Poe Dameron: Resistance Enemy #1
This article contains SPOILERS!!! BEWARE!!!
I really enjoyed The Last Jedi. It wasn't a perfect movie, but I applaud the its attempts at cultural commentary and the theme that anyone can be a hero, regardless of background, appearance, gender or race. It's exciting to see these ideas in blockbuster films, especially a cultural icon like Star Wars. One of the most fascinating (and feminist) storylines in the film revolves around fan-favorite Poe Dameron.
In The Force Awakens, Poe was set up as the new Han Solo/Luke Skywalker hybrid. He was an ace pilot, handsome and totally dedicated to the Resistance. His fancy flying helped the cause on multiple occasions and it was refreshing to have a great pilot who wasn't a force user. However, all of that changes in The Last Jedi. The macho traits that served his predecessors so well in the original trilogy end up being Poe's major flaws. In The Last Jedi, Poe is the most dangerous threat to the Resistance.
Poe's first big screw up takes place in the first moments of the film. His jokes set a light hearted mood, but then he defies General Leia's orders and sends the Resistance bombers to take out one of the large First Order ships. Things are looking good... until they stop looking good and hundreds of rebel soldiers die, not to mention the Resistance loses their WHOLE FLEET OF BOMBERS! All because Poe thought he was smarter than his (female) commanding officers.
In a movie full of comically bad tactics on both sides of the war, this moment is especially painful. The Resistance is the underdog and resources are scarce. Anyone who has played any type of resource management or strategy game knows that this was a stupid call. The First Order has countless cruisers, but the rebels have a finite number of ships. The loss of one bomber would probably be harder on the Resistance than the Order losing a large cruiser. Poe loses about SEVEN BOMBERS and about as many X-wings, not to mention the loss of all the lives on those ships. Poe is understandably demoted, although this was such a striking blow to the Resistance I was shocked that he wasn't immediately court-martialed.
Poe's crappy attitude continues after his demotion. Leia is injured and Admiral Holdo takes over command of the Resistance. After being given clear orders and being told that nobody owes a recently demoted Captain an in-depth briefing on the Resistance's battle plans, Poe pouts like a five-year-old child and decides that HE STILL KNOWS BETTER. Keep in mind this is like a DAY after his major screw up crippled the whole Resistance and caused the deaths of so many of his fellow fighters. But does he feel bad? Is he crying or writing letters to the families of the dead? Nope. He is thinking about how much better he is than Admiral Holdo and how unfair it is that he doesn't get to call the shots. So, he makes two more really stupid choices: he sends Finn and Rose on a risky mission without asking permission, and he mutinies against Admiral Holdo. Combined, these choices were even more costly to the Resistance than his botched bombing attempt.
Unknown to Poe, the Resistance's secret plan was to quietly evacuate to a nearby planet that housed an old Rebellion base while the Order chased a decoy ship. This was an excellent plan, and the Admiral seems to be pulling it off flawlessly until Poe, who as Captain should NOT have expected to know any "need to know" information, assumes he knows everything and seizes command of the ship. With Admiral Holdo at gun point, he stops the evacuation without realizing they have a specific destination in mind and takes over command of the bridge. He wastes time waiting for Finn and Rose to pull off a "never tell me the odds" crazy-level plan, but in a very un-Star Wars twist, their plan fails and informs the First Order of the evacuation. Lucky for everyone, Leia wakes up and takes down Poe so the evacuation can continue, but the cat is out of the bag.
The First Order starts firing on the evacuating ships, half a dozen defenseless transports full of people are blasted out of existence. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people die like sitting ducks because Poe didn't keep the evacuation plan secret and delayed the launch of the escape ships. If he had followed military protocol or the chain of command for one moment, the Empire wouldn't have ever found out about the fleeing rebels. The Resistance would have landed on the salty surface of Crait without incident and had a fully loaded secret base at their disposal. Instead, the movie ends with the Resistance so decimated that they all fit comfortably on the deck of the Millennium Falcon. Poe Dameron nearly wiped them out with his macho sense of entitlement. He is the deadliest thing the rebels have faced since the Starkiller base.
Every time Poe acts out of selfishness or is driven by his ego, he fails miserably. It is a brave commentary on the macho, rule breaking hero that we worship in pop culture and was such a staple of the original trilogy. The script shows how we should expect more than ambition from our leaders and doubles down on Poe's toxic masculinity by having all of Poe's commanding officers be feminine women. Both General Leia and Admiral Holdo are excellent military leaders without falling into the trope of women mimicking masculine behaviors to succeed. It's an incredibly important lesson, however I am torn about the storyline because the movie ends up pulling its punches. Poe never faces any serious consequences for his actions. He is not court-martialed, banished or executed for his very serious crimes. No angry relatives of the dead (like Rose) or maimed survivors confront him about his actions. These are pretty dark consequences that I wouldn't necessarily expect from a Star Wars/Disney film, but he never even has a moment of deep regret or remorse. At the end of the film, Leia still allows him to become the de facto leader of the Resistance even though he is the reason that all the other leaders were shot dead a few hours earlier. It sabotages the great messages the script has laid out by rewarding Poe with the leadership role that he felt entitled to throughout the film.
I hope that we see more messages like this in upcoming Star Wars projects and feature films in general. I hope that the success of The Last Jedi emboldens film makers to be brave about letting their popular characters make mistakes and face real consequences. In the mean time, I will keep my fingers crossed that we will see some emotional consequences from Poe's mistakes in the next episode.
Justice League Movie Review (Spoilers Clearly Labeled)
(SPOILER FREE)
I am filled with bitter nerd-rage after seeing Justice League. Not because it was bad, but because for a few brief moments, it was so good. We finally got a glimpse of what the DC movies should have been from the beginning and Henry Cavill FINALLY GOT TO BE THE REAL SUPERMAN! (Unless you live under a rock, that isn't a spoiler) But Justice League was so weighed down by course correcting its cinematic universe that it couldn't reach its full potential. It's a promising house built on the sand foundation of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman.
