe isn’t my bag. It’s similar, ultimately, to the Persona substratum, but what I’ve seen really leans a lot more heavily into the demonology and dark philosophies. One I watched was kinda sci-fi future military-esque.
I didn’t like that P5 ultimately ended up arriving at the usual shenanigans. I really wanted a simple RPG about planning and executing announced heists. But, of course it ended up there; it’s part of the SMT cosmos. That was my fault.
The Devil Summoner that I played definitely had a darker tone; it was carried through into the characters and themes, too. I've fond memories of playing Atlus' PS2 + PS3 era output. It was a nice change from Square's style.
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