Author: Dave Beaudrie

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ROCKY IV – ROCKY VS. DRAGO [Review]: The Definitive Director’s Cut.

Dave Beaudrie
@DaveBeaudrie

Thankfully, writer/director/star Sylvestor Stallone shows more deft-of-touch in the editing of his recut Rocky IV than he did in the film’s new title Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago – The Definitive Director’s Cut. It’d be easy to assume that this new version of the much-derided 1985 classic is the theatrical version with some additional footage patched into it. Instead, this new version of the fourth Rocky film is an entire rework of the film from beginning to end, with the most obvious changes occurring in the first act…

If you’ve seen Stallone’s Director’s Cut of the first The Expendables, than you’ll be familiar with his approach here as Stallone’s new cut features as many subtractions and tweaks as it does additions. While the press notes state that Rocky vs. Drago features over 40-minutes of new footage, the actual runtime is only two minutes longer than the theatrical version, with much of the new footage comprised of alternate takes of scenes that had already been in the film to change the overall tone.

While I’ll avoid certain spoilers as to what makes this cut different, there’s no reinventing the wheel with a film that first shot over 35 years ago. The basic plot points remain the same: Evil Russian boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) kills the legendary Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the ring and Rocky must travel to the Soviet Union for an unsanctioned bout against the brute in a quest for revenge. (The elevator pitch for the theatrical cut would be “Rocky defeats Communism.”)

However, how we as an audience get to that final fight is a very different experience in Stallone’s new vision. It’s fascinating to see how much footage he had shot as director in 1984/85 that he never used. The most publicized deletion from this movie is Paulie’s robot, with every frame of the controversial android removed. Instead, Stallone replaces it with a more focused and serious look at Apollo Creed, his friendship with Rocky and why he chooses to pick a fight with an unknown monster like Drago.

While I do think the opening recap of Rocky III runs long and goes heavy-handed in its approach to bringing a 2021 audience up to speed, what happens after that quickly grabs attention as Apollo’s ambitions and Adrian’s concerns are given new scenes to breathe. Some of the re-edits are less successful, with the screening room scene with Rocky and Apollo feeling particularly stilted compared to its original version.

This is a much more serious, less campy version of Rocky’s campiest entry. By the time Apollo steps into the ring, we can feel the impending doom and both big boxing sequences in the film benefit from Stallone’s 35 years of additional film experience with a more muted sound design and altered footage that gives the slugfests a much more visceral feel.

The backend of this Rocky IV is more familiar, too. Stallone retains the famous music montages and training sequences, though familiar fans will immediately recognize where he made some slight tweaks and alterations. The blatant nationalism of the final fight is toned down a bit, but only slightly. Vince DiCola’s score is largely intact, though some classic Bill Conti themes weave their way into things through-out the film in a welcome addition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5f5ICrhq38

Drago is given a bit more agency in what’s going on and is a more interesting villain as a result, as we see his reactions to the media and political circus he finds himself in. Burt Young’s Paulie is missed in the first half since his original arc was completely tied to the excised robot. Brigitte Nielson’s Ludmilla Drago gets shortchanged here as well, which is unfortunate as her character and performance were a benefit to the original cut. Much of her dialogue is absent in favor of Michael Pataki’s admittedly excellent Nicoli.

Stallone’s new Rocky IV is a mixed bag that is unlikely to replace the original version, but it is a fascinating and wholly-entertaining alternate look at the Rocky series’ most infamous entry. Highly recommended for any fans of the series. 4/5 Eye of the Tigers.

-Dave Beaudrie

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INSIDE INJUSTICE [DC FanDome]: Making the Hit Games & Comics.

John Kent, Dave Beaudrie.

Injustice is my favorite fighting series this side of Def Jam: Fight for NY, so I was excited for this one. I’ll give DC FanDome credit where it’s due: they seemed to have learned lessons from the recently ambitious but problematic ComicCon@Home, which frequently resembled a local PTA Zoom meeting with a bit of geek culture flair. DC has upped the production values for their digital Con, with moderators frequently using more professional cameras, the use of visual overlays and presentations as people are talking and much better overall production value. The exception for this panel was writer Tom Taylor, who sounded as if he was broadcasting from his local parking garage on someone else’s stolen WiFi network that’s a block away. Guess he didn’t get the memo.

