Summer Movies 2013

This isn't going to be as informative or persuasive as some of my earlier posts. This is just me talking about the films that I enjoyed the most this summer, in order from best to worst. To be honest, nothing this summer is going to nab any Oscars, so these are just movies I had the most fun watching.

1. Pacific Rim
Comparing this film and Transformers because they both have robots is like comparing Root Beer and dog crap because they are both brown. Although some of the human sections didn't capture my attention, the battles between the Kaiju and Jaegers did. I sat on the edge of my seat with a big dumb grin on my face nearly every time something big started moving. It was the most fun I had at the theater this year.

2. Star Trek: Into Darkness
This movie has a ton of issues, but it was still a lot of fun. I'm a Star Trek fan, and I thought this movie did a good job retelling "The Wrath of Khan" for this alternate universe. Benedict Cumberbatch did a very good job as Khan, and he has one of those powerful villain voices (see Alan Rickman, Christopher Lee and Ian McKellen)

3. The Conjuring
You know a movie is gripping when you buy food and then don't get to eat it until after the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the Conjuring, and I'm not even a huge fan of horror movies. I think this one will go down in history with The Exorcist and Alien and The Shining as one of the best ever.

4. Kick-Ass 2
This film sits on the fence for me. It was funny at times, and had some great action, and Jim Carrey was amazing as Stars & Stripes, but there was just something... off-putting about this movie. Besides the obvious ones (like the poop humor) there were certain scenes where I was unsure it was appropriate to laugh, and that's not what I want when I go to see an Action-Comedy.

5. Despicable Me 2
Is it sad that I enjoyed this more than the superhero movies? In the completely out of character words of Johnathan Kent, "...Maybe."

6. Man of Steel
I liked it. I didn't love it. I thought the action dragged on too long at the end, and I hated Kevin Costner's Pa Kent, but the action was good, despite dragging on for too long.

7. Iron Man 3
As a comic book fan, I probably should hate Iron Man 3. I didn't like it, but it has a few redeeming scenes. I enjoyed the attack on Tony's mansion, and I liked the final battle with Nuclear Man from Superman IV, but certain things (*cough*Mandarin*cough*) and certain other things (does Rhodey actually use the Iron Patriot suit for anything?) took me out of the movie quite a bit.

8. World War Z
Don't fool yourself. This is not an action movie. It has a shaky camera and a lot of things move fast, but that isn't action. This movie should be called "Brad Pitt Runs Away" because that's all he does for 2 hours! Then in the final act he "Quietly Sneaks Away." Boring, and is a disservice to the (much better) book.

Movies Worse than World War Z in descending order

9. White House Down

10. The Lone Ranger

11. RIPD

12. Getaway

Superman as a Villain?

So, I spent all weekend playing Injustice: Gods Among Us to get inspired for a video project I'm working on, and got to thinking how much more entertaining the Man of Steel is as an adversary to the heroes. Not only does he look bad ass as the supreme ruler of the Earth, but because of his track record as an invincible hero, he makes for a villain that can instill real fear in both the characters and the readers.

Consider this: When you read a Batman comic that features, say, Two-Face, there is never the fear that the binary villain is going to win, because he's failed to do so on a major scale since the 1940s. Superman, however, has had few and far defeats since even the 30s. Only a handful of people have ever defeated him in a fight. Doomsday, Darkseid, Captain Marvel (Sometimes, he gets murdered in Injustice) and Batman. In most cases, those who have defeated him have only does so once, or they are about equal in their win-loss records with each other.

Which begs the question: How does one stop him?

This is what makes Superman a more intriguing villain than a hero. He is nearly invincible, has very few weaknesses, and has a reputation for always coming out on top. That said, he does have weaknesses, and more than just Kryptonite.

He also has a weakness to magic, which someone like Shazam or Wonder Woman, could exploit. He can also be outmatched in strength, but this is limited mainly to other Kryptonians, or Gods.

