Dark Crisis #3 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

Things aren't going well for the world without the Justice League. Deathstroke's army is continuing to attack any and all heroes that they can find, withe in instructions to go further than they've ever gone before. Beast Boy is a victim of this new attitude, and lays in a coma in hospital, shot in the head by Deathstroke himself.

As his friends and family gather around him, reeling from the attack, Jon and his new Justice League try to do what they can, now under the tutelage of Black Adam. Whilst at first this seems like a good idea, and the redeemed hero keeps trying to push the younger, inexperienced heroes to work harder and stronger, the thing we were all expecting finally happens; Adam goes too far.

With the villains willing to cross new lines, and the old Justice League gone, it seems like Adam is less willing to stick to his new morals, and pushes the new team to kill their enemies. The confrontation that comes from this is suitably tense as hell, and I've never seen Jon pushed to being this angry before; it even looks like it surprises the hell out of Adam because it's so unexpected from the character.

Thankfully, Adam is prevented from crushing Count Vertigo's head, but storms out. With the new League feeling like there's nothing that they can do they scatter, leaving Jon to wonder just what can be done. Luckily, there's more than just a League out there, there's a Society. The Justice Society of America is there to help, and I've never been more happy to see my favourite super hero team. The splash page of them arriving at the Hall of Justice is a definite artistic highlight of the series so far.

Elsewhere, Ravager tries to confront her father, and we see that there's more to Deathstroke than just his new outlook, as something dark and evil has gotten under his skin. It's still not clear what this is yet, but it instantly brings to mind Blackest Night and the black ichor that went along with the Black Lanterns.

Speaking of Black Lanterns, the assembled Green Lantern Corps travel to the world of the Black Lanterns and find a Black Power Battery has appeared, apparently lending some credibility to Black Adam's claims that Nekron fought the League. Entering the battery , Ha, Jo, and Kyle end up facing Pariah, and it seems like Hal has become trapped in one of the prison universes the League are stuck in.

A lot happens this issue, perhaps the most since the title began, and it really feels like things are ramping up. The Corps are preparing for war, the JSA are there to lead the Earth's heroes, and Black Adam has turned to the Legion of Doom and the villains unaligned with Deathstroke to join the fight. Earth and it's powered community are about to clash with forces of evil from beyond our universe; and it really feels like it's not going to end well.

As with the previous two entries in this series, it's been another superb issue.

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Alien 3 – Throwback 30

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The first two films in the Alien franchise are widely considered to be the best in the series, and for many, the perfect blending of science fiction and horror. A large reason for their success was due to the time, care, and passion that was put into making them. The first film was developed over years, had a director who cared about the project, and sourced some of the best designers and craftspeople around. The second movie, which wasn’t rushed into productions, was much the same, as the studio waited until the right director with the right kind of vision came along. But after these two films the series took a bit of a dive in quality, and I believe this is in large part due to the troubled production of Alien 3, which has now turned thirty years old.

Following the success of James Cameron’s Aliens, 20th Century Fox wanted another Alien film to come out as soon as possible. The studio were so desperate to not only make the film, but to promote it as being bigger than the first two, that it released teaser trailers announcing the film’s release before a script had even been settled on. These trailers hinted that the xenomorph would be coming to Earth, something that doesn’t actually happen in any of the films in the series.

Having now announced the film, the studio quickly set to work finalising a story; something that fans of the series will know did not go well. Compared to the first two films, which went through relatively few treatments, Alien 3 went through development hell. A script by William Gibson proposed a story that took inspiration from the Cold War, and would see Michael Biehn’s Hicks stepping into the lead whist Sigourney Weaver would only feature in a cameo role. This version would later be adapted into a novel, a comic series, and an audio drama. Another treatment by Eric Red had everyone from the second film dying, and the alien creatures attacking a small town under a bio dome on an alien planet. And another, by David Twohy would see the duplicitous Wayland Yutani corporation performing illegal experiments on a prison planet.

The treatment that came closest to being created was by Vincent Ward, and saw Ripley’s escape pod crashing onto an artificial, wooden planet populated by monks. This floating world, clad in wood and made to look practically medieval, would come under siege from the xenomorph, who would be seen as the devil by those living there. This treatment also had Ripley being infected by the alien, and giving her life by the end to kill it and save the last few monks from certain death. There are a large number of storyboards and some amazing painted art pieces and xenomorph designs for this version of the film that are well worth searching out, and there are extensive behind the scenes features that cover this version of the film in the Alien Anthology Blu-ray set.

