6 science fiction and superhero films that demand you watch their sequels
This happens to me all the time. Just after I watch some of my favorite films, I can’t wait to see the follow-up. No matter how many times I’ve seen it. The predecessor’s gut-wrenching conclusions simply demand I watch their sequel because of what mess the characters are left with in the closing minutes.
Only one warning – there are plenty of big-time spoilers ahead!:
“The Empire Strikes Back” (1980): Luke Skywalker loses his left hand, barely escaping the brutal fight of his life with the knowledge that the man (or thing?) he fought says he’s his father. Even worse, this same baddie, Darth Vader, who leads the evil Galactic Empire, has frozen Luke’s buddy Han Solo in carbonite and then turned him over to the custody of the galaxy’s most infamous bounty hunter, Boba Fett, who will hand Han over to the Tatooine crime boss Jabba the Hutt. Yikes! How can you not want to watch “Return of the Jedi” after experiencing all that drama?!? It’s no wonder that “Empire” is considered one of the greatest sequels of all time.
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn” (1982): Spock, one of science fiction’s most beloved characters, sacrifices himself for “the good of the many” to save the crew of the Starship Enterprise. But not before he does a Vulcan mind meld with Dr. McCoy, telling him simply: “Remember.” What does that mean, Spock?!? Captain Kirk sends the coffin containing his best friend’s body onto the surface of the newly rejuvenated planet Genesis, named for “beginning.” Could there be hope for Spock to be resurrected? Maybe space isn’t “the final frontier” after all. …
“Batman Begins” (2005): As if it weren’t enough to finally see what it took for Bruce Wayne to learn his kick-a** ninja skills as Batman, the closing rooftop scene with Lt. Jim Gordon seals the deal. A joker card left at crime scenes by an armed robber who has “a flair for the theatrical”! Yes, Batman, we can’t wait for you to “look into it”!
‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ ‘Entertainment Weekly’ — and how I nailed a few predictions
Judging from the latest ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY (EW) cover story about this summer’s highly anticipated “The Dark Knight Rises,” I might have nailed a few predictions I made about the July 20 movie when I reviewed the teaser trailer and addressed the reaction to Bane’s voice in the “Rises” prologue.
First, a few obvious things I expect to be addressed in “Rises,” based on what happened in its predecessor, “The Dark Knight.”
There’ll be a newly rebuilt Wayne Manor and Batcave.
Batman and Commissioner Gordon will be dealing with their cover-up of Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent’s fall from grace as Gotham’s “white knight” to being the evil Two-Face. (Jeff Jensen’s EW article confirms my speculation, but he calls it a “conspiracy.”)
Of course, Batman could still be the target of a police manhunt — which is only somewhat confirmed by Jensen, who says the Dark Knight is “still a cultural scapegoat.”
Even more dramatically, Bruce Wayne doubtlessly is still reeling from the murder of his lifelong friend and would-be lover, Rachel Dawes. And as I said in my “Rises” trailer review, “there’s no doubt … Selina Kyle/Catwoman and will break Bruce Wayne’s heart.”
Now, onto what I nailed about “Rises,” based on what’s in EW:
Choosing my favorite sequels in the superhero, science fiction and action-adventure genres is like choosing my favorite relative — it’s just wrong on soooo many levels.
But actually, it’s much easier.
Even more impressive, given that my CCC readers know I can be verbose, I’ll tell you my 10 favorite sequels in one or two sentences. So here we go!:
• “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980): Darth Vader reveals his controversial parentage, Han Solo and Princess Leia kiss (But so do Luke and Leia — yuck!) plus Luke Skywalker trains to be a Jedi Knight with Jedi Master Yoda. I’m in!
• “Superman II”(1980): Finally, we get to see Christopher Reeve’s Superman kick some serious a**. Not to mention, three Kryptonian baddies with the same powers as the Man of Steel and the always devious Lex Luthor — what else do you need?
• “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982): How can you not love William Shatner’s Admiral James T. Kirk and Richardo Montalban’s Khan chewing up each and every scene? Plus, it climaxes with one of the most moving death scenes in film history.
Today marks the four-year anniversary of Heath Ledger’s death. Hard to believe it’s been so long. In honor of this tragic loss of talent, I’m re-running the print version of my July 27, 2006 “Cary’s Comics Craze” column. For the record, to my knowledge this made the NORWALK REFLECTOR the first newspaper to run the news that Ledger had been cast as The Joker in what would become 2008′s “The Dark Knight.”
Ever since audiences witnessed Gotham Police Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) handing Batman (Christian Bale) a Joker playing card in the closing minutes of 2005′s “Batman Begins,” the questions started: Who will play the maniacal Clown Prince of Crime?
Two years still seems like a long time to wait for the inevitable showdown between the Dark Knight and his homicidal archenemy in the June 2008 film. The wait, however, to know who snagged the coveted role apparently is over.
Heath Ledger, 27, might want to get fitted for a purple suit because he was offered the role this time last week.
