Author: Robert Greenberger

There just may have been a real King Arthur in the sixth century of what is today England. Or, he may have been a legend the fractured country needed to help give it a cultural identity. Either way, that legendary figure of story and song would be horrified to see what Guy Ritchie has done in his name.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was a troubled production, heavily promoted, and lengthily delayed until it opened to withering reviews and poor box office. Now available on home video from Warner Home Entertainment, it is a troubling view of Arthur.

Real or not, he was reinterpreted for the needs of the country (and later portions of Europe) across the centuries with characters coming and going, victories of varying degrees, and epic romances until there was just Arthur and Guinevere. As we have come to know the legend, he was a moral character, born a bastard, and the right man in the right place at the right time when England needed a savior. And when he died, he was carried off to Avalon to return when the country needed him once more.

Instead, writer/director Ritchie along with screenwriters Joby Harold and Lionel Wigram (from a story by David Dobkin and Harold), little is recognizable. The names are familiar but the trappings and arrangement of events bears no resemblance to any previous retelling of the legend. Instead of a story of love, betrayal, and uniting England, this is reduced to a good versus evil story.

King Uther (Eric Bana) is betrayed by his corrupt brother Vortigern (Jude Law), who usurps the throne, aware that the true heir, young Arthur, has escaped on a boat. Like Moses, he is found and raised by others and he grows to become a member of the Londinium lower class, uninterested in power or the throne. But Vortigern has insisted all men of age try to lift Excalibur from the stone and Arthur (Charlie Hannum) finds himself next in line. However, his two-fisted grip unleashes both power and unbearable nightmares, adding a psychological twist to the tale.

He is rescued from certain death by a band led by Sir Bedivere (Djimon Hounsou) and an outlaw mage (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey). Bit by bit, Arthur is forced, pushed, and told he must confront his destiny, accept the sword and the power or Vortigern will destroy the world.

Vortigern does despicable things to people he loves but since they are merely window dressing we have no real emotional connection the heinous acts. None of the characters, really, come to life as none are explored in any depth, including Arthur himself who half the time appears to be a spectator rather than participant.

After that there’s plenty of energy hurled about, sword play, betrayal, and plenty of somber music. There’s just no joy amidst the cacophony or respect for the source material. The Arthur Ritchie wants us to accept is a reluctant hero, unwilling to do what he must until there is no choice left. Most of the trappings, from Merlin to Morgan le Fay, all absent as this was intended as the first in a cycle of films, which will now never be made given the utter failure of this one.

Ritchie’s signature touch is largely absent here, save for two exposition scenes that show more energy than the rest of the film. What should have been glorious and grand was reduced to look weak and ill-conceived.

The film has been released in the usual variety of formats and the high definition transfer at 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is perfectly acceptable if not spectacular. Sort of like the film itself. The Dolby Atmos track is equally capable.

The handful of special features careful avoids the legend and the massive changes made for this misfire of a fil. You have Arthur with Swagger (9:41); Sword from the Stone (18:49); Parry and Bleed (5:44); Building on the Past (14:00); Inside the Cut: The Action of King Arthur (6:08); Camelot in 93 Days (10:23); Legend of Excalibur (6:05); and, Scenic Scotland (5:33). These are perfunctory and not especially revelatory.

While fully aware of Japan’s Ghost in the Shell and its impact as a Manga and Anime, I never experienced any version of it. As a result, I watched the recent live-action film version without preconceived notions. I knew all about the casting controversy but until there’s an actress of Japanese descent who can open a movie wide, casting decisions, such as this, will continue. So get over it.

Masamune Shirow created an interesting meditation on where humanity is going as he, like Ray Kurzweil, foresees the day when man and machine blend into a singular being. It won’t be overnight, nor will it be neat and easy. As a result, the question of what does it mean to be human permeates the film as written by Jamie Moss, William Wheeler, and Ehren Kruger and directed by Rupert Sanders.

The story centers on Major (Scarlett Johansson), an accident victim who awakes to find her brain has been wired to an android body. She now serves Section 9, a counter-terrorism operation, currently tasked with hunting down the killer known only as Kuze (Michael Carmen Pitt). Along the way, she is seeing images making her question not only her humanity but her memories. While searching for the killer, she searches for her own identity.