Elements from both the David Twohy and Vincent Ward scripts were taken by series producers Walter Hill and David Giler, who crafted the basic story that was eventually put onto film. With so much of the pre-production time, and millions of dollars, having been spent just on the scripting stage, the film was rushed into production to meet its release deadline. Music video director David Fincher, who’d never directed a feature film, was brought on board to helm the project as production began at Pinewood Studios.

The now decided on story saw the survivors of the second film fall victim to a facehugger, loose on board the ship. When it causes an electrical fire their cryo-pods are moved onto an escape pod, and ejected into space. The pod makes planet-fall on a remote planet that’s home to a small prison population of highly dangerous men who’ve found religion in the far reaches of space. Sadly, Ripley is the only survivor of the crash. Or at least, the only human survivor.

When the stowaway alien manages to infect one of the prisoners’ dogs, a newer, faster, and highly deadly creature is set loose upon the universe. With Ripley being the only woman on the planet she has to fight to try and make those in charge believe her wild story, all whilst trying to avoid any of the dangerous inmates who want to cause her harm. With no help coming, no weapons, and danger around every turn, Ripley has to fight harder than ever before to survive.

Alien 3 was released to some mixed reactions, with a lot of reviewers disliking the film, and comparing it unfavourably to the previous entries in the series. Despite the poor reception, the film still did well at the box office, and made more than $1 million in profit. Despite technically being a success, director David Fincher disowned the film, claiming that excessive studio interference, tight deadlines, and poor conditions made it the hardest project he had ever worked on.

Despite the director distancing himself from the film, Alien 3 gathered a cult following over the years, and became a much loved entry in the series. An alternate cut of the film, the Assembly Cut, was released in 2003 as part of the Alien Quadrilogy box set (also later released in the Alien Anthology Blu-ray) which saw an additional half hour of deleted and alternate scenes added to the film. This version fleshed out the side characters more, had a whole new sequence where they managed to capture the creature, had the alien come from a cow instead of a dog, and featured an alternate death scene for Ripley. Other alternate versions of Alien 3 have also been released, with the William Gibson version having been adapted into comics and a novel.

Alien 3 might be considered the film that ‘dropped the ball’ for the Alien series, the film that began a decline in quality that would only become worse in Alien Resurrection. But it seems unfair to label the film as completely bad. Despite being stuck in development hell for so long it has a pretty decent, coherent story. The film has a look all its own thanks to its interesting designs and colour palette. It has a strong supporting cast, including actors like Charles Dance, Charles S. Dutton, and a host of great British actors. Alien 3 is not a bad entry in the series. It’s not even a bad film. It’s just been compared to the first two films for so long that people assume it’s bad. Alien 3 has been looked down upon for too long. Perhaps now, as it turns thirty, we can start to admit it’s actually a great movie.

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Beastlands: Keepers of the Kingdom – Graphic Novel Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Beastlands: Keepers of the Kingdom is an exciting new fantasy story for readers of all ages who love magical creatures, noble quests, and fighting for what’s right. Originally created and funded on Kickstarter, this new graphic novel from Dark Horse brings together the first five issues of the series.

Beastlands: Keepers of the Kingdom transports readers to a fantasy world where amazing magical creatures called Keepers coexist alongside humans. These Keepers can take many forms, but all of them form a strong, lasting bond with one particular human and become their friends and protectors for life. However, in the kingdom of Griff the king has outlawed Keepers, blaming them for the recent death of his daughter. Not only that, but all Keepers have been ordered to be put to death, and any of their companions who try to resist are to arrested.

It’s in this world that we encounter three teenage travellers, Mac, Ava, and Ping; along with the two Keepers, Renzo and Luna. The three of them are searching for clues to the whereabouts of Mac’s father, an explorer who disappeared years before. Whilst searching for clues as to the next stage of their search the three friends come into contact with Griff, and enter into a fight for their lives, and the lives of their Keepers.