In Justice League we finally get bright colors, smiling heroes and joyful moments of triumph. There were points in Justice League where the iconic images made me tear up. It takes a while to pull itself out of the grim Snyderverse, but it was a definite pivot in the right direction. This is the first of Snyder's DC films that I'd be ok with taking kids to see in the theatre. You leave the movie feeling good. There is finally the impression that the heroes are the same characters that have inspired four-color comics for decades. This was my favorite recent DC film after Wonder Woman, and was light years more enjoyable than Suicide Squad or Batman v. Superman. It finally feels like we got a film made by someone who LIKES DC COMICS. It was a lot of fun. That said, there are also a lot of missteps.
The biggest problem with Justice League is its split personality. The accepted rumor in Hollywood is that Zach's original vision for the film was terrible and Joss Whedon was brought in to "help fix it". This is why he was already a part of the team when Snyder had to leave the project a while later, due to a tragedy in his family. Joss did a massive amount of reshoots and a lot of the new footage is obvious. The huge amount of trailer footage that ISN'T in the movie hints at how much the vision for the movie has changed in recent months. The final product feels like a filler issue between two big comic book story arcs. Its whole job is to be fun and set up the next story and in that, Justice League met its goal. It has a simple bad guy with predictable motivations, convenient plot devices to keep things moving in the expected direction, Krypton-sized plot holes, and lots of middling quality CGI. There are an overabundance of one-line jokes, but the humor is a big enough step in the right direction that many fans will forgive many large problems with the movie because of its lighter tone. There were some really great moments. There were also some real WTF moments? (No spoilers, but one of those moments is when The Flash and Cyborg are digging together. You will know the moment when you see it. Seriously, W.... T.... F???) Overall, I enjoyed the movie and was grateful for the change in tone. I think that if the project had changed hands sooner we would have ended up with a much better movie, but at least we got something fun.
In all superhero teams, each person fills a different need in battle. Some members are the fighters, others are the thinkers who solve the problem, while still others keep the civilians safe and out of the way. Despite having all the characters to make this work, Justice League's script didn't seem to think this aspect of superhero teams through. Each member of the League is given moments to shine, but we never really get a moment where they are firing on all cylinders as a team. The major battles end up being dominated by specific individuals making the whole "team up" portion of the movie less vital to the world's survival than it should be. There is no telling if this is the fault of the original script or the product of the fights being reworked on the editing floor, but it was a disappointing aspect after seeing how flawlessly Whedon balanced the heroes' talents in The Avengers.
Justice League also has a women problem. Yes, many of the Amazons wear bikinis in their scenes, both modern day and ancient. No, angry fanboys of the internet, there is no logical explanation for their vital organs being exposed. However the issue doesn't stop at a troubling selection of costumes. After the revolutionary screen treatment of women in Wonder Woman, the repeated use of Wonder Woman/Diana's butt to help frame shots in Justice League is obvious and awkward. Her teammates reference her physical appearance repeatedly which makes it feel like the Justice League's next acquisition should be an HR department. It's all jokes that we have seen in other movies and comments that women hear all the time in our daily lives, but that doesn't excuse it. For a movie short on screen time for female characters, it's troubling that the production team decided to spend so much of it focused on Wonder Woman's "assets." Maybe this was acceptable in a pre-Wonder Woman superhero film, but we now know that we can and should expect more, especially in a movie that takes place in the same universe. (I talk more about Wonder Woman's depiction in the movie below in the spoiler section.)
I went in to Justice League expecting to hate it but, despite its numerous flaws and women troubles, ended up walking out excited about the new direction that DC is headed. While not a masterpiece, I feel that the difference in opinion between critics and fans is easily explained. It's clear that this movie depended on prior emotional connections to these iconic characters to make it work. Many critics may not have enjoyed it because their recent connections to Superman and Batman are the other Snyder movies. It's hard to come back from that dark place and understand why the world wouldn't be glad that Superman, the destroyer of Metropolis, is dead. To them, this movie seemed out of joint with the DC world they know but was still trying to be a part of it. To long-time fans however, Justice League seemed like things were finally getting back to normal. We immediately connected with this return to the familiar four-color world that we love, and revel in seeing our heroes stand together on the big screen. There is a lot wrong with Justice League, but if this is the new foundation for DC's cinematic universe, I finally have what these characters should have represented all along... hope.
DETAILED CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS - SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT!
Batman
Batman is fine in this movie. He isn't great but he is much MUCH better than he was in Batman v Superman. It's nice not having him be worse than the criminals he is catching. He has lots of gadgets and vehicles to help him keep up with his super-powered teammates, but we don't ever see the brilliant mind that makes him one of the most powerful characters in the DC universe. He isn't the "World's Greatest Detective" (in fact, a random burglar in the first five minutes of the movie seems just as smart as he is) nor does he seem to be an especially gifted tactician. He saw clear footage of Aquaman in Batman v Superman, but doesn't seem to know what he looks like in Justice League? His main role seems to be providing toys for Cyborg to take over and to provide dialogue that explains things to the audience, but he is Batman so he is still cool.
Cyborg
Cyborg is a really interesting character and Ray Fisher does a great job with the limited screen time he is given. His CGI body is not the best we've seen in superhero movies, but Fisher manages to act through that in spite of an unimpressive script. He gives us a hero we are rooting for and who has a clear character arch, no small feat in such an overpacked movie. There are tons of shots of Cyborg from the trailers that never made it into the film, so clearly his role and backstory were cut back to 
shave off time or CGI costs. I really hope that we get to focus more on him if there are future Justice League films or if an extended cut of this movie is released.