This is a brilliantly designed and realized world so I wish we were more fully immersed in it rather than seeing it as colorful window dressing. The Section 9 agents operate in and around an urban society but we have no real feel for how this world works nor how the general populace feels about these cyborgs and androids living among them. What is real and what is acceptable? We’re given merely hints.

Instead, sadly, we have running, jumping, fighting, and way too much shooting. Additionally, Sanders has everyone underplay their parts, muting the emotions and robbing the characters of range. The movie is drab and dull, perfunctory, wasting the grand themes raised and world built in favor of the same old.

Johansson has certainly proved herself capable of both acting and action thanks to her Marvel work and Lucy so she shines here. While everyone else is robbed of color, she shimmers as she comes to realize she was the first successful ghost placed in a machine, but far from the first. Her confrontations with her designer, Dr. Ouelet should have crackled but are instead downplayed. Juliette Binoche, in a change of role, brings warmth and humanity to the character but doesn’t get to do enough with it.

Similarly, the Section 9 team is made up of an interesting variety of international actors but other than Pilou Asbæk as her partner Batou, none of them are seen enough for the audience to care.

By the time the Major gets answers, Kuze’s predictable rationale is revealed, and things are settled, we’re long passed caring, preferring a nap or the source material.

Ghost in the Shell comes in a variety of formats including the standard Combo Pack of Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD code. The film’s high definition transfer to Blu-ray is stunning, capturing the colors and shadows perfectly for home viewing. The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is a solid match for the visuals.

There are just three interesting Special Features: Hard-Wired Humanity: Making Ghost in the Shell, a multi-part Making Of feature that properly credits the set designers and WETA’s visual effects team for bringing the original to life. We look at the under-utilized Section 9: Cyber Defenders and then you finish with the Man & Machine: The Ghost Philosophy that talks a more interesting game than the film manages to deliver.

We all like to root for the underdog, especially if it is someone we, the audience, feel is being unjustly treated by a cruel, uncaring world. So, sitting down to Wilson, the film adaptation of Daniel Clowes’ graphic novel, we’re predisposed to cheer for the title character, especially as portrayed by Woody Harrelson.

Unfortunately, we get a soft, gooey portrayal of a misanthrope who brings much of the misery upon himself, surrounding himself with ill-defined characters. The 94 minute experience is at times uncomfortable and other times you shake your head at the missed opportunities.

The 2010 graphic novel is comprised of 70 single page gag strips about Wilson, inspired in part by his own father’s death as well as the relationship between Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and his father. Days and years pass in Wilson’s life between these vignettes forcing you to guess what has happened. In some ways, the film works in the same frustrating manner.

The film, out now from 20^th Century Home Entertainment, focuses on Wilson, a down on his luck guy who loses his father to cancer then goes in search of his past by tracking his ex-wife where he learns the abortion that ended their marriage never happened. Instead, she gave away the child, now a teen, and they go in search of her.

Laura Dern looks appropriately strung out as Pippi, his ex, who is variously described as a crack whore and lunatic. She left Wilson, gave up her daughter, and tried to stay straight as a waitress. When Wilson finds her, she crumbles around whatever she originally found in him to love. As a result, she gives in all too readily and all too often, when he wants to love her or find their daughter and then pursue a relationship with her. Later, time passes and her situation changes with no real explanation, undercutting our appreciation for her struggles.

Harrelson gives the part his all, but is ill served by Clowes script. The story is fine but there’s little to like about Wilson, who is rude, arrogant, befuddled, and stressed out depending upon the scene. After being arrested for allegedly kidnapping Claire (Isabella Amara), he transitions to a three year stint at prison. There, he seems to find God or bond with every sub-culture in the prison population, softening his edges at last, so in the final act, he can find some solace. There’s a better story hidden under all this but Clowes won’t show us. His adaptations of Ghost World and Art School Confidential are far superior.

Had this been in the hands of a surer director, such as the originally-planned Alexander Payne, we might have been given that better movie. Instead, we get relative novice Craig Johnson, making just his third feature. Therefore, performances by Judy Greer, Cheryl Hines, and Margo Martindale are wasted.

We veer from slapstick to sentimental and the entire final portion of the film shifts tone into something sappy. The entire production lacks focus, direction, and even a point. As a portrait of a middle-aged man lost in the world, it has more promise than actual delivery.

Overall, the film looks and sounds fine on Blu-ray, coming as part of a Combo Pack that also includes a DVD and Digital HD code.