Beastlands: Keepers of the Kingdom has been described as being perfect for fans of Pokemon, Digimon, Game of Thrones, Avatar The Last Airbender, and other fantasy worlds. And as someone who has been a fan of most of the franchises named in the Kickstarter, I honestly do see the attraction, as this was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

The first thing that will draw people in with this book is the Keepers. The creatures that inhabit the world that Curtis Clow and Jo Mi-Gyeong have created are wonderfully designed. The Keepers, and other ‘regular’ kinds of fantasy animals that you encounter throughout the book, look amazing. Each of the Keepers has something of a unique design, and many of them take elements from existing animals and put a fantasy twist on them. For example, Renzo, Mac’s Keeper, is a large blue and white wolf with sabre-tooth fangs. Ava’s keeper is kind of reminiscent of griffin, though uses some other animals in a similar configuration. The front part of the body is a sleek panther-like cat, with the back feet of a large bird, and huge wings on her back. Oh, and she has big horns too.

Every Keeper that you encounter across the course of the book does something a little different with the design, and you can see why the series’ description mentions Pokemon and Digimon, as some of these creatures wouldn’t look out of place in those worlds. The artwork, provided by series co-creator Jo Mi-Gyeong, looks fantastic too, and really brings the creatures to life, whether it’s a huge, fierce Keeper fighting soldiers, or some cute little bunny creature hanging out in the background.

But the book is more than just the fantastic animals that call it home, as there are some great human characters and a compelling story here too. The trio of teens that we follow across the book have a mixture of personalities that work well together, and we see more than once in the story that when they’re alone they kind of struggle, and it’s only when they’re all together that they really come out on top. The three of them make a great found family; and family is a key component of this story.

It seems like everything is driven by family. Mac is looking for his lost father, the King has turned into a tyrant through grief for his deceased daughter, and those with Keepers are fighting to protect them because they’re more than just animals, they’re family. These themes are everywhere in the book, and I expect that they will continue on to become an important part of the story as the series continues on.

One thing that readers should be aware of going into the book, especially as I think it’s a book that a lot of younger readers will want to pick up and check out, is there are some scenes with disturbing content throughout. The first time we see the King he executes his own Keeper in front of the kingdom, and we see him behead the beautiful animal. The first time we meet the teens a group of bandits are trying to rape the girls. There are scenes where Keeper companions are executed, and children are hung and killed. The book doesn’t really pull any punches, and whilst it doesn’t revel in the violent imagery it doesn’t shy away from it either. And whilst this content could disturb or upset some readers it does help to get you drawn into the story and invested, as you quickly understand the stakes and don’t want terrible things to happen to our heroes.

Beastlands: Keepers of the Kingdom collects together the first five issues of the series, but the story doesn’t end here. The book sets up this world and these characters and gets you invested really quickly, and I think that most who read this will come away waiting eagerly for the next volume to come. If you’re a fan of fantasy stories, amazing creatures, and great stories Beastland: Keepers of the Kingdom is not a book you want to miss out on.

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DC Mech #1 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

DC occasionally comes out with a concept so weird that you're kind of not sure if you want to read it or not. These ideas tend to get relegated to their own timelines and universes, and get to go a little bit wild. The recent Jurassic League is an example of this.

The latest entry in this 'fuck it, let's just do it' category of books is DC Mech. This series begins at the end of World War Two, where the Justice society helped to end the war and stop the forces of the axis powers. However, in the middle of a huge celebration a portal forms above the city and a huge mechanised Parademon from the distant world of Apokolips arrives on Earth.

The Justice Society engage the huge mechanical warrior in battle, and manage to defeat it. However, the society suffers extreme losses, and many of the heroes die stopping this single warrior. This battle brings the age of the super hero to a close, as the world knows that they need stronger defences for when the next attack comes. Humanity dedicates itself to developing its own giant, mechanised warriors.

Many years later, the planet of Krypton comes under attack from the forces of Apokalips, and whilst his parents fight to buy him time and infant Kal-El is placed inside a giant robotic warrior and sent out amongst the stars, flying towards the planet Earth on a journey that will take him many years.

On Earth, decades later, the heroes and villains that we recognise have been replaced with giant robotic versions of themselves. Wally West pilots a giant flash battle suit, and Bruce Wayne watches over Earth from a floating asteroid and goes into battle in a huge Batman mech. When a trio of Parademons attacks the Earth, the two of them engage them in battle, and receive assistance from Kal-El and his own mechanised warrior. With more of Apokalips' forces on the way, can these new heroes come together to form a team in time?