As a panel, Geoff Keighley had a really bad habit of obviously looking far off to the side of camera to blatantly read his intros and questions, which got really distracting. Just put the notes above your camera, my friend. Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon clearly used this approach, as he obviously read things he’d had planned here and there but was much more natural and engaging while doing it.

As expected, not a lot of new information here for a game that’s already several years old, and Boon was specifically asked about an Injustice 3 and said he’d love to answer something but had absolutely nothing to say on the subject. Seems like a weird panel to put together when there’s not even a hint of anything new in the pipeline. One interesting note was how Dominic Ciancialo had to adjust his writing of Injustice 2 because Taylor had gotten so liberal with killing characters off in the Injustice comics, forcing NetherRealm to adapt to preserve continuity. Boon explained how on the first game he basically played Dana White (my words) by presenting the writing team with fights that must be in the story (Batman v Batman, Batman v Superman, Superman v Superman, Wonder Woman v Flash, etc) and the creative team had to write a story justifying those required bouts.

Lee said DC was thrilled that the games implemented the Multiverse concept and were slightly jealous of the design freedom NetherRealm enjoyed in the visual presentations of the heroes and their powers. Boon also confirmed that the whole journey started with the much maligned (but I’d say underrated) Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, and that game got them thinking about how DC was perfect for a story-based fighter all on their own. (They were right.)

They briefly touched on the two mobile titles — with Boon saying the mobile games had grossed over $200 million dollars, ugh — but there wasn’t much to say there but to brag about its success. One interesting tidbit was that Joker in MK11 was inspired by the Joker film coming to theaters at the time, with NetherRealm approaching DC/WB to get him into MK and then having fun basing a lot of his dialogue off of interactions that occurred in MK vs DC.

All in all, an enjoyable panel let down by the lack of any new announcements or material. 4/5 Bibles.

-Dave Beaudrie

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BUGS BUNNY [Comic-Con@Home]: 80th Anniversary Extravaganza!

Dave Beaudrie
@DaveBeaudrie

Without ever having really thought about it, I’d assumed there was only ever one “official” Bugs Bunny. One voice actor carrying the mantle for Warner Bros until he steps down and another takes over. I was wrong in that not-thought-out assumption. Bugs abound in this panel looking at the legacy of the Bunny, but more importantly to hype an upcoming Blu-Ray release of his greatest hits and unseen classics.

The lack of any real visual presentation is a struggle I feel for all the @Home panels as slide shows give an audience something to look at aside from talking heads for an hour, especially with one dealing with animation. This one was at least buoyed by liberal use of clips throughout Bugs’ career, starting with a short video from his 10th anniversary in 1950. (Yeah, let that sink in for a minute. Feel old yet?)

Moderator Yvette Nicole Brown (Community, Avengers: Endgame, DC Super Hero Girls) showed great enthusiasm for the subject matter, and Eric Bauza injected much-needed energy into the proceedings by suddenly launching into an offended Daffy Duck wondering why there wasn’t a panel for him.

Aside from that bright spot, the panel was a pretty dry affair with middle-aged men quietly talking about Bugs’s good ‘ol days, but it was a delight to see how much passion they all genuinely have for the history of Bugs, Looney Tunes, Merry Melodies and the entire franchise contained therein. One panelist would mention a cartoon title from the 60s and the rest would start marking out over it like wrestling fans talking the Flair/Steamboat trilogy from ’89. (I totally mean that as a compliment.) The history of Bugs is the history of cartoons in the United States, which Leonard Maltin (Entertainment Tonight) shed a lot of light on.

Pete Browngardt (Uncle Grandpa), the producer for the new HBO MAX Looney Tunes series, was really odd-man out most of the panel until Brown made a concerted effort to get him more involved near the end.

