Star Wars Spin Off Ideas (With Posters!)

As an avid Star Wars fan I am as excited as anyone for the new Star Wars Trilogy, which begins next December with The Force Awakens, However as an avid EU fan, I am even more excited at the prospect of these spin off movies, starting in 2016 with Gareth Edwards' new movie and continuing from there. Nobody knows what they are about, but a lot of EU fans are hoping for something familiar brought back into canon. These are just some of my ideas for some great spin off ideas, complete with fan casting and Microsoft Paint quality posters!

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters

The idea of a Boba Fett spin off is the most obvious, but how about a two-person team to bring back Dengar? Sort of like a Few Dollars More in space! My cast choices are Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Boba Fett and Karl Urban for Dengar. JGL might seem like an odd choice but I think he could pull it off. Also Bossk is the main villain, but I don't care who plays him, as he has no English dialogue.

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

This I think would be the best idea for a spin off, like a Top Gun but in X-Wings. Grant Gustin is a young Corran Horn and Brandon Routh is Wedge Antilles, just after the Battle of Yavin.

Star Wars: Republic Commando

Tom Hardy, Manu Bennett, Jason Momoa, Michael Jai White, and Ray Stevenson play a rogue crew of Imperial Stormtroopers who rebel against the Empire, and the villain, an Imperial Officer played by Christoph Waltz enlists bounty hunters Dave Bautista, Robert Maillet and Kim Coates, and an Inquisitor played by Nan Yu to hunt them down. That sounds like an awesome action movie to me, like a Star Wars Expendables!

Yoda: The Legend Begins

a solo adventure about a padawan Yoda, the seminal story where he goes from a padawan to a master. Frank Oz as Yoda, Michael B. Jordan as Mace Windu, and Malcolm McDowell as Darth Tenebrous (with Daniel Davis altered by CGI as a young Plagueis, in a possible standalone sequel)






I have more ideas, but I will save them for a later entry. I hope you enjoyed.

Versus Series #2: Batman vs Green Goblin

The Versus Series are battles between comic book characters that I think would be intriguing or exciting matchups. They use characters from all comic books and different versions and incarnations of the characters. For instance, this battle is between the Pre 52 Batman and Post-Civil War Green Goblin

Photos Courtesy of Comic Vine

How they Meet:
Norman Osborn attempts to destroy his only competitor in military applications, Wayne Enterprises, by destroying Wayne Tower as the Green Goblin. Bruce, as Batman, chases Osborn back to the Oscorp Tower to exact vengeance.

Equipment:
Neither man has prepped in advance for this fight, but it is in Osborn's building. He has an endless supply of Pumpkin Bombs, Razor Bats, and he also has the Iron Patriot suit lying around. He also has the glider, and Goblin suit. Batman has only what he brought with him: 5 batarangs, the Batclaw, the Grapnel Gun, Bat Rope, and a handful of smoke bombs.


The Fight:
Osborn attempts to hide in his office, and places mines at the door. However, Batman comes in through the window behind him, and tackles him. Goblin uses the flashes from his gloves to blind Bats as he kicks him off. Goblin throws a pumpkin bomb, blasting Batman out the window, but Batman uses his grapnel gun to ascend the exterior of the building. Goblin, now on his glider, throws more grenades at Batman, but he dodges and does a gliding Bat-kick, knocking Goblin off his glider and through the window, back into Oscorp. Osborn crawls away, but Batman uses the batclaw to drag him back. Goblin waits until he is close to Bats and then stabs a razor bat, directly into Batman's chest. Batman goes down, but is not dead, and Osborn knows it. He gets up and opens a hidden door in his office, revealing the Iron Patriot suit. Osborn puts it on, and turns back, but Batman is gone. Suddenly, smoke bombs rain all around Patriot, and Batman comes from nowhere and shoves Iron Patriot out the window. Patriot's rockets fire up, but Batman hits one of his flight stabilizers with a batarang. Osborn ejects from the suit and nearly falls to his death, but Batman catches him and ties him up with the Batrrope.

The Result:
Batman wins, but his morals keep him from killing Osborn. He is captured alive and sent to Arkham Asylum.

Captain America: Civil War Prediction

This is a little infographic I put together for the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, depicting what I believe will be the two factions in the upcoming movie. I have a reasoning for everyone below

Firstly, Captain America's anti-reg movement:

• Nick Fury - Has trusted Cap in the past, while at the same time knows that he can't trust Stark
• Winter Soldier - Obvious, as he is Cap's lifelong friend
• Black Widow - Seems to be very close to Cap, especially in Avengers and Winter Soldier
• Falcon - Another Captain America guy, loyal to his friend
• Phil Coulson - A self-professed Captain America fanboy
• Scarlet Witch - This is arbitrary, but splitting up the twins gives the movie a bigger civil war feel
• Ant Man - a rebel, would not register with the government
• Sharon Carter - A clear love interest for Captain America

and now for Iron Man's team:

• Maria Hill - ends Cap 2 working for Stark, could be manipulated
• Hawkeye - a soldier who blindly follows orders
• Pepper Potts - Tony's love interest
• Vision - Basically JARVIS, Tony's robot
• Iron Patriot - Government soldier and TOny's friend
• Quicksilver - see Scarlet Witch
• Black Panther - Mostly neutral, but probably doesn't want to rebel against the foreign US
• Hank Pym - seems more likely to join the government than be a rebel
• Hulk - A good friend of Tony, would stick with him and try and register

This is all speculative, but I think that it is a good prediction to how the lines will be drawn (Assuming nobody dies in Age of Ultron, which for the record I predict Hawkeye and Quicksilver will both die)

Nickelback is a Better Band Than Aerosmith!