Given that the film was a box office and critical disappointment, it’s no surprise that there is a paucity of special features. We do get 15 Deleted Scenes, some of which would have helped the overall story but none are entirely missed. There are also a photo gallery and trailers.

Cleopatra in Space Book Four: The Golden Lion
By Mike Maihack
Scholastic Graphix, 204 pages, $22.99

Mike Maihack has been receiving glowing notices with every release in his Cleopatra in Space series of graphic novels from Graphix. When the first was released in 2014, I was highly critical of it since it had no bearing on the historic Cleopatra. I found the second outing better but still not as great as others thought.

For some reason, the third book, Secret of the Time Tablets came out last year and we missed it. As a result, I approached book four, The Golden Lion with some trepidation. Graphix has a bad habit of releasing subsequent volumes in a series without a recap and given the year between releases, this is unforgivable.

We open some time after the events in book three and clearly, things went badly since Cleopatra did something she shouldn’t have and this time her classmate Zaid died as a result. One would think she would be learning her lesson but instead, we see her training hard, punishing herself for whatever went sideways. However, the moment she is summoned, and told of the fabled Golden Lion being located, she foolishly heads to an alien world ill-prepared and alone meaning she has learned nothing.

This makes her less likable and undermines the light tone and fast pace of this book. Maihack is a talented artist who can move thins along nicely although there are entire sequences that are bloated so when we need to open up others, such as some of her later confrontations with a bounty hunter, everything is crammed and hard to figure out what’s going on. Some art direction would have helped immensely.

The Golden Lion is a shooting star with a long tail that is part legend and part of another prophecy that seems to involve Cleopatra, who is clearly not the Egyptian queen-to-be, but instead some other person. Anyway, evidence now points to a moon orbiting a world Cada’Duun. Since this star is considered a source of immeasurable energy, getting to control it before evil forces get to it becomes a priority.

But Cleopatra races ahead of everyone, landing on the frigid world completely unprepared for the cold and how it saps the life from her equipment. Thankfully, before she can freeze to death, her frequent companion Antony turns up, there for secret reasons of his own. Together they discover the underground (and warm) civilization that apparently speaks in algebraic equations. Antony can speak it while Cleopatra can only cuddle with her new pet, a snow otter named Mihos.

Of course a new agent, Ophois, has been dispatched to get the Golden Lion first and a confrontation with our plucky (and empty-headed) heroine is coming. There are agendas, schemes, and plans whirling in the background of this series. We’re four books in and clearly it’ll be four more before anything gets resolved. As a result, this is more an episode than a graphic novel and for the price, it should be far more self-contained. But Maihack isn’t entirely to blame for this since Graphix does this with most of their series which is a disservice to their young, enthusiastic readership.

Nnewts: The battle for Amphibopolis
By Doug TenNapel
215 pages, Scholastic Graphix, $19.99/$9.99

Doug TenNapel concludes his most ambitious work yet, the fanciful, energetic world of the Nnewts in this final volume, As with every other series from Scholastic’s Graphix imprint, it provides no synopsis so one hopes readers can keep track of the sprawling story with volumes coming a year apart.

And that’s the biggest concern with this book aimed at 8-12 year olds: it is so large and complex a tale, with so many characters, and a complicated mythology and internal logic that on the surface it’s a confusing mess of kinetic energy.

As introduced in Escape of the Lizzarks, we are introduced to the residents of Nnewtown and its wide assortment of characters. They are being threatened and it falls to young Herk to embark on a journey to save everyone.  The Rise of Herk raised the stakes as the Snake Lord is back and is the Big Bad.

Now, the players are in position for the finale as we find Herk slowly turning into a Lizzark and abandoning his Nnewt friends. His siblings, Sissy and Zerk, have also been corrupted by evil and the Lizzark army is still threatening Amphibopolis with total destruction. Along with the action, we get Orion, the god of creation, arriving and dealing with the jealous Anthigar, the Snake Lord. Things grow in scale and get very cosmic and metaphysical before the dust clears and peace is, of course, restored to the people.

Peel away the slapstick, the running, jumping, mythmaking, and other noise, and this is a story about family. Herk was separated from his family at the outset and here, he cannot complete his quest without the help of his siblings. He makes a huge sacrifice but it’s a knowing one, with appropriate consequences as a result. Launa, robbed of mobility and confined to wheelchair, also is an excellent role model for readers as she does not let her handicap define or restrict her so her arc is a satisfying one.