The concept of this book, to replace all of the major characters in DC with piloted mech suits sounds pretty wild; but its actually pretty fun. Kenny Porter has come up with a decent way of justifying not only the reason why this would be happening, but how the tech would develop too, by giving Earth a giant Parademon mech to research for decades.

The changes in the timeline, and how things have shifted from what we know are pretty interesting, and there seems to be some big changes because of this. For example, Bruce has a godmother that he keeps talking about, a woman who seems to have provided warnings of things to come and pushed him to become Batman. I've got a theory it's going to be someone we know, but am interested in seeing who it is, and how these characters have changed in this new world.

The giant mechs are also pretty cool, and some of the designs look great. The fights take on a different feel now that they're between huge robots rather than people, especially as they mechs are incorporating the powers and abilities that the characters would normally have. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how more heroes and villains have been adapted into this new set-up as the series goes on.

These separate kinds of side stories can be a lot of fun, and can provide a decent distraction from the stuff that's happening in the main universe, and they can let creators go a bit wild and try something different. I'm definitely intrigued by this one, and am looking forward to seeing how it goes.

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Parasomnia: The Dreaming God #1 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Parasomnia: The Dreaming God continues the story begun in last year’s four part series, Parasomnia. The series tells the story of a family that was broken apart when a young boy was kidnapped from his bedroom one night. This boy had a very special gift, an ability that made him stand out, and whilst that gift seems to be the reason he was targeted, it’s also what will help his father to find him.

The previous series was something of a strange read, a four part story that slowly introduced readers to this world and its conceit in ways that weren’t at first apparent; and in some cases were downright confusing. The first volume of this story definitely works better as a complete volume, and whilst the first issue of this chapter of the tale seems to be working better, you definitely need the foundation of the previous series in order to understand any of what’s happening here.

This issue drops readers back into the story, with Grover still searching for his missing son, though now he’s gained an ally in the strange dream world that connects him to his son, as well as the cult that stole him. Whilst in the first volume the dream world was a strange, fantasy-like place, this time things have shifted. The dream has changed. And our hero finds himself in some kind of cyber-punk, neo-noir setting instead. This change isn’t commented upon, and none of the characters that go in and out of the dream world, or even Kahnawake, who lives there and seems aware of its ins and outs, make mention of it.

This feels very much in keeping with the series as a whole, where nothing is explained, and readers are left to try and catch up with the small clues that are given to us. That being said, this issue is a lot more forthcoming with information than most of the previous instalments, and we begin to learn more about the dreamworld and the cult via Grover’s adventures there. We also discover that Grover isn’t the only member of his family still connected to his son, as his wife also makes the leap into the dreamworld.

It’s not clear exactly what is going to be happening in this particular volume of the Parasomnia story. Grover seems to be closing in on the cult, he’s gaining more abilities inside the dream world, and the cult has an evil plan. But these were all things that were happening before. Other than the sudden change in genre inside the dreams nothing here feels too different from what came before, and I’m left wondering why the story has been split into separate titles with this being a new issue one, when it could have easily just been issue five of the story.

One thing that does feel different in this issue is the artwork, provided by Andrea Mutti (who also worked on Cold Bodies). Mutti worked on the first volume, and the art style hasn’t really changed here, but once the dream setting changed to the futuristic location the artwork feels slightly different. It feels more clean and clinical at times, and you could be forgiven for thinking that another artist is working on the book. This really shows off how versatile Mutti’s work is, and how their artwork evokes different feelings depending upon the setting.

If you’re coming to Parasomnia: The Dreaming God as a new reader because you saw that it was an issue one you’re probably going to be having a bad time with this. But if you’ve read the first run and are coming to this for the next chapter in the story you’re probably going to enjoy it. The tale is continuing on at a fairly leisurely pace, giving out net titbits of information as the world expands. It’s not clear yet what Cullen Bunn is intending to do with this particular volume, but it remains intriguing.

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Action Comics #1045 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

The Warworld saga has been a big story for Action Comics, and the story has been building in tension over the last few issues. With Superman having fully joined the revolution, open war has come to Warworld. But, when Mongol unleashes his new weapons, the apparently evil former members of Superman's own team, things have gotten much worse.

With some of their former teammates now fighting alongside the villain, those left to stand against Mongol find themselves drawn in multiple different directions. With ore than one path open to them, it's decided to split the group to take on all objectives at the same time. 