Nickelback is better than Aerosmith! There I said it. No I didn't lose a bet. Aerosmith were nobody for years and years, and quickly faded into obscurity, and then MTV (back when they actually had music and not jackasses and ridiculousness) made them popular in what I can only assume is a practical joke taken too far. They were then inexplicably paired together with Run DMC, which is the only reason why anybody knows Walk This Way.

Now, I'm not saying that Nickelback is a great band; they're not, but there are much more popular bands who are much worse. Aerosmith is a prime example, but I would also say Metallica is pretty awful too. (If you don't believe me, watch them phone it in live)

This begs the question: what makes people hate or love one band over another? Is it ability? Chad Kroeger is a very able musical performer, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with his music although he lacks an original sound. Similarly, Joe Perry of Aerosmith is a competent guitarist, but nothing exceptional (although he has been able to basically make a living on that one riff from Walk This Way)

All three bands also have an annoying, yelly lead singer, but between Hetfield, Tyler, and Kroeger, Kroeger is probably the most bearable. (Having said that of course, Photograph is just dreadfull. Who reminisces on happy romantic times by yelling?)

This isn't an Aerosmith hate article, so much as a Nickelback apologist article. They aren't as bad as they are made out to be, and are even better than the bands that it is "cool" to like. So have an open mind when listening to their music, and other people's music and like or hate them based on that.

P.S. I know that a lot of Nickelback's music videos are misogynist garbage, but if you go through most North American bands' music videos, they are no better, so that is not a viable "Hate Nickelback" argument.

Plo Koon Lives!

This week I too some time to work on a project I've had on my mind for a while, actually a mix of a few ideas. Plo Koon is one of my favourite Jedi, and I wasn't a fan of the way he died in Revenge of the Sith. I would have been satisfied if he had been killed by Vader or even Sidious (during Mace's attempt to arrest him) but not shot down in a starfighter.

My fan theory for a while was that Plo survived, killed or evaded his clones on Cato Neimoidia, and then went into exile the same way Yoda and Obi-Wan did, never to be seen again.

Along with the Plo Koon idea, I have also been wanting to do a samurai cartoon, but I never had the story. This fan film is a mixture of both, a samurai movie that takes place in the Star Wars Universe.

The only pain is that I didn''t have a microphone, but other than that I think it turned out good.

Best Story Arcs by Comic

Because of my extensive knowledge of comic books and the like, I am often consulted by new readers in my online and offline communities. The common question is "what is the best [insert character here] story?"

Now, you could have done like I have done and read through them all, painstakingly deciding which ones are great and which ones are not so great, but instead, I've created a list of top fives kept on this page for reference. I hope this list helps any newcomers to comics, and I hope they can get as interested in them as I am. So let's start!

Batman

1. Year One - This is a great starting point for any new Batman reader. I recommend this to anyone unfamiliar with Batman's origin, or anyone who really liked Batman Begins.
2. Long Halloween - A great detective noir story steeped in lore with a lot of villains!
3. Hush - similar reasons to Long Halloween, also introduced a great villain and fleshed out a lot of Bruce's backstory, just a fun read overall
4. Court of Owls - A newer jumping-on point for new readers, also introduces a new iconic villain.
5. Knightfall - Has plenty of villains and heroes. It also introduces one of Batman's key villains in Bane.

(With Batman there are so many, I could do a top 50, but I will leave it at my top 5, others may be different)

Superman

1. Red Son - This story is non-canon but in many ways the best Superman story ever told.
2. All Star Superman - encompasses everything great about the Superman mythos into one story, with beautiful artwork.
3. Superman: Earth One - A retelling of his origin story that new readers should check out.
4. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? - An interesting take on Superman told from Lois Lane's perspective.
5. Kingdom Come - A good story made better by Alex Ross' fantastic artwork.

 Justice League

1. Justice - like Kingdom Come, but more fun, packed with heroes and villains all done in amazing artwork by Alex Ross.
2. Origin - The New 52 jumping on point is a fun story and a must for new readers.
3. Tower of Babel - A great Justice League and a great Batman story, all in one.
4. JLA/Avengers - for all the crossover fanatics out there.
5. Brave and the Bold #28 - their original formation against one of the most ridiculous villains of the Silver Age.

Other DC Characters

1. Wonder Woman: Blood - Not many comics treat Wonder Woman with the respect she deserves, but Blood and the subsequent run does in spades, best WW story by far.
2. Flash: Secret Origin - Just a really great Flash story, although there are many to choose from.
3. Sinestro Corps War - A Green Lantern story steeped in lore and has many heroes and villains including the Justice League.
4. Crisis on Infinite Earths - Just the biggest cluster of chaos ever released, packed with a ridiculous amount of characters.
5. Blackest Night - Most of the DC Universe was involved and it was a blast to read, very steeped in lore though, not for first time readers.