The Flash
I was surprised that they went with Barry Allen's dark backstory from the comics for Justice League. Honestly, when I heard the short run time of the film, I figured they'd just have him show up as some punk kid runaway and not get into it. The scenes between Barry and his dad are well done but I think they should have explained more about Barry's strengths besides being fast. He built a hideout and speedsuit by using cutting edge technology, but that is never explored. I think it would have been a great way for him to bond with Batman or Cyborg instead of just being the awkward comic relief for the whole movie. Again, I feel like this was probably a time issue. The Flash was definitely an audience favorite and a great way to add some child-like wonder to the film through the eyes of one of the main characters. It was a relief to finally have a character who is enthusiastic about the idea of becoming a superhero.
Aquaman
I think this character suffered the most from the two conflicting visions of Justice League's directors. In parts he seems like a dark, menacing drunk who saves people out of obligation. (Sounds like all the other DC heroes in Snyder's movies, right?) Then there are the clear reshoots and comedic moments that are a total contrast provided by Whedon. A middle ground between those two visions was needed, but never materialized. Instead, Aquaman ends up just coming across as Jason Momoa flipping between overacting and not acting at all. It was especially obvious how little the production team thought about Aquaman when the final battle had no sources of water or way for Arthur to use his full powerset. It's a team up move, right? Why write a final battle that completely handicaps one of the characters you just spent an hour trying to get onto the team?
Mera
Mera appeared in her skin tight underwater spandex, gold crown and super push up bra for only a few moments of the film. In the comics, she can control water with her mind to create solid objects, control the tides, or even kill her enemies through instant dehydration or forced drowning. Honestly, she should have been a major threat to even Steppenwolf in a battle at the bottom of the ocean, but all this Mera seems to be able to do is create air bubbles. The scenes in Atlantis were some of the most awkward of the film. We clearly have not mastered underwater scenes with acting or CGI. The Atlantian actors move like fish out of water (come on, I had to say that...) and the fact that they can't communicate without creating an air bubble is laughable. I really hope they get those issues sorted out for Aquaman.
Wonder Woman
Other than her badass fight scenes, Wonder Woman was pretty underwhelming in this movie, especially compared to the high bar set by her solo film. Frankly, I am on the fence about if she passes the sexy lamp test developed by Kelly Sue DeConnick. Her main contributions to the team are to be the heavy hitter until Superman shows up, and to tell the history of Steppenwolf and the mother boxes. If they had found a note about Steppenwolf's history stuck to a lamp, half of her purpose in the film would have been covered. Her fighting is great, but she never takes initiative and keeps falling into the trope of female characters only reacting to what happens around them. There are a few tender, almost maternal moments between her and the other heroes, but she doesn't really inspire them or step into the role of team leader. The script actually goes out of its way to point out multiple times that she is not inspiring the public at large and is living in the shadows due to her long lost love. This particular point doesn't make sense, since we saw her leaping into action at the end of Wonder Woman and she saves dozens of people at the beginning of Justice League too. She's doing the job of a hero so why are we explicitly told that nobody knows about her? This is obviously just a case of bad writing. They want to make Superman's return the most important thing in the movie, even if the only way to do that is by dimming all the other bulbs in the room to make him shine brighter. I can't wait to see Wonder Woman back in Patty Jenkins' hands.
Superman
The "Big Blue Boyscout" finally is back on the big screen. Superman is not a hero or beacon of hope in the previous Snyder movies. He was a brooding figure who seemed to dislike his self-imposed role of savior. His battles level cities and cause the loss of countless lives in Man of Steel. It's horrific and lays the foundation for Batman's hate in Batman v Superman, but it is never resolved. He helped fight one monster in an abandoned area of town, but that hardly seems to balance out the insane loss of life he caused smashing through buildings in the first film. And let's not forget him making out with Lois on what is essentially a mass grave site in Man of Steel.... ugh. Justice League does its best to retcon some of this, showing us cell phone footage of kids talking with a more classic-looking Superman and showing the entire world in deep mourning for Superman. Even the John William's theme from the Christopher Reeve films is used liberally to tap into nostalgia from the pre-Snyder versions of the character. I appreciated this clear attempt to undo the darkness of previous films in the series. When he finally arrives, despite the sometimes distracting CGI work on his face, the Superman in Justice League is worth the wait and is a hero worthy of the world's admiration.
Justice League opened to a astonishingly low $96 million opening weekend. A lot of things contributed to this including the bad reviews of previous Snyder/DC films, months of negative production rumors, bad press about the Amazon's new outfits (sorry, not sorry!), and the huge amount of drama surrounding the botched Rotten Tomatoes reveal of the score Justice League got on their website. I think that overall this was a much better offering from Warner Bros/DC than we've had since Nolan's films, with the obvious exception of Wonder Woman. I hope the depressing box office numbers don't cause Warner Bros. to give up on the Justice League's future movies just when they FINALLY seem to be moving in the right direction. We will definitely be seeing a solo Aquaman movie and a Wonder Woman sequel in the future, but only time will tell if they take another stab at the JLA.
What did you think of Justice League and how they portrayed the characters? Comment below!
Wonder Woman Movie Review
(This review is in two parts. The spoiler free review is at the top, with a clearly labeled section with spoilers following after it.)
I have followed Wonder Woman's development since Warner Bros confirmed that she would be brought to the big screen in October of 2013. Watching the creative process was discouraging due to directors leaving the project and the crushing disappointment of all the other DC films so far. I had lost all hope in this film being any good until we started seeing stunning footage and amazing trailers. Despite being burned before, I couldn't help but begin to believe that my favorite hero might get the movie that she deserved.
I was not disappointed. Wonder Woman is an excellent movie.
Patty Jenkins did what so many others said was impossible. She brought Wonder Woman to life in a way that will please comic purists and general movie-goers alike. It has everything that the other DC movies lacked: color, genuine humor, and most importantly, appropriate pacing that gives us time to form emotional connections to the main characters. I have no idea how she managed to herd all the cats at Warner Bros into doing things her way, but I will be eternally grateful to her. She managed to make a super hero movie that is action packed but has a distinctly feminine tone to fit with a female protagonist. AND it somehow still makes sense in the dumpster fire of a cinematic universe that Snyder created. Miracles CAN HAPPEN!