Ultimately, the panel was less about Bugs Bunny himself and more about the bottom-line of selling a new Blu-Ray set, which ultimately hurt things. I was hoping to hear more about the new series and how they’re navigating Bugs in a more culturally sensitive world (such as the “no guns” controversy), but instead all that got ignored to discuss what cartoons got selected for the Blu-Ray. An enjoyable panel, but also a missed opportunity and lacking the edge that Bugs himself would have wanted to bring to the proceedings. 3/5 Bibles.

-Dave Beaudrie

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THE NEW MUTANTS [Comic-Con@Home]: Renewal.

Dave Beaudrie.

Poor, poor New Mutants. They’re the red-headed stepchildren of the MCU. Father Fox is dead and Mother Marvel keeps them in the basement while doling out all the attention on her other children. This sense of being misplaced was not lost on The New Mutants cast and director as they descended upon Comic-Con@Home to basically say “Yes, we do still exist” and “Yes, we still will be released in theaters. Maybe.”

That uncertainty is palatable as the panel opened with a cheeky video clip documenting just how many times plans have changed and the release date has been moved. This movie was supposed to come out originally in APRIL 2018! We should call them the Senior Citizen Mutants at this point. It’s currently scheduled to be released theatrically on August 28th, though I wouldn’t hold my breath…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksdvHSRWuQo

Joking aside, the panel itself started off a bit rocky as everyone started basically saying hello and talking over one another once the whole group had been introduced. Moderator Ira Madison III introduced new emojis for each character on the panel which was a clever/creative hook, and the cast’s genuine joy at seeing both those and original fan art that was shared were probably the panel highlights.

Fans of the source material certainly would have gotten more out of writer/director Josh Boone discussing how the film is so heavily influenced by the Demon Bear Saga from the comics. The problem is they never elaborate on what that actually means for people who haven’t read it, making a large chunk of the panel a lot less engaging than what it should have been. We don’t need plot spoilers, but context matters.

Maisie Williams and Blu Hunt talked about the romance they have in the film that seems integral to the plot and character development, with Hunt telling an amusing story of how she had to go to the studio solely to kiss Williams as part of her audition and how nervous she’d been about it.

The panel ended with a surprise showing of the film’s opening. Great idea, but the results were…mixed. I’ve always felt the New Mutants movie was a great concept buried under a PG-13 rating and music-video style of hyper-editing, and nothing in the opening changed my opinion. It looked pretty, but was nonsensical. While that was partially by design to clearly try to build intrigue, I was less intrigued and more annoyed how we just jumped right into a super effects and CGI heavy chase/action scene with absolutely no context as to what was happening or why we should care, I hope The New Mutants gets its time in the sun, and I hope the extra time away has helped craft a better film. Right now, I’m not holding my breath. 2.5/5 Bibles.

-Dave Beaudrie

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BATMAN vs TMNT / 35TH ANNIVERSARY [SDCC 2019 Review]: Cowabunga, Bats!

Dave Beaudrie
@DaveBeaudrie

Turtle Power was strongly represented at both WonderCon and SDCC 2019, and for good reason: Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s magnum opus is celebrating its 35th Anniversary of Awesomeness. This year’s Con Circuit has seen its fair share of Turtle cosplay, panels, artwork and fanfare, but the Heroes in a Half Shell have still been largely overshadowed by another milestone in the comics/pop culture industry: Batman turning 80.

Despite now being legally a senior citizen, the Dark Knight is still kicking ass, taking names and making gobs and gobs of money for anyone associated with the intellectual property. Unfortunately but understandably, Batman’s 80th has taken much of the attention away from our favorite middle-aged teenagers turning 35, despite the Turtles’ resurgence on Nickelodeon and the upcoming Issue #100 of the TMNT’s longest running comic book series. (Let’s not talk about their two most recent theatrical releases, okay? When the character of Vern is the best part of your Ninja Turtles movie, your Ninja Turtles movie has major problems…)

DC and Warner Bros. have capitalized on this year’s milestones for both sets of characters with an outstanding animated film entitled, appropriately, Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

While the DC/Warner Bros. relationship has struggled creatively in recent years, Wonder Woman and Shazam notwithstanding, their animated division have steadily been building a fun body of work with various members of the Justice League. Batman/TMNT absolutely follows that trend with great action, fun character moments and a story that allows both universes to stay true to their own mythology. Unlike the comic series of the same name, the film establishes that Batman and TMNT do indeed exist in the same world and dimension. The Turtles have heard of the Legend of the Bat, but never put much stock into the stories. As far as Batman’s perception of the Turtles…he’s certainly seen weirder.