Natasha, Orphan, and Leonath, along with the help of Steel back on Earth, head to one of the star forges in the hopes of turning the red sun reactor into a yellow sun using the Genesis fragment. This will allow Superman and the Phaelosians to access their super human powers to fight Mongol's forces.

Manchester Black, Enchantress, Midnighter, and Khaljo will gather the available forces at their disposal and will meet Mongol's army in the open, in hopes that they might be able to free their friends of whatever control the despot has over them.

And Superman, Kryl-Ux, and the children travel deep beneath the surface of Warworld in hopes of locating the Fire of Olgrun in order to use it against Mongol, and to stop him from gaining it as a weapon.

There's a lot of stuff going on in this issue, and it feels like things are starting to build up towards the conclusion. The decision to split the team into three groups gives us more ground to cover, but it also means that we're not having to really lose any characters when all of them are trying to find something to do when they're all in a scene together.

One of my favourite moments in this issue was the talk that Clark had with some of the Phaelosian kids when they're travelling underground. They discuss the different options open to the children after they've beaten Mongol, and where they can go. And Clark tells them that as long as they wear his symbol they're family, and always welcome on Earth. It's a small moment, but one that reminds people that it's not the fighting that makes Superman great, it's not him refusing to let Mongol win, of getting up again each tie he's beaten, but the  small moments of kindness like this that make him a truly great person.

The back-up feature keeps the focus on the main story, and fills in some of the blanks as to what's happening on Earth during the story. Whilst it adds to the main story it does feel like an okay story in itself, and promises some cool things to come in the next issue as Lois Lane brings in all of the members of the Superman Family to help stop the villain.

The Warworld saga has been going on for a while, but continues to be engaging an creative, and is one of the more enjoyable Superman stories in a while.

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Task Force Z #10 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

Task Force Z issue ten is an issue where we get some answers to some mysteries, have some new curve balls thrown at us, and have some pretty fun moments tossed in the mix too.

If you've been reading this series, but not picked up The Joker you might be in for a bit of a surprise to learn this issue that Bane isn't really Bane. Since the reveal in The Joker a few months ago that Bane faked his death on A-Day I've been wondering where this series fits in, if it even does. Was this a case of the writer on this book got told Bane was dead, but didn't get told it was a fake out?

Well no, because as we see here via a series of flashbacks, the zombie Bane we've been following isn't Bane at all, but was made to think he was. You see, it turns out that Doctor Bloom and Harvey Dent, with the help of Amanda Waller and some of her people, developed a method for implanting memories, effectively making one person into another.

This process was done onto a corpse that was then put into a Bane costume and pumped full of Venom, effectively making a zombie Bane copy. This was all done to help get Jason on side, as he'd jump at the opportunity to hurt the man who killed Alfred Pennyworth.

However, this tech comes back to bite our protagonists in the butt when we learn that Bloom has used it to turn several members of Task Force Z into sleeper agents who will turn into copies of him when needed. This leads to some inter team fighting, and some frankly delightful moments from Solomon Grundy.

The issue ends with a reveal as to who the person behind the Bane mask was that I won't spoil, but is certainly going to be interesting going forward. 

This is a series that keeps throwing new and interesting things at the reader, and manages to pull it off consistently well. I've had fun with each and every issue, and always look forward to seeing what new wild crap is going to happen.

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Camping Trip – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Covid pandemic has been a big disruption to our lives for the past two years. It brought the world as we know it to a standstill for months, changed the way we operate, and has highlighted how people will ignore major dangers in a effort to ‘go back to normal’ by acting like Covid is a thing of the past even whilst still around. It’s something that has left a lasting mark on our times, and as such there will be storytellers that use this time. The latest film to use the Covid pandemic as its backdrop is Camping Trip.

Directed by the Fucia brothers, Demian and Leonardo (Leonardo also wrote the movie and starred in it), Camping Trip introduces us to two couples trying their best to make it through the pandemic, who decide to get away from the stress of everything once the first lockdown comes to an end. Enzo (Leonardo Fucia) and his girlfriend Polly (Caitlin Cameron) meet their friends Ace (Alex Gravestein) and Coco (Hannah Forest Briand) with socially distanced greetings as their nosey neighbours watch on from the windows, and try to figure out how to navigate their desire to be close with Covid safety.