Gal Gadot knocked it out of the park as Wonder Woman. She does an excellent job of contrasting Diana's vast ancient Amazonian knowledge with her naiveté of man's world. She stays true to the character's comic book roots by caring deeply for others, while also being an incredibly kickass fighter. We follow her as she discovers the extent of her own powers, cheering for her successes and mourning her losses. I'll admit I had serious reservations about Gal when she was first cast. Her un-athletic body type and lack of acting credits worried me (getting your ass groped in Fast and the Furious isn't exactly confidence inspiring) but her Diana is charming, relatable and strong.
The Amazons are one of the highlights of the film. They are pulled directly from the pages of George Perez's Wonder Woman run, which should make a lot of purists very happy. Through excellent costume design, on-location shoots, and casting scores of real athletes, the production team creates a vivid culture that sets the tone for Wonder Woman's personality throughout the film. Hippolyta (Connie Neilson) is a wonderful mother to Diana and magnificent Queen of the Amazons, but Wonder Woman's badass aunt, General Antiope (Robin Wright), is sure to be the fan favorite. The action sequences with the Amazonian army are incredible, with some of the best fight choreography and horsemanship I have seen in recent years. I got goosebumps watching an army of incredible, multi-ethnic female fighters in action. You will too.
The supporting cast does an excellent job of helping the story along, while keeping the focus on Wonder Woman herself. Chris Pine balances Steve Trevor's roles as a leading man, love interest and side kick. He is a capable, cocky American soldier who's heartfelt need to end the terrible war that is ripping the world apart 
inspires Diana to join in the fight. I haven't been a big fan of his before, but he does a great job in Wonder Woman. The rag-tag bunch of fighters he assembles to help them win the war are less compelling. They are multiracial, which is great, but they are mostly two dimensional and not always very well acted. There are a lot of set ups without much payoff, leaving us with the feeling that some of their story was cut on the editing room floor. Lucy Davis plays Etta Candy, an often forgotten character from early Wonder Woman comics, and is a fun addition to the film, although their shopping sequence is a bit drawn out. She is a stark contrast to the Amazons, but a welcome female presence in the male dominated culture of man's world.
The movie's biggest weakness is its villains. They are canon characters from the Wonder Woman comics, but for the most part they seem underwhelming. There is some doubt as to how big a threat they pose, and the ending is predicable. The final battle slips into Snyder-esque visuals that could have been cut and pasted from the Doomsday battle in Batman v Superman. It's a change in style from the rest of the film, but I suppose that we had to see Snyder's fingerprints somewhere on this project. This is probably the least damaging sequence where he could rear his ugly head, and there 
are still some really great moments in there that show Diana's true character.
Wonder Woman is easily as good as any of the Marvel origin story movies, but doesn't quite reach the level of The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy. It is easily the best DC movie since Nolan's The Dark Knight. It is also the first of the recent DC movies that I'd feel comfortable sharing with children. Over all, the film is a wonderful triumph after so many years of cynics saying it was impossible and I look forward to watching it again and again.
WARNING: End of spoiler-free review. DETAILS AND SPOILERS AHEAD!!! CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
.
.
.
.
As a longtime reader of Wonder Woman comics, I am thrilled that they didn't sanitize Diana's backstory to make her "more relatable" for movie audiences. She is still the only child of the Amazons, sculpted from clay by Hippolyta and brought to life by the Greek gods. They tweaked the Greek mythology a bit, but Diana's basic story stays intact, along with her super powers and Lasso of Truth.
Wonder Woman starts with an unnecessary modern day intro, which unfortunately reminds us of its ties to Batman v Superman, but the real movie starts on Themyscira. We follow Diana as she grows from an overprotected child-princess into a trained warrior with an idealized view of combat. Young Diana (Lilly Aspell) is delightful, with witty lines and impressive horsemanship. Jenkins takes the time to develop the Amazons and their relationships with each other. Their battle on the beach is a sand and sandals action sequence on the scale of any in 300. Watching the Amazons triumph over their invaders is amazing, but it is also heartbreaking to watch them discover the deadly power of guns and General Antiope, one of the best characters in the film, is killed. In these moments we watch Diana learn the harsh realities of war, and the horror of it starts her on the path to man’s world. Some critics are calling this portion of the movie a “slog of a backstory,” but from a storytelling perspective it lays the foundation of Wonder Woman’s character for the rest of the film. I think this was time well spent and it is my favorite section of the movie. (Considering that the trailers for Justice League have shots of the Amazons in battle, I think it’s probably setting the stage for a lot more than just this movie too!)
The movie uses Steve Trevor to bridge the gap between the audience and the more far-fetched aspects of Diana's origin. It is an effective tactic, which was also used in the Wonder Woman animated film of 2009. Gal and Chris have great chemistry and they manage to make some fairly campy scenes work. The best example of this is a scene on Themyscira where Diana walks in on Steve Trevor while he is bathing, and there is an “above average” elephant in the room. We later learn that while Diana has never seen a man, she is very well read on the subject and is unsurprised by the features of Steve’s anatomy. There are some delightfully awkward moments between them that successfully lend humor and humanity to what could have been a very severe story.
Unlike Lois Lane and Superman in recent DCEU films, Diana and Steve Trevor have a surprisingly balanced relationship. When they first meet on Themyscira, he is the charming "fish out of water" who is completely ignorant of Amazon society. However, when they travel to man's world the roles are reversed and Diana is the one forced to navigate a completely foreign culture. They learn from the each other and it becomes clear that each has their own strengths. Diana is in a different league as far as her fighting skills and education, but Steve uses his street smarts and connections to help her reach her goals. The best thing about their romance is that it takes a back seat to Diana's larger mission. Their connection helps Diana learn to understand the nature of mankind, but their romantic moments are just sprinkled in between larger events. Both characters are motivated by their drive to end the war, not their budding feelings for each other. It's a huge relief that Wonder Woman avoids the trap of becoming a story about their romance. Steve plays his part, but it stays Diana's story.