TenNapel has a good handle on page design and pacing, ably assisted by Katherine Garner’s superb colors. His dialogue is also age appropriate with enough silly stuff to amuse the younger end of his readership while introducing strong themes for all. If anything, I wish his frenetic storytelling would slow down a bit for more character but he has a winning formula so who am I to complain.

If you’ve enjoyed any of his other work, this is sure to satisfy.

Fun
By Paolo Bacilieri
SelfMadeHero/Abrams, 296 pages, $24.95

Life is never perfectly sequential, with one event cleanly leading to another. There are interruptions, asides, flashbacks, diversions, and the like. In some ways, it is not dissimilar to the crossword with its black spots, horizontal and vertical intersections, and clues that are either easy or confoundingly complex.

Turned into a graphic novel, it would resemble something close to Paolo Bacilieri’s Fun. The work is his American debut although the 52-year old creator from Milan has a large European following. This ambitious work is an interesting but flawed volume for all the reasons above.

Ostensibly about Professor Pippo Quester, an Italian celebrity novelist, and his work-in-progress, a history of the crossword puzzle, it is about so much more. The linear and most “American” aspects of the work are all the sections about Quester and his meticulous tracing of the crossword, introduced in the New York World, in 1913 and how it quickly spread around the globe by World War II. Along the way, we get snapshots of the key creators of the daily puzzles from its inventor, Arthur Wynne, through the Italian Giorgio Sisini.

When Quester seeks someone to do additional research, he turns to his former colleague, Zeno Porno, a Disney comics writer. Apparently Zeno is a recurring player in Bacilieri’s work and is seen as the artist’s alter ego. Either way, he seems a sad, almost pathetic figure, who is also never seen actually working. It is through Zeno we get many tangential anecdotes and stories that spin off from the book’s axis. One such digression focuses on Spider-Man foe Hammerhead (properly crediting it to Gerry Conway and John Romita) and leaves you (and Quester) confused. Some of these are done in color while the remainder of the book is in black and white—make of that what you will.

Things turn tragic, though, when young Mafalda Citicillo stalks the pair and shoots them. As Quester recovers, Zeno tracks her down once she’s out of prison to ask the big question: why? Her response sends him close-reading one of Quester’s previous novels in search of answers that do not come easily. In fact, once the reader is told the answer, it is almost immediately undermined leaving readers to wonder where the truth lay.

Originally published as two volumes – Fun and More Fun – they are presented to American readers on one thick volume which makes for a more satisfying experience. Bacilieri worked on this between 2009 and 2014 based on his occasional signature and the artwork itself is exquisite, detailed illustrations that bring different eras and locales to life. His pages are filled with things to look at and while I can quibble with some of the word balloon placement, the page design and storytelling is varied and never dull.

We’re more accustomed to stories with a clear beginning, middle, and ending so some of the narrative ambiguity undercuts the novel’s strength but there is still plenty to like here. I suspect the core story, on its own, would not have been anywhere near as interesting.

I fondly recall the purity of Lego, refusing to license media properties, preferring to keep their toys pristine and unique. Eventually, the opportunity for expanding their line was too tempting and they introduce first one, then another, and now a flood of media properties to their toys allowing you build everything from the Batcave to the Black Pearl. It was only a matter of time before they migrated from the playroom to the computer screen in a series of games that morphed into direct-to-DVD features. And now we have a whole subset of children’s films featuring the Lego version of popular heroes and villains.

One reason this explosion has been sustained is that the producers and writers have been freed to go wild, tongues firmly in cheeks, offering kinetic mayhem for the younger viewers and tons of pop culture references for the parents forced to endure repeated viewings. No doubt inspired by the Zucker Brothers’ Airplane!, these films apparently are a delight.

I wouldn’t know because until recently, I have never really paid attention to one. When The Lego Batman Movie landed on my doorstep, I was intrigued because the 2017 release was a well-reviewed, box office success. Parents of the tiny tot brigade told me it was really fun so I indulged.

