On the 'No Kill' Superhero policy...

A hot button topic in modern superhero movies - particularly DC movies directed by Zack Snyder - is the 'No kill' policy: that idea that certain characters draw a moral line in the sand that they will never under any circumstances cross.

In general I prefer stories in which the protagonist isn't a cold blooded killer.  That said, I enjoy mindless action pictures like James Bond and Indiana Jones.  That type of movie tends to have a high body count.  So I don't tend to loose my mind if an action movie has a bit of carnage and the protagonist is the one responsible.

The 2013 film 'Man of Steel' is quite controversial largely due to the fact that Superman - all American boy-scout - is shown to take a life.  And from hearing disillusioned fans talk about it, they made it sound like a straight up act of murder.  Superman taking out General Zod the way he did is an inexcusable act.  But when I saw the movie for myself I had to ask: did I even watch the same movie as these fans?  Yes, Supes snapped Zod's neck like it was a twig.  He did it to save a bunch of kids.  No, it wasn't a decision he was happy with.  Yes, it was the only option in that scenario, other than to 'just let people die' when there was something he could do to prevent it.

Fast-forward to 2016.  'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' is in theaters, and audience response is mixed at best.  One significant complaint is that Zack Snyder's interpretation of Batman doesn't have a no kill policy.  In the months since the movie's release this has become one of the first things to come up when people state there reasons for hating the movie.  Personally, I didn't even notice that Batman killed anyone.  It wasn't until watching compilation videos such as this one that it became evident to me that, yeah, Batman is responsible for a good bit of carnage in downtown Metropolis.  However, I'm not quite sure why this is the one thing fans fixated on?

Granted, Batman's no kill policy in the comics is pretty much the only reason Joker is still alive.  There are fans who think that it's inconsistent to have Joker - who has murdered one of the Robins in this continuity - running around Gotham and have Batman be ready and willing to take out Superman 'If there's even a 1% chance' that he's a threat.  There's much more than a 1% chance that Joker is a threat.

However, the 'Batman never kills rule' has never been a set rule in the movies.  Particularly not in the Tim Burton movies.  Even in the climax of Christopher Nolan's 'Batman Begins' there's that bit between Batman and Ra's al Ghul - 'I won't kill you...But I don't have to save you!'  Morally speaking having the ability to save an individual's life, but standing back and allowing them to die...well at the very least it's obeying the letter of the law rather than the spirit.

But lets take a look at the MCU for a sec.  The fun loving kid friendly Marvel movies.  In the context of the movies, does it make sense for The Avengers to have a no kill policy?  ...Not really?  And they don't seem to.  Let's take a look at Captain America.  He is by definition a Super-Soldier.  From WW2.  He's seen action.  In 'The First Avenger' you see him chuck a live grenade down the open hatch of an occupied tank.  He also casually tosses Hydra agents out of an airplane.  Cap doesn't seem to have a no kill policy, and in the context of a soldier in an action movie, he probably shouldn't.

Thor.  Thor is basically Conan the Barbarian, but with a bigger vocabulary.  He's a mighty warrior.  True, usually when he does battle it's with Frost Giants or some other mythic entity, but these are still sentient beings, right?

Iron Man.  Let's see,  Tony Stark starts out his heroic journey as the head of a weapons manufacturing company.  Series villains Obadiah Stain, Whiplash, and Aldrich Killian all fail to live through the climaxes of their respective movies.


Black Widow.  She's an ex-assassin and a super-spy.  Need I say more?

Back to BvS:  It looks like most of the times Batman 'kills' it's usually more public endangerment and property damage rather than intentional homicide.  A car chase in a James Bond movie would have the same type of body count.  Ol' Bats should probably have his drivers license revoked.  The other main 'Batman is a murderer!' scene is the one where Batman is beating up Lex Luthor's thugs in a warehouse.  And while this fight scene is rather brutal, how is it different than Captain America or Thor on the battlefield?

It's fine with me if you don't like Batman v Superman.  I jut wish people would either say that they don't like it because they just don't like it, or give a better thought out reason than 'Batman doesn't kill people!'  I feel like the superhero 'no kill policy' is an odd thing to fixate on in a summer blockbuster style action movie.