The movie does suffer from being predictable. Anyone who knows classic comic book or movie formulas will guess what is happening pretty quickly. Dr. "Poison" Maru (Elena Anaya) is under utilized. The movie tries to set up General Ludendorff (Danny Huston) as Ares, the Greek god of war and Diana’s ultimate foe, but the minute we see David Thewlis as Sir Patrick we guess that there is more to him than meets the eye. It is revealed that he is actually Ares and the climactic battle that ensues is the least inspired part of the film. They move away from the acrobatic method of combat that Wonder Woman uses through the rest of the film into a Batman v Superman style big blast battle that levels everything around them. It's a little desensitizing and there are a few points where I wonder if keeping stuffy Sir Patrick's face and mustache on the God of War was a good creative choice. There is also a fair amount of monologue-ing as Ares tells Diana that she is a young god/demi-god (which finally explains New 52 style electronic blasts that we see her use) and that Zeus created her to defeat Ares. (WHY WOULD YOU TELL HER THAT? DUMB SUPER VILLAIN!) It is an interesting tweak to the reason that Zeus brought her to life, and also explains why Hippolyta was so worried about her becoming a warrior. I like these details, but wish they’d been revealed in a more elegant way.
The most interesting thing about this fight was that we see Diana finally let loose. It is awe-inspiring and a little terrifying. She momentarily gives up on humanity out of sorrow and anger, and her feelings are understandable. Jenkins does a superb job of setting this up throughout the movie. The gradual creep from losing her aunt Antiope and other amazons on the beach in Themyscira (possibly the first deaths she has seen since the amazons are immortal), to her seeing the horrors of trench warfare and the deaths of innocent people at the hands of modern weapons, and finally the loss of Steve Trevor all takes its toll on her. We understand Diana’s fury and frustration and the devastation of WWI is the perfect backdrop for it. As an audience, it is especially tragic because we know that Ares’ comments about humanity ring true. The “War to End All Wars” is really the birthplace of modern combat techniques and weaponry. These factors make it all the more inspiring and uplifting when Diana overcomes the trauma and, because of the wisdom and love she has gained from her time with humanity, turns on Ares and defeats him.
With Diana’s comments about “walking away from the world” in Batman v Superman, I was very worried that this movie would end with Diana giving up, but the movie ends on a note of hope. The war is over and people are celebrating in the streets. Diana has suffered many losses, but she loves humanity and has not lost her belief that they can learn to be better than they are. The last real shot of the story shows Diana FLYING to the rescue as the world’s first superhero. She has discovered her purpose, grown into her powers, and will continue to protect humanity. It’s really amazing and it was one of many points in the film where I teared up because my inner geek-girl was so happy…
Too bad they HAD to bookend the movie with another modern scene that includes Batman. It doesn’t ruin the ending, but doesn’t really add anything either.
Despite its flaws, Wonder Woman is a really enjoyable movie. It stayed true to the legacy of one of the world's most recognizable icons. Fans of her comics, animated features, or even Lynda Carter's TV show will recognize the hero that they love, and a new generation of Wonder Woman fans will be born.
Review: Drinking Quest RPG
I take my gaming and my drinking very seriously. You have to when you're on a podcast with the tagline, "Pursuing the RPG Hobby with Reckless Abandon... and beer." Perhaps because of this, I was recently sent a review copy of Drinking Quest, an RPG card game designed to be played while drinking. In fact, the mechanics require you to be drinking.
BEST CONCEPT EVER.
Drinking Quest is a very simple RPG by design, after all, they are expecting you to play while inebriated. The game is designed for two to four players. Everyone starts by choosing one of the four pre-generated character cards. These are all about equal power-wise, and have funny names and powers. I was a little disappointed that only one of the four characters is a very female character, but all the characters are very stereotypical to the point of being crude satire. The characters are really basic, with no armor, low stat numbers, and simple attacks. Again, I assume the designers were trying to keep the math simple for Drinky McDrinkerson and his buddies. After you kill off some enemies you can collect gold to buy some simple items to improve your defense or attacks.
There is no DM/GM, and each player draws a card to see what opponents or challenges they will 
face. They player rolls against another player who represents the baddy if an opponent is drawn, or the player rolls all three dice if it's a stat challenge. Combats are simple and usually over in a few hits. It really reminds me of a simplified version of the DnD boardgames, like the Legend of Drizzt. It's a great little system that doesn't put responsibility on any one player. Everyone is able to just relax and enjoy themselves.
One thing that is lacking in Drinking Quest is a healing system. The game is designed to have your character die, then you chug your drink to get them alive and back to full health the next 
turn. It sounds like it would be really fun, however it seems that characters almost never die in Drinking Quest. We played a few times and only a handful of chugging instances occurred. This seemed to be the main drinking component in the game, so we were a little disappointed that it happened so rarely.This isn't exactly a bad thing, especially if your just looking for something to play when your GM calls in sick, but if you're looking to get wasted this may not be your game. Try Beer Pong. My group ended up house ruling a healing mechanic that involved taking a big swig and getting a hit point back. (We just weren't getting drunk fast enough apparently!) This may only be a good idea if you are drinking beer, because a home brewed healing game with shots might kill someone.
