Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – N-Vector (2000) #1

So this series is a continuation of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” I guess I’m glad I don’t care about the ending of the series being spoiled for me.

I decided to read it because of Jeter, who’s a science fiction novelist of good repute, and because I didn’t realize–on seeing it in his bibliography–N-Vector was a Star Trek comic book.

Jeter does a fine job writing the characters and matching their personalities to the show (as far as I can tell, having mostly seen the first couple seasons), but there’s zero subtext. It’s more of a television episode than a comic book. The issue breaks are the commercials.

The art is the most interesting element–for a licensed comic book, it looks nearly nothing like the norm. Cypress isn’t interested in likenesses, he’s using the art to convey emotion.

It’ll probably turn out a pointless read, but I’m on board.

The Coffin (2000) #2

The pacing on the second issue is completely different from the first, which is both good and bad.

On the good side, there’s almost none of the Hell stuff in this issue. There’s some, but it’s so visual, I can forgive it to get to see Mike Huddleston draw some demonic sphinx.

But on the bad side… Hester gets loose with the logic of the plotting. He creates the protagonist’s pseudo-adversary in less time than it took the protagonist to be created (or recreated). Then the ending is on some weird fast forward too, as the protagonist–Ahmad–walks through this endless night (while his daughter’s babysitter is learning the daughter is now an orphan) and the adversary is created.

It makes tonal sense as a montage of sorts, sure, but it doesn’t make any sense in terms of the Coffin’s established plotting.

Small quibbles about a good comic.

The Coffin (2000) #1

A lot of the issue is spent in Hell. Well, at least a third of it. There’s a lot of visuals of Hell and those are cool because it’s Mike Huddleston and I love Mike Huddleston. Unfortunately, the stuff in Hell is totally unimportant. Even when it seems like it’s reaching a point of being useful, turns out it’s not.

But it’s a really nice read. Hester’s protagonist is a complete jerk (he does go to Hell after all) and the issue is plotted something similar to Swamp Thing’s origin. Only, you know, the guy’s a jerk.

There’s a little too much science too, but only at the beginning.

It’s kind of strange to talk about the series so far, since there’s little hint of what’s to come–except the “hero” going after his killers. Hester spends the issue showing why he can bring the protagonist back and then kills him.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #2

I have an affection for Mark Bagley, based on Ultimate Spider-Man, but apparently it’s an overall thing. I mean, when I think of teenage Peter and Mary Jane, I think of Bagley’s rendition of them. However, his art is far from flawless, as this issue frequently shows. His faces are often way too rough and hurried–I’m thinking of Norman Osborn and Uncle Ben in particular.

Otherwise, a very good issue. It’s interesting how Bendis sets Doctor Octopus up as a villainous jerk before his accident (something Lee didn’t do, much to the detriment of the character).

There’s no Spider-Man yet. No mention of it. Black leotard Peter is as close as we get here. Bendis is taking his time with certain elements, but I can’t help but notice it’s a rather fast read. For all the decompressed storytelling, not much happens–not even in dialogue.

But good.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #1

What Bendis does, right from the start–which Lee didn’t do–is make Peter Parker the hero; sure, Bendis is dealing with more pages so he has more time, but it took Lee issues to form Peter Parker. Bendis does it right away here. Maybe he does it a little easily–I mean, the scene in the mall with Peter getting bullied while mooning over Mary Jane, it does the trick immediately.

I remember the first time I read Ultimate Spider-Man, I was just shocked how much of Uncle Ben we got to see. Uncle Ben rarely hangs around in any retelling, so having him be a character–one to care about past an innocent victim–is a fantastic move on Bendis’s part.

The issue sets a lot up–Peter, Mary Jane, Harry, Norman Osborn… but never overdoes the set-up.

It’s no wonder it was such a sensation.

Superman vs. the Terminator: Death To The Future (1999) #4

Will Lex Luthor create Skynet? Will Lois Lane’s husband get jealous of her ogling Superman? Will Alan Grant get credit (and residuals) for coming up with the name Terminatrix? No to all three, I believe, unless Dark Horse and DC start doing these crossovers again.

It’s strange the epilogue cliffhanger for the series–Lex Luthor is going to take over the world–is something DC couldn’t follow up on without Dark Horse’s permission and participation….

They probably went that route to make the series feel a little less like a complete waste of time. Did it work? No.

Worse, Perkins is back inking Pugh and the art’s even sloppier than before. I feel bad because I only read the comic because of the Pugh artwork and it’s so weak, I’ve done little but comment on it (and mock the series as whole, but, really, what else could I have done?).

Superman vs. the Terminator: Death To The Future (1999) #3

Oh, no, will Superman be able to save the world from the Terminators? Crossovers like this one must be incredibly frustrating to plot because there’s no chance things aren’t going to be returning to the status quo at the end (I mean, did Dark Horse even have a regular Terminator series starring Sarah and John Conner at this time or were they just special guest stars for the crossover?).

Maybe I’m just mad Superman goes through all this trouble to save the future–a big nuclear explosion and EMP to wipe out all the machines on earth–when he’s just going back in time to prevent it from ever happening. It’s not like he had to complete the one goal to go back, it’s just filler for the pages.

More cameos here too–Lex Luthor shows up for a bit, weren’t he and Supergirl dating at one point?

Very lame.

Superman vs. the Terminator: Death To The Future (1999) #2

Well, it’s not just Superman Pugh’s drawing funny–he’s inking himself here too–it’s a lot of people. Supergirl is who I’m thinking about in particular, Pugh gives her an expression like she’s just eaten a barrel of beans and is racing to the john.

Actually, most of the art’s bland. Pugh’s probably racing through this assignment himself, but it’s always shocking to me how mediocre 1990s comic art could get. There’s mediocrity today, of course, but at least they try to photoshop it a little, give it some oomph. This comic was, presumably, a big crossover event; one no one cared about at all?