X-Men

1. Dark Phoenix Saga
2. Days of Future Past
3. House of M
4. Dangerous
5. First Class

Avengers

1. Civil War
2. Age of Ultron
3. Infinity Gauntlet
4. Breakout

Others

1. Planet Hulk
2. Secret Wars
3. The Night Gwen Stacy Died
4. World War Hulk
5. Gambit: Once a Thief

Versus Series #1: Green Arrow vs Bane

The Versus Series are battles between comic book characters that I think would be intriguing or exciting matchups. They use characters from all comic books and different versions and incarnations of the characters. For instance, this battle is between the Green Arrow from the CW show, and Bane from the Dark Knight Rises.

How They Meet:

This takes place in the second act of the Dark Knight Rises. Batman has been broken, and Bane has taken control of Gotham with his legion of mercenaries. The US Army is unable to interfere due to the fear of a nuclear bomb. Oliver Queen, AKA The Green Arrow, however, is able to slip into Gotham in the dead of night, and fights Bane down in the sewer.


Equipment
Arrow has been planning for this fight, but Bane hasn't. Arrow came equipped with 50 arrows, plus 10 grappling hook arrows and 5 explosive/flashbang arrows, and his sword. Bane is unarmed, but is of course wearing his morphine mask and that turtle shell Kevlar vest he wears during his fight with Batman.


The Fight:
Bane's quick reflexes allow him to catch Ollie's first Arrow, however it was a flashbang arrow, which temporarily blinds Bane. Ollie takes advantage and pushes Bane over the railing. Ollie leaps down and draws his sword, but Bane smacks it away and throws Ollie. The Green Arrow swings on a chain and comes back to kick Bane in the face. He draws his bow and fires. The arrow bounces off of Bane's vest. A second arrow pierces his arm, but Bane doesn't feel pain when he wears the mask. Bane gets to Ollie before he can fire another arrow and pushes him up against the wall, punching him in the face. Ollie is bloodied, and collapses to the ground. Bane takes some time to taunt Green Arrow, buying him time to fire a grappling arrow and climb into the shadows. From the shadows, an explosive arrow is fired, knocking Bane back and damaging his mask. Arrow swings down and pounces on Bane. With his mask destroyed, Bane goes into convulsions, but as Oliver preps the finishing arrow, Bane retrieves Ollie's sword and stabs him in the gut with it. Arrow falls to the ground. Bane's mercs come and put the mask back on him, but as Bane gets up, Arrow rolls into the sewer and escapes.


The Result:

Technically neither man died, but it is evident that if Arrow hadn't escaped, he would have lost. Moral victory for Bane

*Photos courtesy of Green Arrow Wiki and The Sun respectively*

Recast #1: Breaking Bad

This is something my friends and I do sometimes. Take a movie (or TV show) and recast in in a different year or era in film. I thought I'd share some of the results with you, starting with Breaking Bad. My friends and I have recasted Breaking Bad for nearly every era (what can I say? It's a great show) but i'll show you my 4 favourite versions.

Breaking Bad (1997)
Walter White – Kevin Spacey
Hank Schrader – Bruce Willis
Jesse Pinkman – Chris O’Donnell
Gustavo Fring – Denzel Washington
Skyler White – Nicole Kidman
Marie Schrader – Sally Field
Todd – Matt Damon
Mike – Michael Rooker

Breaking Bad (1987)
Walter White – Jack Nicholson
Jesse Pinkman – Marlon Wayans
Hank Schrader – Harrison Ford
Gustavo Fring – Al Pacino, Edward Olmos
Saul Goodman – Michael Douglas
Skyler White – Michelle Pfeifer

Breaking Bad (1975)
Walter White – Dustin Hoffman
Hank Schrader – Gene Hackman
Jesse Pinkman – Richard Dreyfus (yes, that is correct)
Skyler White – Meryl Streep
Gustavo Fring – Giancarlo Giannini
Saul Goodman – Robert Redford
Mike – Anthony Hopkins

(1955)
Walter White – Henry Fonda
Jesse Pinkman – James Dean
Hank Schrader – Richard Burton
Skyler White – Elizabeth Taylor
Todd – Anthony Perkins
Tuco – Sal Mineo

Resident Evil 7 Wishlist

Firstly, are they even making a Resident Evil 7?

I heard they may announce one at E3 this year, so I'm getting my hopes up. As another short entry, I thought I'd do a wish list of little things I would like to see in the new game, both from a gameplay and character perspective.

Firstly, I would like to see Jill Valentine back:
   Jill was my favourite from the original trilogy, but she barely appears anymore compared to Chris and Leon. She was like the Ellen Ripley of Resident Evil, and it has felt odd not playing as her.

The addition of infection dangers:
   Resident Evil: Outbreak did this to a certain extent, but I would like to see it expanded upon. Maybe depending on the severity of a zombie bite, even the common zombies could reduce you to the POISON state from early titles (like Webspinners and Ivy used to be able to). This would prompt the player to seek an antidote before they slowly die from their infection.

Limited ammo:
   Not much to say here, other than I feel ammo conservation and running away sometimes should be a serious gameplay mechanic, especially on hard.

No bodies melting on death:
   Why? see below...

Possibility of bodies raising after dead:
   Crimson Heads were badass, and unexpected. I had no clue they were a thing until I was deep into Resident Evil's REmake for the Gamecube, and they made for exhilarating gameplay at times, and made the zombies a bigger threat than usual.

More puzzle items and sections:
   What set Resident Evil apart from basic shooters early on was its puzzles. These days Resident Evil is indistinguishable from other over the shoulder shooters like Gears of War gameplay-wise. Puzzles are welcome back in my books.