We get a bit of an insight into the two groups in this early scene, learning how times have been tough on each, and how they’ve been struggling through the pandemic financially. We also learn that despite his outward appearance at being careful and following safety guidelines, Enzo got fined for having a party during the pandemic; something that hints at the character’s future capacity to make absolutely ridiculous mistakes that put everyone at risk. With the stage set and the characters introduced we head out into the woods with them as they find a remote location by a lake so that they can relax, get away from the stresses of reality, and have a big orgy.

Unbeknown to them, however, there are other people in the forest. A scientist of some sort (it’s never made clear), is making a shady deal with a couple of criminals out in the remote wilds. However, deciding that he doesn’t want to give the two criminals the $1 million he’s agreed, he stashes the cash in the friends camp whilst they’re away. When the criminals realise they’ve been double crossed they kill the scientist and set out looking for the money – a path that leads them straight to the four friends.

The plot of Camping Trip isn’t entirely terrible; unfortunately, the execution of it is. Despite spending time getting to know the four main characters there’s never a sense that you know anything about any of them. There are no real personality traits or distinctive things that set any of them apart from the others. Other than Enzo, who seems to flip flop between being selfish and wanting to do the right thing, none of them particularly stand out. Any of them could be speaking anyone else’s lines and it wouldn’t feel out of place. They seem less well thought out characters, and more just pieces on the board, being moved around scene to scene doing whatever the script needs them to do.

The group is also quite unlikable, and I never once felt like I was supposed to be rooting for any of them, or hoping that they get through things. They make some pretty awful mistakes in this movie, and I don’t just mean your average horror film mistake of heading into a clearly haunted house. They find a freshly murdered man near their camp, a supposed cure for Covid worth millions, and a million in cash, an instead of getting the hell out of there they start blasting music, singing and dancing to celebrate their good fortune. I don’t think they could have drawn the killers attention any quicker if they’d have sent up a flare. And sadly, this is far from the only thing that they did that left me shaking my head.

For example, the directing choices. There’s a scene that should have lasted about a minute, but thanks to everything going into slow motion it seemed to go on for at least five. Everything was dragged out and slowed down, and rather than making things feel tense, or dangerous, or horrific, as I assume the intention was, it made the scene boring. Everything overstayed its welcome, and a number of shots ended up looking undersold, as you could see plainly that some of the actors were pulling punches and not really landing any blows.

Another scene, the big moment where the story all comes to a head, felt ruined by the baffling choice to have the camera slowly spinning around, rather than focusing on the characters. Instead of watching the people we’ve been following for this whole story reach their dramatic conclusion, the camera spins round and round, showing trees, the lake in the distance, more trees, then a brief glimpse of the characters, before moving on again. It threw me out of the scene entirely, and left me wondering what was happening, why I should care, and what the entire point was. I was left not caring about any of the characters or their story at the dramatic conclusion; so what was the point of it all? It was a directing choice that ruined the conclusion of the film for me.

Camping Trip tries to tell a compelling and interesting story, but thanks to a script that drags, characters that never grab you, and some directing choices that ruin some key scenes, I was left bored throughout, and glad when it came to an end.

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The Swamp Thing #15 - Comic Review

 

Originally published on Patreon

The penultimate chapter of The Swamp Thing felt like a jump in quality over the previous issue, which felt too vague, and concerned with lofty and complex questions over actually moving the plot forward in any big ways. That seems to have been rectified here as the final pieces are moved into place for the conclusion to this story that's been building for more than a year.

That all being said, I still struggled to enjoy this as much as I did at the start of the series. I don't know whether this is because the book was extended, whether Ram V has had to find more story with which to extend things, or if he was always hoping to write the story at this length; but it felt different in those early issues than it does now, more focused.

I think this is one of those books where a month to month read can sometimes be something of a hindrance, and that sitting down with all fifteen issues and reading them together will give you a much better experience. As it is, I'm still enjoying it, but I'm also kind of glad that it'll be coming to an end next month.

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Glorious – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

People go to many places to find God. They go to church, they go out into nature, they can sit in self reflection. It seems there’s no shortage of places where people can find God, but finding him in the end stall in a rest stop bathroom might seem like a pretty strange place to come across him.