One of the best on-screen adaptions of the superhero no kill policy is the Netflix Daredevil series.  And the reason it works is that the no kill policy is highlighted and shown to be a big deal.  It's a major issue that Matt Murdock is wrestling with.  It's a line that he comes dangerously close to crossing multiple times over the course of the first season.  Because of this the last couple of episodes are really intense because you are aware that Matt is capable of killing and at this point you really really don't want him to.  And this is the way it should be done.  If you are going to bother with a no kill policy you should have something to say with it.  Otherwise what's the point? 

The no kill policy isn't something that is addressed in most of the Marvel movies because that's not the story they're trying to tell.  I personally don't think it's the story Zack Snyder was trying to tell in BvS either.

-Geekboy.

Thoughts on: Suckerpunch

I know I've talked about Zack Snyder's 2011 film 'Suckerpunch' a few times before on this blog.  But since it's a movie that I can't seem to shut up about, maybe it's time I wrote down all of my thoughts on it.

*DISCLAIMER* This movie features a lot of adult themes that I'm not going to shy away from.  At the end of the day it's basically a story about sex, sexual abuse, and sex in the media and I don't plan to just ignore that elephant in the room.  The theatrical release may be rated PG13, but this story is clearly intended for mature audiences and I cannot in good conscious recommend seeing it if you are under the age of 18.  Also, I'll be getting into spoilerville in this post.

Like all Zack Snyder's films, this one is rather divisive.  Everyone tends to either love or hate it.  I knew this was a love it or hate it type deal going in.  I also knew the basic plot synopsis going in, so I didn't really find jumping between parallel worlds confusing and knew about the twist of a downer ending going in.  And I still didn't know what to make of it the first time.  Did I love it?  Did I hate it?  I honestly couldn't tell.  It was an exhausting and emotionally draining movie to watch.  But I had a sort of sick fascination with it and couldn't wait to see it again.  What did that say about me?  Was I a weirdo for 'enjoying' what may just be a horrible movie?

So I watched it again.  And again a year or so later.  After the third time I made up my mind.  Suckerpunch was a work of art.  It transcended storytelling and became something greater.  It was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me though.  I was a little afraid to tell people about the movie, thinking they might watch it, hate it, and think I was weird for liking it.  So I had to hedge a little bit.  "I just love this movie.  But you'd probably hate it.  Don't see it.  And if you do and don't hate it outright, make sure you watch it more than once."  That's right guys.  The ol' Geekboy suffers from major self esteem issues when it comes to what he likes.

Suckerpunch is all about repeated and parallel themes shown to us in three different realities.  In the 'real world' our nameless protagonist is having the worst day ever.  Her mother has just died, her evil stepfather is sexually abusing her and her younger sister, and she accidentally shoots and kills her sister in an attempt to protect her from the stepfather.  The stepfather takes heh- 'steps' to cover up what he's been doing.  He has our heroine committed to the local sanitarium.  Once there he bribes an orderly, who we'll come to know as 'Blue,' to forge an order to have our heroine lobotomized so she'll be an unreliable witness.  He's effectively covering his tracks, and up until the end of the story we're led to believe he might just get away with it.

Pause the review for just a second: One of the things I like about Suckerpunch is how it can correct my perspective when I'm having a bad day.  "You think you have it rough Geekboy?  What you're going through is nothing compared to the main characters in Suckerpunch!"

Now, we're about to jump to the second world.  Are you ready?  3, 2, 1, JUMP!  Okay.  We're now in a dance hall.  The inmates of the asylum are now dancing girls, the staff of the asylum are sleazy mobsters who 'own' the girls.  The inmates are given 'names' in this reality.  Bond Girl style stage names such as Babydoll, Sweetpea, Rocket, Blondie, and Amber.  Also, our heroine, Babydoll, gets her first line of spoken dialog in this reality.  Interestingly enough, she's more 'real' in this imaginary world than she is in the 'real' world.

