The Forgotten Autobot

     Of the Autobot Windbreaker, Optimus Prime has said this

     " I Don't wish to stand behind him, but I proudly fight beside him"

Capable of releasing clouds of noxious burnt sienna smoke in his Drive-By attack, Windbreaker can clear a battlefield of both friend and foe in no time at all. In fact, the very beep of his horn can panic many Decepticons.

His jet propulsion can make him reach great speeds, even to the point of breaking the sound barrier, while his commando skills make him Silent, but deadly. Nicknamed "Brown Thunder" by his closest friends, He can burn rubber, drop bombs, and use his flame throwers with the best of them.

     Sadly, he never made it to earth, as the confines of the Ark did not fit his disposition. When the Ark left Cybertron, he formed a Conjunx Endura relationship with a retired Decepticon Seeker named Cropduster. They settled out on the Sea of Rust where no one would complain.

Motto: If you Smelt, it, I dealt it.

and yes, I am a bad, bad man

Keaton V Bale: Dawn of Dramatis Personae

       From Part 1 and Part 2

  Misleading, I know- I am not restricting myself to those two but actually touching all the various important supporting characters of all three of DCs flagship heroes. Some Portrayals shine, some tarnish, but some are a product of the media they are in. Oh, and if I don't mention an actor, that means I rate the performance as Meh. if you disagree, please remember that I RUINED YOUR CHILDHOOD!!!!

Superman: I have to rate him on both Kal El and Clark, because a good performance is based upon both

1. I have to give Tom Welling my top personal Marks for his nuanced Clark and Kal El over 10 years
2. Henry Cavill
3. Christopher Reeve
4. Brandon Routh

Lex Luthor:

1. Michael Rosenbaum(Smallville) for giving us the good Lex, the bad Lex, and the evolution of a monster
2. Kevin Spacey
3. Gene Hackman

John and Martha Kent:

1. John Schneider and Annette O'Toole
2. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane

Lois Lane: 

1. Erica Durance
2. Margot Kidder
3. Amy Adams

Perry White:

1. Lawrence Fishburne
2. Michael McKean

Batman- Same rules as Above- because A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know that the world hadn't ended. Sorry- Meant Anyone can be Batman in the Batsuit 

1. Christian Bale
2. Ben Affleck
3. Michael Keaton
4. George Clooney
5. Adam West
6. Val Kilmer

Alfred Pennyworth:

1. Michael Caine, Jeremy Irons, Sean Pertwee
2. Everyone else

The Joker:

1. Heath Ledger
2. Mark Hamill(yep, a rules change)
3. Jack Nicholson
4. Cesar Romero

The Riddler:

1. Cory Michael Smith
2. Frank Gorshin
3. Jim Carrey (hammed it up way too much, but he looked like he was having a good time)

Penguin:

1. Robin Lord Taylor
2. Burgess Meredith(pretty sure without Burgess on TV, Penguin would not even be a significant rogue in Batmans gallery)
3. Danny DeVito

Catwoman:

1. Julie Newmar
2. Anne Hathaway
3. Michelle Pfeiffer

Two-Face:

1. Tommy Lee Jones(despite the movie he was in)
2. Aaron Eckhart

Wonder Woman:

1. Gal Gadot
2. Lynda Carter(Sorry Lynda)

Steve Trevor

1. Chris Pine(I know, just based on the TRAILER!)
2. Lyle Waggoner

Trinity Two- The Dark Post Rises

Continued from Part 1  

      Please remember these are my opinions, and if you don't like them you are free to rant on Facebook that I ruined your childhood- in fact... I encourage you to.

     Last time I hit upon the more flawed visions of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman- this time I am going to chat about stuff getting better,, and approaching perfection.

     Now I firmly believe in my Spark that DC isn't doing it as good as Marvel- not yet, but they are getting better and coming up fast.

     Smallville- ten seasons from Superboy to Superman. Not as much action series as night-time soap, at times, but they managed to put a very human face on our favorite kryptonian visitor. It recognized that Superman had a mythology that was deep, and told the stories in a new way- not of a god pretending to be a man, but god raised as a man, and struggling with the dilemma of what his powers could do, and what they should not. It even manages to bring out a sort of Proto-Justice League and show us the Justice Society of a bygone era

     Batman Begins- This is the High Point- a gritty, real world Batman that looks at how Bruce Wayne could actually become the Dark Knight Detective. It crossed the border from a good superhero film(FCBNO*) to actually being a good film- A Masterpiece of Cinema in my opinion.

     The Dark Knight- This one may actually have surpassed it's predecessor, showing the fall and the long dark night of the soul of the heros journey. Batman ends the film as outcast in order to save the reputation and works of a good man who fell to madness.

     The Dark Knight Rises - I personally don't think this one is as strong as the two before it but it still solid as hell. My biggest Criticism of this is that it sandboxes the character into a world where they can do no more with him. He has a beginning, a middle, and in the Dark Knight Rises, he has an end- whether you believe he died in a blast, and Alfred's viewing of him later is but an old man's fantasy, or that he survived and retired happy with Selena Kyle, this is the end of  Batman. And as we know, Heroes never die, they just get rebooted.

