LEGO Star Wars - The TV Series

7/23/2011

Business has been booming for the LEGO Company. They infused new fire into the Star Wars series by LEGO-izing the six Episodes. That success led to the LEGO conversion to Indiana Jones, Batman and even the Prince Of Persia. Now LEGO is adding another venue to it's bag of merchandise: TV.

Last night I watched the first episode of LEGO Star Wars. As one might expect it lacks the drama of it's silver-screen predecessors, but it more than makes up for it with humor. To some the LEGO approach might seem childish, but it is a welcome change to see old characters outside their usual roles. The penultimate moment in the episode is having Yoda complain of how he doesn't deserve to be entangled in a race to capture important Republic plans. In fact, I was bawling when Yoda went into one of his Force lectures about seeing what could not be seen, only to be surprised by droids in mid-speech. "Open my big mouth too soon, I did."

Bawling, people. Bawling.

There was a nice moment in the end when the kid saddled with Yoda on the chase turned out to be a young Han Solo. It was like George Lucas giving the audience a wink. It was a nice end to the comedy, which in turn was able to maintain the humor via the dialogue and the way the voice actors played off each other. I would definitely give the second LEGO episode a shot.

LEGO Star Wars is on Fridays on Cartoon Network, 7:30 Eastern time.

Culture Shock 2

Marvel Comics

The most important comic book story in the decade is the “Civil War.” A villian named Nitro met and battled a young band of heroes known as the New Warriors, in Stamford, Connecticut. The battle ended with both sides dead, along with a good chunk of civilian casualties.

The tragedy whipped up public fears of superhumans and their powers. The United States government decided that the best way to make sure Stanford event never happened again is to push forth the Superhuman Registration Act. This Act required superhumans to register with the federal government as a sign of loyalty and publicly reveal their identities. This idea brought much fear from the superhuman society at large, for if their identities became public knowledge, their enemies could track and kill their families.

Those metahumans siding with the government were the Pro-Registration, and those opposed to were dubbed The Anti-Restration; led by Iron Man and Captain America respectively. The conflict divided superhuman society in half. Pro-Registration heroes hunted down their former colleagues and initiate the group called Thunderbolts, a team compraised of villians such as Green Goblin and Venom. Their loyalty was supposively guaranteed by injecting nanites into their bloodstream, which would act as a GPS signal and neutralize their abilities instantly. The Green Goblin was given the deactivation process of the nanites by an as-of-yet-unknown figure.

As time passes the casualities mount up and new initivities are put into effect. Reed Richards and Tony Stark build the “42″ prison, a place designated specifically to contain superhumans. Later on as things spiraled out of control, the 42 was dubbed insuffinct, and a prison was commissioned in the Negative Zone, a sub-dimension parallel to Earth’s. Eventually the rampant destruction takes it’s toll on Captain America, who freely gives himself up to the Pro-Registration forces. However, during his trial an assassin kills Captain America.

The Civil War’s battle accrued a high cost. Superhumans opposed to the government are forced into hiding or move out of the US. Hundreds more are dead, and unregistered superhumans are mobbed without mercy. Tony Stark becomes the Director of SHIELD, a law-enforcement agency whose authority approaches global standards. Perhaps most damning of all is Norman Osborn’s leadership of the Thunderbolts, building the foundation for his ever-increasing authority. The conflict may be over, but the consequences are still mounting. Each superhuman must make his/her own path, and with the authority figures watching their every move, the path will not end well.

Amazing Spider Man Movie Trailer

7/21/2011

I have just seen a trailer for next year's Amazing Spider-Man movie, and while I'm unsure if I like the dark direction the movie is going, I will say it's an inventive plot twist.

A few spoilers are necessary, I'm afraid. This is not a sequel of the movies starring Tobey Maguire. This is a reboot of the series, with new actors and a new director Marc Webb. The three previous movies do not exist in this movie's timeline.