If there's a final boss, don't make it a mutated bad guy of the series. I honestly find it annoying when the main bad guys happen to turn into giant unstoppable monsters rather than just normal zombies. The Tyrant didn't have to. Nemesis didn't have to, and William was a mutant the entire game so he doesn't count.

An all female team:
   Resident Evil 6 had an all-guy team, and two mixed teams. If this game has more than one story, there should be at least one all female story, if not two. Besides any new characters, there are many female characters to choose from, including Jill, Claire, Rebecca, Ada, Ashley, Sherry, Helena, Sheva or anybody from a spinoff game. A grown-up Sherry teaming with Claire for instance would make for a good story.

Animation Practice

This is one of many short animations I started doing a while ago. I want to make more, and I will post all of them here. I have many ideas as to what I will do next, and Batman and Judge Dredd may or may not fit into those plans. ;) Stay tuned.

Here is another one, a little smoother. I'm still lacking in the audio department though.

Spider-Man: 30 Years Later

This was an idea I had for a Spider-Man comic a while back. I wrote a full script and plot outline, but I never could find time to pencil it.

Spider-Man: Thirty Years Later

Plot
Set many years after Spider-Man has retired, Peter Parker has settled down with a wife (nobody we know, someone new) and has a daughter. The world he lives in is still haunted by crime, but several other crime-fighters are still in service. After the shocking news of Wolverine's death, Spider-Man decides to come out of retirement to meet this killer.

Depiction of Spider-Man
Spider-Man is feeling the effects of his time off. He is slower and heavier than he was in his teen years when he was an active hero. This Spider-Man has been retired for over 15 years. His costume is relatively unchanged, but he has added some armored pieces, because he is not as durable as he once was. His physical appearance has changed drastically. Most depictions of Spider-Man are that of a 15-25 year old. This version is an older and scruffier version of Parker. His hair is starting to recede and he has grown a full beard, (he may shave).

The Villain(s)
At first, Spider-Man is obsessed with the notion that it was Norman Osborn, his greatest foe, that killed Wolverine. However, upon visiting Osborn in the hospital, Spidey discovers that the use of the Green Goblin serum has eaten away at his body, and the former Goblin is a vegetable on life support.

Another villain, Doctor Octopus, is paralyzed from the neck down, and his mechanical arms are the only moving parts on him anymore.

The true villain is named Null, a super-villain mastermind, whose mere presence nullifies any superhero's powers, thus allowing him to kill Wolverine. But, killing Wolverine was just a ploy to get Spider-Man out in the open.

Additional Superheroes
Wolverine doesn't look any older, because he is immortal.

Because of the super-soldier serum, the 150 year-old Captain America barely looks 40, though he has grown a small beard and put on some weight.

Matt Murdock's hair is slightly graying, but he is still in tremendous shape, as he still operates as Daredevil. However, his hearing is starting to fail him.

The Punisher is nearing 60, and all of the battles he's had have sent him into a permanent form of shell-shock, and war madness. He's become little more than a wild killer, blasting everyone in his path. He is under SHIELD custody.

After years of exposure to gamma radiation, Bruce Banner is a lifeless husk, and can only transform into the Hulk after a massive electrical surge. He is kept at a SHIELD Base as a guinea pig.

Resident Evil Films Rebooted: My Ideas

Resident Evil is one of my favourite video game franchises, if not my favourite. The films are a guilty pleasure of mine in that I enjoy them but they are not that great. One of the many reasons for this is the large deviations they make from the source material, including completely changing the main character. Imagine if a Harry Potter movie had a new character as the protagonist, while Harry was relegated to a side character.

Below, I have a very basic outline for what I would do with the Resident Evil film franchise. It makes some minor changes for an easier transition to film, simplifies the story, but mainly stays true to the source material. My franchise would be divided into two trilogies, much like Star Wars was. The first trilogy would be horror, taking place in Raccoon City, with the second being a more action-heavy trilogy, focusing on the events after Raccoon City. Obviously, as I only had six films I had to pick and chooser which stories to tell, so some spinoffs got lost (Revelations for instance, which I love) and some stories got merged into one film.

The Raccoon City Trilogy
Resident Evil
Cast
Chris Redfield
Jill Valentine

Barry Burton
Rebecca Chambers
Albert Wesker
Richard, Enrico, Forrest, Kenneth, Joseph


Enemies
Cerberus
Hunters
Yawn
Plant 42
Lisa Trevor
Neptune
T-002 Tyrant


Follows the plot of Resident Evil for the Gamecube
Two groups: Chris/Rebecca, Jill/Barry
Wesker is a traitor-antagonist, but this isn't shown until the final act
Chris/Rebecca fight Lisa Trevor and Yawn, Jill/Barry fight Neptune, Plant 42 & Lisa Trevor
Kenneth & Forrest are already dead
Enrico has the same role as in the game, as does Joseph
Barry is killed by Hunters
Resident Evil 1, establishes the universe and introduces the Redfield family arc
Claire will be "name dropped" a couple times in this film to build the universe


Resident Evil 2
Cast
Leon Kennedy
Claire Redfield
Sherry Birkin
Ada Wong
Echo Six (Dee-Ay, Tweed, Harley, Shona)
Brian Irons
Marvin Branagh