I watched and was largely entertained in this film from writers Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern and John Whittington, and director Chris McKay. The main reason is that it focused on the less desirable parts of Batman’s persona amped up in a way to make it appear truly unpleasant. We open with Batman (Will Arnett) single-handedly saving Gotham City (again) from a mob go costumed criminals led by the Joker (Zach Galifianakis). Once the adulation fades away, he returns to Wayne Manor on Wayne Island (where’d that come from?) alone. After eating by himself, he watches Jerry Maguire, one of a ton of relationship films he uses to mask his pain.  His isolation from friends, family, and foes is magnified here, even refusing to acknowledge having any connection with his polar opposite, the Clown Prince of Crime, telling him, “I don’t ‘ship.”

Alone and lonely, he finds himself pushed and shoved into interacting with others by Alfred (Ralph Finnes) at Commissioner Gordon’s retirement party, where daughter Barbara (Rosario Dawson) is introduced as the new police chief. Bruce is so smitten with her that he absently agrees to adopt an orphan, Dick Grayson (Michael Cera).

Meanwhile, the Joker apparently wanted to be imprisoned as part of his latest mad scheme to destroy Gotham and make Batman notice him. For reason that don’t really make a lot of sense, Batman decides the Joker and his ilk, need to go to the Phantom Zone and he brings along his youthful ward, now dressed as Robin despite a lack of training. There, he sees the JLA (complete with the Kenner-only heroes) having a party without him, cementing the sense of isolation.

The Joker goes to the Zone where he recruits Voldemort, the Eye of Sauron, the Daleks, King Kong, the Gremlins, a faux-Godzilla, and others to help him wreck Earth. He does, Batman pays a price for his distance, recognizes he can’t possibly do his job alone and grudgingly comes to accept he needs allies; more he needs family. Alfred is hilariously attired in the Batman outfit from the 1960s and Babs debuts as Batgirl for the climactic battle.

The themes owe tons to the comics but the continuity is an illogical thing unto itself, undermining the connections to the source material and possibly creating a confusing entry point for future comics readers. Name a Batmobile, and you will see it somewhere in this film. Heck, even the reviled Bat-Shark Repellent becomes a plot device. I laughed out loud at the secret password to enter the Batcave and the Fortress of Solitude’s door chime.

For the adults and comic aficionados, though, the film is chockablock full of references, both verbal and visual, to tons of comic lore including references to every film, cartoon, and comic incarnation of the Dark Knight.

There are so many villains, gadgets, vehicles, and the like that it can be a bit overwhelming, no doubt demanding repeated watching just to identify everyone and everything. As a result, a topnotch vocal cast – Jenny Slate, Hector Elizondo, Mariah Carey, Eddie Izzard, Seth Green, Billy Dee Williams (once more as Harvey Dent), Conan O’Brien, Zoë Kravitz, Kate Micucci, Channing Tatum, Ellie Kemper,  Jonah Hill, Adam DeVine, and even Brent Musberger — is mostly wasted since they barely do anything other than grunt or say something innocuous. I do appreciate Siri being cast as the Batcomputer, though.

The Combo Pack comes with the Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD code along with a handful of special features. Notably, there are four short shorts that are more silly than entertaining, four deleted scenes that were thankfully left unused, and six featurettes that cover aspects of the Lego world and film production.

We’ve seen one man versus an army and a man who wants to retire only to be dragged back to the fight. It’s a staple of storytelling and modern cinema so it all comes to down the execution. In fall 2014, audiences were introduced to the latest character in this celebrated model: John Wick. A surprise hit for Lionsgate, it was fairly quickly decided to make a sequel, hoping to turn this into a series which can be a challenge when the main character just wants to be left alone.

In January, Wick’s return came with John Wick Chapter 2 which offered more of the same high-octane stunts, fights, shooting, punching, and martial arts. With a stoic performance from Keanu Reeves we find ourselves rooting for the antihero as the relentless pace is sustained over two hours.

Out now from Lionsgate Home Entertainment, the film can be seen on Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, and DVD. Any way you watch it, screenwriter Derek Kolstad and director Chad Stahelski raise the stakes and expand Wick’s world. And for me, it is this expanded look at the world of contract killers that is the most interesting aspect.

There are rules and codes these men follow and for Stahelski, this means honoring the influential spaghetti Westerns, notably The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Point Blank, Le Cercle Rouge, and The Killer. Wick is a man in mourning for his dead wife Helen (Bridget Moynahan) and he wants out of the business. In the first installment, he does this by slaughtering men in a single night, earning his freedom. However, there’s still the matter of his stolen car and here we open four days later as he arrives to retrieve it from the Russian mob, now led by Abram Tarasov (Peter Stormare), Viggo’s brother, Iosef’s uncle.

