• Inside Entertainment,  Media Rants

    Respecting Property

    Two of my favourite recent movies placed in long-running franchises are Logan (2017) and Joker (2019). Logan tells the story of an older Wolverine, now struggling with health, and trying to take care of Professor Xavier, who’s suffering from dementia. Joker is a possible origin story for arguably the most recognisable comic-book villain there is. Both stories sit in well-defined, well-populated franchises. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has appeared in six X-Men movies, cameoed in one other, and appeared in three Wolverine-only movies. Although X-Men has been (softly) rebooted, the universe largely remains the same: same characters (just with younger actors), same feel, and the same type of adventures. Writer/director James Mangold…

  • Inside Entertainment,  Old vs New

    Superman II vs Man of Steel

    Man of Steel (2013) covers the two original Superman movies – Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980). We’re introduced to Krypton, we learn why baby Kal-El is sent to Earth, we watch the sentencing of the Krypton villain Zod and his cronies, we explore the origin story of Clark Kent/Superman, we see Smallville, we go to Metropolis, and, finally, we have the battle against the antagonist, Zod. I respect Christopher Nolan, who decided when rebooting Batman with Batman Begins (2005) to stay away initially from the Joker – Batman’s greatest villain, and already renowned in cinema due to Jack Nicholson‘s portrayal in Tim Burton‘s Batman (1989). It allowed Nolan to…