The writing’s pretty lame too, but at least it’s competent in the continuity-heavy sense. It’s a Superman comic guest-starring Terminators, nothing else. Between Supergirl’s fight scene and Steel’s constant presence, it’s pretty clear.

Honestly, I’m really curious to see how it turns out.

Battle Royale (2000, Fukasaku Kinji), the director’s cut

Battle Royale has to be seen to be believed. It shouldn’t work–a film about teenagers killing each other (under a government mandated law) played as a sweeping melodrama, but it does. It’s somehow brilliant, all thanks to director Fukasaku. The action takes place on this tropical island and Fukasaku fills it with beautiful shots and beautiful music (Strauss, Verdi, Schubert, Bach) and it feels peaceful. Not even the violence can ripple the calm the film presents.

The story’s high concept in a lot of ways and the film never deals with it (there’s a major plot hole because of that avoidance), instead, it’s this overblown teen movie. It’s the teen melodrama taken to the nth degree–this film (which is a comedy a lot of the time) is the one John Hughes never could have made. Apparently there’s going to be an American version at some point. I can’t even imagine how neutered it’s going to be (or would be, I can’t believe it’ll get made).

The acting in the film is solid, without any real standouts. It wouldn’t work with standouts. Yamamoto Tarô is probably the closest thing to one, just because he’s got the fullest role. In some ways he’s the main character, but not really. The film takes itself incredibly seriously and Fukasaku never lets the violence get fetishized. Given the film’s ludicrous proposition, it’s singular he was able to pull it off.

The conclusion has ups and downs and then finishes on a big up.

★★★

CREDITS

Directed by Fukasaku Kinji; screenplay by Fukasaku Kenta, based on the novel by Takami Koushun; director of photography, Yanagijima Katsumi; edited by Abe Hirohide; music by Amano Masamichi; production designer, Heya Kyôto; produced by Fukasaku Kenta, Fukasaku Kinji, Kataoka Kimio, Kobayashi Chie, Nabeshima Toshio and Okada Masumi; released by Toei Company.

Starring Fujiwara Tatsuya (Shuya), Maeda Aki (Noriko), Yamamoto Tarô (Kawada), Shibasaki Kou (Mitsuko), Ando Masanobu (Kiriyama), Kuriyama Chiaki (Chigusa), Takaoka Sosuke (Sugimura), Tsukamoto Takashi (Mimura) and Kitano Takeshi (the teacher).


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Maze (2000, Rob Morrow)

A story, based on its text and then the reader’s reading of that text, evolves. The reading is required to make the story complete. A film has a similar relationship with the viewer, but has the added complication of conflicting influences–there’s a director, actors, a composer, a gaffer… and a screenwriter. A script is the instructions to making the model airplane, it’s not a story without being produced and experienced by a viewer. So, what might read fine on the page doesn’t necessarily translate well to the screen. Take an ending, for example. After spending ninety minutes with people–to borrow from Faulkner–to miss out on seeing the most important moment in their lives, only to have a cutesy ending–it’s lamentable. In the case of Maze, it’s also infuriating.

With the exception of the first five or six minutes, when Morrow the director is introducing the viewer to Morrow the actor’s character–an artist suffering from Tourette’s–there’s an eyeful of Morrow’s visualization on the Tourette’s–herky-jerky video. Like camcorder video. It’s annoying and probably ought to be a deal breaker, but when Morrow’s shooting on film–he’s a great director. It’s incredible, given how good the rest of his choices, he makes such a serious misstep. The visualization isn’t important, given the quality of Morrow’s performance.

Therefore, when Maze reaches the conclusion, after eighty-five or so minutes of fantastic, thoughtful direction concentrating on people–Laura Linney’s performance in this film is one of her best–the film cheats the viewer out of seeing Morrow and Linney’s people at this singular moment in their lives. Morrow slaps the viewer in the face. I realize Maze is a low budget picture without much hope for a theatrical pickup so Morrow had to keep the running time closer to ninety minutes than not, but he went from being able to have a stunning, devastating film with a fade out to having a goofy, bad romantic comedy ending of an epilogue. It’s like he wasn’t watching the dailies.

The film uses the disorder as the Princess’s Pea. It’s a love triangle–kind of a traditional one even–and the disorder presents the excuse for telling the story again. Morrow always handles the disorder well and Maze would, without that ending, reach the point where I probably would have said it was more about a guy with Tourette’s then a romance with a guy who happened to have Tourette’s (a distinction for Carlin lovers).

Linney and Morrow are great together. He manages to do a leading man role under a lot of pressure, given the disorder–it’s a shame he’s not an actor anymore. Linney’s indescribably good.

While the majority of the film is the two of them, there’s also Craig Sheffer. I suppose Morrow gets as decent performance out of him as possible… but Morrow and Linney came from theatrical backgrounds and Sheffer was in commercials. He’s never convincing as a dedicated surgeon.

Almost all of Maze is a wonderful viewing experience. Then comes the ending, a devastating sucker-punch. But Morrow’s definitely wasting his time on TV when he’s such a fine director.

★★

CREDITS

Directed by Rob Morrow; screenplay by Morrow, Bradley White and Nicole Burdette, based on a story by White and Morrow; director of photography, Wolfgang Held; edited by Gary Levy; music by Bobby Previte; production designer, Kalina Ivanov; produced by Paul Colichman, Mark R. Harris, Stephen P. Jarchow and Morrow; released by Andora Pictures International.

Starring Rob Morrow (Lyle Maze), Laura Linney (Callie), Craig Sheffer (Mike), Rose Gregorio (Helen), Robert Hogan (Lyle’s Father) and Gia Carides (Julianne).


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