     Gotham- What Smallville did for Clark Kent, Gotham does for...James Gordon...? That being said, it takes an interesting look at the roots of the characters around Bruce Wayne. Young master Bruce is the least interesting person on the show, with the various budding psychopaths who will become his nemeses shining out.

     Man Of Steel - This Film took some flack- a lot of folks didn't like the long fight scenes, and there was criticism of Superman killing Zod at the end. I love this film. It makes an amazing reboot to the origin, manages to be epic and human at the same time. And it does a wonderful job of setting the stage for

     Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice- This film has detractors- I am not one of them. I liked this movie when i saw it on the big screen, I liked it when I watched it again on the DVD screen. Things this film definitely did right- For the first time, we see Batman fight like a horrific ballet of violence-every move leading to the next, every move a movement in a greater symphony. We see Batman as a planner and a setter of contingencies. His takedown of Superman is believeable.

     Oh, and Wonder Woman. I could watch Gal Gadot all day. Feminine and lethal all at once

     Honrable Mentions in DC Cinema- Green Lantern- I liked it, would not mind seeing a sequel, even tho I know that will never happen.
     Watchmen- What can I say about this? Alan Moore hated it, but Alan Moore hates everything. This is a pretty faithful adaptation of the graphic novel. and as we saw above with Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder knows how Superheroes should look when they fight.
     Arrow- A gritty look into the character of Green Arrow. It feels like they wanted to make Batman and got Oliver Queen instead, but it gave us...
     The Flash- Which is SUPERB and
     Legends of Tomorrow- which puts Brandon Routh in a smaller set of Tights than Superman's

     Oh- and Supergirl- The hours of the day I am not watching Gal Gadot, I could easily watch Melissa Benoist. She's perfect.







*For Comic Book Nerds Only

The Trinity

     I picked up Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice the week it was released. I rewatched Man of Steel, then dove into the launch of DC's combined Cinema universe.

     Two things- I saw it in the theater, and liked it. As is, no extended edition. Second, and more importantly, I come not to bury Caesar, but to praise him. I liked this on the big screen, liked it better on DVD.

     It has flaws. DC/Warner seems to know what to do with it's television shows far more than the movies. They are however, slowly catching up with Marvel/Disney in making the movies epic, and meaningful, not Campy.

     I have a lot of nostalgia for the old stuff, and I ended up watching the earlier movies as well. When I say nostalgia, however, don't mistake it for "the old stuff was better!!!" or the ever popular "They ruined my childhood!!!!!"

I simply mean:

nos·tal·gia

näˈstaljə,nəˈstaljə/

noun

noun: nostalgia; plural noun: nostalgias

1. a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.

     So I am going to touch upon the best and the worst of all of the cinematic efforts that I have seen on Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, DC's flagship trinity of heroes. This is in no way intended to be a comprehensive treatise on the film and TV media of these characters, only a collection of thoughts on the ones I know well.  It's also only right to point out that Sam (my roommate/ex-wife/current Cato to Tango's Clouseau) made a really good point- without these movies, as bad or as painful as they are, we wouldn't have the good ones. Someone had to see the campy stuff and say..."well I would do..."

     For every Successful explorer, there is a floating pith helmet marking where the guy before him stepped in quicksand...

     So without further digression

     Batman the movie- Best way to describe it...there is a bat-device for everything. A campy movie to amp up a campy TV series.

     Wonder Woman- Another campy take on a hero(ine), Lynda Carter still looks fantastic in her satin tights, fighting for our rights and the old red white and blue.

     Superman -When I was a Kid this was AMAZING but now you can see it is very dated. Christopher Reeve makes a great square-jawed and righteous Superman, and he carries off lines that should come across ironic or snide without a single smirk.

     Superman II -This one is painful to watch. I have never seen the Donner Cut, probably should. But the Kryptonian Amnesia kiss is a low point in convenient plot devices. As is tearing off your chest emblem and turning it into flypaper.

     Batman- This was a good film and the first real attempt to make a serious superhero movie- It was Marred by it's sequels like the bad side of Harvey's coin

     Batman Returns- this one is a little surreal and oddball for my tastes. Of particular weirdness is the Penguin's funeral.

     Batman Forever-It's not forever, but it feels like it at points...OK, that was a cheap shot, and it turns out I am not better than that. It's campy, a lot of the colors look like they would be better suited to a rave, and Bat-suit nipples and butt-shot, but those are not the things that make it the weakest of the four to me. what hurts it the most, is that Val Kilmer as Batman looks like he hated what he was doing, and has no feeling for it at all.

     Batman and Robin- More Bat-nipples and butt-shots, (but no Batt-nipples on Batgirl- only a Bat-Bustier) but I like Clooney as an aging Batman, and I like Arnie's Mr Freeze- I will defend that if needed.

     Superman Returns- In my eyes, this one doesn't hang together- It has some stunning scenes, but they don't seem to know what to do with most of the characters. Routh looks good as Superman, but he comes off as reactive rather than active.

     I am noticing this article is getting long enough to warrant a sequel. so I am going to write a next part- Trilogy anyone?