We are introduced to Sweatpea, 'the star of the show' and a bit of a diva.  She resents everything about Babydoll.  Sweatpea would be completely unlikable if not for her relationship with her younger sister Rocket.  Rocket is a dreamer, a little flighty, and a little naive.  She forms a bond with Babydoll early on.  It's revealed later that Rocket was a runaway, and that Sweetpea followed her in order to protect her.

Babydoll rescues Rocket from an abusive cook in a scene that parallels the abuse scene at the beginning of the movie.  This starts a sisterly relationship that is key to the entire rest of the movie.

Babydoll is ordered to 'dance' by Madame Gorski (Dr. Gorski in the 'real' world).  Gorski delivers some pretty inspirational dialog in this scene.  "You have all the weapons you need.  Now fight!"  This phrase is repeated throughout the movie.  So Babydoll 'dances' and we enter the THIRD reality.  This is a visually spectacular fantasy, science fiction, steam/dieselpunk world.  Our first glimpse of this world is a Japanese Temple/Dojo.

Babydoll meets a wise old man who tells her how to find freedom.  He gives her a list of items she needs to acquire in the 'real' world.  A map of the asylum, a way to start a fire and open the automatic doors, a knife, a key, and a fifth thing 'a great sacrifice'.  The old man takes on a mentor role, and in some ways he actually parallels Madam Gorski.  After fighting some awesome mecha samurai Babydoll returns to the dance hall reality.

Blue and all of the other mobsters are entranced by the dance.  Sweetpea, being the diva that she is, feels threatened by this and resents Babydoll even more.  Babydoll reveals that she has a plan to escape the asylum/dance hall.  Rocket and Amber are enthusiastic, Blondie is reluctant, and Sweetpea downright refuses to help.  It's not until Rocket reveals to Sweetpea how Babydoll protected her that Sweetpea will even listen to the plan.

The plan is pretty simple: Babydoll will 'dance' to distract the mobsters, and the other girls will steal what they need to escape.  Each time Babydoll 'dances' we switch to another fantasy world.  The first fantasy was a Dojo, and each fantasy that follows is a war-zone.  The first dance was practice, and all the ones that follow, Babydoll is fighting for freedom.  In the war-zone reality the stage names take on a new meaning.  What had been Bond Girl names now become feminine army nicknames.  Also, each girl who is stealing the object while Babydoll is 'dancing' faces a special peril in the war-zone reality.  In the first war-zone Sweetpea is surrounded by zombies while she's getting the map in real life.  Amber is attacked by Orcs while she's stealing the cigarette lighter in real life.

Also, the first war-zone has another parallel to the attempted rape scenes earlier in the movie.  Rocket is separated from the rest of the group and completely surrounded by zombies.  Sweetpea goes completely berserk, mowing down zombies with her machine gun to save her sister.  Sweetpea steps into Babydoll's shoes as Rocket's rescuer in this scene.

Unfortunately their actions don't go unnoticed.  Blue is suspicious, and after he confronts our heroines, Sweetpea and Blondie are scared off.  Babydoll, Rocket, and Amber decide to go through with the plan.  Blondie spills her guts to Madam Gorski, and Blue overhears them.  Sweetpea changes her mind about helping.  "Somebody has to make sure you don't get yourself killed," She tells Rocket.  Ouch.  If you've seen the movie already you'll appreciate the tragic irony of that bit of dialog.

This time things go wrong.  A short in the radio's wire causes the music to stop, breaking the spell of Babydoll's dance.  The cook whom they are stealing the knife from realizes what's going on tries to stab Sweetpea, but Rocket jumps between her sister and the knife.  This parallels not only the death of Babydoll's sister, but Babydoll's sacrifice that is still to come.

Rocket is pretty much my favorite part of this movie.  She's the catalyst that makes the story work.  She represents everything that Babydoll is fighting for, everything that she's lost, and everything that she will ultimately be willing to give up.  And she brings the main characters together.  Rocket, Babydoll, and Sweetpea form a sort of Freudian trio.  Rocket, with her naivety, idealism, and knack for getting herself into trouble is an Id.  Sweetpea, with her caution, protective nature and cynical realism is the Superego.  And Babydoll is the Ego who moderates between the two and actually get things done.