We also learn that to accomplish his impossible task, he received help from Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), a powerful Italian crime lord, who shows up to call in his marker. When Wick refuses, Santino blows up his house, forcing Wick back to work, which is to kill Santino’s sister, Gianna D’Antonio (Claudia Gerini), so he can assume control of the New York arm of his family’s criminal operation.

And we’re off.

By far, my favorite parts of the story are set in the Continental, the Old World, old school hotel run by Winston (Ian McShane), a neutral hub for the underworld. When Wick arrives to be tailored and equipped it is a lovely satire of such a locale. There are rules and codes of conduct that are so timeless that we see switchboard operators and pneumatic tubes do the back office work.

There are some interesting characters opposing Wick along the way, notably Common’s Cassian, Gianna’s bodyguard, and Ruby Rose as the mute Ares, Santino’s enforcer. In both cases, I wish we had more with them beyond the endless fights. As with all such films, Wick and his opponents are incredibly accurate until the choreography says they’re not, amping up the implausibility of the action, which is required otherwise the film would be one-third the length.

After defeating them, there is $7 million contract on Wick’s life (up from the first film’s $2 million) and it feels like everyone in Manhattan is a freelance assassin as everyone hunts him. Clearly his rep as the Boogeyman scares off none of them. His reprieve comes in the unlikely form of the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), who has his own underground homeless world to rule.

Clearly, plenty has been established to sustain Wick’s exploits for several more films although the urge to top the previous effort may push the series to ridiculous lengths and one hopes Kolstad, Stahelski, and Reeves temper that.

The Blu-ray edition’s 1080p high definition 16×9 Widescreen 2.40:1 is terrific, letting you follow the action in the gloom of night or fluorescent brightness of the subway system. The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is an equal match making for a good home experience.

There are plenty of special features starting with Deleted Scenes, including one with John Leguizamo, that should have been retained. “RetroWick: Exploring the Unexpected Success of John Wick” looks at how surprised everyone was when the first film clicked with audiences around the world;  “Training John Wick”; “WICK-vizzed”; “Friends, Confidantes: The Keanu/Chad Partnership”, which can also be heard with the film’s Audio Commentary; “As Above, So Below: The Underworld of John Wick” Fear”; “Car Fu Ride-Along”; “Chamber Deck: Evolution of a Fight Scene”; “Wick’s Toolbox”; “Kill Count”;, and my favorite, the Dog Wick Short, a trailer for a spin-off that has to be seen.

What a great time to be a grandparent (or so I’m told). There are now plenty of books, games, clothing, and video to encourage girls to be strong and independent. DC Comics offers up their Super Hero Girls line and this week they have released their second animated feature, DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games, a 77-minute romp.

Writer Shea Fontana improves on the first offering with a story set at the Intergalactic Games where Earth’s powered women take on the vile challengers from Korugar Academy. To prepare for the competition Academy teacher Doc Magnus (Phil LaMarr) is building battlebots and supervising Batgirl (Mae Whitman) and Bumblebee (Teala Dunn) as they build their own. Principal Waller (Yvette Nicole Brown) is not amused nor is she happy that Magnus’ bots seem to have free will but were not programmed with any morality, a theme that plays out across the 77-minute fast-paced story.

Lena Luthor (Romi Dames) steals the robots for her own use, complicating matters when everyone assembles for the games. On one side we have the likes of Platinum, Batgirl, Bumblebee, Wonder Woman (Grey Griffin), Supergirl (Anais Fairweather), Starfire (Hynden Walch), and the Flash (Josh Keaton) Under headmaster Sinestro’s (Tom Kenny) command are Starfire’s sister Blackfire (Hynden Walch), Lobo (Tom Kenny), Maxima, Mongal (Julianne Grossman), and Bleez (Stephanie Sheh). There’s also Granny Goodness’ (April Stewart) Female Furies team including Lashina (Jessica DiCicco), Mad Harriet (Misty Lee), and Stompa (April Stewart).

Additionally, Hawkgirl (Nika Futterman), Cyborg (Khary Payton), Katana (Stephanie Sheh), Lady Shiva (Tania Gunadi), Big Barda (Big Barda (Misty Lee ), Star Sapphire (Jessica DiCicco), Frost (Danica McKellar), Poison Ivy (Tara Strong) , Beast Boy (Greg Cipes), and Harley Quinn (Tara Strong) play parts large and small.