Enemies
Cerberus
Lickers
The Gator
Mr. X Tyrant
William Birkin

For the most part follows Resident Evil 2, from Claire's perspective, further establishing the "Redfield Arc"
Leon is a supporting character
Ada has a semi-antagonistic role as an Umbrella spy, but also as a semi-romantic subplot with Leon
Chief Irons has 1 scene, the scene where he is killed by William
Marvin appears twice, once to give a card to Leon, and once as a zombie with Claire
Claire kills the Gator
Mr. X is mainly after Leon, and William is after Claire and Sherry
Echo Six are featured as a supporting crew. Over the course of the film, they land in Raccoon City, make their way into the sewers and eventually sacrifice themselves so that Claire and Sherry can board the train at the end
William's multiple malformations are all explored in this film

Resident Evil: Nemesis
Cast
Jill Valentine
Carlos Oliveira
Dario Rosso
Nicholai Ginovaef
Mikhail Victor
Brad Vickers

For the most part follows Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Carlos, Mikhail and Nicholai are dropped in with the UBCS to rescue civilians, but Nicholai eventually betrays them
The film shows that it was actually Nicholai who shot Mikhail from a distance, and then met up with Carlos when he followed Mikhail to finish him off. He pretends to be an upstanding soldier
Nicholai is killed by Nemesis in this continuity
In a post-credits scene, Umbrella retrieves Nemesis' body from the wreckage of Raccoon City. This will set up a surprise in a later film




The Post-Raccoon Trilogy (I will find a better name for this)
Resident Evil: Code Veronica
Minor Changes
The entire movie takes place on Rockfort. There is no Antarctica, but Rockfort is greatly expanded upon
The plane and attempted escape is all still there, but they crash back on Rockfort after the tyrant fight

Alfred Ashford
Slightly less feminine
Very much like Norman Bates/Mother character
A more depressed, pathetic character
Death: Steve punches, he falls, impales himself, gets to Alexia's chamber, and dies at her feet as she awakens
Steve actually tries to catch him after he begins to fall

Alexia Ashford
Main villain of the third act
Distraught over brother's death
Releases many insect B.O.Ws including spiders and moths, as well as ants
Chris kills her with the Linear launcher

Steve Burnside
Jack Dawson from Titanic, right down to his sacrificial death, speech & monologue
Wields a single golden Luger for much of the film
Steve's father is a zombie

Alexander Ashford/Nosferatu
Breaks free in the attack on Rockfort by Wesker
Roams the complex, barely missing Claire and Steve
Is killed by Claire on a helicopter pad

Tyrant
Minor role, only 2 scenes, the first scene being its release
The fight on the plane is there
Death: Pushed off the plane by a cargo crate

Wesker
Similar in appearance to his Re5 look
He moves much faster in this film, again closer to Re5


Resident Evil 5
A mix of RE4 and RE5
Wesker replaces Saddler
instead of the president's daughter, it is Sherry Birkin
Chris and Leon go in as a unit to the European region from RE4
The Chris-Jill arc from RE5 remains the same

Enemies
Jack Krauser appears and is told through flashbacks
Executioner appears
Dr. Salvador appears
Garrador appears
Wesker is fought but doesn't mutate

Resident Evil 6

Ustanak is actually the recovered Nemesis with modifications
Follows the story of Chris and Leon, with Piers and Jake as supporting characters
Follows Chris' general campaign, but with zombies
Carla and Ada's arc is followed as a subplot
Again, Claire is name-dropped but does not appear. The Redfield story arc finished with CV for the most part

That's my ideas on how a Resident Evil Reboot should be executed. If you have any ideas, or would like me to elaborate on anything, then leave a comment.

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.

DC Cinematic Universe

DC Cinematic Universe Fantasies

 By Mitchell A. Quondam

As a follow up to my fantasy-driven post about Batman in the DC Cinematic Universe, I had the idea to map out how I would advance the story, introducing new characters to the Universe and building up to big events like Marvel does. In this post, I cover the entire Universe, and give my thoughts on how WB/DC should go about their shared universe going onward

Confirmed Cast of Heroes:

Henry Cavill as Kal-El

Ben Affleck as Batman

Stephen Amell as The Arrow

Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan

Grant Gustin as Barry Allen

Wishlist

Gina Carano as Wonder Woman

Benedict Cumberbatch as Martian Manhunter*

Idris Elba as John Stewart

Garrett Hedlund as Aquaman

Joseph Gordon-Levit as Nightwing

Chris Pine or Matt Bomer as Tim Drake, the Red Robin

*Martian Manhunter being played by Cumberbatch is not whitewashing the character. He is green, and only pretends to be a black guy as a ploy. I would actually prefer if he didn’t try to blend in at all, and just stay green the entire film.

 

Major Production Players:

Zack Snyder – Man of Steel/Justice League Director and Universe Overseer

Christopher Nolan – Executive Producer

Guillermo del Toro – Director of Dark Universe and others

Ben Affleck – Director of solo Batman films

Phase 1 (2011-2015)

•                     Green Lantern 2011 (Introduces Hal Jordan, Sinestro, Star Saphire)

•                     Man of Steel (Introduces Superman, Lois, General Zod)

•                     Man of Steel 2/Batman Vs. Superman (Introduces Batman, Lex Luthor)

•                     Arrow TV Series (Introduces Green Arrow, Flash, Deathstroke and several villains)

            Big Event: Justice League (Introduces Wonder Woman, John Stewart, Martian Manhunter)

 

Phase 2 (2015-2017)

•                     Batman Solo Movie (Introduces Joker, and Tim Drake's Robin)

•                     Flash TV Series (Introduces Cyborg and some lesser known heroes and villains)

•                     Arrow TV Series (Introduces Black Canary as a hero)

•                     Man of Steel 3 (Introduces Aquaman, Supergirl, Bizarro)

•                     Dark Universe (Introduces Constantine, Swamp Thing, Zatanna)

           Big Event: Justice League 2 (Introduces a big villain, possibly Brainiac or Darkseid)

Phase 3 (2017-2020)

•                     Nightwing (Introduces Two-Face, Harley Quinn and Duela Dent)

•                     Batman 2 (Introduces The Court of Owls, Batgirl/Oracle)

•                     Arrow series finale, Flash is still on for now

•                     Green Lantern 2 (Introduces Red Lantern corps.)

