This one has some good stuff.
With several classic series appearing on Blu-ray for the first time, to the cinematic resurrection of a girl detective to giant atomic turtles, to musicals aplenty, it's time to get ready for some long weekends on the couch cranking the a.c.
Fire up that queue and prep that shopping cart. It's that time of the week.
Veronica Mars: The Movie![]() |
| Warner Bros / Released 5/6/14 |
Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) has put Neptune and her amateur sleuthing days behind her on the eve of graduating law school. While interviewing at high-end law firms, Veronica gets a call from her ex-boyfriend Logan (Jason Dohring) who has been accused of murder. Veronica heads back to Neptune just to help Logan find an attorney, but when things don’t seem right with how Logan’s case is perceived and handled, Veronica finds herself being pulled back into a life she thought she had left behind. Directed by the television series’ creator Rob Thomas from a screenplay by Thomas & Diane Ruggiero, Veronica Mars also stars Krysten Ritter, Ryan Hansen, Francis Capra, Percy Daggs III, Chris Lowel, Tina Majorino and Enrico Colantoni, all returning to the roles they originated in the television series. Extras include on set featurettes, making of, deleted scenes and gag reel.
Last Word:Veronica Mars is a film for and financed by it's fans. Unlike Serenity, there's really very little painting in broad strokes so the audience unfamiliar with the property can play catch up. With the exception of a self referential Kickstarter comment, a street singer belting out the series' theme song and a two minute opening credits summary of the property, by the time Ms. Mars lands back in Neptune, California at the behest of former love/bad boy/now accused murderer Logan Echolls, the film doesn't slow down for unfamiliars to play catch up.
As luck would have it, Veronica will also be in town for her tenth high school reunion. The film gives everyone their moment (unfortunately, I wish several received a few more) and very quickly reestablishes the denizens of Neptune, as well as the current status of the class war that only seems to have gotten worse and more intense in the past decade. The reunion is a great excuse to bring up many of the series' more colorful characters from Veronica's past, and her investigation of Logan's innocence allows plenty of interaction with both the local police and the seedier side of the city.
Although it often feels like a longer episode of the series rather than a movie, isn't that what you want? Veronica's narration and snark are still there, as are all of the things that endeared the series to the fans in the first place. Veronica Mars finally got the ending it deserved, and if all goes well, a new beginning. A wise theme song once said, "A long time ago we used to be friends."
Veronica, we still are.
Son of Batman![]() |
| Warner Bros / Released 5/6/14 |
Hidden atop a secret mountain stronghold lies the League of Shadows and its fearless leader, Ra's al Ghul. Together with his equally dangerous daughter Talia, he oversees a trained army of assassins with plans for global domination. But an uprising from within the league now threatens to shift the balance of power and sends Talia and her young son, Damian, fleeing to Gotham City. With assassins on their trail, Talia seeks the protection of Batman, who, unbeknownst to him, is the boy's father. With his son in tow, Batman wages war against the villain Deathstroke and the League of Shadows, all while teaching his headstrong boy that one can't fight crime by becoming a criminal. With help from Gotham's finest, including Commissioner Gordon and Nightwing, Batman will soon discover that his son and most trusted ally are one and the same!
Last Word: Loosely based on Grant Morrison's initial Batman arc, Son of Batman is pretty entertaining stuff, but suffers a bit from a muddled vision. With the DCU animated films headed in a post-New 52 direction, this pre-New 52 story is revised a bit with mixed results. The film introduces Damian Wayne, the son of Batman and Ra's al Ghul's daughter, Talia. Dropping the bio-engineering subplot in the original comics, there's no way that 10 year old Damian was sired during Bruce's five year career as Batman. They film also introduced Deathstroke to the story, even going so far as making him not only pivotal in the fate of Ra's, but also establishing a vendetta toward Damian; an eye for an eye if you will. The animation is a step up from Justice League: War, though the image is a little too dark in the scenes set in the sewers of Gotham. I'm also warming up to Jason O'Mara as Batman and Stuart Allan delivers a great performance as Damian. Overall, Son of Batman is a solid film and although it might not be a great adaptation, it does make Morrison's work a little more accessible to general audiences. Recommended.
Legend of Hercules![]() |
| Lionsgate / Released 4/29/14 |
The Legend Of Hercules follows the mythical Greek hero Hercules, the son of Zeus, who is blessed with extraordinary strength as a half-god, half-man. Banished by his stepfather, the king, Hercules slowly becomes aware of his true origins as the son of Zeus. As he learns to harness his demi-god powers, Hercules gathers an army to fight his way back to his kingdom in this action-filled epic.
Directed by Renny Harlin and written by Sean Hood and Daniel Giat, The Legend of Hercules stars Kellan Lutz, Scott Adkins, Liam McIntyre, Liam Garrigan, Johnathon Schaech, Roxanne McKee along with Gaia Weiss and Rade Serbedzija. Extras include documentary and commentary.
Last Word: Kellen Lutz stars as Hercules, son of Zeus in this latest picture directed by the once decent director Renny Harlin. While the action and fight scenes make for a
Gladiator meets
Fight Club experience, this PG-13 sword clash of the senses is likely best left for adolescents craving a matinee adrenaline and sugar rush. In contrast to last summer's
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, this movie takes no steps to relating Greek mythology to the main plot point of the jealous stepdad seeking revenge on his Zeus-sired stepson Hercules. In fact, of the famous mythological tales, it seemed as though the filmmakers only made it to the first chapter of his most famous fight with a Lion before deciding to take liberties with the mythical Hercules.
The rest is typical small minded story-building with a military battle, capture, imprisonment and multiple scenes of Herc taking on more than one opponent at a time. Gaia Weiss stars as love interest Hebe. While she is indeed beautiful, her interactions with Kellen and the supplied wet noodle dialogue do not serve her well. As a female lead, women are given short shrift once again by Hollywood, objectifying her as a love interest when so much more could have been done with Hebe and one of Mythology's most important and powerful gods. Considering the scope of a hero like Hercules and the many adventures he had, a montage of many slayings and traveled to lands would have been welcomed to break up the monotony of the set dressings. While captured (as the god is twice in the movie), he is shown escaping from a famous Hercules trope, the two pillars. What happens after his escape is more
God of War (video game) than Steve Reeves in the 1958 classic, as the power of Zeus electrifies his chains and he takes out all of the soldiers guarding him. Not what I would have expected from the scene, but this was fun to watch.
Costuming, casting and action were all fair to good. Watching swords clash and big fight scenes choreographed and trained for is always a treat, and these were the best part of the film by far. There is a camera technique, whereby kill shots and head wounds are slowed down to increase the impact of the scene. This technique is overblown in Herc and does not translate well with the 3D. Dialogue was stiff, forced and unnecessarily Shakespearian. Sure, Thor and Loki can get away with pulling this off but not here. It made the actors look even more foolish tripping over 'Thees' and 'Thous'. This vacuous telling of The Legend of Hercules is suited for teenagers, but not for anyone looking for substance, history, or even an fantastical escape. (
– Clay N Ferno)
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