The cards are clever and entertaining. They are some real zingers in there that will crack up the whole group. The challenges are amusing and it's nice that everything is drawn 
randomly so that every time you play the adventure changes. I was very worried about the "sexual prowess" stat when I first looked at the character cards, but it's used in an amusing and not a gross way (phew!). The artwork, by Carole Nelan, is well done and perfect for the feel of the game. It requires three dice, the game cards, and character sheets. The game is very high quality, with professional level cards, disposable character sheets on a pad, and a color printed box. The package design is excellent, and all of these items fit into a slightly larger playing card box. Seriously, I have both Drinking Quest and Drinking Quest 2 in my purse right now. I really appreciate that type of compact design in my games and gaming books.
For $22 a pack the price is a little steep in my opinion. We had a good time with the game, and if you think you'd have the opportunity to play a lot, it could be worth the money to some gamers. If you will be playing with the same group over and over again, I'd suggest buying Drinking Quest 2 in addition to the original. It is a stand alone game, not an expansion, but you could mix up the adventures and PCs with the original Drinking Quest deck in order to keep things fresh. And, as always, I am fully behind home brewing the rules to customize the fun for your group.
You can learn more about drinking quest and buy it at drinkingquest.com. Please, drink responsibly... or crash on someone's couch.
The New Hobbit Trailer
The new trailer for The Hobbit movie was released last week, just in time for the 75th anniversary of The Hobbit. I'm currently reading the book with my middle school English classes, so I've been spending even more time than usual contemplating Middle Earth. We just finished the "Riddles in the Dark" chapter, and the kids are loving it. The first trailer was wonderful and the dwarven music gave me goosebumps. This time, I was only left with worry lines in my forehead. Maybe it's my students' new-found delight in these characters as they are written, or perhaps it is just that the story is so fresh in my mind, but the trailer seemed to stray from the book a bit too much for my liking.
While The Hobbit is a much more lighthearted book than The Lord of the Rings, it worries me that some of the scenes with the dwarves seem to be inspired by The Three Stooges. They are the principle heroes in The Hobbit, and I really hope they are treated with the respect they deserve. It's bad enough that Gimli ended up being comic relief for much of the trilogy, do all the dwarves have to be goofy? It seems that only Thorin is treated with any respect. These are capable warriors from a noble race of artisans, and while there should be comedic moments in The Hobbit, they shouldn't simply be comic relief.
Another thing that is worrying me is the amount of obvious CGI in the trailer. I realize that it was a hug part of the LOTR movies too, but when combined with miniatures it was usually very seamless (other than a few very annoying green screen shots). Some of the shots in both trailers look very fake. The one moment that made me cringe in the first trailer was when Bilbo held up Sting, and it was very obviously a CGI sword instead of a real one. Perhaps they are not finalized effects yet, or maybe they will look better when they are all in context. A girl can hope, right?
The amount of content that has been added has always been something I was worried about. There were a lot of scenes that seemed to be drastically different than the book, or flat out created for the movie in spite of the book. I realize that some adjustments have to be made when a book is brought to life on film, but I've been nervous since I heard they were going to turn it into three movies. They brought all three books of The Lord of the Rings to life in three movies. Why are they taking three movies to recreate The Hobbit when it's only one book and a more simple story?
I'm holding out hope and reminding myself of a bit of wisdom from the man himself. "Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
The Legend of Drizzt Board Game
I don't know anything about Drizzt, so when my friends pulled out The Legend of Drizzt board game at a recent tabletop night, I was a bit clueless. I didn't know anything about the characters or the setting, but it didn't matter. I ended up having a great time.
The game is basically a GM-less dungeon crawl. Each player takes a turn playing their character, but then they play the dungeon. To do this, they draw tiles from a pile which randomly add on to the dungeon and change the layout. The player also has to draw from a pile of challenges that will make moving through this new tile challenging, usually this is in the form of a trap. This leads to surprisingly challenging encounters, and although it doesn't lead to the most creative game, the random elements add a lot of excitement to the game.
The characters are well balanced, and there are even pregame power choices that make them somewhat customizable. I played an archer, and chose a really powerful shot that blew the target into another dungeon tile. It really became a valuable asset during the big fight at the end, and the game would have played out very differently if I had selected another power. Ever the advocate of player empowerment, I was delighted and surprised by this addition to a board game. There isn't really a role-playing aspect to the game, despite its DnD inspired theme. My usually RP-heavy gaming group did almost none, only occasionally thinking about their characters loyalties when deciding who to aid first in combat. This game is basically an old fashioned dungeon 
crawl, with a simple objective, a series of deadly rooms, and a boss lurking somewhere up ahead.
I'm definitely planning on buying this game for myself when I pickup my next paycheck. It was great for an impromptu game night. It would also be a great backup for any gaming group in case the GM misses a session or isn't able to prepare an adventure one week. I plan on taking it to future conventions to fill empty time if I don't get into games. Since everything is based on random selection, you can never play the same exact game twice! It also comes with many different ways to run the game to keep it fresh. The Legend of Drizzt board game doesn't match the fun of a real RPG session, but it captures the RPG flavor without any prep time.
You can get a copy of The Legend of Drizzt at Amazon for about $50.
(This article was originally posted on CharismaBonus.com)
System Spotlight: Traveller
Are you a fan of Firefly? Do you love the idea of gunslingers on the edge of civilized space? Traveller might be the game for you! In fact, Firefly is so similar to the Traveller universe that I would bet money that Joss has played in a campaign or two.
Traveller (yes, it's spelled like that) was first published in 1977 by Game Designers Workshop. It's a d6 system, but the dice mechanics vary slightly from edition to edition. I suggest the Mongoose version of Traveller, which is a 2d6 system where you usually want to roll high.
Originally, Traveller had no specific setting and was meant to be a generic system for all types science fiction gaming. It can still be used that way, but modern Traveller also has one of the most developed settings in the RPG world. There are THOUSANDS of complete star systems already designed and mapped out. People have not wasted time since 1977! Each of the tens of thousands of planets is planned out to include the important physical, social, and economic information about that planet. Check out travellermap.com for a fully functional map of the universe that can easily be used in your game.