          Big Event: Sinestro Corps. War

Bonus Phase: Movies I want but will never see

•                     Secret Six

•                     Deathstroke Origin Movie

•                     Any Villain Origin Movie (Mainly Joker and Bane)

•                     Shazam or Captain Marvel

•                     Injustice: Gods Among Us

•                     The Spectre

*All Images are from deviantart

Batman in the New DC Cinematic Universe

DC Cinematic Universe: Batman

A Blog by Mitchell A. Quondam

With the release of Man of Steel, and the announcement that its sequel will feature The Dark Knight, I recently became very excited about the idea of a “DC Cinematic Universe” similar to what Marvel has done at their studio in conjunction with Disney. Unlike Marvel Studios, Warner Brothers retains the rights to all DC characters, from the classic heroes such as Batman and Superman, to lesser known heroes like Cyborg and the Spectre, to separate universes like The Watchmen. WB and DC have a near-unlimited pool of resources to pull characters and story arcs, and yet, until now, they haven’t utilized them properly. We haven’t seen the long fabled Justice League movie, many of the second tier heroes underperform (Watchmen, Green Lantern, Constantine) or are just plain bad (Jonah Hex, Supergirl, Steel).

However things are rapidly changing. Under the trust and creative control of Zack Snyder and to a lesser extent Christopher Nolan, the DC Universe is starting to take form. Man of Steel started the universe, a universe which Batman exists in (and Cyborg and Aquaman if throwaway Easter Eggs in Man of Steel are to be believed). Eventually Batman will get his own solo movie, and there is also a movement in WB to connect Arrow (Which introduced Huntress, Deathstroke and soon the Flash) into the movie universe, possibly with a Flash TV series or solo film.

This particular entry, however, is all about Batman. I will quickly list my dream casting for the major supporting characters, and some ideas about which directions they should take with Batman (and the Bat Family)

Batman Dream Casting

Bruce/Batman –Ben Affleck

Joker – Benedict Cumberbatch, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Eccleston

Riddler – David Tenant, Johnny Depp, David Hyde Pierce (as an older Riddler maybe?)

Mister Freeze – John Malkovich, Ed Harris, Sir Ben Kingsley, a bald Harrison Ford, Ralph Fiennes

Alfred - Timothy Dalton, David Hyde Pierce

Catwoman – Rachel Weisz, Kate Beckinsale

Harley Quinn – Kristen Bell, Helena Bonham Carter

Penguin – Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Jim Gordon – Kurt Russell, Michael Keaton

Hugo Strange – Sir Ben Kingsley, Hugo Weaving, Bryan Cranston

Robin/Red Hood – Jensen Ackles

Hush – Eric Bana, Jude Law

Bane – Javier Bardem

Poison Ivy – Eva Green (No Pun Intended) Cate Blanchett

Okay, now that that is out of the way, I feel the need to mention that not all of those listed are “main villains” which goes into the first item on my wishlist

Villain Cameos

If you have ever read the Long Halloween, Dark Victory, or Hush, then you know that the idea of villain cameos isn’t new. The Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises actually did this to a lesser extent with Scarecrow, but I’m thinking a little bigger. Under Snyder, the DC Universe has a sense of surrealism to it, similar in flavor to the Arkham Video Games, and there is no reason why we can’t have a simple, say, Poison Ivy, or Calendar Man cameo just to get some plot information out in an interesting way.

Court of Owls

I didn’t put any cast members down for this, but it is something that I feel needs to be covered in film. One of the popular complaints is that this arc doesn’t feature a major villain, and people won’t flock to see it. To that I respond, once you put “Batman” in the title, you already have the cash of the casual cinema-goer in your pocket. Court of Owls was a compelling story, and can introduce a new villain into the mainstream, similar to what Nolan’s trilogy did for Ra’s al Ghul and his daughter Talia.

                          Batman Family

Batman doesn’t need 15 year old kids following him around, but it could be arranged that they are in their early twenties and have become somewhat autonomous, acting without Batman, but still coming to his aid and following orders. This is also and “older, wearier” Batman, and there is a possibility that he has already trained several other heroes who are also out on the prowl, such as Nightwing, Red Robin (Tim Drake) and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon or Cassandra Cain). Oracle (if they go that route) could also replace Lucius Fox as Caped Crusader’s computer/gadgetry expert, opening up a new dynamic not seen yet in live-action Batman.