So.  Everything has fallen apart at this point in the story.  Rocket is dead, Sweatpea is a hysterical mess, Amber and Blondie are murdered by Blue, and then Blue tries to rape Babydoll.  Here we have another parallel to the attempted rape in the beginning.  Only this is the first time that the victim fights back.  In a fulfillment of those arc words "You have all the weapons you need!" Babydoll reaches for the knife they stole, stabs Blue in the shoulder, and steals the key around his neck.  After everything she's been through already in this story this is so satisfying.

Babydoll rescues Sweetpea, and the two decide to escape.  They start a fire to open the automatic doors, and use the map and key to find the exit.  Even though they're still dressed like dancing girls, the building they're escaping from looks much more like the asylum then the dance hall.  When they reach the gate they discover it's heavily guarded.  Babydoll remembers what the old man said.  A fifth thing is needed: a sacrifice.  She distracts the guards so Sweetpea can escape.  After all, Sweetpea is the only one with a family to go home to.

And now we come to the twist ending.  After everything she's gone through to escape, Babydoll is lobotomized after all.  You as an audience are left to believe that there's no hope for her at this point.  But Dr. Gorski and the Lobotomy doctor realize that something is wrong.  They discover that it was Blue who forged Dr. Gorski's signature, and the police arrive to arrest him just as he's about to abuse Babydoll one last time.  Blue spills his guts to the police about Babydoll's stepfather.  We are left knowing that justice will be done, and the wrongdoers will be punished appropriately.  This wouldn't have happened if Babydoll hadn't allowed herself to be lobotomized.

Sweetpea is shown at the bus stop.  She is stopped by the police just as she's about to board the bus.  She is saved by the bus driver, who is the same old man who kept appearing in the fantasy world.  This calls everything into question.  What exactly was real in this movie?  Everything?  Nothing?  Does the old man represent some higher power?  A guardian angel?  That seems the most likely answer given Sweetpea's opening narration: "Everyone has an angel.  A guardian who watches over us.  We can't now what form they'll take.  One day an old man, the next day a little girl.  But don't let appearances fool you, they can be a fierce as any dragon."

Now I mentioned at the beginning of this post that this movie is about sexual abuse and sex in the media.  Zack Snyder has gone on record to say that he was trying to make a statement about how women are portrayed in popular culture.  And what he does in this movie is compare sexual abuse, prostitution, and sex in the media.  He's basically saying that THEY ARE ALL BAD THINGS.  I don't know what Zack Snyder's religious beliefs are, if any, but this reminds me of the Bible verse: "But I tell you, any man who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:28.  A lot of people who don't like this movie completely misinterpreted Snyder's intentions and call the movie sexist.  So how effective this movie is in conveying it's intended message is debatable.  Frankly the family friendly sci fi comedy Galaxy Quest does a better job conveying the same idea with 2 seconds of humorous dialog from Sigourney Weaver's character.

I called Suckerpunch a work of art at the beginning of this post.  Here's why I think that is.  Zack Snyder doesn't give us the ending we expect or want.  A happy ending in which everyone escapes would have compromised the story.  He gives us the ending that fits the story even though it may upset the audience.

Also the story is so ambiguous as to what is real, and if everything we're shown happened or if it happened the way we were shown.  This has led to countless fan theories.  Is Babydoll real?  Or is she a figment of Sweetpea's imagination?  Did Rocket really die?  Did she die before the story started?  Is she actually the ghost of Babydoll's sister?

This ambiguity is another part of why some people hate Suckerpunch.  They find it confusing.  But it doesn't really matter what happened.  50% of art is what the artist brings to the table.  The other 50% is audience interpretation.  So any and all interpretations are valid.

Love or hate Suckerpunch, it will force you to think.  And if you don't get anything more out of the story than gorgeous Zack Snyder visuals, that's fine.  But you could get more out of it than that.  And you may find something new each time you watch it.  Suckerpunch is one of my all time favorite movies.  That might make me a weirdo.  But I'm okay with that.

-Geekboy.

Thoughts on Heroic Sacrifice

"Have you ever seen 'Pacific Rim?'" a friend of mine asked.  "Yeah," I answered. "Good movie, but it would have been better if the hero died in the end."  I'm given a strange look, and am left wandering if I sprouted an extra head.