As far as DC heroes (so not Thor and Hulk) who could match the Man of Steel's strength, I can only think of a few: Supergirl, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel/Shazam, Captain Atom or Power Girl. That is not a huge list, and it gets shorter depending on the buffs that Superman has at the time (Superman Prime, Gold Superman etc.)

Then of course one could exploit his power. Superman has incredible hearing. If a sonic emitter can incapacitate or even kill someone with normal hearing, imagine what it can do to Kal-El. What would happen if all of a sudden Superman got hit by Black Canary's "Canary Cry"? Even if he survived, he'd be vulnerable, and his brains would be at least a little scrambled.

That is the reason why Superman would be a great villain, because he gives writers a significant challenge. Supes isn't the kind of villain who can be solved by punching him in the face. Writers have to be clever when putting heroes up against him, because he is a villain that not all heroes could beat. (Contrast him to the popular villains. Besides Superman's rogue's gallery there aren't that many villains that are universally threatening to all of the DC Universe.)

In the end, whoever the writers did decide to finally take down Superman for good would have a huge feat under their belt. Just please don't let it be Batman again. We've seen him win in Hush, Dark Knight Returns, and several other mediums. Below are my list of people who would benefit from taking down Superman in an Injustice-style Dictator Arc:

• Wonder Woman - She is one of the big three in DC, and this could really solidify that spot.
• Green Arrow and Black Canary - The Canary Cry and a Kryptonite Arrow, and the super-couple are taken to a new level in superheroics.
• Nightwing - Superman is Nightwing's idol other than Batman, and it would be epic for him to take him out for good, using his brains of course. Nightwing isn't punching Clark out any time soon.
• an empowered Lois Lane - for poetic tragedy reasons, this would be a fitting end to Superman
• Aquaman - Because Aquaman Doesn't Suck! and it would be a fitting comeuppance for the oft-ridiculed Arthur Curry.

Aquaman Doesn't Suck!

Aquaman doesn't suck! (or: Having a Goofy Name Completely Dismisses your Credibility)

By Mitchell A. Quondam

Let's face it, when it comes to people's favourite superheroes, Arthur Curry isn't exactly the first name to come up in the discussion. Sure, he's got power to be one of the heavy hitters in the DC Universe, but many people just view him as a fish out of water. You hear the same jabs about him all the time:

"He's weak out of water"
"His power set's lame"
"What's he gonna do? Call some whales to save the day?"
"His Costume is lame"
"Aquaman Sucks"

But Aquaman doesn't suck. When written properly, Curry can be regarded as a hero of godlike power, one who could rival the power of other gods like Wonder Woman, and even Superman.

The first thing that turns people off of him is his name, "Aquaman" It is like they chose the gentlest word for water they could, and then (in Golden/Silver Age fashion) added Man to the end of it. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman... Aquaman. It doesn't quite warrant the response that the others do.

If I was to ever do an Aquaman story, I would refer to him exclusively as Orin or Arthur. Even "curry" doesn't really sound intimidating. It's a spice, ooh, intimidating...

Also, I'd alter his costume, make it something more armored, like something a king going to war would have worn. His Injustice skin was a good example of what I'm looking for. The tights were fine in the Silver Age, but he is due for a change.

His powers though, should be the focus of the story. This is Orin, the mighty king of Atlantis. He has lived under constant water pressure at the depths of the sea for his entire life. When he comes up to land, he should feel as though that weight has been lifted. He should have physical strength and durability to match at least Wonder Woman if not Superman himself. Our brick walls would be like cardboard to him, our strongest machine guns like pillows. In some continuities he can even dehydrate land life just by touching it. In the Justice series he has a healing factor. In the right hands these powers could make Orin a true force on any Justice League roster.

His backstory can also be played with. He is heir to the throne of Atlantis, and that heritage has taken several routes in his story. He's been a proud and noble king, a disgraced/exiled king similar to Thor's origin, and a warrior king not too dissimilar to that of King Leonidas from 300. He could also be a young prince, who has not yet taken up the throne, or he could be completely unaware of his royal heritage, and has to discover who he is destined to be. There are endless ways to go about telling Orin's tale.