As I said in my recent tribute to Morgan Freeman, he’s got some of the best lines as Lucius Fox in “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”. I have no doubt he’ll continue his dry repartee with Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne in this summer’s “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Here are Freeman’s most memorable Batman quotes — so far:
from “Batman Begins”:
• “I don’t think they tried to market it to the billionaire, spelunking, base-jumping crowd.” — to Bruce about why the Army didn’t use the survival suit, later adapted by Bruce as Batman’s costume
• Lucius goes on to tell Bruce that the suit is bulletproof except for “a straight shot.”
Bruce: “I wanna borrow it. For, uh, spelunking.”
Lucius: “Spelunking?”
Bruce: “Yeah, you know, cave diving.”
Lucius: “You expecting to run into much gunfire in these caves?”
There’s just a certain something about Morgan Freeman’s voice.
His deep, rich baritone, with that distinguishing Southern drawl, is a treat for the ears. So much so that I have no doubt I’d have a great time listening to him read the telephone book — something I’ve told Ron Simpson, the NORWALK REFLECTOR’s assistant circulation manager and fellow film enthusiast, many times.
Freeman is one of those actors like Will Smith, Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson whose performances I inevitably enjoy, regardless of the quality of the movie itself. Freeman has been memorable in absolutely every film I’ve seen. (And no, Ron, I still haven’t seen “The Shawshank Redemption.” …)
He brings a dignity and classiness to every role he tackles. And makes each and every performance look easy.
Freeman, 74, was honored Sunday at the 69th annual Golden Globes when he received the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award.
Admittedly, I’ve been in a “quotes mood” when it comes to posting lately here on CCC.
While watching the “9 Superhero Films Every Film Buff Needs to See Before They Die,” I’ve been pulling quotes from some of my favorite superhero flicks when I’ve felt compelled to blog. And why not? Why should I spend time formulating obvious insights and opinions on aspects of the story that are made even more obvious by what’s being said by the involved characters themselves?
So here goes the comic book version. (I’ve done this before with one issue of BATGIRL.) Since I took advantage of DC Comics’ offer of buying four titiles and getting the fifth free, I’ve only jumped into the second/”New 52″ version of BATMAN AND ROBIN with issue 4.
Here, much of what’s been made so clear about the Dark Knight, or questions we’ve asked ourselves about him, for the last several decades is said by a new villain, Nobody, (the son of Henri Ducard, a hitman who helped train Bruce Wayne before he became Batman) created by B&R writer Peter J. Tomasi:
• Psychopaths give themselves colorful names, ‘Batman.’”
• “Why are any of them (your foes) alive — where’s your loyalty to the victims? … And what kind of legacy is this to leave behind for Damian when he takes your place?”
• Look at these freaks, Bruce! A vicious cycle of death and destruction that you continue to let spin after all this time!”
• “Rubber bullets … and a remote-controlled Batplane … I should’ve expected nothing less.”
Recasting an established role is tricky. And many times, controversial.
Some roles you just expect to be played by different people because that’s a tradition that’s been established over the years (James Bond and TV’s Doctor Who).
In the case of the upcoming Superman film, “The Man of Steel,” it won’t surprise me if many people are perplexed when they discover Brandon Routh won’t be reprising the main role.
(A shame, really. Say what you will about the unrelated “Superman Returns,” but the popular opinion was that Routh did a fine job as Superman and Clark Kent. It’s a true injustice that Routh won’t be back for MOS because I truly believe there would be more buzz about the summer 2013 film, aside from having a stellar supporting cast. But I digress …)
Recasting certainly can make or break a particular movie. In the worst-case scenario, the casting choice is detrimental to the franchise, so much so that creators and producers have to drop back and figure out what to do next with the franchise. (Timothy Dalton, I’m looking at you! You’re a fine actor, but a great 007 you ain’t!) Luckily for the Bond series, it took some inspired casting (Pierce Brosnan) to get the whole thing back on track.
Without a doubt, a lot of the success of the “Iron Man” film franchise is due to the star power of Robert Downey Jr. Without his quick wit, remarkable stream-of-consciousness delivery that seems so effortless and sarcasm, Tony Stark wouldn’t be nearly as intriguing. In fact, Downey’s take on Stark gives the character a vitality not seen in the comic books, where Stark, while charismatic and charming, lacks the biting sense of humor that Downey gives the role. But I digress. …
Given all that, it would seem obvious that Downey/Stark/Iron Man would have all the great lines in both movies. And he has more than his fair share. But at least in “Iron Man 2″ (reviewed here for your convenience), other characters get to shine with the snappy dialogue written by Justin Theroux, which probably also was due to a fair amount of ad-libbing.
So here are the greatest quotes from “Iron Man 2,” all of which are, by themselves, telling of the characters and their situations — and often providing foreshadowing:
• “She did a great spread on Tony last year.” — Pepper Potts on reporter Christine Everhart, about Stark’s one-night stand with her and the article she wrote about him
• “Not everyone runs on batteries, Tony.” — Pepper
• “You want to do the whole long gunslinger act and it’s unnecessary. You don’t have to this alone.” — Lt. Col. James Rhodes (aka “Rhodey”) to Stark
• “The question I get asked the most is, ‘Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in the suit?’ [Pause, grimaces] … Just like that.” — Stark