(This post may contain spoilers for Pacific Rim, Spiderman 2, Cowboys and Aliens, and Suckerpunch)

In the climax of Pacific Rim, our hero pilots a disabled self-destructing mech into a portal to another dimension in the bottom of the ocean.  He sent his unconscious co-pilot girlfriend back to the surface in an escape pod, and we are led to believe that he is about to go down with his ship.  At this point in the movie, I actually started to believe that our hero might not live through the story, and that's something that rarely happens.  So, when he takes a second escape pod to the surface in the ta-da nick of time, I was pretty disappointed.  If he had died, it would have been a beautiful self sacrificing moment.  Dying to save not only the love of his life, but the world as we know it.  And as the hero had lost so much over the course of the story, for example the twin brother with whom he shared a telepathic link, loosing his life felt like a satisfactory end to his story arc.

Willingness to sacrifice ones self for others is a key part of the definition of a hero.  However, that sacrifice doesn't always have to be the protagonist's life.  Take 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back' for example.  Han Solo spends the entire movie putting his own needs - paying off Jabba the Hutt - to the wayside in order to ensure Princess Leia's safety.

Another good example is Peter Parker in Sam Raimi's Spiderman Trilogy.  In the first movie, Peter scarifies the possibility of a future relationship with Mary Jane Watson because his secret life as Spiderman could put her life in jeopardy time and time again.  In Spiderman 2 Peter gives up the happiness of a normal life to put on the Spiderman suit again because he knows it's the right thing to do.  Spiderman 2 has a powerful line of repeated dialog that rivals "With great power comes great responsibility."  The gist of it is this: "Sometimes to do what is right we must give up what we want most; Even our dreams."  Peter isn't the only one who gets a heroic sacrifice in this story though.  The villain Doc Ock conquers his inner demons and saves New York City, atoning for his wrongdoing while giving up his life and scientific ambitions.


So, heroic sacrifice doesn't HAVE to be a character's life, but it CAN be.
In the criminally underrated movie 'Cowboys and Aliens' our heroine, Ella, is an alien who's race have been pretty much been wiped out by the same marauding aliens invading Earth.  To ensure that no other planets will be ravaged like her own had been, she makes her way to the heart of the Mothership and blows it, the invading aliens, and herself sky high.

Themes of self sacrifice can be found all throughout Zach Snyder's 2011 film Suckerpunch.  There are parallels between the lives of 3 of the characters: Babydoll, who after a failed attempt to protect her sister from an abusive stepfather is thrown into an insane asylum to keep her quiet.  Sweet Pea is equally protective of her younger sister Rocket.  In a scene that parallels the abuse scene in the beginning, Babydoll comes to Rocket's aid when she is slapped around by an abusive cook.  After this Babydoll and Sweet Pea form a bond, because they are both looking out for Rocket, who is a sister to Sweet Pea and like a sister to Baby Doll.

They, and a handful of other inmates, attempt escape the asylum, and to do so have to fight through several visually spectacular dream sequences.  Several of the girls are killed along the way, including Rocket, who dies to save her big sister Sweet Pea.  In the end only Sweet Pea and Babydoll remain.  Babydoll realizes that the only way either of them can escape is if one of them distracts the guards and is recaptured.  She doesn't even hesitate.

In the beginning of the story Babydoll's abusive stepfather bribes an orderly at the asylum to forge an order to have Babydoll lobotomized so she couldn't testify against him.  In the end of the movie Babydoll allows herself to be lobotomized.  Afterwards the doctors discover that there was a mistake, and root out the cause of the injustice.  The villains of the story fall into their own trap, all because of Babydoll's sacrifice, ending the story on a beautiful bittersweet note.

I think if you want to make your hero stand out, a little selflessness goes a long way.  A heroic sacrifice of some kind might be the way to go.

Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice - My initial reaction

I just saw Batman Vs. Superman yesterday evening with friends at our local second run theater.  It was just us guys, because two superheroes punching each other in the face was deemed as too masculine by all the girls that I hang out with.