Glorious tells the story of Wes (Ryan Kwanten), as he drives across the US. Wes is clearly upset, and seems to be barely keeping himself together, and as such pulls into a remote rest stop to get a break. However, Wes seems to get lost in his heartbreak and spends the night burning several possessions and getting drunk. Waking up the next morning with an extreme hangover, and missing his pants, he rushes into the nearby bathroom in order to throw up.

Whilst in the beaten up stall, complete with a glory hole decorated in artwork that can only be described as a cross between a woman and a Cthulian nightmare, Wes hears a voice coming from the stall beside him. The voice starts to strike up a conversation with him, and despite Wes not wanting to talk to some random stranger in a rest stop bathroom he finds himself chatting away to the man – or at least what he at first believes to be a man. The voice identifies itself as Ghatanothoa, an ancient god who needs Wes for something; and he’s not going to let Wes go until he gets what he needs.

The concept of Glorious is pretty ridiculous. It’s a single character, trapped alone in a bathroom with a disembodied voice to keep him company. It shouldn’t work, it should fall apart somewhere, but it never does, ending up with a film that’s one of the most delightfully creative movies I’ve seen in years.

The biggest strength of the film is the acting, and the chemistry between the two leads. Ryan Kwanten is a great lead actor, and is the man upon whose shoulders much of the success or failure rests. Other than a handful of people who make brief appearances in flashbacks, he’s the only real character that we ever get to see, and he’s present in every single scene. Even when he’s not the focus, he’s there, he’s reacting, and he’s still keeping the story alive. I’ve seen Kwanten in several film and television projects in the past, and whilst his acting has been fine it’s never really been something that I’ve taken note of before. Here, however, he manages to keep you hooked to the screen throughout.

Kwanten plays Wes with a sense of mystery to him. We don’t know what’s happened to him to drive him to come out to the middle of nowhere to burn this mysterious red box and its contents, and whilst there are subtle clues that hint at a man with a broken heart there’s something more too. There are times where Wes comes across as slightly sinister, and you’re not sure if you’re supposed to think that he might be something of a bad guy beneath everything. There are small moments where the expression on Kwanten’s face says a lot more than the words coming out of his mouth ever do, and you begin to realise that he’s a lot more complex than first appears.

But, Kwanten isn’t in this alone, as he shares most of his scenes with the voice of Ghatanothoa, J.K. Simmons. Simmons feels perfectly cast in this role, and manages to bring a level of humanity to a being that’s not only inhuman, but utterly and completely alien. Simmons has done some great voice acting work in the past, but this might be one of his best roles I’ve seen (heard?) him in. When they first meet Wes believes he’s just a guy who’s perhaps a bit unused to personal boundaries, and talks to strangers in bathrooms, and he very much does come across as an affable, kindly guy just trying to start a conversation. Even when he reveals his true nature he comes across as honest, and at times quite pleasant. It would have been easy to have Simmons turn from charming to scary, to have his booming voice cow Wes beneath him, but that never really happens, and Ghatanothoa instead talks to him like a person.

It’s these kinds of choices that make Glorious stand out from other Cosmic Horror stories. The film doesn’t take the expected course, and deliberately chooses to take the creative option. Some of this is down to the great writing, which manages to deftly weave together moments of absolute horror with genuine comedy. Where the film really excels though is the visuals. Director Rebekah McKendry makes some interesting choices in the execution of the film, and thanks to some clever camera trickery, fun shifting perspectives and angles, there are some moments that will leave you pleasantly delighted as something unexpected happens.

The film also leans into the Cosmic Horror staples, though, and there are plenty of otherworldly colours, odd tentacles, showers of slow motion blood, and twisting, shifting biological masses that can’t be explained. The film does its best to keep you in the loop, however, and there’s a wonderful scene where Ghatanothoa explains what it is, where it comes from, and what it wants that comes complete with moving bathroom wall graffiti as its history is shown to us, rather than simply told. There’s a sense that the same script, and the same cast under a different director would have come out very differently, as the sense of style that McKendry has brought to the movie is a big part of why it all just works.

Glorious is not your average horror film. It has minimal locations, almost no cast, and relies quite heavily on the chemistry of two characters who never even get to see each other. It has a premise that’s incredibly ridiculous, one that feels like it should be laughed at rather than taken seriously. But thanks to an amazing cast, a tight script, and some stunning visuals Glorious has become a film that I not only want to watch again, but to recommend to others, as it’s a high point of creativity amongst other films that are happy to play it safe.

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