Author: Robert Greenberger

Babylon A.D. is actually two separate films, one with some noble themes worthy of exploration and one that is a derivative action film.  Unfortunately, you have to suffer through the latter before the film oddly shifts gears and begins lightly exploring the former. The film is based on Maurice Georges Dantec’s [[[Babylon Babies], a science fiction novel exploring the notion of artificial intelligence being given organic life. In an interview on the DVD, on sale Tuesday, he wisely notes that he had written the book, said what he had to say and left the rest up to the filmmakers.

In the hands of writer Éric Besnard and French director Mathieu Kassovitz, the movie is a mess. The dark near-future, Europe has collapsed and anarchy or big business rules in place of government.  Vin Diesel stars as Toorop, a mercenary, who is coerced into boydguarding a young woman, heading from his monastery home to New York City.  Given little choice, he agrees and discovers she has a chaperone, a strong-willed Michelle Yeoh.  The girl, Aurora (Mélanie Thierry), seems an innocent at first but then begins displaying knowledge and experience impossible for someone raised in solitude.

Of course they’re chased and that’s where the mindless, seen-it-before action comes in.  While Diesel excels at this sort of stuff, it was not in the least bit thrilling, with the exception of the chase across Alaska.

Upon arrival in New York, the film suddenly changes gears and tone as we begin exploring the concepts involved but they are done in a monotonous way set against opposing forces who wish to control Aurora’s immaculately conceived children and the future of mankind. While there are plenty of good notions here, they’re buried under poor acting and pacing.

Diesel and Yeoh form an interesting bond during the few quiet moments but Thierry is such a blank slate it’s hard to tell if she has any talent. Lambert Wilson and Charlotte Rampling are wasted as the creators of the AI and therefore battle over its destiny.

Kassovitz blamed 20th on butchering the film and abandoning it this August after he labored for five years on bringing it to life.  Unfortunately, after five years of development work, one expects a more even, better conceived production.  Even the music from the normally reliable Hans Zimmer is uninspired.

Fox is releasing the film with the theatrical release and an unedited version, which does not help the story one whit.  The plethora of extras are nice, especially as you hear Dantec talk about his book and it makes you long for a film that interesting.  There are the usual making of features including a nice one on the arctic chase.

A special edition two-disc set comes with a few extra features including an animated prequel (erroneously billed as a graphic novel) that fills in some of the dramatic gaps that would have enhanced the overall production. A second disc contains a digital copy for computers and iPods.

Reviewing the Adult Swim DVDs has been educational and occasionally entertaining.  I find the third series, [[[Frisky Dingo Season Two]]], the most enjoyable because it takes absurd situations and characters and uses smart humor to get its point across.  The series, about Killface, an alien super-villain come to Earth and his struggles against the heroic Awesome X, pokes fun at the conventions of animation, super-heroics and action flicks.  They ratchet things up in season two, collected here, as Killface finds himself accidentally solving Global Warming and running for president.

Now the humor sharpens as creators Adam Reed and Matt Thompson skewer politics and does so while serializing the campaign across most of the twelve episode season, which ran on Cartoon Network from August – October 2007 and March 2008.  The escapades build as Killface’s newfound popularity has him begin ton contend with the political machine and rivals begin to figure out how to campaign against him.  You see everyone pander to one base after another; especially hilarious was when Killface discovers the Bible in “The Miracle”. Another fun running gag is the confusion between Fred Hunter and Fred Dryer, who starred in the NBC series [[[Hunter]]], with the notion that either is Vice Presidential material pretty offbeat.

Killface learning about life on Earth makes for some pointed commentary on society

The animation is as simple as Metalocaplypse but better designed with terrific, rich backgrounds plus varied looks to the people.  The dialogue and voice work is rather good which matches the quality of the writing.  Reed voices both hero and villain which is a nifty feat and he brings individual personality to both as he plays off himself, which is not easy.

The single disc DVD, on sales January 6, comes with a skit featuring the Xtacles, which is spinning off from the show.  They are dim-witted armored forces normally controlled by Awesome X, but with him currently off planet, they are without guidance leading to humor.  The series debuted two episodes in November and based on this skit, looks to be a little less clever than its host. The other extra is a political ad parody promoting the release of the DVD itself.