Did I enjoy the movie?  Overall, yes.  I don't think it deserves the mixed to negative reviews it received.  And I think those negative reviews tainted my movie going experience.  For example, I was informed by everyone on the internet that BVS is a confusing muddled mess.  So every time I was just a little bit confused by what was going on, rather than waiting for the story to make sense as it progressed, I would rush to judgement and say, "I'm confused by this!  The critics were right! This movie is stupid!" Even though about 95% of the time what I found confusing was either explained later, or was something I had forgotten from "Man of Steel" which I haven't watched in well over a year.

You'd think that with all of the movies I love that have flopped at the box office I'd be immune to the opinions of critics by now.  But in the 21st century "group think" is so prevalent.  Good media and bad media are determined by the masses.  Opinion is now absolute fact.  I think if we all lived in a bubble and decided for ourselves what we did and didn't like, we'd get more out of entertainment AND be more rounded individuals.

I don't really know yet if I liked or didn't like BVS.  I would need to see it again, preferably after re-watching "Man of Steel."  But I know what I DID like.

Batman's origin.  There is a school of thought that superhero origins in movies are no longer relevant and just bog the story down.  We all know how Thomas and Martha Wayne were gunned down by a mugger outside a movie theater because you already told us about it in Batman, Batman Forever, Batman Begins, and the TV series Gotham.  But it was so well done here in BVS.  I love the way Zack Snyder weaves the mugging and Bruce's discovery of the Batcave together, all with minimal dialog while the opening credits play.  It's a beautifully done sequence, and it doesn't take any more than 5 minutes.

Batman and Alfred's interaction.  These were some of the best moments in the movie for me.  Alfred's dry humor was spot on perfect.  This is very much a grim-and-gritty-post Christopher Nolan DC comics movie, but most of the laughs this movie got from me were either from Alfred or Perry White.  As you may recall there was a great deal of internet outrage when Ben Affleck of 2003's "Daredevil" was cast as "Batffleck" but he really is terrific as Batman.  What was that I was saying earlier about popular opinion not always being right?

Wonder Woman.  I really didn't expect Diana Prince/Wonder Woman to be as cool as she was, but she has a mysterious bad girl quality in her introduction, and great action sequences in the climax.  Some people in my gang thought she hogged the spotlight too much in the climax, but if you put Wonder Woman it your movie, you do need to use her.

Lex Luthor.  The Lex of BVS is another polarizing element of this movie.  Yes, he is an obnoxious little twerp.  Some fans resent the fact that this movie turned Superman's nemesis into a twerp.  But twerpy as he may be, he is also truly menacing, and a diabolical chess-master.

Visuals/Action.  This is a no-brainer.  It's a Zack Snyder movie.  Awesome stylized visuals and great action sequences are a big part of why you watch.  Going in I knew that even if the movie was a train-wreck, it would be a truly spectacular train-wreck.

What didn't I like?

The surreal dream sequences.  Particularly that middle one, where Post Apocalyptic Batman fights Post Apocalyptic Superman in the Post Apocalypse.  This entire sequence is too long and, as near as I can tell, rather pointless.  It seems like Zack Snyder was trying to repeat "Suckerpunch" in this scene.  Now I for one like Suckerpuch.  It's in my top 10 really weird artsy movies.  But BVS isn't Suckerpunch.  It's Batman Vs. Superman.

(Spoiler Alert) WORSE than this dream sequence is the Flash cameo.  Time traveling Flash from the future pops out of Bruce Wayne's computer screen to warn Bruce about future stuff stating "Lois Lane is the Key!" and, when Bruce is just as confused as the audience, Flash states that he "Was too soon."  So.  Is this about the climax of this movie, in which Lois does play a role?  Or is it about the upcoming Justice League movie?  Because Flash wasn't in the climax of this movie, and shouldn't have known how Lois would be involved---!

So, I don't think BVS is a perfect movie, but it is an enjoyable movie if you have the intention of enjoying it going in.  Few movies are perfect.  Don't let that stop you from watching them and forming your own opinions about them.  Because if you just listen to the critics all the time you could miss a few gems.  I know I almost did.