The Official Traveller Universe is the "Third Imperium", a human-dominated feudalistic society of worlds. Everything in the Empire is run by a class of nobles, but as you get farther and farther from the center of the Empire, things become less civilized and much more wild west! There are multiple races, but it is a human-centric game. The most interesting tidbit about the setting is that while ships can travel pretty quickly through systems, the center of the Empire is many months or even years away from some of the outlying systems... and communication cannot go faster than the ships. If you are out of range to contact someone via communicator, you have to send them a message via a courier ship, also known as an X-boat. This may seem like a big damper on the sci-fi aspect, but it adds so much to the game. This is what lets the outer reaches of the Empire be a pretty wild and lets your crew avoid arrest by staying one jump ahead of the arrest warrant, or make some good money if you end up on a good X-boat. (See? I told you it was like Firefly...)
Without a doubt, everyone's favorite thing about Traveller is the character creation system. The player gets to make choices during creation, but everything really comes down to die rolls. It's almost a separate game unto itself and gives players a skeletal back story for their character, including ties to other members of the party and skills they have learned along the way. The dice determine that you left military service with PTSD, but it's up to the player to flesh out the story. Are you devoted to another player because they saved your life? Do you hate the Navy for sending you to die? If you approach it with an open mind you can get an incredible character that you would never have created without the help of the dice.
The Traveller Core Rulebook is all you really need to run a game, although there are other Traveller books available if you end up wanting more options. Try it! It rocks!
(This article was originally posted on CharismaBonus.com)
Farewell to Fear... or Fun?
Many people love to complain about what is wrong with the world, but do little or nothing about it. That is not the case with David Hill Jr. of Machine Age Productions. He didn't like the accepted norms of the average fantasy RPG's setting, so he created a completely new RPG system. His new game, called "Farewell to Fear", has raised over $16,000 on Kickstarter, and focuses on bringing political correctness to the RPG fantasy genre. David claims his game is a "Progressive Post-Fantasy RPG". What does he mean by that? Well according to his Kickstarter page:
Fantasy’s full of all sorts of legacy concepts that are rather disgusting to us; sexism, classism, racism, institutional violence, those are just a few choice items. Farewell to Fear is a game about revolution, about taking fantasy out of the dark ages through drive and action.
Think punk rock meets fantasy. Bad Religion meets Tolkien, boot to face.
Don't get me started on that last comment. It shows a total lack of knowledge of Tolkien's work or its revolutionary impact on the fantasy genre.
Although the information I can find is rather ambiguous, it seems like the focus of this game will be for players to portray normal people, fighting against political incorrectness and unfairness. I applaud Mr. Hill for spending so much time creating a game that embodies so many of his personal beliefs, but despite my love of new tabletop systems, I don't think I want to play his game.
Why? Because it sounds like every other fantasy game out there, only with more limitations on plot, overall creativity, and roleplaying. The entire concept of this system is that the PCs fight against "the man", who we assume is to blame for the sexism, racism, etc. Already that drastically limits the creativity of the GM to create plots because they have to be about social justice. It also drastically limits the types of characters that the players can create because the PCs have to have the desire to fight the wrongs in society, but not be afraid to rebel against the current institutions that are in place. Party conflict and drama is going to be pretty hard to drum up in a group of incredibly similar characters. Maybe they can't agree on whether to fight racism or sexism today?
It seems like the whole "Farewell to Fear" concept would be better suited to be published as an adventure path, rather then a game unto itself. They claim that the scientific method is the inspiration for their main mechanic.
The main game system is inspired by the scientific method. Instead of a huge focus on pass/fail mechanics, we’re mostly concerned about finding solutions through conjecture, precedent, and experimentation.
Ok, but how do I hit that guy over there with my sword? The actual dice mechanic spelled out on their Kickstarter page is rather vague, but it doesn't sound very revolutionary to me (unless you've never played anything but D&D). Why design a completely new set of mechanics for something that could easily be used as a skin to lay
over an existing, proven system? If you want something other than a pass/fail mechanic, check out the ORE system. For that you roll for the speed and quality of your action, and it is very applicable to situations like archeological digs, performing music, or very intense combat. Why reinvent the wheel? And how many times are your players going to want to play with that same wheel if you put it on a track with limited customization?
As a woman of mixed ethnicity, I've experience my share of discrimination in my life. I am wholeheartedly against any type of discrimination, hatred, or unfair treatment between players at the gaming table. A game that could fight the imbalance at the table but still be fun would be truly revolutionary. This game does not fight the inequality that happens to players, it only lets them fight injustices that happen in an imaginary Medieval Europe-based world, which is possible in almost any RPG if the GM wants the story to go that way. In fact, it reminds me of quite a few GM created games that I've played in (and created) for D&D4e, Wild Talents, Traveller, and other systems. (This project's Kickstarter video also claims that peasants in the middle ages studied laws to better their situations, and that women held more power than men... as a Medieval history teacher, I'd love to see their sources for that info...)
My big question? If you are trying to break the traditional RPG mold, why would you choose the most stereotypical setting possible as a foundation? Mr. Hill claims to be improving on the traditional Tolkien fantasy model (sorry... I can't just let that slide) but it sounds like he wants players to behave just like Sam and Frodo. They are normal folk, facing the evils of this world to protect their village's freedom. Or just like Gandalf, who despite being a virtual demi-god, puts the future of Arda in the hands of a minority group (hobbits). Maybe Mr. Hill has forgotten these small plot points, or how Gimli and Legolas broke down the barriers of hatred between their two races and became lifelong friends? Or Eowyn, a noblewoman who successfully kills the Lord of the Nazgul!?!?! I told you not to get me started...
I wish "Farewell to Fear" the best, but given the current information, I see very little that is truly original in this project.