The film opens with the Turtles tracking the Foot Clan to Gotham, where the ninjas are involved in a series of high-tech robberies, as the Foot are wont to do. Batgirl tries to disrupt the robbery, but the Turtles beat her to it and she reports these events back to Batman, who responds to the news of intruders with the hallmark territorial nature of a mother bear protecting her den. Bruce doesn’t like more animal-themed karate fighters infringing on his turf.

Meanwhile, the Turtles have a hilarious altercation with the Penguin, the first of many cameos for Batman’s esteemed Rogue’s Gallery. Upon seeing the assortment of gadgets inside of the Penguin’s umbrella, Michaelangelo in particular absolutely falls in love with how batshit crazy (pun intended) Gotham really is. This is a lot more fun than the sewers of NYC. From there, we get all of the fan-service meet-and-beat-em-ups you could hope for. Batman fights the Turtles. The Turtles fight Ra’s Al Ghul. Raphael trades barbs with the humorless Damian Wayne. Donatello becomes BFFs with Barbara Gordon. And Batman vs. Shredder is the rivalry you never knew you needed.

While the plot is pretty simple, I’ll avoid further spoilers. The animation is great, throwing back to the style of the 90s Batman animated series and reverting the Turtles back closer to their comic book look and away from the recent Bay monstrosities. The fight choreography is outstanding, which is rare for an animated movie. Most animated fights show one strike at a time and quick-cut back and forth. This film actually utilizes the full space the fights take place in, with long takes that allow you to actually see martial arts techniques being deployed; the battle flows from one move to the next, as combatants change strategies and switch tactics. This is never more true than when Batman fights Shredder. It’s a fight so nice, they do it twice.

Mutagen makes its appearance. Other Batman villains make themselves known. Ra’s and Shredder hate each other in spite of their business arrangement. It all makes for enjoyable viewing. And Michaelangelo’s interactions with Batman (and Alfred for that matter) are worth the price of a rental alone. Fans of either franchise will want to pick this up for repeated viewing, and the extras about the making of the film are surprisingly in-depth about how the writing, the fighting and the animation were handled. 4.5/5 Bibles.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE ROAD TO #100 (Friday – 23ABC) – As for IDW’s upcoming TMNT #100, they brought out their creative heavy hitters for an in-depth panel at SDCC examining the ongoing Turtles “City at War” storyline where Splinter has taken control of the Foot Clan. With this, our fav kung-fu rat is attempting to change the nature of the organization while peacefully transitioning control to Karai, which does not go well when Splinter refuses to allow her to indoctrinate a group of young orphans into the Foot. (Her other solution was killing the kids, which Splinter predictably has some objections to.)

The panel featured Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman, writer Tom Waltz and editor Bobby Curnow. It was moderated by Patrick Ehlers, but Eastman took the podium to start and he graciously extended credit and thanks to the other members of the panel and to other specific members of the IDW creative team. He clearly seemed grateful to his creative co-conspirators for helping keep this franchise alive in their original medium.

The big reveal, which has been building for quite some time, is the inclusion of Jennika as the new fifth Turtle following an impaling by Karai and a blood transfusion from the Turtles (I believe they said it was Leo) that both saves her life and mutates her. The team stressed that this is not a temporary inclusion and that Jennika is part of the Turtle family moving forward. They all clearly felt very strongly for the character and what she means to upcoming Turtle lore.

Obviously, this isn’t the first time a female turtle has been introduced into the team in one of the various Turtle incarnations, and the panel acknowledged that the less said about Venus, the better. But the passion they showed for the current City at War story and Jennika’s place in it really shone through. Eastman was largely silent once the panel officially began, allowing Waltz and Curnow to take the spotlight in explaining what’s to come. What’s clear is this: the TMNT still have a lot of life left, no matter what medium you put them in. I’m all in for it. 4/5 Bibles.