Watching the Watchmen
Dave Gibbons
Titan Books, $39.95In January 1985, DC Comics sent me to England to begin meeting with the talent working across the pond, reminding them of our needs and working environment.  Dick Giordano and Joe Orlando had been out a few years prior so this was like a booster shot, a tangible sign we loved them and wanted to keep working with them. Titan Books’ Nick Landau helped me organize two group dinners with the rising stars working for [[[2000 AD]]] and [[[Warrior]]] and it was first introduction to them all.

Apart from that, though, was an afternoon session with Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.  Alan’s work with [[[Swamp Thing]]] had already proven captivating and I was an instant fan.  Dave’s work was newer to me but I immediately liked his style.  Interestingly, Dave’s first issue as penciller of [[[Green Lantern]]] and Alan’s first issue as writer of [[[Saga of the Swamp Thing]]] were both cover dated January 1984, just months before I joined DC in the actual January 1984 so I had a year to know their work before meeting.

Both were brimming with enthusiasm for [[[The Watchmen]]], the project they were just getting started on and I had heard about in the hallways. We spent the afternoon sipping tea at the Tower Hotel as Dave pulled out pages of drawings and sketches while Alan talked through the themes of the series. If Dave’s chronology in [[[Watching the Watchmen]]] is correct, our meeting was weeks before the first script was delivered. By then, though, they already had the tag line “Who Watches the Watchmen?” and the bloody smiley face design.

This was going to be a sophisticated story, the like of which was just beginning to find a place amidst the more traditional good versus evil stories that filled the racks. That translated to cover design and even the gents’ notions of how to market the book.  Dave showed off designs for cocktail napkins and coasters that they’d imagine DC printing up to entice college kids and adults to be made aware there was something new to read.

Sadly, those marketing designs seem to have vanished but most of Dave’s other designs, sketches, notes, annotated scripts and paraphernalia was retained.  The result is this handsomely designed book that enhances your enjoyment of the graphic novel and keeps you enticed until the feature film finally arrives in March.

Gibbons writes honestly about the creative process, nicely explaining how things were done back then compared with today.  His recollections are vivid and explain much of what went into the process of conceiving something entirely new rather than rehashing the Charlton heroes (truth be told: I was the one to commission Dave to draw the characters for the aborted [[[Comics Cavalcade Weekly]]] for that very reason). Some of his personal thoughts about favorite characters, scenes, and moments would have been icing on a rich, delicious cake.

Chip Kidd’s design lets the work breathe and makes certain you can see the detail in the thumbnails or color guides.  He takes Dave’s traditional comic book approach to storytelling and enhances it with size and scope. My only quibble is that he lets thumbnails run in the gutters and spoils some of the clarity.  Also, it’d be nice to have seen more of Alan’s scripts and Dave’s notes to better understand the process.

Overall, the big is a huge visual treat and one of the few in-depth looks into the creative process behind any single title.  It’s really the first Making Of book for a comic book that I can recall and there’s no better series than The Watchmen to get the in-depth examination.

Every year, the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry names 25 films for historic preservation.  This year’s list was announced yesterday and we applaud the inclusion of several genre offerings including The Invisible Man and the first Terminator film.  The Perils of Pauline, the first movie serial, makes the list and is seminal for the way it influenced moviemakers and storytellers, notably comic book writers, ever since.

Here’s a look at this year’s list:

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
John Huston’s brilliant crime drama contains the recipe for a meticulously planned robbery, but the cast of criminal characters features one too many bad apples. Sam Jaffe, as the twisted mastermind, uses cash from corrupt attorney Emmerich (Louis Calhern) to assemble a group of skilled thugs to pull off a jewel heist. All goes as planned — until an alert night watchman and a corrupt cop enter the picture. Marilyn Monroe has a memorable bit part as Emmerich’s "niece."

Deliverance (1972)
Four Atlanta professionals (Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronnie Cox and Jon Voight) head for a weekend canoe trip — and instead meet up with two of the more memorable villains in film history (Billy McKinney and Herbert Coward) in this gripping Appalachian "Heart of Darkness." With dazzling visual flair, director John Boorman and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond infuse James Dickey’s novel with scenes of genuine terror and frantic struggles for survival battling river rapids — and in the process create a work rich with fascinating ambiguities about "civilized" values, urban-versus-backwoods culture, nature, and man’s supposed taming of the environment.

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