Earth 2 & Worlds' Finest
Before I begin, I am going to make the recommendation that you read these two comics in a specific order, read Earth-2 #1 and then read Worlds' Finest #1. It will make much more sense. Also, THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!
Earth 2
I have to admit that I was torn about them introducing the multiverse back into DC. Although it gives some great opportunities for characters and story lines, it is sort of a cheap comic book trick. Lose your favorite character? He's still alive on Earth-50! Want Wonder Woman and Superman to hook up? No problem, it happens on Earth-69! Instead of consolidating characters and giving stories more impact, the multiverse tends to water everything down. However, it has paved the way for the return of Power Girl, who is one of my favorite characters! But more on that later...
This entire comic was basically a prologue for stories that are yet to come. I watched the DC Trinity battling to the death against an invading force of aliens. Readers catch up on years of Earth-2 history in a few pages, and boy is it a dark history. The world is doomed, but for real this time. The inner dialogue of our heroes is about as shocking as it comes. Our heroes have lost everything, but are still fighting for their world. They make the ultimate sacrifice. The world survives, but it has no heroes left.
I think this is the best thing they could have done with Earth-2. Wipe out the familiar characters and start from scratch with all new characters. I don't want to keep track of multiple Wonder Women, or read about an earth that is pretty much just like the main earth (FYI, DC has yet to define which earth the New 52 is taking place on.). Other earths need to be different! VERY different! I hope they hold course with Earth-2 and use it to create some great new characters for the DC universe. That said, the writing was a bit rushed. They tried to fit too much into one book, and that caused the drama to lose some of it's impact. Generally, I'd want a major character's death to take up more than a few panels, but I'm hoping that this will be remedied in future books since they won't be trying to set up an entire new timeline in every issue. I can't say if I am going to stick with this book, because we have yet to really meet the main characters. I'll definitely be picking up #2!
The art was good and I liked the costumes on Earth-2. Wonder Woman's threads had some really great details on them. Crap... now I have ANOTHER Wonder Woman cosplay on my to-do list!
Worlds' Finest
I am a huge Power Girl fan. I even loved her all through the 90's and her crazy thong, tights, and headband era. But holy crap is her new costume horrible... opps. I'm jumping ahead. Let's go back a little bit.
This story actually takes place on the main DC earth. It is revealed that Huntress is actually Helena Wayne, the Robin from Earth-2. She and Earth-2's Supergirl were accidentally transported to the main earth during the epic battle that took place in Earth-2, #1. (Hence the plural possessive punctuation in the title, they are from multiple worlds!) They are utterly alone, but making the best of it. Helena has taken up as the Huntress, and Kara (now called Karen) is a development mogul who seems fixated on returning to Earth-2. She isn't working as a hero at the moment, but is pouring millions into developing technologies to get the pair home. (Seriously, read Earth-2 #1 before you read this comic.) Neither character seems interested in making contact with the heroes from this world.
Let's start with Huntress. Although I am very sad that Helena Bartinelli seems to not exist in the DC New 52, I am a huge fan of Helena Wayne as the Huntress. I have a huge collection of old comics from the pre-Crisis era and love that Batman had a bad ass daughter. There is part of me that squealed a little at the thought of her being the main Huntress in the DC Universe again. That said, the writing didn't nail the character that I know and love. There is also the personality continuity problem between the character in this title, and the character in the Huntress book. Are they the same character? It would seem so, but there is a definite disconnect happening somewhere. I do like the outfit they have given her since the New 52 debut.
And Power Girl. They are definitely TRYING to nail the sarcastic, brash, human character that we love, but again, they don't quite get it right. Kara was likeable because, despite her amazing powers, she was fallible. She lost her temper, was a little to sexy, and was trying to find herself. 
I hope they start to include that in this character as the books go on. Then... there is her new outfit. They have exchanged the boob window for a boob target. Seriously. There is a decorative "P" shape (for Power Girl once she reveals that as her new hero call sign) that fits perfectly over her left breast. There is even a little circle that fits EXACTLY over where her nipple would be. It's just... odd. It calls attention to her breast (yes... just the left one) in a way that is unsexy, and a little awkward. Almost like when someone has a stain on their shirt and you are contemplating telling them or not.
To be honest, I hated the artwork in this book. Some of it looks like a high school art student drew it. Some panels are beautiful, but sometimes the angles and human proportions are so wrong you wonder how it got printed. It reminds me of the recent Hawk & Dove in the New 52. George Perez's Wonder Woman run was incredible, so I'm not sure what's happened with this book. Maybe they just need more practice with these characters? Again, I'm not sold on this series. I might pick up #2, but more likely I'll just wait until Power Girl pops up in another series.
RPG Podcast Listener Survey
The 2012 RPG Podcast Lister Survey is up! Please visit rpgpolls.com to fill it out. This information is very useful to podcast hosts and gives great information on the demographics of our audience members. It should take you less than 5 minutes to fill out and doesn't ask for any personal contact information.
The 2011 survey gave us some very interesting information about RPG podcast listeners. According to last year's statistics, RPG podcast listeners are between the ages of 26 and 29. 51% of them are married and over 66% use iTunes to download their podcasts. D&D was still the most popular gaming system of listeners, but had dropped 2.3% while other systems such as Savage Worlds and GURPS gained ground. Overall, listeners spent an average of $621.92 on RPGs and gaming in 2011. Women made up only 6% of respondents in last years survey, however the actual number of women who took the survey increased.
Happy Jacks RPG Podcast did very well in the 2011 survey. Over 27% of the gamers surveyed listened to our podcast!! We actually ranked 3rd in the list of top 20 RPG podcasts! Most surprising of all, Happy Jack's was the favorite RPG podcast of women who took the survey. Over 33% of the women who completed the survey listened to our podcast! This makes me very happy, since I am a huge proponent of women in gaming.
I am eagerly looking forward to the results of the 2012 survey! Please share this info with your gamer friends! The more respondents, the more accurate the data will be!