So, right there, teens and adults more familiar with the comics than the target audience will love the characters plucked from throughout the DC Universe continuity. There are plenty of other little asides such as Steve Trevor’s Capes & Cowls Café.

Thankfully, it’s not just mindless action before, during, and after the competition. Fontana nicely weaves in all the inter-person drama one would expect when mixing all these characters together. Everyone does not get along nor are things overly simplified for the young viewer.

The standard DVD looks and sounds just fine. The feature comes with several extras including Fifth Harmony song “That’s My Girl” and seven short cartoons: “New Beginnings”, “Hero of the Month: Supergirl”, “Batgirl vs. Supergirl”, “Quinn-tessential Harley”, “Doubles Trouble”, “Franken-Ivy”, and  “Dude, Where’s My Invisible Jet?”

Given how incredibly popular Wolverine has been since his introduction in comics forty years ago, it’s always been a little odd that he has not fared well on the silver screen. While he’s been one of the strongest elements in all the X-Men films to date, his solo offerings — X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine – have not exactly worked. Hugh Jackman has said he had one solo film left in him so the challenge for Director James Mangold was making this one good.

Thankfully, Logan, was more than good. It was a thrilling experience on screen and now on home video. The movie, out now from 20^th Century Home Entertainment, works on multiple levels but is a fitting finale for Jackman’s portrayal of the canucklehead. Where the others were solo stories with lots of extra characters around, this is more of a buddy film with the first half focusing on the relationship between Logan and Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and the second half with his sort of daughter Laura (Dafne Keen).

We leap ahead to 2029, a world where mutants haven’t been born in twenty-five years, and where most of the existing ones are already dead. Xavier is dying, both from old age, and metal disease that has turned his psionic abilities into deadly force that has to be treated medicinally. He’s squirreled away in an abandoned Mexican refinery, watched over by Caliban (Stephen Merchant). Logan, the adamantium covering his bones, is slowly poisoning him so he’s finally aging and his healing factor is not what it used to be. To support his drinking and Xavier’s drugs, he drives a limo in a world that has seen better days but has not yet slipped into total dystopia.

There meager existence is upended when Logan is approached by Gabriela Lopez (Elizabeth Rodriguez), toting a young girl with her. She is on the run from Transigen where she worked as a nurse and the girl was raised in captivity. She appeals for Logan’s help but he wants nothing to do with her, no longer a noble figure but a broken hero. However, things change when Transigen’s enforcer Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) warns Logan off and Lopez is soon dead.

Pierce is out for the girl, Logan, and Xavier so the chase is on. The buddy film is merged with a road race as Logan tries to keep them safe while slowly learning that Laura and the others were raised from mutant DNA experiments, making her his genetic daughter, altering his view of things.

Several of the children have escaped and gone to Eden, a mountain retreat, reportedly revealed through an X-Men comic so Laura convinces Logan to bring her there but along the way, they are stopped by a clone of Logan, dubbed X-24, and there is death and destruction in their wake.

Mangold paints a bleak portrait of a world without heroes and a man without a future. There’s a sense of hopelessness that pervades the story and it takes a youth to awaken the hero within. The writing gives everyone plenty to do and other than a stop at a farmhouse for dinner, the pacing is excellent.

Jackman and Stewart play off one another exceedingly well, a familiarity born from their previous work together. They bicker like the tired old men they are. As a result, the real revelation in this film is Keen, who is expressively silent during the first two-thirds of the film. When she speaks, though, it changes their dynamic and adds a new layer.

Interestingly, the combo pack comes with two Blu-ray discs – the film itself and Logan Noir, a black and white version that is chilling in its own way. The film can also be found on the DVD and the Digital HD code.

The AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1 is superb, sharp, and near perfect. Coupled with Logan’s DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix, you have an excellent home viewing experience.

The special features include a handful of Deleted Scenes (7:45) with optional commentary by Mangold. Of these, only one could have made the film better. There is a multipart Making Logan (1:16:05) that breaks down the film from its origins in Old Man Logan and the X-23 storylines in comics to the casting process (Deen’s screen test is well worth a look) to production. Finally, there is a strong Audio Commentary by Mangold (which is repeated for Logan Noir).

If this is truly Jackman’s farewell to the character, he couldn’t have asked for a better story to share with his audience.