Using Batman as a Platform

Man of Steel 2 has essentially become Batman vs. Superman. Batman would be a good way to bring in some street-level superheroes, such as the previously mentioned Bat-Family, and film versions of Green Arrow, Black Canary and Huntress, who have all teamed up with Batman in the past (In one continuity, Huntress is the child of batman and Catwoman, and Green Arrow was originally an idea for a second Batman sidekick)

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Cinematic Universe

An Informative Essay by

Mitchell A. Quondam

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a film franchise and shared fictional universe that is the setting of superhero films independently produced by Marvel Studios, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The shared universe of the films, much like the Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.
The entire continuity is produced by Kevin Fiege. Fiege said in April 2010 that constructing a shared film universe:

“...is daunting but it's fun. It's never been done before and that's kind of the spirit everybody's taking it in. The other filmmakers aren't used to getting actors from other movies that other filmmakers have cast, certain plot lines that are connected or certain locations that are connected, but I think ... everyone was on board for it and thinks that it's fun. Primarily because we've always remained consistent saying that the movie that we are making comes first. All of the connective tissue, all of that stuff is fun and is going to be very important if you want it to be. If the fans want to look further and find connections, then they're there. There are a few big ones obviously, that hopefully the mainstream audience will able to follow as well. But ... the reason that all the filmmakers are on board is that their movies need to stand on their own. They need to have a fresh vision, a unique tone, and the fact that they can interconnect if you want to follow those breadcrumbs is a bonus”

The first step of the Universe, titled Phase 1, was to set up an Avengers movie by introducing the members in individual films with a single cast. The first of these was Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. in the titular role, which began the Avengers Initiative with a cameo from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Next was the Incredible Hulk played by Edward Norton, which was tied to Iron Man with a cameo by Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man 2 heavily featured members of S.H.I.E.L.D, a popular group in the Marvel Universe, and, along with Nick Fury, added Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow. Thor featured Nick Fury, Agent Coulson (played by Clark Gregg, who appeared in Iron Man and its sequel) and Hawkeye, played by Jeremy Renner. Lastly, Captain America (played by Chris Evans) featured Fury, and a plot device from Thor called the Tesseract (known in the comics as the Cosmic Cube) and ended with the first teaser for the Avengers. The next Step is Phase 2, a series that will introduce the Avengers 2. Phase 3 has been announced, and will feature new heroes Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, and possibly a new Hulk film.



People Involved
Directors/Producers
Kevin Fiege - Producer
Jon Favreau –Director (Iron Man 1&2)
Shane Black – Director (Iron Man 3)
Joe Johnston – Director (Captain America: The First Avenger)
Louis Leterrier – Director (Incredible Hulk)
Joss Whedon – Director (The Avengers/Avengers 2)
Edgar Wright – Director (Ant-Man)
Kenneth Branagh – Director (Thor)
Alan Taylor – Director (Thor: The Dark World)
James Gunn – Director (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Anthony & Joe Russo – Directors (Captain America: the Winter Soldier)

Cast
Iron Man – Robert Downey jr.
Thor – Chris Hemsworth
Captain America – Chris Evans
Bruce Banner/Hulk – Mark Ruffalo (previously Edward Norton)
Black Widow – Scarlett Johansson
Hawkeye – Jeremy Renner
Nick Fury – Samuel L. Jackson
Loki – Tom Hiddleston
War Machine –  Don Cheadle (previously Terrance Howard)
Red Skull – Hugo Weaving
Iron Monger – Jeff Bridges
Whiplash/Crimson Dynamo – Mickey Rourke
The Mandarin – Ben Kingsley
Bucky/Winter Soldier – Sebastian Stan



Released Films (In order of their release)  
Iron Man  
The Incredible Hulk  
Iron Man 2  
Thor  
Captain America  
The Avengers  

Upcoming Films (In order of their release)  
Iron Man 3  
Thor: The Dark World  
Captian America: The Winter Soldier  
Guardians of the Galaxy  
The Avengers 2  
Ant Man  
Doctor Strange  
A “Planet Hulk” film has been proposed before the release of…  
The Avengers 3


Continuity Issues 

There were only two casting issues in this continuity. The first was an Iron Man character named Rhodey AKA War Machine. Originally played by Terrance Howard, was replaced by Don Cheadle for Iron Man 2, and Cheadle will reprise his role in the future. The second recast was the Hulk. Edward Norton left the project and was replaced with Mark Ruffalo for the Avengers. For now, Ruffalo is also set to reprise his role in Avengers 2.

One of the issues often discussed is that Marvel does not own all of its products at the moment. Spider-Man currently resides at Sony, and Fox owns X-Men and Fantastic Four rights at the moment. This deal includes all of their villains. This causes issues as many heroes have common enemies. For example, Iron Man and Spider-Man both have Norman Osborn as a villain. In the comics he retired the Green Goblin moniker and rebranded himself Iron Patriot, and was a popular Iron Man villain for a long time. Likewise, Fantastic Four villain Galactus is an occasional foe of the Avengers.

In October 2012, Lauren Shuler Donner, the producer of 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series, expressed interest in having the X-Men characters appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Shuler Donner said, "I would love it. I personally have close ties to Marvel because of Kevin Feige, because Kevin worked for me. But to take our characters and mingle them in the way that they were written, yeah, absolutely." Mark Millar, who was hired in September 2012 to consult on all of Fox's future Marvel films, expressed similar sentiments in an interview, saying "Fox have said that they want to build a cohesive universe and I’d personally like this to work in complement to the Marvel one. It would be cool if these universes didn’t contradict each other so if you went to see Spidey, The Avengers, the X-Men, etc, as a viewer you would have no idea that all three are coming from different studios. I’d love to make it look like they’re all just happening in one place."