-Dave Beaudrie

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WESTWORLD [SDCC 2019]: These Violent Delights Have Delightful Ends…

Dave Beaudrie
@DaveBeaudrie

WESTWORLD III (Saturday – Hall H) – We live in a strange time. Companies are increasingly desperate to break through the clutter and get their marketing message out to the general public, but the social media age has made it nigh impossible to keep confidential information out of the grubby hands of the hungry masses. So how does HBO market a TV show — with massive downtime between seasons at the biggest pop culture event in the world — when even the slightest detail of the upcoming season can potentially be a massive plot spoiler?

Such was the dilemma facing creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy as they brought their cast into Comic-Con’s Hall H for their panel on Westworld Season 3. Moderator and futurist Amy Webb had her work cut out for her to get anything out of the stonewalling cast, which included Evan Rachel Wood (Dolores), Jeffrey Wright (Bernard), Thandie Newton (Maeve), Tessa Thompson (Hale) and cast newcomer Aaron Paul (Caleb). I’m mildly surprised they even let us know Caleb’s name and that he’s a mechanic. Oh, and Luke Hemsworth was there too, coming out late in a well-recieved gag before remarking at how bad his character of Stubbs appears to be at his job.

Paul provided the most enthusiasm on the stage, a self-professed die-hard fan of the show now afforded the opportunity to join the rank-and-file. (He also confirmed that, since they’re still in the middle of shooting, that even they don’t know how this onion peels. Not that he could tell us even if he did.) Hemsworth provided entertainment value, breaking into song at one point because…why not? Thandie Newton merrily dropped f-bombs multiple times when talking about how badass her character is (undeniably true) and when urging production to play the damn Season 3 trailer already after Nolan was playing coy about it. More on that in a moment…

Wood was largely silent, though she did remark at one point on how Dolores is alone in Season 3 and that Paul’s Caleb makes her challenge her own view of the world and of humanity. She also gave some tidbits of what she told Thompson regarding physical tics of Dolores that she could apply to her own performance. (Watch Wood’s hands whenever she sits down in the first two seasons.)

Yeah, biiiiii….. Oh!

Other than that, direct answers were few and far between in spite of Webb’s best efforts. Asked about the fate of the character Logan, Nolan and Joy remained silent. When asked what year the season takes place in (or any season, really,) Nolan took a silent drink of his water. Jeffrey Wright was asked about the meaning of the Season 2 post-credits scene and answered “That’s the question.” Newton expertly took a fan question about Season 3 and deflected it into an answer talking about Season 1.

While the secrecy was at times amusing (these people are paid to be charismatic after all,) there was an undeniable sense of time wasted from a portion of the crowd that was checking their watches to see how how much time was left before Marvel took the stage. Then the trailer hit…

https://youtu.be/64CYajemh6E

Yeah, holy shit. While it of course raised more questions and provided no answers (aside from confirming the return of Ed Harris’s Man in Black in some capacity,) the trailer did so with Nolan and Joy’s typical expert craftsmanship. What we can ascertain: Edgar and Dolores are on opposite sides. Edgar at least attempts to recruit Maeve to his cause as a foil to Dolores. Dolores and Hale (Dolores II?) share a very intimate relationship that may be romantic, may be maternal or may be two bodies of one mind. (Or a combination of the three…this is Westworld after all.) Maeve and Hector are in…Nazi Germany? What? And there’s a clear jusxtposition of Dolores, Hale and Caleb in a sleek dystopian paradise and Maeve and Hector in an old-fashioned World War II love story while Bernard remains somewhere in the middle.

Nolan did confirm one thing unequivically after deferring many of the other questions to his wife, who threatened divorce if he kept throwing her under the bus.

Season 1 was “The Maze.” Season 2 was the “The Door.” Season 3?

“The New World.”

It certainly is.

4/5 Bibles.

-Dave Beaudrie