The biggest change is Peter Parker himself. He's always been a social outcast, but the movie takes it to a new extreme. Peter is haunted by the loss of his parents. His clothes and attitude gives him a damaged kid going through the motions. This Parker shuns other people to avoid the emotional risk of getting too close. Experience has taught him to fiercely guard his past so as to not let anyone in. This is a moody, isolated loner that actor Andrew Garfield (Eduardo Saverin in the Social Network) portrays well in the trailer. I especially like the hoodie look, like he's ducking underneath the hood to hide himself from others.

Mary-Jane Watson is not in the Amazing Spider-Man. The script takes a page from the earlier comics by pairing Peter will his first love Gwen Stacy. There is less variety for Gwen (Emma Stone from East A) in the clips, and there was barely any heft in the Raimi/Maguire films to provide a complete comparison. Gwen seems to be the kind-hearted girl who sees past Peter's loner persona to the nice guy underneath. She tries to get him to open up, which is difficult at first. She has to volunteer information to her family because Peter is way outside his comfort zone. It's like he's hiding behind her skirts. It will be interesting to see how Gwen changes Peter, and the role she will play in Spider-Man's debut.

And yes, the suit is different this time. I don't know why there's more blue in the gloves or why there is significantly less red on the back or the thinner spider emblem. I suppose it's a "kitchen sink" scenario; the movie reboots everything else, so why not the suit? Another possibility is that the suit was made different to emphasize the separation between the film and the three Maguire films before it, and make it stand out. It could be a hundred other things, too. I just don't know.

Culture Shock

Parents? Do you have to ask your nieces who the Jonas Brothers are? Do you know the difference between Black Suit Spider-Man in the comics and Black Suit Spider Man in Spider-Man 3? Do you know who the new Batman is? No? Okay then. Sit back and read.


DC Comics.

Superman – Turns out alien computer Brainac has possession of the Kryptonian city of Kandor, whose population was released into the public after Brainac’s defeat. Relations between the Kandorians and the Earthlings soured quickly (the world was uneasy about 100,000 people with the powers of Superman) so the Kandorians “grew” a new planet called New Krypton. Superman agreed to live on New Krypton as a way to appease relations with the people and aid them to master their growing superpowers.

However, the new society is ripe with difficulties. Led by the freed General Zod, the Kryptonians are quick to use violence to solve the problems of criminals and assassination attempts. Superman faces an uphill battle by playing peacemaker to the various factions; his failures largely overshadow his victories. Just as the populace was calming down a Brainac robot appears. Thus is the end of the World of New Krypton story arc.

Batman – Bruce Wayne “died.” He was struck down by intergalatic warlord Darkseid with his Omega Sanction (an energy beam that disintergrates it’s targets. However, DC was not going to let such a beloved character (and his franchise) die, so Bruce Wayne was instead catapulted to prehistoric times. From there is was thrown into Colonial America, the Wild West, the 1920s and the end of the universe, where he was rid of the Omega Energy that Darkseid planned to use Batman as some universal-range bomb. Through the efforts of his fellow heroes, Batman had arrived once again to defend Gotham City.

This did not happen instantly. Wayne’s return occured in an indefinite time from his “death.” In the meantime Dick Grayson, the first Robin, wore the cowl of Batman and acted in Wayne’s stead. Grayson’s Robin was Daiman Wayne, Wayne’s
love-child with Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, most famously portrayed by Liam Neeson in Batman Begins.

Upon returning to the living, Batman decided to go global and create Batman, Inc, a foundation dedicated to training one person to be the Batman of that country.

Green Lantern – The “Blackest Day” story arc reveals several other Lantern Corps, all distingushed by the color of the rainbow: Red is Rage, Orange is Greed, Yellow is Fear, Blue is Hope, Indigo is Love, Violet is Compassion.

A long-hidden prophecy reveals the existence of the Black Lantern Corps, who resurrects dead heroes as their members. The whole of DC Universe had to battle their long dead allies. It wasn’t until Sinistro, leader of the Yellow Lantern Corps, assumed the power of a cosmic entity and became the first White Lantern. After recruiting several DC heroes, the White Lanterns were able to defeat the Black Lanterns and their leader Nekron.

Part Two coming soon.