A minor crossover almost took place in the Avengers. Marvel Studios got permission from Sony Pictures to use the Oscorp building, a major location form the Amazing Spider-Man franchise. The building would have appeared in the skyline of Marvel’s New York, but unfortunately the rendering of the skyline was completed before the Oscorp building was out of the design stage. Also, as of October 2012, there are currently works of a short-term trade, where Fox will briefly hold the rights to Daredevil, and in return Marvel Studios receives the rights to Galactus and the Silver Surfer.

When Marc Webb, director of the Amazing Spider-Man was asked about expanding his Spider-Man universe over the course of several Spider-Man related movies, he replied “Think bigger” leading many to believe that he is trying to tie his Spider-Man, played by Andrew Garfield, into the Marvel Universe.

Proposals by Marvel

The following films have been proposed by Marvel, but have not begun writing or production yet:


Black Panther        Power Pack  
Cable                 Ka-Zar  
Heroes for Hire   Iron Fist  
Luke Cage solo Nighthawk  
Daredevil reboot Vision  
Cloak and Dagger Doctor Strange  
Dazzler

The Dark Knight Rises Review

A Blog by

Mitchell A. Quondam

 

The best thing about this movie is how satisfying it is. It doesn't leave you frustrated or confused. You can't really complain that it didn't explore certain ideas or follow through. By deciding to have an official ending to this trilogy's story, the themes surrounding Batman are very fresh. We don't know where he'll end up. It's not the same old thing about whether he can continue to be Batman or not. The conclusions are not as important as the feelings they invoke as they come about. Nolan is especially good at capturing the complete tension of actually not knowing what will happen and deeply questioning what you want to happen and why.

This movie is bigger than the previous two, far more ambitious. There are no obvious annoying weaknesses that usually come with films in general, especially blockbuster action movies. All of Nolan's movies have deep psychological themes and this takes those in another new direction. I thought Inception was hugely original and insightful about the way people think. That level of abstraction and depth is present in this film. Bane bursts into it, his reputation is quickly established. Nolan uses people's expectations and anticipation to the fullest. We are left to wonder about what has happened in the 8 years since the events of The Dark Knight. Why have the characters become the way they are now?

In the latter half, it does seem like the movie is trying to pull off so many different plot points and connections, but they all work. The cast is very large and impressive. You don't see "good acting". You see fascinating characters. They're just playing their part in the grand story that's being crafted. There are many unfamiliar faces but they all have a strange, unique look to them. We often see a person's flaws and previous decisions coming back to haunt them. They find out the hard way what mistakes they have made, where their limits are, where they lose control.

The score is almost tribal, very raw and energetic. You don't get much chance to pay attention to it but many parts of the movie are pounding with excitement. There are countless quotable lines and disturbing slices of dialogue. They cut deep. The Joker was a great character and this is a very different movie but the themes are just as dark, only perhaps indirectly. Underneath, it's very sinister. Writing and efficiency appear to be among Nolan's greatest strengths. The story has many layers that interweave and apparently they came in under budget.

The Visual effects were equally impressive.

Perhaps the most important thing about Catwoman is that she's completely believable. When she beats up men, you don't roll your eyes. She's feminine and powerful in her own way. She fits into the world and we completely understand her motivations. She doesn't have a huge role but a very important one.

I thought Christian Bale was overlooked in The Dark Knight especially. The movies hinge on him. Bruce Wayne's just a man but also incredibly inspirational. Bale's famous for completely committing to his roles and it pays off. Tom Hardy is impressive as Bane but I suppose that's no surprise. The rest of the leads are similarly awesome. There are many references to the earlier films. Very few questions are left unanswered. It's always nice when film-makers really think it through and make an actual decision and get all the details right.

My criticisms have to do with the themes of the story. Batman Begins was all about fear, doubt, self-realization and redemption where Bruce Wayne discovers his destiny as Batman. BB had a story arc which set background for main characters – Batman/ Wayne, Ra's al Ghul, Gordon and most importantly Gotham City and hence set stage for a fitting climax.

The Dark Knight explores the theme of chaos, morality and belief effortlessly and establishes characters of Joker, Harvey Dent/Two Face, Rachel etc. so effortlessly that people choose to ignore even some major plot holes. Heath Ledger's interpretation of Joker was so mesmerizing that it single handily carried TDK to path of greatness and critical acclaim.

But Dark Knight Rises is all about story telling; efficient but not exceptional. Bane, Miranda Tate, John Blake, Peter Foley, Selina Kyle are characters are introduced but never explored or expanded; they just start working on their part like cogs in the wheel. They are not so much part of the story itself but just the agents which move the story forward.

There's no dilemma, doubt, love, choices, moral battles, hope, even no chaos/fear- themes which make characters and plot interesting and which made Batman Begins and The Dark Knight really good movies. Even the theme of "Occupy Wall Street" is very weak and at best it's closer to London riots with its loot and arson. There's even perfect order in Bane's revolution. The movie moves effortlessly from one plot to another and to climax that it become at times predictable.

But maybe Dark Knight Rises was supposed to be like that only and Nolan had too much to deal with in 2.5 hours. And maybe that's the only true problem with Dark Knight Rises: too much is going on in the story that it seems crammed at times, and when there are too many characters and so many story arcs it is tough to do justice to characters and story telling at the same time. And this is when you start looking for plot holes, slackness, and predictability.